Inside Travel Talk

Rome Travel Tips, New Europe Entry Requirements & Can’t-Miss Cruise Deals

• Mark Faldmo & Patrick Wiscombe • Season 4 • Episode 1

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Booking a Roman getaway in 2025 now comes with new rules—and real opportunities. We unpack the alphabet soup of Europe travel requirements so you know exactly what to apply for, when to apply, and how to breeze through the airport without surprise paperwork. Then we turn a classic Rome trip into a bigger story with five day trips that add history, scenery, and flavor: Tivoli’s gardens and Hadrian’s Villa, the quieter ruins of Ostia Antica, Orvieto’s dramatic cathedral and caves, Naples for pizza and Pompeii, and Tuscan calm in Cortona.

If you’re short on time, we’ve got you. We compare five to six night itineraries from trusted tour operators that deliver real depth without draining your PTO, plus a few river options that fit busy calendars. Cruise lovers get a strong value check: Norwegian’s Free at Sea Plus returns with premium drinks, bottled water, Starbucks, unlimited streaming Wi‑Fi, prepaid service charges, and dining discounts that can easily offset the upgrade. On the rivers, AMA Waterways pairs a 14-night Grand Danube with Smithsonian Journeys hosts—think curated lectures, overnight time in Budapest, and cultural context from Germany to Romania.

Dreaming bigger? We map the 115-night MSC world cruise, roundtrip Barcelona, featuring rare calls like Rapa Nui and the remote Pitcairn Islands, an overnight in Tahiti, the Panama and Suez Canals, and a sweep through Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean. To stack value on land, we highlight a Delta Vacations promotion offering up to $250 off and up to 10,000 bonus SkyMiles, with an extra agency bonus for Europe packages while space lasts.

Ready to turn plans into tickets? Subscribe for weekly smart travel intel, share this with your favorite travel buddy, and leave a quick review to help more explorers find the show. Your next great trip starts with one decision—where are you going first?

Patrick Wiscombe:

Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show coming up on today's show. Mark and I will be talking about vacationing in Rome. Awesome. Europe's new travel authorizations, the travel deal of the week, which will help you save up to $250, and you get up to 10,000 bonus sky miles, NCL's free at sea amenity package, and three cruise deals of the week. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast radio show presented by Blue PlanetVacations.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 Blue Planet Vacations.com. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at Inside Traveltalk.com. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show. Hello there. I am Patrick Whisker alongside my co-host, friend, and owner of BluePlanetVacations.com, Mark Faldmo. He'll be here in just a moment. The entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation or give you ideas of where you and your family, your friends, may want to go on vacation next, and we are presented, proudly presented, by BluePlanetVacations.com. And thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. This week we are talking about vacationing in Rome, Europe's new travel authorizations. It's the story that just keeps giving, but we gotta keep you up to date on all this stuff if you're headed to Europe. We've got the travel deal of the week, which is gonna help you save up to $250, and you might just end up with up to 10,000 bonus Delta Sky Miles, NCL's free at sea amenity package, the plus package, and we've got three cruise deals. Mark Faldmo, you are back from I guess I should say Happy New Year first, since it is the uh new year. Yeah.

Mark Faldmo:

And actually the start of season four of this podcast. Well, good for us.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Let's get right into the travel news headlines. This is the story that we have been talking about, what is now the very start of the fourth season of the podcast or radio show. I'm just gonna give you a whole bunch of acronyms here. We've got the EES, the ETIAS, the ETA, the C O Ds, the BFDs, the L S Ds, and the SOBs, please. But let's start with the EES first, which is the entry exit system.

Mark Faldmo:

I currently have three families in Rome right now. And I kept getting this question what do we have to have to enter Europe? And they keep hearing about these EES, ETIS, and ETAs. So I decided on this to start the new year, but we'll take a little bit deeper dive than we have in the past just to explain what these are. So EES is Europe's entry and exit system. So the main purpose of that is to replace traditional passport stamping. So everything will be automated. It does take that biometric data, fingerprints, photo on your first entry, and then the same thing on departure. So that's how it'll keep track of your entry and exit into Europe. And it started in October of 2025. It should be fully implemented by April. Of course. But we'll we will believe that when we see it.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I feel like we've been talking about this since season one. Like literally one of the first shows that we ever did.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, it it keeps getting delayed. And the the rollout of the EES, so the entry and exit system was pretty rocky um last October. Yes, and then there's the European Travel Information and Authorization System. Okay, so this is E T I A S. Okay. What is that? This is a travel pre-authorization. So before flying, before boarding your flights to Europe, you will have to pay this ETIAS fee, have a printout with you or on your phone to show it in order to enter Europe. So this is not a visa, but you do have to apply before travel. That is not launched yet. They're gonna wait to launch that until they get all of the kinks worked out of the EES. They're hoping it will launch in April.

Patrick Wiscombe:

So when we talk about the EES, the entry-exit system, we're talking about when you go over the border, basically. Correct. Okay. So if you go from Rome to I should know my geography better than that. Whatever's next to Rome. That this is the uh the EES is the border, and then the European getting into Europe, it's the ETIAS, which is what we're talking about right now.

Mark Faldmo:

Correct. Um, although all Europe, so all European countries are in the same area, so all EU members. So it won't be like going from Italy to Spain. It would be if you're coming from the US to Italy, okay. And then you can travel anywhere in Europe with that.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Okay. And that's the ETIAS.

Mark Faldmo:

Correct.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Okay, got it.

Mark Faldmo:

Yes. And then that'll cost about $15 per person, maybe a little bit more than that. And what confuses this all is the UK is not part of the European Union, and so they have their own ETA, which is already into effect. So if you're going to the UK, you already have to get the essentially the same thing as the ETIAS, but for the UK.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And you can help people with all of this.

Mark Faldmo:

We can help people with that. So, you know, that's kind of why I wanted to go over this because I've had so much confusion.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I consider myself pretty plugged in when it comes to travel. I mean, obviously, you way more than me, but even I'm just going, what? I am glad that we're talking about this.

Mark Faldmo:

We will keep you on track for all of this information and things that you need to enter different countries.

Patrick Wiscombe:

There are no shortage of options for travelers who have limited vacation time.

Mark Faldmo:

This is an interesting trend. There are several tour operators. So Intrepid Vacations has actually come up with five to six night packages. Talk river cruises has come up with a six-day river cruise. You say talk? Talk. Oh, talk. Yeah, okay. Tauc, uh-huh. Uh, with a six-day river cruise where most of them are eight-day. We've talked about Globus, their escape tours, and which are those shortened six-day tours that are mainly in the off-season. But what they've noticed is there are a lot of people that have the means to travel, but not the time. And so they've designed specific versions of tours that are shorter so people can still experience that and do it all in less than a week. And I think this is a really good option. Some of those tours, uh, we as we've talked about in the past, those Globus and Cosmos Escape tours, those shorter tours, have some pretty interesting itineraries like Morocco, which was a six-day tour, I believe. Really good price on that. And what I think is interesting about it is cruise lines have gone the other way. Cruise lines have found that people want to spend more time on cruise ships. So they're adding more longer cruises. But a lot of these land operators are seeing the need for these shorter options. So if you want to travel, but don't think you have the time for it, there are some options for both river cruise and land options.

Patrick Wiscombe:

A couple days ago, we received a travel related question. So if you do have travel related questions, let me give you the studio number. All of these text and calls go to Mark 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700 is how you get a hold of the show. And Liz is asking a question. She goes, I want to go to Rome. I've been there before on a cruise and have seen the basic sites in Rome. What day trips or sites would you recommend?

Mark Faldmo:

There's lots of good places that you could do in a day trip from Rome. I actually have three families in Rome right now. If you're visiting Rome, you don't have to stay in the city center the whole time. There's some day trips that are fascinating, some cities to visit. And I've chosen five day trips that I think would be worth your time if you're visiting Rome and want to get out of the city center.

Patrick Wiscombe:

What is the first one then?

Mark Faldmo:

So the first one is Tivoli. Tivoli is famous for Villa de State, is uh the name of it, which is gardens and fountains, and it also has Hadrian's Villa, which is one of the most impressive Roman ruins in Italy. And it's an easy trip. It's about an hour outside of Rome and just has history and beauty. When I visited there, I just remember walking through the felt like the countryside, seeing Hadrian's Villa. Very much worth the trip. What's your second day trip? The second is Ostia Antica, and it's an ancient port town with well-preserved Roman ruins. And these ruins actually rival Pompeii, but they're closer and easier to get to from Rome. So think of it as a quieter, less crowded alternative to Pompeii. You can walk ancient streets, explore ruins, and still be back in Rome for dinner.

Patrick Wiscombe:

It sounds like a food commercial. Hey, you can have fun all day, but you'll be back in time for dinner.

Mark Faldmo:

Yep. All right, what's your next day trip? And then the next one is Orvieto. And this is one of my favorite hilltop towns. It's a little bit further away from Rome, but you can still do it in a day. And it's known for its cathedral. So a hill town with a huge cathedral. It also has underground caves, kind of small village, Italian charm, is you know what I'd say for this. It's scenic, walkable, packed with character. You should probably always when in Italy try and visit a hill town. And this is one that's easy to get to from Rome.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Naples has to be part of this.

Mark Faldmo:

Has to be. It is. There are some tours that you can get from Rome, and it's also reachable by the high-speed train. Naples, famous for Pompeii. You probably would be able to do this, but you could also go to Capri. But what you do in Naples is just schedule plenty of time for lunch and go get pizza, the birthplace of pizza. And it's a very good pizza in Naples. Just make sure you pick your toppings. Don't let them bring you random pizza. They had a tour group there. And a couple of them got served tuna pizzas, and they were very happy.

Patrick Wiscombe:

All you had to say was tuna.

Mark Faldmo:

Tuna, yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe:

So that'd be disappointing.

Mark Faldmo:

But very good pizza in Naples. And that's a longer tour. You're probably 14 hours on that tour to get to Naples, but again, very much worth it.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And what's your final day trip?

Mark Faldmo:

The final trip is to visit Tuscany, which is not too far from Rome. The city there would be Cortana. Fans of Under the Tuscan Sun will recognize it instantly. Cortana is that classic Tuscany town with rolling hills, postcard perfect views, another walkable city. So any of these five options, do two or three, or do all of them if you have the time. Very good options for visiting outside of Rome.

Patrick Wiscombe:

There is something special about Rome.

Mark Faldmo:

Yes, there definitely is.

Patrick Wiscombe:

All right, let's get to the travel deal of the week. Which is Delta Vacations save up to $250. Plus, you might get up to $10,000 bonus Sky Miles. What are the details on this one, Mark?

Mark Faldmo:

This is a worldwide promotion. Anywhere Delta Vacations has vacation packages too. Up to $250 off. And that's a tier discount based on the overall cost of the trip. And then same with the bonus sky miles, up to 10,000 bonus sky miles. But right now, Blue Planet Vacations is gonna throw in a bonus at $50 off per person. So for the first two on a vacation package to Europe.

Patrick Wiscombe:

So this is good for all Delta Vacations locations, not just Rome, like we've been talking about.

Mark Faldmo:

Correct. Yes. Good to Hawaii, Mexico, Europe, Asia, everywhere Delta Vacations goes.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And of course, Rome.

Mark Faldmo:

Correct.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Take advantage of that one. Call Mark in the office. Get the conversation started. Get your deposit to hold your spot. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he will also post all of this information on BluePlanetVacations.com and also the contact information is there. When we come back, it is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment, the part of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. We've got three cruise deals in this upcoming segment. Plus, we're also going to be talking about NCL's free at sea plus. It's not just free at Steve, it is plus. It's even better. We'll talk about that next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast or radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. Happy New Year! We'll be back in about 60 seconds. Stay right there.

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 BluePlanet Vacations.com. Call or text the show right now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. We'll be right back. This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El Dorado Spa Resorts. Escape to Cancun's 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. Now, back to the Insight Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.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 InsideTravel Talk.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe:

It is time for the Infamous Just Cruising segment. This is the segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. And to all boarding the radio show and podcast right now, let me just say ahoy, mateys. Ahoy. It is time to talk some cruise news headlines. And we've also got three cruise deals of the week. Let's jump right back into NCL bringing back their popular Free at C Plus amenity package. So there's free at C, and then there's Free at C Plus. Have I got that right? That's right.

Mark Faldmo:

So Free at C is their normal promotion that comes with the purchase of your cabin. So it has beverage package, some dining, a couple of amenities that's included in the standard free at sea. But now they've brought back free at sea plus, which includes enhanced premium beverage package. So unlimited Starbucks drinks, energy drinks, fresh juices, premium wines, top shelf liquors, bottled water, and then one thing that is important on this, the free at C Plus also includes unlimited open bar at Great Stirrup K. That's fun. It is, yeah. And now you can get it with an open bar.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I always find it kind of funny when the premium beverage packages, hey, you know, you get all this stuff, but you get water too. Yes. What else is included with that?

Mark Faldmo:

Unlimited streaming high speed Wi-Fi.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Oh, okay. So you can watch shows then on your device.

Mark Faldmo:

And the standard package is a throttled uh version of the internet. So this is just a high speed 50% discount on additional specialty dining reservations. So the free at sea comes with, depending on the length of your cruise, anywhere from one to three. But then you get 50% if you want to eat additional nights. And then here's the one that I like prepaid daily service charge in the plus package. So that's a value on a seven-day cruise, about $120 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah, these are the gratuities, right? The service charges. Correct. Okay. There's some real value in that. Yeah.

Mark Faldmo:

And so the free at C Plus upgrade is about $50 per person per day, probably for the unlimited Wi-Fi. I mean you'll probably pay that off in the cost of Wi-Fi on a cruise ship. So if you want the upgraded amenities, Wi-Fi service charge, uh, the free at C Plus is a good option on Norwegian.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Let's talk about the Grand River cruise for what is being called Curious Travelers. This is on AMA Waterways.

Mark Faldmo:

We've talked a lot about AMA waterways, but it's also part of their Smithsonian journeys. So the Grand Danube is a 14-day Danube cruise, basically from Vilshofen, Germany, to Bucharest in Romania. So this is both the upper and lower Danube, but it also comes with the special Smithsonian hosts and Smithsonian curated tours that they do. That'd be fun. Some of the ports, Vilshoffen, Linz, Austria, where you can take a an excursion to Salzburg where Mozart's birth house was to Vienna in Austria. We've the last few weeks. I think we've talked twice about Vienna. Yeah. Love Vienna. And then Bratislava in Slovakia. Then Budapest at Overnights in Budapest, so you have two full days in Budapest.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Ooh, that would be terrific.

Mark Faldmo:

And then goes to Mohawks in Hungary. And then Vukovar in Hungary, Belgrade, Serbia, and then Viden in Bulgaria. This was one of my favorite stops when I did this. There's some old ruins there. And then Raus in Bulgaria, and then ends in Bucharest, Romania. I think doing that full Danube, both upper and lower, is the perfect river cruise. And on Alma waterways, you can save up to $2,000 on these Smithsonian journeys.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Alma doesn't really discount their stuff, so if they're dropping the price on this, I'm just telling everyone right now, take advantage of it.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah. So for this particular itinerary, there are about 12 departures from May to October that do this. Munich is basically uh where you'd fly into and ends in Bucharest or vice versa.

Patrick Wiscombe:

MSC now has their world cruise. Is this 2028? Okay, so that's out here at least two years. Two years away. Okay, so 115 days, it is now available to book. And if you are a Voyager club member, you get five percent off plus triple point credits. What are the specific details? Where are we going?

Mark Faldmo:

There the highlight, I think, is the 115-day world cruise. Yeah, you're right. You know, and you know, we've talked about a couple of times, I think, in the last few weeks, why cruise lines put their itineraries out so early. And it's because these specialty cruises really sell out, and so they want to put it out there so that people that really want to do it have the time to plan and do it. So, you know, this 115-night world cruise starts at about $19,000 per person for a third of a year to have your food and drinks and entertainment and everywhere you visit. Yeah, that's a pretty good deal. Yeah, it is. We've talked about some world cruises before, but what I think is best about world cruises is the itinerary. They all go to different places, they all take different routes. This one is round trip Barcelona. Um, you could also do a round trip Marseille in France if you wanted. Starting in Barcelona, it goes to Tenerife, then across the Atlantic, does some ports in the Caribbean, including Ocean K MSC Reserve.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Of course.

Mark Faldmo:

I love that place. I do.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Ocean Key is awesome.

Mark Faldmo:

It's good, yeah. And then uh Porto Limon in Costa Rica, then does a Panama Canal cruise, then goes down, has a port in Ecuador, two ports in Peru, one port in Chile, and then I think probably the best port on this whole itinerary are the next two ports after it leaves Chile. It goes to Rapanui. South Pacific is South Pacific, and then goes to Pitcarn Islands in the South Pacific. Pitcarn Islands is where the crew of the Mutiny on the Bounty fled to because it's so remote. They didn't think anyone would find them there. So most of the people living on the island are ancestors of the Mutiny on the Bounty um people. That is probably one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Pitcarn. Personally, I've not been there. I've seen some pictures, and people have related that to me. So, you know, those two ports, Pitcarn and Rapanui, are two that I want to get to. And then it goes to spends overnight in uh Papiete, Tahiti, then sells to Tonga, then a couple of ports in New Zealand, a couple of ports in Australia, then sells to Indonesia, goes to Vietnam, a couple actually a couple ports with an overnight in Helong Bay, which is basically Hanoi. Helong Bay is wow. And then to Thailand, then to Cambodia, then to Singapore, Malaysia, Mumbai in India, and then Dubai, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Alexandria in Egypt, so through the Suez Canal, and then Alexandria, and then back to Rome, Genoa, Italy, and back to either Marseille or Barcelona. So that's your round the world cruise on MSC.

Patrick Wiscombe:

What ship is that on?

Mark Faldmo:

That is on the MSC Magnifica.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And I think if memory serves, didn't they just refurbish that one as well? I think they did. Yeah, I was like, I think they did.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, that's one of the recently renovated ships. Probably why they're putting it on this round the world, although it'll be two years older at that point. But it was just renovated.

Patrick Wiscombe:

What an adventure. What a tremendous time to be alive. If you really stop and think about it, you're in the middle of nowhere and you can still communicate. You can do what you do here at home, but you're out seeing the world. What an amazing time to be alive. Hop on a plane, go wherever you want. Awesome. Take advantage of that offer. Call Mark. Get the conversation started. Just get the deposit down to hold your spot. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And you can get the contact information and all this information on BluePlanetVacations.com. You can listen to this award-nominated podcast, a radio show, each and every Saturday and Sunday morning right here on this very radio station that you're listening to right now in all radio stations around the country starting at 11 a.m. local time. And you can stream the show, listen to the show while you're on the World Cruise by going to Inside Traveltalk.com. All podcast platform links for this show can be found on said website, inside travel talk.com. All right, we've done our job. Now it's your turn to get out and travel 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 intentionally, and a genuine, sincere thank you for listening each and every week. We don't have a show, we don't have a business without you. Thank you so much. Make it a great week, and we will 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 Planet Vacations.com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week. Travel Ex is known for their award winning customer service and high claims paid rate. Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888 718 7717 or Blue Planet Vacations.com for more information.