Inside Travel Talk
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Inside Travel Talk
Cruising Beyond: Solar Eclipses at Sea and Alaskan Adventures
It is the weekend, which means it's time to talk travel. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show Coming up. On today's show, we will be talking about eclipse cruises. Summer is starting now. Even though it's hot outside, now's the best time to plan your winter vacation. We're talking about the Caribbean. We also have a $200 savings. If you wanna head to Mexico and one of our favorite destinations on this entire planet Alaska, we're gonna. If you want to head to Mexico and one of our favorite destinations on this entire planet Alaska, we're going to tell you how to see Alaska, but not on a cruise ship. 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, 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:Welcome to the weekend. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Hello, there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, and we are ready to talk travel with all of you, our radio and podcast listeners, and the entire purpose of this show if you're brand new to it is to help you plan and book your next vacation, or just give you ideas of where you should at least consider vacationing next, and we're going to give you the best deals available today and we are proudly presented by BluePlanvacations. com. And just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen.
Patrick Wiscombe:Coming up in this edition of the show, we've got eclipse cruises. If you've always wanted to see an eclipse while you're in the middle of the ocean. We're going to tell you how the temperatures are starting to really heat up here in Salt Lake City. The temperatures are starting to really heat up here in Salt Lake City, which is where we do the show from, but now truly is the best time to start planning your winter vacation. And we're also going to tell you how to go see Alaska, but not on a cruise ship. And let me bring in the co-host of this award-nominated radio show. Hello, mark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo:Hey.
Patrick Wiscombe:Patrick, let's save people some money and let's go traveling. Let's start with the travel news headlines. First, I saw a story that JetBlue is partnering with one of our favorite rail services. You and I have been on it a few times Brightline in Florida. What are the details?
Mark Faldmo:They are partnering so that you can buy a rail ticket in conjunction with your airline ticket, so it'll all be one transaction. Brightline runs from Orlando to Miami. It actually starts at the Orlando airport. On its way to Miami, it has stops in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, fort Lauderdale and Aventura, and then they also run a bus to the airports there.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you've never gone to Florida in summer, first of all, just get ready to be hot. But, while we're talking about Brightline service, if you know nothing about them, the terminals there are beautiful, they're well air conditioned and they're clean. They've got food in case you're hungry. It's just a genuinely great experience and I'm hoping that they will truly expand here to the west Star Clippers. One of our favorite companies, the Tall Sailing Ships, is going to debut three new sailings from Antigua, which is delightful in winter of 2026 and 27.
Mark Faldmo:They're adding an extra ship in the Caribbean during this time frame, and it's actually the ship's name, is the Star Clipper and it's going to start off in the fall doing Central America, so sailings from Costa Rica, and then it's going to do a Panama Canal sailing, where it will do new seven-night round trips from Antigua as well as new 10-night departures from Aruba.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm going to put you on the spot here with regards to Star Clippers. If you had to say two or three things about what you like about Star Clippers, how would you explain that to listeners?
Mark Faldmo:The first thing is the sailing experience. There's nothing like being out on the open ocean, under power of wind, with no engine sound, with no engine rumble. It's an amazing way to travel. It's quiet.
Patrick Wiscombe:Except for the, I guess, the flapping of the sails, potentially, potentially, that's consequential to wind power, to wind.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and the other thing I'll say about Star Clippers is the food. The food was amazing on board. One of my favorite thing is I just went up on deck and I'm a workaholic, so I worked at the bar. So I just sat at the bar with my laptop and worked, and it was I like to do that. I'll take pictures of myself on cruise ship balconies and I think the Star Clippers was the favorite place I've ever worked.
Patrick Wiscombe:One of the things that you have not mentioned that I remember you telling me. This would have been when we started doing the radio show and podcast, when you laid in the net the very front of the ship. Yeah, the front of the ship.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, what was that like? That's nice. You look down and see the water going beneath you. It's pretty relaxing.
Patrick Wiscombe:I wasn't expecting you to be face down. I was expecting you to be on your back looking up.
Mark Faldmo:Well, I was that too, but you kind of have to go face down to get out there. So, oh, oh, that's right, yeah, yeah, so now, and then the other thing which I did not do, they do let you go climb up to the crow's nest, up on the tallest mast of the ship, which I'd have liked to do. That, but there was a long, long line to do that star clippers is the name of the company.
Patrick Wiscombe:I think it's funny how they named the clipper. Ship this star clipper, star clipper a little on the nose there.
Mark Faldmo:yeah, that was their first original ship. It was always Star Clippers, and then, when they added other ships, they just kept the name for the company of Star Clippers.
Patrick Wiscombe:Always in the first segment of the show, right at the top of the hour, we have the destination of the week and this week we're talking about Alaska. But we're going to talk about Alaska a little bit different. This is a text question, I think. Yeah, this is a text question from Kai and let me just invite listeners. If you're listening to us right now, whether live on the radio or on the podcast, you can get in on this and will answer your questions. 801-649-3700 for your travel related questions . Kai is asking I want to go to Alaska, but not on a cruise. Are there any options for me? And the answer is yes.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, the answer is definitely yes on that. So first of all, there are kind of two main areas of Alaska. The main one that people go to on cruises is Southeast Alaska, that's the panhandle. There you can do fishing trips, things like that, you know, fly into Skagway or to some small fishing lodges or villages and do that. But I think something that's fascinating is to go to the interior of Alaska, and a great way to see the interior of Alaska is by railroad. We love talking about the railroad on this show. There's a company called Alaska Railroad that has trips ranging from one night up to 10 nights.
Patrick Wiscombe:Sign me up for the 10 nights Mark when I go to Alaska. It just feels like seven days is not enough. That's just my personal opinion, and especially if we're going on a train to see some of the scenery. For the 10 night option, what can?
Mark Faldmo:Kai do. I guess first of all we should talk about Alaska. Railroad kind of has three different lines that they do. They have the Coastal Classic, glacier Discovery and Denali Star. The 10 night covers all three of those lines. So you start in Anchorage and you take the Coastal Classic train which takes you down to Seward where you'll take a Resurrection Bay cruise, which there's glaciers, whales, sea life, all sorts of things there, and then you'll spend the night in Seward and then you'll head back to Anchorage for an overnight and then the next day you'll go to Talkeetna, which is on the way to Denali. So this one you're taking the Denali Star Train. You'll overnight in Talkeetna, you'll spend two nights in Denali, take a tundra wilderness tour, take a Denali National Park tour, head up to Fairbanks, where you're overnight in Fairbanks, from Fairbanks head back to Anchorage. It's kind of the grand tour of Alaska by rail. And then, if you wanted to do shorter, they have three and four night tours.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm saying go on the 10, but really what's on the three and four? Because I think I'm kind of an edge case scenario. The four days three nights tour.
Mark Faldmo:They have one that goes to Denali and one that goes down to Seward and to the Glacier. So the Denali one leaves from Anchorage and spends two nights in Denali where you'll have time to see the national park, do everything there is to do around Denali, and then head back to Anchorage so you can kind of do everything on the Alaska Railroad from the shorter things. They have a one night rail tour If you want to take the tour from Anchorage down to Seward, do a glacier and wildlife cruise, spend a night and then take the railroad back to Alaska. So that's just a one night tour if you wanted to do something like that.
Mark Faldmo:And you're getting a lot done in one day, then yeah, Like a lot of trains they do have two different types of service. They have gold star service and adventure class service. So kind of regular service and first class is what they have. And they do have domed cars for the sightseeing. That's something you'll need for Alaska.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm glad they have the domed cars. Do you sleep on this train or do you go into a hotel at night?
Mark Faldmo:This train. You will stay in hotels during the night, not on the train. It's all kind of similar to how we've talked about with Rocky Mountain Air before. This is all daylight train, so you're sightseeing, you're not missing anything, and then you spend the night in a hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, that all of a sudden got way more interesting, because I don't want to be missing anything on a train, so I'm glad it's just a daytime tour. Yeah, kai, if you are interested and it sounds like you are are call Mark in his office as soon as we get off the air or when you're ready to have that conversation, no obligation 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717 is how you get a hold of Mark, and you can also also check out his website, blueplanetvacations. com. Mark, this sounds fantastic. I do want to do Alaska by train. Never done it before, I've only done it on a cruise ship, so I'm actually glad you brought this up.
Patrick Wiscombe:When we come back, we've got the hot travel deal of the week. We are going to help you save up to $200 to go to Mexico, Puerto Vallarta specifically. That is next. Plus, we've got the travel news headlines that we need to get to. Jetblue is not merging with United. Jetblue CEO made that very clear this past week. That is next with the Inside Travel Talk podcast. Our 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.
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Show Voice:Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com you're listening to the inside travel talk podcast and radio show presented by blue planet vacations dot com America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome back inside of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. We want to help you plan and book your next vacation, coming up in this segment of the show, always in segment number two, the hot travel deal of the week. This week we're going to Mexico and we're going to help you save up to $200 per reservation. But before we talk Mexico, let's get back to the travel news headlines. We talked about this last week when JetBlue and United were forming some kind of business partnership or an alliance. I thought it was interesting that JetBlue's CEO said the airline JetBlue that is, is not interested in merging with United.
Patrick Wiscombe:Eh we'll see how it goes.
Mark Faldmo:You know just a quick recap. They just have reciprocal benefits for their frequent flyer program. So JetBlue can fly on JetBlue and earn United miles, you can fly on United and earn JetBlue miles, which is the basics of that. You can buy tickets on both airlines' websites. So it kind of really helps JetBlue especially reach out there in the Northeast. But one reason why they're coming out so strong about this, their alliance they had with American Airlines was terminated by a judge because there were rumors that JetBlue and American were going to merge.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, there we go.
Mark Faldmo:So that's kind of what killed it. All these steps were leading to a merger killed it. All these steps were leading to a merger, and so JetBlue is really just trying to play it and say we're not interested in merging so that there's no legal hurdles, no additional legal hurdles to go through.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm going to assume that this is the case and it's in effect now. I assume that if you go to, JetBlue that you can now start booking United flights the departure city and then the arrival city. Is that how they're making this work?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, it is. They're mainly trying to get cities that United doesn't serve but JetBlue does, to feed into that. But you can just buy a United ticket on JetBlue. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's talk Mexico here for a second. Nayarit is launching an international flight from Los Angeles starting this July. Now, if you don't know where Nayarit is and I hope I'm saying that right is near Puerto Vallarta.
Mark Faldmo:In Puerto Vallarta, the tourist destinations. You're actually in two different states. In Mexico, you're in Jalisco, which is where Puerto Vallarta is, and then, just a few miles north of the Puerto Vallarta airport, you enter the state of Nayarit. Nayarit has started a new it's not daily flight, but it's on Voleris Airlines, which is a Mexican airline, from Los Angeles to the now new Nayarit International Airport Got it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, I didn't know that it was a new airport.
Mark Faldmo:Now to visit Puerto Vallarta. You probably wouldn't necessarily fly into this airport because it's pretty far north in the state of Nayarit, but if you are going to destinations like salulita, san Blas, out actually on the Pacific coast there, this would be the airport that you could fly into, and I'm sure they'll get more and more international flights to that, because that area that's about two hours away from the Puerto Vallarta airport and so this airport brings those destinations a little bit closer.
Patrick Wiscombe:My perception is that Puerto Vallarta is really, I don't know revitalizing I don't know if that's the right word that they're putting some real resources into their airport, meaning they're expanding it. Is that a right way to look at this?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, they are. Yeah, the Puerto Vallarta airport is building a second terminal, so terminal two. It is on track to open by the end of this year and it'll increase the yearly number of passengers the airport's able to hold by about 2 million passengers.
Mark Faldmo:That's a considerable expansion, then it is, and I think it's something that Puerto Vallarta needs. You know, Puerto Vallarta is one of my favorite destinations to fly into, but right now, depending on when your plane arrives, they just park out on the tarmac and bus you in, and then you have really long customs lines. I think this will help alleviate that, where there will be hopefully enough gates to handle all of the airplanes that come in.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, that's the perfect way to segue into the hot travel deal of the week, which is, of course, Puerto Vallarta. What do we have for listeners? This?
Mark Faldmo:week. Puerto Vallarta. That's probably my favorite destination in all of Mexico. It keeps kind of a lot of its old world charm. Go down to the Malecon, which is the boardwalk that runs in downtown Puerto Vallarta at sunset time with street vendors, street performers Wonderful experiences in Puerto Vallarta. Right now for fall travel, we do have up to $200 off packages and prices have really come down to Mexico. Right now we have four-star properties, four-star all-inclusive properties starting at $1,049 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Whoa Okay, and that's with that. $200 savings as well.
Mark Faldmo:That's with that $200 savings already included in this particular date was a September 4th departure date from Salt Lake City to Puerto Vallarta and whatever city you're coming from, we can price this out. That $200 still is good from any city in the US.
Patrick Wiscombe:What are some of your favorite things to do in Puerto Vallarta?
Mark Faldmo:In Puerto Vallarta I really enjoy two things. One is the outdoor adventure, which kind of combines a whole bunch of different activities. So you take an inflatable speedboat across the bay and then you get on four-wheel drive vehicles and you go up the mountain as far as the vehicles can go, and then you switch to donkeys and go up even further and then to get down it's a zip line with a combination of rappelling and water slides. Oh wow. And then when you complete that, you have homemade fresh quesadillas made with freshly made tortillas. Oh, my goodness, really good. So that's one of my favorite things to do. Another thing would be it's called Rhythms of the Night and it's kind of a Mexican folkloric show where you take a boat across the bay. There's no electricity here, except the stage is run by some lights and electricity, but the destination itself does not have electricity. So when you get there there's just thousands of lit candles that light all of the paths.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, wow.
Mark Faldmo:So you go have dinner and then a show. It's a wonderful option. If you're in Puerto Vallarta in the wintertime, whale watching is something that's really fun to do there. You can actually see whales from a lot of the hotels and just sit at the hotels and watch whales. But to go out and actually do the whale watching I've seen some of the best whale watching in Puerto Vallarta- I was talking to Nathan and Kenzie, my son and daughter-in-law.
Patrick Wiscombe:They were talking about whale watching and they said it was by far one of the greatest experiences of their life, because they could not believe the sheer size of whales. They talked about it for probably 10 minutes straight. I just listened to them. If you've never gone whale watching, they loved it and you probably will too.
Mark Faldmo:Probably one of my favorite things is when the whale gets too close, they shut down all of the engines and so you're just floating out there and the whales sometimes will play with the boats and so you're close to the whales and you can really experience how large they are and how majestic the whales are.
Patrick Wiscombe:If there's anyone named Jonah on your tour, just be careful.
Mark Faldmo:Just be careful.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, this is save up to $200 per reservation. Let's talk about some of the hotels that you would recommend staying.
Mark Faldmo:So the first one is kind of the lead in. It's a four-star, all-inclusive, starts at $1,049 per person and that's a really good one right on the beach. It is in Nyer 8. For a four-star hotel that is a very good price. The next one is right in kind of what would be called the hotel zone of Puerto Vallarta and that's the Fiesta Americana Puerto Vallarta. It's a four and a half star and this would be probably one of my two picks there, and that one starts at $1,199 per person.
Mark Faldmo:One starts at $1,199 per person, my overall pick is five-star all-inclusive Villa Premier Boutique Hotel, which starts at $1,719 per person. Now this one is a little bit more expensive than the other hotels, but it's a small boutique hotel, very individualized and personalized service. All of the hotels face the ocean and you know in Puerto Vallarta you have some of the best sunsets in the world there and this hotel really highlights those sunsets.
Patrick Wiscombe:You've stayed in Villa Premier, correct?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I've stayed there probably five or six times. I hope to get back again there this year. Actually so well, it wasn't that long ago that you were there.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, well, I love Puerto Vallarta. Yeah, you do Take advantage of this offer. Call Mark in his office, get the conversation started. If you want to go to Puerto Vallarta, save up to $200 per reservation, and that also included round trip airfare from whatever city you are coming from. Have I got that right? That's correct, okay, call Mark in his office during the break. Just get the conversation started. No obligation. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also go to blueplanetvacations. com. When we come back after the bottom of the hour news break, it is time for the infamous just cruising segment. We'll be talking about Margaritaville at sea, Holland America adding a third ship for Northern Europe, and we've got the cruise deal of the week and we're going to the Caribbean. Caribbean's always good. Nikki and I literally spent a month in the Caribbean in April. Awesome place to vacation. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show, continues Alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you, a genuine thank you, for listening to the show. We will be right back.
Show Voice:They've literally traveled millions of miles to answer your travel related questions. Yeah, they really have. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. America's best travel advisors, Patrick and Mark, will be back after these messages this segment of inside travel talk is sponsored by el dorado spa resorts.
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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 the best solo cruise lines to go on, solar eclipse cruises, which would be fascinating in the middle of the ocean, winter cruising in the Caribbean, and what is the least expensive port to cruise from. 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:Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com America's best travel advisors. Hit us up right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe:All aboard for the infamous Just Cruising segment right here on the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo is running back into the studio. He had to print something off Coming up. In this segment of the show we will be talking about solo cruises. I've never been on a cruise just all by myself. We'll be talking about Holland America adding a third ship to Northern Europe, sailings in 2027. And we're going to give you some options if you want to go see a solar eclipse. That's coming up here in this segment of the show. But let's first get to the cruise news headlines. This part of the show is only about the cruise news and cruise deals for our listeners. Mark, let's start with Margaritaville at sea. Now, the Paradise went in for some refurbishment. It needed it, frankly. But you're talking about Margaritaville at sea and I think their Islander ship is a really good option if you want to go on a cruise not only with family, but also if you want to go by yourself.
Mark Faldmo:Margaritaville at Sea was recently just voted the best solo cruise single cruise line. They actually have a special for July cruises, so that's kind of close in, but they have four and five day cruises from Tampa where a single person can cruise for just $540. Wow. Typically how cruise lines do that is you still have to pay the full price for the cabins, but you get a little bit of a discount because you don't pay two taxes. So on most other cruise lines the same price would be about a thousand dollars. They are offering just regular cabins for singles in July for just the regular per person rate. That's a pretty good deal.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh yeah, that's a great deal. The Islander is their newest ship. They've also meaning Margaritaville at sea. They've announced a new ship and I think that comes out in what 26 or 27? Correct.
Mark Faldmo:Okay, so this is In 27, I believe.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so this is for the Islander, which is their current flagship product for 540. Wow.
Mark Faldmo:It's their newest ship it is an older ship but it's new to their fleet Then completely renovated with that Margaritaville kind of theme through it. And I think that Margaritaville theme which I personally love I love their hotels enjoyed the cruise line when we did that Anything. Margaritaville just kind of that laid back, relaxed atmosphere but still a little bit of luxury mixed in with that.
Patrick Wiscombe:When Nikki and I were in Grand Turks they had a Margaritaville pool and kind of a beach side place to relax. We spent I don't know three or four hours there and it was terrific. If you haven't experienced Margaritaville kind of fun.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, it is, I really enjoy it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Holland America will be adding a third ship for its Northern Europe sailing starting in about two years, 2027.
Mark Faldmo:Just a few months ago we did a story about Holland America adding a second ship to Northern Europe during this time frame. There's such a high demand already. People are already booking out 2027 cruise vacations. They have added a third ship. So the ship they added was the Zuiderdam, which will home port in Amsterdam, and then they also have the new Stendam, which is in Rotterdam, which was the other ship that they added. Northern Europe has become extremely popular. That is Norwegian fjords, that's Iceland, Greenland, that's Baltic cruises. It's probably one of my favorite places to cruise. Anything that includes the Norwegian fjords is probably my favorite, since that's where my family history and heritage is from. I particularly like Norway, but to also go to Finland, Estonia, Sweden All of those places are just wonderful to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe:I think it would be absolutely fascinating to do a solar eclipse cruise in the middle of the ocean. There's just something about how dark it gets depending on where you are in relation to the eclipse and the shadow that it casts. It's something that is so eerie. It's kind of a special experience, and so to be in the middle of the ocean to experience an eclipse would be fun. Cruise lines are offering a solution so you can go see the eclipse somewhere in the middle of the ocean in 2026. Who is offering it the last?
Mark Faldmo:full eclipse April 8th 2024, kind of caught the cruise lines off guard.
Show Voice:Oh really they put those out and they filled up so fast.
Mark Faldmo:They've had some in their lineup for 2026, but they're adding more. For instance, Seabourn Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages has added a ship that will go the path of that solar eclipse. Is going Greenland, Iceland, Spain and Russia oh wow, they're all going to be in the path of that eclipse. So those two cruise lines have added extra ships and Princess Cruises added a third ship to its lineup to see the 2026 eclipse. Do we know the date on that yet? Yeah, so that date is August 12th of 2026. That's at about 14 months from now 2026.
Patrick Wiscombe:What's that? About 14 months from now. So cruise lines are taking a page out of the airlines saying, hey, let's go on an eclipse flight. So they're following the path of the eclipse. I'm surprised that cruise lines didn't pick up on that in 2024. That kind of surprises me, yeah.
Mark Faldmo:I think their 2026 ones filled up so fast that they're just kind of left scrambling trying to get more voyages. And in fact last week Holland America launched two departures for an eclipse in 2027. So they are getting a little bit more proactive about that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is always in the infamous just cruising segment portion of the show, and we want to answer your travel-related questions. So if you have questions, call or text us while we're in the studio right now. 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. James is texting us. He wants to take his family on a Caribbean cruise in January, so this would be 2026. Is Galveston a good port to depart from? And the answer is yes. There's not that many cruise lines going out of there yet, but Galveston is a growing port as of right now. Who is cruising out of Galveston? Which companies?
Mark Faldmo:Right now Princess, msc, norwegian Carnival and Disney.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, what's that many?
Mark Faldmo:All offer sailings from Galveston in the winter of 2026. Galveston, because of the competition that's recently come in MSC, is a new entrance into that Disney as well. They've sailed out of there before, but for this year it's new and so there's price pressures on cruises and they are a lot lower compared to other ports. So one of his questions was is Galveston a good port to depart from? I would say any port, anytime you're getting on a cruise ship, that's a good port to depart from. I would say any port. Anytime you're getting on a cruise ship, that's a good port to depart from. Oh yeah, but Galveston, just because of the price, it's a really affordable place to cruise from. Now. One drawback is the port is about an hour from the airport, unlike Miami where you could get off an airplane and be to the cruise ship in 10 minutes, and that's not the case in Galveston. But there are some pretty good itineraries that depart out of Galveston.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is MSC. Do we know if they're building a brand new terminal in Galveston like their new terminal in Miami?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, they announced that they are building a new terminal there, which will be exciting for the whole area, a new place for cruises to depart out of.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh wait, so they're not only going to bring their own ships in, are they going to rent this out to some of these other cruise lines? Yeah, other cruise lines will probably use the terminal. That's amazing because their brand new terminal in Miami, first of all, it's beautiful and can they move some people through there. I was surprised how technologically advanced the Miami port was.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it is when MSC only has one ship there. They will probably let other cruise lines use that, because to use it for one day a week is.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's not cost effective, doesn't make a lot of sense. No. So with Galveston they're going to let other cruise lines go use their terminal. But in Miami, does MSC allow other cruise ships to use their terminal? I don't think so.
Mark Faldmo:No, because in Miami the main cruise lines all have their own big advanced terminals like that. So Royal Caribbean has a brand new one, Norwegian has a brand new one. All have opened in the last two to three years. Those main cruise lines have their own terminal. There is some more generic cruise terminals. That's just kind of where everybody else departs from.
Patrick Wiscombe:I know we're talking about Galveston right now, but let me go over to Miami. I thought it was amazing how MSC World America faces toward the city, meaning the front of the ship faces towards downtown Miami and Icon of the Seas faces out toward the ocean, so they're pointing east, basically. But I thought it was kind of funny how both ships Icon of the Seas and MSC World America how they face each other and they're right next to each other in the port of Miami. Seeing those two ships together is pretty breathtaking.
Mark Faldmo:It is Two elegant, big ships.
Patrick Wiscombe:You cannot comprehend how large Icon of the Seas is. Well, both of them, really. Let's get back to the cruise deal of the week out of Galveston. What do we have for listeners? This week We've got two choices.
Mark Faldmo:So James wanted to go in January and these kind of really illustrate how low the cruise prices are cruising out of Galveston. So MSC on January 4th actually January 11th is a little bit less in cost. So January 11th, inside cabin $466 per person for a seven day cruise. Balcony cabin starts at $686 for a seven-day cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so I'm going to assume that that's Western Caribbean.
Mark Faldmo:Western yep that goes to Costa Maya, roatan and.
Patrick Wiscombe:Cozumel, especially in January. Now I know that it's hot outside right now, so you kind of have to look forward to when it's absolutely frigid here 30 degrees or less and all of a sudden you're in the Caribbean going. Wow, I like being out here, not being cold. On the MSC cruise, the prices that you just gave. Which ship is that on? That's on the MSC Seascape, okay, seascape and Princess. How much is that and what ports are revisiting and on what ship?
Mark Faldmo:Princess. This is January 25th of 2026. On the Regal Princess. The ports again from Galveston are Cozumel, Belize City and Mahual, which is Costa Maya, and I chose this one because the rates are even lower than msc. Oh really. So January 25th departure, an inside cabin starts at 519, so that's a little bit higher than what msc was, right, but a balcony cabin starts at 609 dollars.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's so cheap for a seven day cruise.
Mark Faldmo:Seven day cruise Typically. Once you add in your airfare to that, you're probably at what just the cruise only is out of Miami, and so this from Galveston just kind of illustrates how good this port is.
Patrick Wiscombe:I see Galveston really starting to catch on and it just feels like a couple weeks ago when you were in Mexico and you were on Royal Caribbean's was it? Ovation of the Seas, ovation of the Seas. Yeah, I'm starting to see a consistent push west with all of the cruise lines. Is that fair to say? I mean it's slow, but it's starting to happen.
Mark Faldmo:It is, yeah, with Galveston coming on, which really isn't west, but it's further west than most. And then all these ships coming to Southern California. I mean Royal Caribbean also recently announced, along with their two ships in Los Angeles, they're going to have a ship in San Diego, I think, starting in 2027. So there's a big push west. Who's in 20.?
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, royal Caribbean. Okay, so they're going to bring another one? Yes, to San Diego. I love this.
Patrick Wiscombe:Generally speaking, you always have to go to Miami or someplace, Florida. I'm going to like this idea of not having to travel that far. Although I love flying on planes, it would be nice to just go a little bit closer, a little bit shorter flight. Yes, let me give out the call and the text line. If you have travel-related questions, like James did, 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. So we can answer your travel-related questions. We want you to be part of the show. Take advantage of that offer.
Patrick Wiscombe:Out of Galveston, call Mark in his office. Just get the conversation started. There's absolutely no obligation and you can get the information you need. And when you're ready to book, if you decide to book, call Mark 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. When we come back, we've got Mark's travel tips. We'll wrap up the show and we've got a little bit more cruise news that we couldn't get to in this segment. Msc is expanding their Southern Caribbean offerings with year-round sailings and we're also going to be talking about Salt Lake Airport. Why? Not because we live here, but because it's getting praise from travelers around the country, and we're not even talking about local travelers. That is next with the Inside Travel Talk podcast. The radio show continues. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, he is Mark Faldmo. Give us about two minutes and the show continues. Thank you for listening. We will be right back.
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Show Voice:They'll help you plan and book your next vacation. Yeah, really, you're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by blueplanetvacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
Patrick Wiscombe:and now here's Patrick Wiscombe and mark Faldmo thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo is the co-host of this radio show and podcast and, if you are just joining us right now, 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 to consider next. And we are presented by blueplanetvacations. com. You can call their office anytime 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And you can also find them on blueplanetvacations. com Coming up in this segment of the show, the final segment of the show, we will be talking about the Salt Lake International Airport, not because we live here, but because Salt Lake Airport is getting some real love from travelers who pass through and go into Salt Lake City International.
Patrick Wiscombe:We'll get to that, but before we do we need to continue the cruise news. A couple things we didn't get to in the last segment. Msc Cruises is expanding their Southern Caribbean offerings with year-round sailings. What ship is that on and what are they offering with?
Mark Faldmo:year-round sailings. What ship is that on and what are they offering? Msc has had a ship in the Southern Caribbean, mainly for the European clientele in the wintertime, so they are expanding this to year-round sailings and they'll have two ships in the wintertime. This is the MSC Opera that will be year-round doing Southern Caribbean cruises. The home port for that is La Romana in Dominican Republic. Oh really they're going to Dominican Republic, so you start a lot further south there in the.
Mark Faldmo:Caribbean and they're offering seven and 14-day cruises. So it alternates kind of two different itineraries and so you can do one seven-night or you can do a combination of the two different seven day itineraries. That highlights MSC's commitment to the North America market. All of these new ships from New York, Miami, Galveston and moving a ship to Alaska next year, they're really making inroads to the North American market.
Patrick Wiscombe:Royal Caribbean is unveiling their new southern Caribbean sailings. So, like msc, they're going after the southern Caribbean market, but they're going to do it a little different. Where are they home? Porting the ship or ships?
Mark Faldmo:last week, I believe it was, we talked about panama and vacation in panama. Royal Caribbean southern Caribbean cruises are going to start from Clone panama, which is the other side of panama from panologne Panama which is the other side of Panama, from Panama City so is that on the east side of the canal?
Patrick Wiscombe:I think it is.
Mark Faldmo:It is, yeah, it's on the technically the north side of the canal but it's in the Caribbean side.
Mark Faldmo:Okay, so you won't actually go through the Panama Canal on this, Cologne is the city. That's basically where the Atlantic locks are at the Panama Canal. From Cologne we'll go to Cartagena, Colombia, Kinderdijk in Aruba and Williamstead in Curacao, have a few days at sea on either end and then end back in Cologne. Panama. That's a unique starting point. It is, and you know, like the MSC one we talked about, Dominican Republic. Panama would be a great place for a pre-cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, absolutely yeah, salt Lake International Airport is getting praise from travelers, not just locals like you and me. You and I are airport fans anyway. Salt Lake International has always been under construction in our lifetime and it's still under construction right now. But I will say, after traveling the world, after seeing different airports, I got to hand it to Salt Lake. It is a beautiful airport and I'm starting to see how aged and how old some of these other airports and other cities truly are.
Mark Faldmo:We just had our ASTA American Society of Travel Advisors Conference in Salt Lake City and everyone's saying how wonderful the airport was. I heard that from so many people out of state. It's interesting because when the airport first opened, locals didn't about 30% of that walk that you have to go to the B gates, to the second terminal.
Patrick Wiscombe:To be fair, it was a walk.
Mark Faldmo:It was so. Nowadays people are really liking that airport, so I think it's very interesting. The old airport was built to handle about 10 million passengers. The new airport is currently to handle about 10 million passengers. The new airport is currently handling 24 million passengers annually. When it's fully completed, it will handle 34 million passengers Whoa. One thing that the new airport has brought to us here in Salt Lake City is six new airlines have started to fly here Spirit, air Canada, avalo, sun Country, Hawaiian and WestJet. All have started operating out of Salt Lake City. So you know, rather than just the main airlines Delta, American, united Southwest we now have a lot more options flying out of Salt Lake City.
Patrick Wiscombe:Have they given a timeline for when Phase 3 that they're in right now, phase three and four? When is that going to be complete?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so they're currently in phase three and four. Phase three should finish up this fall. Phase four will be complete sometime in 2026. So when the airport is completed, it will have 96 gates. Oh wow, so this fall 10 new gates will open and then the remaining 11 gates will open sometime in 2026, which will complete the construction of the airport.
Patrick Wiscombe:What about airline?
Mark Faldmo:lounges. This is something that's interesting because, you know, Salt Lake has always been pretty heavily Delta and we've talked about some of these lounges before, but the new airport will have two Delta Sky Clubs.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, so they're going to add a second one.
Mark Faldmo:They'll have one in the B gates as well as a Delta One lounge which I think I heard is going to be in the B gates.
Patrick Wiscombe:Have you ever been in a Delta One lounge? I have not.
Mark Faldmo:I have not been in a Delta One lounge so Well.
Patrick Wiscombe:Sky Clubs are pretty good as is, so I'm curious to see what a Delta One lounge looks like.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I know. At the Los Angeles airport the other day, Delta One had its own check-in area and its own security screening.
Ad Voice:And.
Mark Faldmo:I think that's the same at JFK airport. So you go from the security screening right into the Delta One lounge. Oh, I know what you're talking about. Pretty interesting you pay for Delta One? You do, yeah, it's pretty spectacular. And then other lounges. We're getting a Centurion lounge, so American Express lounge, which is for those with specific American Express credit card, and then also a United Club will be coming to the Salt Lake airport. So the airport has really grown up.
Patrick Wiscombe:This last trip out there for me and Nikki. I was just remembering when we were pretty small I had to pick up my uncle with my aunt at Salt Lake International, but it was much smaller and there was no freeway into the airport. I remember that whole concept of driving into an airport on a freeway or, you know, an expressway or something like that blew my mind. Do you remember taking the back roads to the airport?
Mark Faldmo:Like it was. It was hard to get there. Yeah, yeah, I actually did that until the early two thousands when they closed those roads after nine 11. So I used to always take that back way in.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's kind of fun to see our airport grow up. I would dare say it rivals, not in terms of quantity I mean, 96 gates is quite a bit but compared to other larger airports. I think Salt Lake International truly is a spectacularly beautiful airport compared to other airports.
Mark Faldmo:now, yeah, it is, and you know, one of the things they really built into this is between every two gates, so really every four gates. When you look at it, there's a set of restrooms.
Mark Faldmo:Oh yeah, there's always a restroom close and there's no long lines like you get at other airports. Now you go to Atlanta, for instance. Atlanta has a terminal just as big. So one of those terminals let's say the A concourse yeah, Atlanta is as big as Salt Lake's A concourse, but there's twice as many restrooms in Salt Lake Airport as there are in that Atlanta concourse.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, that's going to do it, we are done. If you want to take advantage of the cruise deals the destination of the week, the hot travel deal of the week, if you want to go to Mexico, save up to $200 per reservation and the numerous cruise deals out of Galveston, call Mark in his office as soon as we get off the air. Just get the conversation rolling, no obligation. 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717, and he will post all of these deals on the website blueplanetvacations. com. That's it, we're done.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can listen to the show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11am, right here on this radio station and around the country. Plus, you can stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at insideTravelTalk. com, because we are on all of the major podcast platforms and if you just don't want to subscribe, we understand, we can accommodate you there. You can just press the play button on InsideTravelTalk. com. It is your turn to get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curveball's life is going to throw at you. Live your life deliberately and live your life intentionally. Thank you so much for listening. We will talk to you again next Saturday and Sunday. 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. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
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