Inside Travel Talk
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Inside Travel Talk
Global Getaways: Borealis Bliss, Spooky Sailings, and Mexico Deals
How can Delta Flyers now seamlessly explore the captivating landscapes of Scandinavia? This episode of Inside Travel Talk uncovers the exciting news of SAS Scandinavian Airlines joining the SkyTeam Alliance, making Nordic adventures more accessible than ever. We spotlight the enchanting Borealis Base Camp in Fairbanks, Alaska, where you can witness the ethereal Northern Lights and partake in exhilarating activities like dog sledding and snowmobiling. Plus, embark on a unique journey aboard the Aranui 5, a vessel that’s part cargo freighter and part cruise ship, offering an unrivaled experience from Tahiti to the Marquesas Islands.
Explore the latest in travel luxury with our segment on the forthcoming American Express Centurion Lounge at Salt Lake City Airport, slated for a 2025 opening. We’ll guide you through how to unlock these exclusive airport sanctuaries through various credit card options and memberships. Don't miss our crucial travel tip on navigating Mexico's customs regulations for personal electronic devices to avoid unexpected charges. And if you're hunting for a cultural escape, we have an enticing travel deal to Puerto Vallarta, where you can immerse yourself in the vibrant traditions of Dia de los Muertos and solstice celebrations.
Lastly, we delve into the dynamic world of cruising, contrasting the experiences on large versus small cruise ships, and spotlighting the rising trend of river cruises that cater to everyone from solo travelers to families. Discover the broadening horizons with new river cruise destinations in Spain and South America. We also cover essential airline safety rules, innovative advancements for wheelchair users, and tackle the issue of misuse of airport wheelchair services. To wrap up, we highlight Disney Cruise Line’s whimsical Halloween on the High Seas for a spooktacular family getaway. Tune in for these valuable travel insights and unbeatable deals!
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity-controlled and subject to change without notice explore your world.
Show Voice:it's the inside travel talk podcast and radio show presented by blue planet vacations. com. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, my goodness, it is Saturday morning. It is time for another episode, another edition of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Good morning, whether you're listening to us Saturday morning at 11 o'clock or on Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. Thank you so much for allowing us to keep you company, whatever you're doing this morning, for allowing us to keep you company, whatever you're doing this morning.
Patrick Wiscombe:For those of you who are brand new to the show, mark and I have been doing this show for one year, so this is our 52nd episode of the podcast and radio show and we are really, really excited to welcome the listeners of AM860 KKAT in Salt Lake City, brand new to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show network, coming up on this edition. We are going to be planning a cruise to the Marquesas Islands and unique times to visit Mexico. That is coming up in this first segment of the show. We've got the travel news of the week and we've got the destination spotlight, but before we get there, we want to share with our listeners the travel news of the week that SAS is joining SkyTeam, and let's just tell listeners what the benefits for Delta Flyers are going to be.
Mark Faldmo:SAS is Scandinavian Airlines. They operate mainly out of Copenhagen, but also have flights from the US to Oslo in Norway and Stockholm in Sweden For SkyTeam Alliance members. For us, that is Delta Airlines here. That's really going to open up Scandinavia.
Patrick Wiscombe:So basically, a little easier to travel to Scandinavia. Yes, this is honestly one of the coolest things that I've ever experienced to see the Aurora Borealis. There's a Borealis base camp in Fairbanks, Alaska. That sounds amazing to me.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so you know, the Northern Lights is something that's on a lot of people's bucket list, and this Borealis Lodge in Fairbanks is one of the places in the US that you can get a great glimpse at this, and Fairbanks is far enough north that the Northern Lights are fairly regularly occurring there. This is a small lodge. They do have some of the traditional igloos that you see at a lot of these places. They're basically little cabins, rooms made out of old containers, with big picture, with big picture windows wait hold on.
Patrick Wiscombe:Are we talking about like containers, like you know, shipping containers.
Mark Faldmo:Shipping containers. Yeah, and their family suite is basically two shipping containers together. If you look at the pictures on this, they're very nicely appointed, you know, with big windows, perfect for seeing the Northern Lights. The name of this is Borealis Base Camp, which means it's also used to see other things. You know, some of the things they have are dog sledding traditional in Alaska. They also have a walk with reindeer that you can do from the area snowmobiling. So they do have lots of other activities other than the Northern Lights.
Patrick Wiscombe:I would do that.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, if that is on your bucket list, in the late fall, through winter and early spring best time to see the Northern Lights you can go to Fairbanks to the Borealis Base Camp Lodge and you can book that right. Yes, I can book that, Okay.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the destination spotlight of the week, which is a place that I still want to go Tahiti. And I thought one of the most unique things, that number one that we've discussed privately and I think we brought it up on the show a little while ago that there was a very distinctive cruise on an unusual type of ship to get to Tahiti.
Mark Faldmo:This is actually a cruise that leaves from Tahiti. It mainly visits the Marquesas Islands, which are part of French Polynesia, and it is a half cargo freighter and half cruise ship. It's called the Aranui 5. I have been lucky enough to experience this, and I think this is something that should be on any traveler's top list of things to do.
Patrick Wiscombe:You're right, that is unique for sure. The first thing I thought of was how nice is the ship, so let's address that concern right up front.
Mark Faldmo:So the back half of it is pretty much like any other cruise ship. The cabins I experienced no difference. In the cabins Nice, you know, there are no water slides, no rock climbing walls, no themed bars. It's small. It holds between 170 and, I think, 200 passengers. Has complimentary ukulele lessons. One thing that's unique about this is the crew is welcome to mix with other guests in public areas when not on duty. Oh really, that's one of the things I really liked about it. You really are mixing with the crew, who are local Marquesan most of them. There's only one restaurant on board serves a buffet breakfast and a set menu for lunch and dinner. The captain comes out and does lots of presentations. Captain wears a t-shirt and shorts most of the time.
Mark Faldmo:That sounds like my kind of captain yeah, the unique part of this cruise is definitely the itinerary. You leave from Papeete, which is Tahiti, so you'd fly to Papeete in Tahiti, to board the ship and then you go after a day at sea. We visited the Tuamotu Islands, either Rangiroa or Fakarava. The Tuamotu Islands are the ring islands, the atolls. They're halfway in between Tahiti and Marquesas Islands and then you go again to Marquesas Islands and when you get to the Marquesas Islands, you're just completely immersed in the culture. One of the islands, called Fatu Iva, is a very tropical, lush island, probably similar to the island of Kauai, but there's only about 900 people that live on the island.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, wow.
Mark Faldmo:They put on a cultural presentation, they have local craft markets. Obviously, there's not a lot of shore excursions, so what happens is all of the people just bring their private vehicles and they basically drive you on a set itinerary around the island. You see different things. There are some islands that have optional activities like horseback riding Early on. They said we have horseback riding on this island, but you have to let us know, because the horses just are free range horses, and we have to go catch the horses in order for you to ride them. So, they're not you know, they have to go find the horses. And a really unique experience.
Mark Faldmo:Probably my favorite part was one evening they just sailed around to a bay. There was no other buildings around, it was just a bay on one of the islands in the Marquesas. They anchored ship and the whole crew threw a big Polynesian party. You're eating with the crew, you are mixing with the crew, dancing with the crew. It was a really wonderful evening. And then on the way back, you stop at one of the other Tuamotu Islands Rangiroa or Fakarava are the two that they most likely visit and then they also end with a stop in Bora Bora, you know, which is a huge thing to do on everyone's bucket list. How many?
Patrick Wiscombe:days is this cruise.
Mark Faldmo:The cruise is a two week long cruise. Oh wow, You're in port pretty much every day. There are probably four days at sea on that, but you're in port the rest of the time Getting between those groups of islands, there's a day at sea.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let me make sure I got this right. So basically, the front half of the ship is the container. They're literally bringing supplies, everything to the islands. But the back half of the ship is the cruise experience, with nicely appointed rooms.
Mark Faldmo:Yep. So the cruise ship has outside rooms, so rooms with a picture window. They have balcony rooms and they also have a few suites on board. They do have another type of accommodation, but it's mainly for the locals because they do use this as a ferry to get from island to island, as needed, and they do have dormitory type rooms that hold eight to 10 people with kind of shared accommodations. But you can buy those if you want, but they are mainly used for locals that are going from island to island.
Patrick Wiscombe:You know, I've heard you talk about this particular cruise and you rave about this that it was probably not only one of the most unique cruises, but it was beautiful the islands that you were going to as well.
Mark Faldmo:I think it is probably my top number one travel experience that I've had. Oh wow, with as culturally immersed as you get in the Marquesan and Polynesian culture, it's just wonderful. The one thing that I didn't like was my wife shopping. We came back with, I think, 78 pearls. We had to get a couple of pearls on each island, you know, in a necklace or bracelet or just loose pearls. So you know that's the big thing in Tahiti. So you know we learned all about pearl shopping and how to spot good ones, how to spot fake ones, and we bought pearls everywhere we went.
Patrick Wiscombe:All right, we're going to take a break here. Most of the listeners don't know about Mark unless you've been listening to the show. For the last year or so, Mark has been on literally over a hundred cruises. What is it About? 150 right now?
Mark Faldmo:About 150, right now about 150 right now, geez.
Patrick Wiscombe:So when we talk about wanting to go explore the world, which is the tagline of the company blue planet vacations, explore your world. This is what we're talking about. Take advantage of mark's knowledge, take advantage of his travel experience. We want to help you book your next vacation. Call him in his office, 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. Coming up in the next segment, we've got the hot travel deal of the week always in segment two Are we going to Mexico? We are going to Mexico. Awesome. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show, continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday morning. We will be right back of your Saturday morning.
Show Voice:We will be right back, Taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show is presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back Inside.
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Show Voice:Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Helping you get out and explore the world. We're brought to you by BluePlanetvacations. com. Their office number is 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. We want to help you plan your next vacation. Traveling is honestly, one of the great experiences of life Getting out to meet new cultures, new people, seeing other parts of the world. Sometimes we paint our world so small. Coming up in this segment, we've got the hot travel deal of the week. We are headed to Mexico, and we've also got more travel news of the week, and let's just start there. Before we get to Mexico, I saw this story that American Express announced a new Salt Lake City Airport lounge. You know how Delta and American Express have a connection, so my first thought was oh good, they're going to open another Delta lounge. That's not what this article said. American Express is opening the airport lounge which I thought was great news, yep.
Mark Faldmo:So American Express has airport lounges called Centurion lounges. There are currently 30 Centurion lounges in their system. To get into a Centurion lounge you have to be an American Express Platinum club holder or if you have a Delta Reserve card and are flying on Delta, you can also access most Centurion lounges. I have the plan.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wait, which card do I have?
Mark Faldmo:You have the Reserve card. Yeah, the.
Patrick Wiscombe:Reserve card. Yeah, so that's how we get into the Salt Lake International Airport, so we'll be able to do either one now.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so you'll be able to access the lounge in Concourse B, the Centurion Lounge. Oh, so they're going to the other concourse? Yeah, so that'll be in the B side, where most of the other airlines are at, and so there are a lot of flyers with the other airlines that do have the American Express Platinum card, so that gives them access to a lounge in the B concourse.
Patrick Wiscombe:Do they say when?
Mark Faldmo:it's going to open. It will open sometime in 2025. How do most people get into lounges.
Mark Faldmo:There are a few ways to get into lounges. Most people do it either through just purchasing one on the airline they fly or through credit card access. American Express we talked about the reserve card gets you access to the Sky Club. Citibank has several cards. I have an American Advantage card through Citibank which gets me lounge access to American Airlines. Then there's also just credit card lounges. We talked about the Centurion Lounge by American Express. Capital One also has lounges across the country that they've put in. And then there's Priority Pass, which has lounges all around the world. Priority Pass, I briefly mentioned, has three different tiers the occasional traveler, the regular traveler and the frequent traveler. So there's range anywhere from $50 a year to $400 a year and that just gives you access to a certain number of times or a certain level of access within the club if you go with the priority pass. But again, most people just buy the airline they fly or get it through one of the airline's credit cards.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you can afford it. Lounging is a pretty good way to travel if you can do it.
Mark Faldmo:It is, I love it pretty good way to travel.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you can do it, it is, I love it. You're going to be charged hundreds of dollars if you are traveling with a laptop and an iPad when you go to Mexico. What is that about?
Mark Faldmo:There are several countries that have similar rules to this, but when entering Mexico, you're only allowed one personal electronic device Phone doesn't count, but a laptop, a tablet of some sort. So, an iPad or tablet counts as a personal device. So, if you travel into Mexico with a laptop and a tablet, they could charge you taxes 20% of the value of one of those electronic devices. Ooh, they have random searches. Actually, last time I was there, I was randomly searched this did not happen to me, but Cancun Airport in particular, which is where I was but is known to charge people to really enforce that rule and charge the 20% value of one of your electronic devices.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wow.
Mark Faldmo:There have been people go through there that have that and they've been charged more than 3,500 pesos, which is about 180 to $200, depending on the conversion rate. So you really have to watch that. Make sure they're traveling with someone, which that's probably why I didn't get charged, because that tablet could have been my wife's but if you're traveling alone and have multiple devices, that could be a problem.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wow, I have never heard that one.
Mark Faldmo:I've never heard of it being enforced, but there's been a couple of stories, particularly relating to Cancun. So just watch that when traveling to Mexico, and Cancun in particular, and also it's wise to just check with the country you're visiting. There are over a hundred countries that have a similar law in effect.
Patrick Wiscombe:And you can help people with that. You can probably just look that up. Okay, all right. Yep, always in segment two of the show, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, which is regardless of the show. We've got the hot travel deal of the week, which is regardless of the destination. It just so happens that we are talking about Mexico. Where are we going specifically?
Mark Faldmo:We're going to go to Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta is one of my favorite places. The reason why I chose Puerto Vallarta this time is because Mexico is really pushing getting into its indigenous peoples' traditions. A few weeks ago we talked about the 180 or so magic towns that they're pushing. They're really trying to get people to experience some of the local indigenous festivals. Two of those festivals are Dia de los Muertos, day of the Dead, which is big all over the country, but particularly in Puerto Vallarta, and other festivals that they are pushing are the solstice and equinox celebrations. So in Cancun, like in Chichen Itza a lot of the Mayan ruins there's big festivals around the summer solstice and equinox celebrations. So I chose Puerto Vallarta because it's a great place for Day of the Dead. The main celebrations are November 1st and 2nd. I think it officially starts at midnight on October 31st, so you know it corresponds with Halloween. You know, I think a lot of people kind of relate Day of the Dead to Halloween, but it is a separate festival in many Latin American countries.
Mark Faldmo:So I looked at a trip that was roundtrip airfare from Salt Lake City. Again, as we always say, if you're flying from another city we can look at that. We have listeners all over the country, but most of our audience is in Salt Lake City. Five Nights Hotel and airport transportation In Mexico. I like to start off at four star and above hotels. There are hotels that are less than this, but again, I think four star is a nice, comfortable starting point, and these are all all-inclusive hotels, so they include all of your meals and drinks. The first hotel is the four star Rue Jalisco. It starts at $11.29 per person. This was for a November 28th departure and for five nights. The two hotels that I would really recommend staying are right close to downtown Puerto Vallarta, where most of the Day of the Dead festivities take place, and that first one is four-star Buena Ventura Grand Hotel, which starts at $1,369. And the Villa Premier Boutique Hotel, which is a five-star, one of my favorite hotels in all of Mexico to stay at, starts at $2,069 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:And that's where you stayed when you were down there.
Mark Faldmo:That's where I stayed when I was there in May and I like both of those last two hotels, the Buena Ventura Grand and Villa Premier Boutique, because they're basically within walking distance of the Moluccan. Now, because of the Day of the Dead celebrations and their proximity to that, they're a little bit more expensive, but I think it is well worth it to visit these hotels. All-inclusive is the way to go, I think, in Mexico and also being in near that downtown area, even if it's not the Day of the Dead celebration, I love downtown Puerto Vallarta and the Malecon. Puerto Vallarta in general has some of the best sunsets that I've experienced, but walking along the Malecon with the street vendors and just the people watching everything about that, going to the main square downtown Puerto Vallarta, is just wonderful.
Patrick Wiscombe:The prices that you just gave are really good, but the question that I have for you is are there any specials that listeners need to be aware of these?
Mark Faldmo:were priced with a special promotion that's $200 off per package when booked by September 19th. Now this is to anywhere in Mexico, so you can use that promo code to Cabo, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, any of those main vacation destinations. But these prices did already include that $200 off.
Patrick Wiscombe:We'll take a break here to book that vacation to Mexico and save up to $200 per package. Call Mark in his office 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717 to book that awesome vacation to Mexico. By the way, Mexico is absolutely terrific. Coming up in the next segment, it is the infamous Just Cruising segment and I think we are going to Hawaii, and I'll have to find the Hawaiian music because we come back from break. We have to set the mood. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscomb. Thank you so much for allowing this to be part of your morning. He and I will be right back.
Show Voice:You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTveltalk. com. We'll be right back.
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Patrick Wiscombe:The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by blueplanetvacations. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice.
Show Voice:Helping you plan your next vacation. This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call us 801-649-3700 and 801-649-3700, and check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo every single time I hear this, it just puts a smile on my face because I know that we're headed to Hawaii. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside my good friend and owner of BluePlanetvacations. com, mark Faldmo. This segment is always the Just Cruising segment, so I'll just simply say all aboard, if you've always wanted to go to Hawaii, this is the segment that you want to tune into, and we're going to talk about two different ways to see Hawaii, one of which I have been on. In fact, I just got back in.
Patrick Wiscombe:When was it? Was it first part of March? First part of March, I think? Yeah, yeah, it was. But let's get to the cruise news of the week before we talk about Hawaii and how to go see the Hawaiian islands, I've noticed a trend in cruise ships. The trend is to either build large ships and when I say large, I mean icon of the seas. I'm 10,000 people, about 7,500 passengers plus about 2,500 crew members. What's more popular, large ships or small ships?
Mark Faldmo:There's about the same number of small ships being built compared to large ships, but we usually only hear about the big ships, like the icon of the seas. But there are smaller ships being built compared to large ships. But we usually only hear about the big ships, like the Icon of the Seas, but there are smaller ships being built. It really depends on the type of vacation you want. Big ships really do have a lot of bells and whistles. They're amazing. It's a great way to vacation. The smaller ships will get you into smaller, more unique ports. Ships will get you into smaller, more unique ports. Usually there'll be a little bit more personalized experience. So it kind of depends on the type of vacation you want. Obviously, the smaller ships don't hold as many people, so the big ships probably by purchasing are more popular. But I'm surprised at the number of smaller ships that are being purchased, like American Cruise Line.
Mark Faldmo:We've talked about this before. They have what's called their coastal cats, which basically sell the perimeter of the United States. They sell between the Northeast and down around Florida into Texas. So they have unique itineraries that kind of sell the coast of the US. American Cruise Lines also has some smaller ships in Alaska, on the smaller trend as well is Viking Cruises, which has the ocean voyages.
Mark Faldmo:They're building lots of these small ships that have about 800 passengers on board. So personally I like the smaller ships, just because you can get into more unique places, but there's a place for both large and small ships. Smaller ships are usually a little bit more expensive. A lot of those are more luxury pipelines or expedition which go to really unique places, but they're also like American Cruise Line is a higher end but it's still pretty fairly priced for what you're getting on those coastal cats. And I guess, if we want to throw into the mix, you know, river cruises, those ships are small and there's lots of river cruises ships coming out with the popularity of river cruising, which we're going to talk about in our next little news segment here. Those are also smaller ships that hold about 200 people.
Patrick Wiscombe:River cruising. I haven't done yet you have. Who have you sailed on?
Mark Faldmo:Well, I've sailed on Ama, Viking and Avalon Waterways, so I've sailed on three of them. I love the river cruising.
Patrick Wiscombe:I saw this story that river cruising is attracting a new group of travelers.
Mark Faldmo:Traditionally, river cruising has been mainly for older couples. River cruising now is attracting a lot more families, yes and a lot more solo or single travelers.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh really, when I think of river cruises, all I think about are older people, couples, married couples.
Mark Faldmo:Now they're branching out. The last couple of years Ama Waterways has had a partnership which they are continuing Adventures by Disney A great immersion experience for the children to be able to see the places that Adventures by Disney goes through waterways. And then also, many cruise lines are now starting to make it easier for solo single travelers to go by waiving that single supplement. So it's making it more affordable for the single travelers, affordable for the single travelers. River cruising is really starting to branch out. They're also adding a lot of new rivers. Traditionally it's been rivers in Europe and then also the Nile and the Mekong in Vietnam, but now they're adding rivers in Spain, rivers in South America. So you really have more of a worldwide options on river cruising now, more than you've ever had.
Patrick Wiscombe:Because of the Olympics and just how amazing Paris looked. One of the things that I absolutely want to do now is go river cruising in Paris. I didn't even think that there was a river right near the Eiffel Tower.
Mark Faldmo:The Seine River.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, the Seine, mm-hmm.
Mark Faldmo:You know, right through there Paris has some pretty interesting itineraries because they run between Paris and Normandy and so you can get that D-Day experience plus just some of those small picturesque French villages along the way.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, I could not believe how beautiful Paris was. I've always wanted to go there but the Olympics and I realized that they're putting on a TV show and Paris is putting its best foot forward. But wow, that was visually stunning. I was genuinely impressed going okay, all right, river cruise check. If we can get to Paris, let's go there.
Mark Faldmo:You know, because of the Olympics many of those river cruise companies have really increased the number of available cruises in the area. You know they've also added more cruises in the south of France as well. Just that whole Olympics just really propelled France to the forefront of travelers' minds.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, it's going to be busy there for a while, so I'm going to stay away for a little bit. Let me set the mood again. Always in segment three of the show is the cruise deal of the week, and we are talking about Hawaii and I personally have done this one. Hawaii, and I personally have done this one. You fly to Hawaii, you cruise the islands for seven days on NCL. The name of the ship is the pride of America, and I think that this is taking off December 14th. But let's talk about the um a couple of different ways to see.
Mark Faldmo:Hawaii. So cruising is becoming more and more popular in Hawaii. Personally, the best way is this NCL Norwegian cruise where you fly to Hawaii and then seven-day a itinerary around the islands Another way that you can do it. You know a lot of people don't like that long flight. There are 14 to 16 day cruises that are round trip from either San Diego, Los Angeles or San Francisco, so you can go round trip from the west coast to the Hawaiian Islands and I've got a deal on both of those, both of them in December.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's fly to Hawaii first and then cruise the islands on NCL's Pride of America. Let's fly to Hawaii first and then cruise the islands on.
Mark Faldmo:NCL's Pride of America. On Norwegian, this is a December 14th, great day of the week, that's my birthday.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is that why you chose?
Mark Faldmo:it. No, I chose it because it's a really good deal offer on this, so you know. So round trip Honolulu and you could go into Honolulu a few days early just to see Oahu. The thing I like about this is it has an overnight in Maui. It's there from 8 am to 6 pm, Then it has two stops on the Big Island. You have a day in Hilo and you have a day in Kona area.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yep. The two ports are separated by about what about? A 90 minute, two hour car ride, but you get two different days on the two different parts of the island.
Mark Faldmo:And then it also has an overnight in Maui, with two full days in Maui. Compared to most cruises, you get a lot of port time on these. And then you know even the two different ports in Kauai. They're vastly different in what you get there. You know Hilo. You have access to the volcano, some of the amazing waterfalls that are in the area. On Kona, you have access to great beaches and some of the cultural sites that are there. Also great shopping in Kona as well.
Patrick Wiscombe:Before we transition to the 16-day cruise out of one of the California ports how much is NCL's Pride of America? How much is the flight and the cruise?
Mark Faldmo:So for this sailing I chose it because December is typically a really good time for prices going to Hawaii. An inside cabin starts at $1,027 per person. That includes all of the taxes and fees. But I think even better is the balcony rate that starts at $1,760 per person. Now usually those balcony rates are approaching $3,000 plus for this cruise per person. Now usually those balcony rates are approaching 3000 plus for this cruise per person. So this is a great rate for the balcony cabins on this cruise and I think it's one of the best ways to see all of the Hawaiian islands Economically. If you were to fly and do all of this, you'd spend much more.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh yeah, yeah, I didn't think that there would be that much difference between the islands. There is a huge difference between all of the islands, which just floored me. I had no idea. Spend the money, get the balcony, because as you're cruising, you can just watch the ever-changing ocean views. It is spectacular, you will not be disappointed. You might have a little bit of sticker shock when you get it, but when you get there and you just forget the price, it's like oh yeah, okay, this is why I like being here. All right now let's talk about the 16-day cruise from San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego.
Mark Faldmo:This one is on Princess and it's a 16-day cruise from Los Angeles, departing on December 3rd. And it's a 16-day cruise from Los Angeles, departing on December 3rd. The prices on that an inside cabin starts at $1,409 and a balcony cabin starts at $1,879. Wow, that's cheap. Again, that's including all of your taxes and fees. That's amazing. It is, you know, going to want to enjoy Days at Sea, because there are, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine Days at Sea of the 16 days, yep. And then it visits Honolulu, Kauai, Maui and Hilo, and then also, at the tail end, it does need to get its international port in. So it visits Ensenada, Mexico, for the day.
Patrick Wiscombe:So you can get off in Ensenada if you want to.
Mark Faldmo:You can get off in Ensenada. There's a law in the US that you have to have an international port or you have to meet certain rules. The Norwegian ship meets that with the American crew ship built in America, but the other cruise lines don't have any ships that currently meet the rules needed to sail round-trip Hawaii.
Patrick Wiscombe:I can't recommend it enough. Go to Hawaii. If you haven't been there, go Quit talking about it, it just go do it. Call Mark, book the cruise, call him during the break 888-718-7717 888-718-7717. Or you can go to blueplanetvacations. com. When we come back we've got Mark's travel tips and we're also going to talk about the best cruise lines for family-friendly Halloween sailings and we're going to explain the why behind airline safety rules. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday and Sunday mornings. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, he and I will be right back.
Show Voice:If you have travel questions, they have the answers. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
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Show Voice:They'll help you plan and book your next vacation. Yeah, really, you're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by bluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And now here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Final segment of this week's Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. We are helping you get out and explore the world. We are presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, and the owner of said company, mark Faldmo, one of my friends, one of my best friends joins me for the show each and every Saturday right here on 860 AM KKAT. They are the newest radio station in the growing stable of radio stations. Our thanks to Tom Spangler for getting us on the air. Our thanks to Tom Spangler for getting us on the air. Coming up in this final segment of the show, we are going to talk about all of the travel deals that we've talked about in the first three segments of the show, and we've also got Mark's travel tips, and I thought this was kind of an interesting news story. I'm going to ask a question of the audience. Obviously, I won't be able to hear their answer, but do you know how to fly safely? Well, that's what we're going to answer the why behind airline safety rules.
Mark Faldmo:And, mark, let's start there A lot of people, when they're boarding a flight, see the safety briefing card, see the safety briefing presentation, but most people don't pay attention to those. If you remember, captain Sully, the miracle on the Hudson where that plane landed, they interviewed all of the passengers and only six passengers, or some small number of passengers, looked at the safety briefing card in the seat back and most passengers said they didn't pay attention to the safety briefing. I fly a lot. I see these videos a couple times a day sometimes, but they are important to pay attention to.
Mark Faldmo:People question some of the things, sometimes hear jokes about put your mask on before helping others and people wonder why they do that. And the reason is because if you're at altitude and the airplane depressurized, you have a matter of seconds before you pass out. Helping yourself before helping others is critical and a lot of people just disregard this. Putting your seat backs up and your tray tables up for takeoff and landing A lot of people do disregard. The flight attendant will come by and tell them to put their seat backs up. They'll put it up and then put it back down.
Mark Faldmo:That's critical because in an emergency, if you need to evacuate the airplane, the seat backs and tray tables can get in the way of evacuation. Some interviews with flight attendants have said people that just put things at their feet and don't fully push it under the seat in front of them. That's another tripping hazard. And then in the event of emergencies, where the rare case is that that happens, some people have taken personal belongings and luggage off the plane when they have to evacuate the plane and that again is a no-no where seconds can matter. That can hamper yourself and other people from getting off of the airplane. I guess my message with this segment is pay attention to the safety briefing, because seconds do matter.
Patrick Wiscombe:I saw this story that Delta and Collins Aerospace are going to unveil new seats for wheelchair users.
Mark Faldmo:It's actually a seat where kind of works like in a bus, where the actual seat itself folds up and then the wheelchair can roll in its place and the wheelchair is then strapped down so the user can stay in their wheelchair. Obviously, there's only certain places of the plane where that can happen and the front bulkhead are up towards the front of the seat and where there's room to get that in there, you know. But as you mentioned, there is some things going through the government to try and make flying more accessible. The one thing restrooms are not accessible on airplanes, oh my goodness. No, there are companies trying to make strides in this to make flying more accessible.
Patrick Wiscombe:It needs to happen and I realize that it takes up precious space. Anyone who has mobility issues. I can't even imagine how terrible it would be trying to go to the bathroom. Yes, some of those bathrooms are just like coffins there is no room to turn around.
Mark Faldmo:I don't know how they're going to work out the bathroom situation without taking several rows of seats but, some of the larger planes that probably is possible the wide body planes. There's room to do something with the restrooms and with these seats to get more wheelchair-accessible flights.
Patrick Wiscombe:Frontier Airlines CEO is pushing for regulation of airport wheelchair service due to rampant abuse.
Mark Faldmo:That's his word and this has been something that's kind of been an ongoing thing ever since airlines introduced that you have to pay to check your baggage.
Mark Faldmo:People are checking on more cabin baggage, which means some people don't get it, but those that board during the special needs or the wheelchair boarding do get it.
Mark Faldmo:Now there are legitimately people that do need wheelchairs, but Frontier Airlines did track this and they said it's interesting that for every 20 passengers that need a wheelchair to get on the plane, only three would use them to get off the plane, which means they are abusing that and that costs the airline money. If 20 people get on with wheelchair assistance, that means there are 20 people from the wheelchair companies at the gate waiting for people who never show up, so that means other people that may legitimately need wheelchair assistance. For instance, this past week I've been on six flights and the announcement getting off on four of those six. We only have two wheelchairs here now. If you need a wheelchair, wait and we'll call when we have other wheelchairs here. Oh wow, so those services are being stretched. I do think there needs to be some way to stop that abuse of the wheelchair system, because a lot of those people are only using it so they can pre-board the airplane to have a place for their luggage.
Patrick Wiscombe:There are some cruise lines that have family friendly Halloween sailings. Who are those companies?
Mark Faldmo:Well, most of the cruise lines have something going for Halloween, but there are some that do it better than others. It's Disney Cruise Line, yeah, Disney, yeah. Their theme parks are known for what they do around Halloween time and on the cruise ships they have Halloween on the high seas. All of the characters are in Halloween costumes and they have special things for kids to do. The sailings begin in September and go through the first part of November on Disney Cruise Line.
Patrick Wiscombe:Have you ever been to Disneyland or one of the Disney parks? At Halloween, I have, it's fun.
Mark Faldmo:It's fun.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's genuinely impressive.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, they do a great job. I've not experienced Disney Cruise Line at Halloween, but I'm sure it's just as good as the theme parks. Another one that does it good throughout the whole month of October is Carnival Cruise Lines. They have a special character that comes out called Patch the Pumpkin Pirate. You know, for the kids on October 31st they have special Halloween desserts. They also do some version of trick-or-treating on board for the kids on Carnival. I've also seen that on Norwegian cruise lines. Then the other one that does it really good is Royal Caribbean. Now, for the most part they don't do the whole month of October Any sailing. On October 31st they have crew and everyone is encouraged to be in costume. They decorate the ship. It goes all out themed for Halloween and the kids club during that week is all about Halloween. They have the kids help decorate the ship and do different fun things like that for the kids.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's talk about the new itinerary to sail the Danube.
Mark Faldmo:This is a new itinerary on AmaWaterways. Amawaterways is my favorite and preferred river cruise company. I like them all, but I think Ama does it best and they've actually started doing something pretty interesting, which is a Danube River cruise. That's round-trip Budapest. Typically, you would go from Budapest to Germany and end there. This one gets most of the same areas in, but it just does it in a round-trip fashion. What this itinerary is is you start in Budapest, you go to Bratislava in Slovakia, Then you do scenic cruising in the Wachau Valley and also visit the Melk Abbey, which is probably one of the spots I remember most on the Danube. It's just a small little town. You go up to an abbey up on top of the mountain Just amazing.
Patrick Wiscombe:What's an abbey? I'm not sure Abbey, yeah, I don't think I've ever heard that.
Mark Faldmo:Like a monastery, oh okay, or an unary, so it's a church monastery, similar to that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, hence Westminster Abbey. Okay, got it. I'm up to speed. I didn't take my pep pills this morning, okay.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, up to speed, I didn't take my pep pills this morning, okay, yeah. And then it continues on to Linz, which is a UNESCO city for the arts. From Linz you can do a day trip to Salzburg, see the sound of music scenery. Then it goes to Vienna. It actually overnights in Vienna, so you spend two full days in Vienna and then it heads back to Budapest for overnight in Budapest. Wow, it's a seven night, eight day itinerary. This one makes it a little bit easier because of the airfare. Sometimes flying into one and then coming home from another city can be a little bit hard, but where this is, round trip, Budapest just makes for a great itinerary. And again, these start in 2025 and 2026. It's just another option for river cruises in Europe and on the Danube River.
Patrick Wiscombe:Before we take off, let's recap all of the destinations that we've discussed. Let's go to the hot travel deal of the week. We went to Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, specifically. Let's recap that offer first.
Mark Faldmo:And we went there for the Day of the Dead celebration, which is November 1st and 2nd. The five nights packages Starting at $11.29 per person. That includes round trip airfare from Salt Lake City, Five nights hotel and transportation, and again from other cities. We can price that out as well. And then my favorite hotel, the one I'd recommend, is the Villa Premier Boutique Hotel. It's a five-star hotel and it starts at $2,069 per person for the same round-trip airfare, five-nights hotel and transportation. All of those options are all-inclusive options, which include all of your food and drink.
Patrick Wiscombe:And when do they have to have that booked by?
Mark Faldmo:There is a special promotion which is save up to $200 per package booked by September 19th. Now I will say you'll want to do that sooner rather than later if you want to do the Day of the Dead, because that is a pretty popular time in Puerto Vallarta.
Patrick Wiscombe:And then in segment three always in segment three, it's the just cruising segment, and we talked about the Hawaiian islands, where you either you fly to Hawaii and then cruise the island for seven days, or you can do a 16 day cruise that takes off from San Francisco, los Angeles or San Diego, goes all the way to the Hawaiian islands and then it comes back.
Mark Faldmo:Seven day cruise on Norwegian is one of my favorite ways to see the Hawaiian islands. That starts at $1,029 per person for the seven day cruise, or the balcony cabin is $1,029 per person for the seven-day cruise, or the balcony cabin is $1,760 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Nicky and I when we went, we paid double that. So this is a phenomenal offer.
Mark Faldmo:It is yeah. And then the other one we mentioned was the 16-day round trip from Los Angeles on December 3rd. Inside cabin starts at $1,409 per person. That, that's less than a hundred dollars per person per day. Great value, oh yeah. And then the balcony cabin started 1879 per person take advantage of these offers.
Patrick Wiscombe:Call mark in his office as soon as we hang up, sorry as soon as we're off the air 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. You can also go to blueplanetvacations. com. One more time on the number. Don't want to be annoying, but 888-718-7717. Go out, explore the world. Get out while you can. You never know what curveball life is going to throw. You Do it while you can. Live your life intentionally, live your life deliberately and just remember today is a good day for a good day. Be sure to pick up the podcast On InsideTravelTalk. com. We are on all of the major podcast platforms. And happy anniversary, mark. That sounds like we're married. We're not. This is the 52nd episode Literally one year Of us doing this show, and it's great to be on In Salt Lake now finally AM860. Great to be on in Salt Lake now. Finally AM860 KKAT in Salt Lake City. Have a terrific weekend. You can catch an encore presentation of this show Sunday morning from 11 am to noon. Have a great weekend. We'll talk to you next Saturday morning.
Show Voice:That's it. That's the end of the show You've been listening to, the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by Blue Planet Vacations dot com. Book your adventure right now Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.