Inside Travel Talk
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Inside Travel Talk
From Normandy to Hawaii: Must-Visit Destinations Revealed
Royal Caribbean's strategic expansion on the West Coast marks a significant shift in cruise accessibility for Western travelers. With Ovation of the Seas joining the Los Angeles fleet, passengers now have unprecedented options for Mexican Riviera explorations without trekking to Florida ports. Mark broadcasts directly from LA, preparing to board this celebrated vessel and sharing firsthand insights on what travelers can expect.
Normandy's D-Day landing beaches emerge as our destination highlight, offering a profound journey through pivotal moments in world history. Whether exploring via river cruise from Paris, joining specialized tours with historical experts, or creating a custom itinerary based in charming Bayeux, these sacred sites deliver experiences that transcend typical tourism. The American Cemetery, in particular, provides a deeply moving tribute that every American should witness firsthand.
Hawaii's enduring appeal gets a fresh perspective as we explore three distinct ways to experience the islands by sea. Current pricing reveals surprising value, with packages from Salt Lake City starting at just $999 including airfare. The insider breakdown of round-trip voyages from California, Norwegian's unique inter-island cruising aboard Pride of America, and luxury repositioning journeys to Tahiti via Hawaii offers something for every style of traveler.
Royal Caribbean's "Perfect Day Mexico" development promises to revolutionize private cruise destinations with record-breaking attractions including the Americas' tallest water slide and the world's longest lazy river. Meanwhile, Delta's fare rebrand creates new terminology without substantially changing their service offerings.
Whether seeking cultural immersion, historical significance, tropical relaxation, or maritime adventure, this episode delivers actionable insights for your next journey. Discover these opportunities while prices remain favorable by calling 888-718-7717 or visiting Blue Planet Vacations online.
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. On today's show we will be talking about Royal Caribbean adding a second ship to the West Coast called Ovation of the Seas. Delta is introducing all new fares and products, d-day trips and three ways to cruise Hawaii. 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.
Show Voice: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:We hope you are having an absolute terrific weekend. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. The entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation, and if you have no idea where to go, then we're going to give you some ideas of where you should consider next. And we are presented proudly presented by by blueplanetvacations. com. Thank you for taking the time To stop and listen. Coming up in this episode of the show, mark is in Los Angeles and he is broadcasting from Los Angeles. Right now he's getting ready to board Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas. We'll also be talking about Delta introducing all new fares and products and, I think, something that every American should do D-Day. We'll talk about how to get there and we'll also talk about three ways to cruise to Hawaii. But let's bring in the co-host of this award-nominated show. It is.
Mark Faldmo:It's a good show.
Patrick Wiscombe:A good show. Mark is in LA right now getting ready to board Ovation of the Seas. And how are things in Los Angeles this morning? Things are good in Los Angeles.
Mark Faldmo:Where are you staying down there?
Patrick Wiscombe:And what have you been doing for the past few days?
Mark Faldmo:Heather and I came down, went to some baseball games. We went to a Padres game.
Show Voice:Oh, you went to San Diego. I drove down to San Diego.
Mark Faldmo:And then we drove back up and last night we were at the Yankees-Dodgers game. Then in a few hours we are headed out to board the ship Ovation of the Seas. This is a celebration. It's not a new ship, but it's an invite-only event to celebrate Royal Caribbean adding a second ship to the West Coast.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so this is the ad that we've been running for basically six months.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, so now they have two ships doing three, four, six and seven-day cruises from Los Angeles area.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the travel news headlines. Delta said that they're introducing all new fares and products New fares I get. I guess that will include different levels of service.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, this is interesting because there really is not a change in how they operate. They've just rebranded this, so now they have five different products. They have Delta Main, Delta Comfort, Delta First, Delta Premium Select and Delta One.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh boy, okay, now I've flown Delta One. That was delightful going over to Hawaii.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, I love Delta One. Some people might hear that and say, well, what happened to Basic Economy? No, they are not doing away with Basic Economy, they've just added it as a product within Delta Main. So now you have Main Basic, main classic and main extra to choose from. So main basic is what we would have called economy, basic economy, which is it's the same. You can't cancel it. It's a user to lose a ticket, no sky miles, not eligible for upgrades and no seat assignments. And then they have Main Classic, which is Main Cabin, and then they have Main Extra, which if you've purchased a Delta ticket, if you go right now, it just says Main Refundable. So it's the same products, just renamed. And then they've added the Extra, that refundable category, to all of those five different products. So now you'll have first classic and first extra Delta One, delta One Extra. So they've added fully refundable, which if you buy that extra category, it gets you extra SkyMiles as well. You get two extra SkyMiles per dollar spent.
Patrick Wiscombe:So it's a rebrand.
Mark Faldmo:It's a rebrand, basically yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:I would say that Delta is becoming a premium airline. Is that fair to say?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, they are, and they're really trying to push people towards those higher fares, the extra fares. I still don't know if it's worth buying the refundable fares, because you still get a flight credit for the future, but I guess there are some circumstances where you would want a fully refundable ticket and then also, if you really like those upgrades where that's the tiebreaker, it might be worth to have that tiebreaker.
Patrick Wiscombe:SeaLife Florida welcomes its first marine animals at Legoland ahead of their June 6th opening. I don't know that I've ever heard of Sea Life Florida, but I guess it's part of Legoland.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it's part of a brand new section of Legoland in Florida, and Legoland is a little bit south and kind of in between Orlando and Tampa where Legoland is. So they've added this new Sea Life Florida which opens on June 6th next week. Probably not as grand as SeaWorld has, so they'll have more than 25 interactive exhibits, including stingray bay rock pools, and then they have 10 underwater themed galleries. It's officially a conservation park and so they are working to rebuild sea life and study how sea life works in different exhibits and different conditions.
Patrick Wiscombe:So this is basically SeaWorld at Legoland.
Mark Faldmo:At Legoland, correct?
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, Explora Journeys will be scheduling its first Alaska season.
Mark Faldmo:That's actually owned by MSC oh, that's right, cruise lines. And so first, a lot of people probably have not heard about Explorer Journeys, so here's a little overview of Explorer. It's a luxury cruise experience. They kind of frame themselves as an ultra luxury cruise focusing on intimate, immersive voyages. They're boutique style ships. They're smaller. They really try and get that personalized service Destination wise. They don't have set itineraries, although it looks like this Alaska will be a set itinerary. Right now they only have one ship sailing. Their second ship comes out this year.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, is this the Explorer and Explorer 2? Yes, okay, so it's that line. Is this the Explora and Explora 2?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, okay, so it's that line and this ship will actually be the Explora 3 when it sells to Alaska, and they've also announced an Explora 4. And it's all-inclusive service, so the pricing includes dining, drinks, excursions, wellness activities. So it's kind of a seamless travel experience.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so what you pay? You just get everything.
Mark Faldmo:Correct. Yeah, and so they are introducing. So this is not until 2027, but they are up for sale now and they are North and Southbound. Alaska cruises between Vancouver and Seward Alaska.
Patrick Wiscombe:Have you ever been on Explorer?
Mark Faldmo:I have not been on Explorer. They are such a new cruise line They've been sailing for about two years now so I have not had the chance. I did talk to Explorer Journeys this past week at a convention I was at and they actually have pretty good prices for being in that ultra luxury small ship category.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, that's kind of the niche that MSC is. You and I were on World America in April and you would think that with these big, gigantic ships, icon of the seas-esque size ships, that they would charge a premium. But they really don't. You will literally pay two and three times on Royal Caribbean what you'll pay on MSC. Yeah, so they're following Explorer, that is, they are following that exact same model, sounds like.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, yeah, they are. So I do know several people that have been on Explorer and say it's just a wonderful experience.
Patrick Wiscombe:Memorial Day was this past Monday. Always in this first segment, we have the destination of the week, which is Normandy, and, of course, d-day this will be something that Nikki and I will be doing for sure Going to visit Normandy and, of course, d-day this will be something that Nikki and I will be doing for sure.
Mark Faldmo:Going to visit Normandy and the landing beaches of D-Day. I think every American should visit, go to the American cemetery. It's such a special experience to go, hear those stories and see where that happened.
Mark Faldmo:So we're coming up on it'll be 81 years ago this week, so June 6th 1944, when D-Day happened, and so I've actually had several people this past few months that have asked about D-Day tours and how to see Normandy. This is a good time to bring up how you can get to Normandy and see that D-Day history. Bring up how you can get to Normandy and see that D-Day history.
Patrick Wiscombe:Referring to sports and let me just take a slight left turn here we always talk about must-win situations in sports. You know Game 7, it's a must-win, blah, blah, blah when it comes to the shaping of this wonderful plan that we are on. Normandy was a must-win for everybody. That's why it's so incredible. What's the best way to go see? I would call it a sacred site, yeah.
Mark Faldmo:So there are kind of three ways to do this. The first is a river cruise. Most cruise lines have a really good Landing Beaches of Norway program from Paris Right now. We've talked about this the last few weeks Avalon Waterways has a free airfare to Europe on select sailings. So you could has several tours that do that northern France D-Day area. They also have a special $799 airfare to Europe or save up to $1,000 per trip.
Mark Faldmo:How I would recommend doing it is doing a custom private tour. This is how I've sent several of my customers the past few months to see Normandy. What I would do is fly into Paris, spend two or three days in the Paris area seeing the sights there and then taking the train or arrange a private car and go up to a city called Bayou. And this is a historic town. It has an old world, historic city center. It's compared to more of a village than a city. You know, it's just that kind of setting that you're in. And the reason why I say go to Bayou is because it escaped much of the destruction that surrounding cities had in World War II. So it still has its old cathedral, it still has all of the old world charm, whereas a lot of those cities have been rebuilt after World War II. It also has a UNESCO listed tapestry that's still there from the 11th century.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wow.
Mark Faldmo:It's a really good launching place to go see Normandy. Actually, in the city that we've talked about there's the Tapestry Museum, the Cathedral, the Old City Center, which has a mill and half-timbered homes, so it's really kind of a charming little city. Oh yeah, but from there you can take and I have good company that I work with that takes you on private tours out to the landing beaches, and you can even choose to go in the old World War II Jeeps so you can hop in the Jeeps and your driver guide will take you around to the landing beaches.
Patrick Wiscombe:I would do that. Not that it's authentic, but it would at least put you in the right transportation mode.
Mark Faldmo:You'd go see several of the landing beaches, definitely go to the American Cemetery, which is probably my favorite site. To's an island During low tide? It's not an island. If you saw a picture of it you'd probably recognize it. It's a pretty iconic island there and it has a pretty interesting link to World War II. It was a German outpost and after D-Day it was actually liberated by one soldier and two reporters. The Germans were on such a losing streak, I guess, that one soldier and two reporters walked in and basically kicked all the Germans out. They fled when the three people walked into Mont Saint-Michel Pretty interesting World War II history there. And then, when you're done in Bayeux, two to four days in Bayeux and then you can go back to Paris for a night or two and fly back. Or you could continue on and go to London. If you wanted to make a whole World War II trip out of it, oh, I would Go to London. You can see the Churchill War Rooms. Lots of World War II interesting things in London to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe:That sounds spectacular, and especially coming off Memorial Day, which was last Monday or this past Monday. Yeah, go see it. Nikki and I will be seeing it. If you have any interest in paying respects to those who came before us in a truly must-win situation, take the time, call Mark in his office, 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
Ad Voice:And our thanks to the men and women who served in World War II. We'll be back after this Caribbean and central America to book your unique star clipper sailing adventure.
Show Voice:Contact blue planet vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com 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 dot com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show, alongside my very tan friend, because he's also back from Fiji but presently in Los Angeles ready to take off and go to Mexico. My word, you are living in the sun. Yes, coming up in this segment of the show it's always the hot travel deal of the week. This week we're going to Hawaii. We're going to help you save about $250 on packages to get to Hawaii. But before we talk about that travel deal of the week, let's get back to the travel news headlines. Alaska Airlines is planning a new long haul experience. What are the details on that?
Mark Faldmo:When Alaska Airlines purchased Hawaiian, they had already agreed to purchase several 787 Dreamliner's, and so they're just trying to figure out what to do with these 787s. They just barely launched their first long haul flight to Asia a few weeks ago, and now, with the 787, they really want to go and compete with Delta, which Seattle is a Delta hub as well as Alaska.
Patrick Wiscombe:I didn't know that.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, on these international routes, delta actually in the Northwest merger that was Northwest Airlines hub they're planning an all new premium cabin, first class on the 787s said it's going to be better than anything any airline offers and so they are really wanting to compete with Delta on the international routes and they'll have the plane to do it now.
Patrick Wiscombe:Those 787s are just unbelievable.
Mark Faldmo:They're beautiful plan they're huge, although looking at the comments of this, they said please put standard window shades in them, because the 787 actually just has a touch screen that dims it and it breaks sometimes, and so some seats. You can't close the window shade, so you know.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm a window shade open kind of guy but I didn't realize that I was kind of in the minority. I didn't realize how many people close the window shades, even on takeoff and landing.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I'm definitely a window shades person open as well, although I look out all the time.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, you do. Tickets for airlines are down 4%, which is the biggest drop since last year, June of 2024.
Mark Faldmo:The third straight month of declines and the largest decrease in the past 10 months. What this means for the vacation traveler is better airfares. Airlines really haven't started reducing their flights yet, but with more capacity, the lower the airfares are going to go. Last week we talked about Mexico. This week we're going to talk about Hawaii. Some of those deals we talked about last week to Mexico five-star hotels for five-night packages less than $1,000 a person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, that's incredible.
Mark Faldmo:And a good part of that drop in the price was the airfare, because airlines are just finding those destinations and really putting those airfares on sale to fill the seats.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you've never flown, now's a good time because you're going to save money.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm a little bit surprised how many people still have not flown just within my own family. To you and I it's just common hey, you know, let's just go jump on an airplane. But to a lot of my family members they've never flown and I didn't know that.
Mark Faldmo:I just assumed that they had, and that's one of the purposes of the show to help show people that travel can be affordable and get affordable ways to do it. A lot of people do think flying is expensive and to certain destinations it can be, but there are times when you can find a great deal and go out and explore the world.
Patrick Wiscombe:Go fly, totally worth it.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, there's going to be some really good flight specials out there.
Patrick Wiscombe:The cruise industry has reached a deal with Mexico on a. Is this the standard passenger fee? That was fluctuating all over the place?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, Mexico wanted to charge a new per-person head fee for cruise passengers. Okay, it was going to be like $40 to $50 per person per port that they were charging Per port, per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and so they came to an agreement where that passenger fee is going to be $5 and it'll gradually increase over the next few years but won't reach that initial proposed fee. Thanks to the cruise lines for really standing up for that, because it really would have been a big burden on cruise lines that visit Mexico.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the hot travel deal of the week, which is always in this segment, and we are talking about Hawaii. There are two vacations that everyone can go on that will always be successful. Number one is Alaska, number two is Hawaii. The hot travel deal of the week is to help our listeners save up to $250 on packages to Hawaii. What are the details Right now?
Mark Faldmo:we have save up to $250. This is from anywhere in the country, but I've chosen pricing from Salt Lake City, since that's where most of our listeners are listening. Right now we're seeing the prices drop about $150 per person to what they were a few weeks ago. And these are all for six days. Five nights include airfare from Salt Lake City. A five nights hotel Best prices is on the Big Island, so fly into Kona and that package price starts at $999 per person and that is staying at the Royal Kona. It's a three-star hotel but I really enjoy that hotel for the location. It's walking distance to lots of shops and restaurants. One of my favorite restaurants in the area is their Great Sunsets. Just a good kind of basic hotel, but in a good location right there in Kona.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is that the hotel that's kind of on that southwest corner of the island?
Mark Faldmo:It is Okay. The next best island price-wise is Oahu. Waikiki area Starts at $1,019 per person, and I should say these are for early September dates. So midweek travel, early September, and that starts at the Outrigger Waikiki Paradise, which is a four-star hotel newly renovated For those that have listened to us for a long time, it used to be the Outrigger Waikiki East Hotel. They renovated it and rebranded it. It's in a great location, two blocks off the beach, and then a kawaii starts at $1,129 per person and that is at the Hilton Garden Inn Wailua Bay. It's a three and a half star hotel right on the beach, though Very good hotel for Kauai. And then Maui starts at $1,169 per person and that is at the Royal Kahana Hotel. Hawaii is a really good value right now compared to what it was even four weeks ago.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can't go wrong with any of those islands. Just choose where you want to go. Probably the most popular is Oahu. If you want to guarantee yourself a great vacation. There's two places to go, as I mentioned at the beginning of this segment Alaska and Hawaii. You cannot go wrong going to any of those places. Call Mark in his office to book your vacation, no obligation. Call him in his office at 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717,. 888-718-7717. And he'll also put all of this information on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. At the bottom of the hour we've got the infamous Just Cruising segment where it's only about the cruise news and it is only about promotions. If you want to go on a cruise, that is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast radio show continues Alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. 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:Okay, we're back. Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. In the next 30 minutes we will be talking about Royal Caribbean's brand new perfect day. Mexico MSC Cruises is ordering two more world ships. We'll give you the details and, if you don't have a passport, we're going to tell you how to cruise without a passport. 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 Wiscombe and Mark Fulton.
Patrick Wiscombe:All aboard for the infamous Just Cruising segment right here on the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show that is the beautiful ship horn of Norwegian's Aqua, a ship that Nikki and I were on about a month ago. A beautiful, truly beautiful ship, and if you've ever been on any cruise and the air conditioning hasn't worked, we can confirm that Norwegian's Aqua, at least the balcony stateroom that we were in. It was as cold as we wanted the room to be.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:Man, it was cold in there. We could dial it up. We just prefer things a little bit on the frigid side. Yeah, oh, dude, me too. That was a genuinely beautiful ship. I was so impressed with that ship Coming up. In this segment of the show. We will be talking about Royal Caribbean's brand new under construction Perfect Day Mexico, and we'll talk about MSC Cruises ordering two more world class ships. That's not world class, not hyphen, it's just world like World, Europa, world America. They're ordering two more world ships. Let's get to the cruise news headlines. In fact, let's just start with Royal Caribbean's perfect day Mexico. Where is it?
Mark Faldmo:It's on mainland Mexico, in the port of Mahual, or Costa Maya. Okay, costa Maya, but that's going to set several world records, including the tallest water slide in North and South America and the longest lazy river in the world.
Patrick Wiscombe:I didn't realize what a fan I am of lazy rivers.
Mark Faldmo:Wait until you hear about this one that I'll talk about in just a moment. Okay, and so this kind of continues the trend. Royal Caribbean has started these destinations the Perfect Day Cocoa Cay, perfect Day Mexico, and also their beach club, and a new one that they just announced that we'll talk about on another episode, which is La Lepa, which is in the South Pacific, on the island of Vanuatu. Let's focus on the perfect day, Mexico. The water park has the tallest water slide in North and South America. It will have 30 water slides across five slide towers, the highest one being 170 feet.
Mark Faldmo:It'll take more than two minutes to complete. That is so long it is, yeah. And then they have another water slide that's a family raft designed for four to six people to ride at one time going down the water slide. So some pretty interesting water park elements there.
Patrick Wiscombe:Depending on the size of the individuals in the raft it's going to take a current of water to push people along.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so moving on to their next area is Splash Cove. It'll be the world's longest lazy river. It will take over an hour to float the whole thing, if you did it at one time.
Ad Voice:An hour.
Mark Faldmo:An hour to go all the way around the lazy river, multiple entry and exit points with a whole bunch of float-up bars along the way.
Patrick Wiscombe:By the way, I didn't realize that I was a float-up bar.
Mark Faldmo:Float-up bar, swim-up bar, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:I had so many virgin pina coladas when we were on vacation I was, like you know, kind of like just swimming up to the bar it was terrific in fact, I loved it so much that I actually proposed it to our hoa yeah, but I'm like hey, if you want to make money, let's just do a swim up bar and speaking of swim up bars in the Splash Cove they'll have a massive 100,000 square foot pool, which is just one of 10 pools in the complex at Perfect Day Mexico.
Patrick Wiscombe:This place is going to be enormous. Is this for everybody or is this kind of a cruise ship type destination? It's a cruise ship destination.
Mark Faldmo:It'll be just for rural Caribbean guests, and they also have El Hideaway, which is an adults-only section which features a zero-entry pool. I had to look up what that is and it's a pool with no stairs. It just has a gradual slope like a beach.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah. So when Nikki and I were in Grand Turk we went to Margaritaville. They had a zero entry pool and it was. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but as you get a little older it's kind of like oh, all right, that's just a nice little gradual ascent and decent.
Mark Faldmo:Slope in. Yeah, I love it In this area. They have a massive swim up bar and an in-pool DJ.
Patrick Wiscombe:We did that at Grand Bimini. So Nikki and I were in the middle of the pool at Bimini Island. We just started dancing in the pool and that brought a lot of people in from the edges. We must have just looked like fools, but I'm like we're never going to see these people again. Let's just have fun.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and then kind of the last thing is for those that just like to chill on the beach. They will have two different beaches. They'll have a north and south beach, so you can go just relax on the beach with complimentary beach loungers, umbrellas, towels. Another thing that's important about these destinations is food. They'll have 12 different options, from sit-down to grab-and-go eateries and buffets. It'll have almost anything you would want in kind of a private destination.
Patrick Wiscombe:This is going to be a huge success. And kind of a private destination, this is going to be a huge success. If the private islands like Perfect Day at Coco Cay, msc's private island Ocean Key, Norwegian's Great Stirrup Key, this is going to be a huge hit.
Ad Voice:This is going to be a destination.
Patrick Wiscombe:people will just want to go to get on those ships for that specific reason and go have a great vacation. Yeah, royal Caribbean in that destination will still go have a great vacation.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, royal Caribbean in that destination will still have the option of doing the tours. You know there are some great archaeological sites from there and great things to do from Costa Maya, so you still will have those options to go to those things. But you'll now have this whole option of the whole private destination with a water park, beaches, dining options. I think it'll be a perfect destination to go to Margaritaville.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is this Margaritaville at sea? Yeah, Margaritaville at sea is adding a third cruise ship in 2026, so they have Margaritaville at sea paradise, which we were on last year. They have what's the one in Tampa, Margaritaville at Sea, islander, and so they've ordered another one.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, they've ordered or purchasing another one. Like all of Margaritaville at Sea ships, this is a former Costa ship. This third ship will be what is now the Costa Fortuna, which Margaritaville at Sea come into in 2026. It'll be their largest ship. It'll carry up to 3,500 passengers.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wow, okay, so they're really making it bigger. Yeah, they are.
Mark Faldmo:Margaritaville has been on a pretty interesting trajectory. The last two years we were on the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, which is a fairly old ship. It used to just do basically casino cruises gambling cruises would go between Palm Beach and Grand Bahama and then they purchased that. When it was rebranded Margaritaville at sea, they tried to make it more of a cruise experience than a casino experience On that two-day cruise that we did. It's kind of hard to do that, but then they added the Islander, which was doing three, four and seven, and when they add this new ship so they'll have anywhere between two and 10-day cruises.
Mark Faldmo:It's not clear where this ship is going to Margaritaville at Sea out of cruises. It's not clear where this ship is going to sail out of. Margaritaville as a brand is a brand that I really like. You know, I like the hotels kind of like that laid back luxury that they try and do. Now. They had a hard time doing it on the Paradise, but they've really executed well on the Islander. I'm sure they'll do a good job on this new ship that they have.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, the Paradise. You know Good burgers, oh, my goodness, burger, how many burgers did I have? And burgers in Paradise, or whatever it was called.
Mark Faldmo:Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh my heavens, those were good.
Mark Faldmo:You know, and that's one thing, they really delivered on food. Oh, they sure did. I thought food on Margaritaville at Sea was amazing, even though it was an older ship. Their food and entertainment was very good.
Show Voice:Yeah, agreed.
Mark Faldmo:What could be better than sitting out on a deck listening to Jimmy Buffett?
Patrick Wiscombe:Eating a cheeseburger Eating a cheeseburger, yeah. Oh, that was okay. Yeah, I will hand it to him, which, by the way, Margaritaville at Sea, at Paradise, was going into dry dock for renovations of memory serves, didn't?
Mark Faldmo:we talk about that a few weeks ago we did a few weeks ago. It's going to go in for major renovations.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, it needs it.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and you know, when we sold it was only a few months removed from being just that casino shift where all their guests cared about was going to the casino and so so, so they've they've really kind of rebranded that and changed that. It'll be very interesting to see what happens with that brand cruise brand going forward, agreed.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is always in this segment, and this week we are going. What are we doing? Are we going to West coast, because that's where you are? You're in Los Angeles right now. What kind of repositioning cruises do we have for listeners this week?
Mark Faldmo:Well, we're going to Hawaii. I had a customer, Whitney, who wants to cruise to Hawaii in November, December and was just wondering what the options were. There are three different ways you can cruise to Hawaii. One is round trip from the West Coast. Another is inter-island cruise, which, Norwegian, is the only one that offers that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, Pride of America.
Mark Faldmo:Pride of America. And then there are repositioning cruises, and so I just wanted to bring an itinerary up on each of these ways to do that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's start with the round trip West Coast.
Mark Faldmo:So these are round trip Los Angeles A lot of people that don't like to fly but still want to see Hawaii. This is a good option. Now you do have to like days at sea for this, because you have four days at sea getting to Hawaii and four days at sea getting back to Los Angeles. Holland America Carnival and Princess both do this round trip Los Angeles to Hawaii, so I chose a carnival 14-day carnival cruise. This leaves the end of November, so leave Los Angeles, spends a full day in Maui, a full day in Honolulu, a full day in Kauai and a full day in Hilo, and then cruises back to Los Angeles with a stop which is a half day in Ensenada, Because this ship is not American built or American crewed. It has to have an international stop, so that stop is Ensenada, Mexico, before returning to Los Angeles area.
Mark Faldmo:So that's 14 days, 14 days, and it starts at $1688 per person for an inside cabin or $3119 per person for a balcony cabin.
Patrick Wiscombe:Wow, that's a big difference between inside and a balcony. That's bigger than I thought it was going to be.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, you know, on a cruise like this, I did look at both Holland America and Princess and it was about the same. Carnival did have the better prices. Probably the reason that jump is because the balconies are in demand on this. Yeah, with that many days at sea, a lot of people just want to sit on the balcony and read a book, not have to worry about deck chairs around the pool. And read a book, not have to worry about deck chairs around the pool.
Mark Faldmo:That's a good point. With this many days at sea, I definitely would take a balcony cab, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you can swing it, do it.
Mark Faldmo:And then the next way to cruise. Hawaii is just a seven-day inner island on Norwegian's Pride of America.
Patrick Wiscombe:Both of us have been on that one.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and then last week we talked about that ship is going in for a full renovation. I don't recall when that was. If you want to see every island in Hawaii, I think this is the best way to see all of the islands of Hawaii. Agreed, absolutely. Now, when we talk about the prices, well, let's talk about the prices and then we'll talk about the itinerary.
Mark Faldmo:An inside cabin on this starts at $2339 per person and a balcony starts at $3855 per person, and this was pretty much for any date in November. Now, compared to your typical cruise, that is a little bit higher. But again, to see all of the islands in Hawaii. If you were to fly around to all the islands and stay for a night or two on each of the islands, you would pay way more than this, and the cruise also includes food and entertainment along the way. So it is a great way to see Hawaii. But the one thing I like about this is they do have overnights in certain islands. You leave Honolulu, you go to Maui and you overnight in Maui, so you're there from 8 am to 6 pm the next day.
Mark Faldmo:It's almost two days yeah, almost two full days, in Maui and then you go to Hilo, 8 am to 6 pm, and then you go to Kona, 7 am to 5.30 pm. So those are two different ports on the Big Island. So you're basically getting two full days on the big island and then overnight in kawaii, 8 am to 5 30 pm, before heading back to Honolulu. So for a seven-day cruise, I think this particular cruise has the most port time of any seven-day cruise out there, so you're in port more than anything there. That was fun. The third way to see hawaii is on a repositioning cruise. Whitney specifically asked for November. There are several cruises. Norwegian has several cruises that do this In November. I found an interesting 21-day Los Angeles to Tahiti cruise on Oceana.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's NCL's luxury cruise ship. Premium yeah, okay, premium, that's the premium. That's NCL's luxury cruise ship.
Mark Faldmo:Premium. Yeah, okay, premium, that's the premium, okay. And so Oceana is known for fine dining, luxurious comfort, and destinations are what Oceana really goes for. Oceana is the cruise line that really kind of started overnighting in destinations.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh.
Mark Faldmo:I didn't know that. They kind of come out as kind of like a country club, casual type cruise line, as you know kind of where they are, and they also have medium sized ships with anywhere between 700 and 1200 guests.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so small.
Mark Faldmo:Small so they can get to a lot of ports. This ship can get in to many ports in Tahiti where the big ships can't get to Right First. We'll just start in Los Angeles with the itinerary Spends a day in Honolulu, Kauai, Maui, Kona and Hilo. Before heading off to Tahiti, it's overnights in Bora Bora. 7 am to 5 pm in Bora Bora Goes to Raiatea for a full day, Huahenie for a full day, Huahenie for a full day and Morea for a full day Wow. Before heading to Papeete and overnighting in Papeete, some of these islands like Raiatea is probably one of my favorite islands.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah.
Mark Faldmo:In the French Polynesia. There I just remember taking a speedboat up a river. They say it's where the kind of Hawaiians left before they went to Hawaii, and so that's some folklore there 21 day Los Angeles to Tahiti on Oceana.
Patrick Wiscombe:What are we talking about? Price?
Mark Faldmo:This cruise ship that does this does not have any inside cabins, so outsider ocean view cabins start at $3185 and a balcony starts at $4290. For 21 days that's a pretty good price? Oh, it sure is, particularly because this is on a premium, a higher end cruise line, than your typical cruise line. Those ships are beautiful as well. They are yeah, they do a great job. I've never sailed on Oceania, but I've eaten lunch on a few of their ships before. Really good food.
Patrick Wiscombe:I didn't sail, but I ate, yes. Yeah, that sounds amazing. As I said at the very beginning of this segment and really the end of that last segment, if you want to have a terrific vacation Hawaii, you just can't go wrong. You've got the West Coast, the Inter-Island and the repositioning cruises. Call Mark in his office at the break, just get the conversation started, no obligation. 888-718-7717. 888-7 7, 7, 1, 7. And he'll also post this on blue planet vacations dot com when we come back. We've got Mark's travel tips and we'll wrap up. We've got a frontier story that you will not want to miss. We're talking about frontier airlines. That is next when the inside travel talk podcast and radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, live from Los Angeles, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. 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. We'll be right back. 718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com. This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by blueplanetvacations. com America's best travel advisors. Call the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Hello there, Thank you for allowing us to be part of your weekend Coming up in this final segment of the show. We've got Mark's travel tips and, of course, the travel news headlines, and we're also going to get to. I don't have a passport, but I want to take a cruise. We're going to tell you how to go on a cruise without a passport. Let's get to the travel news headlines. Here I saw this news story about a Frontier Airlines story out of Los Angeles, which is where you are right now. This news story about waiting for a flight and the boarding agent yelling at people.
Mark Faldmo:This is actually something that Heather and I experienced in Los Angeles and then there actually was a news story about it. We were I don't know if it was the same flight, I can't remember what we heard was Frontier or Spirit. This story in particular is Frontier. The gate agent just made an announcement and said no pushing, we don't want anyone to get hurt because people are so restless to get on the airplane. So that's one thing.
Mark Faldmo:These low cost carriers have kind of created, I would say an angry passenger because everyone wants to get on, to get their overhead space, get their seat. They've kind of created a situation where people are not cordial to each other, literally. When Heather and I looked over when we saw a similar situation to this, it was almost a boxing match over there because people were so wanting to get on the airplane. Just goes as a reminder make sure and treat your fellow passengers kindly, treat your gate agents kindly. Hopefully you'll get to where you're going pleasantly. If you choose to go on one of those more budget airlines, well, that's another thing. With airlines charging for checked bags, people bring more carry-ons, which makes that overhead bin space a little bit harder to get.
Patrick Wiscombe:We received a text question from Janice, which, by the way, if you want to ask your travel related question, just call us or text us while we're in the studio 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700 is how Janice got a hold of us. Her question is I don't have a passport but I want to take a cruise. I've seen the term closed loop cruise. What does that mean, and do I need a passport to do a closed loop cruise? Let's just start with the first part. What is a closed loop cruise?
Mark Faldmo:A closed loop cruise is a cruise that starts and ends in the same port. So if you don't have a passport, generally speaking, if your cruise starts and ends in the same US port, like a Mexican Riviera, Los Angeles to Los Angeles, or, in the Caribbean, Miami to Miami, that is a closed loop cruise. Now, technically, on most of those cruises, you do not need a passport. You just need your driver's license, an original state-issued birth certificate or a certified copy of your birth certificate. However, that being said, I would still recommend that everybody cruise with a passport.
Ad Voice:Yes.
Mark Faldmo:Just for safety reasons. If, for some reason, you miss the ship and you're on an island, you can't return home until you get a passport, so you'll have to go through that process at destination or something medically happens and you miss the ship, it's just good practice to travel with a passport.
Patrick Wiscombe:To that point. When we were on MSC's World America in April, we were in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There was a guest who experienced cardiac arrest. Now how do I know that I ended up talking to the nurse who actually I didn't know I was going to talk to him. We were just on MSC's private island Ocean Key at that very, very north end of the island and I was just making conversation hey, how you doing? And then he said this is my first time on the island, I work on the ship. And he said he was a nurse and so I asked him about the incident.
Patrick Wiscombe:He didn't give away any confidential or private information, he just said my question to him was did something happen last night? And he goes yeah, we had one of our guests experience cardiac arrest. I didn't ask if he had a passport, but they did have to get him off the ship. We were two or three hours into the journey. They turned the ship around to get him to a hospital in Puerto Rico. Emergencies do happen. We're not trying to scare people to get a passport. We don't get money from this, it's just a good idea.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it is, and you know also, more and more islands, especially in the Caribbean, like Barbados and Martinique, do require you to have a passport. Oh, they do If you cruise. So even if you're on a closed loop, there are some destinations. Those countries are so small, someone was to miss the ship there. They don't have the facilities really to help with passports and things like that. So some islands in the Caribbean do require you have a passport, regardless of if it's a closed loop or not. So and that's just a recent thing, in the last year or so that that's happened. I recommend everybody cruise with a passport.
Patrick Wiscombe:And it makes getting off the ship faster too. Yes, it does. It's just a good idea to have a passport If you have any questions on how to get a passport, if you have no idea what you're doing. That's why we're here. Call Mark in his office 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And there is a resources section on blueplanetvacations. com in the footer. I think it's literally called resources. Is that right, mark?
Mark Faldmo:It is resources and there's all sorts of links on passport information and how-tos.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can listen to the show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11 am, right here on this radio station and around the country, and you can stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at insidetraveltalk. com. If you're not a podcaster, you can literally just stream the show right on the website, but if you do like getting podcasts, you can subscribe to the show. We're on all of the major podcast platforms. Well, now it's your turn to get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. Live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally. Thank you so much for listening. Really, we don't have a business, we don't have a show without you. Thank you. We will talk to you next week and we'll give you a report, because Mark is going to be coming back from Mexico. Have a great week.
Show Voice:That's it. That's the end of the show You've been listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Book your adventure right now. Rick 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.