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
World Wonders: Iceland Adventures, Island Escapes & Noctourism Adventures
Discover the secrets to seamless travel and explore the world with confidence as we unravel the rankings of the most punctual airlines and airports for 2024. Salt Lake City Airport has achieved a global standing, while Aeromexico and Saudi Arabian Airlines have set the bar for on-time arrivals. We'll reveal insights into Delta's impressive recovery, and introduce you to United's new seasonal route from Denver to Rome. Get ready to be enchanted by the mysteries of "nocturism," where the allure of stargazing and the Northern Lights beckons night adventurers. Plus, join me as I plan my own escape to the Bahamas, promising a sun-soaked getaway.
The allure of travel continues as we spotlight Europe's renaissance, with Italy, Portugal, and Greece leading the charge for 2024-2025 tours. Learn how Belize is streamlining travel for Americans with a new electronic authorization, making it easier than ever to explore this Central American gem. Disneyland enthusiasts will be thrilled with a new promotion offering a free fourth night at select hotels, and we'll share tips on where to stay for maximum fun. Plus, don't miss out on the exclusive savings on trips to Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean through Delta Vacations, including benefits that make every trip a memorable one.
Setting sail on the high seas, we navigate through the latest cruise deals and ship trends. From exciting itineraries departing from the West Coast to Virgin Voyages' groundbreaking annual cruise pass, there's a voyage for every traveler. Discover how to snap up the best cruise deals and take advantage of enticing offers like airfare and beverage credits with Star Clippers. Before you embark, arm yourself with practical tips on avoiding pickpockets, ensuring your adventures remain thrilling and secure. Join us as we guide you through a world of travel wonders and opportunities that await in 2024 and beyond.
It is the weekend, which means it's time for the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. On today's show, we're going to be talking about the most on-time airlines and airports, a base camp in Iceland and tall ship sailing on Star Clippers. That's just a little bit of what we'll be talking about this week on the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show, let's go. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by go. 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:Capacity controlled and subject to change without notice. Explore your world. It's the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. 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:Serving up the world to our radio audience and podcast listeners around the world. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Hello there, my name is Patrick Wiscombe alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe alongside Mark Faldmo Coming up on this edition of the show. We'll be talking about the most on-time airlines and airports setting up base camp in Iceland and we'll be talking about sailing on Star Clippers. If you don't know what a clipper ship is, you're going to want to stay tuned because Mark has some terrific offers for listeners this week. Want to stay tuned because Mark has some terrific offers for listeners this week. Thank you for taking the time to stop and listen, and the entire purpose of our radio show and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation, or just simply give you ideas of where you want to vacation next, and we are presented by Mark's company, blueplanetvacations. com. You, my friend, are headed to I want to say Bermuda here in. Is it this upcoming week? I think you are.
Mark Faldmo:Close, I'm going to Bahamas. I'll start with a, B. So yeah, going to the Bahamas for a meeting. So next week I'll be in Nassau, Bahamas.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, that sounds even more delightful.
Mark Faldmo:It'll be a lot warmer there than it is here.
Patrick Wiscombe:It has been pretty cold. Next week's show, which will be the what the 18th, I think.
Ad Voice:So you'll be doing it from Nassau.
Patrick Wiscombe:Do you know where you're going to be staying down there?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I'll be staying at a Sandals Resort in Nassau, Bahamas. I'm looking forward to it. I've only stayed at a Sandals resort once, so I'm looking forward to the second time.
Patrick Wiscombe:We'll talk about Sandals. Next week, as you are broadcasting live. Coming up in this segment, we'll be talking about the destination of the week, which is Iceland. But let's first get to the travel news headlines. Let's give listeners the most on-time airlines and airports of 2024. How did Salt Lake do?
Mark Faldmo:As far as airports go, our airport here in Salt Lake City ranked fourth in the world for on-time performance.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, in the world.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, 83.8% of all flights departed on time. On time is departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time. That's awesome. Well done, Salt Lake. Seriously, it was the only airport in North America to do that, so it ranked fourth. And there were three other airports ahead of Salt Lake, which was Riyadh and Saudi Arabia, Lima, Peru and Mexico City. The ones ahead of Salt Lake oh wow, and we do it. The ones ahead of Salt Lake oh wow, and we do it. In the snow folks. Yes, Before the new airport opened, Salt Lake could have never got that because of how it's configured. It's really configured to be pretty streamlined.
Patrick Wiscombe:I will say that the Salt Lake Airport is not only visually beautiful, it's efficient, for sure.
Mark Faldmo:It is. There are some places you have to walk quite a while, but with the new tunnel that alleviated that a little bit. Let's talk about the airlines. Let's do the top two airlines. Aeromexico was the best at 86.7% on time arrival, followed by Saudi Arabian Airlines 86.35. Saudi Arabian Airlines 86.35. Delta came in third at 83.4%, which is very interesting because, if you recall earlier, last summer they had the CrowdStrike issue where they had massive cancellations and delays. For Delta to come in the top three with that, that's pretty good.
Patrick Wiscombe:United is going to launch a Denver to Rome or Rome to Denver service. I thought that was interesting.
Mark Faldmo:This is a seasonal service. It'll run May 1st to September 24th and be flown on a 787 Dreamliner, and United, as we've talked about in previous episodes, is really expanding their network to Europe. This is only a seasonal route and Italy is a pretty popular destination. This should help in lower prices to Italy.
Patrick Wiscombe:A big travel trend in 2025 is called noctourism, or nocturnal tourism.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, there was a study done out to 27,000 travelers. One of the higher categories that people had interested in was doing activities on vacation at nighttime. We've talked about in the past the Northern Lights. There was a big increase in requests for that last year and this year it's expected to increase 72%. But there's also interest in stargazing, which I remember. One time I was on a cruise out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and they had an astronomer on board and he had a stargazing thing at midnight out in the middle of the dark ocean.
Patrick Wiscombe:How was that.
Mark Faldmo:That was amazing. To see the night sky where there's no light pollution is amazing. Norway, Iceland, Finland you get that. In fact, we'll talk a little bit about that in our destination of the week, which is Iceland. But other things that people are interested in night dives on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia or in the Red Sea, see and there's also safari companies that are starting to offer nighttime game drives where you go out and see the nocturnal animals and different experiences at night that you can see on safari.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm thinking that that would almost be a completely different experience, because some animals aren't even out during the day, but at night. That's when they come to life.
Mark Faldmo:I know we did kind of a later evening when I did a safari and the animals were all different compared to the day.
Patrick Wiscombe:Were you nervous when you did that?
Mark Faldmo:No, no, you're in a vehicle that is pretty sturdy and the guides are good at what they do. Keep you safe.
Patrick Wiscombe:They're sturdy. They're reasonably safe. Yeah, keep you safe. They're sturdy. They're reasonably safe, yeah, all right. So while you were talking about stargazing with the astronomer and you were talking about Iceland and the northern lights, that's the perfect segue into our destination of the week, which is Iceland. You have been there? How many times?
Mark Faldmo:I've been to Iceland three times. It's a place that I love. I have family history that's there. As we talked about last week, I've got a lot of Scandinavian family history. So Norway and Iceland is where most of my family's from. So I love Iceland. I would go back there any time of the year, even in the middle of the winter.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, so it was that kind of fun.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it's amazing. If you're looking for things to do in the nighttime, winter is a great place in Iceland to do those.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, let's talk about this base camp idea in Iceland.
Mark Faldmo:There are really three ways that you can see Iceland. One is just use Reykjavik, the capital city, as a base camp. If you're going to do that, you could see everything in that area in five to seven days. You could stay longer if you wanted, but if you wanted to just use that as a base camp and go out and do the different things, you can do that. Another way you can see Iceland is Drive the Ring Road, and this is the road that goes all the way around Iceland and you need seven to 10 days to do that.
Mark Faldmo:There are some pretty interesting itineraries you can see driving the Ring Road. The last way to see Iceland is by cruise ship. There are some cruises that do the circumference of Iceland or at least have a few stops in Iceland. Those are the three ways that you can do Iceland. I like the base camp idea spending a few days in Reykjavik five to seven days and going out and seeing what you can see from there. Have you done a cruise? Yeah, I've done two cruises that included Iceland as ports.
Patrick Wiscombe:Was it an Iceland only, or was it a Iceland? Reykjavik and British Isles tour.
Mark Faldmo:The one I did was Iceland and British Isles, oh wow. And the other one I did, we called it Path of the Vikings. So it was British Isles, Iceland and then Canada. We did so. We sailed from London to New York and stopped for a day in Iceland.
Patrick Wiscombe:What cruise line did you do that one on?
Mark Faldmo:All the cruises were on Norwegian cruise line that I've done. That included Iceland.
Patrick Wiscombe:So you probably went on the Prima, then the ship.
Mark Faldmo:I was lucky enough to be on the inaugural, the naming where they named the cruise ship, in Reykjavik, and then we did a Norway and British Isles cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh man, that is a good itinerary. Yeah, when is the best time to go to Iceland?
Mark Faldmo:The best time to go to Iceland is between May and September. May and September are going to have the least amount of crowds. It'll get a little bit more crowded as you go into the summer but weather-wise that's the best time to go May and September. But if you're looking to go see the Northern Lights it's the exact opposite. It's October through March best time to see the Northern Lights.
Patrick Wiscombe:That was a spectacular. It was absolutely breathtaking.
Mark Faldmo:The Northern Lights are amazing, and the further north you get, especially up in Iceland or even on the north side of the island, amazing Northern Lights.
Patrick Wiscombe:What are some of the things that you should do while you're there?
Mark Faldmo:Well, I think everyone should take a Golden Circle tour. This is a tour, it's a day trip from Reykjavik. You go around and you see geysers waterfalls One of the most intriguing places that you see there is you're actually standing on the fault line that divides North American plate and the European plate, so you can stand in Europe and North America at the same time. There's a big valley where there's some smaller cliffs, where the land has pulled apart, and so you can walk right down the fault line beyond Europe and North America at the same time so isn't that the, uh, the trail that you were on, that you had pictures of kind of going between, uh, I won't say, two mountains, it was more hill like two, two cliffs and the cliffs are like 50 feet.
Mark Faldmo:They're not, they're not huge cliffs.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, yes, that was it. That was pretty cool to see you do that. It was in the, if memory serves. It was kind of a walkway, but it had ropes too, a little bit of an incline or decline.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it was a paved pathway.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah.
Mark Faldmo:They have a museum there that kind of explains everything. That is my favorite thing to do, you know going seeing the geysers. If you've been to Yellowstone, it's very similar to Yellowstone, but a little bit different setting there in Iceland. What the Yellowstone, but a little bit different setting there in Iceland. What else should we do there? Skagafoss Waterfall I don't know if I'm saying that right. Like we said last week, I should learn to pronounce these things. Icelandic and Norwegian are hard languages. So Skagafoss Waterfall it's a huge waterfall. If you Google it, the pictures of it are quite amazing.
Mark Faldmo:Another thing that I think everyone should do is go to Blue Lagoon, which is a hot spring. It's a little touristy but it's worth going. It is back open as of December 15th we talked about last fall. Blue Lagoon closed oh, that's right Because of the volcanic eruption and they got lava ran through their parking lot. So they've either built a new parking lot or figured out a way to get people to Blue Lagoon. And then the next thing is to walk or just experience a glacier. In Iceland From Reykjavik there are a couple that you can get to fairly easily. I've seen tours where you can snowmobile. You can do different things on the glaciers, I think, kind of a beautiful experience. I mean, just seeing the majesty of a glacier from a distance is amazing. Being that close and personal would also be pretty amazing.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, you've sold me. I think you just have my credit card on file at this point.
Mark Faldmo:Yep, we'll get you to Iceland.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, I need to do that. If you have desires to go to Iceland, call Mark during the break 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And we'll also post this on blueplanetvacations. com. Coming up in the next segment, we've got the hot travel deal of the week. Delta Vacations has a promotion where you can save $200 off to Mexico and the Caribbean. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you, Really. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. We 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.
Ad Voice:Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Travelex Insurance Services. Their travel insurance plans can help protect you and your vacation. Travelex is known for their award-winning customer service and high claims paid rate. Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com for more information.
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.
Patrick Wiscombe:Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo Broadcasting live from Salt Lake City, Utah. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Alongside my good friend, mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. As we talk travel, mark and I love to travel, love to travel and love to share our adventures with our listeners, and the entire purpose of this show is to help you plan and book your next vacation or just give you ideas of where to go on vacation. And since it is cold outside, we thought we'd talk about Mexico and the Caribbean, and Delta Vacations is allowing our listeners to save up to $200 off on a Mexico and or a Caribbean vacation. We'll get to that here in just a second. But let's get to the travel news headlines. I saw this story that Italy leads global travel destinations for this past year, 2024 and into 2025, according to this study.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so this was a study of tour operators and it was judging demand for their tours. This pretty much mirrors other studies that I've seen of just people where they want to travel. So Italy, for 2025, is the most requested single destination, followed by Portugal, and Greece was third on that list. In fact, Europe makes up about 55% of all of this demand.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is it my imagination, or is Italy starting to kind of have a resurgence in tourism?
Mark Faldmo:or is this just a post-COVID thing, or yes, yes, you know, Italy post-COVID has been probably the most requested that I've had and I've seen reports on this. Italy continues to be the strongest in demand country to visit in all of Europe.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wow, any particular destination, Rome, or just the whole thing?
Mark Faldmo:Just Italy in general. One of these days we'll have to go over I think we did this early, early on but go over my preferred Italy itinerary that I like to do.
Patrick Wiscombe:Belize is going to require new travel authorizations from Americans starting this year, 2025. We're sure seeing a surge of these travel authorization forms.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, we're seeing a lot of those come in, although this one is they want to go paperless. Before, the flight attendants would hand out a form that you had to fill out on the plane before you landed and you'd give it to the immigration. So they are just moving this authorization form, they're moving an electronic, which I like. I'd rather have the electronic form have it done. One of the biggest gripes I had is I never had access to a pen to fill that out. And then you're asking all the passengers around you. You have a pen. The flight attendants always said we don't have enough pens for everybody, so share with your neighbor. I like the fact that this is electronic.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you are a Disneyland fan, they are offering a promotion for listeners right now. What are the details on that promotion?
Mark Faldmo:This is for Disneyland California specific. Last week we talked about Walt Disney World offer and we talked about a Disney cruise offer, both which are still valid. If you want information on that, you can go to blueplanetvacations. com to see what those are. But this is Disneyland specific and this is book three nights, receive a fourth night free at a Good Neighbor Hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe:The Good Neighbor Hotel that I like because it's close. It's not the only one. They actually have a few dozen hotels was the Fairfield, across the street from Disneyland Park on the east side, that Fairfield.
Mark Faldmo:I've stayed at that one quite a bit, One that I used to use years ago but haven't as much, but is the Best Western Raffles in the streets, which is also in a pretty good location.
Mark Faldmo:So those are the two that I'd recommend. There are about 20 good neighbor hotels on the list, but if you want to be within walking distance or you just basically walk across the street, that Fairfield Inn is a great option. When I was there like six years ago, which was the last time I was there, I was surprised there was still a Tony Roma's there. Oh, I didn't know that Right by that Fairfield.
Ad Voice:Yeah, okay.
Mark Faldmo:It probably is not there now, but I was surprised to see that I always liked Tony Roma's. Mimi's was in that parking lot as well Mimi's was also in the parking lot yeah, so so it it's located pretty well to well one the main gate of Disneyland, which is the purpose of your trip. And then there are some food options around there where you don't have to spend Disney prices to eat. You have to have to spend California prices but not Disney prices.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's only slightly less offensive. Yes, yeah, all right, let's get to the hot travel deal of the week, which is always in the second segment of the show, and we're talking about going to Mexico and the Caribbean. And what deal do we have for listeners this week On the show sheet?
Mark Faldmo:I mistyped it a little bit. It's actually Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh well, that's even better.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so this is for all, basically warm weather destinations. So this is save up to $200 off Again Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean and it's a tiered discount, so that discount starts at $25 and goes up to $200, based on what you spend. Looking at the average cost, is that per person, that is per package, oh, per package, so that is per package. And looking at the average cost of what my customers have paid, that's going to be somewhere between the $75 and $125 off booking there.
Patrick Wiscombe:All three destinations Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. You just can't go wrong period. Let me toss you a curveball. This is courtesy of Delta Vacations, where you save up to $200 off to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. Do you have to fly on Delta to get to any of those locations, or can you fly a different airline and then get this Delta vacations offer?
Mark Faldmo:Yes and no. So it is Delta Airlines. So if you include the flight in this, you do have to fly on Delta Airlines or one of its partners. So you could use Aeromexico to Mexico and still get this. You could do a land only and get this, but I wouldn't recommend that. You'll get a better savings if you bundle it with the air and the hotel. But there is one bonus, because this is Delta vacations and we talked about this a few weeks ago. Delta has changed their program where now you're going to get those medallion qualifying miles on the full package price. So, like Patrick, if you were to book a $4,000 package to Hawaii, you would get 4,000 medallion qualifying miles.
Mark Faldmo:That is significant, or dollars medallion, qualifying dollars, as they say. That would put you automatically at silver medallion status.
Patrick Wiscombe:Because then it gets you to the level that you need to to continue qualifying for To continue to qualify. Yeah.
Mark Faldmo:Okay, and you know that would be halfway to gold. You know I've seen people. I actually do have a customer that was booked a pretty extensive trip to the West Coast In the US. They're doing several days, so that person is getting gold status just for booking the trip. That's nice if you're looking for status or want to at least have status, it'll help you get there.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is it any location in Mexico?
Mark Faldmo:It's anywhere that Delta Airlines or Aeromexico flies, okay, well, that's an extensive network, so yeah, and then again anywhere in the Caribbean, anywhere in Hawaii uh, the delta flies.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's cold just just go, just book it. Call mark 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717 to book your vacation to Hawaii, Mexico or the Caribbean. Nikki and I were just there in. When was it? Was that June? Yeah, I think it was the Caribbean. Yep, Awesome, Absolutely amazing. Call Mark. Here's the phone number one more time 888-718-7717. And you can also check out blueplanetvacations. com. When we come back, the final 30 minutes of the show, we've got the infamous Just Cruising segment and we are talking about tall ships. We'll give you the details on that when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday and Sunday. We 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 InsideTravelTalk. com. We'll be right back.
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Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. In the next 30 minutes, mark and I will be talking about cruising on a Clipper ship, which he has done A Virgin Voyages annual cruise pass Kind of like that idea, an annual cruise pass and Princess has unveiled their 2026-2027 West Coast sailing schedule. We'll talk about why they're releasing it so early. Let's get back to the show. 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.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, all aboard for the infamous Just Cruising segment. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo. Thank you for joining us for the next 30 minutes as we talk about travel and in this segment it's only about cruising and we will take your phone calls. If you want to text your travel-related questions while we're here in the studio, please do so. The text number is 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And Mark and I are presented by his company called BluePlanetVacations. com, and just thank you for allowing us to be part of your weekend, whatever you're doing. All right, mark, it is time to get to the uh cruise deal of the week here in just a second. How many times have you sailed on star clippers, the tall ships? I've sailed once on star clippers and your favorite memory from that was, I'm gonna say, lane in the uh. What do they call it? The, not the ropes, not the canopy either the mesh that's out in front of the ship.
Mark Faldmo:Thank you, yes, I enjoyed that. I actually think my favorite spot was the passengers go into kind of a lottery and they choose who gets to go out on a lifeboat as they're raising the sails. So you get to see raising the sails from outside of the ship. That was probably my favorite experience uh, seeing and experiencing that.
Patrick Wiscombe:And that was a lottery Really. That was, yeah, interesting yeah.
Mark Faldmo:Cause the life was oh interesting, yeah, because the lifeboat only holds I don't know 100 people and there's a couple hundred on the cruise ship.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, that's right yeah because the crowds are so much smaller. Yeah, okay, before we get to the Star Clippers deal or the cruise deal of the week about Star Clippers, let's get to the cruise news headlines. I was happy to see that Princess Cruises has unveiled their 2026-2027 West Coast sailing schedule. That was great, but the question I have for you is why is Princess unveiling their sailing schedule so early?
Mark Faldmo:I mean, that's one to two years from now, yeah, that's, two years from now, is when most of this starts. And the reason why is because one, they need a little bit lead time to start selling some of this, and two, people are booking their vacations that far in advance now, so there is a huge demand. And then, as far as the customer perspective, if you book now you'll get the best price Typically cruise lines, with a few exceptions, but every few months they increase the price. So if you're waiting to book this five months in advance, it'll probably cost you $150, $200 more per person than it would have if you would have booked it when the cruise first came out. If you're looking for cruise deals, look for at least a year and a half in advance.
Patrick Wiscombe:How do you find out about things in advance? Do you just have to go to each one of the cruise lines and basically sign up for their email?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, you can do that or listen to the show. I get all of these notices and so you know we've put a few of these announcements out. I also do put them out on the Hot Deal update. Oh, that's right that Blue Planet Vacations has.
Patrick Wiscombe:Which, by the way, just while we're there, if you want to just get a summary of all of the vacations without being bombarded by all of the cruise lines, and you just want one email with everything, tell listeners how they can sign up for your email and where to go.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so you can go to blueplanetvacations. com and if you're a first time visitor, a form will pop up to register for our email list, or you can click on hot deal update in the navigation and that'll take you to a page where you can fill out your information and get on our list.
Patrick Wiscombe:What are some of the destinations for the West Coast sailing season? So?
Mark Faldmo:there's two aspects here. One is they are moving the Star Princess, which is their new ship, to the West Coast. We've noticed this trend in the last few years where we are getting newer ships on the West Coast. Ten years ago it would be the oldest, the worst ships sailing the Mexican Riviera, for instance, and now we're getting more and more new ships because they are moving those ships eventually into Alaska, where they do want their new ships for Alaska. And so part of this 2026 and 2027 West Coast season, it features 69 voyages across 26 destinations departing from Los Angeles, san Francisco and Vancouver my perception was that all the new ships went to the east coast, went to Bahamas, went to Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm glad to see that this trend is starting to change, because those ships were kind of old.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so they were we are getting the newer ships, which I really like, yeah, and and so in this, from Los Angeles, the star princess will be offering seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises, and then the discovery princess, which is also one of the newer ships, will be sailing seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises, and the emerald princess will be offering 16-day round-trip Hawaiian island cruises. So those will either leave from it doesn't say here, but it's either Los Angeles, san Francisco, so you only have to fly to the West Coast and you get a 16-day Hawaiian island cruise. And it also will offer 10-day Baja and Sea of Cortez sailings, which I think is fantastic 10-day Baja and Sea of Cortez sailings which I think is fantastic.
Mark Faldmo:I love sailing in the Sea of Cortez.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, yes, okay, so they are really starting to up their game, then that would suggest that cruising is now becoming more popular than ever.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, Wow. And then one itinerary that I'm excited that they're bringing back is a 32-day cruise round trip South Pacific and Hawaii cruise.
Ad Voice:So, Italy.
Mark Faldmo:from Los Angeles, san Francisco goes to the Hawaiian islands, usually Fiji, Tahiti ends back in on the West coast, so that's a pretty exciting itinerary.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, that's a good one. I'm glad to see that Princess is really upping their game, updating their ships, new ships, west coast. This has needed to happen for a long time. Here's an idea that I can get behind the annual cruise pass. Now, obviously it's going to cost some money, but the annual cruise pass of just basically jumping on a ship in this particular case it's Virgin Voyages what are the details and how much does it cost to get the Virgin Voyages annual cruise pass?
Mark Faldmo:What Virgin has found is they have remote workers that are working on board cruise ship.
Mark Faldmo:So they decided to offer this annual pass for 2025. It's available for sale now through April, and you got to move quick then. Yes, you do. This is good on any of their sailings in the Caribbean, in Europe, any of their world cruises. So if you buy this annual pass, you only have to pay the government, taxes and fees to sail In a balcony cabin, you get priority boarding, free laundry service, a dedicated concierge for every voyage you're on, unlimited premium access and $100 bar tab per voyage. The price tag of this is fairly hefty it's $120,000. But if you sail half the year, that'll easily pay for itself. If you're a remote worker, that's your lodging, all of your food, your internet, everything you would need to work. Or if you're just an avid cruiser, traveler, this is a great way to do that. You know especially where it's valid on any voyage their Europe voyages, their Mediterranean voyages, Caribbean, anywhere they sail in the world, and they'll be sailing not this coming season but the following season in Alaska. So now you can even do west coast us on virgin voyages.
Patrick Wiscombe:Do any other ships Princess, MSC, royal Caribbean do they offer annual passes, or is this kind of a new idea?
Mark Faldmo:I've heard of it offered before, but I've not seen it offered in a while and I could have just missed the story. This is the first one where they've really gone out and published it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is the Star Clippers deal. Let's let our listeners know what the deal is and where they can sail. Yeah.
Mark Faldmo:So Star Clippers is one of the most enjoyable experiences you can have when cruising. Now, it's a small ship they're either a three to five masted ship, depending on which ship of theirs you go on but it is just an amazing experience and they have up to $500 per cabin airfare credit and a beverage credit, and this is on top of right. Now they have a 65% off the brochure rate cruise. You can get an air credit and a beverage credit on top of that. Now, how this works is three to six day cruises get $150 per person air credit, seven to nine day cruises get a $200 per person air credit, and 10 plus days get a $250 per person airfare credit.
Patrick Wiscombe:Generally speaking, don't they sail out of the East?
Mark Faldmo:Coast. They do Caribbean sailings, they do Central America sailings and they sail in the Mediterranean, particularly around Greece is where a lot of their sailings are. Now I chose two sailings to kind of highlight here. One that just fascinates me is Round Trip Athens. It does Greek Isles. That goes to Spetses, Mykonos, Armagos, Patmos and Kusadasi, where you can get to Ephesus in Turkey and then back to Athens. To do this on a sailing ship, I think would be amazing and to get to those Greek islands. Some of those are not on the big ship, so you get to go to these smaller, more remote ports.
Patrick Wiscombe:What was the name of the city where you had Coke and olives on that rooftop?
Mark Faldmo:That was in Santorini, oh, Santorini, which wasn't on this sailing.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay.
Mark Faldmo:They do have sailings that do that. One thing about these ships is they don't do your typical round trip, even though what I just gave you is a round trip. But this cruise ship goes basically between Venice and Istanbul and you buy segments of that and then they have a couple of these round trip Athens pancaked in between that, so you get some really unique itineraries on this.
Patrick Wiscombe:How much is the Eastern Mediterranean itinerary, generally speaking so?
Mark Faldmo:that one starts at $2,300 per person. And what?
Patrick Wiscombe:about Central.
Mark Faldmo:America and then Central America. These are usually either round trip Costa Rica or they go between Costa Rica and, basically, panama City. I chose a round trip Costa Rica one because then you can go spend a few days and go to Arenal Volcano one of my favorite spots on that but it goes to Tortuga Island, goes to Capos, which is where Manuel Antonio is. We've talked about Manuel Antonio a few times on this show. Goes to other places that I've not been, but I've been reading about them and they look fantastic. Goes to Golfito, goes to Cobia National Park in Panama and goes to Marine National Park in Panama. All of these are on the West Coast of Panama and Costa Rica and that one starts at $1870 per person for a seven-day cruise Again these are probably some of the most unique travel experiences.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can have One of our contacts at Star Clippers. Her name is Beth and I think she's retired. Is that right, Mark? That is, she's recently retired. Good for her. One of the most effective lines that she ever used on me was Patrick, it is so quiet, you don't hear the rumble. You don't hear the rumble, you don't hear the rattle of the engine. It's just quiet because everything's under wind power. Now they do have engines on the ship, just in case. But she goes. It is just different, and was that your experience as well?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, when you're truly sailing, it is a different experience. Go up on deck watch the ocean go by. One thing that I found fascinating on Star Clippers is the bridge it's just right there. You just go stand behind them on the bridge as they're sailing the ship and telling what all the sailors to do with the sails and all of that. It's pretty fascinating because it's not a normal bridge like you would see on a big cruise ship. It's just right there on deck.
Patrick Wiscombe:So if you're looking for something unique, you've absolutely found the solution to the problem that you've been trying to find a solution for Star Clippers. Call Mark in his office, just get the conversation rolling. There's no obligation, just call him. Just get the conversation rolling. There's no obligation. Just call them. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And Air Canada is removing free carry-on luggage for basic fare. Uh-oh, we're also going to talk about how to avoid being pickpocketed. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast or radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday and Sunday. 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. 801-649-3700. And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Broadcasting live from the Wiscombe-Faldmo Radio Studios right here in Salt Lake City Radio Studios. Right here in Salt Lake City, you are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show for January 11th and 12th. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend and if you want to listen to this show again tomorrow meaning Sunday we're on all radio stations starting at 11 o'clock Mountain Time and you can also stream the show on 860 KKAT. And you can also listen to the show again by just simply going to InsideTravelTalk. com InsideTravelTalk. com and you can just stream the show on the website. But if you're a podcaster, we're on all of the major podcast platforms. Just do a search for Inside Travel Talk and you will find me and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe:All right, final segment. We've got your travel tips. We're going to recap the deals. We're going to tell you how to avoid being pickpocketed while you are on vacation. But let's do the final segment of the travel news headlines, and there was a news story that the department of transportation is finalizing, or finalized, the Washington Reagan route awards. I don't even know what that's about.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and a lot of people don't know this, but Reagan National Airport in Washington DC that is the closest airport to downtown Washington DC and it is not an international airport, it's a national airport or a regional airport. I did not know that the DOT has a rule that only flights within a 1,250 mile perimeter can fly to Reagan National Airport. Now, a few years ago they made an exemption for a few routes.
Mark Faldmo:Delta got an exemption from Salt Lake City, so we are outside of that limit. But we do have a nonstop flight to Reagan and there's 20 current flights and they just awarded Alaska Airlines to be able to fly there from San Diego, American from San Antonio, delta from Seattle, southwest from Las Vegas and United from San Francisco. So if I had my choice between the airports Dulles Airport or Reagan, I would fly into Reagan even if I had to connect. It's so much more convenient than Dulles.
Patrick Wiscombe:The way that I was reading this was the Washington Reagan route awards, meaning you know first place, second place, third place. You're talking about these different cities San Diego, Salt Lake, San Antonio. They are awarding the exceptions is the way I just understood you.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yes, I thought that they were going to be. You know, hey, you've come in first place because fantastic food on board or something, or in the airport. Air Canada has removed free carry-on luggage for basic airfare. I don't like the trend of this. I'm starting to see this just a little bit with some of the airlines.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it is, and I love how the airline releases this to the passengers. So first I'll go over what this is. So they're removing. You no longer get a complimentary piece of carry-on luggage. You only get a small purse or a handbag.
Patrick Wiscombe:Not even a backpack. Not even a backpack.
Mark Faldmo:So just your small personal item. This is again only if you are in their basic economy. It's $35 for carry-on bags.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, now those numbers seem to be fairly consistent between the airlines, somewhere between $30 and $50 for each and every carry-on.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and you know, I love how the airline releases this. We've listened to our customers and we're implementing this because you want us to provide the very lowest fares, but they're not going to lower their fare by $35. They're going to keep it the same, but make you pay $35 additional. So, I always love that when they term this, as we've listened to you and we know this is what you want.
Patrick Wiscombe:That is corporate speak, for we need to raise prices, but we're going to blame it on the passengers. Yeah, I want to talk to you about this story. You had a pickpocketing story actually two or three so I wanted to bring this up on the show of how to avoid being pickpocketed when you're on vacation or if you're just traveling the first tip is use cards over cash.
Mark Faldmo:If your card gets pickpocketed, you can cancel it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Usually on the app. Now they've made it really simple.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, you can freeze it or cancel it pretty easily and don't carry around a lot of cash, and I guess we should go back. The very first thing is kind of know where you're at. Know the cities that have a lot of pickpockets. Know if you're in a tourist area there are probably a lot of pickpockets around. Be aware of your surroundings. Keep money close. I always keep my money and credit cards in a money necklace, so something that hangs around my neck, and I tuck it in between my shirt so it's not easy to get at for a pickpocketer. I also suggest on that, get an RFID money belt or an RFID backpack If your passport and credit cards are in there. There's technology now where someone can get within a few feet of you and steal your credit cards and your passport information by standing near to you. So get an RFID blocking bag.
Patrick Wiscombe:So what I'm hearing you say is keep your enemies close and your money and passport closer. Correct With RFID.
Mark Faldmo:With RFID. Okay, you can buy backpacks and bags that are harder for the pickpockets to get in Backpacks with lockable zippers, slash-proof backpacks All of this can be found on Amazon. Dressed down, don't look like an obvious tourist. I used to walk around with my camera around my neck and, like boy, I sure look like a tourist. So dress down a little bit. And then one that I've never thought of before, but I probably should have, is safeguard your phone.
Mark Faldmo:A lot of people in your wallets you have. In the wallet app on your phone you have all of your credit card information. If your phone was to get stolen and you didn't have your phone securely locked down, people could just get on and get all of your credit card information, a lot of personal details, from your phone. I've even heard people say clear out your wallets when you're traveling so there's no personal information in them, just in case something does happen to your phone. And then the last thing is be alert in crowds.
Mark Faldmo:I was with a group in Barcelona. We got off the subway and, as the doors were closing, out came all of our wallets. So the pickpocketers got our wallets on the subway, took all the money out. They threw them back, luckily, driver's license, credit cards, everything was still there. So I put this in the realm of. These were the nice pickpocketers. They just took the cash and gave back everything else. But when you're in a subway or a crowded place, be alert.
Mark Faldmo:The other thing is watch for people trying to distract you. I've told this story before. I was in Paris by the Arc de Triomphe. Guy came up to me and just kept asking do you know judo, do you know judo? And he was touching me and trying to show me judo moves, all while he was distracting me so he could get my wallet. Luckily, all I had in my pockets was a subway map, so it was really hard to get back to where I was going. But watch for that. People just doing weird things like that bumping into you. We've all seen that on the movies, where the spy bumps into someone and pickpockets them. So that's how it really does work.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's a genuine skill, not a skill that I want. It's impressive that they can pick you that quick.
Mark Faldmo:I guess another tip you know, if you're doing some of those Taurus things, do them with a guide. I know every time I'm around the Colosseum in Rome the guide is always vigilant. Most guides know who the pickpocketers are and I've had guides say watch that person, he's a pickpocketer. I've had them yell pickpocketers off from our group before. And so you know that is something if you're doing. Some of those tourist sites do it with a guide because they often know the pickpocketers and they watch out for the activities for pickpocketers.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, that's going to do it. Very, very helpful tips. Thank you, mark. If you want to book any of the vacations that we have talked about during the show, please call Mark in his office, 888-718-7717. You can listen to the show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11 am, right here on this radio station or whatever radio station you're listening to, and you can stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com, where we are on all of the major podcast platforms. Well, it's your turn now. We've done our job. Get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curveball's life is going to throw at you. Do yourself a favor. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally, and thanks for listening. Have a great week, mark, and I will talk to you again next.
Show Voice:Saturday. 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.