Inside Travel Talk
Explore Your World! The Inside Travel Talk Podcast is filled with destination information and travel, cruise and vacation tips and tricks. Its the Christmas catalogue of Travel! We are here to help you get out there and Explore Your World.
Inside Travel Talk
Soaring Journeys: Airline Insights, Hidden Cancun Deals, and Scandinavian Cruise Ventures
Ever wondered if your airline rewards are truly rewarding? Discover the latest investigation by the Department of Transportation into major airline rewards programs, and learn how you might be affected by the potential devaluation and market dominance issues. Plus, we'll reveal a game-changing update for globetrotters—renewing your passport online has never been easier. And for those dreaming of a Hawaiian getaway, find out what Alaska Airlines' acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines means for your next island adventure. We’ll also transport you to the breathtaking fall foliage, offering the best tips to savor this seasonal spectacle.
With unruly passenger fines soaring past $20 million since 2020, we unpack the frustrations of air travel and stress the importance of staying calm under turbulence. But it's not all stormy skies; we've got some sunny news, too. Imagine lounging at a luxurious five-star hotel in Cancun for a steal! We spotlight unbeatable all-inclusive deals for early December and recommend must-see excursions to the ancient archaeological wonders of Coba and Ekbalam.
Ready to set sail on the high seas? Get the scoop on the Norwegian Luna, launching in 2026, complete with cutting-edge features like a slide coaster and three-bedroom duplexes in the Haven. Explore new Scandinavian cruise itineraries and stay updated on the latest travel news, including a new cruise tax for visits to Santorini and Mykonos. Finally, we journey to Kansas City to uncover its rich tapestry of culture and history, from jazz and barbecue to museums and sports. Plus, we’ll discuss ongoing delays in Real ID enforcement and the critical role travel plays in connecting us to diverse communities. Tune in for an episode packed with valuable insights and travel inspiration!
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:Explore your world. 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 and check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:He is back from the great state of Missouri. Mark Faldmo, good to have you back. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday and Sunday mornings. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, and, if you are brand new to the show, the entire purpose of this show is to allow us to help you plan and book your next vacation, and we are on the air every Saturday and Sunday mornings right here in Salt Lake City from 860 KKAT at 11 o'clock in the morning, mountain time.
Patrick Wiscombe:This show is presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Coming up on this segment of the show, we will be putting the travel spotlight. It's my favorite time of year, the best ways to see the fall foliage, and we also have the hot travel deal of the week, regardless of the destination, the cruise deal of the week coming up in segment number three and, of course, we always have the travel news of the week. That is the rundown for this week's show for September 28th, 2024 and September 29th. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday and Sunday mornings and inviting us into your ears, regardless of what you're doing. Let's start with the travel news of the week. The Department of Transportation is investigating airline rewards programs. Anytime you start having investigations into programs, I'm kind of holding my breath. What's this about, mark?
Mark Faldmo:There's kind of two angles. The first one is some of the smaller airlines, like Spirit Air, have been complaining that the larger airlines have too much of a hold on their main markets because of frequent flyer miles. They can't break in to markets because all of the passengers are so loyal to the dominant airline in the market. That's one angle. I think the main reason why the Department of Transportation launched this is because they're looking at the devaluation of the programs, especially in the last couple of years, which we've talked about that regularly, about how Delta Airlines has devalued their program. Other airlines have done similar things on that.
Mark Faldmo:I heard someone on one of the financial shows I was watching saying that frequent flyer miles now are part of people's retirement plans because they build them up and they want to use those in retirement. And so the Department of Transportation has requested records from American Delta, Southwest and United, trying to see if the devaluation in the past couple of years has been, if there's been too many changes in those. It used to be a long time ago you would get your miles and a domestic ticket was 25,000 miles, a ticket to Mexico was 35, a ticket to Europe was 50,000. And now there are all of these different pricing schemes that it does make it harder to redeem miles. You know Southwest kind of locked in their redemption based on the current price. So it was just each frequent flyer point you have is worth X amount of dollars. So if the ticket was $300, they would convert that into point.
Patrick Wiscombe:The Delta Sky miles. They've made massive, massive changes just in the year that we've been doing this show. Clearly, we're going to have updates to this story as it unfolds and, like usual, anything the government does, it's going to take years to undo. So stay tuned. Over the course of a year, the State Department, their online passport renewal is fully operational. This is so good for travelers.
Mark Faldmo:It is. You know, if you were renewing a passport that had been expired in years past, you'd have to basically apply for a new passport, and now, through this online program, there's always been some version of being able to renew your passport online, but I think this is fully online where you don't have to send your passport back in, so it's going to make it a lot easier and you can renew. If you've had an adult 10-year passport that has expired in the past five years, you can renew it, so you don't have to start over again, as long as you have that information on your old passport and it has not been expired for more than five years.
Patrick Wiscombe:Alaska Air has officially closed on their acquisition I think it was an acquisition, not a merger of Hawaiian Airlines.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so this is a story that we have been following because the merger with JetBlue and Spirit was denied by the Department of Transportation. So this is one that they announced it. They have to get the DOT approval and they actually did get the approval for that merger a few weeks ago. I think this will be good for travel to the state of Hawaii. It opens up a lot more markets and feeder markets to what Hawaiian Airlines route system was. So they are going to operate as separate airlines. So there still will be an Alaska Airlines. There still will be a Hawaiian Airlines. For the time being they're going to operate two different websites, but you will be able to book Alaska on Hawaiian's site and, vice versa, book Hawaiian on Alaska's site. They still need to go through some other FAA approvals to get a single operating certificate, but once that's done they'll start merging their systems more and more.
Patrick Wiscombe:It is time for the destination of the week and we're just featuring America, just the whole thing we are. This is my favorite time of year this weekend literally here in Salt Lake anyway is peak colors when it comes to the trees changing colors. It is bright, it is beautiful, it is truly magnificent. As I look at my office to the east, mount Timpanogos is absolutely on fire, not literal fire, but just color fire. We want to talk about the different ways to see the fall foliage, whether it be by car, driving up American Fort Canyon, in my case, bus, cruise ship, which some people just don't even think about and, of course, a train Rocky Mountaineer would be spectacular right now. So let's talk about the best fall foliage train rides here in the United States for 2024.
Mark Faldmo:My grandmother started off doing bus tours around the country, and a big one that they had was the fall colors tour. The problem with that is you have to plan these trips several months in advance and you don't know when the peak season is. So now most of these are fall foliage and you just have to hope you hit it at the right time when you do these, so probably the way most people see it is by car. There are lots of places in communities where you know you can go up, like you mentioned, American Fork Canyon, heather and I did that this past weekend. We actually also did Guardsman's Pass the following day Heather loves the fall colors.
Mark Faldmo:So, we usually take some full days and drive around and see that. But there are some companies like Globus We've talked about Globus in the past that does some northeastern US tours. Oh yeah, oh Maine.
Patrick Wiscombe:Fulage. I've been in Connecticut, Greenwich, New Haven, when the leaves are starting to change.
Mark Faldmo:the northeast is amazing because it's just so lush up there, yeah, and then you know, as you mentioned, a lot of people don't even think about cruise ships, no-transcript. The country Mount Washington Cog Rail Train, which is in New Hampshire this was actually the world's first mountain climbing cog railway and it goes up that historic Mount Washington and when you're at the top there there's an hour layover. At the top of the summit you can explore the observatory, which you have views of five states plus Canada and the Atlantic Ocean, from the top of that. Wow, that's spectacular. The Rocky Mountaineer, a rock east of the Red Rocks, it runs through mid to the end of October and you know that's the one I mentioned. I did just a few weeks ago.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, wasn't that the start of September?
Mark Faldmo:It was the start of September, yeah, and so you know, I can only imagine that, in the colors you know, climbing up through the Rocky Mountains, going through the Aspens, it's probably a blaze of yellow.
Patrick Wiscombe:I don't know how to describe fall in New England. It is just different. It's beautiful. Here in Salt Lake it is just as beautiful. It's even more beautiful in the East. There's something about fall and I realize that I'm saying that it's my favorite time of year, but there's I just don't get tired of looking at the trees change colors and I realize that there's basically four colors that leaves become. But when you see nature paint it and I'm going to sound like a total rock licker when I say this you just don't get tired of seeing it. The way nature just paints is pretty spectacular.
Mark Faldmo:It is. Yeah, on our Heather and I's drive this past weekend there are some brilliant reds which we haven't seen in a few years around here. Yeah, on our Heather and I's drive this past weekend there are some brilliant reds which we haven't seen in a few years around here. Yeah, it's amazing what nature is giving us. There are two kind of last trains that I'd throw in there. One is the 1880 train, which is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and then the Durango-Silverton train in Southern Colorado. They'll probably have some really good fall colors as well, and I've been lucky enough I've done most of these trains that we talked about. I didn't know that I enjoy train rides, but I've never done them in the fall.
Patrick Wiscombe:You've been saying that for the past year I love trains, and maybe we should just say it this way I love trains. Yeah, all right, we're going to take a break here. When we come back, we've got the hot travel deal of the week. That is regardless of the destination. And where are we going this week? Are we going to Mexico, Cancun?
Mark Faldmo:We're going to go to Cancun, Mexico.
Patrick Wiscombe:Awesome, One of my favorite places? Yes, it is. If you haven't experienced fall on a train, the gentle incline, the gentle decline of a train 2% incline or decline, it is something special. Book it with Mark. Call his office. It's open Monday through Friday. His office number is 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. Cancun is next. Mark and I will be right back.
Show Voice: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.
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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:We are helping you get out and explore your world. You are listening to the inside travel talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, the owner of blue planet vacations. com, alongside Mark Faldmo, the owner of blueplanetvacations. com, and if you're just joining us in this segment, the entire purpose of this show is to help you plan and book your next vacation, whether that's one of the vacations that he and I talk about on the show or you just want to go out and explore the world on your own. But you need a little guidance. You have found the right place.
Patrick Wiscombe:Every Saturday and Sunday mornings at 11 am Mountain Time on 860 KKAT, coming up in this segment of the show, we have the hot travel deal of the week. We are talking about going to Cancun, Mexico. We'll get to that here in just a second, but before we do, we always have the travel news of the week right at the very top of each segment, and I thought that this was come on people. It's one of those stories where TikTok first of all, all I have to say is TikTok and TikTok challenge TikTok. Tourists are causing real problems with the Temple Run, which, by the way, is a fun and fantastic game, but they're pulling some kind of a stunt at the ancient Angkor Wat in Cambodia. What's that about?
Mark Faldmo:This story kind of goes back to things we've talked about in the past is why do we travel? My version of why we travel is to explore different lands, explore different cultures, and some of these TikTok trends are really causing some issues with local people and also just other tourists that are trying to enjoy the site. What this TikTok challenge is people are running around filming themselves jumping over things and trying to recreate scenes from that game Slide under trees, jump over rocks Angkor.
Mark Faldmo:Wat is a spiritual site for those in Cambodia. You wouldn't do the same thing and say St Peter's in Vatican City. A lot of these other places and a lot of the locals just fear that people are disrespecting their cultural sites. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it has huge spiritual significance to Cambodians.
Patrick Wiscombe:This next story kind of ties into what we just talked about unruly passenger fines, and we're talking about passengers plural, not just a passenger. Unruly passenger fines top $20 million.
Mark Faldmo:What is going on? We've probably all seen the news stories about passengers disrupting flights, but the Federal Aviation Administration has fined unruly passengers more than $20 million for bad behavior since 2020. Just to give you an idea of how bad it's become in 2019, the agency fined about $400,000 in total fines In 2020, despite not very many people traveling in 2020, because of the pandemic, that had jumped to the $600,000. But in 2021, it shot up to $5 million. Oh boy, In 2022, it was $8 million and in 2023, it remained about that same $8 million.
Patrick Wiscombe:One of the things that people don't know about you is that you've traveled basically. Is it 4 million miles? Now I'm probably past 4 million miles. Okay, have you ever had anyone get deplaned?
Mark Faldmo:before. I've never seen anyone deplaned. I have seen incidents where flight attendants have to deescalate situations between passengers, but I've never seen anyone de-planed. Apparently, it is happening to some pretty hefty fines fairly regularly. I know the airport can be sometimes a little frustrating for people getting through the airport. Flights can be delayed. There's frustrations in travel. Although I look at it as I'm going somewhere fun, yeah, and I personally love the airport and I love airplanes. I'm probably one of those weird people that I don't think you are. I'm excited to show up to the airport, despite what could happen with delays and lost luggage, all of that. I just think people need to calm down a little. Just realize they're going somewhere fun, I guess, unless you're going for business, but then you're going to make money.
Mark Faldmo:So either way it's a great place to be.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the hot travel deal of the week. Let me reset the mood with the, the South American music here. We are going to Cancun, Mexico, and we've got some terrific deals to Cancun. So stay tuned here for the next few minutes. And if you've ever thought about going, this is one of Mark's favorite places to go and he knows everything there is to know about Cancun. And but let's start kind of basic on this one, let's talk about what all-inclusive means when it comes to traveling to Cancun.
Mark Faldmo:A lot of people think all-inclusive means flight and hotel. It actually means much more than that. All-inclusive also includes all of your meals and drinks at the resorts you're going to, and it think all-inclusive is the way to go All your drinks, all your beverages and some activities at the hotels.
Patrick Wiscombe:What about transportation? Does that include that as well?
Mark Faldmo:These also include transportation from the airport to the hotel. Really, you could buy one of these all-inclusive packages and not spend another dime there. We go.
Patrick Wiscombe:I would rather have that than just the continual nickel and diming.
Mark Faldmo:I chose the December 11th departure date and we're kind of taking a little different angle on this. Those first two weeks of December after Thanksgiving are really some of the best times to travel and this week we're focusing all on five-star only hotels. There we go Now. When we talk about Mexico, we generally say three-star and above, or even lately we've been saying four-star and above. But if you travel these first two weeks of December you can get those five-star hotels down around what the three-star hotels are going for other times of the year.
Patrick Wiscombe:And what some people don't know is that the first two weeks of December and you've been saying this for over a year is that the first two weeks of December is the time to travel. It's one of the best times of the entire year to go someplace.
Mark Faldmo:It is. That's when you find really the best cruise rates, the best travel rates, best airfare rates, because not a lot of people are traveling during that time, so there's some really good prices there. These packages that we're going to talk about are Five Nights Hotel, round Trip Airfare from Salt Lake City If you're listening on the podcast from other cities we can price this out for you Transportation between the airport and hotel and includes all taxes and fees, and this is per person, based on double occupancy. The first hotel is a relatively new hotel. It's called the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun. Beautiful property it is, and five-star price out at $1,099 per person Wow.
Mark Faldmo:That stayed at this hotel. I enjoy this hotel. The next hotel is and this one's a little bit different it's the Park Royale Beach Club five-star hotel. Again, it's $1,099 per person. Now, this one is actually in the hotel zone of Cancun, so it's in a little bit different location than the rest of these. And then the last two hotels that we'll talk about are probably close to my favorite two hotels in the area. One is the Margaritaville Island Reserve, oh yeah, which starts at $1319 per person. If you like that Jimmy Buffett kind of relaxed, high-end beach experience, but it's relaxed at the same time. Margaritaville is the place for you. And then El Dorado Seaside Palms five-star resort, $1399 per person. We've talked about El Dorado resorts. The reason why I like the Seaside Palms is it's just really relaxed Mexican luxury. This just really relaxed Mexican luxury. The resort is called the Seaside Palms because it's by the sea and there are palm trees everywhere.
Patrick Wiscombe:Your top three excursions in Cancun. What do you recommend?
Mark Faldmo:The first is to visit an archaeological site. My favorite two places are Coba and Ekbalam. Coba I like because it's kind of in the jungle and the best way to get back to see the ruins is to either rent a bike or hire a pedicab to take you back there. And Ekbalam is a newer one for me that I just first went to this year, but it has actually parts of the pyramids that you can go into or that have been uncovered, so you can see what it's like inside the pyramids and you can still climb on Ekbalam, where Koba.
Mark Faldmo:they closed that last year, maybe the year before, so Ekbalam you can still walk up because a good part of the display that they want you to see is halfway up one of the main pyramids. I think one of the most unique things I've done is called Rio Secreto, which is a cenote or an underground cave. So you get in a wetsuit, you go down through this little hole I barely fit into, but then you kind of wade or swim through this cave with stalactites, stalagmites. Cancun has some of the best snorkeling in the world. It has the second largest coral reef. I like some of the smaller places, like taking catamaran snorkel from Maroma Beach. There's some smaller boats you can take and have more of a personalized experience near Porto Morales or Tulum. Those are the ones I like. There's also some big snorkel parks.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, there's something you don't hear very often a snorkel park. A snorkel park, yeah yeah.
Mark Faldmo:So big snorkel parks, well, there's something you don't hear very often a snorkel park, a snorkel park, yeah yeah. So those snorkel parks are Shelha, which is amazing, although for me it's a little bit too commercial nowadays. I remember I went there when I was a young, young child, and there was not very many people there, so I like the other places like Maroma very many people there, so I like the other places like Maroma. Xelha has some pretty good snorkeling, and also Xcaret has some pretty good snorkeling, which are more of snorkel parks.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you've always wanted to go to Cancun, Mexico, and you want to stay at a five-star resort, especially the first two weeks of December, we've got the departure date December 11th December. We've got the departure date December 11th here in 2024, we've got the five-star Hyatt Ziva Riviera, Cancun for $1,099 per person, the Park Royale Beach Club for $1,099 per person, Margaritaville Island Reserve, also a five-star resort, for $1,319 per person, and the El Dorado Seaside Palms, which is a five-star resort for $1,399. All of this is all-inclusive five-nights hotel, round-trip air from Salt Lake City. If you're flying out of a different city, we can get those rates for you as well. It includes transportation between the airport and hotel and this includes all of the taxes and fees. And it is all of the taxes and fees and it is based on double occupancy.
Patrick Wiscombe:Call Mark in his office. They are open Monday through Friday 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. When we come back, it is the infamous Just Cruising segment. We've got the cruise news of the week and we are headed to Scandinavia. We've got a couple of really great deals that you need to listen to on NCL and MSC cruise lines.
Show Voice:That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues, mark and I will be right back you're listening to the inside travel talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by blue planet vacations. 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 InsideTravelTalk. com you by Ammo Waterways.
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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:This is 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 now here are your hosts Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:All aboard for segment number three, the infamous Just Cruising segment, right here on the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, and, if you are just joining us here at the bottom of the hour after the Fox News update, the entire purpose of this show is to help you plan and book your next vacation and we are on the air every Saturday and Sunday mornings at 11 am Mountain Time and we are presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Mark is the owner of the company and at the bottom of every hour, each and every week, we've got the cruise deal of the week and coming up in this segment, we are going to talk about Scandinavian cruises with. The best time is to cruise to Scandinavia and probably one of the more unique 12-day NCL cruises. I've seen where we go from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Reykjavik, Iceland, very cool. And then we've got a seven-day cruise on one of MSC's ships which is round trip from Copenhagen.
Patrick Wiscombe:We'll get to that here in this segment, but before we get there, let's start with the cruise news of the week. I said this to you this week that NCL's new brand new for 2026,. Their ship is going to be called the Norwegian Luna. First of all it just visually looks amazing. I think it's the fourth ship in the Prima class that is coming out, but anyway, my point being, it is a beautiful ship and they're now starting to sell some of these vacations on the Norwegian Luna.
Mark Faldmo:It's actually the second ship in what they're calling Prima Plus, because it is 10% larger than the original Norwegian Prima.
Patrick Wiscombe:So they're supersizing it.
Mark Faldmo:They're supersizing it. So the Norwegian Prima and the Norwegian Viva each have about 3,200 guests. These ones will have almost 3,600 guests on board, so they're a little bit bigger in passenger size and in ship size. I've sailed on the Norwegian Prima. The technology that's going into these new ships is amazing. The guest experience, the shows that they're putting in them. It just makes me excited to want to cruise, looking at all of the things that they put into these cruise ships.
Patrick Wiscombe:And you can't say that you have not been on a cruise, because what many people do not know about you is that you've been on over 150 cruises. So if you're saying I'm ready to jump on another boat, that's saying a lot.
Mark Faldmo:I know a lot of people like cruising but I can do either at the drop of a hat. If someone says want to go on a cruise tomorrow, I'll do whatever I can to make it there and go on the cruise. That is true, yeah, and so some of the features of this new cruise they're going to have what's called a slide coaster. It's a hybrid roller coaster and water slide, which they're also going to have on the Aqua, which is a sister ship, and the attraction that's a three-story quest around the ship's funnel and one of the unique things that Norwegian is adding to these newer ships. The Luna talked about the Haven, which is kind of a keyed entry, kind of luxury, high end.
Mark Faldmo:Oh yeah, they are now introducing a three bedroom duplex in the Haven.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yes, I saw that and I was like this is like the perfect family suite on this ship.
Mark Faldmo:It is, and I think it's aft-facing yeah, so they're going to have two of those, and where they're in the haven, those also come with their own restaurants in the haven. They have special perks for haven guests. But the rooms themselves are going to have separate living areas, separate dining areas, three bathrooms, balcony and then the three bedrooms in those three bedroom duplets rooms Very comfortable. This ship again comes out in, I think, late April of 2026. The main places that will be sailing is the Western and Eastern Caribbean. You'll be doing sailings to Roatan, Honduras, costa Maya, Mexico, Cozumel, Mexico, and then Norwegian has a private island in Belize called Harvest Cay and that'll be seven-day Eastern Caribbean's, which will have Puerto Plata and the Dominican Republic, St Thomas and Great Stirrup Cay, which is their private island in the Bahamas. You can't go wrong.
Patrick Wiscombe:We'll just put it that way If you've never been to the Bahamas, but even if you have, and you know how great it is go again, especially on a new ship. Yes, I saw this news story that a cruise tax of 20 euro was announced if you're going to the Greek islands.
Mark Faldmo:Yep. So if your ship is visiting either Santorini or Mykonos during the high summer season months, the government is adding a 20 euro fee per person for each passenger visiting those islands. These two islands are really kind of trying to fight over tourism. They need money for some infrastructure. If you've ever been to Santorini, it's a volcanic island perched high and you either need to take a tram up to the top or walk up a cliff to get up to the main town, and they really need some better tourist infrastructure because they can't handle the number of guests they get per day. In fact, I think I've told you this story.
Mark Faldmo:When my wife and I were in Santorini, we were in the village of Oai, which is the famous village with the blue domed and whitewashed buildings. There were so many people there. She just said I can't do this. So we went and found a rooftop café and had olives and Coke. And now, whenever my wife and I are in a situation like that, she says I think this is an olive and Coke situation. So no one likes to pay more, but I do think this will eventually help in some additional tourism infrastructure and may actually keep a few cruise ships from going there. So if you do go there, it'll be a more enjoyable experience.
Patrick Wiscombe:There was also another news story that Oceana Cruises is adding gratuities to inclusive pricing.
Mark Faldmo:A lot of people may not know who Oceana is. I like to call them the country club cruise. So there are really kind of three types of cruising. There's the contemporary cruise lines, which is your Carnival, your Norwegian, your Princess, and then there's premium cruise lines and then there's luxury cruise lines. So Oceana would be in kind of the high-end, premium category. They're not quite luxury, but they're just right there on that cusp of being luxury. So that's what type of cruise line they are and they are adding gratuities to their inclusive pricing. They've always had all-inclusive pricing but they haven't included that gratuity yet. So now you'll have the gratuities which they're currently charging between $18 and $23 per person. So when this package comes into being, those will now be included in the cruise fare and that comes along with a shore excursion credit and a beverage package which is just sodas and juices. You're basically going to have an all-inclusive cruise minus alcohol.
Patrick Wiscombe:It is time for the cruise deal of the week and we are headed to Scandinavia. One of the first questions I wanted to ask you is when is the best time to cruise to Scandinavia?
Mark Faldmo:So Scandinavia kind of a lot like Alaska in those northern climates. A lot of people think the middle of summer. Now if you're purely looking for temperatures, yes, July is probably the best time to go. My favorite time to go to Scandinavia is middle of May to the first part of June. The reason why is because there's still snow melt from the higher elevations and there are so many waterfalls, particularly in the Norwegian fjords. The later in the season you get, the less water is coming into those waterfalls and so I think you just get better scenery. In that mid-May to first week or so of June you will obviously have a little bit cooler temperatures, but I think that's an okay trade-off to see the scenery for cooler temperatures. On that it's called a jacket, jackets and sweaters, dress in layers.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's talk about the 12-day cruise Copenhagen to Reykjavik. Let's fill in some of the details for listeners.
Mark Faldmo:This was one of the more unique cruises I've seen and for sure one of the more unique ones that does Scandinavia. It sells from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Reykjavik, Iceland, and the ports it visits is Kristiansand. Again, I told you I'm a train guy. They have an old steam train guy. They have an old steam train that just you know.
Mark Faldmo:A wonderful experience in Christian sand goes to a port called Malloy, and Malloy is a coastal town right at the entrance of the Nord Fjord Beautiful scenery. And then it visits one of my favorite ports, which is Allisand, which is, again it's right at the entrance of the Grainger Fjord. What I like about this one is it's a fishing village and so you know, as you're sailing in, you're sailing in with all of the other fishermen that are coming in. And one of the most beautiful points in the world, I think, is it's called the Troll Road and that is near Allisand. That's a switchback road that goes up to the top of a mountain, some of the best scenery you'll ever see. And then what I think makes this interesting is the next two ports. It goes to Honingstav, which is the far north of mainland Norway. It is the furthest north city on the European continent. And then the next port is Longyearbarn, and I'm probably not saying that correct, but it's an island owned by Norway and it is the furthest north settlement in the world.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh really.
Mark Faldmo:It only has a population of about 1,100 people, so there's probably not a lot to do there, but to get to that furthest north settlement in the world, so again those last two ports furthest north in Europe, then furthest north in the world, and then you cruise down to Iceland, with three stops in Iceland and ending in Reykjavik.
Patrick Wiscombe:That is spectacular Wow.
Mark Faldmo:That's why I think that's the most unique, and that again is a 12-day cruise. Inside cabins start at $1458 per person and balcony cabins at $2,538 per person. Those do include all of the taxes and fees, so that's everything all in for the cruise fare.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's quickly talk about the seven-day cruise round-trip Copenhagen on MSC's ships.
Mark Faldmo:So this one is a May 4, so it's early, and that starts at $1,048 per person or $1,378 per person for a balcony. I chose this one because it has my two favorite ports. So it leaves from Copenhagen and then visits Geiringer Fjord and the town of Geiringer, Alisund, which we just talked about, and then probably my favorite port in Norway is Flam. Then it goes to Kiel in Germany and ends back in Copenhagen on that.
Patrick Wiscombe:All right, we're going to take a break here. We're up against a hard break. If you are interested in any of those cruises, or a cruise that you just want to go on by yourself something that we haven't even talked about Call Mark in his office. He's open Monday through Friday, but write down the number 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. When we come back, I mentioned at the very top of the show that Mark is back from Kansas City. What a great, great place. He was able to go see a baseball game, because I was watching the same game with him, not in the stadium, but here at the house. Talk about Kansas City and we'll recap everything that we've talked about on the show and we've got some additional travel news that will be of interest to our listeners. That is next. We will be right back.
Show Voice:Explore your world. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. We'll be right back.
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Show Voice:This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call the show right now 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, and, if you are just joining us for this final segment of the show, all we do is talk travel and all we do all week long, professionally speaking, is help you get out and explore the world, and we want to help you plan and book your next vacation, if you're just joining us. Mark has flown over 4 million miles, he's been on over 150 cruises, he's basically spent his entire life traveling and he is the owner of blueplanetvacations. com and I am just his humble sidekick. If you are ready to travel, you have found the right show Coming up in this segment. We're going to talk about some of the things to do while you're in Kansas City, if if you're headed that direction or if you've even thought about going. But let's first start this segment with the travel news of the week, and I saw that Rome is considering a new entrance fee if you want to go see the Trevi Fountain.
Mark Faldmo:So this is part of that ever-growing list of attractions and destinations that are starting to charge tourism fees. They are hoping that this will make the experience of visiting Trevi Fountain a little bit.
Mark Faldmo:better Problems that they have are people that just linger and stay. They eat on the steps, they feed the pigeons. We talked a few months ago about a tourist that got arrested for jumping into the fountain and they were thinking of closing the site down to tourists. After that, Trevi found in Rome one of my favorite places to visit. It's not a lot. It's two euros, so about $2.25 at the current conversion rate there. Now, if you've ever been there, there are roads, mostly pedestrianized, that run around the fountain. Those would still be open. It's just the area. There's steps where you can sit and look at the fountain, where they're thinking about charging to go in to see that. So you get the best view of the fountain from there. Just be respectful to the places you're visiting. That's why a lot of these fees are taming into being.
Patrick Wiscombe:Just as a general observation, TSA is now saying that they want to delay full real ID. That's basically the yellow star or the yellow symbol that's on your driver's license. They are delaying, or they're asking to delay, enforcement of Real ID.
Mark Faldmo:If you don't know what Real ID is. This is something that came out of the 9-11 commission. How many years ago was that?
Patrick Wiscombe:That was what 20? No, it was over 23 years ago.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, 23 years ago. Well, the commission was a few years after oh, that's true, on 9-11. I think this was supposed to be first implemented in 2015. And this is probably the seventh announcement where they're bumping it back. And it's because Utah, where we're at, if you get a new driver's license, it's Real ID compliant. Apparently, in other states you've been able to choose, Only 56% of driver's licenses currently in circulation are Real ID compliant and that number is below 40% in 22 of the states.
Mark Faldmo:This was going to go into effect where, to get through the airport, you needed that Real ID or passport, and passports have always been Real ID compliant since about 10 years ago. They're going to kind of do a soft launch on this that they want you to have Real ID, but they'll still let you through if you don't have a Real ID, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of the Real ID. But they don't say when they're going to push back that implementation. The deadline was going to be May 7th, 2025. They're now pushing that back even further. So I hear you laughing about that, and it is can't believe how many times we've reported on this story. We've actually done it twice in the past year since we've been on air.
Patrick Wiscombe:But, again.
Mark Faldmo:Like I mentioned earlier, there's been several other times when they've pushed this back.
Patrick Wiscombe:You just got back from Kansas City. Let's talk about Kansas City, some of the things to do there. I'm just going to throw one in there for you Barbecue.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, barbecue is definitely on the list. I was with the Utah State Alumni Association. We had a Kansas City tour that we did with one of the history professors and I just kind of want to set the story here because when they proposed that I was like Kansas City, who wants to go to Kansas City, you know? And it was a harder sale to make to the people because a lot of people have that same who wants to go to Kansas City? But this kind of goes along with a lot of the destinations we've talked about. Like New Orleans is one that would fall in this. Probably San Antonio, Texas would fall in with this. I heard this quote a long time ago and I think it really relates good to tourism is every person has a story and every community has a story and that's why we travel to learn about new places, and Kansas City actually has a lot to offer. I'm not too big of a museum person but the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City I think rivals some of the museums I've seen around the world.
Patrick Wiscombe:Really.
Mark Faldmo:I think it's as good as most of the European art museums that I've visited. They had a medieval section that had knights and things like that. They had an Egyptian section that actually had a mummy. Also in Independence is the Truman Library All the things that President Truman had to deal with post-World War II.
Mark Faldmo:The vice president at that time didn't sit in on any of the meetings. He knew none of the operational things happening pertaining to World War II. He vice president at that time didn't sit in on any of the meetings. He knew none of the operational things happening pertaining to World War II. He didn't even know about the Manhattan Project until 12 days into his presidency. So another place that we visited was Liberty. There's actually a lot of Civil War history in Liberty. We don't think about the Western US during the Civil War because it was the western edge of the US. There was a big military depot with lots of munitions that was constantly fought over during the Civil War. Also in Liberty is the Jesse James Bank Museum, the first successful daylight bank robbery in the US. One of my favorite parts on the whole tour that we did was a visit to the Negro League Museum.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, that would be interesting.
Mark Faldmo:Right next door to that is the American Jazz Museum. Kansas City, with the riverboat traffic and all of that was kind of a center point between New Orleans and Chicago, kind of the two places that most people think of when they think of jazz music, probably that and Memphis as well, but the American Jazz museum is there. And then, as you talked about barbecue best barbecue I've ever had- that's saying a lot there's over 120 independent barbecue restaurants in the Kansas city area.
Mark Faldmo:We went to a place called Jack Stack's Barbecue. It was probably the best barbecue baked beans I've ever had, but good. And then you know, there's also the sports aspect of Kansas City the Chiefs Royals and NASCAR track there. There's a lot to do in Kansas City and in a lot of these communities. Again, you know, going back to that, every community has a story. That's why I travel to learn about new places. I would have never considered Kansas City if it hadn't been for this tour. And now there are things I want to do to go back and see. A lot happened in Kansas City to develop our country. Well, that's it.
Patrick Wiscombe:We got to go up our country. Well, that's it, we got to go. If you're interested in planning a vacation to any of the destinations that we talked about during the show going on the Rocky Mountaineer, the foliage train ride you're going to have to jump on that one pretty quick. We've also got the hot travel deal of the week the five-star resorts to Cancun. We've also got the 12-day cruise and the seven-day cruise leaving out of Copenhagen and, of course, visit Kansas City. Call Mark in his office, Monday through Friday, 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. 717-888-718-7717.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can listen to this show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11 am Mountain Time here on this particular radio station, 860 KKAT. If you want to need or listen to the show again, you can download and subscribe to the show at InsideTravelTalk. com. We are on all of the major podcast platforms and, while you're at it, may I ask you to subscribe and leave us a five-star review. It really does help us get traction with the podcast platforms. So, thank you. Get out, explore your world while you can, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you, and you know what I'm talking about. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally and just remember today's a good day for a good day. Have a great week everyone. We'll talk to you again 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 BluePlanetVacations. com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.