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Mark’s calling in from Fiji, and that changes the whole conversation because we’re not talking theory, we’re talking what he’s seeing, booking, and learning in real time. After meeting with dozens of Fiji resorts, tour operators, and suppliers at the Fiji Tourism Exchange, he shares why Fiji deserves a serious look as a family vacation destination. We get specific about family-friendly resorts that actually support parents, including kids programs and nanny service, plus the kind of easy wins that make a trip smoother when you’re traveling with children.
We also dig into the experiences that make Fiji feel unforgettable beyond the beach: visiting a Fijian village, joining a kava ceremony, snorkeling, island hopping, and even stopping at Cloud Nine, a floating bar in the ocean that serves pizza and sandwiches. Then we run the numbers on Fiji travel deals, from Fiji Airways airfare to bundled Fiji vacation packages, and we talk about upgrades like overwater bures at the Fiji Marriott Momi Bay so you can decide what’s worth it for your style and budget.
Travel news matters too, so we cover Real ID confusion and what “secondary screening” may look like, plus a headline on camel rides near Giza and why some operators are moving away from them. To round it out, we share inspiration for travelers who want Europe without the crowds, with four strong picks: Ticino in Switzerland, Transylvania in Romania, Puglia in Italy, and Portugal, along with a Globus tours promotion that can help you save. If you like practical trip planning with real prices and real options, subscribe, share this with a travel buddy, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
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Thank you for taking the time to listen to the show. There are literally thousands of podcasts from which you can choose, yet you listened to this show.
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.
Helping you plan your next vacation. This is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com, America's Best Travel Advisors. Call us now 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsightTravelTalk.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Coming to you live from Fiji. At least Mark is. Hi there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. If you are brand new to the show, the entire purpose of this radio and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation or just simply give you ideas of where you want to vacation next. This show is presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com, and just at the very top of the show, thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. And as I mentioned in the intro, we will be talking all about Fiji in this first segment. Mark is literally broadcasting from there. And my first question to you, sir, and by the way, it's good to see you. How was your week?
Mark Faldmo
My week was good. I was here for meetings. So I was at what's called the Fiji Tourism Exchange. Those travel agents and other travel sellers that sell a lot of Fiji are invited down, and we get to meet with and experience all of the hotels, suppliers, different tour operators, activities Fiji has to offer.
Patrick Wiscombe
So you have actual experience and you can talk to people about what they're booking.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah. Yeah. And I've learned some new information. This is my fifth time or so to Fiji. Oh wow. But I did learn some new things. Fiji has a lot to offer. It's a great destination spot, and it's relatively affordable as well.
Well, that's coming up here in the first segment, all about Fiji, but let's first get to the travel news headlines. PETA's campaign. What does PETA stand for? People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? Is that right? Yeah. PETA is campaigning. Basically, they're campaigning to tell tour companies to drop the camel rides in Egypt. Personally, I've never been on the back of a camel. I can't say that it's at the top of my list, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to getting on the back of a camel in Egypt. Have you ever been on one? I have.
Mark Faldmo
I have been on a camel one time in Jordan. Did you really? Yes. What PETA's issue is, these animals are used purely just for rides and photos. They serve no other purpose than that. When they started looking into this and other people started looking into this, those camels are not treated very well. They're not fed, they're not maintained.
Patrick Wiscombe
Even for photo ops, they don't treat them well.
Mark Faldmo
Even for photo ops, yeah. So close to 50 tour operators have moved away from offering camel rides in front of Giza just because of how those camels were treated. Now, in other areas, like I mentioned Jordan, there's places in Morocco where the camels are actually used for legitimate transportation. Those camels are well fed, maintained. I mentioned I was going to Petra, and you either walk three miles down a goalie to Petra, take a camel or a donkey, and it was used for legitimate transportation. Pleasant?
Patrick Wiscombe
Not that being on the back of a camel is going to be a pleasant experience. I I would imagine that it kind of smells too.
Mark Faldmo
It was better than walking. I always feel a bit unsteady on camels. The one time I rode an elephant in Thailand, the elephant knew how nervous I was. Oh no. Just took its ears and wrapped its ears around my legs to steady me and keep me on. Did that freak you out a little bit right at the very beginning? It did a little bit. And then they said what the elephant was doing.
ID, that is the little star that is on driver's licenses. Real ID's been in the news quite a bit the last what, basically two weeks or so? So far, so good. If you don't have a real ID, you Secretary Christy Gnome is saying that you can still travel. You'll just be pushed over to a secondary line. Have they given the uh guidelines of the secondary screening?
Mark Faldmo
It's a questionnaire, and you may be subject to additional baggage screening and pat downs. It has been all over the news, and a lot of people have actually been canceling their trips because of this, thinking they couldn't travel. And so they're coming out saying you still can travel, you just have to go through a secondary screening process.
Patrick Wiscombe
You ever been in a secondary screening? I don't think I have.
Mark Faldmo
No, but my father has. So he went through with a back brace. Oh, there we go. Put into a secondary line, and then they even had to take him into the back room to check out, check out the back brace.
Patrick Wiscombe
So Mark Faldmo Sr. getting a full cavity search.
Mark Faldmo
Yes, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe
And your dad is the most polite man on the planet, too. And I can just see him. I promise I'm not a terrorist, I'm not doing anything wrong. I just hurt my back. Yeah. Oh, sure, sure. We hear that all the time.
Let's get back to Fiji. That is quite a view behind you. For anyone listening, we're doing the radio show and the podcast live from Fiji, or at least he is. Just set the scene of what's in front of you right now to wet people's appetite. What to expect in Fiji.
Mark Faldmo
So we're a day ahead of you. It is Sunday at 6 a.m. Oh right now. The sun is just coming up. And you know, as you can see, as I mentioned last week, I'm in a garden view room. So it's just palm trees and grass, but it's still a great view. If I lean really, really hard out my balcony, I can see the water.
Patrick Wiscombe
Who have you met with and what are some of the things you've been doing?
Mark Faldmo
This was just a convention where I had 20-minute appointments with about 80 different suppliers over a couple of days. And then we went out on a couple of tours, which I'll explain in just a moment.
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh, so it was rapid fire meet all the suppliers in 20-minute increments, basically.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, yeah. Pretty much meet all the suppliers. Oh wow. Almost every supplier on Fijian Islands I met with. So this one I kind of came with a different approach. I wanted to find out the best things for families to do. Fiji is not often thought of as a family destination. No. Um but there are lots of good things for families to do. What about resorts? Family-friendly resorts as well? Yep. I would go with three hotels that are really family-friendly. They offer nanny service, they offer kids programs, they really help the kids feel welcome. The first one is the Shangri-La Island. You say Shangri-La? Shangri-La. Yeah. Fiji, which is a nice property. But the next two are the two that I really think are great. One is the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort. We talk about Outrigger quite a bit there. In Hawaii, there are a lot of Outrigger properties, but they do a great job in Fiji with the families located right on the beach. They're about 30, 40 minutes away from the airport. So that's a great family destination. And the next one is Castaway Island in Fiji. This island is a few miles from where the movie Castaway was filmed. And you have to take a boat to get to it. It's a small island. Kids will love it. They've got the inflatable ocean amusement park thing, you know, where there's water slides and you have kayaks and all sorts of fun things for the kids to do.
Patrick Wiscombe
You didn't go to the island, did you?
Mark Faldmo
I did not go to that island, no.
Patrick Wiscombe
I thought you were gonna say inflatable volleyballs. Named Wilson.
What about activities for kids? One reason why I think Fiji is a good destination for family and kids is the cultural aspect of it. There are a lot of activities where you go to an actual Fijian village. They still live in villages and tribes. You can go really experience the Fijian culture. All of them include a kava ceremony with the chief of the village, which kava is a drink made from the root of a tree. But other things that make Fiji good for family, lots of really good snorkeling. One thing that we did on this was island hopping, where you go out to a small island, snorkel, swim, they serve lunch out on the island. You can also stop at a place called Cloud Nine in the daytime. It's just a floating bar that just floats out in the ocean. And I'm on Cloud Nine. They serve pizzas and sandwiches. And if you're really looking for adventure, the Sigatoka River safari, which is a jet boat that takes you up the Sigatoka River. And this also includes a stop and visit at one of the local Fijian villages.
Patrick Wiscombe
There's just something about being immersed in water and consuming food and beverage that is just so unique that if you do it once, it's a memory that stays with you forever. It is, yeah.
Mark Faldmo
This whole segment we talked about Fiji for families, but it's great for couples, great for adults as well. I love Fiji. It is far away, but it's relatively affordable.
This is something that you and I talked about a long, long time ago. And I don't know if it's still active, but I remember was it Fiji Airways or was it a different airline that you could fly to Fiji for $799 round trip from LA? Is that still applicable or is that something that was a long time ago?
Mark Faldmo
That is still current with uh Fiji Airways. In fact, I I saw an email I haven't checked this or what dates, so we'll stick with the $799 for now. But I did see that they did drop some dates uh down into the 689 range. Oh my word. Because I didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night to research that. I I didn't look at it, but these prices will go over. I'll I'll just choose two hotels. One is the Novotel Nandy, which is a four-star hotel, and this is airfare five nights hotel in Fiji. With the international dateline, you're actually gone for seven days.
Patrick Wiscombe
Right.
Mark Faldmo
So the price of that again at the Novotel, four-star, twelve seventy-nine per person from Los Angeles. Is that with airfare or is that just the hotel? That's with airfare. Airfare from Los Angeles, Five Nights Hotel. You will need to add uh transfers onto that, sure. Which aren't too bad, but twelve seventy-nine per person is a great starting point for that. Yeah, it is. And then if we go up to the Outrigger Resort, which is one that we talked about, that's great for families, that price goes up to $17.89 per person. That's still amazing. I'll just throw in one other hotel, which is the Fiji Marriott Momi Bay. This is a hotel I've used a lot for groups, I'm for corporate incentive groups. This is as low as I've ever seen it. And it starts at $18.59 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe
And that still includes the airfare.
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, still includes the airfare.
Patrick Wiscombe
Okay, so we're not talking $1859 plus $800. It's just $1859 total.
Mark Faldmo
Total. Yeah. And you know, one thing I like about the Fiji Momi Bay, this price was in their standard kind of hotel rooms, but they also have beach berets and over-the-water berets if you want to upgrade to that. They've actually made a man-made inlet to the ocean, and they've built these over-the-water things in this kind of calm, tranquil bay.
Patrick Wiscombe
So, what's the difference between an over-the-water bungalow and an overwater beret? Or is it basically the same thing, different term?
Mark Faldmo
The language. That's it. So, yeah. Yeah. Bungalow is what they would call them in Tahiti, and beret is what they would call them in Fiji.
Patrick Wiscombe
When you get back, we've got to discuss this. I've never been to Fiji. You've been there. Did you say this is your fifth time? Fifth time, yeah. One of the things that
you mentioned right at the very beginning, as we were talking about Fiji, was that they offered nanny services, which I think is a brilliant idea. Hey, bring the whole family, and if you have young kids and the adults want to go off and do something, your kids are still covered. Love that idea. What time is your flight this morning? Well, I actually don't leave till 9 p.m.
Mark Faldmo
tonight. So I I've I've got all day here. Finally a day without meetings. I can relax a little bit.
Patrick Wiscombe
Well, you're in the perfect environment, that's for sure. We will be booking something down to Fiji, me and Nikki. If you are interested in going to Fiji
call Mark or someone in his office. He might be in the air. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he will also post this on BluePlanetVacations.com. When we come back, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, and we are talking about Europe. This is a caller question that we had during last week's show. He wants to go to Europe. We're going to give him some options. That is next. When the Inside Travel Talk podcast or radio show continues, alongside my very tan friend, Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We will be right back.
Todd Carlson
If you have travel questions, they have the answers. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com. Call or text the show right now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. We'll be right back. 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. And check out the podcast at Inside TravelTalk.com. Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe
Broadcasting live from Fiji, or at least Mark is, you are listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. Thank you so much
for allowing us to be part of your weekend, especially on a Saturday or Sunday. We hope to give you great information about travel and give you ideas of where you may want to consider vacationing next. If you were listening to the last segment, Mark is broadcasting from Fiji. He gave our listeners some pretty great deals. What was the resort, the Marriott Resort that you were talking about?
Mark Faldmo
So the Marriott Resort was the Marriott Momi Bay Resort, which started at $18.59 per person. And that includes the airfare, which is just a so that's airfare from Los Angeles, Five Nights Hotel. And then we talked about the Novotel Nandy, which started at $12.79 per person for the airfare and the hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe
Yeah, take advantage of that offer. Call Mark or somebody in his office because he's in Fiji right now. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. I just brought up where you are, or at least the Marriott Resort Momi Bay in Fiji. Those overwater bungalows. What was the other thing? Oh berets. That is a beautiful setting. Coming up in this segment of the show, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, and we are talking about Europe. But let's get to the travel news headlines first. I saw this article that theme parks, and I'm wondering if Universal Studios Orlando makes me wonder if they're really fueling this right now.
is called the Global 100. Each year, this survey comes out. So this is the 2025 Global 100. And of the top 10 attractions, six were theme parks. Oh, really? So what this looks at, it takes in a whole bunch of different data to come up with this, but it looks at verified user ratings, verified user reviews, booking statistics, web searches. So, you know, it kind of combines everything it can to determine this list. And so the number one attraction in the world was the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh, really? Okay. Is that considered a well it's not a theme park? It's just an attraction. Okay.
Mark Faldmo
It's an attraction. So yeah, so this list is the is the top 100 attractions. Okay, got it. But of the top ten, six of them are theme parks. Oh wow. And so theme parks do seem to be driving travel demand. So number one was the Louvre in Paris. Number two, Walt Disney World in Florida. Yeah. Number three, the Palace Museum. Number four was Disneyland Park in California. Number five, La Sagrada Familia, which is the church in Barcelona. Amazing. They've been working on it for 50 years or 60 years. Hopefully someday it'll be finished. Number six was Shanghai Disney Resort. Number seven was Universal Orlando Resort. Number eight was the Vatican Museums in Rome. And then nine and ten were both Universal Parks, Universal Studios Japan and Universal Beijing Resort. So a lot of theme parks in that top ten of the top 100 rankings of attractions for tourists. How many have you been to? The top 10. Of the top ten, I've been to I've been to six of the top ten. Wow. Okay. I haven't been to the any of the foreign theme parks. Right. So that kind of been to those places, just not the theme parks.
Patrick Wiscombe
Atlantis. Now, this is in the Bahamas. We're talking about kind of that coral-colored hotel, kind of famous. It's I I won't call it iconic, but it's pretty recognizable.
Atlantis Paradise Island has announced some new attractions, some dining, some entertainment. What are those?
Mark Faldmo
This resort has to kind of continually reimagine itself. Yeah. They've just gone through 150 million transformation last year, and now they're going to add eight new dining concepts, which will bring the total number of eateries to 50. They're going to put in a new mini golf course. They're going to put in escape rooms, pickleball courts.
Patrick Wiscombe
Okay, I get that one.
Mark Faldmo
A new beach club. Beach clubs are so interesting right now. Yeah, that's very interesting to me that they are so popular. People just want to go to that beach club and escape, you know, where you have a good beach, but plus some amenities right there next to, well, not really next to that. You know, Royal Caribbean has started their beach club, which is an island that's kind of right across from the cruise pier. It's always been a stretch of beach that I've wondered who owns that and what they're gonna do with it. And Royal Caribbean just announced their Nassau Beach Club will be right there in that same area.
Patrick Wiscombe
I love ocean beaches. Now I had something kind of interesting happen to me when we were in Bimini Island. I'm not sure that I told you this actually. So Bimini Island, there was an ocean front beach and it was awesome. It was terrific. Soft sand, a lot of sand. And you really had to work out just to walk through the sand. It was deep. But right next to that, literally just behind me, was the Bimini Beach Club, which was just beach chairs, pool, huge pools. Actually, there was a few pools. I think that is a trend that's going to continue. To me, that's a really great upgrade. If you want the ocean, you have it. But if you don't want the ocean, something a little less sandy and with the beach amenities, I think it's a great, great idea. It is. Always in this segment, segment number two is the hot travel deal of the week. And we got a question from Matt. And he called the studio line, and this is also the text line: 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700.
And we want to answer your travel-related questions. So please submit them there. 801-649-3700. Matt is asking, I want to go to Europe, but to places in Europe that aren't so crowded.
Mark Faldmo
I have four suggestions, and we'll just go by the regions, not necessarily how to get there. A lot of these places, we've talked about Globus and their off-the-beaten path tours. A lot of these you can do with Globus or just on your own. But the places you should look at that are less crowded, but you still get that great European experience. One is Ticino in Switzerland. This is in southern Switzerland. It's the Italian-speaking area. And kind of what they say is it's Italian hospitality, but on Swiss time. You know, so I'm not sure I know what that means. Hospitality, I get on Swiss time. Italians are never on time. Oh. And so that's why it's saying rather than Italy, sometimes trains are running behind, people are late for restaurant reservations. And so this is more, and the Swiss are very much not like that. And so, no Italian hospitality on Swiss time. Really good northern Italian food there. You're also in the the beautiful mountains, a lot what you think Switzerland is. That is one place. The next place, and this is a place I have not been to, but it is definitely on my bucket list, is Transylvania in Romania. I have been to Romania and I loved it. Going to Transylvania, I think would just be fascinating. Dracula not included. Well, you can go to Dracula's castle. I'm there. And so that's one thing about Romania, especially Transylvania. It has castles in abundance, and medieval towns are everywhere.
Patrick Wiscombe
What else do you recommend for Matt?
Mark Faldmo
Puglia, Italy, which is the hill of the boot. Just a wonderful place to vacation. Italy is one of the top travel destinations, and this is a less visited region where you still get that same Italian hospitality. I have been to southern Italy and just a wonderful destination. What else do you have for Matt? The last destination is Portugal. Portugal is becoming more and more popular, but it is a great place to visit. It's affordable, it has beaches, it has lots of sunshine. So Portugal is a place, although becoming more popular, where you can still escape the crowds a little bit in Europe.
Patrick Wiscombe
In terms of promotions for any of these locations, what do we have for listeners this week?
Mark Faldmo
Right now, we'll we'll go with the Globus promotion that we talked about last week because they do offer the off the beaten path tours to these places. And right now
it's save up to $500 per couple off of the tour price. Six to seven night tour.
Patrick Wiscombe
That's really good. That is exceptional if you want to go to Europe. Matt, I hope that helps. And if you have follow-up questions, call Mark in his office. 888-718-7717 is how you get a hold of the office. 888-718-7717. And you can also go to BluePlanet Vacations.com. You know, you are really wetting my appetite for some new places that I haven't gone. Fiji, I'm definitely talking to you about that one. We'll do that when you get back. Matt, call 888-718-7717 to uh get that booked, or if you have follow-up questions about where you're going to be staying. When we come back, it is time for the infamous just cruising segment. We've got the cruise news of the week, and we've also got the cruise deal of the week. So if you want to go from Alaska to the Caribbean, listen up. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or radio show continues, alongside a very tan Mark Foldmo. I'm Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We will be right back.
Todd Carlson
They've literally traveled millions of miles to answer your travel related questions. Yeah, they really have. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Patrick and Mark will be back after these messages.
