Ship Horn Shock And Cruise Headlines

Patrick Wiscombe 1:15

All aboard for the infamous Just Cruising segment right here on the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. By the way, that is an actual ship horn, courtesy of Norwegian Aqua, as they were blowing their horn in the port of Miami. Kind of a funny story on that, Mark, is uh well, it's not a funny story. It it literally almost brought me to my knees, and I nearly threw my phone off the off the side of the uh one of the decks. I was facing the horn, meaning I was looking back at the smokestack where the horn was, and they blew the horn. It scared me so badly, I nearly fell to my knees and threw my phone down to the pool deck.

Mark Faldmo 2:02

Those ship horns can sneak up on you.

Patrick Wiscombe 2:05

Nikki was laughing so hard, and so was I, because I couldn't believe how loud it was. Coming up in this segment of the show, we've got the cruise deal of the week, always at the bottom of the hour.

Holland America Stays In Europe

Patrick Wiscombe 2:15

But let's first get to the cruise news, travel headlines, and Holland America line is gonna stay longer in Europe starting next year, 2026.

Mark Faldmo 2:24

They have added an extra six weeks to their Europe season. Usually cruise lines end of September, mid-October, send their ships from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. But Holland America has decided to leave a few ships in Europe for an extra six weeks. One of the reasons being is 2026 is predicted to be a peak year to see the Aurora Borealis. And so they've added a couple of extra northern, or they've added, which they haven't done in the past, some northern lights cruises. Here are just some of the new itineraries they've added where they're extending Europe. So they have a Northern Lights journey. It's a 14-day Arctic journey that leaves November 7th, 2026. It includes time spent in the Arctic Circle, which will maximize your chances to see the Aurora Borealis. Other newly opened voyages, a 14-day Mediterranean and Atlantic Treasures cruise, which has an overnight stay in Lisbon. And I think one of these days I'm gonna have to do Portugal as the destination of the week because I think it is the hottest destination in Europe right now. So I've heard so much about visiting Portugal, how fantastic it is.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:40

If you ever have a chance to see Northern Lights, do it. It is genuinely beautiful and it it kind of takes your breath away and it makes you realize how small you are.

Mark Faldmo 3:51

It is, yeah. You know, the these cruises, I think a cruise is a great way to do that because they can move around to some extent. Hopefully they can get to a a better viewing location to see those. Less light pollution.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:03

You talk about being in the middle of the sea, and it is just pitch black. Kind of terrifying, but at the same time, it's kind of magical too.

Mark Faldmo 4:11

Yeah, it is. A few other cruises, they've added a series of seven-day Norway cruises and then a 15-day cultural crossing with England and Normandy. So that's probably the last cruise when they're gonna you know send the ship back off to the Caribbean area in late November.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:30

Norwegian cruise line is canceling some cruises. Did I did I get that

Norwegian Ships Exit The Fleet

Patrick Wiscombe 4:35

right?

Mark Faldmo 4:35

You did, and that's for a reason. Two ships are leaving the Norwegian cruise line fleet.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:41

Oh, so they're getting rid of a couple ships then.

Mark Faldmo 4:44

They're getting rid of a couple of ships. Oh, interesting. I don't like this announcement because one of the ships is probably my second favorite ship in the Norwegian fleet, which is the Norwegian Sky. Oh, this is the smallest ship in their fleet. It's 77,000 gross tons. Tiny ship you are the the three ships you are on are three times the size of this ship. But personally, I like the smaller ship. It has less than 2,000 people, and I really like the Norwegian sky. And then the other ship that's leaving the fleet is the Norwegian Sun, which is probably my least favorite Norwegian, because it has a weird deck where some of the outside cabins are right on the promenade deck, so you have people walking past your cabin.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:29

Yeah, that we did that on Holland America line, the uh the Rotterdam. That would have driven me crazy if we had uh I can't remember what deck it was. It was like deck 12 or something. We were walking past people's cabins, and I just the amount of commotion outside of the room would have driven me crazy.

Mark Faldmo 5:45

Yeah, I've sailed on the Norwegian Sun probably six times, but it is my least favorite. And I think I cannot confirm this, but I've seen some other stories about some cruise lines that have acquired ships. They're gonna make them residential ships where you just buy your cabin and you sail around the world. They're eat like condominiums as the ship sails.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:06

Oh, wow.

Mark Faldmo 6:07

So so I think that's what one or two of these ships is going to do, just be a residential ship.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:13

So are they gonna sell off these ships then?

Mark Faldmo 6:15

I I did see that I think they are actually selling the Norwegian sky and they are leasing the Norwegian sun to start out.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:24

Okay. Princess

Princess Returns To San Juan

Patrick Wiscombe 6:25

has announced that they are going to start sailing from San Juan starting this fall 2025, which by the way, we uh docked in Old San Juan on MSc World America. Old San Juan is sneaky good. It was hot when we were there, but it was a beautiful island. I loved all of the different buildings that were different colors, pastel colors. It was a very you could walk-friendly port.

Mark Faldmo 6:52

Yes. Loved it. I I love San Juan. I've I've been to San Juan six or seven times, and I just enjoy walking around old San Juan. I remember walking through some of those narrow streets and popping out into a square with a cathedral.

unknown 7:09

Yeah.

Mark Faldmo 7:10

Oh, yeah. Sat down at one of the cafes and had breakfast there, and it was fascinating. So yeah, I I love San Juan, especially old town San Juan.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:20

Yeah, some of those cathedrals, Nikki and I went inside and we probably spent, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes. Not because we were hot, but it was a cathedral that was that had what was it, like 1500? Like it been around for a long time. For you know, like four or five hundred years, and it was yeah, it was amazing.

Mark Faldmo 7:39

I'm excited about this that Princess has announced their return to San Juan. Because those southern Caribbean cruises that leave from San Juan get to some absolutely fascinating ports that you typically don't get to if you're leaving from Miami or Fort Lauderdale, unless they're really long cruises. Seven-day cruise, you can really get down to like Grenada, some of those islands that are just fascinating to visit. I know another cruise line, Royal Caribbean, actually just recently announced that they are starting back their Southern Caribbean cruises. These cruises seem to come and go. I think they're a great option for cruise lines to have in their fleet.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:18

Do we know which ship they're going to deploy?

Mark Faldmo 8:20

It's one ship, and the ship is the Grand Princess.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:25

In my head, San Juan, Puerto Rico was not a great place to go. But after getting there and actually getting out and literally walking the port, my experience didn't match what was inside of my head, which is the beauty of travel. It can completely change your perspective on a place. That leads into the cruise deal of the week,

Princess Cruise Deal Breakdown

Patrick Wiscombe 8:45

which is going to be Princess Cruises. What do we have for listeners this week?

Mark Faldmo 8:49

Right now, their current promotion, which goes for about another two weeks or so, they actually might enhance this a little bit over Memorial Day. Their current promotion is up to a $400 instant savings. And that's based on the length of cruise and the type of cabin you're in, plus up to 40% off, plus free room upgrades, plus $99 deposits on sailings.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:14

That's a really good promotion, then. And your overall thoughts of Princess, just as a company, their ships, do you recommend them? I love Princess.

Mark Faldmo 9:22

You have to look at the reason why you're traveling and where you're traveling. Because I think some cruises do better in other destinations. The two cruise lines I've cruised on the most are Norwegian and Princess. So I am a little bit biased towards those. You know, I love Princess. We've been talking a lot about MSC and their pizza. I actually think MSC might have Princess beat out slightly. What? Um, but Princess for years has had the best pizza at sea. I love just going on the pool deck, and that's where their pizza place is.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:55

So they were fighting words, Mark.

Mark Faldmo 9:57

Yeah. So so I I just like the location better of where Princess's pizza is, but they're very similar in quality of pizza.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:07

This might gross you out, but MSC's pizza was so good, maybe I'm gonna gross myself out. I was even drinking the cheese juice that was on my plate.

Mark Faldmo 10:16

Yep. I I know what you're talking about.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:20

Oh man, that was so good. Sorry. Sorry about the cheese juice, everyone. Yeah.

unknown 10:24

Okay.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:25

What other promotion do we have, or or is that the only one that we have for Princess?

Mark Faldmo 10:30

We have two salines we're gonna talk about. Princess has two different versions of that Southern Caribbean cruise. These are October dates, but the prices are phenomenal. So leave from San Juan, goes to St. Thomas, St. Martin, Antigua, and then to St. Kitts, to Barbados, a day at sea, and back to San Juan. That's another reason why I like these Southern Caribbean cruises. You have a lot more port time and a lot less days at sea. So this one is October 19th that I'm looking at. Inside cabin starts at $669, but a balcony. Now, this is a partially obstructed balcony, but it's a balcony nonetheless. $729 per person for a balcony cabin on October 19th to the Southern Caribbean.

unknown 11:18

Wow.

Mark Faldmo 11:19

You can go up it, it's probably about another 80 bucks to go to a regular balcony cabin.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:25

It is worth getting a balcony. Taking in that ocean air, the breeze. Oh my goodness. It was so relaxing. One of the most special experiences of my life is just hanging out on the balcony with my wife.

Mark Faldmo 11:37

It is. I think the the balcony is so worth it. Oh yeah. Um so they have another one, and this is October 12th or October 26th. And this is the itinerary I would pick. I love these islands that we go to. They're not typical. That first itinerary we gave has St. Thomas and St. Martin, which are two typical Eastern Caribbean cruises. This next one is a true Southern Caribbean cruise. Goes to Tortola, which is British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, Barbados, and back to San Juan.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:13

Five port days and then basically a day getting to and from. Correct. Oh wow, that is great.

Mark Faldmo 12:20

The things I like about these cruises, you're getting British Virgin Islands, Dutch

[Ad] The Best Mini Golden Doodle Breeders

Mark Faldmo 12:52

Virgin Islands. Some of these are have French influence. So you're getting lots of different cultures in the Southern Caribbean. Now, these prices, they're a little bit more expensive than the October 19th cruise that we talked about, but I think this is by far a better itinerary. So October 26th date starts at $765 per person for an inside or $860 per person for a balcony cabin.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:19

Oh wow. Do we know which ship this one's on? The uh the Southern Caribbean?

Mark Faldmo 13:24

Yeah, and that's on the Grand Princess. And so, you know, it's

(Cont.) Princess Cruise Deal Breakdown

Mark Faldmo 13:28

there from October to about April of next year.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:31

Have you seen some of the new ships that Princess is releasing? They're beautiful.

Mark Faldmo 13:37

Yeah, they are. Yeah. Princess has always done a good job with their design. I like the interiors of Princess ships. I think they've they always have the best decor, I guess you would say. I really like what Princess does with their ships.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:51

Their horn, while we were opening this segment, we were talking about horns. Their horn is literally the love boat theme song.

Mark Faldmo 13:59

Yeah, it is. That's what I like about it, you know, and the uh Disney does a a similar thing with their horn. So I like those two when there's a princess ship or a Disney ship in port and they blow their horn and either do When You Wish Upon a Star or the on Disney or Princess plays the princess, the love boat theme song.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:20

In the distance when we were getting on Celebrity Ascent. They were playing that the love boat theme, and you can hear in the distance. I don't know where on the sh where he was on the ship, but all of a sudden you hear the love boat. And uh and I got it on video. Absolutely hilarious. Get out, see the world. San Juan, Puerto Rico, love it. Whatever your

Love Boat Horn And Quick Wrap

Patrick Wiscombe 14:45

perception is, and I realize that I'm putting my feelings on everyone else. It is an amazing place. It is worth getting to. Call Mark at his office. Get the conversation started. Take advantage of those promotions. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. When we come back, we've got some additional travel news that we need to get to. Mark's travel tips, and we'll wrap it up. Thank you so much for allowing this to be part of your weekend. We will be right back.

Todd Carlson 15:17

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 InsightTravelTalk.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 16:21

Coming to you live from Fiji, the Sheraton Denerao Island. That is where Mark is this very moment as we come to you on

Live From Fiji With Mark

Patrick Wiscombe 16:30

the radio show and podcast. I'm looking at your live cam. I know you're just looking at the greenness, but even that green is pretty as beautiful.

Mark Faldmo 16:38

Yeah. Yeah. Fiji's a great destination.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:41

So what are you doing down there? As a travel advisor, owner of a company, what are you doing down there?

Mark Faldmo 16:48

So I'm attending, it's called the Fiji Tourism Exchange. And so I am down here meeting with hotels, activities, companies, different touristy things to do. And so it's just days of straight meetings and appointments with people that help me service Fiji better.

Patrick Wiscombe 17:07

Okay. And so you can turn around and sell it to our listeners, basically.

Mark Faldmo 17:11

Yes. Okay. Next week, when I'm completely back with this, we'll have a full report on that.

Patrick Wiscombe 17:16

Okay. Coming up in this segment, the final segment of the show, we will be talking about a question that we received from Trisha, one of our listeners, that she has a family of five, and most cruise cabins only hold four. You wouldn't think going from four to five would be a big deal, but apparently it is. And we've got a solution for our listeners. That's coming up here in the remaining moments of the show, but let's first get to the travel news headlines. Let's talk about cruising with a passport and the reasons to do so.

Mark Faldmo 17:46

This is a question I get asked often because technically, if you cruise from a port, from a US port, return back to the same port, with a few exceptions, you can travel with just a birth

Why Cruising With A Passport Helps

Mark Faldmo 18:00

certificate. The countries that require passports to be valid for longer for similar reasons. I would cruise with a passport if you miss the ship for some reason. You have a medical emergency, you're in a foreign country and you need a passport to get back. So it is just a good idea to sail with a passport. One thing I I have not seen before until this last time at MSc, and I've seen a few other cruise lines, cruise ports that do this. If you have a passport, a lot of cruise ports are now facial ID. Yeah. So you basically just walk through. If you don't have a passport, you're put into a separate line. It's usually a long line, and you have to get manually processed by immigration officers. So it'll take you a lot longer on the last day of the cruise to get off the ship. So that's another reason to cruise with a passport.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:49

About a year ago, right now, you and I were in Fort Lauderdale. We went on Margaritaville at sea. Paradise was the name of the ship. You got off instantly with global entry. Meanwhile, Patrick didn't have a passport yet, and he had to go into the long line. And Mark went to go pick up our car, and we still met about the same time.

Mark Faldmo 19:09

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:10

That's how long that line was.

Mark Faldmo 19:11

For various reasons, I always recommend cruising with a passport. Yep, agreed. You know, also there are some countries in Latin America, in the Caribbean, that now do require people to have a passport because they've had issues of people getting stuck there. And so, so again, like I mentioned, there are some exceptions to being able to cruise with just a birth certificate now. So keep that in mind when planning a cruise as well.

Patrick Wiscombe 19:37

Hotel scams. I didn't even think that this was still going on, hotel scams, but apparently they are, and how our listeners can avoid getting scammed.

Mark Faldmo 19:47

My first recommendation would be to book with a reputable travel

Hotel Booking Scams To Avoid

Mark Faldmo 19:50

agent that you know, because there are lots of travel sites out there, and there are several hotel booking sites that are fake that put up fake listings and take your money. There's a story recently of a traveler that went to Huatuco in Mexico and got in the taxi, took him to a place, and it was just a vacant lot. And so he uh walked around for a while, eventually made it to a restaurant. He got all of the local taxi drivers there. None of them have ever heard of this hotel.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:20

Oh boy.

Mark Faldmo 20:21

And so it was a fake listing on a site. So just make sure you book with a reputable site. And you know, the same goes for booking Airbnb. There have been lots of scams with Airbnb where the owner contacts people directly and asks them to book outside of the site to pay outside of Airbnb. And then when they get there, there's nothing there and they've taken their money.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:44

Oh boy.

Mark Faldmo 20:45

Just make sure you're booking with reputable agents or with reputable websites or directly on the hotel's website itself.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:54

Southwest is overhauling its fare bundles. Let's start with that. What is a fair bundle?

Mark Faldmo 21:00

A fair bundle is fairs that include seat assignments, fares that include baggage, different perks. So Southwest used to, you bought a ticket

Southwest Changes Fare Bundles

Mark Faldmo 21:10

and you got two free check bags, and they didn't have assigned seats. You just kind of generally boarded now. Southwest is going to assign seats and they've started bundling things together like other airlines, you know, like basic economy fares. And so this will start sometime soon. But here are the new uh fare options that Southwest is going to have. The least expensive fare will be their basic fare, which assigns you a seat at check-in and baggage is additional. Choice is what they're calling it, gives you a standard seat and one bag to check. Choice preferred lets you book preferred seating and you get preferred boarding. And then choice extra provides seats with extra leg room, free checked bags, and pre-boarding.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:57

Would that be considered their first class for lack of a better way to say that?

Mark Faldmo 22:01

Since they don't have first class, that would be their highest, and that would be like on Delta Airlines Comfort Plus, for instance. So it'll be the extra legroom seats.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:13

Trisha was asking, I have a family of five. This is her email. Most cruise cabins only hold four. Are there any ships that will accommodate my family of five? Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but for whatever reason, a family of five, generally speaking, you've always had to get two cabins. But apparently there are a few lines, what, four or five cruise lines that will accommodate her family of five?

Mark Faldmo 22:40

Larger families. Yeah. Yeah. And so generally speaking, the minor policy on cruises is if you do have to get two cabins, you have to be in a cabin that's connecting or adjacent or across the hall. Okay. Has to be in the same area as the parents. Cabin, which makes sense with small children. Yes. There are some ways around

Cruise Cabins That Sleep Five

Mark Faldmo 23:00

that. You can book one parent in one room and another parent in the other room. But generally speaking, it's harder to cruise with larger families. But there are a few cruise lines, and we'll go through all of them that do have family rooms that will hold five people. And so these aren't suites. There are some suites that will hold more. These are just regular cabins. So Royal Caribbean is the first one. They have a family inside cabin, a family ocean view cabin, which will hold five. And then they also offer family suites, grand suites, owner suites that accommodate five or more guests. Norwegian cruise lines, particularly on the breakaway and breakaway plus classes of ships, have uh family ocean view cabins that sleep five. They also offer two-bedroom deluxe suites on some ships on Norwegian cruise line. Hond America on the Koningstam, so it's only one of Holland America's ships. Although Holland America is not naturally known for family and kids. They do have family ocean view suites available. Carnival Cruise Line on the Dream class of ships. They have a deluxe ocean view cabin that has two bunk beds and a sofa bed that can sleep five. And then Disney, known for its family, does have several cabin categories that are family friendly and can accommodate up to five. So there are options and they're becoming more and more options as new ships are built. Probably six or seven years ago, unless you were buying the suites, you couldn't get a family of five in a cabin. So these newer ships are really starting to put out, especially the cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Disney that really cater towards families have really added in these categories that will hold five.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:48

Trisha, I hope that helps you. And I hope that you can get out and go on a family vacation. If you are interested in any of the vacations that we have discussed during the past hour, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, the Globus and Cosmos Hub and Spoke Tours, the cruise deal of the week with $99 deposits per person. Awesome. Get out and see the world while you can. Call Mark in his office. Just get the conversation started. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And he'll also post this on Blue Planet Vacations.com. You can listen to this show again tomorrow morning, Sunday at 11 o'clock, right here on this radio station. And you can stream, download, and subscribe to the podcast on Inside Traveltalk.com. You can stream the show right on the website, or if you are a podcast lover, you can subscribe to the podcast off that site, and we're on all of the major podcast platforms. 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.

Final Advice And How To Book

Patrick Wiscombe 26:10

Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally, live the life that you want. Thanks for listening. We will talk to you again next week.

Todd Carlson 26:22

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.