Welcome And What’s Ahead

Patrick Wiscombe 0:12

Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Coming up on today's show, we will be talking about a great perk at Disneyland going away, helping you save up to $550 on your vacation in 2026. Ultimate Norway cruises, free flights within Thailand, vacations in Hawaii, and all inclusive vacations in Mexico and Europe. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com contains travel deals, promotions, and offers that may be 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.

Todd Carlson 1:00

Helping you plan your next vacation. This is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's best travel advisors. Call us now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at Inside TravelTalk.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo!

Patrick Wiscombe 1:39

Serving Humanity with the greatest vacation deals on the planet. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show. Alongside Mark Foldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe, and coming up on this edition of the show, we will be talking about Disneyland getting rid of early park entry for hotel guests. Honestly, a great perk if you stay at one of their hotels. It's going away. We'll give you the details. And if you are new to this radio show and podcast, our job is very simple. It is to help you plan and book your next vacation, or just give you ideas of where you may want to consider vacationing next. And we are presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com and thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. Mark, you are back from Tower Butte in Page, Arizona. You took the helicopter ride. We did the show live from the top of that butte last week. It is good to have you home.

Mark Faldmo 2:43

It's good to be back. I'm so far back up in work that it's taken me a few days to get all caught up. Well, that's a good problem to have. Yeah. You know, that that was such a fun vacation. I usually work, but there was so much to see. It was such a really good tour by Globus that I just didn't work. So now I've had to pay the price and catch up on all of that.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:09

So that Globus tour that you were on, what was it called? Was it Canyons and I forgot what it was called?

Mark Faldmo 3:15

It's called Canyon Country Adventure. Okay.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:18

Check that out. Call Mark about the Canyon Country Adventure. It was uh basically a slow vacation going to all of the national parks between Las Vegas and Phoenix. And he absolutely loved it. Yeah. And especially the helicopter ride to the top of Tower Butte.

Mark Faldmo 3:34

Yeah, that was a highlight.

Disneyland Drops Early Park Entry

Patrick Wiscombe 3:35

Let's get right to the travel dudes headlines. It is bad news. Disneyland eliminating early park entry, one of the main benefits, in my opinion, for their hotel guests. I think that sometimes that skews towards people booking with them, and now they're taking it away.

Mark Faldmo 3:54

So this is Disneyland in California. They're eliminating the 30-minute early admission park benefit for hotel guests, and this will start January 5th. Okay, so after the new year.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:05

I could swear that it was an hour before it, some point.

Mark Faldmo 4:09

In in Orlando, it's an hour. I think California Disneyland's always been 30 minutes. Okay. Or at least the last little while it's been 30 minutes. Instead, every hotel guest will get one Lightning Lane entry per resort stay. That is nice, but I don't think it makes up for that 30-minute early admission. No. Because if you're there for a few days, you could go in and get two attractions done every day between Disneyland and California Adventure. And now you just get one lightning lane pass, and it is still subject to availability. So you have to make those reservations so you might not get what you want using that lightning lane.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:49

If you can swing it financially, just get the upgraded tickets so you can jump the line everywhere. The lightning lane everywhere.

Mark Faldmo 4:57

Yes. That's worth it. That is. Yeah. We'll see how this goes. I hope they don't bring that out into the Florida parks. They're probably testing it. I've only stayed one time at Disney, and we went every day early, either to Disneyland or California Adventure. It was great.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:14

Yeah. It is fun. It's too bad they're getting rid of it. Hawaii's

Hawaii’s XR Bus Tour In Waikiki

Patrick Wiscombe 5:18

first cross-reality bus tour. What is that about?

Mark Faldmo 5:22

This is mainly designed for children and their parents, but it is actually on a bus, but you have goggles on. And so XR goggles. And so they've designed a whole presentation while on this bus tour that gets you immersed as you drive around Waikiki in Hawaiian culture and you know really tries to bring Hawaii alive. There's, you know, things on volcanoes and sea turtles and just a lot of things that's in the Hawaiian culture there. So I'm going to Hawaii in about six weeks. And so I am actually going to do this to see exactly how this works. And it it seems pretty interesting to me, although I don't know why you need to be on a moving bus if you're wearing XR goggles. But may maybe they have you take them on and off and do some things. But it it seems interesting to me.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:16

So by the way, this is not a commercial for Apple Vision Pro, but if you've ever tried one of those things, you talk about being lucky as a kid to start learning in a completely different way, other than just looking at pictures and reading text in a book. Some of these immersive experiences are absolutely spectacular. Free

Thailand’s Plan For Free Domestic Flights

Patrick Wiscombe 6:39

flights within Thailand. Obviously, you have to get to Thailand, but I like the idea of flying free within the country.

Mark Faldmo 6:46

I'm not sure how they're going to implement this because the time frame is so quick. But Thailand is seeing a slump in international arrivals by six percent the first few months of 2025. That's a pretty significant drop in tourist numbers. And so what they're trying to do is come up with this program that could start. They say as early as August. This was just announced August 20th, but I don't know how. Yeah, today's August 30th here. August 30th. And then it is supposed to be for flights between September and November, which is the low season. If you have proof of an international arrival ticket, they are going to pay domestic travel. So you can get to see some of the other places in Thailand. And they haven't announced the logistics or how this is going to work. But if you want to go to Thailand fairly quickly, or if you're going to Thailand and want to see other areas, you can get up to Chingwai, Chingra, down to Phuket, any of those places on a free ticket. That is a pretty good deal.

Mexico’s Magic Towns Get Easier

Patrick Wiscombe 7:50

You and I have talked about Mexico's magic towns, and apparently they're making it easier to get to said magic towns.

Mark Faldmo 7:58

Yes, they are. They've kind of completed their phase one, uh, which is just getting the magic towns and starting to get the notoriety of the magic towns. Now they're really starting to focus on the infrastructure and how to get tourists to those magic towns. Um now there are 177 magic towns within Mexico. There are a lot of them within two hours of some of the main tourist areas. And so, for example, in Puerto Vallarta, they are really enhancing the road system to get to San Sebastian, which is up in the Sierra Madres. It's a lovely town. If I could go there every time I went to Puerto Vallarta, I would. Um you do love it there. I do. It's great. And there are a couple that we've talked about that are fairly close to Cancun and they're you know really in enhancing how to get there. In fact, the Mayan train um stops in a few of those places, and so you can either go there on a day trip or just go there and stay. I've never actually stayed in a magic town, but I think it would be fabulous, you know, because they're it's just laid back and really authentic Mexican culture.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:11

You've always said that about the Magic Towns. Yeah.

Save Up To $550 In 2026

Patrick Wiscombe 9:14

Always in the opening segment, we have the travel deal of the week. And this week we are helping our listeners save up to five hundred and fifty dollars on your vacation in 2026. What are the particulars on this offer?

Mark Faldmo 9:32

Book your vacation by September 15th, travel between January 1st and December 31st of 2026, and pay in full at the time of reservation. This is good to Hawaii, all inclusive Mexico, good to vacations in Europe. It just has to be an air and a hotel package. So it's kind of a tiered discount. It's based off of a percentage off of the the total cost of the trip. And so if you can save 100, 200, or even up to the full five hundred and fifty dollars, that's a a pretty good deal.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:07

Okay, and you have to book by when? Book by September 15th. And then complete travel between what days?

Mark Faldmo 10:15

Yeah, January 1st, 2026, and December 31st. Oh, okay. So you have the entire year then. Yep, you have the entire year. Oh, okay. It's good worldwide, but most people are probably gonna use this for Hawaii and then their all-inclusive Mexico vacations. I actually just booked someone to Europe using this and they saved about four hundred dollars off of the cost of that. It's a great promotion if you know you're gonna go and can pay for your whole vacation up front at the time of reservation.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:01

Hawaii really doesn't have all-inclusive vacations, correct? Or they've tried it and and it really didn't go anywhere.

Mark Faldmo 11:09

Yeah, they've tried it. I do believe there is still one hotel on the big island that does have an all-inclusive package, but it it's been a tough go in Hawaii. Uh anyone who's tried it.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:23

Anyone who goes to Mexico, generally speaking, those vacations are all inclusive. Is there such a thing as all inclusive in Europe? I wouldn't think so.

Mark Faldmo 11:32

No, there's not. There's just the breakfast plan. I actually take that back because high-ed inclusive hotels, they do have hotels over there where you can buy the European plan, which is breakfast only, or you can buy an all-inclusive. Like in Corfu in Greece, there is a secret, or no, I'm sorry, it's a dreams. There's a dreams in Corfu and Greece, uh, which does have an all-inclusive plan. So there are some hotels, especially like the beach areas in Spain, Greece, where you can buy an all-inclusive, but it is more on the rare side.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:11

Take advantage of that. Save up to $550 on your vacation in 2026. You need to book by September 15th, so that is coming up in just a smidge over two weeks, and then that is good for travel between January 1st and December 31st, 2026. They need to fill up some rooms, so you might as well take advantage of the offers that they have. Call Mark in his office, just get the conversation started. No obligation. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he'll also post this on blueplanetvacations.com, and there's also contact information there on the website. When we come back, it is time, it is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment, the segment of the show that has made us famous worldwide. We will be talking about Smithsonian journeys to returning to the Mississippi. We've got the cruise deal of the week with HX, Ultimate Norway, and the Nordic Navigator from Norway to Scotland. Do not miss this next segment. If you love cruising, this is the section of the show for you. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show, continues. Alongside Mark Foldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. We will be right back.

Todd Carlson 13:37

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.

Speaker 14:15

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 now back to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show.

Todd Carlson 14:43

Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's best travel advisors. Get us up right now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at Inside Travel Talk.com. Here's Patrick and Mark.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:22

Ahoy, Mateus. Ahoy. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. I

Smithsonian Returns To The Mississippi

Patrick Wiscombe 15:31

am Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo will be back in the studio here in just a moment. I had to go print some stuff off. Coming up in this segment of the show, we will be talking about the cruise deal of the week. This is the segment of the show for which we are most famous around the world and around the country. But first, let's get to the travel news headlines as Mark makes his way back into the studio. I saw this news story that Smithsonian Journeys, Mark, is returning to the mighty Mississippi. What details do we have on that?

Mark Faldmo 16:04

They went there regularly until 2019. They've seen enough demand come back that they are taking a journey between Memphis and New Orleans. They don't own their own equipment when they do this. They are actually chartering a ship from American cruise lines. And this will be on one of the classic paddle wheelers. Smithsonian always gets some very good guest speakers and historians. So on this one, they're gonna have a presidential historian that'll be the guest speaker that can talk a lot about the country's history there. They announced they've chartered a ship for 2027 on the Nile, which will view the solar eclipse. I think that would be very fascinating to be in Egypt for the solar eclipse. I don't know where they'll be in their journey, but I think that would be a very interesting destination.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:53

We want you to be part of the show. So if you have travel-related questions, cruise questions, travel, whatever it is, text the studio right now 801-649-3700-801-649-3700 is how you get a hold of the show, both during the week and of course while we're on the air. We received a text from who was this? Ross. I've heard you talk about expedition cruising on the show before. Can you help

Expedition Cruising Explained Simply

Patrick Wiscombe 17:21

me understand what expedition cruising is? I think it's a good question.

Mark Faldmo 17:26

I hadn't really thought of that from the listener's perspective. We just go talk about expedition cruising, and I don't think we've spent time defining what it is because it is a different way to cruise. Expedition cruises are cruises that are centered on exploration and immersive experiences. Typically, these cruises are on smaller, purpose-built ships to go into some of these smaller ports or ports that have certain restrictions. They go to harder reach areas like Antarctica and the Arctic, Galapagos, the Amazon. They just go to really remote places in the world. They emphasize meaningful discovery through hands-on learning. They really help the guests explore the destinations with expert-led excursions and lectures rather than on a regular cruise. It's kind of passive sightseeing what you're doing.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:20

That's a great way to say that.

Mark Faldmo 18:23

Yeah. The thing I like, because there are a lot of restrictions on larger cruise ships, most of the expedition cruises are about 200 passengers or less, which enables the cruise line to have more flexible itineraries, more frequent ports, you can get closer to the wildlife, and also with fellow travelers. And they prioritize education over entertainment. And they really want you to dive in to the destination.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:51

Where do the expedition cruises go? And why would someone want to choose an expedition cruise over a typical tourist destination?

Mark Faldmo 19:01

They really try and venture in to more remote, lesser visited areas. For instance, today I was just reading about an expedition cruise company. It's called Ponent, and they have the only class three icebreaker or something. It's the only passenger vessel with that. And in 2027, they are actually having a voyage to the North Pole where the ship will go and sit on the geographic North Pole. There we go. Um it's things like that expedition cruises do, you know, but also things like the Northwest Passage and then other places a little bit close to home. Baja California, you know, sailing in the Sea of Cortez.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:39

That's a great example. You never really hear about anyone going up the inside part of Baja. It's always the Pacific side.

Mark Faldmo 19:47

Other places, expeditions would be Galapagos. Oh, that's a good example, yeah. Because there are lots of restrictions there. So it's really only these smaller expedition cruises that can go there in the Amazon, an expedition cruise, even though some of the big cruise lines can go a good deal up the Amazon. Go on an expedition cruise that will take you deeper into the Amazon.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:10

Less entertainment, more education, getting in touch with nature.

Mark Faldmo 20:14

More interesting places. Yeah, more interesting places.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:17

What does a typical day look like on board one of these expeditions?

Mark Faldmo 20:21

They're really destination driven. So if you're at sea, your lectures on your next port when you're import, a lot of these places don't have piers, and so you're taking zodiacs, small inflatable boats, taking you ashore. A lot of these cruises offer wildlife viewing, hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, or guided cultural excursions. In the evening, rather than your Broadway production show, they often have presentations, recap of where you've been, a preview of where you're going to really help you have that immersive experience that they're trying to get you in. They also have photo classes, how to take the best wildlife pictures. They have onboard experts that really help to enhance your vacation. Some expedition ships are luxury, some are not so luxury, but they're all comfortable and they're used kind of as your mobile base camp. You can relax when on board, scoring meals, reading areas, saunas, there we go. Igloos, you know, different things like that. And a lot of them include all of that. They're not additional. One of the cruise lines that I really like for expedition cruising is HX. I think two, maybe three weeks ago, we talked about Hertogruten. They used to be the same company. Hertogruten does Norwegian coastal voyages, and then they started an expedition cruise line. They're one of my favorites.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:47

Let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is HX. And what's the promotion we have for listeners this week?

Mark Faldmo 21:52

Right now, they have free suite upgrades, or you can choose up to

HX Deals For Norway And Scotland

Mark Faldmo 21:56

35% off of cabins. A lot of people, if they do know about expedition cruising, they think they're very expensive. Um, and they can get expensive, but with this 35% off, it makes it more affordable. And I actually found two expedition cruises on Hertagruten that are under $4,000 a person. That is a deal. And so that's bringing it more in line like what you'd pay for a suite on a big ocean liner. Yep. This first cruise that I'm looking at, it's called Ultimate Norway. It's Arctic Expedition under the Northern Lights. Oh so this is Norway in the wintertime. This particular sailing that I looked at is January 24th. It's an eight-day sailing and it starts at 3787 per person. That is very reasonable. So for under $4,000 a person, it really spends its full time in the Arctic Circle. So you fly to Tromsow in Norway, which is above the Arctic Circle, and then you have eight days cruising around northern Norway.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:04

Oh, how fun. Anything else that you want to throw in here?

Mark Faldmo 23:08

Yeah, there is one more cruise, and this one is called the Nordic Navigator from Norway to Scotland. And this one's even a better deal. It starts at $34.51 per person, and it is an 11-day cruise. This is actually, since it's a repositioning cruise, the same role for expedition cruising as regular cruising, those kind of repositioning cruises usually are better priced. This cruise, it starts in the Tromsow and then just sails down that west coast of Norway and then goes over to Lurick in the Shetland Islands, goes to uh Kirkwall, which is there at the northern part of Scotland, and then sails around and ends in Glasgow. And this one is the end of March, so it's a March 28th sailing next year. So the one thing I like about Hertha Gruten is pretty much everything on board is included. Your regular meals, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner, drinks are included at mealtime, and then you get a complementary refillable water bottle. You get a polar expedition jacket, a backpack, and then another kind of HX expedition kit that you get. I'm not sure what's in that complementary Wi-Fi, use of the sauna hot tubs fitness rooms on board. All the gratuities are included. Although if you get good service, you can leave an extra gratuity.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:41

Yeah.

Mark Faldmo 24:41

And those stateroom attendants, they earn it. The last thing that I think is great is you have included unique excursion experiences. There may be some that are additional cost, but they do include some of those experiences.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:57

Take advantage of that offer. Take advantage of all of them. Just call Mark in his office, get the conversation started. No obligation. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. That is the cruise deal of the week. We've actually got three of them. Make the call. Like I said, no obligation, but at least explore it. You won't regret it. You can listen to this award-nominated show again tomorrow morning, Sunday at 11 a.m., right here on the very radio station that you're listening to right

Final Tips And How To Listen

Patrick Wiscombe 25:38

now. And you can stream, download, and subscribe to the podcast at inside travel talk.com. We are on all of the major podcast platforms, and you can get links to all of those platforms on inside traveltalk.com. Well, 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. Live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally. And thanks for listening. We don't have a business without you. We don't have a radio show or podcast without you. Thank you for allowing this to be part of your weekend. Have a terrific week. We'll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday.

Todd Carlson 26:25

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 BluePlanetVacations.com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening.

Speaker 26:48

Have a great week.com for more information.