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Episode 162: The Sun Disappears but the Buffet Remains
•Patrick Wiscombe•Season 4•Episode 162
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A great cruise isn’t just about the ship, it’s about timing, ports, and knowing where the real deals are hiding. We jump into a packed travel run-down that starts with solo cruising and ends with why your airport experience can set the tone for the entire vacation.
First up, we talk solo cruise travel and a rare price point that actually makes sense: Margaritaville at Sea is running July sailings where a single traveler can cruise from Tampa for about $540. We explain what makes that unusual in a world of single supplements, and who this laid-back, social style of sailing fits best. Then we shift to big demand signals for future travel, including Holland America adding a third ship to Northern Europe in 2027 as travelers snap up Norwegian fjords, Iceland, Greenland, and Baltic itineraries years ahead.
We also explore one of the coolest niche trips out there: solar eclipse cruises. With August 12, 2026 on the calendar, cruise lines are adding capacity and building itineraries designed to chase totality at sea. Finally, we answer a listener question about Galveston, break down why it’s becoming a value-packed cruise port for Caribbean sailings, and share sample pricing on MSC and Princess. We wrap with fresh cruise news in the Southern Caribbean and a surprising topic we can’t stop thinking about: why Salt Lake City International Airport is winning over travelers nationwide.
Subscribe for weekly travel strategy, share this with a cruise-loving friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
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The entire purpose of this podcast is to help people plan and book their next vacation or give listeners ideas of where they might consider going on vacation next. Our goal is to help our listeners live their lives deliberately and intentionally. You only get one shot at life so you might as well make it count. Make memories with those that matter most to you.
TAKE ACTION: Quit talking about going on vacation, just do it. If you want more information about any of the destinations we discussed during the show, or have your own custom vacation in mind, I can help you. Please call, text, or email me.
Now, back to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show 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 TravelTalk.com. Here's Patrick and Mark.
All aboard for the infamous Just Cruising segment right here on the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, Mark Faldmo is running back into the studio. We had to print something off. Coming up in this segment of the show, we will be talking about solo cruises. I've never been on a cruise just all by myself. We'll be talking about Holland America adding a third ship to Northern Europe sailings in 2027, and we're going to give you some options if you want to go see a solar eclipse that's coming up here in this segment of
the show. But let's first get to the cruise news headlines. This part of the show is only about the cruise news and cruise deals for our listeners. Mark, let's start with Margaritaville at Sea. Now, the Paradise went in for some refurbishment. It needed it, frankly. But you're talking about Margaritaville at Sea, and I think their islandership is a really good option if you want to go on a cruise, not only with family, but also if you want to go by yourself.
Mark Faldmo
Margaritaville at Sea was recently just voted the best solo cruise single cruise line. They actually have a special for July cruises. So that's kind of close in, but they have four and five-day cruises from Tampa where a single person can cruise for just $540. Wow. Typically, how cruise lines do that is you still have to pay the full price for the cabins. So you get a little bit of a discount because you don't pay two taxes. So on most other cruise lines, this same price would be about a thousand dollars. They are offering just regular cabins for singles in July for just the regular per person rate. That's a pretty good deal. Oh, yeah, that's a great deal.
Patrick Wiscombe
The Islander is their newest ship. They've also, meaning Margaritaville at sea, they've announced a new ship, and I think that comes out in what 26 or 27? Correct.
Mark Faldmo
Okay, so 27, I believe.
Patrick Wiscombe
Okay, so this is for the Islander, which is their current flagship product for 540. Wow.
Mark Faldmo
It's their newest ship. It is an older ship, but it's new to their fleet. Been completely renovated with that Margaritaville kind of theme through it. And I think that Margaritaville theme, which I personally love, I love their hotels, enjoyed the cruise line when we did that. Anything Margaritaville, just kind of that laid-back, relaxed atmosphere, but still a little bit of luxury mixed in with that.
Patrick Wiscombe
When Nikki and I were in Grand Turks, they had a Margaritaville pool and kind of a beachside place to relax. We spent, I don't know, three or four hours there, and it was terrific. If you haven't experienced Margaritaville, kind of fun. Yes, it is. I really enjoy it.
Holland America will be adding a third ship for its Northern Europe sailing starting in about two years, 2027.
Mark Faldmo
Just a few months ago, we did a story about Holland America adding a second ship to Northern Europe during this time frame. There's such a high demand already. People are already booking out 2027 cruise vacations. Really? They have added a third ship. So the ship they added was the Zoider Dem, which will home port in Amsterdam. And then they also have the new Stand Dem, which is in Rotterdam, which was the other ship that they added. Northern Europe has become extremely popular. That is Norwegian fjords. That's Iceland, Greenland, that's Baltic cruises. It's probably one of my favorite places to cruise. Anything that includes the Norwegian fjords is probably my favorite since since that's where my family history and heritage is from. I particularly like Norway. But to also go to Finland, Estonia, Sweden, all of those places are just wonderful to visit.
I think it would be absolutely fascinating to do a solar eclipse cruise in the middle of the ocean. There's just something about how dark it gets, depending on where you are in relation to the eclipse and the shadow that it casts. It's something that is so eerie. It's kind of a special experience. And so to be in the middle of the ocean to experience an eclipse would be fun. Cruise lines are offering a solution so you can go see the eclipse somewhere in the middle of the ocean in 2026. Who was offering it?
Mark Faldmo
The last full eclipse, April 8th, 2024, kind of caught the cruise lines off guard. Oh, really? For instance, Seaborne Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages has added a ship that will go the path of that solar eclipse is going Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Russia are all going to be in the path of that eclipse. So those two cruise lines have added extra ships. And Princess Cruises added a third ship to its lineup to see the 2026 eclipse. Do we know the date on that yet? Yeah, so that date is August 12th of 2026. What's that about? 14 months from now.
Patrick Wiscombe
So cruise lines are taking a page out of the airlines saying, hey, let's go on an eclipse flight. So they're following the path of the eclipse. I'm surprised that cruise lines didn't pick up on that in 2024. That kind of surprises me.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, I think their 2026 ones filled up so fast that they're just kind of left scrambling, trying to get more voyages. And in fact, last week, Hound America launched two departures for an eclipse in 2027. So they are getting a little bit more proactive about that.
Let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is always in the infamous just cruising segment portion of the show. And we want to answer your travel-related questions. So if you have questions, call or text us while we're in the studio right now. 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. James is texting us. He wants to take his family on a Caribbean cruise in January. So this would be 2026. Is Galveston a good port to depart from? And the answer is yes. There's not that many cruise lines going out of there yet, but Galveston is a growing port. As of right now, who is cruising out of Galveston? Which companies?
Mark Faldmo
Right now, Princess, MSc, Norwegian, Carnival, and Disney. Oh, it's that money all offer sailings from Galveston in the winter of 2026. Galveston, because of the competition that's recently come in, MSc is a new entrance into that. Disney as well. They've selled out of there before, but for this year it's new. And so there's price pressures on cruises, and they are a lot lower compared to other ports. So one of his questions was is Galveston a good port to depart from? I would say any port, anytime you're getting on a cruise ship, that's a good port to depart from.
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh yeah.
Mark Faldmo
But Galveston, just because of the price, it's a really affordable place to cruise from. Now, one drawback is the port is about an hour from the airport, unlike Miami, where you could get off an airplane and be to the cruise ship in 10 minutes. And that's not the case in Galveston. But there's some pretty good itineraries that depart out of Galveston.
Patrick Wiscombe
Is MSC, do we know if they're building a brand new terminal in Galveston, like their new terminal in Miami?
Mark Faldmo
Yes, they announced that they are building a new terminal there, which will be exciting for the whole area. A new place for cruises to depart out of.
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh, wait, so that they're not only going to bring their own ships in, are they going to rent this out to some of these other cruise lines? Yeah, other cruise lines will probably use the terminal. That's amazing because their brand new terminal in Miami, first of all, it's beautiful. And can they move some people through there? I was surprised how technologically advanced the Miami port was. Yeah, it is.
Mark Faldmo
Where MSC only has one ship there, they will probably let other cruise lines use that because to use it for one day a week is that's not cost effective. Doesn't make a lot of sense. No.
Patrick Wiscombe
So with Galveston, they're gonna let other cruise lines go use their terminal, but in Miami, does MSc allow other cruise ships to use their terminal? I don't think so.
Mark Faldmo
No, because in in Miami, the main cruise lines all have their own big advanced terminals like that. So Royal Caribbean has a brand new one, Norwegian has a brand new one. All have opened in the last two to three years. Those main cruise lines have their own terminal. There is some more generic cruise terminals. That's just kind of where everybody else departs from.
Patrick Wiscombe
I know we're talking about Galveston right now, but let me go over to Miami. I thought it was amazing how MSC World America faces toward the city, meaning the front of the ship faces towards downtown Miami, and Icon of the Seas faces out toward the ocean. So they're pointing east, basically. But I thought it was kind of funny how both ships, Icon of the Seas and MSC World America, how they face each other, and they're right next to each other in the port of Miami. Seeing those two ships together is pretty breathtaking. It is two elegant big ships. You cannot comprehend how large Icon of the Seas is. Well, both of them, really. Let's get back to the uh the cruise deal of the week out of Galveston. What do we have
We've got two choices. So James wanted to go in January, and these kind of really illustrate how low the cruise prices are cruising out of Galveston. So MSC on January 4th. Actually, January 11th is a little bit less in cost. So January 11th, inside cabin, $466 per person for a seven-day cruise. Balcony cabin starts at $686 for a seven-day cruise. Okay, so I'm gonna assume that that's Western Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe
Western, yeah. That goes to Costa Maya, Roatan, and Cozumel. Especially in January. Now, I know that it's hot outside right now, so you kind of have to look forward to when it's absolutely frigid here, 30 degrees or less, and all of a sudden you're in the Caribbean going, Wow, I like being out here, not being cold. Yeah. On the MSC cruise, the prices that you just gave, which ship is that on? That's on the MSc Seascape. Okay, Seascape. And Princess, how much is that? And what ports are we visiting?
Mark Faldmo
And on what ship? Princess, this is January 25th of 2026 on the Regal Princess. The ports again from Galveston are Cosmel, Belize City, and Mahual, uh, which is Costa Maya. And I chose this one because the rates are even lower than MSC. Oh, really? So January 25th departure, an inside cabin that starts at 519. So that's a little bit higher than what MSC was. Right. But a balcony cabin starts at $609. It's so cheap.
Patrick Wiscombe
For a seven-day cruise?
Mark Faldmo
Seven-day cruise. Typically, once you add in your airfare to that, you're probably at what just the cruise only is out of Miami. Right. And so this from Galveston just kind of illustrates how good this port is.
Patrick Wiscombe
I see Galveston really starting to catch on. And it just feels like like a couple weeks ago when you were in Mexico and you were on Royal Caribbean's, was it ovation of the seas? Ovation of the Seas, yeah. I'm starting to see a consistent push west with all of the cruise lines. Is that fair to say? I mean, it's slow, but it's starting to happen.
Mark Faldmo
It is, yeah. The with Galveston coming on, which really isn't west, but it's further west than most. Right. And then all these ships coming to Southern California. I mean, Royal Caribbean also recently announced, along with their two ships in Los Angeles, they're going to have a ship in San Diego, I think, starting in 2027. So there's a push west. Who's in the 2021?
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh, Royal Caribbean. Okay. So they're going to bring another one. Yes, to San Diego. I love this. Generally speaking, you always have to go to Miami or someplace Florida. I'm going to like this idea of not having to travel that far. Although I love flying on planes, it would be nice to just go a little bit closer, a little bit shorter flight. Yes. Let me give out the call and the text line if you have travel-related questions like James did. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. So we can answer your travel-related questions. We want you to be part of the show. Take advantage of that offer out of Galveston. Call Mark in his office. Just get the conversation started. There's absolutely no obligation. And you can get the information you need. And when you're ready to book, if you decide to book, call Mark 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. When we come back, we've got Mark's travel tips. We'll wrap up the show. And we've got a little bit more cruise news that we couldn't get to in this segment. MSC is expanding their Southern Caribbean offerings with year-round sailings. And we're also going to be talking about Salt Lake Airport. Why? Not because we live here, but because it's getting praise from travelers around the country, and we're not even talking about local travelers. That is next with the Inside Travel Talk Podcast. The radio show continues. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. He is Mark Faldmo. Give us about two minutes. And the show continues. Thank you for listening. We will be right back.
Todd Carlson
Explore your world. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. We'll be right back. Yeah. Really? You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-30700. And now, here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo is the co-host of this radio show and podcast. And if you are just joining us right now, the entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation. And if you have no idea where to go, then we're going to give you some ideas of where to consider next. And we are presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. You can call their office anytime, 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And you can also find them on BluePlanetvacations.com. Coming up in this segment of the show, the final segment of the show, we will be talking about the Salt Lake International Airport. Not because we live here, but because Salt Lake Airport is getting some real love from travelers who pass through and go into Salt Lake City International. We'll get to that. But before we do, we need to continue the cruise news. Couple things we didn't get to in the last segment.
MSC Cruises is expanding their Southern Caribbean offerings with year-round sailings. What ship is that on and what are they offering?
Mark Faldmo
MSC has had a ship in the Southern Caribbean, mainly for the European clientele in the wintertime. So they are expanding this to year-round sailings, and they'll have two ships in the wintertime. This is the MSC Opera that will be year-round doing Southern Caribbean cruises. The home port for that is La Romana in Dominican Republic. Oh, really? They're going to Dominican Republic. So you start a lot further south there in the Caribbean, and they're offering seven and 14-day cruises. So it alternates kind of two different itineraries. And so you can do one seven night or you can do a combination of the two different seven-day itineraries. That highlights MSC's commitment to the North America market. Oh, yeah. All of these new ships from New York, Miami, Galveston, you know, moving a ship to Alaska next year. They're really making inroads to the North American market.
Patrick Wiscombe
Royal Caribbean is unveiling their new Southern Caribbean sailings. So, like MSc, they're going after the Southern Caribbean market, but they're going to do it a
little different. Where are they home porting the ship or ships? Last week, I believe it was.
Mark Faldmo
We talked about Panama and vacation in Panama. Royal Caribbean's Southern Caribbean cruises are going to start from Cologne, Panama, which is the other side of Panama from Panama City. So is that on the east side of the canal? I think it is. It is. Yep, it's on the technically the north side of the canal. But yes, it's in the Caribbean side. Okay. So you won't actually go through the Panama Canal on this. Cologne is the city that's basically where the Atlantic locks are at the Panama Canal. From Cologne, we'll go to Cartagena, Colombia, Kinderdike in Aruba, and Williamstead in Ciracao. Have a few days at sea on either end, and then end back in Cologne, Panama. That's a unique starting point. It is. And you know, like the MSC one we talked about, Dominican Republic, Panama would be a great place for a pre-cruise. Oh, absolutely.
Patrick Wiscombe
Yeah. Salt Lake International Airport is getting praise from travelers, not just locals like you and me. You and I are airport fans anyway. Salt Lake International has
always been under construction in our lifetime, and it's still under construction right now. But I will say, after traveling the world, after seeing different airports, I gotta hand it to Salt Lake. It is a beautiful airport, and I'm starting to see how aged and how old some of these other airports and other cities truly are.
Mark Faldmo
We just had our Asta American Society of Travel Advisors conference in Salt Lake City, and everyone's saying how wonderful the airport was. I heard that from so many people out of state. It's interesting because when the airful airport first opened, locals didn't like the airport because of how long you had to walk. But now that the main tunnel is open, it cuts off about 30% of that walk, and then you have to go to the V gates to the second terminal. So to be fair, it was a walk. Yeah, it was. So nowadays people are really liking that airport. So I think it's very interesting. The old airport was built to handle about 10 million passengers. The new airport is currently handling 24 million passengers annually. Really? When it's fully completed, it will handle 34 million passengers. Whoa. One thing that the new airport has brought to us here in Salt Lake City is six new airlines have started to fly here. Spirit, Air Canada, Avalo, Sun Country, Hawaiian, and WestJet all have started operating out of Salt Lake City. So, you know, rather than just the main airlines, Delta, American, United Southwest, we now have a lot more options flying out of Salt Lake City.
Patrick Wiscombe
Have they given a timeline for when phase three that they're in right now? Phase three and four, when is that going to be complete?
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, so they're currently in phase three and four. Phase three should finish up this fall. Phase four will be complete sometime in 2026. So when the airport is completed, it will have 96 gates. Oh wow. So this fall, uh 10 new gates will open, and then the remaining 11 gates will open sometime in 2026, which will complete the construction of the airport. What about airline lounges? This is something that's interesting because you know Salt Lake has always been pretty heavily Delta, and we've talked about some of these lounges before, but the new airport will have two Delta Sky Clubs. Oh, so they're gonna add a second one. They'll have one in the B Gates as well as a Delta One lounge, which I I think I heard is going to be in the B Gates. Have you ever been in a Delta One lounge? I have not. I have not been in a Delta One lounge.
Patrick Wiscombe
So Well, Sky Clubs are pretty good as is, so curious to see what a Delta One lounge looks like.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, I you know, I know at the Los Angeles Airport. The other day, Delta One had its own check-in area and its own security screening. And I think that's the same at JFK Airport. So you go from the security screening right into the Delta One lounge. Oh, I know what you're talking about. Pretty interesting. Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe
You pay for Delta One. You do. Yeah. It's pretty spectacular.
Mark Faldmo
And then other lounges. We're getting a Centurion Lounge, so American Express Lounge, which is for those with specific American Express credit card. And then also a United Club will be coming to the Salt Lake Airport. So the airport has really grown up.
Patrick Wiscombe
This last trip out there for me and Nikki, I was just remembering when we were pretty small. I'd pick up my uncle with my aunt at Salt Lake International, but it was much smaller and there was no freeway into the airport. I remember that whole concept of driving into an airport on a freeway or you know an expressway or something like that blew my mind. Do you remember taking the back roads to the airport?
Mark Faldmo
Like it was it was hard to get. Yeah. Yeah. I actually did that until the early 2000s when they closed those roads after 9-11.
Patrick Wiscombe
So I used to always take that backway in. It's kind of fun to see our airport grow up. I would dare say it rivals, not in terms of quantity. I mean, 96 gates is quite a bit, but compared to other larger airports, I think Salt Lake International truly is a spectacularly beautiful airport compared to other airports now.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, it it is. And you know, one of the things they really built into this is between every two gates, so really every four gates, when you look at it, there's a set of restrooms. Oh, yeah, there's always a restroom close, and there's no long lines like you get at other airports. Now you go to Atlanta, for instance. Atlanta has a terminal just as big. So one of those terminals, let's say the A concourse, yeah. Uh Atlanta is as big as Salt Lake's A concourse, but there's twice as many restrooms in Salt Lake Airport as there are in that Atlanta concourse.
Patrick Wiscombe
Well, that's gonna do it. We are done. If you want to take advantage of the cruise deals, the destination of the week, the hot travel deal of the week. If you want
to go to Mexico, save up to $200 per reservation, and the numerous cruise deals out of Galveston. Call Mark and his office as soon as we get off the air. Just get the conversation rolling, no obligation. 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717, and he will post all of these deals on the website, Blue Planet Vacations.com. That's it. We're done. You can listen to the show again tomorrow morning, Sunday at 11 a.m., right here on this radio station and around the country. Plus, you can stream, download, and subscribe to the podcast at inside travel talk.com because we are on all of the major podcast platforms. And if you just don't want to subscribe, we understand we can accommodate you there. You can just press the play button on inside travel talk.com. It is 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 and live your life intentionally. Thank you so much for listening. We will talk to you again next Saturday and Sunday. Have a great week.
Todd Carlson
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.
