Inside Travel Talk
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Inside Travel Talk
Wild to Wonderful: African Safaris, Ireland Castles & Europe’s Best River Cruises
Ready to plan three dream trips in one listen? We start on the savannas of Kenya, where the late‑summer Great Migration brings the Serengeti and Masai Mara to life. You’ll hear how park-based safaris actually work, why luxury tented camps are more comfortable than you’d think, and how a typical day flows from sunrise game drives to quiet afternoons by the lodge pool. We share the parks that shine—Samburu for giraffes, Ol Pejeta for rhinos—and the moments that stick with you, like hippos grumbling from a riverbank or elephants rumbling past your vehicle at arm’s length.
From there, we hop to Ireland with a clean, doable plan for seven to eight days. Think two to three nights in Dublin for museums and music, two to three in Killarney for coastal drives and village charm, and a capstone stay at Dromoland Castle for old‑world romance with modern comfort. We hit the highlights—Dingle Peninsula, Cliffs of Moher, Waterford Crystal, even the Blarney Stone—while keeping enough breathing room for pub sessions and seaside detours. We also call out current savings on guided Ireland tours that can stretch your budget further.
Then we glide onto Europe’s rivers with Avalon Waterways. TJ McAvoy joins us to unpack what “relaxed luxury” means on board: Panorama Suites with beds facing floor‑to‑ceiling views, larger bathrooms, and ships that carry fewer guests for a calmer feel. We compare the Rhine and Danube for first‑timers, spotlight the dramatic Lower Danube and the Iron Gates, and explain why Active & Discovery itineraries—hiking, biking, cooking classes—are winning over multi‑generational travelers. If holiday sparkle calls your name, Christmas market cruises now sell out fast, so planning ahead really matters. We close with a standout deal: select Avalon Europe sailings offering free airfare, plus direct booking help when you’re ready to go.
If this mix of wildlife, castles, and river views speaks to you, follow the show, share it with a travel lover, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Your next favorite trip might be one play away.
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.
Show Voice:Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice.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.
Mark Faldmo:Welcome to this week's Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Glad you're with us this week. And we have an exciting show this week. We are going to talk about Ireland, Africa safaris, and river cruises in Europe. Just like last week, Patrick is unable to be with us this week, but uh we do have a great show. We're able to pre-record a few segments, and so let's start off with African safaris, and then we'll move on to Ireland and get the travel deal of the weekend.
Patrick Wiscombe:You have been on an African safari. I think it was one time. Yeah, I thought it was twice, but maybe one safari. I would love to go. I don't know anything about Africa. I think an African safari would be absolutely amazing, but I don't know where to stay. I don't know about accommodations. I don't know what we're going to see, probably other than we're out on the uh the plane and we're just observing wildlife. What was your experience and what is a typical itinerary?
Mark Faldmo:I guess there's a couple different ways and places you can do a safari in. You can do safaris in South Africa and Kenya are the two most popular places to do a safari in. I would recommend Kenya. That's the Serengeti. There's a couple of different times you can do that. The most popular time is during the Great Migration.
Patrick Wiscombe:That would be fascinating.
Mark Faldmo:The water buffalo.
Patrick Wiscombe:What time of the year is that? Is that the fall or is that uh the spring?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, Great Migration is the end of August into the middle of September.
Patrick Wiscombe:What kind of weather is there during the migration? Is it pretty hot still?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, it is relatively hot, but not too bad. The thing I like about the uh safaris is when you get there, um you can go to several different parks, like the Masimara. You can go to Wait, are these parks?
Patrick Wiscombe:They are. Oh, I didn't know that. I just assume that you just drive out in the middle of someplace and go take a look. I didn't know they were parks.
Mark Faldmo:No, they are um parks set aside by the government to protect the animals. You know, so there's one Samburu, the Masimara, different places like that where you can go, and each one has a little special treat that they can give you.
Patrick Wiscombe:What do you mean a treat?
Mark Faldmo:Different types of wildlife.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, we're not talking like feed the lions. Here's a treat. No, it's just a different experience. Nope, stay in your vehicle.
Mark Faldmo:Different hands inside. Like in Samburu, um, the one thing I noticed a lot was giraffes. Lots of giraffes, and that's a smaller park. And then another one, um, Old Pajeta is another place which is famous for its rhinos.
Patrick Wiscombe:What is it called? Pajeta?
Mark Faldmo:Old Pajeta. Old Pajeta. Old Pajeta. Okay. Each one just has its kind of specialties. Then you have the Serengeti and Masimara, which is really where the great migration takes place.
Patrick Wiscombe:You go to these different places throughout your particular safari that you go on.
Mark Faldmo:So you stay in different lodges, tent camps, they're luxury tent camps.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh.
Mark Faldmo:Um, you know, with it. With beds and everything.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, I'm really on board now.
Mark Faldmo:But then they are tents, and so you know, it's pretty interesting. The thing I like about that is you ha usually have an early morning game drive. So you wake up early, go out and see that, then you come back for lunch, and then there's an option for an afternoon game drive if you want to do that, which you'll see different animals out. If you're too tired, you can stay back and relax at the nice lodges. But you do get a good chance to see all of the animals, you know, kind of the big five that they're always talking about the elephants, the rhinos, lions, lions, water buffalo, giraffes, giraffes, possibly zebra. It's just a great experience. You get right up in personal with a lot of the animals. Like I remember once we just parked on a road and just a herd of elephants walk right p past us.
Patrick Wiscombe:That must have been and they horrifying and awesome at the same time. Correct. Yeah, yeah. Because they could just tip you over.
Mark Faldmo:They could. So you really get to see those animals. Quite amazing to see how they interact with each other. You know, seeing the lions and cheetahs stalking prey. You know, I did see a cheetah attempt to get a gazelle, but did not get a gazelle. And so, you know, there's just how everything works down there is quite amazing. How long is the safari? So the safari is you can do them shorter. The one I did was a 12-day safari. Oh my goodness.
Patrick Wiscombe:That doesn't sound like it's long enough. But were you ready to come home?
Mark Faldmo:No, I I could have stayed there really for a long time. You know, one of my favorite things that we did on the safari is we stopped at this actually twice we did this, we stopped and kind of had breakfast out with the wildlife. And one place was we stopped on a river where there are hippopotamuses in the river. And you know, the sounds they make and just to see that happening was amazing. You know, you're just right there, you know, a safe distance away from those, but amazing to see the animals.
Patrick Wiscombe:And those animals don't mess around. No, they don't. Let's get to the uh the destination of the week, which is always in this first segment. And we're gonna be talking about Ireland's. Was this a call that you took a little bit earlier this week from Jessica? This was a call, yeah. Okay. Jessica wants to go to Ireland. She says that she has seven to eight days, and she's asking, what would you recommend, Mark? And when is the best time to go and where would you stay? And what would you do?
Mark Faldmo:What would you see? I think the best time to go to Ireland is in the fall. Ireland in seven to eight days. You can see that. And here's what I'd recommend to do you fly to Dublin, obviously, and spend two to three nights in Dublin, and then go to Killarney, which is down in the southwest area, and then spend two to three nights. My favorite place is in Dromoland Castle. Its roots first started in about 1015-ish or so, the year 1015. The actual castle part that you see today uh was built in the 1500s, so you can stay in that old part of the castle, and then there's a newer wing of it that was built in the 80s, I believe. But it's just an amazing castle to stay in.
Patrick Wiscombe:I like how they say the newer wing was built in the 80s, it's already 40 plus years old.
Mark Faldmo:Yep. And you know, there's lots of interesting things you can do in Ireland. We don't have enough time to go through that. We can go to Blarney Castle, kiss the Blarney Stone, which when you kiss that, it's said to give you the gift of gab. I probably need to do that again because I was probably making out with it. Yes, yeah, yeah, you can go Waterford Crystal, go to the woolen mills. One of my favorite places is the Dingle Peninsula, cliffs of Moor. There's so much to do and see, but what I like about Ireland is that medieval love Dromoland castle. It's a five-star place that you stay at. It's got a golf course, they have all sorts of things you'd kind of associate with castles like archery and things like that. So Ireland is a wonderful vacation. You can also look at a little bit longer vacation for Jessica. You know, we looked at a globus tour that was 10 days long, so it's a little bit too long for what she wanted. But you can do it in seven days, seven to eight days if you want to do that.
Patrick Wiscombe:Are you a U2 fan?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, I am.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can go see uh where Bono grew up. Is Slang Castle in Ireland? I think it is. I think so. Okay. Take a picture in front of Bono's old place. I guess post it and put at U2 and say, hey, I'm at yes, I'm at your house.
Mark Faldmo:And Ireland is such a great place to visit. We've often talked on this show about Globus tours. We mentioned just a little bit in that segment. And right now, Globus has a deal to save up to $500 per person off the land price of one of their tours, and that's to Ireland for many of the tours that they offer. This up to $500 off does need to be booked by November 8th. So we're coming up pretty quick here. It is valid for Select Tours January 1st of 2026 through the end of 2026. That's our first segment. We'll be right back after a short break and we'll talk about uh Europe River cruises.
Show Voice:Explore your world. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsidetTravelTalk.com. We'll be right back.
Ad Voice:Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or BluePlanetVacations.com.
Show Voice:801 249 3700. 801 249 30700. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo:Welcome back to the second segment of Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. In this segment, we are going to talk about Europe River cruises, particularly on Avalon Waterways, and then we'll give you the cruise deal of the week, which does happen to be a promotion on Avalon Waterways. Earlier, uh Patrick and I recorded an interview with TJ McAvoy from Avalon Waterways, and we'll get right into that interview right now, and then I'll be back with the deals for Avalon Waterways.
Patrick Wiscombe:We've had him on the show before, and he's making a triumphant return. TJ McAvoy with Avalon Waterways. It's good to have you back on the show. And it's good to see you too.
TJ McAvoy:Yeah, you too. Great to see you, Patrick. I always appreciate your time and have me on this uh great show.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's talk about Avalon Waterways. Let's just go Avalon Waterways 101. What is Avalon Waterways?
TJ McAvoy:So we're river cruising. We like to think of ourselves as relaxed luxury. It's got to be my favorite way to travel. Just think of a five-star floating hotel with everything you want: food, excursions, you name it.
Patrick Wiscombe:You have several competitors in the river cruise market. What sets Avalon apart from your competitors?
TJ McAvoy:Cabins is where it all starts. So we have award-winning 200 square foot panorama suites. We win the awards from all these publications, like five years in a row, best river cruise cabins for a cruise critic. We've gotten best river cruise line and cabins through USA Today's Reader's Choice Awards this year as well as previous years. So definitely the cabins. So the 200 square foot suites are about 85% of our cabins. So with the larger cabins, we have fewer people on our ships. So you're looking about 30 to 50 fewer people on the ships, which is a great for the onboard experience. Oh, yeah. So that really yeah, that really separates us. So we're gonna average about 150 passengers. Our competitors are gonna have around 190. But that's by design on our end, best cabins. And then another staple is choices. So we offer choices, so excursions. This is really a big staple of ours because we have all the connections through being also part of Globus, where we have all the connections with all the local suppliers and vendors. So we we give you two to three choices pretty much every time. Every port for the excursions, the excursions are included. Choices also go to the dining, which we call Panorama Bistro. We do barbecue lunches on the Sky Deck. Um, or you can yes, we just have various venues that way. But we're gonna give you various choices on the cuisine as well. We can satisfy any dietary restriction except for kosher. So any dietary restriction, we're always gonna have vegetarian or vegan options with every meal. Also, I think what really separates us is the views. So we really pride ourselves no matter where you're on the ship, you could see both sides of the ship because you could be going down the Rhine and maybe you're in the dining area, and the other side of the ship is where all the castles are. You could see 360-degree views, uh floor to ceiling windows throughout the ship. So I'd say those three things cabins, choices, views, which also if you're people on the ship, is a huge difference.
Patrick Wiscombe:Where does Avalon waterways sail? I know you're in Europe, but where else?
TJ McAvoy:So we have 16 ships in Europe. We also have our own ship on the Mekong. So that's only 36 passengers. Our ships in Europe are either 128 passengers or 166. We're also on the Doro, also Europe. But then you did ask where else we sail. So we have um a taste of Egypt. So we have a cruise there, also the Galapagos Islands, on the Amazon, all those destinations we're gonna have on Avalon.
Patrick Wiscombe:So luxury cruising on the Amazon through the Amazon.
TJ McAvoy:Correct. Yes. Yep, so we do have um itineraries on the Amazon, you know, so it's all Avalon, but but we do own our own ships in Europe and on the Mekong, um, and then we charter ship on the Amazon. But we keep all the staples of the Avalon brand whenever we do that on the exotic destinations.
Patrick Wiscombe:What do you recommend for first-time river cruisers? What do you recommend?
TJ McAvoy:Just to kind of give you an idea. I started with Globus 22 years ago, and I think we've had Avalon going on 20 years. So historically, this is pretty much across the board for the last 20 years. First time cruisers either do the Rhine or the Danube in either order. So those are typically gonna be the first two that you do. I personally I love them both, but my first cruise was the Danube, which was Budapest to uh Nuremberg, but then you could extend in Prague. So I would recommend a couple nights in Prague at least on land, do the seven-night cruise and do extra time in Prague. And then if you're doing the Rhine, spend extra time in Amsterdam. So I'd say one of those two, and then whichever one you don't pick first, you do that second.
Patrick Wiscombe:Can you go back to back?
TJ McAvoy:Yeah, so actually, majority of our cruises are really going to be seven-night cruises. But what we do, like if you have a 14-night cruise, we have one called the Magnificent Europe. It's a back-to-back of our romantic Rhine cruise and our legendary Danube cruise, sold as one itinerary, so that's back to back. We also have in France, we have um the Seine, which is northern France, and then the Rhone, which is going down into southern France. Those are each seven-night cruises. We build that as a 14-night cruise as one cruise, and now we're on the Bordeaux, so you can do a back-to-back to back. So a 21-night cruise. We already built those in for you, so it's it's very, very seamless.
Patrick Wiscombe:I asked that question because I've done four cruises consecutively with uh about three days off in between all of them.
TJ McAvoy:And it was oh, yeah, exactly. Yeah, because a lot of times we have like maybe a day in between. That's great.
Patrick Wiscombe:Give us your top three to five cruises that you just go, just do it. Do it. I recommend it to anybody.
TJ McAvoy:So I've done the Danube like four times. It's the first one by choice, and then the fourth one by choice. The other two times they had me hosting. I had to go work on a on a cruise to host some people. It was so rough, but amazing. Yeah. So the Danube was fantastic. And then the Rhine. So I really want to do the Rhine again because I did our active and discovery uh river cruise on the Rhine. I would love to do the Rhine again. So those two. Also, what is getting very popular is um the Lower Danube. So that's Budapest to Bucharest. And the reason that intrigues me so much is I become good friends with one of our cruise directors that's been with the Globus family for 40 years, and he's been a cruise director on Avalon since we started 20 years ago, and that's his favorite river to cruise, the Lower Danube, Budapest to Bucharest or reverse. Also, I just spent time with a tour director that I was doing travel shows with, and he's been on Avalon as well, and he said that was his favorite cruise. So I would say the Rhine, the Danube, and then the Lower Danube.
Mark Faldmo:That's my favorite river cruise as well. I've had the opportunity to do that. It's a fantastic itinerary to do that Budapest Bucharest. My favorite part of that lower Danube is sailing through it's called the Iron Gates. There's a big head carved into the mountain. Um, not like Mount Rushmore, but it's just a fantastic area of that part of the Danube.
Patrick Wiscombe:We've already talked about the cabins, 200 square feet, beautiful cabins. What makes the cabins great?
TJ McAvoy:What's really fantastic about our cabins is we don't have a separate balcony. So separate balconies that close off to the room are really worthless, honestly, because you can't sit out there comfortably. So we bring all that living space back. So you truly do have 200 square feet of living space. I like to think of it as your cabin's your balcony, your balcony's your cabin. So when that wall of glass opens up, you have seven feet. So it truly is your balcony. I recently went on a river cruise. We we buddied up with some of the Kiwis, some of the New Zealand folks, and we would meet up and have snacks and hang out before dinner, and it's plenty of room, so it really gives you so much more room. Another big staple when we on our build, we act actually angle the wall between the bed and the bathroom. The bathrooms are by far the biggest I've seen on big ship cruising and river cruising, because I've been on both numerous times. Um, but the bathrooms, the beds facing out, so you're always looking at the view. 100% the most hold on.
Patrick Wiscombe:The beds are facing, I guess, the window, the floor to ceiling window.
TJ McAvoy:Yes, absolutely. So we're the only yeah, so oh yeah, just picture this. So you're cruising down the Rhine, you're in your balcony, and you're also in your cabin, you're laying down, you're watching all the castles and beautiful scenery go by. It's fantastic.
Mark Faldmo:I think by far it's the best cabin layout of any cruise that I've been on. I love as you know, TJ just mentioned, being able to lay in the bed and look out at the scenery as you cruise past it. That sounds delightful.
TJ McAvoy:It's truly unforgettable. I mean, as you go through life, there's certain things that are like pictures in your head that you'll never forget. And many of those, I mean, there's so many of those times cruising on Avalon, just laying there and watching the beautiful scenery go by.
Patrick Wiscombe:Do you ever have a hard time getting up going, it's so beautiful, I don't even want to get up.
TJ McAvoy:Exactly. Well, the great thing about river cruising, though, is the ships are small. So, I mean, you could be up and get a snack within a few feet, but yes, that is true. I've gotten a little bit lazy and stayed in my room a little bit too long a few times to just enjoy that scenery.
Patrick Wiscombe:There's a perception out in the industry that river cruising is for the old folks or the older folks. What about river cruising for multi-generational families? So, you know, grandpas, parents, kids. Is there enough to do for kids on these types of cruises?
TJ McAvoy:Younger kids probably not gonna have a great time. So older teenagers and multi-generational, I see that quite often. So I've done two of our what we call them as our active and discovery cruises. So we have our classic cruises, and then our active and discovery are more focused on activist excursions or very immersive off-the-beaten path type excursions. So you either have like hiking, biking, canoeing, or you have painting classes, cooking classes, vendor vineyard tours. You actually can visit a local farmer where you could where you enjoy a meal on their property. Um, so very immersive. And then so we're focusing more on those, and we're on all the rivers with our active in discovery. So we're getting a lot of multi-gen. I would say younger kids, probably not a lot to do, but older teenagers, parents, grandparents, we're seeing a lot of that on our active in discovery.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's talk about Christmas cruises.
TJ McAvoy:Our Christmas time cruises are they sell out right away. So if you're looking to get on a Christmas time cruise, book those well in advance. So I've been with the company since we started Avalon. And the first few seasons, that was one of the last things to sell, but after that, people were getting sh you know, it was getting more and more popular. So now basically our Christmas cruises are selling out very, very quickly. The Christmas markets, it's amazing. It's a great time to travel too, because you get to see all the beauty of the festive season, and it's great for multi-generational families. We're already have everything open for 26 as well. They're so popular. I just spoke with our president of Avalon Waterways, Pam Hoffe. Uh I did an event with her, and uh we basically are gonna move every ship that is done for the season over to the Christmas markets to create uh more Christmas time cruises. Oh, huge. So even though we show us yeah, exactly. So, what's gonna happen as we get closer to the Christmas markets? We're gonna open more and more sailings. And that could sometimes be risky on, but it's never risky on the Christmas markets because we know they're gonna sell out. So great for families if you're looking, and people get more time off during that time. So no better way to travel during the holiday season than a Christmas time cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe:As we start to wrap up, what trends are you seeing in river cruising right now?
TJ McAvoy:It's been amazing over the last few years. I mean, the awareness now when I started, I actually used to book all of our charters in our groups department, and so I've been involved in Avalon from the beginning and the awareness now. So everywhere I go now, people know about river cruising, people want to do river cruising, they want to experience river cruising. Ten years ago, there wasn't much awareness around it, but now everybody knows that everybody wants to do it. Seeing a lot of first-time cruisers, and what I see a lot is they go on Avalon and they fall in love with their first cruise, and then they just go from one river to another. So I'm just saying once you uh go on your first Avalon cruise, there's probably four to five more in your future. Um and then, like we were mentioning, the active and discovery that's been great for multi-generational, and it's great for families because it's more active and immersive. But then we also have the must-see sites, so just the standard sightseeing city tours that all the cruise lines do. Just the popularity is amazing. So the river cruise lines are we all do a great job, and we're all selling really well.
Mark Faldmo:Avalon Waterways is one of my favorite Europe river cruises. Uh, they do such a good job, as we talked about in the in that interview, uh, the way the cabins are laid out and the attention to detail that Avalon has, particularly on the shore excursions that they offer. Right now, Avalon Waterways has a free airfare to Europe promotion. So if you book your river cruise, you can choose to get free airfare to Europe. And that's you know one of the best promotions out there uh for river cruises. And if you want to book a Europe River Cruise, just give Blue Planet Vacations a call, 888-718-7717. And that will do it for this week's show. We'll be back next week with travel tips, tricks, and destination insights.
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 Whiskey 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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