Welcome And What’s Ahead

Patrick Wiscombe 0:21

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 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. 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. Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show. Hello there. I am Patrick Wiscombe 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 new year.

Mark Faldmo 3:03

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

Europe Entry Rules Explained

Patrick Wiscombe 3:13

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 3:40

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 4:37

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 4:43

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 ETIAS. Okay.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:01

What is that?

Mark Faldmo 5:02

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 5:35

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 5:57

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 6:15

Okay. And that's the ETIAS.

Mark Faldmo 6:18

Correct. Okay, and 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 6:43

And you can help people with all of this.

Mark Faldmo 6:45

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 6:55

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 7:04

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

Patrick Wiscombe 7:10

There are

Short Trips For Busy Travelers

Patrick Wiscombe 7:10

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

Mark Faldmo 7:15

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. Talk 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.

Best Day Trips From Rome

Patrick Wiscombe 8:40

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 9:13

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 9:39

What is the first one then?

Mark Faldmo 9:41

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 10:33

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

Mark Faldmo 10:38

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 11:14

Naples has to be part of this.

Mark Faldmo 11:16

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 pizzas. I had a tour group there. And a couple of them got served tuna pizzas, and they were very happy.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:50

All you had to say was tuna.

Mark Faldmo 11:52

Tuna, yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:53

So that'd be disappointing.

Mark Faldmo 11:55

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. And what's your final day trip? 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 12:35

There is something special about Rome.

Mark Faldmo 12:38

Yes, there definitely is.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:39

All right, let's get to the travel deal of the week. Which

Delta Vacations Deal And Miles

Patrick Wiscombe 12:47

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 12:56

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 13:24

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

Mark Faldmo 13:31

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

Patrick Wiscombe 13:37

And of course, Rome.

Mark Faldmo 13:38

Correct.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:44

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 et C plus. It's not just free at Stee, 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.

Todd Carlson 14:49

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.

Speaker 15:18

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.

Todd Carlson 15:50

Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now at 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsightTravel Talk.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:50

It is

Just Cruising Segment Begins

Patrick Wiscombe 16:50

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

NCL Free At Sea Plus

Patrick Wiscombe 17:23

free at C, and then there's Free at C Plus. Have I got that right?

Mark Faldmo 17:27

That's right. 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 18:11

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 18:23

Unlimited streaming high speed Wi-Fi.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:26

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

Mark Faldmo 18:30

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 19:00

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

Mark Faldmo 19:06

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.

Smithsonian Grand Danube Savings

Patrick Wiscombe 19:29

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

Mark Faldmo 19:37

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 Wilshofen, 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, Wilshoffen, Linz, Austria, where you can take a an excursion to Salzburg where Mozart's birthhouse was to Vienna in Austria. We've the last few weeks, I think we've talked twice about Vienna, love Vienna, and then Bratislava in Slovakia, and then Budapest. It overnights in Budapest, so you have two full days in Budapest.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:25

Ooh, that would be terrific.

Mark Faldmo 20:27

And then goes to Mohawk's in Hungary. And then Vukovar in Hungary, Belgrade, Serbia, and then Vidin 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 denue, both upper and lower, is the perfect river cruise. And on Alma waterways, you can save up to $2,000 on these Smithsion journeys.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:56

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 21:03

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 it ends in Bucharest or vice versa.

MSC 115-Night World Cruise

Patrick Wiscombe 21:19

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 21:41

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 hundred and fifteen night world cruise starts at about nineteen thousand dollars 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. 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 22:47

Of course. I love that place.

Mark Faldmo 22:49

I do.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:50

Ocean Key is awesome.

Mark Faldmo 22:51

It's good. Yeah. And then uh Portal 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 it's probably the best port on this whole itinerary, or the next two ports after it leaves Chile. It goes to Rappa Nui, South Pacific. South Pacific. Um, 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. Uh it's 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. What ship is that on? That is on the MSC Magnifica.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:47

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 24:54

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 25:05

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.

Final Travel Push And How To Book

Patrick Wiscombe 25:44

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 InsightTraveltalk.com. All podcast platform links for this show can be found on said website, inside traveltalk.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.

Todd Carlson 26:54

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.

Speaker 27:27

Their travel insurance plans can help protect you and your vacation. TravelX 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.