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
Hawaiian Dreams and European Rivers: Exclusive Travel Deals Revealed
Kick off your shoes and relax! The TSA has finally announced what weary travelers have been hoping for since 2001—you can now keep your shoes on during airport security at most major airports starting this Sunday. This travel breakthrough headlines our latest episode, where we celebrate the end of awkward barefoot moments in security lines nationwide.
As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, we unveil how tour operators and cruise lines are creating once-in-a-lifetime experiences for this historic milestone. Discover Holland America's special sailing from Boston on July 4th, where you'll witness fireworks from Boston Harbor before cruising alongside the world's largest fleet of tall ships in New York Harbor—a truly spectacular way to celebrate America's semiquincentennial.
For Hawaii lovers, we spotlight the hidden gem of Oahu's North Shore—the Courtyard Marriott that offers authentic cultural immersion through storytelling programs and "aunties" who share Hawaiian traditions daily. Learn about the semi-secret beach just yards from the hotel where you'll likely be the only visitor—a stark contrast to crowded Waikiki. Our exclusive listener deals include packages starting at just $1139 per person for five nights with airfare on Delta's nonstop flights from Salt Lake City.
Cruise enthusiasts will appreciate our Just Cruising segment featuring Carnival's switch from Pepsi to Coca-Cola products, Viking's new extended voyages combining popular European itineraries, and Royal Caribbean's expansion on the West Coast. The highlight? Our exclusive offer of free airfare to Europe when booking select Avalon Waterways river cruises for 2026, with packages starting at just $3500 per person including flights.
Ready to explore these destinations while deals last? Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 to secure your spot before these limited-time offers disappear. Remember, live deliberately and don't put off creating those lifelong memories—you'll remember the experiences forever, but forget what they cost!
It is the weekend. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. In the next 30 minutes we will be talking about keeping your shoes on at the airport. Finally, you don't have to look at strangers feet. You don't have to smell other people's feet. This is a good development. Vacationing in Hawaii on the North Shore we have a special promotion just for our listeners. Plus, we'll be talking about free airfare to Europe when you book a river cruise. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time-sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice.
Show Voice:Explore your world. It's the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Woo, coming to you live from the Wiscombe-Faldmo Radio Studios right here in Salt Lake City. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. I am Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo will join me here in just a second and, if you are brand new to this radio show and podcast, Saturday and Sunday around the country and of course you can pick up the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com we are going to help you plan and book your next vacation or just give you ideas of where you may want to consider vacationing next.
Patrick Wiscombe:And we are presented, proudly presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. And just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. Coming up in the next 30 minutes, we will be talking about keeping your shoes on at the airport. Finally, finally, mark, it's a good change you don't have to take your shoes off at the airport. That became official a little bit earlier this week. Vacationing in Hawaii, on the North Shore, and free airfare to Europe when booking a river cruise those are just three of the stories that we'll be talking about on this edition of the show, and let me welcome in my co-host, mark Faldmo. Where are you right now?
Mark Faldmo:Mark. Today I'm in Fort Lauderdale. I'm at a meeting called GTM, which is Global Travel Marketplace, where I get to meet with 100 suppliers Some I know, some I don't. The whole purpose of this meeting is to introduce travel agents to new and unique products that they may not be aware of. It's a pretty good event to learn about new trends and new suppliers in travel.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the travel news headlines. Can I get a hallelujah? I don't have to look at other people's feet and I don't have to smell other people's feet. You can keep your shoes on at the airport during security screening. That I could not believe the news. In fact, nikki was telling me about the news that was breaking. What was it on Tuesday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this week?
Mark Faldmo:Yep, and it actually goes into effect tomorrow on. Sunday, and right now it's at most major airports. There are a few airports where this is not implemented yet, but the ultimate goal is to roll this out nationwide at every domestic airport where you do not have to take your shoes off. That is welcome news after almost 20 years of having to take your shoes off.
Patrick Wiscombe:I am not going to miss that. Happy birthday to America, love this country. And now the preparations begin for America's 250th birthday and tour operators and destinations are gearing up because they expect to be very, very busy this next year and probably after that, tour operators and cruise lines are adding special departures to specifically celebrate America's 250th year birthday.
Mark Faldmo:I will just mention two here. One is a Globus tour, which is a 10-day tour from Boston to Washington, visits all of our nation's history in between those two places. One that I am really interested in is Holland America's cruise they have. It's a special sailing from Boston to New York, so it leaves Boston on the 4th of July, where you'll see the fireworks show from Boston Harbor.
Mark Faldmo:Oh, wow, it has places like Williamsburg, overnights in New York City, and it leaves right at the end of an event called Sail the Fourth Celebration, which is the world's largest fleet of tall ships, which will be in New York Harbor that day, so you'll sail out with them past the Statue of Liberty. That has quite an interesting itinerary. Oh yeah, and that is sailing right on the 4th of July from Boston. There are a few other tour operators and cruise lines that offer things like this, so if you're interested, give us a call at Blue Planet Vacations and we will give you all of the details on these America's 250th birthday travel opportunities.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, let me just give out the number now 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. Just get the conversation started, even though we're on the air right now. Call, and then Mark will call you back or someone from the office will call you back. One of my favorite places on this entire planet is Hawaii and Courtyard Marriott Oahu North Shore. Obviously, you hear about the North Shore. There's not a lot of hotels on that north end. Everything is pretty much Oahu, Waikiki, as Siri says, Waikiki, but this is a hotel on the North Shore. I love the North.
Mark Faldmo:Shore and this is actually one of my favorite hotels. If you want a hotel that really leans in to community and the Hawaiian spirit, it's the Courtyard Oahu North Shore. It's right in Laia. You're basically in the parking lot to the Polynesian Cultural Center. There's great beaches nearby. La'ea Beach, which is across the street, is amazing. You have Hukilau Beach, you have Pounders Beach. There are several nice beaches right there, but they've launched a new. It's a bi-monthly program that's focused on Hawaii storytelling and handmade goods. These are presentations open to the public, but if you're staying at the hotel you can participate in that. So just another way that they lean into the community. They already have hula lessons, lay making classes. They have their aunties that are in the lobby, which are local ladies who come on and put cultural presentations daily at the courtyard. It is one of my favorite hotels in all of Hawaii to stay at.
Patrick Wiscombe:And it's close to one of your favorite food trucks, which is Mike's.
Mark Faldmo:Hui Hui Chicken, which is in Kahuku, just a few miles from Laia.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can't go wrong with the North Shore in Laia. It's awesome. We just received a text. From who was this? Connor? He has a question. It's not about Hawaii, but this one is about Orlando. He is asking he wants to go to Orlando, wants to visit a beach. How far away are the beaches, and which one would you recommend, mark?
Mark Faldmo:Orlando is right in the middle of Florida, but you're 45 minutes to an hour away from beaches.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, is it that far away?
Mark Faldmo:It is yeah, okay. So if you go to the west about an hour, you can go to Clearwater Beach, which is probably the closest beach to Orlando. On the west coast you get kind of the white sand beaches, the Caribbean-looking waters, so you can go there. Or if you go to the east, you go out to like Cocoa Beach, which is on the Atlantic. I like going that direction because I like going to Kennedy Space Center as well. So it is different beach experiences on either side of Florida, but you are relatively close to a beach when you're in Orlando. So when you're at Disney World, universal Studios or SeaWorld, you can go to the beach.
Patrick Wiscombe:If you want to take a day to do that, Of course, you've got Disney World, and one of our favorite places is Hollywood Studios.
Mark Faldmo:I love the Rockin' Roller Coaster, which is going to be rebranded the Muppets Roller Coaster shortly here, so good attraction there at Hollywood Studios.
Patrick Wiscombe:If it's the Muppets roller coaster, who is your favorite Muppet? Mine is Beaker.
Mark Faldmo:I like Beaker. I think mine is Animal, that's okay, that would be my second one, and I'm sure Animal is going to be driving the roller coaster, so that'll probably be the theme of it.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, my goodness, you nailed it. Also in this segment, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, which is, of course, Hawaii. These are deals that Mark has put together exclusively for our listeners. What do we have for listeners this week?
Mark Faldmo:We've kind of talked about this promotion the last few weeks with different destinations. This is with Delta Vacations and it's save up to $250, but you get bonus SkyMiles and if you're looking to get medallion status, you also earn medallion qualifying miles on every purchase, on the full purchase. So, Patrick, I think you purchased a trip a few years ago, before this was in place, but had this new policy been in place, you would have been gold medallion just on your trip to Hawaii. So this is a pretty good way to earn status with Delta. If you chase status, like I do, I do too, using that promotion.
Mark Faldmo:I've looked at a couple of hotels on Oahu this is for the dates of December 1st, for five nights. Salt Lake City, Honolulu Round Strip. Now this is on the Delta nonstop. It is in main cabin, so there are some lower fares if you want to fly in the basic economy, fly on connecting flights or on another airline. But I thought I'd just use those Delta nonstop flights with this promotion because that's the most convenient way to get there. So in Waikiki, there are two pretty good prices here for that date. One is the Roamer House. It's a three and a half star adults only hotel, one of the only adults only hotels in Hawaii. It starts at $1139 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:And that includes airfare.
Mark Faldmo:That includes airfare. Okay, good, all right. So five nights and airfare. And then the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which is where you stayed in one of my favorite places, the Rainbow Tower, and one of my favorite places, the Rainbow Tower. The Rainbow Tower, yeah, four and a half star hotel from $1379 per person. And then, just because we talked about the Courtyard North Shore, I put that in. It's a three and a half star, although it has recently been renovated. I think it's a four, four and a half star, although, because it's a courtyard, it doesn't have some of the amenities required to get that higher star rating. But that starts at $1789 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:So it might be $400 more per person, but it's an entirely different vacation on the North Shore.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it is. You know a lot of people would look at that and say, well, that's a lot more expensive. But its location and I think the quality of the hotel, the activities it offers, the local cultural immersion, the fact that you can walk across the street to the beach and almost every time I've done that morning, noon or evening I've been the only one on that beach.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, it's a well-kept secret. And then there's that beach about I don't know, a half a mile, third of a mile, just to its south. That is a phenomenal beach. Is that the one you're talking about?
Mark Faldmo:It is, yeah, that one, or just literally across the street from the beach, probably 75 yards from the main entrance of the hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe:It's a great beach.
Mark Faldmo:So okay, there's no parking lot for it, there's just houses there in between. So that's why no one's on that beach, because that's why no one knows it's there.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, that's even better. I've been doing it wrong.
Mark Faldmo:Although you're probably talking about Hukilau Beach, which is just down the way smaller parking lot, it's a great beach too, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe:Now. I know that it's hot right now Very hot actually. I know it's summer, but it has been really quite hot. Picture in your head, when it's 30 degrees here, that you are going to Oahu to go on vacation. Mark has made those exclusively for our listeners. Call him in his office during the break. Just get the conversation started, no obligation 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717 is how to get a hold of Mark. When we come back, it is time. The infamous Just Cruising segment is next. We'll be talking about Carnival's massive change to its beverage program and we're going to tell you how to get free airfare to Europe when you book a river cruise with Avalon Waterways. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show, continues Alongside my friend Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend.
Show Voice:We will be right back, taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show is presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back.
Ad Voice:Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Ama Waterways. From castles and capitals to vistas and villages. Visit some of Europe's most remarkable sites and cities To set out on your own river cruise journey. Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com.
Show Voice:Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:Broadcasting from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at least, mark is. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. This is the infamous Just Cruising segment. This is the segment of the show that has made us famous around the country. If you love cruise news and you love cruise deals, this is the segment of the show for you, and we have some really good offers for listeners this week. But first let's get to the cruise news headlines, and I thought this was a pretty significant development that Carnival Cruise Line just made a massive change to its beverage program. I don't have the details. What do we know about this?
Mark Faldmo:And this is good, in my opinion. They are changing from Pepsi to Coca-Cola, oh so studio audience has something to say about that one. Yeah, that is a good move, in my opinion. I don't drink much soda anymore, but three years ago this would have been very, very welcome, when I drank several sodas a day. So I much prefer Coca-Cola products than Pepsi products.
Patrick Wiscombe:Nikki and I, for the 4th of July, we decided to go to Original Pancake House for breakfast and I ordered a Diet Coke and they said is Diet Pepsi okay? And I said no, yep, no, it's not okay, anyway. So Patrick had water, water, yep. Viking has created, or is creating, extended voyages for the years 2026 and 2027. Anything with extended voyages I'm okay with this is on their Ocean product.
Mark Faldmo:The trend is people are taking less vacations but longer vacations. This year has kind of been the trend, and so Viking, what they've done? They've created 14 different itineraries in 2026 and 2027 that combine two popular itineraries into one. So these range from 15 to 36 day voyages. Wow, they're mainly in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and Mediterranean, but it really does kind of take in what people are looking for in these longer cruises. One is called Iconic Western Europe it's 19 days between London and Barcelona. One called Viking Homelands, which is basically Norwegian fjords 22 days from Stockholm to Amsterdam. Iceland, Norway, British Isles 29 days from Reykjavik, Iceland, to London, and then there's several others in there in the Mediterranean. So this is good and if you're interested in these, you should look at booking them right away. Oh yeah, I remember we did a story a few weeks ago. The Viking was like 98% full for 2025 and they're already like 60% full for 2026. So now is the time to book one of these longer cruises on Viking.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let me give out the office number quickly 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717 is how you get a hold of Mark Now. I know he's on the air right now. Just leave a message. He'll call you back or someone from the office will. That's correct. This is good news, since we lived here in the West Salt Lake City, specifically that Royal Caribbean is opening cruises here on the West Coast. I'm going to assume that that's either San Francisco, Los Angeles or San Diego, or perhaps all three.
Mark Faldmo:A lot of cruise lines have really struggled with the West Coast, although we're seeing more and more move ships to the West Coast. We're seeing more and more move ships to the West Coast.
Mark Faldmo:So Royal Caribbean for the longest time has had the Navigator of the Seas sailing round trip from Los Angeles this past May, which we talked about when I went on it. They added the Ovation of the Seas. In October they're going to swap the Ovation out for the Quantum of the Seas. But they are adding a third ship to the West Coast which will be from San Diego. So starting in October of 2026, the Serenade of the Seas will be sailing round trip San Diego, so they will be the largest cruise line on the West Coast. They have three, four, six, seven and eight day cruises, I believe, to Mexico from all of these ports.
Patrick Wiscombe:I know this isn't on the rundown, but if you check your email right now, mark, because I know that you and I get the same emails, did you get the quick travel deal? Generations, riviera Maya yeah, I did. I think this is worth mentioning, even though we're just getting it.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, let's put that in so Generations. Riviera Maya is a family-oriented hotel, all-inclusive hotel in Cancun area. I've stayed there several times. They have anywhere from studio to three-bedroom units Nuts, and the deal that they're offering right now is children up to 17 year old's stay free with the minimum of three nights hotel, and this is for travel between now and the end of October. It's also combinable with their more inclusive deal, which provides free access to their themed water park, their beach club at Maroma Beach oh you like that a lot I do.
Mark Faldmo:I love their beach club there, and also Wave Runner snorkeling, and then also free transfers. So this is a great deal if you're looking to take a family vacation this fall to cancun. By the way, it is also combinable with that same offer that we had with delta vacations the 250 off bonus sky miles.
Patrick Wiscombe:all of that was that, the uh, what we talked about last segment?
Mark Faldmo:yeah, last segment for Hawaii so that is also good to Mexico, so that's a good, good deal. So this is a great family deal, probably one of the best family deals I've seen in a while, because this is usually a relatively pricey resort. So to get those kids free it's a great deal.
Patrick Wiscombe:Always in the infamous Just Cruising segment, we have the cruise deal of the week and we are talking about Avalon waterways. This is river cruising in Europe and the promotion that we have for our listeners that mark was working on really for about the past month and we can finally bring it to you now is free airfare to Europe when you book an av Waterways cruise. That's the promotion.
Mark Faldmo:Let's talk about that for a minute For select 2026 dates, and we'll go over some different itineraries here in a minute. You'll get free airfare or you can choose up to $1,500 per person off on select dates. The first river that I'll mention this is called Danube Dreams and it's Budapest to Vilsofen Germany. This is an eight-day cruise. The Danube is one of my favorite rivers to cruise on there. Just the history. I would choose the Danube over any river. Time and time again, free airfare for that. Next one is the Romantic Rhine, which. This is Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, again eight days. This one. The free airfare is good on select dates July through November. If you like, castles the Rhine is packed with castles. You just cruise past castles.
Patrick Wiscombe:Would that be?
Mark Faldmo:something to own a castle it would. You know, some of these excursions you go up and in fact the picture on my website is this castle that we went to in Austria and it's just this guy's hunting lodge. A guy lives on it, he lives in the guest house of the castle and then they do the tours of how the castle worked two years ago. It's very interesting and worth the visit.
Patrick Wiscombe:Have you seen that show, Castle Impossible? It's about the girl and the guy. I think it's. Her grandpa owned a castle in France. Now I know that we're talking about a different part of Europe, but they're renovating the castle. Have you seen that show?
Mark Faldmo:I've seen the previews for that. Yeah, looks very interesting.
Patrick Wiscombe:Cool, I'll be in my castle and I've got a moat around it. Yeah, are there any other departures?
Mark Faldmo:Mark. Yeah, one more that I'd like to highlight, and it's called Magnificent Europe, which is Amsterdam to Budapest, so it combines the Rhine and the Danube. So if you're looking for the free airfare on that, that's selected June through October dates. One thing that's really nice about these and I don't have the specific dates, but some of the departures are as low as $3,500 per person, which includes the airfare to Europe. Wow, they do range $3,500 to $4,500 for those shorter eight-day cruises, but it is a great deal if you're looking to take a river cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:Did you work with TJ on that offer?
Mark Faldmo:if you're looking to take a river cruise. Did you work with TJ on that offer? I did. Yeah. Tj's been a good partner in helping us get deals for the show and giving us information for the show as well.
Patrick Wiscombe:So he got the permission he needed, so we could finally offer that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yes, that's something you've been working on for a while. It is yeah, those are phenomenal offers. Call Mark in his office. As soon as we get off the air here, he'll return your phone call, or somebody from the office will 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also get the phone number and many of the specials right on blueplanetvacations. com. You can listen to this show again tomorrow morning right here on this radio station and around the country. We air at the same time each and every week on every single radio station, and you can also pick up the podcast at that same time at insidetraveltalk. com. Insidetraveltalk. com, you can literally just stream the show there, but if you are a podcaster, all of the links to the show are on InsideTravelTalk. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:Well, now it's your turn to get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. Live your life deliberately. Live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally. Don't put things off. You'll make memories that will last a lifetime and you'll forget what the price was. Thank you so much for listening. We will talk to you again next week. 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 wiskam and mark faldmo, presented by blueplanetvacationscom. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717.
Ad Voice:That's 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com for more information.