Inside Travel Talk
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Inside Travel Talk
Top Travel Offers: Alaska Cruise Tour Deals and Fiji Vacation Savings
Ready to save big on your dream vacation? The Inside Travel Talk podcast's anniversary episode delivers exciting opportunities you won't want to miss.
Discover how to cut $550 from your Fiji getaway with incredible packages starting at just $1,099 per person. These complete vacation deals include roundtrip airfare from Los Angeles for the surprisingly low price of $749, making this South Pacific paradise more affordable than you might think. Mark shares his firsthand experience of Fiji's welcoming culture and pristine beaches that offer a more authentic island atmosphere than many popular destinations.
Travel enthusiasts will be fascinated by Celebrity Cruises' spectacular entrance into river cruising. Their first ship sold out in an astonishing six minutes, demonstrating overwhelming demand for their unique approach to European river travel. Now named Celebrity Compass and Celebrity Seeker, these vessels bring the stunning Edge-class design to the Rhine and Danube, featuring innovative "Magic Edge" dining pods that elevate for panoramic views of Europe's riverside treasures.
For Alaska dreamers, we break down Princess Cruises' comprehensive land and sea packages with insider knowledge on choosing between their four tour types. Whether you prefer independence or full guidance, there's a perfect option to experience Denali and beyond. Take advantage of Princess's limited-time offer with 40% savings and free spots for third and fourth guests on 2026-2027 sailings when booked by October 15th.
The episode also covers American Airlines' new ultra-short route to Bimini, United's strategic moves against Spirit Airlines, and Frontier's surprising elimination of jet bridges to improve efficiency.
Two years of helping travelers explore the world has taught us one thing: life is unpredictable, so experience the destinations on your bucket list while you can. Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 to turn these deals into your next unforgettable adventure.
It is 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 saving you $550 on your next vacation in Fiji. Celebrity fills an entire river cruise ship in six minutes. What to do when your flight is delayed, getting charged for being a no-show on Royal Caribbean Alaska cruise and land tours and 40% off Princess Cruises in Alaska. 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:Helping you plan your next vacation. This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call us now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, and check out the podcast at insidetraveltalk. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo what a joyous occasion it is to be on the air celebrating two years of bringing this radio show and podcast to our listeners here in the state of Utah and around the world. Happy birthday to this show. Mark Been, doing this for two years yeah, it's pretty incredible. This is the award nominated and frequently duplicated Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Hello there, I am Patrick Wiscombe.
Patrick Wiscombe:He is Mark Faldmo and if you are brand new to the show, our job is to help you plan and book your next vacation or give you ideas of where you may want to go on vacation next, and we are presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. If you're new to the show, thank you for subscribing. If you've been with us for the entire two years, thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend each and every Saturday and Sunday. Just incredible that it's been a couple of years. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend each and every Saturday and Sunday. Just incredible that it's been a couple of years.
Patrick Wiscombe:This week, we're going to help you save up to $550 when you vacation in Fiji. And, mark, we have the story that Celebrity River Cruises a brand new not a new cruise company but they're new to the river cruise business that they filled their entire new ship in six minutes. We'll give you the details about the ship, but let's first get to the travel news headlines. American Airlines is going to launch their first Miami to Bimini route. That's a short flight.
Mark Faldmo:That is so. We've talked about Bimini on the show a few times. I love the Bimini Beach Club. Mainly the beach club. Yeah, awesome. It'll launch February 14th. It'll fly Monday, Wednesdays and Saturdays from Miami and it will be American Airlines' shortest international route and their shortest route overall it's 64 miles. They do have another route, and I can't believe they even fly this between Chicago and Milwaukee, which is 66 miles, but this route to Bimini makes sense because it is over water.
Mark Faldmo:There is a ferry that people can take from Miami. This will make it quicker and easier to get to Bimini and those beautiful beaches.
Patrick Wiscombe:United takes aim at Spirit with increases and additions on 18 routes, which, by the way, I don't know if you saw that news story a little bit earlier Was it this week, maybe it was late last week that spirit is pulling out of Salt Lake City officially. I think it was October 2nd if memory serves.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, they are pulling out. I think eight, maybe 12 cities they're pulling out of. So their strategy is shrink to survive. They do vow to continue operating, but they're going to look at the routes very strategically and less profitable routes they are going to cancel.
Patrick Wiscombe:Just for competition purposes. We hope that they make it truly.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, this story. United has announced going into those places that Spirit has left. They're making increases on 16 different routes beginning in January. So they're really putting that pressure on Spirit, not only in cities they already serve, but cities they're pulling out of.
Patrick Wiscombe:Frontier Airlines says that they no longer use jet bridges. So, first of all, if people don't know what a jet bridge is, let's explain that and let's explain why they're no longer going to use them.
Mark Faldmo:The jet bridge is what you walk onto the airplane In the olden days and if you're flying Frontier, you now walk out across the tarmac area and board the plane by stairs rather than the jet bridge. Frontier says jet bridges raise the cost and weaken efficiency and weaken efficiency Loading. This way they're able to put stairs at the front and back of the airplane and load from two different parts of the airplane. They've been doing this in Denver for quite a while, they said to good success. But I don't know, if you're in a blizzard in Denver, if you're going to like boarding the plane that way, but they're going to roll this out to more airports. In fact, in Denver they built a whole new terminal just so they could load their planes this way and they're going to roll it out to more airports over the next year. In a place like Denver they've been doing it for almost two years now. So I guess it works and people don't complain about it. But I've been in some pretty nasty blizzards at the Denver airport. That's interesting.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yeah, let's get to the travel deal of the week, and this week we're going to Fiji. We are going to help you save up to 550 when you vacation in Fiji. What are the details? Mark?
Mark Faldmo:Fiji Airways. We've talked about this on occasion. They have some really good lead-in fares to Fiji. It's like $749 from Los Angeles. So, I've looked how much $749 round trip.
Show Voice:Whoa.
Mark Faldmo:So I've looked for complete vacation packages. So this is airfare from Los Angeles. We can help with your flights from wherever you're coming from Salt Lake or wherever to Los Angeles. Middle of November, so before Thanksgiving, four-star adults-only hotel $1,099 per person and then if we go up where I stayed in May, the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Spa Resort, $1,349 per person. That is amazing, it is. And then I've got a few other on the blueplanetvacations. com website on the Fiji deal. You can look at a few of the other deals Now with that airfare. These are kind of preset packages. Sure, we can help you with some more customized packages and go out to islands on the Mamanuku Islands, which those island stays are wonderful. There's lots of different ways you can do Fiji. You can take one of these preset vacation packages where you're in one hotel on the main island, or you can split your time between the main island and some of the outer islands. I love that You're in a hotel that's maybe anywhere between 20 and 40 rooms and it's the only thing on the island.
Mark Faldmo:You have the whole beaches to yourself, or there's actually some cruises that also go around the island that you can do. Take advantage of this Fiji Airways special, oh yeah, which they've had. It's fluctuated between $7.49 and $7.99. It's a longer flight but that makes it comparable to Hawaii. So if you've been to Hawaii a lot, go to a different tropical paradise and you love Fiji, you've said that for years.
Mark Faldmo:The people are so nice. It's not a highly visited destination. There are lots of hotels there, but you still kind of feel that island vibe that you don't get in some of the other destinations.
Patrick Wiscombe:Call Mark at the break and we're going to take a break right now. Just get the conversation started. There's no obligation. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also get the contact information on the website blueplanetvacations. com. When we come back. It is time. It is time. It is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment, where it's only about the cruise news headlines and it's only about cruise deals. This week we're talking Alaska and we've got some significant savings. So stick around if you would please, to help us celebrate being on the air for two years. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. We will be back in about 60 seconds.
Show Voice:If you have travel questions, they have the answers. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. We'll be right back.
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Show Voice: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. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick and Mark Ahoy mateys Ahoy.
Patrick Wiscombe:Mateys Ahoy, you are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your weekend for the last two years. Whether you listen to us live on the radio here in Salt Lake City or around the country, you can hear the show every Saturday morning, every Sunday morning at 11 am on whatever radio station you're listening to. But if you're unable to catch us live, you can subscribe to the podcast by going to insidetraveltalk. com. We have links to all of the podcast platforms. Or, if you are not a podcaster, you can just stream the show live at insidetraveltalk. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:This is the infamous Just Cruising segment, this segment that has helped us become popular worldwide. But before we get to the cruise deals of the week, let's get to the cruise news headlines. Madonna has a song called Four Minutes. We are just going to change that to six minutes. Six minutes to save the world. Celebrity. They sold out their first ever river cruise ship. They sold it out in six minutes, but in the process they have now, since selling out the ship, which people didn't know where they were going to go. They didn't know what ship they were going to be on. They sold it out in six minutes. Now they've revealed the look and the name of their first ever river cruise ship. Mark has the details.
Mark Faldmo:Last week we were supposed to talk about that. They've opened up those deposits and about 40 minutes before we went on air I got word that it sold out in six minutes. So people were putting down a $500 deposit, not knowing the name of the ship, not knowing the itinerary they could just choose if it was on the Danube or the Rhine. Since then they've announced some information about the ships, including their names, which are the Celebrity Compass and the Celebrity Seeker. They will be modeled after the same design as the Celebrity Edge class ocean ships.
Patrick Wiscombe:Love that idea. Those Edge class ships are beautiful.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and they will have kind of a first on river cruise. They'll have a cantilever dining pod where you can eat in a dining pod and be raised up so you can get a 360 degree view of wherever you're cruising I like it it's called the magic edge dining pod and they've announced they're gonna have 33 seven night sailings on the Rhine and the Danube.
Mark Faldmo:State rooms will have a king bed with balcony, complimentary mini bar, destination inspired amenities, and they say they'll have the most in-room amenities and features when compared to other river cruise lines. Everyone will pick up their game to match this. Oh yeah, and if you're in a suite, you'll have an on-demand butler and you'll also have access to an exclusive dining room and room service.
Patrick Wiscombe:I've never had a butler, but I've always wanted to be buttled. Yes, that just sounds awesome, Ferguson, you know, go get this please.
Mark Faldmo:I've had one a few times and never known how to use them or what to do. It just feels weird to ask someone to do that when you could go do it yourself.
Patrick Wiscombe:I could do it myself. So, yeah, someone to do that, when you could go do it yourself so yeah, carnival cruise line goes beyond soft drinks with zero proof drink package. So you know I'm a huge diet coke fan. But all I get when I'm on vacation are virgin pina coladas. I just love them. This sounds like something up my alley.
Mark Faldmo:They have their package which is called bottomless bubbles, which is the full, complete drink package of everything. Bottomless, what Bubbles? Oh, bubbles, bubbles, yeah. And then they've had their soft drink package. So now that they kind of have an in-between one which is their cheers zero proof package, which is more than soft drinks, you can get alcohol-free cocktails, mixed drinks, among many other options. So there's kind of that in-between package. You know me, I'll just go drink the virgin pina colada all day long. On that, yeah, I would too Throw in a strawberry daiquiri on occasion.
Patrick Wiscombe:Yes, that sounds delightful. Royal Caribbean is going to charge guests a fee for specialty dining. That part is not new. However, if you no-show, you're still going to get charged.
Mark Faldmo:And an additional fee. An extra fee so if you don't show, there will be a fee on top of what you already paid, which is not refundable. They've announced that fee at their higher-end restaurants. They've announced that fee at their higher end restaurants. So the Supper Club, royal Railway, the Teppanyaki and Chef's Table is $50 per person for those Per person. At some of their regular restaurants it's 50% of the base cost of the reservation and at other venues it's $25 per person. So kind of varies by restaurant but they are going to do a no show fee.
Patrick Wiscombe:We want you to be part of the show, so if you have travel related questions, even if it's just trip specific, vacation specific, you can get in touch with us during the week and while we're on the air. 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700 is how you get in touch with us so we can answer your travel specific question. This text question came from one of our listeners. Last four digits are 1382. We don't have a name on this, right Mark.
Mark Faldmo:We don't Just the last four digits of that number.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so 1382. Here we go. Questions about Princess Alaska cruise and land tours is the subject. They are looking at the 2027 schedule and want to do a northbound cruise from Vancouver, Canada, with a land tour at the end. There seems to be lots of options for land tours to Princess Lodges. I would like to do both Denali and Mount McKinley lodges. How many days do you recommend for the land option and what are some tour options in Fairbanks, Alaska and some in Anchorage? Is one better than the other? And why? Man, there's a lot to cover there. So where do you want to start, mark?
Mark Faldmo:First of all, let's just do an overview of what a cruise tour or a land and cruise tour is. These are very popular in Alaska and they combine a seven-day north or southbound cruise with a three to 10-day land tour. In Alaska you can do the tour first and then the cruise, or you can do the cruise first and then the tour. Personally, I recommend doing the cruise first, doing a northbound cruising, working your way into Alaska and finishing with the highlights like Denali, some of that spectacular stuff you see on the land tour.
Mark Faldmo:I think also the northbound cruises are typically not much, but a little bit less than the southbound cruises. Another thing to consider is do you want to travel by bus or rail? For the land portion, some of the cruise tours are all rail, some of the cruise tours are all bus and some combine both bus and rail. By bus you do get there a lot quicker and have more time in places, but the rail is amazing in Alaska and Princess calls it direct to wilderness, where you walk off the cruise ship. Just walk about 15 yards, get on the train and they take you right up to Denali.
Patrick Wiscombe:Did you say direct to wilderness?
Mark Faldmo:Direct to the wilderness is the name of that service that they offer, so you go direct from the ship to the wilderness. Another thing to consider with Alaska cruise tours is do you want to be on your own, so more independent, or do you want it completely guided? Princess offers four main types of tours. One is on your own, which basically includes the transportation and lodging. Only the on your own tours are typically by bus, but there are some that do have some combination of rail. These are ideal for people who want to be more independent.
Mark Faldmo:Arrange their tours, arrange the things to do when you get there. I will say a lot of times some of the things like the Denali, going into the Denali. You have to do it by park bus which can sell out. So if you do on your own you may not get to Denali. The next way is called Denali Explorer, least two and up to four includes transportation, lodging and offers a deeper immersion into Denali park and includes that excursion into Denali park. So it does include some tours but offers some time for leisure to do your own thing. And then princess offers they call it off the beaten path, which goes to some of their more remote lodges. You still still get the Denali, because Denali is what everyone wants to do. But then it goes to some of their other lodges and then they offer Connoisseur, which is completely, 100% escorted. It's like doing a bus tour, so you have a professional host and escort with you at full time. It includes the most tours, most planned activities and also includes most meals, where the other types don't include a lot of meals. So there's less planning, kind of more comfort in that connoisseur type tour. They do have a few others that dive deeper into national parks and things like that, but those are their four main tours that they offer.
Mark Faldmo:Princess also owns and operates five of their own lodges in Alaska, which makes it nice because you're on a Princess product the whole time of your vacation. The most famous one is the Princess Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, which is just a mile from the entrance to Denali National Park. It's a prime home base to explore that area. The next most common one is the Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. It's about 40 miles from Denali National Park, but the one thing that this offers is if there are no clouds I put that caveat in there it offers the best views of Denali. They have a great room where you just sit there, and it has Mount McKinley in its view. Oh wow, amazing views of the park.
Mark Faldmo:They have Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge, which is in the Kenai Peninsula, and then my favorite one is the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. It's over by College Fjord and it's a remote lodge. When I went there I don't know if they've changed this you can only get there by bus and it was a dirt road by bus to get. So that's how remote it is, not even paved roads going in to that, at least when I did it, and that's been about 10 years ago. So this is where you'd really visit the wilderness in those last two lodges, the Copper River and the Kenai Princess Lodge. And then they also have a lodge in Fairbanks, which a lot of the cruise tours do end in Fairbanks.
Patrick Wiscombe:My word. There is no short of options here.
Mark Faldmo:No, there are probably 50 or 60 different tour options you can choose oh my goodness, between lengths of stay and types and how they do that.
Patrick Wiscombe:The person texting us from 1382,.
Mark Faldmo:this feels like you need to have a longer conversation with Mark, I mean based on the criteria and questions that he asked, I have my recommendation of what he should do. You know his first question was end in Fairbanks or end in Anchorage. I would choose end in Fairbanks. The tour that I would recommend I would recommend an 11 or 12 day Denali Explorer tour that ends in Fairbanks.
Mark Faldmo:The one I recommend is Tor IA5 is the number the princess uses for that. It includes Mount McKinley Lodge, Denali Lodge and Fairbanks. What you'll do is you do get that direct to wilderness service so you'll walk off the ship, board a train up to Talkeetna, which is where you'll spend two nights at Mount McKinley Wilderness Lodge and then after that you'll take a bus to Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, spend two nights there and then it's a short drive from the Denali Princess Lodge up to Fairbanks. On that drive is when you'll do that paddle wheel ship on the river, but then you'll spend one night in Fairbanks and then come home. These cruise tours range anywhere from three to 10 days, but I like the ones that include at least a portion of your activities and also a little bit more assistance as you're going, as compared to those on your own ones. That's what I would recommend for our caller.
Patrick Wiscombe:Just before we wrap up, let's hurry and get to the cruise deal of the week, which is Princess Cruises up to 40% off and the third and fourth guests are free for 2026 and 2027. But you need to book pretty quick.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, you do. So it's booked by October 15th for that 40% off and you know this is good for sailings anywhere in the world. But we're talking about Alaska and Alaska cruise tours, so that 40% off is off of the cruise portion of that tour and also the third and fourth guest is only for the cruise portion.
Mark Faldmo:You can do the cruise tour. So, uh, you know just quickly. Um, I looked May dates for that tour IA5 that I recommended. So in 2026, the price starts at $2,099 per person. In 2027, it starts at $2,559 per person. That's for the inside cabins and it jumps up about $600 or $700 per person if you go to the balcony for that cruise tour.
Patrick Wiscombe:So about $3,200 on the balcony stuff.
Mark Faldmo:Correct. I think a cruise tour is the best way to see Alaska.
Patrick Wiscombe:You will never be disappointed if you go to Alaska Never. There are two vacations that are absolute, guaranteed hits Alaska and Hawaii, and I'll even throw in Fiji, and Fiji, since we talked about it, yep, and Fiji, since we talked about it, yep. Take advantage of this particular offer 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. You can also see all of this on blueplanetvacations. com. You can listen to this award-nominated show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11 am, right here on the radio station that you're listening to around the country, but also right here in Salt Lake, and you can stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. We are on all of the major podcast platforms and you can stream the show right on insidetraveltalk. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, it's your turn now 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. Live your life intentionally. And a sincere thank you for listening. We don't have a business, we don't have a show without you. Thank you so much for listening. We don't have a business, we don't have a show without you. Thank you so much for listening. We'll talk to you next weekend.
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 BluePlanetVacation. com. Book your adventure.
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