Show Open And What’s Ahead

Todd Carlson 0:16

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 0:59

You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. I am Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo will join me here in just a second. And if you are brand new to this radio show and podcast, Saturday and Sunday, around the country, and of course, you can pick up the podcast at inside travel talk.com. We are going 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, proudly presented, by Blue Planet Vacations.com. And just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. Coming up in the next 30 minutes, we will be talking about keeping your shoes on at the airport. Finally, finally, Mark. It's a good change. You don't have to take your shoes off at the airport. That became official a little bit earlier this week. Vacationing in Hawaii on the North Shore. And free airfare to Europe when booking a river cruise. Those are just three of the stories that we'll be talking about on this edition of the show. And let me welcome in my co-host, Mark Faldmo. Where are you right now, Mark?

Mark Faldmo 2:17

Today I'm in Fort Lauderdale. I'm at a meeting called GTM, which is Global Travel Marketplace, where I get to meet with a hundred suppliers. Some I know, some I don't. The whole purpose of this meeting is to introduce travel agents to new and unique products that they may not be aware of. It's a pretty good event to learn about new trends and new suppliers in travel.

TSA Ends The Shoe-Off Era

Patrick Wiscombe 2:40

Let's get to the travel news headlines. Can I get a hallelujah? I don't have to look at other people's feet and I don't have to smell other people's feet. You can keep your shoes on at the airport during security screening that I could not believe the news. In fact, Nikki was telling me about the news that was breaking, what was it on a Tuesday? Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

Mark Faldmo 3:09

Yep, and it actually goes into effect tomorrow on Sunday. So and it right now it's at most major airports. There are a few airports where this is not implemented yet, but the ultimate goal is to roll this out nationwide at every domestic airport where you do not have to take your shoes off. That is welcome news after almost 20 years of having to take your shoes off.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:34

I am not gonna miss that. Happy birthday to America.

America’s 250th Anniversary Trips

Patrick Wiscombe 3:37

Love this country. And now the preparations begin for America's 250th birthday, and tour operators and destinations are gearing up because they expect to be very, very busy this next year. And probably after that.

Mark Faldmo 3:53

Tour operators and cruise lines are adding special departures to specifically celebrate America's 250th year birthday. I will just mention two here. One is a globus tour, which is a 10-day tour from Boston to Washington. Visits all of our nation's history in between those two places. One that I am really interested in is Hall America's cruise they have. It's a special sailing from Boston to New York. So it leaves Boston on the 4th of July, where you'll see the fireworks show from Boston Harbor. Oh, wow. Visits places like Williamsburg, overnights in New York City, and it leaves right at the end of an event called Sail the Fourth Celebration, which is the world's largest fleet of tall ships, which will be in New York Harbor that day. So you'll sail out with them past the Statue of Liberty. That has quite an interesting itinerary. Oh, yeah. So again, that that is sailing right on the 4th of July from Boston. There are a few other tour operations and cruise lines that offer things like this. So if you're interested, give us a call at Blue Planet Vacations and we will give you all of the details on these America's 250th birthday travel opportunities.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:10

Yeah, let me just give out the number now. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. Just get the conversation started. Even though we're on the air right now, call and then uh Mark will call you back, or someone from the office will call you back.

Oahu North Shore Hotel Highlights

Patrick Wiscombe 5:27

One of my favorite places on this entire planet is Hawaii. And Courtyard Marriott Oahu, North Shore. Obviously, you hear about the North Shore. There's not a lot of hotels on that north end. Everything is pretty much Oahu, Waikiki, as Siri says, Waikiki. Yeah. But this is a hotel on the North Shore. I love the North Shore.

Mark Faldmo 5:50

And this is actually one of my favorite hotels. If you want a hotel that really leans into community and the Hawaiian spirit, it's the courtyard Oahu North Shore. It's right in La Ia. You're basically in the parking lot to the Polynesian Cultural Center. There's great beaches nearby, La Ia Beach, which is across the street, is amazing. You have Hooky Lau Beach, you have Pounders Beach. There are several nice beaches right there. But they've launched a new, it's a bi-monthly program that's focused on Hawaii storytelling and handmade goods. These are presentations open to the public. But if you're staying at the hotel, you can participate in that. So just another way that they lean into the community. They already have hula lessons, laymaking classes. They have their aunties that are at the they're in the lobby, which are local ladies who come on and put cultural presentations daily at the courtyard. It is one of my favorite hotels in all of Hawaii to stay at.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:50

And it's close to your one of your favorite food trucks, which is Mike's Huey Hooy Chicken, which is in Kahuku, just a few miles from Laeyah.

Mark Faldmo 7:00

You can't go wrong with the North Shore in La Yeah. It's awesome.

Orlando Beaches And A Disney Detour

Patrick Wiscombe 7:04

We just received a text from who was this? Connor. He has a question. It's not about Hawaii, but this one is about Orlando. He is asking, he wants to go to Orlando, wants to visit a beach. How far away are the beaches? And which one would you recommend, Mark?

Mark Faldmo 7:22

Orlando is right in the middle of Florida, but you're 45 minutes to an hour away from beaches.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:29

Oh, is it that far away?

Mark Faldmo 7:31

It is, yeah. Okay. So if you go to the west about an hour, you can go to Clearwater Beach, which is probably the closest beach to Orlando. On the west coast, you get kind of the white sand beaches, the Caribbean-looking waters. So you can go there. Or if you go to the east, you go out to like Cocoa Beach, which is on the Atlantic. I like going that direction because I like going to Kennedy Space Center as well. Right. So it is different beach experiences on either side of Florida, but you are relatively close to a beach when you're in Orlando. So when you're at Disney World Universal Studios or SeaWorld, you can go to the beach if you want to take a day to do that.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:16

Of course, you've got Disney World, and one of our favorite places is Hollywood Studios.

Mark Faldmo 8:21

I love the rock and roller coaster, uh, which is going to be rebranded the the Muppets Roller Coaster shortly here. So good attraction there at Hollywood Studios.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:31

If it's the Muppets Roller Coaster, who is your favorite Muppet? Mine is Beaker.

Mark Faldmo 8:38

Me, me, me. I like Beaker.

Delta Vacations Hawaii Deal Breakdown

Mark Faldmo 8:56

I think mine is Animal. That's okay. That would be my second one. And I'm sure Animal is going to be driving the roller coaster. So that'll probably be the theme of it.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:08

Oh my goodness, you nailed it. Also, in this segment, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, which is, of course, Hawaii. These are deals that Mark has put together exclusively for our listeners. What do we have for listeners this week?

Mark Faldmo 9:22

We've kind of talked about this promotion the last few weeks with different destinations. This is with Delta Vacations and it saves up to $250, but you get bonus sky miles. And if you're looking to get medallion status, you also earn medallion qualifying miles on every purchase on the full purchase. So, Patrick, I think you purchased a trip a few years ago before this was in place. But had this new policy been in place, you would have been gold medallion just on your trip to Hawaii. So this is a pretty good way to earn status with Delta if you chase status like I do. I do too. Using that promotion, I've looked at a couple of hotels on Oahu. This is for the dates of December 1st for five nights. Salt Lake City Honolulu round trip. Now this is on the Delta non-stop. It is in main cabin. Uh so there are some lower fares if you want to fly in the basic economy, flying connecting flights or on another airline. But I thought I'd just use those Delta non-stop flights with this promotion because that's the most convenient way to get there. So in Waikiki, there are two pretty good prices here for that date. One is the Roamer House. It's a three and a half star adults-only hotel, one of the only adults-only hotels in Hawaii. It starts at $11.39 per person. One of the includes airfare? That includes airfare. Okay, good.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:55

All right.

Mark Faldmo 10:55

So five nights and airfare. And then the Hilton Hawaiian village, which is where you stayed, and one of my favorite places. The Rainbow Tower. The Rainbow Tower. Yeah. Four and a half star hotel from $1379 per person. And then just because we talked about the courtyard North Shore, I put that in. It's a three and a half star, although it has recently been renovated. I think it's a four, four and a half star, although, because it's a courtyard that doesn't have some of the amenities required to get that higher star rating. But that starts at $17.89 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:31

So it might be $400 more per person, but it's an entirely different vacation on the North Shore. Yeah, it is.

Mark Faldmo 11:38

You know, a lot of people would look at that and say, well, that's a lot more expensive. Yeah. But it's location, and I think the quality of the hotel, the activities it offers, the local cultural immersion, the fact that you can walk across the street to the beach. And almost every time I've done that, it's morning, noon, or evening, I've been the only one on that beach.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:00

Yeah, it's a well kept secret. And then there's that beach about, I don't know, half a mile, third of a mile just to its south. That is a phenomenal beach. Is that the one you're talking about?

Mark Faldmo 12:11

It is, yeah, that one. Uh, or just literally across the street from the beach, probably 75 yards uh from the main entrance of the hotel is a great beach. So there's no parking lot for it. There's just houses there in between. So that's why no one's on that beach. Because that's why no one knows it's there. Oh, that's even better. I've been doing it wrong. Although you're probably talking about Hookie Lau Beach, which is just down the way, smaller parking lot. It's a great beach too.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:41

Yeah. Now I know it that it's hot right now, very hot actually. I know it's summer, but it has been really quite hot. Picture in your head when it's 30 degrees here that you are going to Oahu to go on vacation. Airfare, five nights. Take advantage of those offers. Mark has made those exclusively for our listeners. Call him in his office during the break. Just get the conversation started. No obligation. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717 is how to get a hold of Mark. When we come back, it is time. The infamous Just Cruising segment is next. We'll be talking about Carnival's massive change to its beverage program. And we're going to tell you how to get free airfare to Europe when you book a river cruise with Avalon Waterways. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or radio show continues. Alongside my friend Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing this to be part of your weekend. We will be right back.

Todd Carlson 13:49

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.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 15:06

Broadcasting from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at least Mark is. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio

Cruise Segment Kicks Off

Patrick Wiscombe 15:15

show. This is the infamous Just Cruising segment. This is the segment of the show that has made us famous around the country. If you love cruise news and you love cruise deals, this is the segment of the show for you. And we have some really good offers for listeners this week. But first, let's get to the cruise news headlines. And I thought this was a pretty significant development that Carnival Cruise Line just made a massive change to its beverage program. I don't have the details. What do we know about this? And this is good, in my opinion.

Mark Faldmo 15:52

They are changing from Pepsi to Coca-Cola. Oh. So studio audience has something to say about that one. Yeah, but that is a good move, in my opinion. I don't drink much soda anymore, but three years ago, this would have been very, very welcome when I drank several sodas a day. So I I much prefer Coca-Cola products than Pepsi products.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:16

Nikki and I, for the 4th of July, we decided to go to original pancake house for breakfast. And I ordered a Diet Coke, and they said, Is Diet Pepsi okay? And I said, No. Yep. No, it's not okay. Anyway, so Patrick had water. Water, yeah. Viking has created or is creating extended voyages for the years 2026 and 2027. Anything with

Viking Bets On Longer Voyages

Patrick Wiscombe 16:42

extended voyages, I'm okay with.

Mark Faldmo 16:44

This is on their ocean product. The trend is people are taking less vacations but longer vacations. This year has kind of been the trend. And so Viking, what they've done, they've created 14 different itineraries in 2026 and 2027 that combine two popular itineraries into one. So these range from 15 to 36 day voyages. Oh wow. They're mainly in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Mediterranean. But it really does kind of take in what people are looking for in these longer cruises. One is called Iconic Western Europe. It's 19 days between London and Barcelona. One called Viking Homelands, which is basically Norwegian fjords, 22 days from Stockholm to Amsterdam, Iceland, Norway, British Isles, 29 days from Reykjavik, Iceland to London. And then there's several others in there in the Mediterranean. So this is good. And if you're interested in these, you should look at booking them right away. Oh yeah. I remember we did a story a few weeks ago that Viking was like 98% full for 2025. And they're already like 60% full for 2026. So now is the time to book one of these longer cruises on Viking.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:06

Let me give out the office number quickly. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717 is how you get a hold of Mark. Now I know he's on the air right now. Just leave a message, he'll call you back, or someone from the office will. That's correct. This is good news since we lived here in the West, Salt Lake City specifically, that Royal Caribbean is opening cruises here on the West Coast.

Royal Caribbean Expands West Coast

Patrick Wiscombe 18:32

I'm going to assume that that's either San Francisco, Los Angeles, or San Diego, or perhaps all three.

Mark Faldmo 18:39

A lot of cruise lines have really struggled with the West Coast, although we're seeing more and more move ships to the West Coast. So Royal Caribbean, for the longest time, has had the navigator of the seas, sailing round trip from Los Angeles. This past May, uh, which we talked about when I went on it, they added the ovation of the seas. In October, they're going to swap the ovation out for the quantum of the seas, but they are adding a third ship to the west coast, which will be from San Diego. So starting in October of 2026, the serenade of the seas will be sailing round trip San Diego. So they will be the largest cruise line on the West Coast. They have three, four, six, seven, and eight-day cruises, I believe, to Mexico from all of these ports.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:29

I know this isn't on the rundown, but if you check your email right now, Mark, because I know that you and I get the same emails. Did you get the uh the quick travel deal, Generations Riviera Maya? I did. I think this is worth mentioning, even though we're just getting it.

Mark Faldmo 19:45

Yeah, let's put that in. So Generations Riviera Maya is a family-oriented hotel, all-inclusive hotel in Cancun

Cancun Family Deal Kids Stay Free

Mark Faldmo 19:54

area. I've stayed there several times. They have anywhere from studio to three bedroom units. And the deal that they're offering right now is children up to 17-year-olds stay free with the minimum of three nights hotel. And this is for travel between now and the end of October. It's also combinable with their more inclusive deal, which provides free access to their themed water park, their beach club at Meroma Beach. Oh, you like that a lot. I do. I love their beach club there. Yeah. And also Wave Runner, snorkeling, and then also free transfers. So this is a great deal if you're looking to take a family vacation this fall uh to Cancun. By the way, it is also combinable with that same offer that we had with Delta Vacations, the $250 off bonus sky miles, all of that.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:54

Was that the what we talked about last segment?

Mark Faldmo 20:57

Yeah, last segment for Hawaii. So that is also good to Mexico. So that's a good deal. Yeah. So this is a great family deal, probably one of the best family deals I've seen in a while. Because this is usually a relatively pricey resort. So to get those kids free, it's a great deal.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:18

Always in the infamous just cruising segment, we have the cruise deal of the week, and we are talking about Avalon Waterways. This is river cruising in Europe. And

Free Airfare Europe River Cruises

Patrick Wiscombe 21:27

the promotion that we have for our listeners that Mark was working on really for about the past month, and we can finally bring it to you now, is uh free airfare to Europe when you book an Avalon Waterways cruise. That's the promotion. Let's talk about that for a minute.

Mark Faldmo 21:46

For select 2026 dates, and we'll go over some different itineraries here in a minute. You'll get free airfare, or you can choose up to 1,500 per person off on select dates. The first river that I'll mention, and this is called Danube Dreams, and it's Budapest to Vilsolfen in Germany. This is an eight-day cruise. The Danube is one of my favorite rivers to cruise on there. Just the history. I would choose the Danube over any river, time and time again. Free airfare for that. Next one is the Romantic Rhine, which this is Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland. Again, eight days. This one, the free airfare is good on select dates, July through November. November. If you like castles, the Rhine is packed with castles. You just cruise past castles. Would that be something to own a castle? It would. Yeah. You know, some of these excursions you go up and in fact, the picture on my website is this castle that we went to in Austria. And it's just this guy's hunting lodge. A guy lives on it. He lives in the guest house of the castle. And then they do the tours of how the castle worked years ago. It's very interesting and worth the visit.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:59

Have you seen that show Castle Impossible? It's about the girl and the guy. I think it's her grandpa who owned a castle in France. Now I know that we're talking about a different part of Europe, but they're renovating the castle. Have you seen that show? I've seen the previews for that. Yeah. Looks very interesting. I'll be in my castle, and I've got a moat around it. Yeah. Are there any other departures, Mark?

Mark Faldmo 23:26

Yeah, one more that I'd like to highlight, and it's called Magnificent Europe, which is Amsterdam de Budapest. So it combines the Rhine and the Danube. So if you're looking for the free airfare on that, and that's select June through October dates. One thing that's really nice about these, and I don't have the specific dates, but some of the departures are as low as 3,500 per person, which includes the airfare to Europe. Wow. They do range 35 to 4,500 for those shorter eight-day cruises, but it is a great deal if you're looking to take a river cruise. Did you work with TJ on that offer? I did, yeah. TJ's been a good partner in helping us get deals for the show and giving us information for the show as well.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:11

So he got the permission he needed to so we could finally offer that.

Mark Faldmo 24:15

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:15

That's something you've been working on for a while. It is. Yeah. Those are phenomenal offers. Call Mark in his office as soon as we get off the air here. He'll return your phone call, or somebody from the office will. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also get the phone number and many of the specials right on Blue Planet Vacations.com. You can

Final Travel Mindset And Sign-Off

Patrick Wiscombe 24:43

listen to this show again tomorrow morning right here on this radio station and around the country. We air at the same time each and every week on every single radio station. And you can also pick up the podcast at that same time at inside travel talk.com. Inside travel talk.com. You can literally just stream the show there. But if you are a podcaster, all of the links to the show are on inside travel talk.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. Don't put things off. You'll make memories that will last a lifetime, and you'll forget what the price was. Thank you so much for listening. We will talk to you again next week. Have a great week.

Todd Carlson 25:42

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.