THE VACATION NERD WITH PATRICK WISCOMBE — EPISODE 167
Speaker-Labeled Transcript
TODD CARLSON: Explore your world. It’s the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by BluePlanetVacations.com. Call or text the show now: 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk.com. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Man, the guy on the air horn apparently got off the treadmill just a couple minutes ago. I’m thrilled to be off the treadmill. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, live from Salt Lake City. Hi there, I am Patrick Wiscombe, The Vacation Nerd.
The entire purpose of this travel podcast is to share with our listeners the latest travel and cruise news and cruise deals designed to help you save time and money. And we’re going to help you plan and book your next vacation. That’s where Mark comes in.
So consider this show your must-listen personal daily or weekly travel briefing if you travel, or if you just want to start traveling. And this show is presented by my good friend’s company, BluePlanetVacations.com.
Coming up in this first segment of the show, obviously we’re going to get to the most important travel news and the biggest travel deals we have found so far today. But we’re going to shake things up a little bit this week, and I think we’re going to start doing this in the future.
We’re coming right out of the gate with the hot travel deal of the week. If we could have your attention, please. Your attention, please. This is a deal that jumped out at me. Southwest is currently displaying Salt Lake City to Honolulu for $404, and that’s round trip.
MARK FALDMO: This is a great fare for Honolulu, especially for our listeners in Salt Lake City. For our listeners on the West Coast, it’s even slightly lower than that $404 fare. It is in the basic economy fare.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Sure.
MARK FALDMO: You can upgrade to where you can choose seats and get a little bit better perks if you want. But for $404 round trip, that’s as low as I’ve seen it probably in five years.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: So it’s been a while.
MARK FALDMO: It’s been a while since we’ve seen Hawaii this low. One thing that we often talk about is you’ll often get a better overall deal if you package it with hotels.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yep.
MARK FALDMO: I found five-night packages, and I looked at October dates. One other thing I should add as a side note: On many of the dates I checked, there were four to six seats left available at these rates, and they’re not available on all flights. So you do have to be a little bit flexible when choosing your schedule.
Packaging it with a hotel, if you go October 25th to October 30th, you can get the four-star Ohia Waikiki Studio Suites starting at $819 per person. And that is five nights hotel and airfare.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: That’s really, really good.
MARK FALDMO: I’ve got two other options here. Again, the four-star Outrigger Waikiki Paradise, one of my favorite hotels to stay at. It’s not on the beach, but it’s close enough to the beach, and it’s in a good area of Waikiki that I really like. It starts at $999 per person.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Wow. So these rates include airfare round trip?
MARK FALDMO: Airfare and five nights hotel.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: And then what’s your other place?
MARK FALDMO: The other place is probably your favorite place to stay. It’s actually one of my favorite places to stay, too. But I did choose one hotel that is on the beach just for comparison reasons. This is the four-and-a-half-star Hilton Hawaiian Village. It starts at $1,299 per person.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Wow.
MARK FALDMO: So $1,299 per person. When I’ve looked at this in the past, this has been right around $2,000 per person for a similar package. This is a tremendous savings.
There are some other deals that are exclusive to Blue Planet Vacations that you can combine with this $404 round-trip airfare from Salt Lake City. Any Hyatt hotel in Hawaii, on any island, right now we can get you an additional 20% off the published rates.
Or, if you stay at Outrigger hotels, that Outrigger we mentioned previously includes this. It’s up to 45% off, and kids stay free in the room at Outrigger. Hawaii is on sale for this fall, flying on Southwest. You just have to be flexible on your dates and know that the best deals are in that basic economy fare.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: For the three years that we’ve been doing the show, I don’t think we’ve ever come out with the hot travel deal of the week right at the very top, even before the travel news. Take advantage of it. Call Mark: 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717.
Now it’s time for the travel news.
I don’t normally fly American, so I was a little bit surprised to see this. American Airlines is bringing back seatback screens to more than 800 narrow-body jets while adding more premium seats to better compete with Delta and United. I thought seatback screens were the standard. That’s why I was like, “Isn’t it already there?”
MARK FALDMO: We were talking earlier. Delta followed. United and American were a little bit slow to do that. Then both American and United took away the seatback screens for a while on the narrow-body jets. Their longer-haul flights and two-aisle airplanes still had them.
United added them back a few years ago. American has just not done that. In order to compete with Delta and United, who are kind of the leaders right now in the domestic market, American has decided to bring back the seatback screens on their narrow-body jets.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Well, good.
MARK FALDMO: I think it’s interesting. I think it was a YouTube video the other day of the United Airlines CEO talking about this, and he said, “It doesn’t matter. We’re so far ahead of American that it won’t affect our sales.”
It’s kind of interesting, the decisions that airlines make. They did it to save money, but now Delta is kind of the premium leader in the U.S. market, and everyone is trying to catch up to Delta.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Delta Airlines crews are being told to collect airline-provided pre-departure drinks before pushback starting September 1st. This is actually all airlines and affects first-class and premium passengers.
So anyone in those categories of service, they’re going to say, “Hey, what would you like to drink before we take off?” But then they’re going to collect everything before you push back.
MARK FALDMO: This comes back to an FAA rule that was actually put in place in 1992, and it’s never been enforced.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh, really?
MARK FALDMO: Now the FAA is going to start enforcing that. Anything that a flight attendant gives out—drinks, snacks or anything—before the plane pushes back from the gate has to be collected and stowed.
Interestingly enough, it does not apply to things that a passenger brings on. If you bring on your own drink, it doesn’t have to be stowed. It’s just anything that a flight attendant passes out.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh, interesting.
MARK FALDMO: That would have to be collected and stowed.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Okay.
MARK FALDMO: I don’t think it’ll affect that first-class and premium experience much. But sometimes I’m amazed—we’re next in takeoff and flight attendants are still running around trying to pick up some of those first-class drinks. The rule is probably there so the flight attendants aren’t distracted when they should be focusing on other things.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Airlines obviously make more money with business-class suites with sliding doors. I still haven’t experienced first class—yes—but not with the sliding doors.
Regulators are taking longer to certify these sliding doors, delaying aircraft deliveries and even leaving some premium cabin seats temporarily unusable. I don’t understand what is so hard about certifying something that’s already there.
MARK FALDMO: United Airlines has installed these seats on their Boeing 787 aircraft, but they can’t use them. They’re just empty seats right now until those seats actually get certified.
The issue the FAA has is the emergency evacuation plan. They’re going through all sorts of testing to make sure they meet the requirements that a fully enclosed seat would bring in an emergency. Some airlines have installed these but locked the doors so that you can’t close them until they get final approval.
Some of the seat makers have complained that the FAA’s standards have been changing, so it’s kind of a moving target of what needs to be hit for these seats.
Delta One on Delta Airlines has actually had closable cabins in a lot of their aircraft. I don’t know how those aircraft got away with having that. They must not be as restrictive as what is being proposed by the other seats.
Delta also has their next-generation seat that is in the same situation. They’ve run into supply-chain issues and regulatory issues, but they expect the whole Delta One fleet will be fitted with these by 2030. Both American Airlines and United have had similar issues.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Let’s get to the travel deal of the day, which is the U.S. Virgin Islands. Where are we going specifically?
MARK FALDMO: This is our destination spotlight. The U.S. Virgin Islands are experiencing a tourism boom. For the first quarter of 2026, visitors were up 12%, with the island of St. Thomas even higher at 15%.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: It was busy when we were there.
MARK FALDMO: What I like about the U.S. Virgin Islands is you get that international Caribbean feel without many of the travel hassles that come with international travel.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah, like a passport.
MARK FALDMO: A lot of people do ask that question: “Where can I go that has a warm beach, but I don’t need a passport?” The U.S. Virgin Islands are that destination. You get the feel of any other Caribbean island, but you don’t need a passport.
There are three main islands. One is St. Thomas. It’s the most developed and energetic of the three main islands. The capital, Charlotte Amalie, is a really big cruise port, and that’s probably where you went on your cruise.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Uh-huh.
MARK FALDMO: You’ll find lots of restaurants and nightlife, but it also has places like Magens Bay, which is one of the most iconic beaches in the Caribbean.
Probably the most iconic beach in the Caribbean is on the island of St. John, which is in the U.S. Virgin Islands. That is Trunk Bay, one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in the Caribbean. There’s also Cinnamon Bay and Salt Pond Bay.
What I like about St. John is it’s really laid-back. Most of the island is actually part of Virgin Islands National Park, so it’s a different feel from the other islands because it’s a lot less developed.
Probably the most exotic of the three islands is St. Croix. It’s actually the largest island, but it offers the best mix of culture, history, food and uncrowded areas that you don’t get on the other two islands.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Why do you like the U.S. Virgin Islands?
MARK FALDMO: One, as we’ve already talked about, no passport is required. I still recommend carrying a passport when possible, especially if you possibly want to go to some of the nearby islands.
One of the things I like, especially on St. John, is there’s a little bar at the top of a mountain. You look to the next island across the way, two or three miles away, and that’s the British Virgin Islands. You can easily get to the British Virgin Islands, but you will need a passport if you want to go to some of those places.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: It’s a different accent there.
MARK FALDMO: Yep.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: It is, yeah.
MARK FALDMO: Another advantage is the U.S. dollar. You don’t have to worry about different currencies. English is widely spoken. U.S. cell service generally works on all of the islands. I’ve never had a problem with that. There might be some places that are hard.
There’s relatively easy air access, especially to St. Thomas. For those shoppers out there, they have duty-free shopping in St. Thomas, so you don’t have to pay taxes on things you buy there.
One quirky fact that I like is they drive on the left side of the road.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yes.
MARK FALDMO: But all of the vehicles come from the U.S., so the steering wheel is also on the left side. It’s a little bit weird to be driving on, for us, the wrong side of the road, but also have the driver on the wrong side of the vehicle for that situation.
We can add another quick travel deal here for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Okay.
MARK FALDMO: Right now, for 2027 departures, you can save up to $550 when you pay in full for trips of five nights or longer.
If you haven’t been there, I would start with St. Thomas. Then you can take a day trip to St. John to see that other island. I definitely would go to Trunk Bay and snorkel and swim at Trunk Bay. That’s a really great activity to do.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: So the deal is save up to $550 when you pay in full for the U.S. Virgin Islands, five nights or longer. Is this for travel anytime in 2027?
MARK FALDMO: Anytime in 2027.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: This is a text question from Lisa: “Should I buy travel insurance?” I’m going to say yes. Her question is, “Why should I actually buy travel insurance, and when? When I make my first deposit, or right before the final payment?” That’s a good question.
MARK FALDMO: It is. I would agree with you: Yes on travel insurance. I’ve seen so many clients saved by having travel insurance, and you should purchase your travel insurance close to making your initial deposit on your trip.
The reason why is that once you make that deposit, the clock begins on some of the policy benefits that you buy. Most travel companies give you anywhere from seven to 21 days to purchase travel insurance, but many things are dated back to the initial trip deposit.
One of those is pre-existing medical conditions. If you have a pre-existing medical condition—or they could construe something you had as a pre-existing medical condition—if you wait too long to purchase your insurance, that pre-existing medical condition won’t be covered.
You do want to buy that travel insurance fairly quickly. Also, “cancel for any reason” can be time-sensitive. On a lot of travel insurance policies, cancel for any reason is an additional upgrade, but it is also based on when you purchase your insurance. Buying early gives you certain protection that you wouldn’t have if you purchased your travel insurance later.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Are there any interesting benefits to travel insurance?
MARK FALDMO: There are some things that are part of the policy that most people would not even think of. This is actually one that I learned about a few weeks ago at that GTM meeting.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh, in Palm Springs.
MARK FALDMO: In Palm Springs, I met with several travel insurance companies, and many of them have added airport lounge access for flight delays. If your flight is delayed more than two or three hours, they’ll purchase you airport lounge access to wait out that delay. I think that’s an interesting benefit that most people would not even think of.
There are some policies that track your flights, and if there’s a delay, they instantly issue a $100 payment per insured person, per day that it happens. You don’t even have to file a claim.
Most travel insurance companies now have an app where it keeps track of all of this stuff for you. As long as things have been registered correctly, it will trigger some of those benefits.
One other thing that’s kind of interesting is some policies come with a travel concierge. This isn’t even related to travel insurance, but the travel policy concierge can help you make restaurant reservations, get theater tickets and provide destination information.
The travel concierge, if you need help for medical reasons, would be the one helping you find a doctor, hospital or pharmacy if needed. There are some really good benefits with travel insurance.
There are some countries that require you to have travel insurance to even enter the country. Kenya, for instance, just recently announced that you need a policy that will cover up to $50,000 of mandatory health insurance.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh, interesting.
MARK FALDMO: This has temporarily been suspended by the Kenyan courts, but it’ll probably go into effect. You do need some type of travel insurance in place to go to Kenya.
Zanzibar, which is an island owned by Tanzania in the Indian Ocean, requires you to have a personal travel insurance policy, plus you have to buy their government-sponsored travel insurance policy. There are places around the world where you do need travel insurance.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Before we go to break, let’s recap the Hawaii deal for our listeners.
MARK FALDMO: It’s from Salt Lake City, round-trip airfare, $404. This is for select fall dates, so you have to be flexible on the dates you go. But it’s a great promotion to get to Hawaii, and we also have some hotel discounts on top of that.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: What about the U.S. Virgin Islands? That was save up to $550 when you pay in full. Is there an expiration date on this $550? Book it by when?
MARK FALDMO: That one is currently through September 4th, so you have about a week to book it.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Okay. So $550 when you pay in full when you head to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which, by the way, go. St. Thomas is awesome. St. Croix. St. John’s—was that also included?
MARK FALDMO: St. John.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah, okay. St. John. Oh, not St. John’s. That’s right. St. John, because there is another St. John’s.
This is for travel anytime in 2027. Take advantage of those offers. Call Mark in the office: 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. He’ll return your call either during the break or as soon as we get off the air. He’s also going to post these promotions for our listeners on BluePlanetVacations.com.
When we come back, it is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment. This is the segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world.
This week, we’re talking about Norwegian getting into the three- and four-night Bahamas cruises. They’re reallocating their new ship to service this market. And Celebrity Cruises is going big-time into Alaska, so if you’re a fan of Celebrity, stick around.
And, of course, we have multiple cruise deals of the week. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, I am Patrick Wiscombe, The Vacation Nerd. Thank you so much for listening. We will be back in about two minutes. Stay right there.
TODD CARLSON: Taking you to destinations around the world, the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show is presented by BluePlanetVacations.com, America’s Best Travel Advisors. Call or text the show now: 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. Thanks for listening. We’ll be right back.
TODD CARLSON: Now, back to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by BluePlanetVacations.com, America’s Best Travel Advisors. Call or text the show right now: 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk.com. Here’s Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Time for the Just Cruising segment right here on the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Ahoy there, mateys.
MARK FALDMO: Ahoy.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: I am Patrick Wiscombe, The Vacation Nerd, alongside my nerd friend, Mark Faldmo, who is the owner of BluePlanetVacations.com. You know, I’ve never introduced you as my nerd friend.
MARK FALDMO: That’s fine.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend on this award-nominated radio show and podcast called the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show.
Coming up in this segment of the show, of course, we have the multiple cruise deals of the week. But let’s first get to the cruise news headlines.
Starting in April 2028, Norwegian Aqua—a ship that Nikki and I were on in, I want to say, April of 2025. Is that right?
MARK FALDMO: Yeah.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: They are going to start specializing in three- and four-night Bahamas cruises out of Miami, which is putting one of their brand-new ships—so this is only a year old at this point, basically—into the short-cruise market. Basically weekend cruising, short cruises.
That does not surprise me. These are very profitable cruises.
MARK FALDMO: Carnival Cruise Line traditionally has been that three- and four-night market, and they’ve done it forever. Carnival has been very successful at having those short cruises that get people hooked on cruising, and that has helped build Carnival Cruise Line’s success.
Many of the other cruise lines traditionally have resisted doing a lot of those shorter three- and four-day cruises. Norwegian put Norwegian Sky in to do three- and four-night Bahamas cruises, and that was the first ship to do those short cruises that had balcony cabins.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh, really?
MARK FALDMO: Before, it was the older ships that did that. Last week, we talked about some of the things they’re changing—their pricing strategies and some different things like that.
I think this is great: putting a new, big, modern ship in to do those short cruises that will, similar to Carnival, get people thinking about longer cruises and just cruising itself.
Carnival has three ships that just do three- and four-night cruises out of Miami, plus their longer cruises. Again, I think this is a great move on Norwegian’s part. I’ve been on Prima, the ship just before Aqua, and loved it.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah. Great ship. Beautiful ship.
Let’s stick with NCL here, Norwegian Cruise Line. Five ships are slated to leave or go out of service from the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings family. However, 17 new ships are expected to arrive in the next 10 years.
I think this is an important development. It signals to me that NCL has fallen behind and their leadership is going, “Oh, man. We’ve got to catch up here.” Basically, they’re going to modernize their fleet.
MARK FALDMO: This story includes all three brands within Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Celebrity Cruises, one of my personal favorite cruise lines, is announcing the deployment of Celebrity Equinox, which is one of their older ships. These ships are pretty new, but Celebrity Equinox is going to Alaska for the first time starting in 2028.
Basically, they’re saying there’s so much demand for Alaska that we need to start putting ships there. MSC just put a ship there in Alaska for the first time this year, 2026, and now Celebrity is going to send another one.
MARK FALDMO: This is just adding a larger ship with more berths to help cover that demand. Alaska is so popular right now. In fact, I have built a dedicated website just to sell Alaska cruises. It’s called AlaskaCruiseGuru.com, and that’s all it focuses on because the demand is so heavy in Alaska.
Alaska used to not get these new big ships. Going back to Norwegian, when they put Breakaway there, that was kind of the first cruise line to put one of their newest ships in Alaska. I love Alaska.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh, I do too. Seven days, in my opinion, was just too short for Alaska. It was truly breathtaking. I loved it. Loved every minute of it.
Continuing with the Celebrity cruise news, they also announced the opening of their 2028–2029 sailing schedule. It just feels like it’s getting so far out there.
Open for booking as of this week: summer 2028 Japan cruises. That’s what’s starting first. What else have they opened up this week?
MARK FALDMO: This week, they also opened Europe, Bermuda, and Canada and New England. September 1st is when Alaska, Hawaii and South America will open.
Going back to Celebrity Equinox, if you want to book that one, September 1st is your date. As we’ve talked about many times on the show, when these schedules come out, that’s the best time to book. Put down a refundable deposit.
September 29th, at the end of September, Australia and winter Asia of 2029 will come out.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Let’s get to the cruise deal of the week. Where do you want to start? Because we have, what, two or three of these?
MARK FALDMO: We’ve got three, actually, this week. Let’s start with Princess because that’s one we’ve kind of talked about before, where they have 40% off all sailings. Plus, depending on the day you book, they have instant savings of anywhere from $300 to $800 per cabin. That remains a pretty strong offer in the market.
I wanted to bring particular attention to a Pacific Coastal cruise next May, on May 13th, 2027. We’ve often talked about these repositioning cruises. They’re a great way to either introduce yourself to cruises or just get a good cruise deal.
This is a five-day Pacific Coastal cruise. It goes from Los Angeles to Vancouver, with stops in San Francisco and Victoria. I think the best part is that this cruise is normally $889 per person. If you book it now during this promotion, it’s $349 per person for an inside cabin.
They did say 40% off, but once you add in the 40% off and the instant savings, you get down to what equates to about a 60% savings off the regular price of that cruise. Even the balcony cabins start at $514 per person.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Wow. I would definitely go with a balcony cabin on that. I’ve never heard Princess at $349, ever.
MARK FALDMO: Inside cabin or not, that’s cheap. The repositioning component is kind of what makes that price go down a little bit, but it has great ports: San Francisco and Victoria.
I love Victoria, especially that time of year. Go to Butchart Gardens. You’re going to have some great spring flowers there.
One thing that is nice about this: A lot of cruises that go to Victoria, if you’re doing an Alaska cruise, you have a shortened day, like 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. This one has a longer time. It’s there from noon to midnight, so you have a longer time in Victoria.
You can go over to Red Fish Blue Fish and get some great fish and chips in Victoria. It’s one of my favorite little fish-and-chips restaurants there.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Deal number two. Let’s talk about Celebrity Cruise Line.
MARK FALDMO: This week, they just introduced the Canada and New England sailings, so I thought I’d bring that as part of the deal of the week.
Right now, Celebrity has 75% off the second guest, plus $650 instant savings. On select sailings, there’s an additional $100 off for a specific bonus.
This is September 13th of 2027, which is right in the middle of the fall colors. It’s a Canada and New England cruise, round trip from Boston. It’s an 11-night cruise and starts at $1,225 per person, which, for the Canada and New England market, is one of the best rates I’ve seen for an 11-day cruise.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah, it’s basically $100 a day per person.
MARK FALDMO: Yeah, or a little over that. This is one of the sailings that had that bonus $100.
It’s round trip from Boston. It goes to Rockland, Maine; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Sydney, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown; has a day at sea; then goes to Quebec City.
I’ve not done this. I’ve always wanted to sail up the St. Lawrence River after watching that end scene of The Hunt for Red October, when they’re sending a submarine up the St. Lawrence. That is on my bucket list to do, so you can do that on this one.
Then it has a few days at sea, goes back to Portland, Maine, and ends in Boston, Massachusetts.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Wasn’t that Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin?
MARK FALDMO: Yes. Great movie. I really like that end scene as it relates to travel.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah. Deal number three is from MSC, I think.
MARK FALDMO: MSC, yeah. They’re really pushing some of their last-minute Bahamas cruises. Four-night Bahamas cruises right now in September are starting at $176 per person.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Going out of Miami?
MARK FALDMO: Yeah, out of Miami. One of their four-night cruises out of Miami goes to Nassau, Bahamas, and then Ocean Cay.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Love Ocean Cay. Such a great place. So $179?
MARK FALDMO: Yes, $179. One thing that’s great about this is it’s actually one of the cruises that overnights at Ocean Cay.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh.
MARK FALDMO: You go Miami, Nassau, Ocean Cay for two full days, and then back to Miami.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Ocean Cay is sneaky great. You can have a ship of 6,000 people jump off on the island, and it feels at times like you’re alone.
MARK FALDMO: It now is a lot more lush than it was when we were there, and it is one of the better private islands. Maybe one of these days we’ll have to do a segment that talks all about the different cruise lines’ private islands. They’re all great.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Better said, I think we need to contact each of the cruise companies and just do a live broadcast from there.
MARK FALDMO: Yes. That’s perfect. That’s even better. They’ll put us up in their cabanas, and we’ll do the show from the cabanas on the private islands.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Take advantage of all of those offers. Call Mark: 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. Those are phenomenal deals.
We’ve got one segment that we’ve been doing. This will be the third show that we’ve done this. This is a game that we call “This or That: Vacation Edition.”
I’m going to give Mark—how many choices do I have for you? Eight choices. We want our listeners to play along with us. This is a good debate-type game. I’m just going to give questions to Mark. He doesn’t know what’s coming at him.
Mark, would you book a vacation six months ahead, or are you a spontaneous, last-minute-trip person?
MARK FALDMO: The answer is yes. We decided we’re going to drive to Cody, Wyoming, and go to the night rodeo there. That was just kind of a last-minute decision. I would say just book travel. There’s nothing like travel.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Would you rather have a two-hour nonstop flight or two six-hour flights with a layover city?
MARK FALDMO: I’d rather do two six-hour flights with a layover because that means you’re going somewhere far away.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yep, that would be my choice too. Seven days in one place, or seven days across three cities?
MARK FALDMO: Depends on the city, but I think I would do seven days across three cities.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah, me too. I have a harder time staying in one place too long. That’s why I like cruises and tours, because you get to see so much in a short amount of time.
Free flights for life or free hotels for life?
MARK FALDMO: Free flights.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah, me too. I think, by far, free flights.
You can spend $10,000 on a dream trip once a year, or have unlimited $1,000 weekend trips.
MARK FALDMO: I think I might lean toward the $10,000 dream trip.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Really? That surprises me.
MARK FALDMO: You can get some very interesting things for that.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Okay, three more. Economy on more trips, or business class on fewer trips?
MARK FALDMO: I probably would do more trips.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah. Economy on more trips.
Hotel breakfast or find a local café?
MARK FALDMO: I think that completely depends on your destination.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah.
MARK FALDMO: In Europe, some of the hotel breakfasts can be pretty good. In Hawaii, for instance, I’d go find a local café.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah.
MARK FALDMO: In Asia, some of the hotels in Thailand had the biggest breakfast buffets I’ve ever seen. They were like a hundred yards long. Just amazing. Some of those hotel breakfasts can be pretty good.
Just for the ambiance, I think a local café. But some of those hotel breakfasts can be pretty good.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Last question. Theme park or national park?
MARK FALDMO: Right now, national park.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Yeah, me too. The idea of standing in line and going to a theme park just doesn’t interest me at all.
Take advantage of those offers. Phenomenal offers. Man, we kind of killed it today with the offers. Call Mark in the office. Get the conversation started. There’s no obligation. Get your deposits down because they’re refundable, generally speaking, right now. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And he’ll post all of this on BluePlanetVacations.com.
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Well, that’s it. We’re done. We’ve done our job. Now it’s your turn to get out and see the world. Life is short. Book a trip. Quit talking about doing stuff. Just get out and do it, and we’ll help you get there.
Call Mark in the office: 888-718-7717. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe, The Vacation Nerd. Thank you so much for listening. We truly appreciate you joining us for the show. We don’t have a podcast or a business without you. Make it a fantastic week. We will talk to you next weekend.
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 BluePlanetVacations.com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That’s 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
