Inside Travel Talk
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Inside Travel Talk
Adventure Awaits: Sydney Secrets, US Virgin Islands Splendor & Route 66 Road Trips
It is the weekend, which means that it's time to talk travel. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. On today's show we will be talking about the US Virgin Islands Nikki and I will be there shortly A flight deal to Australia and five. Count them one, two, three, four, five, five great cruise deals this week. Let's start 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 us Explore your world.
Show Voice: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:It is the weekend, which means that it is time to talk about travel. Hello there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Thank you for taking the time to stop and listen and if you are brand new to the show, or even if you're a longtime listener for the last year and a half, the entire purpose of this radio and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation or just give you ideas of where you want to go on vacation next, and we are presented by blueplanetvacations. com. I always love talking travel. Mark Faldmo joins me in the Wiscombe Faldmo radio studio. How are you? I haven't seen you all week. I haven't even talked to you.
Mark Faldmo:Yep, I'm good, I'm kind of recovering from earlier this week when we were in the mid-60s, but we're back down to the mid to low 30s now.
Patrick Wiscombe:Even if it was just a few days four or five days in the 50s and 60s that was nice.
Mark Faldmo:I went out and did some yard cleanup, so I did yard work last week.
Patrick Wiscombe:Coming up in this first segment of the show, we've got the travel news and, of course, we always have the destination highlight, and this week we're talking about the U S Virgin islands. Nikki and I will be there next month. Very, very excited to go. Nikki and I are going there. Right, you are going there. Yes, okay, make sure that that's one of the Virgin Islands.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, it is.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's first get to the travel news headlines. I thought that this story was significant in the travel world. Celebrity Cruises has announced that they're going to launch river cruising. That is a big deal. That is.
Mark Faldmo:And I was very surprised when I saw this. I've been thinking about this over the last few days when this news was announced. I think Celebrity is probably the best ocean cruise line that was the best positioned to go into river cruising. I've often wondered why there's not a little bit more of the ocean cruise lines that do river cruise lines. We've had Viking start as a river cruise line and now they do ocean cruises, but it hasn't ever gone the other way. Celebrity has put in an order for 10 river ships and they're going to start sailing in 2027. So that's not too far off. Those will probably be for sale in the next little while here, once they get a little bit more down the road on this 10 ships. They're serious, they are. They're going to take the inspiration from those ships, from the Celebrity Edge class ship, and they're obviously not going to have some of the features that don't work on a river, but they are taking their inspiration from those ships.
Patrick Wiscombe:So Nikki and I will be on the Celebrity Ascent next month. It will be my first time getting on an Edge class ship and I got to be honest I think I'm going to spend some time just hanging out on the flying carpet. Yes, which?
Mark Faldmo:is something that won't be on the river.
Patrick Wiscombe:A nine-story elevator on a river cruise.
Mark Faldmo:On a river cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:United Airlines is bringing back their elite status match program. This is good news, because I think that they're starting to kind of lose ground to some of the other airlines. I'm assuming that's why they're bringing it back, or at least a reason, yeah.
Mark Faldmo:So they've brought this in for 2025, where they'll match status with most other airlines. And all you have to do if you want to match the status is there's a form to fill out at united. com and after approval, you have to take a United flight within 90 days and then, after that flight, you'll be granted your matching elite status.
Patrick Wiscombe:Are you going to sign up for this? You're a Delta guy mostly, but I know that you've flown United. And who's the other one? American, American?
Mark Faldmo:If I have an opportunity to take a United flight, if it works out, I'll do it. So if I have something coming up, I'll do it, just to get the status for a year. I probably wouldn't fly a whole lot on United, but it is nice to have that status.
Patrick Wiscombe:If United is bringing back their status match program, do any other airlines do that In the past.
Mark Faldmo:American has done it and Delta has done it, but that was two years ago when both of those airlines had a status match. I've not seen anything on status match on at least American or Delta.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so nothing really, nothing really. Us Virgin Islands set a new tourism record in 2024. As I mentioned, Nicki and I are headed there next month. What kind of numbers were they seeing last year?
Mark Faldmo:So they had an increase of almost 6% over the previous record. It doesn't say when that record was possibly 2019. Oh, pre-covid, pre-covid. But over their best year ever, they had a 6% increase in 2024. This kind of goes to the trend and we've talked about this in the past where people want to go to a tropical beach destination but don't have a passport. So the Virgin Islands is a place you can go without a passport, and the Virgin Islands is kind of a whole new world and we'll talk about that in just a minute.
Patrick Wiscombe:Other than a cruise line? How do we get to the Virgin Islands?
Mark Faldmo:First of all, there are kind of three main islands in the US Virgin Islands. There's St Thomas, St Croix and St John. You can get there by flight to St Thomas and St Croix. St John you can only get there by ferry from the island of St Thomas. St Thomas is the most visited of those, followed by St Croix and then St John. St John most of the island is a national park, so there's not a lot of development there.
Patrick Wiscombe:Quick question Maho Beach, where planes fly in literally just feet over your head. Which island is that?
Mark Faldmo:on. That's not in the US Virgin Islands, that's in St Martin. Okay, there we go, which is a French or Dutch island, depending on what side of the island you're on. You are going to St Thomas as one of the ports on your cruise. You'll be in St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe:A lot of saints in there.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, St Thomas, St Croix, St John, British Virgin Islands, and they're all saints too Well let's talk about St Thomas first.
Patrick Wiscombe:some of the things to do there.
Mark Faldmo:Let's talk about St Thomas first, some of the things to do there. St Thomas is known for its shopping and also its pirate history. As on all of these islands, there's good beaches. You can go to Megan's Bay. What I like about St Thomas and this was kind of my very first impression when I stepped off, and this is actually on all of the US Virgin Islands is they drive on the left side of the road. It's the only US territory that drives on the left side of the road, and so you really can feel like you're in a foreign country, but you don't need a passport to get there.
Mark Faldmo:What about St John? So St John and this is probably my favorite island of all of these Again, you get there by taking a ferry from St Thomas, but it's known for its beaches and hiking. Most of the island is a national park. There are few hotels, a few things that were kind of grandfathered in. Most of the island is a national park, but one of the best beaches probably in the world, which is Trunk Bay, snorkeling just a beautiful beach there in St John.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let me ask you about snorkeling. Do you snorkel with one of those pool noodles or do you like going underneath the water?
Mark Faldmo:I like to snorkel with some type of flotation device.
Ad Voice:Oh, okay, all right, so you're buoyant, just so I don't have to work.
Mark Faldmo:I just don't have to work as hard, so you can just look around without swimming.
Mark Faldmo:Okay, and the one thing at Trunk Bay on St John is they kind of have a little circuit that you snorkel. There's a little island that you snorkel around which is a very interesting place to snorkel because it goes through different depths of the bay. There that's a very popular thing to do. There's also a little drink shack up on top of the hill in St John where you can look over and see the British Virgin Islands. They're all fairly close.
Patrick Wiscombe:One if by land, two if by sea.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:St Croix. What do you like doing there?
Mark Faldmo:This island has a lot of history. The thing I think that's interesting about it is how many different countries have ruled this little piece of land. It's fallen the flags of Netherlands, England, France, the Knights of Malta and Denmark. In its history, it was once the capital of the Danish West Indies and it's known for its 18th century butter-colored, red-roofed buildings. You know this would be a place for beaches, water sports, if you like, sailing. It's a little bit more laid back than St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe:Off-air. You had mentioned something about St Thomas that you didn't mention during this show. Let's go back to St Thomas for a second.
Mark Faldmo:One particular activity that I like. It's a tram kind of a skyride thing. Oh, I know what you're talking about A viewpoint on top of the mountain. This is located kind of right by the cruise port, so it's a pretty popular thing to do if you're taking a cruise. But you get up there and you have a whole view of the city of Charlotte Amile, which is the capital city there in St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe:I remember seeing pictures of that going ooh, we have to do that.
Mark Faldmo:It's a great experience. If you're on St Thomas, you can just take a day trip to St John. Very easy thing to do. Go out, hike some of those trails on St John, visit the beaches. I love the US Virgin Islands and you don't need a passport to get there.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you're coming in port on a cruise, do you have enough time to do a day trip to St?
Mark Faldmo:John, yes, you do. In fact, if you purchase the excursion through the cruise line, the ferry boat comes and picks you up right at the pier of the cruise terminal. You just get on kind of the expedition safari trucks. It'll take you either to Trunk Bay or the Circle Island tour. That's something I highly recommend, for cruise passengers is to do the St John tour when they're in St Thomas. Otherwise, if you're on a cruise, you have to go to the other side of the island, which is where the main ferry terminal is at. So you can do it, then you can do it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh good, okay. Well, I am excited to go, Nicki and I will be there next month. And I am excited to go, Nicki and I will be there next month. And I am excited to go, do all of this stuff. And I owe it all to Mark. Honestly, he's the one that booked it for us. If you want to head to the US Virgin Islands, whether it's cruise or you just want to go straight there, call Mark in his office during the break just to get the conversation started. Office during the break, just to get the conversation started. Phone number is 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. Or you can also go to blueplanetvacations. com. Coming up in the next segment, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, regardless of the destination, but this time we are headed to the land down under Men at work. Australia is on sale. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Thank you so much for listening. 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.
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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:Welcome back inside of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Hello there, hope you're having a terrific weekend. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. With my co-host, mark Faldmo, we love talking travel each and every weekend and we are immensely grateful to all of you who subscribe to the show, listen to us on the radio network and subscribe to the podcast at insidetraveltalk. com. Coming up in this segment we have the hot travel deal of the week and this time we're going down under. But let's first get to the travel news headlines for this week. In light of everything, I kind of get it. But there is a plea from Los Angeles hotels Please come. Please come to LA. We need you. So Los Angeles is kind of get it. There is a plea from Los Angeles hotels Please come, please come to LA, we need you.
Mark Faldmo:So Los Angeles is kind of experiencing the same issues that Hawaii faced after the Maui fires. What they're saying is less than 1% of the area of Los Angeles was affected by the fires, and so they're asking people not to cancel their trips. Things are still open. Travel industry is, I guess, kind of really fickle. Big newsmakers seem to affect people's travel decisions, even though it probably really shouldn't in some cases. What Los Angeles is faced with is they have over 540,000 people working just in Los Angeles County in the tourism sector. So if people don't travel, those people don't have jobs.
Patrick Wiscombe:What happened was absolutely significant. But I think the Maui comparison is good, where it made sound like the entire island of Maui had burned down when it really, from a geographical standpoint, Maui was kind of small.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, and then you know even Hawaii, other islands, so Oahu, kauai, the big island, all faced downturns in tourism because of the Maui fire, all of.
Patrick Wiscombe:California Beautiful. I love LA. I just won't live there. Yeah, delta Airlines is set to launch a new LA to Melbourne flight. What details do we have on that?
Mark Faldmo:This is going to be three days a week. It's going to fly Los Angeles to Melbourne Monday, Wednesday and Friday on its new Airbus A350 flight and that is set to start later this year, I think in May. That is really opening up Australia. Right now, united and Qantas are the only airlines that fly to Melbourne, and now Delta will become another option.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yet another reason referencing what we talked about in segment one United Airlines bringing back their status match program. Southwest has postponed the start date for installing extra legroom seats.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so this is a story we talked about oh maybe two months ago, where Southwest announced they're going to put in extra legroom seats and start their assigned seating policy and they were going to start that the middle of 2025, but they have delayed that now until first half of 2026.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to our hot travel deal of the week, always in this second segment of the show, and this week we are going down under.
Mark Faldmo:This is a great price to get to Sydney from Los Angeles it's $848. Really. And it does connect through New Zealand to get to Sydney, but for that price that connection is probably worth it. Oh yeah, that's probably five to even $700 lower than the normal price to get to Sydney. There are blackout dates. You can add a stopover in New Zealand if you would like to. There's a fee. I think it's $75 to add a stopover in New Zealand.
Patrick Wiscombe:So let's talk about some of the things to do in Sydney. Where would you start Sydney?
Mark Faldmo:I visited twice Sydney. Both of them have been relatively short. They've been less than six days. A lot of people say that's a long flight for just such a short time, but I actually enjoyed that. Things to do in Sydney. The first thing I would get is the Sydney Explorer Pass. With the Explorer Pass you get to choose a few different things, attractions you can do. You can choose three of 12 of the main attractions in Sydney to do. Included in that pass is the Sydney Zoo, the Hop On, Hop Off Tour and the Sydney Aquarium. Those are probably the three I would choose, but there are other options in the Sydney Explorer Pass.
Patrick Wiscombe:You mentioned there was about 12. What are the other nine, just so listeners can know what they can choose.
Mark Faldmo:So the other things you can choose within that pass are the Sydney Tower Eye, which is the radio tower building that you go up. There's a revolving restaurant up there. Okay, the National Maritime Museum. You can take a lunch cruise. There is an option for the Sydney Opera House tour. You can take a jet boat ride in the bay.
Patrick Wiscombe:I know what Patrick's doing. I didn't realize how much I like being on boats. That's kind of a new thing that I've found about myself.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I love being out on the water, out on the ocean.
Patrick Wiscombe:What are some of the other things to?
Mark Faldmo:do. Probably one of the most exciting things, I think, is the Sydney Bridge Climb, and so this is where you get hooked up in harnesses and you walk up to the top of one of the stanchions of the Sydney Bridge. Oh man, great views, oh.
Patrick Wiscombe:I bet.
Mark Faldmo:That's a very popular thing to do. One of the things I enjoyed most was taking a ferry over to Manly Island. Oh, I bet face at Luna Park there, Bondi Beach, which is one of the famous beaches there. One thing I really enjoyed was taking a Sydney Harbor cruise at nighttime see the skyline at night. I kind of took a dinner cruise to do that. Probably the thing I enjoyed the most was a day trip to the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains is a scenic area. It's a full day trip but a scenic area near Sydney. Along the way you stop at a kangaroo kind of sanctuary place where you get to feed the kangaroos and kind of play with the kangaroos. The most favorite part of this day for me was the Scenic World Railway. It's an old mining railway and it's the world's steepest railway, at 52 degrees incline.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm actually kind of impressed that it can go up that steep of an incline yeah.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, so it's actually hooked to a cable, so it's pulled up?
Patrick Wiscombe:I would hope so, wow.
Mark Faldmo:So, yeah, it's pulled up, there's great views at the top and then when you get down at the bottom of the railway there's hiking trails, kind of a nature preserve. It was a wonderful day, Even though I've only been to Sydney on short trips. I think it's well worth that and if you want to extend your trip, you can go up to the Great Barrier Reef, go up to Port Stanley, which is rainforest, go out to the desert Ayers Rock. There's lots you can do in Australia from Sydney.
Patrick Wiscombe:What do you call a lazy kangaroo? I don't know what. A pouch potato A pouch?
Mark Faldmo:potato, a pouch potato, that's great.
Patrick Wiscombe:Sorry for the bad humor.
Mark Faldmo:No, humor is always good.
Patrick Wiscombe:Even though it's bad. Okay, I had that coming. You know, what's funny is that Nikki and I have actually been talking about Australiaralia, but we didn't know if we wanted to fly or do a cruise and honestly, I don't know what we're gonna do now.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, either way, it's a great way to visit. Go to Australia.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you've always had desires to go to Australia, call mark. Call them during the break. Just Just get the conversation started. No obligation, 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also see the Australian vacation options on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. It is the infamous Just Cruising segment. This week we literally have five great cruise deals. Do not miss this next segment of the show coming up after the news update. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend.
Show Voice:We will be right back. 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:Okay, we're back. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. In the next 30 minutes we will be talking about the five cruise deals of the week the most cruise deals we have ever discussed in one segment, and we're rolling it back to 1987. We're talking Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey we have a live Dirty Dancing concert. 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:Us 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 three of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. We hope that you are having a terrific weekend. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, broadcasting live here in Salt Lake City from the Wiscombe Faldmo radio studios, and thanks to all of our radio affiliates podcast listeners, we couldn't do this show without you. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend Coming up in this segment of the show. Of course we've got the travel news headlines, but we've also got the cruise deal of the week. We just simply call it the infamous Just Cruising segment and we've got five cruise deals. We've never had that many before in a single segment. But before we get to the cruise deals of the week, let's get to the travel news headlines. Carnival is tightening the rules for minors accommodations. What does that mean?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so this really affects families traveling together. So the new policy for Carnival is guests 14 years of age and under must be booked with a relative or guardian 25 years or older in the same cabin or in a connecting cabin. The previous policy allowed for guests 12 and younger to occupy a cabin directly across the hall or next door, but now again for guests 14 years of age or younger, they have to be in the same cabin with a relative or guardian.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'd like to hear the backstory of why that policy changed.
Mark Faldmo:And that's actually a little bit more in line with what some of the other cruise lines are doing. Oh, so it is. When we book families we usually have to put one parent in a room with some kids and then another parent in a room with kids just to get around their age policies. Other ages have not changed, so I guess 15 to 17 can be in their own room, separated by up to two cabins, as long as there's a parent or guardian 25 years of age or older in that main cabin. There.
Patrick Wiscombe:What do we do about individuals aged 18 to 20?
Mark Faldmo:18 to 20 can be anywhere on the ship, but they do have to be linked to a parent or guardian at least 25 years or older.
Patrick Wiscombe:So not even 21.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so, oh, interesting. So to sail with no restrictions? Both guests have to be 21 years of age or older to sail on their own. The exception to that is if they're legally married couples or qualified military personnel can also sail if they're 18 or 20 in a cabin, but it's very restrictive.
Patrick Wiscombe:So in the eyes of cruise companies, an adult is 25, not 21.
Mark Faldmo:25 if there's a minor involved.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, got it. One of the private islands that I've never been to is called Great Stirrup Cay. I think it's owned by NCL or Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. They announced that they're doing some construction or pier construction work. What's the timeframe on that this?
Mark Faldmo:is Norwegian Cruise Line Holding, which is Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceana Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. They all use Great Stirrup Cay. Previously, this private island did not have a pier, so you had to tender in previously this private island did not have a pier so you had to tender in.
Mark Faldmo:The tender in was an improvement from what it was before. The first probably 10 times I visited this island you went on almost like a World War II landing craft. So they would beach it and then the front would come down and you'd walk off like you're doing a beach landing. It's a pretty unique way to get to the island. This is also the first private island in the cruise industry, so Norwegian was the first. They later added a little harbor where the tenders could come in, made it a little bit easier to get to the island. But now they're adding a pier, which construction started earlier this year and should be ready by the end of the year.
Mark Faldmo:Norwegian was really the first cruise line to really enhance their private island. We've often talked about MSC's private island and all the neat things to do there. Norwegian was the first cruise line to really make their island more than just a beach day and should make it so the ships don't have to miss the island as much. A lot of times, during inclement weather or windy conditions, the ship misses the private island.
Patrick Wiscombe:My perception is, royal Caribbean has really outdone NCL, and even MSC may have outdone NCL.
Mark Faldmo:Or is that not fair? I don't think that's fair. Norwegian's island is comparable or in some ways better than MSC's island as far as the facilities that are on there. Now, to begin with, it was just beach chairs and a little thatched roof place where they served food, so it was a very basic island. But when they made the investment a few years ago, it was the first to make those big investments. Norwegian was the first to realize that these private islands could be the most popular port on the itinerary, which they have become with most cruise lines. Royal Caribbean's island is amazing with what it has facilities wise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is that perfect day at Coco Cay?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, perfect day at Coco Cay, which is actually. You could swim from Norwegian's Island to Royal Caribbean's Island, except for the cruise employees that are sitting there stopping people from doing that. That's how. That's how close they are, okay. So they're that close. They're that close, okay. Yeah, in fact, if you go to the Blue Planet Facebook page, the other week when I flew into NASA, I flew right over the islands. I took a picture of it so you can see how close the two islands are.
Patrick Wiscombe:I could just see police in between the islands. Hey, out of the water, come on, yeah, let's get out. Come on, yeah. One of the most popular movies from 1987 was Dirty Dancing Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, and it looks like. Well, Patrick won't be there, well, I guess Jennifer Grey won't be either. But they are bringing Dirty Dancing in concert to MSC's World America, a ship that both of us will be on in. When is it April? Yeah, I think it's April. Yeah, okay, so Dirty Dancing in concert, that's the headline. I think it's in April. Yeah, okay. So dirty dancing and concert, that's the headline. So that's what will be seen.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so they just made this announcement. This will be one of their main theater shows. Msc is really trying to make inroads with the American vacationer. Msc seems a little bit more European and so they've built the ship MSC World America to really appeal towards the American traveler. And adding a show like Dirty Dancing in concert I think will do that. You know it's great music, music that everybody knows. I think this will be popular. This is actually one of seven new productions that MSC will have on this ship. They have an acrobatic show, they have an illusionist show, which MSC calls the largest ever illusion production show at sea. They have a special effects show which is put on by the people that did special effects in Back to the Future, Mission Impossible, the Mummy, and then they have a live pop concert.
Patrick Wiscombe:So when we had Laura Okonowski of MSC Cruises on what was it two or three weeks ago, she said that it was kind of the modern beauty of Europe, but with American comforts. That's what I'm hearing you say. Yeah, always in this segment of the show bottom of the hour we've got the cruise deal of the week and in this case we've got the top five cruise deals of the hour. We've got the cruise deal of the week and in this case we've got the top five cruise deals of the week. So let's start there and then let's talk about how people can get in touch with you or the website to book these vacations this week.
Mark Faldmo:I thought I'd just highlight some of the cruises that are listed on blueplanetvacations. com In cruise deals. I have a section called the top five cruise deals where I really go each week and try and find the best cruise deals that are out there. Currently there are 11 cruise deals listed on this page, but we'll highlight a few of them because I think there's some really good offers. I think the best deal that is listed there is a seven-day Alaska cruise round trip from Vancouver on Norwegian Cruise Line.
Patrick Wiscombe:Do we know which ship that one's on?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, it's on the Norwegian Sun, which is one of the smaller ships in Norwegian's fleet. But what makes this a particularly good deal is the date and the price. So it's on June 20th, right in the middle of the summer, which is the perceived best time to go to Alaska, but the balcony cabins on this start at $1,389 per person. Whoa, yeah when. If you look at other cruise lines balconies, they're well above $2,000.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, I was going to say.
Mark Faldmo:For this time frame in June.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, so summertime is Alaska prime time.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, this cruise again leaves from Vancouver, goes to Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau and goes to Icy Strait. So I think that's the overall best cruise deal that's out there.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's deal number one of five. What's deal number two?
Mark Faldmo:I'd say deal number two let's go to the other side of the country. Seven-day Canada and New England cruise. This is September 6th, so this would be to the start of the fall foliage. No guarantee if there will be fall colors at that time, but there could be Again. September 6th on Princess Cruises, balcony cabin starts at $989. Wow, which is great for that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Even though you can't guarantee the colors, you can guarantee that there will be leaves on the tree somehow.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, yeah, yeah, because the inside cabin is almost the same price as the balcony cabin, so just go with the balcony cabin on that. Deal number three is a seven-day Norwegian fjords cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh wow, this is on.
Mark Faldmo:Cunard Cruise Line Leaves from Southampton July 18th, right in the middle of the good season, to go to the Norwegian fjords. Balcony cabin starts at $1769 per person. Wow, what I like about this one is how port intensive it is. Goes to Stavanger in Norway, goes to Hardinger Fjord, goes to Skolden and goes to Aalesund. Aalesund is one of my favorite places in Norway. From there you can get to a place called the Troll Road and it's a switchback. It goes up to like 10,000 feet. It's a pretty interesting port.
Patrick Wiscombe:What's the date on that one?
Mark Faldmo:And so the date on that one is July 18th. What's deal number four? Deal number four we're going to go to the Caribbean this is October 12th on MSC cruises on the MSC seashore. So inside start at 548 per person and a balcony cabin starts at 769. Wow.
Patrick Wiscombe:I've got to hand it to MSC. They are coming into the American market and I know that they've been doing it for a while. But my point is they are breaking in and they're doing it with pricing and they've got nice ships too. Yes, they do.
Mark Faldmo:New ships. You know the seashore, we were both on the seashore earlier this year, Yep, and and actually this is the itinerary that you did, so leaves from Port Canaveral, Ocean Cay, Cozumel and Costa Maya.
Patrick Wiscombe:Deal number five in the infamous just cruising segment is let's see.
Mark Faldmo:I'm having a hard time choosing between the remaining of the 11 that are in that A 11-day Iceland and UK cruise.
Mark Faldmo:Ooh good choice. This is August 6th on Virgin Voyages, so this leaves from Portsmouth. So basically, London goes to Amsterdam, goes to Lurick in the Shetland Islands Now, last week we talked about the Faroe Islands, the Shetland Islands, very similar and then it does a circumnavigation of Iceland, goes to three different ports in Iceland, ending in Reykjavik. This one starts at $2369. So it's a little bit more expensive than what we've been talking about, but for 11 days that is a pretty good rate and it's a very interesting itinerary.
Patrick Wiscombe:And the deals that you've been talking about. They can obviously call you. Let me just give out the numbers we go to break here 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. But I think one of the coolest things that you have on blue planet vacations. com is the not only the top five cruise deals of week, but you've got an entire cruise section on the website that you can kind of play around with dates and destinations and then just book it right on the website. You can it's been very helpful.
Patrick Wiscombe:Honestly, I reference it. I don't know if you've seen the stats, but Patrick has spent a little bit of time on your site.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it's a great little tool for people to look at when searching for cruises.
Patrick Wiscombe:Take advantage of the offer 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com. When we come back we've got Mark's travel tips. We'll wrap up. The US has issued a do not travel warning for parts of Mexico. That's just one of the stories we'll talk about when the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show, continues. Thank you so much for listening. We'll 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 InsideTravelTalkcom. We'll be right back.
Ad Voice:This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by Star Clippers. For over 30 years, star Clippers has offered unique, authentic tall ship sailing experiences featuring creative itineraries throughout the Mediterranean Caribbean and Central America. To book your unique Star Clipper sailing adventure, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com.
Show Voice:This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by bluelanetVacations. 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 and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Final segment of this week's Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Thank you to all of our listeners, all of our subscribers, for taking the time to listen to us. We don't have a show, we don't have a business, so I just want to say thank you. I hope you can hear the sincerity in my voice. Mark and I love talking travel and, honestly, we can't do it without you. If you're new to the show or if you're just tuning in right now, this show is all about travel. It's only about travel, and we want everyone to get out and explore the world. Whatever part of the world, whatever part of the world you want to go to, we can help you with. So, with that being said, coming up in this segment, we've got the travel news headlines and we're also going to talk about Route 66. Mark, how many times have you been on Route 66?
Mark Faldmo:I know of probably two times, but probably a little bit more than that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Route 66 is fascinating to me, and so we'll talk about that here briefly in this final segment of the show. But let's start with the travel news headlines. As we went to break, I mentioned that the United States has issued a do not travel warning for parts of Mexico. Let's just start there.
Mark Faldmo:What parts of Mexico. It's the border areas of Mexico. In the travel world this kind of comes down like we were talking about earlier, with Los Angeles to geography. Some people hear that the State Department adds a travel advisory to Mexico. I'm not realizing those travel advisories are compartmentalized state by state in Mexico. This is the border areas, areas that travelers go to which would be Mexico City area, the Yucatan. Those remain at level one. Exercise normal precautions. Other places that travelers go to, like Puerto Vallarta, are exercise increased precautions.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so level two, but still a level two. Right Places like Paris and London are all level two. This is a good chance for people to think about looking at these warnings. If you go to the Blue Planet Vacations website, in the bottom footer there's a resource page where you can click on the State Department's warnings on search country by country, which, if you click on Mexico, it will break it down kind of region by region as to what the travel warnings are. And also a good time to talk about the State Department's STEP program.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, the STEP program basically. Level one just exercise normal caution. Level two is increased caution. Step three is I forgot what step three is Reconsider travel. Yeah, reconsider travel. Step four is just do not travel.
Mark Faldmo:Again on the Blue Planet vacation. There's a thing where travelers can enroll with the state department and it's called the Smart Travel Enrollment Program, and this will let the state department know where travelers are and if there's anything that is needed. It helps if there's a natural disaster and you have to be evacuated. It just lets the state department know where travelers are at and gives you up-to-date information on what's happening in the country.
Patrick Wiscombe:BluePlanetVacations. com just go to the very bottom. Is that where it is?
Mark Faldmo:I think it is yeah, yep, in the bottom footer. Okay, it's in resources, okay.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's say that you need to cancel your trip. I haven't had to file a claim, but I have had travel insurance. This seems like a natural way to just talk about travel insurance for a minute and the benefits of having it Travel insurance and we've said many times, it's highly recommended to protect your travel investment.
Mark Faldmo:Booking a trip is an investment. You want to protect that. A lot of travel insurance policies will cover pre-existing conditions if you pay for the policy within a certain timeframe from booking your trip. But, most importantly, they can protect you from if you need to cancel for covered reasons but while you're traveling. The health insurance benefits are very important. Our private health insurance here won't cover you in most foreign countries. It's a very good idea to have that insurance that will cover for sickness If you get an injury. We've told the story several times. On air I had a client that had not an aneurysm but had something happened in his brain and had to be medivacked from Australia back to the US. The bill was something like $350,000. And the medical insurance covered that, and so you don't want anything to happen, but things can happen when you travel. So protecting your trip with travel insurance is always a good idea. You don't buy insurance hoping to use it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let me switch gears here. Let me talk about airplane mode on your phone. When flying, I've noticed that the pilot or the attendants are saying put your phone in airplane mode.
Mark Faldmo:This is something that passengers are kind of going back and forth on. They don't want to put their phones in airplane mode, which I don't understand. What's the big deal? Which I don't understand? Yeah, I think if someone was making a phone call next to me, that would be very annoying in a flight In Europe. As long as you have 5G service, you don't have to put your phone in airplane mode.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, interesting.
Mark Faldmo:I think they still say you can't make calls, but if the plane will pick up data, you can use that 5G data. But in the US it doesn't matter what you have, it is still the official rule to put your phone in airplane mode or turn it off when flying.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, just do it Last thing before we take off. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but Route 66 here in America celebrating 100 years, and one thing I didn't know is that it went from downtown Chicago to Los Angeles, basically the Santa Monica Pier in LA. How many times have you been on Route 66, knowingly?
Mark Faldmo:Knowingly. I've been on it twice, mainly in the Illinois area. Last time I was in Chicago I actually sought out a little hot dog stand. That was on Route 66. Route 66 stretches goes Chicago to St Louis, to Tulsa, to Oklahoma City, then across to the panhandle of Texas, across New Mexico, Arizona and into Los Angeles area and then at Santa Monica Pier. One thing I found interesting when looking at this the National Park Service has designated over 250 structures along Route 66 on the National Register of Historic Places. There's lots of good restaurants, diners, Chicago area. Lou Mitchell's Diner is one of those favorite and famous diners. One place that I've kind of always wanted to visit is the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino, California. I don't know why, just always as a kid I've seen that pop up on movies and think that's been interesting, did you say the Wigwam Motel.
Mark Faldmo:Wigwam Motel.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wait, isn't that the one with?
Mark Faldmo:like teepees and Yep. They're all teepees yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:All the rooms are teepees. Okay, I know what you're talking about. It started business in 1949, and it looks like rates are basically like $100 a night, $90, $110. And these teepees have doors. Yes, Very motel style. You know, pull up in front of your teepee and check in, and you know that is interesting.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I mean there are some really interesting things along Route 66. Some old kind of classic 50s style motels and cafes, old filling stations. I just think it would be fascinating to drive that the whole route. One place that I've kind of always wanted to go is Mr D's Route 66 Diner in Kingman, Arizona.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, I've been to.
Mark Faldmo:Kingman yes, yeah, and so you know that's something that close enough for us here in Salt Lake I could get down to if I really wanted to. For those road trip enthusiasts, I think this is probably on everyone's bucket list and I would love to do that someday one of the things about the wigwam motel is that discover comfort in your unique teepee.
Patrick Wiscombe:That is not something that you normally see and they do have a swimming pool.
Patrick Wiscombe:What a fun way to end the show. I knew we were going to talk about Route 66, but what I didn't know is that we were going to zero in on the Wigwam Hotel. I'm glad that that's one of your memories. Yeah, what a fun show this week. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. Take advantage of the five well, really 11 cruise deals on blueplanetvacations. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:We talked about the US Virgin Islands. We talked about the flight from Australia. What a great time to be alive. That we can just hop on a plane, that we can hop in a car. Go see the world. Go do it. Call Mark in his office if you need help booking anything 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. Also, go to blueplanetvacations. com to book those vacations. You can listen to this show again tomorrow morning at 11 am right here on this radio station and on the Blue Planet Vacations radio network, and you can also stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. We are on all of the major podcast platforms. Well, that's it. We've done our job. It's your turn. Get out and explore the world, because you never know what curveball's life is going to throw at you. As we like to say, live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great week. We'll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday.
Show Voice:That's it. That's the end of the show. We'll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.