Cruise Talk Kickoff

Patrick Wiscombe 1:19

The beautiful horn. Rainer's ship Nikki and I were on it in April. Beautiful. Just a great cruise experience going out of Port of Miami. Mark, I think they've moved that ship, what, up to is it Port Canaveral or is it Fort Lauderdale? Do you know? Port Canaveral, I believe. Yeah, okay. That sounds right. Coming up in this segment, the infamous just cruising segment. If you're just joining the show and you love cruising, you have found the perfect time to listen to the show. We will be talking about the cruise deal of the week, which is 60% off a second guest and kids sale free. That is coming up in the next few minutes.

Windstar Tahiti With Free Airfare

Patrick Wiscombe 2:04

But let's get back to the travel news headlines. I saw that Winstar is launching a free airfare offer for cruises in Tahiti. Well, first of all, who is Winstar? A lot of people probably haven't heard of them.

Mark Faldmo 2:17

Windstar operates small ships. They're known for their tall sailing ships, so they're big sailing boats, but they also have a few smaller yachts in their fleet. These are 200 passengers or less ships. And so, you know, a little bit more luxurious. These smaller ships can get to a little bit more interesting and remote ports. This is on Select 2025 and 2026 packages. So the free airfare is from Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui and it applies for departures July 2025 through the end of March 2026. Their itineraries include air, hotel stays, and transfers along with the cruise portion. They offer several different itineraries in French Polynesia, Tahiti area. The first is Dreams of Tahiti, which is a 10-day voyage through the Society Islands. So that would be Bora Bora, Morea, Hihohini, Tahiti, Rayatea, would be those islands. Those are some of your favorite islands, too. Yeah. And then they have a little bit more extensive. So Tahiti and the Tuamotu Islands, which pairs the Tuamotus with islands like Fakarava, is probably one of my favorites in the Tuamotu Islands. And then they have Tahitian Treasures, which is a 17-day voyage, which includes all of that, plus the Marquesas Islands.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:44

Knowing that you love that part of the world and the number of times that you've been there, this is right up your alley.

Mark Faldmo 3:49

Yeah, it is. And free airfare, that's saving you 1,500 or more per person. So you're getting a great cruise on a small luxury ship and free airfare.

Hurricane Season Risks For Cruisers

Patrick Wiscombe 3:59

The Atlantic hurricane season is officially in swing. There's no storms as of this conversation. NOAA, which is the national oceanic atmosphere, and I forgot what the other thing was. Administration? Administration, probably. Yeah. We'll just call it NOAA. NOAA is predicting an above-normal 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. Always something to consider if you're cruising in that part of the world during this time of the year. So they're saying above normal.

Mark Faldmo 4:29

They're giving a 60% chance of an above-normal season. They're predicting between 13 and 19 name storms of those six to ten will become hurricanes. Then they're kind of hedging their bet there's a 30% chance of a normal hurricane season. So they're kind of given you know both predictions there.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:52

Isn't that math?

Mark Faldmo 4:54

Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:54

60% for bad, but uh about 30 for this, and then 10 for well, whatever. Yeah.

Princess Plans Antarctica Scenic Cruising

Patrick Wiscombe 5:00

Princess is unveiling their 2026-2027 voyage featuring Antarctic wonders and more. What details do we have on that?

Mark Faldmo 5:11

They're actually unveiling a whole season in South America and Antarctica. They have six departures ranging from 15 to 33 days on the royal class ship, the Majestic Princess, with overnight experiences in the Antarctic peninsula. For cruise lines, especially the ones that sail the larger ships, kind of comes and goes. But this is a great way to at least see Antarctica. Now, because of the size of the ship, you don't actually get off the ship on Antarctica. They're just kind of scenic sail past. So you're not gonna go on land on this one. You're not gonna you're not gonna go on land on any of the big cruise lines, but they are very popular, especially a lot of the scenic cruising that they do. You know, just that area of the world, the southern tip of South America, is beautiful. You know, these cruises go through the Beagle Channel, Glacier Alley. That would be spectacular. You've said how much you've enjoyed Glacier Bay. Yeah. Glacier Alley is several more glaciers and larger glaciers than in Glacier Bay. Wow. Uh so you know, just hanging in tidewater glaciers to see. These are now on sale, November of 2026 to January of 2027 is when these start. They sell out pretty fast. So if you are interested in one of these sailings, give the planet vacations a call and we can look at these sailings and get you pricing.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:37

These are smaller ships, these aren't the gigantic cruise ships, correct?

Mark Faldmo 6:40

These are larger ships. Oh, so these are larger ships. Yes. So the the majestic princess is just over 3,500 guests. Oh, big. Okay. It's a larger ship. And that's why they don't stop because they're too big. You could never get everyone ashore with no docking facilities. And their regulations by ship size is because I think only a hundred people at a time can be off the ship on Antarctica, is the regulation. So you could never get a ship of 3,500 passengers to meet that requirement.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:12

I'm assuming that this ship would not go through the Drake Passage.

Mark Faldmo 7:16

These are all round trip Buenos Aires for the most part, so they would not go through the Drake Passage. There are other cruise lines that if you do want that experience of going through the Drake Passage, that go Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile. I've personally not done that, but I've had a couple clients and said it was a fun experience to go through the Drake Passage.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:37

It was uh up and down. I've seen some footage of going through the Drake Passage, and I realized that the weather changes, but I was like, wow, if that's how big those waves can get, yikes. Yeah. Okay, so not going through there. Not on these ones, yes.

Royal Caribbean Deal And West Coast Ships

Patrick Wiscombe 7:54

Let's get to the cruise deal of the week, which is always in this segment of the show, the infamous just cruising segment. You're getting back from Mexico. You did a three-day cruise on ovation of the seas, but while you were there, you found out about Royal Caribbean's deals of 60% off second guest and kids sail free.

Mark Faldmo 8:13

So that deal is good fleet wide on Royal Caribbean. It's not destination specific. 60% off the second guest, or effectively 30% off for the cabin, and then kids sail free on select sailings for Royal Caribbean.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:29

Royal Caribbean has added a second ship to the West Coast. Was that ovation of the seas, the ship that you were on?

Mark Faldmo 8:36

Yep, that's the one I was just on. I was on that celebration of adding that second ship for the last few years. They've had the Navigator of the Seas, which does a combination of three, four, and seven-day Mexican Baja or Mexican Riviera cruises this week. Started Ovation of the Seas, the ship that I just got off of, which does three, five, and six-day Mexican Riviera cruises through September. And then in October, the Quantum of the Seas is gonna come and do three, four, five, and six-day Mexican Baja or Riviera cruises. Royal Caribbean is really going all in on those shorter cruises. And so now they have these newer, way more modern ships doing these shorter cruises. You know, for me it's kind of exciting to see a ship like this doing the short cruises out of Los Angeles. The reason why I like that is some people wonder if cruising is for them. And that three and four-day cruise is the perfect kind of test run to see if you like cruising. Typically, you would do that on one of those older ships that didn't have all the bells and whistles, and it probably would turn you away more than get you excited for cruising. But now with ovation and quantum and navigator being there, you know, navigator is probably the cruise ship that families would enjoy more. It has the water slides. Quantum and ovation have really good swimming pools, hot tubs. They don't have water slides, but they have other things like bumper cars and all sorts of things for families to do on board.

Robot Bartenders And Onboard Surprises

Patrick Wiscombe 10:11

At the top of the hour, we were talking about robot bartenders that were mixing drinks. I'm curious how a drink order would be placed, and then the robot just goes to work. It's probably through an app. Yeah, it's through an app.

Mark Faldmo 10:23

You place it, and then it's attached to your key card, and so the robot will make it. It'll say it comes out on station one, and so it mixes it up, and then you just scan your key card, and the little conveyor belt brings you your drink.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:38

Was that fun to watch? It were there any complaints from people going, yeah, it's not what I ordered, or at least it's not a good combination of what I wanted.

Mark Faldmo 10:45

No, I I didn't hear any complaints on the drinks. Uh it was very fun to watch. I sat there for probably 30 minutes watching the process. But we were talking about the roaming piano on the elevators. Just some very interesting entertainment options on board. These shorter cruises on these newer ships. If you're unsure about cruising, it'd be a great way to see what cruising

Ensenada Highlights And Catalina Stop

Mark Faldmo 11:09

is about.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:10

You mentioned that if you're new to cruising, you're not sure if it's your thing, three, four days is a good way to go. But where would you go?

Mark Faldmo 11:18

So these ones out of Los Angeles go to Ensenada and Catalina. Ensenada is very interesting. I enjoy Ensenada. I've heard some people say they really don't want to go back to Ensenada. But Ensenada doesn't really have like a lot of the ports, zip lines, and some of that adventure stuff. It's more of a culture and history place. So the two things that I find very interesting in the Ensenada area: one is a building called La Riviera, and it was an old hotel and casino that was built in the 1930s during Prohibition. And so this is where Hollywood went to to get their alcohol. To get their alcohol. It was frequented by Charlie Chaplin, Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball. So it kind of has that Hollywood history connected to it. Ten years after it opened, Mexico then prohibited gambling, which so the hotel was only open for 10 years. Everyone came for the casino and alcohol, and then when the casino shut down, I guess the alcohol wasn't enough to you know, by then prohibition was over uh in the US as well. We had a cultural presentation there where they did kind of different dances from different regions of Mexico.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:35

Oh, so you actually went in for a presentation.

Mark Faldmo 12:38

I thought all of this stuff was on the ship. This was presentation in that La Riviera, the old casino. The famous thing in Ensenada is La Bufadora, which is a blowhole. And so you go right on the ocean, the waves hit lava tunnel, just perfect, and it shoots up like a geyser.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:57

Oh, I've probably seen something like that on social media then.

Mark Faldmo 13:01

There are only four or five blowholes around the world, and Ensenada does have one. It's very interesting to get to because the buses park at one end, or the parking lot is at one end, and then you have to walk a little over a quarter mile down to the blowhole, but it's all shops and vendors. You get people, hey, come see my shop. And so you get haggled a lot on your way there. Oh, yeah. Which culturally is very interesting. Personally, I don't like that. Have you been there? La Bufadora?

Patrick Wiscombe 13:31

Yeah, I've been there a few times, and Heather and I went there on Monday. You just have to have a strong will to say no, I'm not interested, and say it over and over and over.

Mark Faldmo 13:40

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:40

As long as you can say no and mean it, they'll quit bothering you.

Mark Faldmo 13:43

But I'll tell you, I did buy things down there. Oh, you did? There's a really good taco shop there. And then I bought bags of churros.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:54

Bags of churros.

Mark Faldmo 13:56

Probably the best churros I've had. Yeah, they come in a in a bag with a six or seven churros.

What A Short Cruise Really Costs

Mark Faldmo 14:02

What is the cost for a three and four-day cruise then? I looked in November. So this would be on the navigator of the seas. So four-day Mexican Baja cruise, November 3rd was the date. It goes to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:18

You keep talking about Catalina Island. Is that different than Catalina? I'll say off the coast of Los Angeles.

Mark Faldmo 14:27

So this is the Catalina Island just off the coast of Los Angeles. Oh, so you do go there. You go there, yeah. And then Ensenada, Mexico. So that on the Navigator of the Seas, an inside cabin starts at $390. So under $100 per person per day. Wow. And a balcony cabin starts at $656 per person per day. A great way to get your feet wet into cruising if you're unsure of cruising.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:18

That's a good way to test drive.

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Patrick Wiscombe 15:20

I hadn't thought about test driving a cruise, and it's kind of nice to have everything on the uh the west coast now instead of having to go to Florida almost exclusively.

Mark Faldmo 15:30

Yes, it is.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:32

And you had a great time, correct? For the three days? Yeah, great time.

Mark Faldmo 15:35

I loved it. But I love the cruise. This is, you know, again, uh over 150, probably approaching 200 cruises. And so I love it. Jeez.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:46

Call Mark in his office if you want to test drive Mexico on a three and four-day cruise. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717.

(Cont.) What A Short Cruise Really Costs

Patrick Wiscombe 15:58

When we come back, we've got the summer travel checklist. Things to do now to make your trip great. That's next. When the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or radio show continues, I'm Patrick Wiscombe. He is Mark Faldmo. We will be right back.

Todd Carlson 16:14

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 InsightTravel Talk.com. We'll be right back. 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 17:15

Your attention, please, your attention, please. Sit down. It sounds like I'm scolding you.

Call In With Your Travel Questions

Patrick Wiscombe 17:24

Hey, sit down there. Yes. We'll get to that story coming up here in just a second. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show, alongside my good friend Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your weekend. We do want to take your travel-related questions. And we do want to take your calls if you want to call the studio or text 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. We really want to answer your questions. Take advantage of our knowledge. All right. Sit down there.

Mark Faldmo 18:20

This is a new law that was recently passed in Turkey. And this kind of goes to airplane etiquette. When is the right time to stand up? This

Turkey’s Fine For Standing Too Soon

Mark Faldmo 18:29

new law is passengers that stand up before the flight is finished taxing or before it's their road's turn to the plane, face up to about a $70 fine. If the plane stops at the gate and you stand up right away, you could be fined up to about $70 in Turkey. During COVID, I took a group to Peru and they had a similar rule during COVID in Peru. And so the flight attendant would dismiss three rows at a time. So they'd walk back. And you had to stay seated until it was your turn until you were dismissed to leave. You know, I was on just my flight home from Los Angeles the other day after the cruise, someone got up in the row, someone from clear back of the plane just went rushing past everybody already standing in the aisle. Kind of annoying when that happened.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:17

Whoa, whoa. So people are already standing in the in the aisle. The guy whoever was trying to get past everyone that was standing in the aisle.

Mark Faldmo 19:24

Yeah. Trying to get off the plane. So that's crazy. Yeah. Wait your turn. If you do have a tight connection, let the flight attendant know, and they will help facilitate that. But yeah, don't just rush past.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:38

Did it create kind of a commotion on the plane? I I'm assuming it had to. I don't know how it did.

Mark Faldmo 19:43

It did a little bit.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:45

Yeah. Well, don't do that. You're right. That goes to airplane etiquette. Here is a question that I have for you while we're talking about Mark's travel tips. When is it okay to press the flight attendant call button? There are people who will press it gratuitously.

Mark Faldmo 20:01

This is

When To Press The Call Button

Mark Faldmo 20:02

an article that was written by a flight attendant, just with some general guidelines. When you should press the call button, medical emergencies, faulty seat, spilled liquids or food. When it's okay to press the call button, if you need to ask for water, if your bags are out of reach, you need help getting something out of the overhead bin, or like if you missed out on meal service or something. When it's not okay to press the call button during takeoff and landing, oh yeah, trying to upgrade your seat. You know, I I I've seen on my flight home from Los Angeles, we were upgraded to first class, and there's one person hit her call button four times during the flight. It was just random stuff.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:48

And so was she in first class as well?

Mark Faldmo 20:52

She was in first class as well. It wasn't any of these items that the this flight attendant in this article says it's okay to do. One of it was it seemed like just a chit-chat. And so no, really? You know, you should use your best judgment. Don't annoy the flight attendants by using your call attendant button out of turn.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:12

I think there was something on that list that is an appropriate time to press the flight attendant button. And this references the safety video when you leave. Like if you drop your phone between the chair, don't get the phone yourself because you could break the battery, cause a fire. I'm assuming that would be an appropriate time as well.

Mark Faldmo 21:30

Yes, and don't adjust your your seat if you drop your phone. You know, again, any of that could break the phone's battery and cause a fire. I did press my call attendant button on the flight because my screen froze. I went to look at the the map to see where we're at we were at, and it wouldn't go back. So I had to have the flight attendant reset my screen.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:51

Oh, okay.

Mark Faldmo 21:52

I hope an appropriate, although that would fall under defaulty or misbehaving seats. Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:58

So let's go over the summer travel checklist. Things to do now. Don't put it off to the last second to make your vacation great.

Summer Travel Checklist That Saves Trips

Mark Faldmo 22:07

These are kind of just basic things. First thing is triple check your passport expiration date. Oh yeah. And you know, we we've talked about this a few times on the show. I'm surprised at how many people show up with an expired passport or a passport that doesn't meet the country they're going to requirements for export validity.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:29

I don't know that I'm aware of the term export validity. What does that mean?

Mark Faldmo 22:32

Some countries require that your passport be valid for three, six, or nine months from the date of travel. If you try and fly to a country that requires your passport be valid for six months from the date of entry, and your passport expires within that, you'll be denied entry into that country. Okay. What else is on the list, Mark? The next thing is to sign up for programs. Help get you through the airport, like TSA pre-check or global entry and clear as well.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:02

Yeah, clear is a pay program per year. Clear is a pay is a month or a year?

Mark Faldmo 23:07

A year. So well, they're all paid programs. Oh yeah. But just you know, very various different things. So uh pre-check and global entry are a government program, and clear is a private company that does that. So all of those will basically get you to the front of the line.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:24

And of course, uh TSA Pre and Global Entry is just at the airport.

Mark Faldmo 23:28

And then another thing which has been in the news the last few weeks that we've talked about, check your real ID. Make sure you have the real ID or travel with your passport.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:39

Did you see long lines getting through Salt Lake City International?

Mark Faldmo 23:44

No, I didn't. Nope. It was I don't think the problems that people thought were gonna happen with real ID actually happened. So you know there were some hiccups on the first few days at certain airports, but for the most part, people are able to get through. It's still a good thing to check that you do have the real ID just in case.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:03

What about long lines coming from LAX to Salt Lake City? Well, I don't know because I also have digital ID.

Mark Faldmo 24:09

So that's basically just walk through. So at LAX, the lines are completely separate. So I couldn't even see what the general line was like.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:18

What else is on the summer travel checklist?

Mark Faldmo 24:21

Download your airlines mobile app so you can check in, you get flight alerts, flight notifications. Having the airlines mobile app is, I think, very important. And then also a lot of airlines now that offer the complimentary internet. You do have to be a member of their frequent flyer program to get that complimentary internet. Make sure you sign up for that airline's uh frequent flyer program and know your login so that you can get the free internet.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:49

Still amazes me that we can be 30 plus thousand feet in the air and in text with each other.

Mark Faldmo 24:54

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:56

Those are some great tips. By the way, if you can swing it financially, TSA pre-global entry, global entry if you're traveling internationally. I guess technically you did coming from Mexico into Los Angeles, didn't you?

Mark Faldmo 25:13

Yes, yep, on the cruise ship.

Patrick Wiscombe 25:16

So you were able to get off the cruise ship pretty quick. I was, yeah. That's gonna do it. If you want to take advantage of any of the offers that we've talked about for the last hour, call Mark in his office. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717.

Booking Links And Final Sendoff

Patrick Wiscombe 25:35

And of course, you can always go to Blue Planet Vacations.com. You can listen to this show again tomorrow morning, Sunday at 11 a.m., right here on this radio station in and around the country. And you can stream, download, and subscribe to this very radio show and podcast on inside travel talk.com. We are on all of the major podcast platforms. But let's just say that you're not a podcaster. You can just stream the show right at inside travel talk.com. Our job is done. Now it's your turn to get out and explore the world while you can because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. Live your life deliberately and live your life intentionally. Get out and see the world. It's a beautiful place. People are awesome. That's why I love doing this show with Mark. Thank you so much for listening. We will talk to you again next week.

Todd Carlson 26:39

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.