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Todd Carlson 0:17

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 InsightTravelTalk.com. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Winscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe 0:54

Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. Hello there. I am Patrick Whiskum alongside Mark Foldmo. The entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is to help you book and plan your next vacation. And if you have no idea where to go, we are going to give you ideas of where you may want

Welcome And What We Cover

Patrick Wiscombe 1:15

to consider going on vacation next. And we are presented by BluePlanetVacations.com. And a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. We don't have a business, we don't have a radio show and podcast without you. Coming up on this week's show, we'll be talking about the brand new Pirates of the Caribbean bar coming to Disney World's Magic Kingdom, traveling up and down the Florida Keys, Key West is my personal favorite. I think Mark would agree with me on that one. Traveling to Tahiti, cruising the Nile River, one of the things that I want to do. And as we do each and every week, we want to answer your travel-related questions. So if you want to get your specific question answered while we're on the air or even off the air, 801-649-3700 is the studio and the text number 801-649-3700. And you can get all of our contact information on blueplanetvacations.com. Hello, Mark. I haven't even talked to you all week.

Mark Faldmo 2:24

Yep, it's been a while. So I'm actually in Nashville right now doing the show. Just here with a group that we started in Memphis and ended in Nashville. Saw all the music history sites and some of the sites here in Nashville of presidential sites as well.

Patrick Wiscombe 2:40

Let's get right to the travel news headlines. Southwest is joining major U.S. carriers, launching their free Wi-Fi for their members. Effective on October 24th.

Mark Faldmo 2:52

Southwest will begin offering free Wi-Fi for all of the Rapid Rewards members. This will put them in line with Delta United and American who offer it. And then that leaves only

Travel News Wi-Fi Maui Disney Bar

Mark Faldmo 3:04

Alaska Airlines domestically that does not offer free Wi-Fi. Although Alaska has said they will start offering that sometime next year, they hope.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:14

We hope. Royal Lahaina Resort and Bungalows has unveiled their oceanfront spa. I love Lahaina. I love Maui. What are the details about this new oceanfront spa?

Mark Faldmo 3:27

Royal Lahaina is one of my favorite hotels there on Maui and on the Kanapali beach. A few months ago, we talked about they had just completed a multi-million dollar renovation. But the last part of that was opening up their oceanfront spa. Looking at this picture, I'm pretty sure the lobby of the spa is where their main restaurant used to be. So it's a very good location for a spa. Look out to that beautiful Kanapali Beach, which is by far the best beach in Maui. Where this hotel is located, it's just a great place to vacation. It really bumps up this hotel, especially with the renovation that was just completed. It's always been a three, three and a half star hotel. It's now a solid four-star hotel, but everything inside of it is new.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:16

There is a new Pirates of the Caribbean themed bar opening at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. I would imagine that rum is consumed or will be consumed at that bar.

Mark Faldmo 4:27

The name of it is the beacon barrel, and it actually did open about two weeks ago. It's located in an adventureland right next to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Like Disney does so well. This bar immerses you in both the movies and the ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. There's a lot of Easter eggs throughout the bar. And it also is a family bar. They have drinks for adults and for children.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:53

We received a text a little bit earlier this week from Mary, who wants to go to the Florida Keys. And again, let me just give out the studio and text number because we want to answer your travel-related questions, whether we're on the air or if you have questions after the show airs or after the podcast. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700.

Best Beachfront Stays In Florida Keys

Patrick Wiscombe 5:16

Mary says she wants to go to the Florida Keys. I love Key West. Awesome. One of my favorite places. Yep. And wants to stay at a beachfront resort somewhere in the Florida Keys. What do you recommend, Mark?

Mark Faldmo 5:29

Just kind of a quick overview for those that have not been to Key West. It's a great destination, but there are not a lot of hotels on the beach there.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:38

No, that surprised me. The hotels that we did see in Key West, there were no beach, like Sunset Square and just a little bit to the north, if I've got my directions right. There was nothing there, but it was a beautiful property.

Mark Faldmo 5:49

Let's take the Florida keys. There are three hotels that come to mind. First hotel is called the Margaritaville Beach House. Now, this one is not on the beach, but it's across the street from the beach. The reason why I included this one in there is because it is uh across the street from Smathers Beach, which is by far the best beach in all of Key West. This hotel also is not in downtown. So where that really good beach is is not close to Deval Street and a lot of the places that people want to be. Key West is the perfect place for a Margaritaville, kind of that Jimmy Buffett lifestyle. And so I included this hotel just because it kind of fits the Key West feeling. And it's a three and a half star hotel. Now, the next hotel I'd recommend, and it's called the Reach Key West, and it's part of the Hilton Curio collection. This one does have a small beach, so you can go out, lay on the beach, and have beach chairs and do all of that. It also has a very nice pool. But what I like about this is it's within walking distance. Now it's a longer walk, but within about a 10-minute walk of Duvall Street, which is where all the shops and restaurants and everything is kind of where you want to be in Key West. Key lime pie. Key lime pie. Go to the key lime store. Yep. Get a key lime pie if you like it. Ship some home to your house. That's what I do. Yes, you do. Yep. And then the last hotel that I'd recommend. Now this one is on Duck Key, which is about halfway between Miami and Key West, and it's called Hawks K Resort. This hotel, I've stayed at a few times. It has a really nice pool. What I like about it is it does have a lagoon. So there's a beach and it's a fully circular lagoon with water in it and beach all around. So it's perfect if you want a paddleboard. They also have a marina nearby, so they are on the water. It is a very nice resort. That one I would also say is a four-star, uh, maybe four and a half star resort. The one thing I like about the Florida Keys is that drive down there. Oh, yeah. So on Hawks K Resort, you don't get that full drive. I would say to any of these, but I probably would go all the way to Key West, just because going on that overwater highway is fascinating.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:11

It is a spectacular ride for what, about three, three and a half hours?

Mark Faldmo 8:16

It's about 110 miles, I believe. So depending on traffic, it usually is about three hours.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:23

And you and I stopped at the Waffle House. That's mandatory. I don't remember which key that was on, but it was very tasty. Yeah, that was on Key Largo.

Mark Faldmo 8:30

So that was uh the very first key West there. Yeah, or the the drive to the keys. So awesome. People make fun of me for liking the Waffle House, but I love it. No, Waffle House is good. Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:44

That was the first time that I had been there. I love a pecan waffle. Mary, I'm sure that you might have some additional follow-up questions. Just call Mark in the office. Same phone number, 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And we also received a text earlier this week from Dave, who wants to go to Bora Bora, but anywhere in Tahiti will work. He says it seems very expensive. Are there other areas in Tahiti that you would recommend, Mark, that are less expensive than Bora Bora? Bora Bora can be very expensive.

Mark Faldmo 9:20

Hotel rooms can easily start

How To Do Tahiti For Less

Mark Faldmo 9:22

at twelve to fifteen hundred dollars a night and go up from there for the very basic rooms. If you want an over-the-water bungalow, those can start at two or three thousand dollars and up, depending on the hotel. So to answer Dave's question, yes, there are other places you can go. The first place I'd recommend is Morea. Personally, I like Morea better than Bora Bora, and it's easier to get to as well. From the main island of Tahiti, it's a 30-minute ferry ride to get over to Morea, and it's also much more affordable. So just comparing apples to apples for November, I looked at the Weston Bora Bora. That one started at $1,600 per night compared to the Hilton Lagoon Resort and Spa on Morea, which started at $900 a night. So your $700 a night difference between Bora Bora and Morea. Morea. If you wanted to save even a little bit more, you could just go stay on the main island. So the island of Tahiti. The city is Papiete, and you can still have a great vacation. In fact, since Morea is just across the bay on a ferry, you could go over and spend part of your time in Morea, part of your time on Tahiti, or just take day trips to Morea from Tahiti. Oh yeah. But you know, coming back to the hotels there. So again, keeping the same quality of hotel, the Intercontinental Papiete starts at $600 a night. So that shaves off another $300. Or the Hilton Hotel Tahiti starts at $450 a night. All of these were kind of that four and a half, five star hotel, so all the same quality. Yeah, these are good hotels. Yeah. Just where you want to stay. Another thing, everyone wants to stay in an overwater bungalow in Tahiti. So you don't have to stay in the overwater bungalow the whole time. You could get a garden spray, garden bungalow, and then spend two or three nights in the overwater bungalow and get that experience and it'll save you some money. How many times have you been there? I've been to Tahiti f well, including cruise stops five times.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:40

Did you stay in an overwater bungalow when you stayed there?

Mark Faldmo 11:44

I did. I've I I've stayed both ways. I've most of the time in the garden bungalows just to save money. But the last time I went there and stayed in a hotel, I was at the Sophie Tell on Morea in an overwater bungalow for five nights. Wonderful.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:02

Oh yeah. I bet it was. Yeah. And while we're talking about Tahiti, why do you like Tahiti?

Mark Faldmo 12:08

I like Tahiti because it's not crowded. So if you look at the visitor numbers for Tahiti, Tahiti gets about 300,000 visitors per year. If you compare that to Hawaii, they get 10 million visitors per year. So every 15 days about, Hawaii is bringing in what Tahiti gets in one year. So, you know, like Morea, there's probably only four hotels there. For Abora, there's six or seven hotels there. It just doesn't get crowded there. So that's what I like about Tahiti.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:46

Let's talk about the deal specifically for Tahiti that you have for Dave. And uh let's also talk about the deal for Mary if she wants to go to the Florida Keys, how we can help her in terms of price.

Mark Faldmo 12:58

For Dave, right now, Blue Planet Vacations, we're offering a $200 per person, so $400 per couple off of a custom-built

Current Discounts For Keys And Tahiti

Mark Faldmo 13:06

vacation to French Polynesia. So this would be to any island, the two Omotus, Marquesas, French Polynesia, any of those. Those custom-built vacations are air hotel, and then you can customize tours that you want and transfers. So it is a really good offer to help save some additional money for those that want to go to Tahiti.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:28

Okay, so 200 a person. So even if a family was going, that would still be applicable. Correct. Okay, let's talk about how we can save Mary and her trip to the Florida Keys.

Mark Faldmo 13:39

So what we have for domestic travel to the Florida Keys, it's the same promotion we've been talking about, and it's book your vacation and pay in full at the time of booking. You can save up to $550 per package. And that's tiered based on the overall cost. It's it's basically a percentage off the trip up to $550.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:01

Dave and Mary, you are going to absolutely love your vacation. And of course, Mark can help you with getting everything in place. Call him in his office. I'm going to give you a different phone number this go around. This one's toll-free. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. Take advantage of the $550 off for domestic travel and of course $200 a person if you want to go to Tahiti. When we come back, it is time for the infamous just cruising segment where it's only about the cruise news and it's only about cruise deals. And this week we'll be talking about Viking cruises, getting into the river cruise business, going up and down the Nile River, and of course we've got the cruise deal of the week with Explorer Journeys. That's an MST brand. Beautiful, beautiful ship. We'll give you the details when we come back. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend alongside Mark Foldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscom. Stick around, we'll be back in about 60 seconds.

Todd Carlson 15:09

Taking you to destinations around the world.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.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:48

And may I welcome all aboard. Ahoy, Matees. Ahoy. Thank you for listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio radio show each and every weekend right here on whatever radio station you're listening to around the country. We're always on at 11 a.m. local

Just Cruising Segment Sets Sail

Patrick Wiscombe 17:09

time. But if you can't listen to us live each and every weekend, Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., you can pick up the podcast at Insidetrav.com. We've got links to all of the major podcast platforms on insight traveltalk.com. And if you don't want to subscribe to the podcast, you can just stream the show right on the website. Same web address, insight travel talk.com. Coming up in this segment, it's only about the cruise news and it's only about the cruise deals. Mark, let's get right to the cruise news headlines here. I saw this story that Viking, is this Viking River Cruises? I guess it would be, is launching a new ship that's going to go up and down the Nile River. I would want to do that. Wouldn't you?

Mark Faldmo 17:56

I would. Yeah. This is something that is on my bucket list. They have a few ships that are doing it, so they're just launching a brand new ship called the Viking Ammon.

Viking’s Nile River Cruise Offer

Mark Faldmo 18:06

These ships look like they would be fabulous to cruise on. They're small. 82 guests, 48 crew. What is that? Basically two to one. Two to one. You know, we've talked about not doing on-air radio math. That's what a uh 130 people roughly on board, including the crew. So it's a small ship that goes up the Nile River. It was built specifically to cruise the Nile River. It does follow kind of the same tenants that Viking chooses on their river cruise ship. So it's kind of that Scandinavian style of architecture. The best part about this is the offer that Viking currently has. This is for almost all river cruises, but to Egypt, this is amazing. So on Select Savings, they're offering free airfare and reduced deposits of $25 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:58

Oh, whoa. Hold on. So that is extraordinarily cheap for a deposit.

Mark Faldmo 19:04

I've never heard of a $25 deposit. Yeah, it's a $25 deposit and free airfare. Wow. Now the free airfare is in June of 2026 for the Nile River. And then the cruise fare start at about $7,000 a person. So that's pretty good. The other months, you know, January, February are the prime time to go. They're not offering free airfare, but they are offering airfare starting at $9.99 a person. Which is extraordinary. You're easily in probably fifteen hundred dollars to two thousand dollars if you were just to buy the airfare. So that's a pretty good discount.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:42

Yep. I think that would be such a unique way to see Egypt. Just go up and down the Nile. And you're still gonna see all the major attractions. Yeah.

Mark Faldmo 19:50

So these river cruises, they actually start with a little land tour in Cairo. And so you go see the pyramids, the Sphinx, the Egyptian museum, you know, all of that in that area. And then you go do the Nile River cruise and back. So you do get kind of the best of both worlds there. The one thing I didn't mention on that cruise that it was a 12-day uh trip, almost two weeks, starting at $7,000 a person, including your airfare. That's amazing.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:37

The new cruise ship that's going to be in Asia from Disney is delayed. How long is it delayed?

Mark Faldmo 20:45

The ship's name is the Disney Adventure. It was supposed to launch mid-December of this year, so just a few months. But it is delayed three months until March 10th. So that means all cruises are canceled between December 15th and March 12th. You know, that's kind of a bummer if you're booked on any of those cruises. But

Disney Adventure Delay And Refunds

Mark Faldmo 21:07

Disney is offering pretty good compensation. If you're booked in the on the original December maiden voyage, you'll automatically be rebooked to the March, plus you'll get a 50% refund.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:20

Okay, that's pretty generous. Obviously, you're going to be disappointed, but if you can rebook it to get 50% off, that's extraordinary. That's very strange for Disney to miss a deadline like that. It is. I don't think I've ever heard that one.

Mark Faldmo 21:34

Yeah, that it's rare that it happens, but they want everything to be right. It's probably better to delay it and kind of take that heat from delaying it than have people get on and have a bad experience.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:47

Disney had lost its magic. You can just see the headline if all of the attractions aren't ready to go. You and I have talked about Galveston, Texas. There is a port in Galveston that uh MSC is going out of. Carnival's going out of there. I don't remember who the other two cruise providers were there. But Carnival Legion and Princess. Okay. Carnival says that they're going to add two more ships to Galveston in 2027. Do we know the ships?

Mark Faldmo 22:17

I can tell you the four ships that will be there in 2027. I right off the top of my head, I don't know the ones that are currently there. But it'll be the Carnival Horizon, Carnival Spirit, the

Galveston Cruises And Princess Bargain

Mark Faldmo 22:27

Carnival B. Breeze and the Carnival Jubilee. Between those four ships, they'll be sailing a combination of three, four, five, six, seven, and eight night cruises. So you can have your choice of a short cruise or a longer cruise.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:41

Long cruise.

Mark Faldmo 22:42

Long cruise. Yep. We've talked about Galveston in the past. It is really becoming a major cruise port. They're building a new terminal there. They have cruises in the wintertime going out just about every day of the week between all the cruise lines that go there. And for us on the west coast, Houston, which is the closest major airport to Galveston, is fairly easy and inexpensive to get to a lot of times when comparing that to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. Fort Lauderdale could be a little spendy. It can. Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:16

Do you have any deals for the Galveston port?

Mark Faldmo 23:19

I do. And so you know we were talking about Carnival, but I'm going to switch this to Princess and this year, so January. So this is January of 2026 on Princess Cruise Lines. They have a January 11th sailing. Leaves from Galveston, goes to Carl, Costamaya, and Roatan. Inside cabins start at $474 per person. But where this gets good is balcony cabins start at $599 per person. You could actually get a suite if we keep going up. Suites start at $7.49 a person. That is so cheap. For suites? Well, and balconies too. And balconies, yeah. So January 11th, that's right when everyone listening that's in the Utah area here is going to want to be out of the cold. I, you know, I I've made these predictions before, but it can't be any worse than the weather, man. But I predict it's going to be 15 degrees on January 11th, and you wish you were on this cruise from Galveston going to Cosmo, Costa Maya, and Roatan.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:26

I always dress for the destination. So whether it's 15 degrees here in Salt Lake and it's 75, 85 at the destination, I'm wearing shorts to the airport. That's how I am too. You snuck a cruise deal of the week in there with uh the princess stuff. That's not even the cruise deal of the week. No. Okay, let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is Explora Journeys. Now, if you're not familiar with Explora Journeys, this is a cruise ship brand, a luxury cruise ship brand from MSC Cruises. What details do you have for listeners? First of all, a little bit of news.

Mark Faldmo 25:04

Their fifth ship comes out in 2027. And with that fifth ship, they can pretty much cover the world now. So they are now featuring for the first time an Asia cruise for Explora journeys. The brand was launched in 2021. That's

Explora Journeys Luxury Deals And Routes

Mark Faldmo 25:20

a brand of the MSC cruise group. And their goal was to kind of redefine high-end ocean cruising. They want it to feel more like a boutique hotel or a private yacht than a traditional cruise ship. And they've done that.

Patrick Wiscombe 25:35

Just visually, they've done that.

Mark Faldmo 25:37

Yeah. And in fact, if you look at their ships, they almost kind of look like some of those mega yachts, just a supersized version of those mega yachts that you see out there. So they're smaller ships. They hold less than a thousand passengers, which means they can explore some of those smaller, less visited ports. They also try and make the crews as all-inclusive as they can. It includes things like your gratuities, your Wi-Fi, wellness facilities. Many of the dining options are included. I think they do have some really upscale, like a steakhouse that's additional, but they really try and incorporate everything they can into that Voyage fair. How many are out? Is it Explorer One, Two? Is the I believe three are one, two, and three are out. And four comes out shortly. And then again, 2027, Explora 5 will come out.

Patrick Wiscombe 26:34

Check out YouTube. Just do a search for Explora. You'll see what we're talking about. They're beautiful ships. You won't be disappointed. If this is the cruise deal of the week, what is the offer for Explorer Journeys?

Mark Faldmo 26:45

So for Explorer Journey, they have an early booking discount. So this would be for anything in 2027 and beyond. They have a 5% discount. Since it is a luxury cruise line, 5% can save you quite a bit of money on one of these cruises. I've kind of went through their itineraries and I picked two that are pretty unique. One is I would love to do because of its ports, and then the other one is a very unique port. The first one is it's a journey to the Adriatic, which is a cruise that goes between Venice, Italy, and Athens, Greece. First of all, I love the Adriatic. So it goes to Rovin in Croatia, goes to Dubrovnik, which is on most people's bucket list. And then it goes to Brindzi, which is in the hill of the boot of Italy. So a place not a lot of people go to or visit. And then my favorite port goes to Kotor in Montenegro. Yeah, you love that. That is probably my favorite place to go in all of Europe. I love Kator. And then it cruises down, goes to Mylos in the Greek Isles. You know, that is a small port that the big ships would not go to. And then it ends in Athens on Explora. So it's a seven-night, eight-day journey. So May dates of 2026 start at $4,500 per person. If you compare this, the lead-in cabin on an Explora ship is like a suite on other ships. So price-wise, that's very comparable if you were to get a suite on one of the big ships. Yeah. And then the the next itinerary, this is one, every time I see an itinerary like this, I want to do it. It's a 12-night, 13-day cruise, and it goes from San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is a great, great place.

Patrick Wiscombe 28:37

San Juan has always been one of those, okay, if we get there, but when we Nikki and I got there in April, we're like, oh, hey, this is great here.

Mark Faldmo 28:46

It is. Yeah, I I really like San Juan. And then from San Juan, it goes to St. Bart's, which is another place that the big cruise ships wouldn't go. They're in the Eastern Caribbean. Goes down to Martinique, Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago. And then this is where I think the itinerary gets exciting. Goes down and sells up the Amazon River to Manaus and has a couple of stops in the Amazon River. I just think that is so unique. Oh, yeah. And and that one, again, 12 nights, it starts at $9,000 per person. So starting to get up there a little bit pricey, but again, for the product you're getting and the the 12 nights, and that's probably comparable to any suite in a big cruise ship, and you're probably getting a better experience on Explorer than if you get a suite on a big cruise ship. That's the difference right there.

Patrick Wiscombe 29:41

Yes, it is more expensive. Explorer Journeys or Explora the ships. It's a completely different experience. It's a luxury brand. It is. Yeah. That is the cruise deal of the week. Take advantage of everything we've talked about. Call Market's office. Get the conversation started. No obligation. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And you can also see much of this information right on Blue Planet Vacations.com. You can listen to this award-nominated show again tomorrow morning, Sunday at 11 a.m. on the very radio station

Wrap Up How To Reach Us

Patrick Wiscombe 30:21

that you're listening to right this very second. And you can stream, download, and subscribe to the podcast at insetraveltalk.com. We're on all of the major podcast platforms. If you're not a podcaster, you don't want to subscribe, you can just listen to the show right on the website, inside traveltalk.com. Our job is done. Now it's your turn to get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. As we say each and every week, live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally. And a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. We don't have a show without you. We don't have a business without you. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great week. We'll talk to you next.

Todd Carlson 31:13

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 Whiskb 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.