Inside Travel Talk
Explore Your World! The Inside Travel Talk Podcast is filled with destination information and travel, cruise and vacation tips and tricks. Its the Christmas catalogue of Travel! We are here to help you get out there and Explore Your World.
Inside Travel Talk
From Robot Bartenders to Panama: The Unexpected Joys of Travel
Curious about the future of travel? From robot bartenders mixing perfect cocktails on cruise ships to pianists performing in elevators, the travel landscape is evolving in fascinating ways. Royal Caribbean's addition of Ovation of the Seas to its West Coast fleet marks an exciting opportunity for travelers to experience these innovations on shorter three to four-day cruises – perfect for those wondering if cruising fits their vacation style.
For adventure seekers longing to explore Europe at a more intimate pace, guided biking tours offer an immersive alternative to traditional sightseeing. Whether you're cycling through Scotland's castle-dotted landscapes, along the Danube between Berlin and Prague, or winding through Tuscany's hillside villages, these tours accommodate every skill level with options ranging from leisurely 20-mile days to challenging 70-mile routes. The beauty lies in the flexibility – choose your preferred intensity each day while experiencing the authentic pulse of European culture away from tourist crowds.
Looking for something tropical? Panama emerges as a compelling destination with three distinct experiences: cosmopolitan city life, pristine beaches, and lush jungle adventures. The Gamboa Rainforest Reserve, once the officers' club during American control of the Panama Canal Zone, offers a fascinating blend of history and nature. Don't miss touring the engineering marvel of the Panama Canal itself – whether from the observation deck of its dedicated museum or aboard a small boat navigating through its impressive locks.
As summer travel season intensifies, remember essential preparations: verify your passport meets "export validity" requirements (many countries demand 3-6 months remaining validity), enroll in expedited security programs like TSA PreCheck or Clear, and download your airline's mobile app for real-time updates. These simple steps can transform your travel experience from stressful to seamless.
Ready to turn these travel inspirations into reality? Connect with the travel experts at Blue Planet Vacations to craft your perfect adventure, whether it's cruising with robots, cycling through Europe, or exploring Panama's diverse landscapes. Your next unforgettable journey awaits!
It is the weekend, which means it's time for the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show, hello there Coming up. On today's show, mark and I will be talking about the rolling ship, piano robot, bartenders and no, we're not making that up biking through Europe and Mount Etna blowing its top in Italy. A lot to talk about. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk podcast, a 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:It is the weekend. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Hello there, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo will be here in the studio here in just a moment and, if you're brand new to the show or if you're a longtime listener, the entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is help you plan and book your next vacation, or just give you ideas of where you would want to consider vacationing next. And we are presented by BluePplanetvacations. com. And just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. Coming up in this section of the show, you are back from Los Angeles. You just spent three days on Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas. This is the second of two ships that are now on the West Coast. Do they both come out of Los Angeles? They do.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so this event I was on was to celebrate Royal Caribbean adding the second ship to West Coast, particularly Los Angeles.
Patrick Wiscombe:I thought the funniest part of that particular ship. When you sent pictures of the robot bartenders mixing drinks. When you sent pictures of the robot bartenders mixing drinks. Talk about replacing humans with robots. That's probably the ideal job. It's pretty interesting to watch the rolling ship piano Explain to listeners why the piano was in the elevator. Talk about an intimate concert On this ship.
Mark Faldmo:Royal Caribbean just had a rolling piano and you'd see this guy through various parts of the ship, but one evening evening he spent all evening in the elevators, so he just played for people when they got on the elevators and it was a pretty cool thing to watch and experience.
Patrick Wiscombe:That was a short concert yes, going from deck six to deck 12 or whatever decks you were going to. Yes, let's get to the travel news headlines. Delta is adding a second flight from Salt.
Mark Faldmo:Lake City International to Puerto Vallarta for the holidays. This winter Delta is adding lots of Caribbean, Mexico and Central America flights throughout their route system, and one that's of particular interest to us is Puerto Vallarta from Salt Lake. Now this is just for the holidays, so it starts December 20th and runs through January 5th, so it's just a short run.
Mark Faldmo:It's just that two-week time frame. But they also announced they're adding two new destinations in the Caribbean St Vincent and Grenada. So daily flights from Atlanta, and they've added extra flights to Cancun from all of their hubs Detroit JFK, Los Angeles, Boston, Nashville, and then other cities like Kansas City, Indianapolis and Austin. They've added Punta Cana, an extra stop from Atlanta. There's several other cities in Mexico and Central America that they are adding flights to, and these all start pretty much December 20th. Some go through that first part of January and some of them go all the way through mid-April.
Patrick Wiscombe:I know that the holidays make a lot of sense to go on vacation. That's the busy and probably the most expensive time of the year. I would argue if you can go the week after or the day or a couple days after the new year, that is the best time to go, probably price-wise as well.
Mark Faldmo:In that kind of peak of winter travel, probably January 3rd, once you're done with New Year's travel, you can get some pretty good deals.
Patrick Wiscombe:United Airlines is moving up check-in time for domestic travelers. How much are they moving it up?
Mark Faldmo:This is only for domestic travelers. How much are they moving it up? This is only for domestic. Now, if you don't have checked bags, you have to check in for your flight at least 45 minutes prior or they'll cancel your flight. Previously it was 30 minutes, but that doesn't give the gate agents enough time to process, upgrades process, standbys process, all of that. So they've moved it up to 45 minutes prior to the flight for domestic travel.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's official Amsterdam is sick of tourists. But Amsterdam locals are suing famous TikTok shops. I'm surprised about this one and the city oh and the city.
Mark Faldmo:This is kind of a story about being a respectful traveler. There is a famous fry shop in Amsterdam. That's what Amsterdam is known for is their French fries.
Mark Faldmo:I have never heard that it is so famous on TikTok. It's right in the historic center of Amsterdam and it has lines out the door. People don't use the trash bins. They're loud and they kind of make it miserable for the locals that live in the door. People don't use the trash bins. They're loud and they kind of make it miserable for the locals that live in the area. That's the problem here Over tourism is kind of a buzzword in travel. I don't know that Amsterdam really has over tourism problem, but there are certain spots that really get out of control with tourists.
Patrick Wiscombe:I guess it's not the end of the story. Then We'll probably have a few follow-ups.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, we'll see what happens there. See what happens to this fry shop. They have two other locations and it's just this one in the historic city center that is having issues.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let me invite all of our listeners right now. If you have a travel related question, we want to hear from you. This is the studio and the text number 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700 if you have a travel related question and we did receive a text from Jason and this is our destination of the week, always in the opening segment of the show. His question is pretty simple he wants to go biking in Europe. He's asking is that possible? And the answer is yes, it is possible.
Mark Faldmo:Definitely yes. There are a few ways you can do this. In the past, when we've talked about river cruises Avalon and Ama Waterways, which are my two favorite river cruise companies they all have 20 or so bikes on board. So each day in port you can choose to do a bike tour and then just kind of have your hotel follow you along, Do a 10 to 20 mile bike ride each day and then, while you're doing that, the cruise ship goes to the next port and meets you there.
Mark Faldmo:The other way, if you really want to get into biking, there's a company called Backroads and they specialize in bicycle tours throughout the world. They started in Europe, but they have them here in the US, they have them in Africa, they have them in South America, so they do bicycle tours throughout the world. They have three different types of tours One is biking, one is walking and hiking and one they call multi-adventure, which combines biking, hiking and walking. It's a really good way to see Europe. They do have some of the bike tours that do have e-bikes. Oh, there we go To help out with that.
Patrick Wiscombe:So I have an e-bike and I don't think I've told you this, but I have 6,384 miles on my bike. Those are original miles from me.
Mark Faldmo:That's a lot of biking.
Patrick Wiscombe:So I'm all over this idea. I didn't even know it was an option, so I'm actually glad that Jason is asking this question.
Mark Faldmo:You know, I've sold a few of these and people have really enjoyed these biking tours. I chose three different itineraries. In Europe they have different levels of hotels Premier, which are higher end, deluxe and then Classic, so depending on which level of accommodation you want to stay at. And then they have five different activity levels, from easy to hard, and you can choose each day. So, like on each day, it says today we offer level one through three or we offer level two through five, and you can choose what you want to do each day. You don't have to do the full biking. So whatever you're comfortable with is what they'll let you do.
Patrick Wiscombe:My only criteria would be biking for sure. Absolutely, Jason. This is a great idea. I just require a hot tub At the end of the day, that's it, that's my only requirement, I just require a hot tub. So at the end of the day, that's it. That's my only requirement.
Mark Faldmo:I'll just briefly go over what the levels are. So level one is 18 to 22 miles per day with a thousand feet max elevation gain. Level two is 18 to 32 with a max of 2200 feet elevation gain. Level three 26 to 42 miles with a 3,400 elevation level. Level four 36 to 54 miles, 4,400 elevation, and then level five is 48 to 70 plus miles. Wow, so I haven't seen very many level five options on the tours. I've looked through, but they do have those different options each day. So depending on how aggressive you want to be or how comfortable you are, they will have that.
Patrick Wiscombe:What a unique way to see Europe. By the way, that's a lot of elevation, holy cow, yes, are there certain countries where this is?
Mark Faldmo:offered Almost every country in Europe they have tours in. I chose three that I think were pretty interesting. One is Scotland and England. So this one you bike from Edinburgh to Yorkshire in England, so it's through two countries. It's a five-night tour. You stop at castles and tour castles. You have all sorts of cultural experiences, you know. Just a wonderful tour. The other one that I looked at was Berlin to Prague. Oh wow, this one was a again a five night tour, berlin to Prague.
Mark Faldmo:Some of this you're not bicycling. They transport you through certain spots of this but you can choose each day how many miles you want to bike. And this one you bike along the Danube River for a while. Explore Germany, Czech Republic. And then the last one that I looked at was Tuscany Bike Tour. This was a six day from Florence to Arazio and just those hillsides, those hilltop towns there in Tuscany, just biking from one little village to another. An amazing experience there. And you've booked a few of these before. I haven't booked any of their bike tours, but I've booked some of their hiking and walking tours.
Patrick Wiscombe:How is it that we've been doing this show for a year and a half and I've never heard this before? I don't know.
Mark Faldmo:I blame you, blame it on me. I know you like biking, oh, I do. We should have brought this up before. You know, just had that request this week and thought that's something to talk about. A lot of people like that kind of active adventure.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, let me just give out the studio and text number. We want to answer your travel related questions 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700 jason. Call mark in his office.
Patrick Wiscombe:I might even be calling you in the office I'm so glad that you brought this up, but I guess my thanks has to go to jason for bringing up biking through Europe. You know, I've heard of going through trains in Europe. I've never heard of biking. This is an awesome idea. Jason, call Mark, get the conversation started during the break 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also call Mark. The phone number is also on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. Man, that first segment went very, very quickly. It's time for the hot travel deal of the week. We are taking more of your calls and texts and with this time we're going to Panama. We can help you save up to $200 going to Panama. We've got five nights airfare from Salt Lake City. We'll give you the details when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We will be back in about two minutes.
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 beach getaway. 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. 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:It is the weekend, which means that it's time for the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. Mark, and I hope that you are having a terrific weekend, whether you're listening to us on Saturday, or if you're listening to us on Sunday or around the country at 11 o'clock on whatever radio station that you are listening to right now, we want you to be part of the show. We want to answer your travel-related texts. Call us now while we're in the studio 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. So we can answer your travel related texts and questions and we will be getting to. I forgot who it was. This was a question from one of our listeners. I forgot who it was. Anyway, yeah, Julie. Okay, Julie wants to go to Panama. We'll get to her question here in just a second. But let's get back to the travel news headlines, and there was a little bit of what do we call this? A blockbuster partnership between United Airlines and JetBlue to team up?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and so this comes two years after a federal judge blocked JetBlue and Americans Northeast Alliance. Jetblue has always been trying to find ways to strengthen their network on the East Coast, and they've just struck a new alliance with United Airlines, which they're calling the Blue Sky Alliance. This allows frequent flyer members of both airlines to earn and redeem miles on each of the airlines. It gives the elite members status benefits when flying on the other airline, and so it's a really good alliance, I think, for both of these airlines. Where United has a pretty big global reach and JetBlue has a good kind of leisure network there on the northeast, it'll feed into both airlines, particularly in the New York area, where United has a big hub in Newark, new Jersey, and JetBlue has their main operations there out of JFK Airport.
Patrick Wiscombe:Southwest is officially entering a new era, with bag fees and other policy changes coming. We talked about this. What about a month and a half ago, maybe two months ago? They meaning Southwest really created some headaches, not only for themselves. I'm curious to track this for the next year to see if it's going to sink the airline or boost the airline, or if it's just going to remain kind of nothing.
Mark Faldmo:Starting last week, southwest is now charging bag fees. Kind of the cornerstone of the brand was bags fly free. That is no longer the case. So any ticket purchased starting June 1st and after, you will now have a $35 bag fee for the first check bag and $45 for the second check bag, matching what most other airlines have. I'm curious, like you, to see what happens with Southwest. Other airlines are already courting Southwest flyers with promotions, some with temporary bags fly-free, to get them to switch, and it'll be very interesting to see how this all pans out. But it effectively makes Southwest just like everybody else.
Patrick Wiscombe:Viking River Cruises or Viking Cruising, I should say says that their cruising season 2025 is effectively sold out.
Mark Faldmo:Inventory as of May 11th this is about a month old now this information they're 95% sold out for 2025. Information they're 95% sold out for 2025. There's not much availability if you're looking to go on a river or ocean cruise on Viking in 2025. And that actually holds true for a lot of the river cruise companies. It's so popular these days that they're already selling Q3, and 4 of 2026 is what they're focusing on now.
Patrick Wiscombe:Just a couple of days ago I received a little booklet of Viking river cruises for 2026, 2027. No mention of for the balance of this year. I know this isn't the infamous just cruising segment, but they had some interesting offers where it was basically $2,000 a person and $25 deposits and they had some really impressive destinations and it's no wonder that they're sold out. Honestly, I thought that after COVID, I thought cruising was going to be dead. Instead, it's coming back stronger than it ever has been before.
Mark Faldmo:Both river and ocean, are so strong, in fact, that we'll talk about in the just cruising segment. I was on that cruise with Royal Caribbean, with some of their executives, and they did make that point. Oh, they did that. Financially they're stronger than they've ever been, despite all of the loans, and Royal Caribbean gave travel agencies loans to keep them afloat during COVID.
Ad Voice:Oh wow.
Mark Faldmo:Despite all of that, it's all paid back now and they're in a very strong position financially.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the hot travel deal of the week, which is always in this second segment of the show. And again let me invite all of listeners whether you're listening to us live on the radio or if you're podcasting us a little bit later call or text the show. We want to answer your travel-related questions. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And we received a text from Julie who is asking I want to go to Panama in October. Where do you recommend staying?
Mark Faldmo:Panama. There's three different areas that you can stay. One is Panama City, the other is a beach area and then you can also stay in the jungle. For a vacationer I'd recommend in the beach or jungle area. Panama City is just a big city. It's pretty amazing when you're there. I've been to Panama City a few times, but I'd rather stay in the beach or jungle area. Right now we have save up to $200. And you are in kind of Latin America there. So Central America and Mexico save up to $200.
Mark Faldmo:And I looked for October 8th for five nights. This is airfare from Salt Lake City, five nights hotel. Now, this does not include transfers, those are an additional cost. And then, also, kind of our standard disclaimer, most of our radio listeners are in Salt Lake City. That's why we use that, but we can look at this from other cities all across the US.
Mark Faldmo:So the hotels I looked at Riu Playa Blanca, which is in the beach area. It's a four-star hotel Started at $1149 per person, based on double occupancy. And then one of my favorite hotels is the Gamboa Rainforest Reserve. This one is in the jungle. It's a four-star hotel. It starts at $1169 per person. Now, unlike the Riu and the next hotel we'll talk about. That price is not all-inclusive, but they do have an option that you can upgrade to an all-inclusive plan. The reason why I like this hotel when the US controlled the Panama Canal Zone, this was the office search club for the military, and so you know it has a golf course. It's right there on Gatun Lake, just a really nice location. Then the next hotel again back to an all-inclusive is the Dreams Playa Bonita. This one is considered a city hotel but you have to go on a bridge across the Panama Canal and it is actually on a beach. So it's considered city but on a beach. I've stayed at this hotel before and really enjoyed it. That price starts at $1369 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is that a five-star?
Mark Faldmo:That is a five-star resort. Oh okay, dreams, part of that Hyatt Inclusive family of brands, does a great job, five-star on a good beach and the Dreams is probably the one I would choose because you're kind of close to everything and you can also get into the jungle to do a lot of those activities.
Patrick Wiscombe:Did being in the jungle bother you? Was it noisy?
Mark Faldmo:No, it didn't bother me. It's quite a good setting right there on the lake. There's monkeys around, there's all sorts of wildlife around. It's a really interesting place to stay as well.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, what about things to do when you stay at one of those three hotels?
Mark Faldmo:All of these. Panama Canal is kind of the main draw of Panama, so you can take cruises just on smaller boats that take you through the loch, so you can see how all of that works. Oh, that'd be fun. You can also go to the Panama Canal Museum, which is a museum about the canal, but then they also have an observation deck where you can just sit there and watch ships go through the Panama Canal.
Patrick Wiscombe:Have you done that? I mean, I know that you've actually gone through the Panama Canal, but you were on a ship, but just observing. Have you done that?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I've done it both ways and I really like that canal museum. It's fascinating both when you're on the ship and at the museum to watch how they get ships through the Panama Canal. Then there's other things like zip lines. One of the more fascinating things to do is to take a tour out to a local village. There's still indigenous tribes living pretty much how they lived a hundred years ago. Oh wow, they take you out on the kind of their dugout canoes and take you to their village and kind of really show you their culture, how they how many times have you been to Panama, Mark?
Mark Faldmo:Two by land, three by sea.
Patrick Wiscombe:That sounds like something in the two of by land, three by sea. Yeah, a little American backwards American history. Yeah, Julie, call Mark in his office, get the conversation started. No obligation. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And he'll also put this information on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back at the bottom of the hour. It is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment, where it's only about cruise news and we've got the cruise deal of the week. We are talking Royal Caribbean. Mark is back from Ovation of the Seas. We'll talk about his experience in Mexico and what he was doing in Mexico. That is next with the Inside Travel Talk podcast. A radio show continues and we'll have the exclusive offers that we have just for our listeners. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. We will be right back. Give us about two minutes.
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.
Ad Voice:This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El Dorado Spa Resorts. Escape to Cancun's Riviera Maya with authentic all-inclusive luxury at an El Dorado Spa Resort. To book your romantic beach getaway, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, we're back. Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show Coming up. In the next 30 minutes, mark and I will be talking about Royal Caribbean's deals 60% off for a second guest, their kids sale, free promotion, short cruises and free airfare to Tahiti. 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 Faldmo the beautiful horn ship, horn of Norwegians, aqua brand new ship.
Patrick Wiscombe:Nicki and I were on it in April beautiful, just a great cruise experience. Going out of Port of Miami. Mark, I think they've moved that ship. What up to? Is it Port Canaveral or is it Fort Lauderdale? Do you know Port Canaveral? I believe? Yeah, okay, that sounds right Coming up in this segment, the infamous Just Cruising segment. If you're just joining the show and you love cruising, you have found the perfect time to listen to the show. We will be talking about the cruise deal of the week, which is 60% off, a second guest and kids sale free. That is coming up in the next few minutes. But let's get back to the travel news headlines. I saw that Windstar is launching a free airfare offer for cruises in Tahiti. Well, first of all, who is Windstar? A lot of people probably haven't heard of them.
Mark Faldmo:Windstar operates small ships. They're known for their tall sailing ships, so they're big sailing boats, but they also have a few smaller yachts in their fleet. These are 200 passengers or less ships and so you know, a little bit more luxurious. These smaller ships can get to a little bit more interesting and remote ports. This is on select 2025 and 2026 packages. So the free airfare is from Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui and it applies for departures July 2025 through the end of March 2026. Their itineraries include air hotel stays and transfers, along with the cruise portion. They offer several different itineraries in French Polynesia Tahiti area. The first is Dreams of Tahiti, which is a 10-day voyage through the society islands. So that would be Bora Bora, Morea Huahini, Tahiti, Raiatea would be those islands.
Patrick Wiscombe:Those are some of your favorite islands too, yeah.
Mark Faldmo:And then they have a little bit more extensive so Tahiti and the Tuamotu Islands, which pairs the Tuamotus with islands like Fakarava is probably one of my favorites in the Tuamotu Islands. And then they have Tahitian Treasures, which is a 17 day voyage which includes all of that plus the Marquesas Islands.
Patrick Wiscombe:Knowing that you love that part of the world and the number of times that you've been there, this is right up your alley.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it is. And free airfare. That's saving you $1,500 or more per person. So you get a great cruise on a small luxury ship and free airfare.
Patrick Wiscombe:The Atlantic hurricane season is officially in swing. There's no storms as of this conversation, noaa, which is the National Oceanic Atmosphere, and I forgot what the other thing was Administration.
Mark Faldmo:Administration probably.
Patrick Wiscombe:We'll just call it NOAA. Noaa is predicting an above-normal 2025 Atlantic hurricane season Always something to consider if you're cruising in that part of the world during this time of the year. So they're saying above-normal.
Mark Faldmo:They're giving a 60% chance of an above normal season. They're predicting between 13 and 19 named storms. Of those, six to 10 will become hurricanes. Then they're kind of hedging their bet. There's a 30% chance of a normal hurricane season, so they're kind of given both predictions.
Patrick Wiscombe:There isn't that math yeah, 60 for bad, but about 30 for this and then 10 for whatever. Yeah, princess is unveiling their 2026 2027 voyage featuring Antarctic wonders and more. What details do we have on?
Mark Faldmo:that they're actually unveiling a whole season in South America and Antarctica. They have six departures ranging from 15 to 33 days on the Royal Class ship, the Majestic Princess, with overnight experiences in the Antarctic Peninsula. For cruise lines, especially the ones that sail the larger ships, kind of comes and goes, but this is a great way to at least see Antarctica. Now, because of the size of the ship, you don't actually get off the ship on Antarctica they're just kind of scenic sail past.
Patrick Wiscombe:So you're not going to go on land on this one.
Mark Faldmo:You're not going to go on land on any of the big cruise lines, but they are very popular, especially a lot of the scenic cruising that they do. You know just that area of the world, the southern tip of South America, is beautiful. You know these cruises go through the Beagle Channel, glacier Alley. That would be spectacular. You've said how much you've enjoyed Glacier Bay. Yeah, glacier Alley is several more glaciers and larger glaciers than in Glacier Bay. So you know, just hanging on tidewater glaciers to see. These are now on sale. November of 2026 to January of 2027 is when these start. They sell out pretty fast. So if you are interested in one of these sailings, give Blue Planet Vacations a call and we can look at these sailings and get you pricing. These are smaller ships.
Patrick Wiscombe:These aren't the gigantic cruise ships, correct these?
Mark Faldmo:are larger ships.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, so these are larger ships.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, so the Majestic Princess is just over 3,500 guests.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh big Okay.
Mark Faldmo:It's a larger ship and that's why they don't stop, because they're too big. You could never get everyone ashore with no docking facilities, and their regulations by ship size is because I think only 100 people at a time can be off the ship on Antarctica is the regulation, so you could never get a ship of 3,500 passengers to meet that requirement.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm assuming that this ship would not go through the Drake Passage.
Mark Faldmo:These are all round-trip Buenos Aires for the most part, so they would not go through the Drake Passage. There are other cruise lines that, if you do want that experience of going through the Drake Passage, that go Buenos Aires to Santiago Chile. I've personally not done that, but I've had a couple clients and said it was a fun experience to go through the Drake Passage.
Patrick Wiscombe:It was up and down.
Patrick Wiscombe:I've seen some footage of going through the Drake Passage and I realized that the weather changes. But I was like, wow, if that's how big those waves can get, yikes, yeah, okay, so not going through there, not on these ones. Yes, let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is always in this segment of the show, the infamous Just Cruising segment. You're getting back from Mexico. You did a three-day cruise on Ovation of the Seas, but while you were there, you found out about Royal Caribbean's deals of 60% off second guest and kids sail free.
Mark Faldmo:So that deal is good. Fleet wide on Royal Caribbean, it's not destination specific 60% off the second guest, or effectively 30% off for the cabin, and then kids sail free on select sailings for Royal Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe:Royal Caribbean has added a second ship to the West Coast. It was that Ovation of the Seas, the ship that you were on.
Mark Faldmo:Yep, that's the one I was just on. I was on that celebration of adding that second ship. For the last few years they've had the Navigator of the Seas, which does a combination of three, four and seven day Mexican, Baja or Mexican Riviera cruises. This week started the Ovation of the Seas, the ship that I just got off of, which does three, five and six day Mexican Riviera cruises through September and then in October the Quantum of the Seas is going to come and do three, four, five and six day Mexican, Baja or Riviera cruises.
Mark Faldmo:Royal Caribbean is really going all in on those shorter cruises and so now they have these newer way, more modern ships doing these shorter cruises. You know, for me it's kind of exciting to see a ship like this doing a short cruises out of Los Angeles. The reason why I like that is some people wonder if cruising is for them and that three and four day cruise is the perfect kind of test run to see if you like cruising. Typically you would do that on one of those older ships that didn't have all the bells and whistles and it probably would turn you away more than get you excited for cruising. But now, with Ovation and Quantum and Navigator being there. Navigator is probably the cruise ship that families would enjoy more. It has the water slides. Quantum and Ovation have really good swimming pools, hot tubs. They don't have water slides, but they have other things like bumper cars and all sorts of things for families to do on board.
Patrick Wiscombe:At the top of the hour we were talking about robot bartenders that were mixing drinks. I'm curious how a drink order would be placed and then the robot just goes to work. It's probably through an app.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it's through an app, you place it and then it's attached to your key card and so the robot will make it. It'll say it comes out on station one, and so it mixes it up, and then you just scan your key card and the little conveyor belt brings you your drink.
Patrick Wiscombe:Was that fun to?
Mark Faldmo:watch it?
Patrick Wiscombe:Were there any complaints from people going that's not what I ordered, or at least it's not a good combination of what I want.
Mark Faldmo:I didn't hear any complaints on the drinks. It was very fun to watch. I sat there for probably 30 minutes watching the process, but we were talking about the roaming piano on the elevators. Just some very interesting entertainment options on board these shorter cruises on these newer ships. If you're unsure about cruising, it'd be a great way to see what cruising is about.
Patrick Wiscombe:You mentioned that if you're new to cruising, you're not sure if it's your thing. Three, four days is a good way to go, but where would you go?
Mark Faldmo:So these ones out of Los Angeles go to Ensenada and Catalina. Ensenada is very interesting. I enjoy Ensenada. I've heard some people say they really don't want to go back to Ensenada. Ensenada doesn't really have like a lot of the ports, zip lines and some of that adventure stuff. It's more of a culture and history place. So the two things that I find very interesting in the Ensenada area one is a building called La Riviera and it was an old hotel and casino that was built in the 1930s during Prohibition, and so this is where Hollywood went to To get their alcohol.
Mark Faldmo:To get their alcohol. It was frequented by a Charlie Chaplin, Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, so it kind of has that Hollywood history connected to it. 10 years after it opened, Mexico then prohibited gambling, which so the hotel was only open for 10 years. Everyone came for the casino and alcohol, and then when the casino shut down, I guess the alcohol wasn't enough to you know. By then prohibition was over in the US as well. We had a cultural presentation there where they did kind of different dances from different regions of Mexico.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, so you actually went in for a presentation.
Mark Faldmo:I thought all of this stuff was on the ship. This was a presentation in La Rivera, the old casino. The famous thing in Ensenada is La Bufadora, which is a blowhole, and so you go right on the ocean, the waves hit lava tunnel, just perfect, and it shoots up like a geyser.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, I've probably seen something like that on social media then.
Mark Faldmo:There are only four or five blowholes around the world and Ensenada does have one. It's very interesting to get to because the buses park at one end or the parking lot is at one end, and then you have to walk a little over a quarter mile down to the blowhole. But it's all shops and vendors. You get people hey, come see my shop. And so you get haggled a lot on your way there. Oh yeah, which, culturally, is very interesting. Personally, I don't like that. Have you been there? La Bufadora? I've been there a few times and Heather and I went there on Monday.
Patrick Wiscombe:You just have to have a strong will to say no, I'm not interested, and say it over and, over and over.
Mark Faldmo:Yes.
Patrick Wiscombe:As long as you can say no and mean it, they'll quit bothering you.
Mark Faldmo:But I'll tell you, I did buy things down there. Oh, you did. There's a really good taco shop there. And then I bought bags of churros.
Show Voice:Bags of churros.
Mark Faldmo:Probably the best churros I've had. Yeah, they come in a bag with six or seven churros.
Patrick Wiscombe:What is the cost for a three and four day cruise. Then I looked in November.
Mark Faldmo:So this would be on the Navigator of the Seas. So four day Mexican Baja cruise. November 3rd was the date. It goes to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico.
Patrick Wiscombe:You keep talking about Catalina Island. Is that different than Catalina, I'll say, off the coast of Los Angeles.
Mark Faldmo:So this is the Catalina Island just off the coast of Los Angeles.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, so you do go there.
Mark Faldmo:You go there, yeah, and then it's not a Mexico, so that on the Navigator of the Seas an inside cabin starts at $390. So under $100 per person per day, and a balcony cabin starts at $656 per person per day. A great way to get your feet wet into cruising, if you're unsure of cruising.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's a good way to test drive. I hadn't thought about test driving to cruise, and it's kind of nice to have everything on the West Coast now instead of having to go to Florida almost exclusively.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, it is.
Patrick Wiscombe:And you had a great time correct For the three days. Yeah, great time.
Mark Faldmo:I loved it, but I love to cruise. This is, you know, again, over 150, probably approaching 200 cruises, and so I love it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Jeez. Call Mark in his office if you want to test drive Mexico on a three and four day cruise 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. When we come back we've got the summer travel checklist Things to do now to make your trip great. That's next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast or radio show continues. I'm Patrick Wiscombe, he is Mark Faldmo. We will be right back.
Show Voice:Explore your world. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at insidetraveltalk. com. We'll be right back.
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Show Voice:This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by blueplanetvacations. com America's Best Travel Advisors. Call the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Your attention, please, your attention. Please Sit down. It sounds like I'm scolding you. Hey, sit down there. Yes, we'll get to that story coming up here in just a second. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show alongside my good friend, mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your weekend. We do want to take your travel related questions and we do want to take your calls. If you want to call the studio or text 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. We really want to answer your questions. Take advantage of our knowledge. All right, I thought this was funny. I saw this headline that a country is fining impatient airplane passengers. Hence the very start of this segment where I said sit down, sit down there.
Mark Faldmo:This is a new law that was recently passed in Turkey and this kind of goes to airplane etiquette when is the right time to stand up? This new law is passengers that stand up before the flight is finished taxiing or before it's their rows turned to the face, up to about a $70 fine. If the plane stops at the gate and you stand up right away, you could be fined up to about $70 in Turkey During COVID, I took a group to Peru and they had a similar rule during COVID in Peru and so the flight attendant would dismiss three rows at a time so they'd walk back and you had to stay seated until it was your turn, until you were dismissed to leave. You know, I was on just my flight home from Los Angeles the other day after the cruise someone got up in the row, someone from clear back of the plane just went rushing past everybody already standing in the aisle. Kind of annoying when that happens.
Patrick Wiscombe:So people are already standing in the, in the aisle, the aisle the guy, whoever was trying to get past everyone that was standing in the aisle past everyone.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, trying to get off the plane. So that's crazy. Yeah, wait your turn. If you do have a tight connection, let the flight attendant know and they will help facilitate that.
Patrick Wiscombe:But yeah, don't just rush past did it create kind of a commotion on the plane? I'm assuming it had to.
Mark Faldmo:I don't know how it did a little. It did a little bit.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah Well, don't do that. You're right, that goes to airplane etiquette. Here is a question that I have for you while we're talking about Mark's travel tips when is it okay to press the flight attendant call button? There are people who will press it gratuitously.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, this is an article that was written by a flight attendant, just with some general guidelines when you should press the call button medical emergencies, faulty seat, spilled liquids or food. When it's okay to press the call button If you need to ask for water, if your bags are out of reach, you need help getting something out of the overhead bin, or like if you missed out on meal service or something. When it's not okay to press the call button during takeoff and landing, trying to upgrade your seat. I've seen on my flight home from Los Angeles we were upgraded to first class and there's one person hit her call button four times during the flight.
Mark Faldmo:It was just random stuff and so Was she in first class as well? She was in first class as well. It wasn't any of these items that the flight attendant in this article says it's okay to do. One of it was. It seemed like just a chit chat, and so you know you should use your best judgment. Don't annoy the flight attendants by using your call attendant button out of turn.
Patrick Wiscombe:I think there was something on that list that is an appropriate time to press the flight attendant button and this references the safety video. When you leave, like if you drop your phone between the chair, don't get the phone yourself because you could break the battery, cause a fire. I'm assuming that would be an appropriate time as well.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, and don't adjust your seat. If you drop your phone Again, any of that could break the phone's battery and cause a fire. I did press my call attendant button on the flight because my screen froze. I went to look at the map to see where we were at and it wouldn't go back so I had to have the flight attendant reset my screen. Oh okay, I hope inappropriate, although that would fall under faulty or misbehaving seats.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah. So let's go over the summer travel checklist things to do now. Don't put it off to the last second to make your vacation great.
Mark Faldmo:These are kind of just basic things. First thing is triple check your passport expiration date. Oh yeah, and you know we we've talked about this a few times on the show. I'm surprised at how many people show up with an expired passport or a passport that doesn't meet the country they're going to requirements for export validity.
Patrick Wiscombe:I don't know that. I'm aware of the term export validity. What does that mean?
Mark Faldmo:Some countries require that your passport be valid for three, six or nine months from the date of travel. If you try and fly to a country that requires your passport be valid for six months from the date of entry and your passport expires within that, you'll be denied entry into that country. Okay, what else is on the list, Mark? The next thing is to sign up for programs to help get you through the airport, like TSA PreCheck or Global Entry and Clear as well. Now.
Patrick Wiscombe:Clear is a paid program. Is it a month or a year?
Mark Faldmo:A year. So well, they're all paid programs but just you know various different things. So PreCheck and Global Entry are a government program and Clear is a private company that does that. So all of those will basically get you to the front of the line.
Patrick Wiscombe:And, of course, tsa. Pre and global entry is just at the airport.
Mark Faldmo:And then another thing which has been in the news the last few weeks that we've talked about check your real ID. Make sure you have the real ID or travel with your passport.
Patrick Wiscombe:Did you see long lines getting through Salt Lake City International?
Mark Faldmo:No, I didn't. No, it was. I don't think the problems that people thought were going to happen with real ID actually happened. So you know there were some hiccups on the first few days at certain airports, but for the most part people are able to get through. It's still a good thing to check that you do have the real ID, just in case.
Patrick Wiscombe:What about long lines coming from LAX to Salt Lake City?
Mark Faldmo:Well, I don't know because I also have digital ID, so that's basically just walk through. So at LAX the lines are completely separate, so I couldn't even see what the general line was like.
Mark Faldmo:What else is on the summer travel checklist Download your airline's mobile app so you can check in, you get flight alerts, flight notifications. Having the airline's mobile app is, I think, very important. And then also a lot of airlines now that offer the complimentary internet. You do have to be a member of their frequent flyer program to get that complimentary internet. Make sure you sign up for that airline's frequent flyer program and know your login so that you can get the free internet.
Patrick Wiscombe:Still amazes me that we can be 30 plus thousand feet in the air and text with each other.
Mark Faldmo:Yes.
Patrick Wiscombe:Those are some great tips, the way, if you can swing it financially tsa pre global entry, global entry if you're traveling internationally. I guess, technically, you did coming from Mexico into Los Angeles, didn't you? Yes yep, on the cruise ship. So you were able to get off the cruise ship pretty quick I, I was yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's going to do it. If you want to take advantage of any of the offers that we've talked about for the last hour, call Mark in his office, 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And, of course, you can always go to blueplanetvacations. com. You can listen to this show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11am, right here on this radio station in and around the country, and you can stream, download and subscribe to this very radio show and podcast on insidetraveltalk. com. We are on all of the major podcast platforms, but let's just say that you're not a podcaster. You can just stream the show right at insidetraveltalk. com. Our job is done. Now it's your turn to get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curve's life is going to throw at you. Live your life deliberately and live your life intentionally. Get out and see the world. It's a beautiful place. People are awesome. That's why I love doing this show with Mark. Thank you so much for listening. We will talk to you again next 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. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.