Inside Travel Talk

Delta Vacations, Avalon Waterways & Cruise Lines Drop Massive Black Friday Deals

• Mark Faldmo & Patrick Wiscombe • Season 3 • Episode 46

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Want real travel savings without the fine-print traps? We’re unpacking the best Black Friday offers across airlines, tours, and cruises—and showing you where the true value lives. We start with Delta’s new Comfort Basic fares and draw a firm line between perks and pitfalls: more legroom and zone three boarding, but Basic-like restrictions with delayed seat assignments and no redeemable miles. Then we pair it with Delta Vacations, where package pricing counts toward MQDs, SkyMiles members score tiered bonus miles, and the current promo window stretches bookings into 2026. If you’re chasing elite status or planning a big family trip, this combo can move the needle fast.

Cruise fans get a full slate of updates and promos. Norwegian Cruise Line names Jacksonville its newest Florida homeport, adding easy drive-to itineraries from 4- and 5-day Bahamas escapes to 11- and 12-day Caribbean routes. We react to Disney Adventure’s headline feature—the Groot Galaxy Spin—and why some travelers are wary of spin rides at sea. Margaritaville at Sea leans into music culture with a Zac Brown-designed concert venue on the new Beachcomber sailing from Miami, aimed squarely at casual, beach-forward travelers who want live acts built into their voyage.

River cruise lovers will want to circle Avalon Waterways’ Black Friday deal: free prepaid gratuities and free airfare to Europe for 2026 departures when booked by December 10. It’s a rare, high-clarity offer that removes two major cost variables while delivering those signature Panorama Suites that face the water. We round up the big ocean cruise sales—Azamara, Celebrity, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages, and Margaritaville at Sea—highlighting who benefits most: families stacking third and fourth guests free, couples eyeing adult-only options, and travelers timing status runs with package booking windows.

Ready to save smarter and travel better? Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a vacation, and leave a quick review to help more travelers find us. Then call 888-718-7717 or visit BluePlanetVacations.com to lock in your deal before the windows close.

Patrick Wiscombe:

It is the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. Coming up on today's show, Mark and I will be talking about Delta Vacations Black Friday deals, Black Friday cruise promotions, Globus, and Cosmos Black Friday deals. If you can't tell if there's a Black Friday theme here, Delta Airlines introduces comfort basic fares, cruises coming to Jacksonville, and travelers aren't sold on Disney's newest cruise ship feature. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast radio show, presented by BluePlanetVacations.com, contains travel deals, promotions, and offers that are 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 BlueP lanet Vacations.com. Call or text the show now at 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. This is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. Hello there. I am Patrick Whisker. The entire purpose of this podcast, a radio show, is to help you plan and book your next vacation. And if you have no idea where to go, we're just going to give you some ideas of where you may want to consider going on vacation next. And we are presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com, a Mark Faldmo company. And he's in the studio right now. And uh just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. This week we're talking about all things Black Friday. We've got Delta Vacations, we've got cruise promotions, we've got Globus and Cosmos tour Black Friday deals. Delta is introducing their comfort basic fares. Cruises going in and out of Jacksonville, and there are some travelers that are just simply not sold on Disney's newest cruise ship feature. And we'll give you the details coming up here in the next few minutes. And joining me as he does each and every week, the owner of Blue PlanetVacations.com is Mark Faldmo. It's good to see you, brother. Good to be here. Should we jump right into the travel news headlines? Let's do. Okay. I have experience with this first one just today. Really? Okay. All right. Delta Airlines is debuting comfort basic fares.

Mark Faldmo:

What are the details? This is just like economy. So basic economy, classic economy, and extra economy. They've added this to now the comfort fairs. So if you want more legroom, if you want to board in zone three, if you want those complementary beverages, but at a lower price point, you can get comfort basic. If you do purchase comfort basic, it has the same restrictions as economy basic. Your seat assignment until you check in.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Oh wait, so you don't know your seat.

Mark Faldmo:

You don't know your seat. So it'll most likely be a middle seat. You don't earn miles. Oh, you don't pick economy. You do earn the MQDs, but you don't earn miles. That will get you to status.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Status meaning the the uh diamonds. Silver, gold. Silver, gold.

Mark Faldmo:

Okay, all right. Yes. Yep. And then the miles are what you would actually redeem for travel. So you'll still earn towards status, but you will not earn towards redeeming miles for future travel. So I'm going to Cancun next week, and I decided to bring Heather along. So getting her ticket, I did have these choices, and we went with the comfort classic, so she could sit by me.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Southwest is considering airport lounges and transatlantic flying. That's a new development.

Mark Faldmo:

It is. With all of the changes they've made lately, they're trying to be more of a mainstream airline. They want to add more long-haul flights, they want to add lounges and premium seats. They haven't made any official announcements, but the uh CEO has made all of these hints to all of these things. So they are really expanding their code share agreement. In the past, we've talked about, I think it was Icelandair. They added an Asian carrier. I think the name of it is Han Air just recently in the last two or three weeks. And so they are building this network of international flying, which will help them launch Southwest labeled fairs.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I saw this news story, Mark, that there is a new way to enjoy Hunama Bay. Now, if people don't know where Hunama Bay is, where is it?

Mark Faldmo:

And then Hunama Bay is on Oahu, um in Honolulu, and it is a really good snorkeling place. It's a a beach and a bay, and you kind of have to go down a pretty steep road to get to it.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Was this near Diamond Head?

Mark Faldmo:

It's near Diamond Head, yes. It's not open every day. They limit the number of people that are allowed in there. When I was there two weeks ago driving past Hunama Bay, this is at like 10 a.m. and they were completely full. So they weren't any new cars in. So it's really hard to get in there. You do have to pay a reef conservation fee. But they've announced a new way, some transportation using Roberts, Hawaii. So it's a tour to Hunama Bay, and they hope this will help alleviate the vehicle congestion. If you're on the tour, you'll get into Hunama Bay. So you don't have to drive there and hope that you'll get in or leave at 5 a.m. to be one of the first in line to get into Hunama Bay. That does not interest me. I love Hunama Bay. I remember when I was a child, we used to go there all the time, and then it became really popular and a little bit too crowded. Now that it's not open every day and they limit the number of people in, it's back to being that nice place to snorkel. On Oahu, it's probably one of the best places to snorkel. The cost of the tour is $65 per adult or $40 per child. Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I like the reef fee. It's probably from all the uh suntan lotion. Yes going out into the ocean. You gotta go clean the coral. As I mentioned right at the top of the show, and as we were coming in, this is all about Black Friday deals. But let's start with Globus and Cosmos Tours, their Black Friday deal.

Mark Faldmo:

Globus has a thousand dollars per couple off to select 2026 Globus Tours worldwide. Wow. That thousand dollars off is valid through December 10th. About three and a half weeks then. And then for Cosmos, it's 500 per couple. Cosmos is I don't want to say lower end. They stay at hotels along the outskirts of town to save you some money, whereas Globus tours include a little bit more, and they actually stay in more centralized hotels, is the difference between the two.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Okay, so Cosmos a little more budget friendly, and then Globus just stay pretty much in the city centers, closer to the action.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Okay.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, it's that's fair. I like the panorama tours that Globus has that are multi-country. So, you know, like start in London, go to the Netherlands, go to Germany, go to Switzerland, go to France, and then end in France. Or you can do country specific and just focus on one country. A really good way to see the world through Globus or Cosmos. Let's get to the travel deal of the week.

Patrick Wiscombe:

This this week it's gonna be Delta Vacations and all of their Black Friday deals. Now, I know that you need to pull up your email probably to go over everything. Just for clarification, there's Delta Airlines. Is it another company or is it just a subsidiary within Delta? It's a subsidiary within Delta. Okay, so Delta Vacations, this is when they group airfare, hotel cars, they kind of group everything together.

Mark Faldmo:

Correct. And make a vacation package out of everything. Yeah, by far is the best way to go. You get special airfare rates and you get special hotel rates. So when you package things together, you do get a better rate on the whole overall package. So right now, their deal goes through December 4th. In order to get this, you do have to be a Sky Miles member. Well, and that's free anyway. It's free to join, and it does come with some perks. So Sky Miles members save up to $250 off the cost of the package, but then a couple of bonuses you earn up to an additional 10,000 Sky Miles to redeem towards future trips. Okay. That's a tiered bonus. So depending on the cost of the trip, it goes from a thousand to five thousand to ten thousand, depending on the cost of the trip. And then the one thing I like about Delta Vacations is your whole purchase counts for MQDs towards status. Yep. And so Patrick, I know it was about two years ago you went to Hawaii, and that package that we booked you just alone got you to gold medallion status with Delta just for booking the package. So Yep. We went from nothing to gold status just in one trip. And actually, the average cost of a trip will get you to silver medallion status with Delta.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Which by the way, between now and the end of the year, you and I need to talk about medallion qualifying dollars. I've got to spend about an extra 1500 so I can get status for 2026. We can get you there. All right. Maybe I'll go to Cancun with you. Yep. All right.

Mark Faldmo:

Sorry. I am going twice in the next three weeks. So I'm sorry. Let's get back to the uh Delta Vacations Black Friday deals. So those are good to anywhere in the world. Hawaii, all-inclusive Mexico, Europe. Uh again, you just have to book by December 4th and travel anytime in 2026.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I'm telling you, if you like to fly, you like to go on vacations, and you like to receive perks, Delta Vacations truly is a great way to go. Take advantage of those Black Friday deals. Call Mark in the office as soon as we get off the air here. Just get the conversation started. There's no obligation. 888-718-7717. Toll free 888-718-7717. And he will also post all of this information on BluePlanetVacations.com. When we come back, it is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment. The segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. It's only about the cruise news and it's only about cruise deals, and we've got Black Friday deals. We'll get to those next. When the Inside Travel Talk Podcast radio show continues, alongside my friend Mark Faldmo, I'm Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We will be right back. Give us about 60 seconds.

Show Voice:

Taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show is presented by Blue PlanetVacations.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:

This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El Dorado Spa Resorts. Escape to Cancuns Riviera Mayer with authentic, all-inclusive luxury at an El Dorado Spa Resort. To book your romantic beach getaway, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or Blue Planet Vacations.com.

Show Voice:

This is the Inside Travel Pod Podcast and Radio Show with Patrick Whitcomb and Mark Faldmo. Presented by BluePlanetVacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Call the show right now at 801-649-30700. 801-649-30700. And now your hosts, Patrick Whitcomb and Mark Falcon.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your week. And coming up in this segment of the show, it's the infamous Just Cruising segment. The segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. And to all aboard. Ahoy, Matees. Ahoy. Coming up in this segment, we'll be talking about Jacksonville, Florida-based cruises. And uh we're gonna go chicken fried a little bit. We'll explain. And then we've got more Black Friday deals. Avalon Waterways is on deck, one of Mark's favorite companies. And we've got Black Friday cruise promotions. So let's get right into the cruise news headlines. Let's start off in Jacksonville, Florida, Mark. Norwegian Cruise Lines is launching the first ever Jackson-based Florida-based cruises.

Mark Faldmo:

Norwegian now has their third home port in Florida. So they have Miami, Port Canaveral, and now Jacksonville. So they have three ports going there. And now Jacksonville, I think primarily will be a drive market, but they do have some pretty good options. They have four-day Bahamas cruises, five-day Bahamas cruises, and then 11 and 12-day Caribbean cruises. Okay. That leave out of Jacksonville. I was just looking for the month of February, for instance. So they have a four-day cruise that's Grand Bahama Island, which is where we went, Patrick, and uh Great Stirrup Key. So their private island. It's a tender port. It's a tender island. Correct. Until they build their pier, which they're working on.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Right. And it has some of the best sand and views I have ever seen in my life. It is a sneaky great island to go to.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah. You know, the first time I went there, you basically landed there by World War II landing craft where the the thing comes down and you walk on board and there's a couple beach chairs set up and a a place where they're cooking hot dogs and hamburgers, and that was about it to now a fully developed private island. And they do not beat you.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Correct. Anymore.

Mark Faldmo:

At least you tender in for now. Yep. And so the five day is Grand Bahama, Nassau, and Great Stirrup K. The 11 day is Puerto Plata in Dominican Republic, Portola, St. John, San Juan, Great Stirrup K, and back to Jacksonville. And the 12-day adds in Phillipsburg, St. Martin on that itinerary.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Maho Beach. Can you tell I really loved Maho Beach? I can. Your YouTube post was pretty good for it. So okay, so if no one knows what Maho Beach is and what Saint Phillipsburg St. Martin, it's where the planes literally fly in over your head. There's ocean, there's sand, and then there's the airport right behind you. And jets and planes just come in right feet over your head. It is absolutely terrifying and exhilarating all in the same moment. Awesome. Definitely worth doing. It is. By the way, speaking of the YouTube channel, I've got a longer video of Maho Beach than I'm getting ready. That's good. I'll be looking forward to seeing that. YouTube.com slash the vacation nerd. YouTube.com slash the vacation nerd is how you find it. I thought this story was interesting, Mark, that travelers are not sold by Disney's newest cruise ship elaborate feature. First of all, what cruise ship and what is the elaborate feature?

Mark Faldmo:

This is the Disney Adventure. Oh, the brand new ship. Yeah, it's slated to come out in March of 2026.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Oh, this is the one that was delayed for like three months.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, and so it is going to have a ride called Groot Galaxy Spin. I am Groot. Looking at the reviews of this, people are saying you shouldn't put a spinny ride like that on a cruise ship. People are going to fall off into the water. And so there's several different rides on this, but it's mainly that Groot Galaxy spin that people aren't too thrilled about.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I'd be more worried about the Dizzy after the spin.

Mark Faldmo:

Yes. The new ship, Disney's going to bring seven themed areas to the Disney adventure. There's the Disney Imagination Garden, Disney Discovery Reef, Marvel Landing, which Disney described as a celebration of all things Marvel.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Iron Man. That was a great movie. The first one.

Mark Faldmo:

So those are just three of the seven areas that they've announced so far on the Disney Adventure new cruise ship.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Zack Brown Band. Are you a fan? I am. I I kind of like that beach country sound. Yeah, okay. Zack Brown Band is designing a concert venue for Margaritaville at sea, the cruise ship. So my first thought was it makes me wonder if they're going chicken fried somehow while inside the venue. Inside the venue, yeah. But so you and I have been on uh Margaritaville at sea paradise, and then they have one that comes out of Tampa, and I'm just blanking on the name right now. So this will actually be the biggest of the Margaritaville at sea cruise ships called the Did you say it was the Beachcomber? Yeah, Beachcomber.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, the Beach Comer. Okay. So this will be their third ship, the Beach Comer. Zach Brown designed concert venue is called The Same Boat, uh, which is actually a song that Zach Brown worked on with Jimmy Buffett in 2021, I believe.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And the perfect collaboration.

Mark Faldmo:

The same boat. Yeah, the renderings of the space look pretty amazing. So cruise ships have always done a good job at kind of imagining spaces. And I think this will be perfect for what Margarita Villa Sea wants to do. It'll be a place for guest artists, a place where they can have regularly scheduled entertainment as well. And this ship, I don't recall if we mentioned it, but it will go out of Miami, is where it'll go. So it'll be their first ship out of Miami.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I mean, that's a pretty busy port, the port of Miami. It is. Yeah, it's the busiest in the world. Are they building it out? Because I don't know where they're gonna put another company.

Mark Faldmo:

They'll probably have this cruise go on like a Wednesday or something when there's more space. So yeah, definitely on the weekends. I don't think there's any space for another ship out of Miami.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I just remember the name of the ship. Margaritaville at sea islander. That's the one that goes out of Tampa Bay. Tampa. Yeah. We still have more Black Friday deals that we need to get to right now. This one has to do with Avalon Waterways, and then after this, we're gonna get to all of the other Black Friday cruise promotions. So let's start with Avalon Waterways.

Mark Faldmo:

So Avalon Waterways, River Cruise Company in Europe, their Black Friday sale goes through December 10th, and it's free, prepaid gratuities along with free airfare to Europe. And that is for any 2026 departure.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Okay, that's a good promotion. If there's no blackout dates, that's a phenomenal offer in the free airfare to Europe.

Mark Faldmo:

It is. Yeah. We've had TJ on the show talking about Avalon. I just love the cabins at Avalon. I think they're the best in the industry. Because the beds actually face the big picture window.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah. Normally you have to get up or the bed doesn't even face the window. You have to get up and go outside. But if you just want to stay in bed and look out the window, you can do that on Avalon waterways.

Mark Faldmo:

And a river cruise, great way to see your. I think we talked about this a little bit last week, but you stop at the small little villages that most tourists wouldn't even go to. You do get some of the big cities as well. But it's a well-rounded Europe experience on a river cruise.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Let's get the actual cruise deal of the week, which is the Black Friday cruise promotions. Man, there's a lot here. Where do you want to start on this one?

Mark Faldmo:

This is just kind of a list of all of the cruise lines that have put Black Friday sales out so far. But I'll just go down and say what they are. The first one, and this is in alphabetical order, so in no particular order other than alphabetical. Asmara, um, which is a small ship cruise line. Their ships hold about 600 people. They have a Black Friday fairs up to $4,000 off select sailing, plus a $500 onboard credit. I really like Asmara. Again, just because of the size, I'm more of a small ship person. And then moving on, celebrities Black Friday offer. And this goes through December 8th, and it's up to 75% off second guest, plus up to $700 in extra savings. Those are good through sailings on the books through May 10th of 2028.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Now hold on. So I can take advantage of this one because you and I have been talking about uh a Norwegian fjords cruise for me and Nikki. Correct. Ooh, should we take a look at this one? Yeah, we can look at that one. Nothing like doing a little on-air self-vacationing here. That's a good deal. What else?

Mark Faldmo:

And then Margaritaville at Sea that we just talked about, they have a promotion of an all-new cruise bundle. So that contains their ultimate beverage chill package and free Wi-Fi if you book during Black Friday. And if you like cheeseburgers, just go to Cheeseburgers in Paradise. Norwegian Cruise Line is offering 50% off all cruises.

Show Voice:

Really?

Mark Faldmo:

Uh for now. It looks like they're gonna change it because this is going through November 18th. Um, but I'm sure they'll change it slightly. So basically, the next few days is 50% off. Okay, all right. Royal Caribbean is a thousand dollars off cruise fares plus third and fourth guests sell free in the stateroom. This is great for kids if you have larger families. They do have a few cabins that will hold up to five people. And so if you get five people in the cabin where two pay the regular fare, that's minus a thousand dollars plus third and fourth and fifth cruise free. Wow, that's a pretty good deal. And then the the last one we'll talk about is Virgin Voyages. This goes through December 4th. They have buy one, get the second guest at 80% off, plus up to a $400 bar tab. And Virgin Voyages also has cruises starting at $99 per person per night with that sale.

Patrick Wiscombe:

So you know that's so easy to market. $99 per person per day.

Mark Faldmo:

You know, it's almost hard to stay home for $99 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Take advantage of those offers. Call Mark in the office to book it. 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And he'll also post this on blueplanetvacations.com. You can listen to this podcast radio show each and every Saturday and Sunday morning right here on the very radio station that you're listening to right now. And all radio stations around the country starting at 11 a.m. local time. So it doesn't matter where you are, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. You'll always be able to listen to the show. And but if you can't listen to us live, you can subscribe to the show, stream the show at inside travel talk.com, and all podcast platform links can be found also on inside travel talk.com. Okay, we are done. We've done our job. Now it's your turn to get out and travel the world while you can because you never know when life is gonna throw you a curveball. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally. And sincere thank you for stopping to listen. Really, thank you. We don't have a show, we don't have a business without you. Thank you so much. Make it a great week. 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 Blue PlanetVacations.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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Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Anna 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 BluePlanet Vacations.com.