Just Cruising Segment Kickoff

Patrick Wiscombe 1:03

Nikki and I were on it in April, and it was an absolutely beautiful ship. Honestly, one of the most beautiful ships I've ever been on. This is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, and radio show, and it is time, always at the bottom of the hour, the infamous just cruising segment where it's only about the cruise news and it's only about cruise deals. So if you are a cruise person, this is going to be your favorite part of the show each and every week at this time. But

River Cruise Cabins Compared

Patrick Wiscombe 1:37

let's first get to the cruise news headlines. I saw this news story that was comparing cabins on river cruise ships for each of the major cruise lines. What were the conclusions of the article, Mark?

Mark Faldmo 1:50

There are several really good river cruise lines out there. This article mentions seven river cruise lines that are out there. But I want to to narrow down kind of on the the three most that were are probably most familiar to people. And the first one is Viking. Yeah, man, they've been marketing hard lately. They have, yep. And so I guess I'll take a step back. All of the river cruise ships have to go through the locks on the rivers. So all of the river cruise ships can only be a maximum length and width. So they're all essentially the same size. They also have to fit under bridges. So they they all have those length, width, and height parameters. With that in mind, Viking is the first one we'll talk about. A typical Viking ship has between 190 and 230 passengers, and their kind of lead-in balcony stateroom is 135 square feet. Now there is a one lower category than this, which doesn't have a balcony because it's actually below the water. So there's a window that's above the water. But for purpose of this story, we'll just stick with kind of the apples to apples story. So their lead-in 135 square feet. And then the next cruise line we'll talk about is Avalon Waterways, which is tied for my favorite with AMA waterways. Avalon waterways for the comparable ship, they have about 160 passengers on board their ships and a little bit larger room. So for room similar location to Viking, their cabin space is 172 square feet. And we talked about with TJ a few weeks ago. The thing I like about Avalon is their beds face the water. Yeah, that's a big deal. They don't have any like real balcony space. Your whole wall just opens up. And so that's why it gives you that extra, what is that, 50 square feet inside the room, because there's they're not taking space from your room for the balcony, but then your whole wall opens up to turn your whole cabin into a balcony.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:01

So basically it's kind of uh the infinite veranda where half the wall comes down and you just hang out on your at the foot of your bed, basically. Yes. I know that you like balconies, but honestly, the infinite veranda makes the room larger, and you still get the fresh air. Yeah. And they also provide chairs. You mentioned AMA waterways. How do they come in?

Mark Faldmo 4:23

AMA waterways, again on ships about the same size, they have 150, 160 guests on board, and their cabins start at 210 square feet, so larger than both of those. Whoa. The interesting thing about AMA is they have both. They have a balcony and a French balcony in the cabin. So they have the bed, and close to the bed, they have a balcony with chairs where you can go out, close the door, or the other half of the room is a French balcony where the door opens and you can sit in nice comfy chairs and look out the window. So they kind of have it divided, so half balcony and half French balcony, which is interesting, but they do give you bigger rooms for that.

Six Questions To Ask Before Booking

Patrick Wiscombe 5:09

All right. So this naturally begs the question what questions should our listeners ask you when planning a river cruise?

Mark Faldmo 5:18

So when planning a river cruise, it is a different experience than an ocean cruise. Oh, yeah. And so here are the six questions or things to consider. The first thing is what destinations and rivers does the cruise cover, and what unique experiences do each offer? And so you really have to look at your objectives are for the cruise. For instance, the Rhine River is a scenic cruise where you see castles, you do get culture in there, but you're really immersed in castles on the Rhine River. The Danube is more history, and so you see more historical sites. While all of the river crews kind of cross-mingle this, that's kind of what each river is known for. And they do provide unique experiences, you know, like on the Danube in Milk, going to the monastery in Melk is probably one of my favorite experiences in all the river cruising I've done.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:18

One of the questions that comes to my mind, what type of accommodations are available and how do state room sizes and amenities vary from river cruise company to river cruise company?

Mark Faldmo 6:29

You might want the very best overall price on the size of cabin doesn't matter. Right. Which in some cases that's a great thing to do because what you see on the river cruises are amazing.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:40

It's a completely different experience than ocean cruising. Completely different. Another question that I've asked of you what's included with the cruise price? Meals, excursions, drinks, Wi-Fi, etc.

Mark Faldmo 6:53

There are several. There are probably nine or ten river cruise companies out there. But you do have to look at that price and really quantify what it includes. Generally, all the meals are included. But depending on the cruise line, I was looking at a cruise line for someone the other day. Maybe it was a European cruise line. They wanted to go on something like that, but the excursions were not included and they were additional. So on Viking, AMA, and Avalon that we just talked about, excursions are included. Now, some of those cruise lines do offer extra experience or additional excursions that you can purchase, but the main excursions are included. Also, drinks is one. Are drinks included all the time? A lot of cruise lines are just included at mealtime. And then if if you go not at a mealtime, you then pay per drink. That's something to ask so you're not stuck with a bill that you weren't expecting at the end of the cruise.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:52

Another frequently asked question that you get is what is the typical daily itinerary? And is there much free time to just explore on your own?

Mark Faldmo 8:03

That's a really good question. And it's good for people to know how river cruises operate. Now, I'm just gonna speak from my experience on Viking Avalon and AMA waterways. Typically, what they do is each evening before dinner they have little kind of cocktail get together. Um, but the cruise director will go over what's gonna happen the next day. They'll try and get a good number of what activities you want to go on because you you do get your choice of a few different activities and also different activity levels. You know, so as we've talked about, Patrick, the bikes on the boat. So some people want to go on the bus, some people want to take the bike tour. That's what they'll do the night before each day. And then you'll go on your activities that day. Typically it'll be a morning activity back for lunch, and then free time in the afternoon or an optional additional cost activity in the afternoon, and then back in time for dinner. And then again before dinner, you'll have that same pre-dinner cocktail hour where they'll go over the next day's activities. And on these tours, they do give plenty of time for shopping to explore the destination on your own. If you don't want to do the tours, you just let the guide know and you can go explore the whole day independently. Okay. The last river cruise I was on since I'd been to I just mentioned milk, since I'd been there a couple of times. Heather and I just went off and shopped and explored the little village rather than take the pre-arranged tour by the cruise line.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:38

So there is the flexibility, basically, is what we're seeing. We've already kind of talked about shore excursions, if they're included or not, or optional, but I do want to talk about what kinds of activities and maybe some cultural experiences can listeners expect.

Mark Faldmo 9:55

They really do try and get you immersed in these little villages. And some of my favorite things on river cruises, they'll do kind of like local favorite things. One thing is we went to this hunting castle right on the Danube River. There's a small group of 20 of us, and the owner actually still lived in it. He he lived in the the guest quarters, and we went and walked through how the kitchen worked, and it's set up like it was back in medieval times. We kind of went through all the houses of this hunting lodge and then had a local performance by a local quartet. So you do get special experiences like that that the average traveler is not gonna get. And river cruises is where I've had the most of these experiences. They're just little special things, either included or at an additional cost that you can get.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:47

What is the average group size, the demographic of river cruisers?

Mark Faldmo 10:51

River cruising typically average age is older, 55 to 65. Although since COVID, that age has really come down. A lot of younger people are opting to do that just because river cruises are so unique and you get to go to places that you normally wouldn't go. Your excursion groups are going to be between 20 and 30 passengers. Oh, so much smaller big groups, much smaller. And you know, a lot of those places because they're going to smaller villages, they do want to break you up so you're not overwhelming the villages. And so there are some places where you can only go in in groups of 10 or 12. And so they'll break you up into smaller groups like

Deal Of The Week Savings

Mark Faldmo 11:32

that.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:33

That leads us to the cruise deal of the week, always in this segment of the show. And I talked about it at the top of the hour. I've talked about it at the bottom of the hour. Let's help our listeners save quite a bit of money. Let's do it. Let's start with Alma Waterways.

Mark Faldmo 11:49

Alma Waterways right now has a promotion of up to $2,000 off river cruises. That is on Select Cruises. It says this fall, but there's a limited availability this fall. So next spring, so spring of 2026 and spring of 2026, up to $2,000 off. And this is for any of their destinations. We've mainly talked Europe here, but it's also good for Vietnam and Cambodia and also the Nile in Egypt.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:34

And how much can you save per cabin? That was the $2,000, right? That's up to $2,000. Oh wow. Okay, what about Avalon Waterways?

Mark Faldmo 12:42

What's their promotion? And then Avalon Waterways is uh free airfare, or you can opt to save up to $1,500 per person. So it's your choice. So it's your choice. So if you had frequent flyer miles to use over there, you could opt for the $1,500 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:59

What is your favorite river cruise? And what itinerary would you recommend for a first-time cruiser?

Mark Faldmo 13:05

For a first-time cruiser, I would say the Danube River, the upper Danube River is perfect. That's Budapest sails between Budapest and Germany. My favorite river cruise that I've done is the Lower Danube, sailing between Budapest and Romania. We're sailing through all the former communist countries and getting that perspective of what it was like to live behind the Iron Curtain. Although some of the guides are younger these days, so they don't know that experience. Yeah. If you're lucky enough to get an older guide, it's very interesting.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:40

That's always been fascinating to me, not from a good standpoint, but just what was it like? It's not that I don't want the younger guides. I want probably an older one on that one. Tell us what your daily life was like. What was their experience? I don't want that experience to be lost to history. Yeah. Yeah. And so I mean that's why that itinerary was so fascinating to me. Absolutely fascinating. Sailing on a European river cruise. How many times have you done it, Mark? About 12 times I've been on a river cruise. If you are interested in river cruising, call Mark in his office at the break. Just get the conversation started. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And you can also go to Blue PlanetVacations.com. When we come back, we've got Mark's travel tips. And we're going to tell you how one person received an $800 fine for traveling with an apple. No, we're not we're not joking. That is next with the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show continues. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. He is Mark Faldmo. We will be right back.

Todd Carlson 14:52

Explore your world. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at Insidetravalk.com. We'll be right back. This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by Star Kippers. For over 30 years, Star Kippers has offered unique, authentic tollship sailing experiences featuring creative itineraries throughout the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Central America. To book your unique Star Kippers sailing adventure, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or Blue Planet Vacations.com. This is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's best travel advisors. Call the show right now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:15

Each and every weekend, we get to spend our time with you. And a sincere thank you to just allowing us to be part of your weekend

Apple Fines And TSA Surprises

Patrick Wiscombe 16:24

wherever you are listening to the show, whether it's in the gym, in the car, however you consume radio and podcast content. Thank you. Coming up in this final segment of the show, we have Mark's travel tips. We've also got the this story about an $800 fine if you're traveling with an apple. And we're talking about the fruit. And we're going to talk about don't do this as a baggage hack. And people, for heaven's sakes, please. Quit using your Costco card as a sufficient replacement for real ID if you're headed to the airport. I don't know why I find that so funny, but I guess if you have a Costco card and it's got your picture on it and it says your name, I can see why people are doing it, but that's not real ID. All right, Mark, let's get back to the travel news headlines as we wrap up this week's show. There was a uh plane passenger who was stopped by TSA and received an almost $800 fine for traveling with a piece of fruit and Apple. And no, it's not the tech company.

Mark Faldmo 17:33

This story says TSA, but I think it's actually customs. Oh, it's okay. That would make more sense. That did it. So when you're coming back from any country to the US and going to any country, you're not allowed to bring fruit into that country. And so this traveler claims she forgot it was there. But there's a place when you walk into the baggage claim area, there's usually a little bin to throw all your fruit into. And sometimes they call it the amnesty area. The amnesty area. Yep. And then past that, there's a customs officer with a canine that smelled her apple and pulled her out and said it's an $800 fine, and you could be banned from traveling. Oh boy. Luckily, they were nice and didn't actually pass on that fine. But just be aware, there are certain things you can't travel with. Also, something interesting, kind of unrelated note. If you're traveling with chocolate or fudge, pack that in your checked bags. The other day, coming back from Los Angeles, I had a thing of fudge, and I only carried with carry-ons, but fudge to an x-ray machine looks a lot like C4. And so anytime you're traveling with something that dense, they are gonna need to check it. So it costs me an extra five minutes at the TSA security checkpoint for traveling with fudge in a carry-on.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:56

I'm sorry, but that makes me laugh. It looks an awful lot like that. That's what they said. They're like, hey, yeah, we have to check. You know, can you imagine being on the other side of the screen and going, we have a potential security issue? Mark Faldmo is carrying C4 fudge. Yeah. Oh my word. And see, you're the kind of person who prides himself on getting through customs quickly and easily. Basically, look at the camera, turns green, you go.

Mark Faldmo 19:22

Yeah. I've also been stopped coming back from a previous meeting in Las Vegas. One of the pillow gifts was a thing of casino chips in a bag. And those are dense as well. And so they knew what it was, they rolled their eyes and says we still have to check it. So just be careful of some of those things if you want to get through quickly.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:45

The last travel news headline for this week is TSA is urging people to stop using their Costco card as a real ID

Costco Card Is Not Real ID

Patrick Wiscombe 19:55

replacement. I get it, but just stop it.

Mark Faldmo 20:01

Just go get a real ID. Well, I just pulled out my Costco card to see how people could mistake this. And I see right off the bat why people say because it says Costco wholesale gold star member. Oh my word, I didn't even think about it. Yeah, so we've found saying your ID has to have the gold star on it. And so this came from, let's see, where was this? Chicago. That they're getting a significant number of passengers trying to get through security using their Costco card as their real ID because it has a gold star on it.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:36

Oh my word, I didn't even think about that angle. Yeah, so Okay, all right, I stand corrected. I'm sorry, I've been chastising people this entire hour.

Mark Faldmo 20:45

Yep, I get it. It's not official government ID, so it won't work, but it does have all the requirements, at least outwardly, that you need for a real ID, but it won't work.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:57

Go get a real ID from the your department of motor vehicles. DMV. Yes. By the way, I I heard DMV, Department of Motor Vehicles, but I've also heard MVD, Motor Vehicle Department. I've heard it both ways. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. One last story before we take off for this week. I want to talk about the limits of artificial intelligence, AI when

AI Travel Planning Limits

Patrick Wiscombe 21:21

planning travel. This just makes me laugh. I love AI, but there are some real limitations when it comes to travel.

Mark Faldmo 21:28

This last conference I was at, I said it shouldn't be called AI because it's not really intelligence. He said when you start typing in like Chat GPT, that computer starts analyzing every keystroke and everything and getting millions and millions of options to spit out what it thinks you need. He says it's amazing technology, but has severe limits when it comes to travel planning. I'll just say this as a disclaimer. I am a travel advisor. I wholly believe that the the human touch, human connection is the best way to plan a vacation. Agreed. Yes, there are some things you can do online or on your own, but with a travel advisor that does it every day, day in and day out, has connections to all sorts of places. You won't run into these issues that AI travel planning does. So this was a New York Times travel columnist that put AI to the test for a trip to New York, found that Chat GPT messed up. Walking times recommended Broadway shows that didn't exist. When planning a more complex itinerary that involved flights, hotels, it recommended a hotel and said just take a taxi at a time when there were no taxis around. When traditionally there's no taxis around, and you know, said it left them in the snow walking to the hotel for 20 minutes because Chat GPT just messed up on travel planning. So AI has some great tools. But again, I would just say stick with a real person. Call a travel advisor. Hopefully it's me. But if it's not me, there's hundreds of great travel advisors around that you can use to plan your trip.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:09

So I face the same thing. So professionally during the week, I do real estate investing. And there is nothing, and and this includes travel. So I'm tying travel and real estate investing together here. Artificial intelligence, awesome, but it does not replace the human touch. You nailed it. If they have questions, they want to call somebody, they want to text somebody. They just need that human touch, like you said. Yes. It's mandatory when you travel. Because sometimes you just don't know what to do. Yeah.

Mark Faldmo 23:40

And AI doesn't know what to do either. And it's not your friend. But it doesn't. Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:46

I stand corrected on the Costco ID. I think I may have embarrassed myself on that one.

Mark Faldmo 23:52

The gold star, of course. The gold star member. I didn't notice it until I pulled out my Costco card. Yeah. Oh, that makes me laugh.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:02

Okay. Take advantage of everything that we've talked about. The airfare, round trip airfare out of Salt Lake for $399.

How To Book And Wrap Up

Patrick Wiscombe 24:11

Hawaii. Tahiti. Call Mark in his office. Get the conversation started. Quit putting your vacation off because you never know when life is going to change on you. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And just a big thank you for listening. Remember, you can listen to the show again tomorrow morning, Sunday at 11 o'clock and around the country, right here on this radio station, and you can stream, download, and subscribe to the podcast right on inside traveltalk.com. If you're not a podcaster, you can literally just press play and let it stream on your device. Or you can subscribe to the podcast. We are on all of the major podcast platforms. All you have to do is hit subscribe. Okay, it's your turn. Get out and explore the world while you can because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. You just never know. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally, and thank you so much for listening. Truly, thank you. We don't have a business, we don't have a show, we don't have anything without you. If you have travel-related questions, call Mark 888-718-7717. Have a terrific week. We'll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday.

Todd Carlson 25:33

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.