THE VACATION NERD WITH PATRICK WISCOMBE — EPISODE 175, PART 1
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: Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Hello there. I am Patrick Wiscombe. And if you are brand new to this radio show and podcast, our entire purpose is to help you book and plan your next vacation, or just give you ideas of where you may want to vacation next.
We are presented by BluePlanetVacations.com. And just a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen.
This week, we are talking about Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy yet again. Mark, I think this is the second time in 2025. Have I got that right?
MARK FALDMO: Well, it’s the second time in the past calendar year.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Jeez. Cold weather is on the way, so we’re going to be talking about some destinations other than Hawaii and Mexico for a vacation. But we’re also going to talk about Hawaii and Mexico—$849 to go to Egypt and just a smidge more to go to Greece. And we’ll be talking about solar-eclipse cruises in 2026.
That is just a handful of stories that we’ll be talking about this week on the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. But first, we have to get to the travel news headlines.
Mark, let’s start with probably the biggest story of the week, which is Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy for a second time in the past calendar year. What details do we have for listeners and potential travelers?
MARK FALDMO: For potential travelers, Spirit vows to continue operating as normal. They are using this Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure. They did this in November of 2024, so 10 months ago. They came out of it. They first tried to merge with Frontier Airlines. Then JetBlue agreed to buy Spirit, which was prevented by the Department of Justice.
Ever since they came out, they’ve just struggled. There isn’t a lot of room for the budget airlines. People still fly them, but people are starting to value more of an overall value than just that cheap fare. And that goes in phases. Probably in five or 10 years, it’ll swing back the other way.
Right now, Spirit Airlines especially—and Frontier and some of the other budget airlines—are really struggling. But if you do have a ticket on Spirit, they continue operating. They’re just trying to use this to position themselves to be better in the future.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Southwest is in the news, but this time they’re making headlines for a different reason. It looks like they’ve inked some kind of partnership with another airline.
MARK FALDMO: They have an interline partnership with EVA Air, which is based in Taipei, Taiwan. They will connect the Southwest network to Asia. A few weeks ago, we talked about Southwest’s partnership with Icelandair. Now they have a partnership that will link them to Europe and a partnership that will link them to Asia.
EVA Air’s main hubs in the U.S. are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago. Those airports are all very big. Well, actually, I take that back. It’s Chicago O’Hare, which is not really big for Southwest. They fly out of Midway mainly. But Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle are very big Southwest markets.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: I’ve never flown EVA Air. Have you?
MARK FALDMO: I have. Yep.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: You’ve flown EVA Air?
MARK FALDMO: I’ve flown EVA Air to Thailand. I thought they were a great airline. I thought it was interesting—the safety video was all Hello Kitty. Landing at the terminal, there were a couple of gate areas that were all Hello Kitty areas. It was kind of fun.
I really enjoyed EVA Air for a long-haul carrier. A lot of those Asian airlines do a really good job.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Are you a Big Bang Theory fan?
MARK FALDMO: I am, yes.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: That reminds me of, “Hello, Hello Kitty.”
We want you to be part of the show each and every week. If you have travel-related questions, please text them during the week or while we’re on the air: 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700.
We did receive a text question from Garrett. He says, “I want help, Mark, planning a winter vacation. I want to go somewhere warm, but I don’t want a typical beach vacation like Hawaii and Mexico. What are some options?”
MARK FALDMO: I’m going to answer this in two parts. We’re going to take part of this question in the cruise segment when we talk about cruises.
What came to mind right away was one of the Globus Escape tours. We’ve talked about these. They’re off-season tours. We talked about Ireland and a few other tours. Those aren’t really warm-weather destinations, but they do have some Escape tours in warm-weather destinations.
I think these two options would be very good if you’re looking for something unique and different, and you want to go when there are fewer crowds.
The first one is a seven-day tour called Greek Escape. It starts in Athens with two nights in Athens. Then it spends three nights going around to different places, including Olympia, and then back for a last night in Athens. You get a really good overview of Greece.
That seven-night tour starts at $1,049 per person, which is amazing for seven nights. You do have to add your airfare onto that.
One thing I really liked about this is that you could add a two-night additional stay on the island of Santorini.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Which you would probably recommend.
MARK FALDMO: I would do that. These tours all run November through March. If you can get to Santorini when there are no cruise ships there, as we’ve said a couple of times on the show, that would be amazing.
That is one option. You also could add a four-night cruise to the end of that seven-night tour. It goes to Santorini, Turkey and a few other Greek islands. There are some really good options, and Greece in January would probably be a very delightful place.
That is not your typical beach destination, but you could get that ocean experience, especially if you added Santorini.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: For $1,049 a person, starting—and, of course, you have to add the airfare, like Mark said—I bet there are some people listening right now going, “I’m sorry, Greece for $1,049? Sign me up.”
MARK FALDMO: Yeah. Again, this is a full tour. You have all of your transportation to the different cities. You have a guide with you, and they have a few meals included.
With the touring and activities that are included—they do have some additional extra-cost activities you can do—it is a great value if you want something different for your winter vacation.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: That’s the Greek portion of Garrett’s question. What about the Egypt option starting at $849 a person?
MARK FALDMO: This price just kind of floored me: $849 for a six-day tour. It’s a couple of nights in Cairo and a couple of nights in Alexandria. This $849 includes the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx.
After you spend your time in Cairo, you head over to Alexandria. You get to stop in Wadi El Natrun. “Wadi” is desert in that area of the world. You stop at a Coptic monastery.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: A what monastery? Did you say Coptic?
MARK FALDMO: Yeah. They’re Coptic Christians in Egypt. It’s kind of like the domed buildings you think of when you think of mosques, but they have Christian crosses on top. It’s a Christian monastery out there.
Then, in Alexandria, which is a wonderful port town, that’s where you get your water and ocean. You go to the Bibliotheca, which, back from the Indiana Jones days, they spent a lot of time in there looking for things.
Then you head back to Cairo after Alexandria. You drive through the El Bahariya Desert, which is called the Red Land. When you drive, there’s a red hue to everything because the sand is red and everything kind of reflects red.
If you want another add-on, you can add a three-night Nile River cruise that goes up to Karnak and Luxor. You’re also in the Aswan area. You can add that Nile River experience to the six-day tour.
Those are two different warm-weather destinations that aren’t Hawaii and Mexico.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: In addition to the Greek vacation and the vacation in Egypt, we’re also going to be talking about Hawaii and Mexico. This is going to be the hot travel deal of the week. We are going to help our listeners save up to $550 off per package to Hawaii and Mexico, but really, this is good worldwide.
MARK FALDMO: We introduced this special last week, but as I was going through and updating the BluePlanetVacations.com website, I noticed that from when I did this the week prior, everything has dropped between $25 and $150 per person.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Really?
MARK FALDMO: This save-up-to-$550 offer, as we talked about last week, is good for travel January 1st through December 31st of 2026. There also is a smaller discount for traveling this fall.
I kept with travel dates this fall because the prices were so good. Probably the biggest drop that I found—and this was for a mid-November date—was to the island of Maui in Hawaii.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: You don’t see discounts to Maui very often.
MARK FALDMO: You don’t. I think their tourism is still suffering from the fires and from that perception, which unfortunately was never really true. Have you been to Maui since the fires?
PATRICK WISCOMBE: I have not.
MARK FALDMO: We kind of celebrated, I think it was about three weeks ago, when we saw Maui finally dropping below $1,000 per person. Now I found a Maui rate for $919 per person.
That’s airfare and five nights at the three-and-a-half-star Royal Kahana. Typically, we leave everything at four-star and above on this show, but I’ve used the Royal Kahana quite a bit. My neighbor, whom I sent there, stayed at the Royal Kahana, and they loved it. It’s a great family property.
With prices this low, $919 per person is a very good option.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: That is phenomenal, especially with the airfare.
MARK FALDMO: Yes. I love anywhere in Hawaii, but it’s a great place to visit.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: $919 including the airfare—that is just unbelievable.
Call Mark as soon as we get off the air. You’ll probably get his voicemail right now. Just leave a message. He will return your call, or someone in his office will: 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. That is how you get ahold of Blue Planet Vacations, and you can also visit BluePlanetVacations.com.
Coming up in the next segment, it is time, it is time, it is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment—the segment of the show that has made us famous worldwide.
We will be talking about Holland America adding an astronomy expert for its solar-eclipse cruises. A great company is getting into the river-cruise business; we’ll tell you who that is. And MSC is extending its Labor Day sale: 30% off cruises plus a whole bunch of freebies.
We’ll talk about that next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show continues. I am Patrick Wiscombe. He is Mark Faldmo. We’ll be right back.
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.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Ahoy. Coming up in this segment of the show, the infamous Just Cruising segment. It is only about cruises, and it’s only about the cruise news of the week.
We’ve got some offers for our listeners: 30% off MSC cruises. That’s good for all cruises, not just select destinations. Have I got that right, Mark?
MARK FALDMO: You have almost—except it’s 40% off.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Oh, yeah. Okay. That’s even better.
MARK FALDMO: Yeah. We’ll talk about that a little bit later.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: I was going to say, “Let’s jump into the cruise news headlines,” but I neglected to bring something up in the last segment, so let’s start there.
We were talking about saving up to $550 off Hawaii and Mexico. I made a mistake. We only talked about Hawaii. I forgot to bring up Mexico. What destinations are there? Then we’ll get to the cruise stuff.
MARK FALDMO: Just quickly, Puerto Vallarta is another destination that’s under $1,000 for a five-night package for mid-November dates.
You stay at the four-star Villa del Palmar, all-inclusive. All your meals and drinks are included, starting at $959 per person. That’s flights from Salt Lake City, five nights hotel, round-trip transportation, and all your meals and drinks—$959 per person.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: That is so good. I can’t believe that we’re talking about Hawaii and Mexico with airfare for $919. That was Hawaii, on Maui specifically. And what did you say—$959 for Mexico, all-inclusive?
MARK FALDMO: Yeah, for Puerto Vallarta.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: That’s incredible.
MARK FALDMO: There are some really good deals. As I mentioned, almost all of the destinations and hotels I looked at were $30 to $120 or so per person less than they were a week or two ago.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: What happens if the price drops?
MARK FALDMO: The company that we book this with has a price guarantee. If you purchase their travel insurance, which is always recommended, they will rebook you to the lower price.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Otherwise, you’re locked in.
MARK FALDMO: Otherwise, you’re locked into whatever you’ve purchased. And that’s mainly the airline because the airline is locked in.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Good point. Now it’s time for the cruise news headlines.
Let’s get to Holland America adding some astronomy experts to its solar-eclipse cruises in 2026.
MARK FALDMO: Every once in a while, we’ve talked about these solar-eclipse cruises. In fact, I think about two months ago, we talked about how cruise lines were kind of unprepared for the demand and have started adding more.
Holland America is one that added two additional solar-eclipse cruises for 2027 because there’s been such high demand for these.
In 2026, the eclipse is going to be on August 12th. Holland America has three voyages, and I believe you can still purchase these voyages. They have added an astronomy expert to all three.
The three voyages are an 18-day Voyage of the Vikings, a 13-day Mediterranean Solar Eclipse cruise, and a 28-day Legendary Solar Eclipse cruise with Greenland and Scotland.
The astronomy expert will be on board to give lectures, question-and-answer sessions and live commentary during the eclipse. I think it would be very interesting to be on board and get that commentary from a professional.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Could you say that the cruise industry was in the dark about eclipse cruises?
MARK FALDMO: Yes. That’s exactly what I would say. These little unique things, these travel moments, are what people are looking for. I think they just didn’t think these would be as successful. But several cruise lines have them and have added more sailings.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: If you were listening to segment one of the show, there was a text question from Garrett. He wanted to go on a winter vacation but did not necessarily want to go to Hawaii or Mexico.
There is a second portion to his question that we didn’t answer in the first segment. What other option did you have for Garrett?
MARK FALDMO: It is cruise-related. This is a cruise, and it is to Mexico, but it’s a very unique product. It’s on UnCruise.
A few weeks ago, we had Captain Dan on to talk about UnCruise.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: He was terrific.
MARK FALDMO: They’re a very unique company. As we talked about last week with expedition cruises, they fit within this expedition-adventure type of cruise.
They offer seven-night Sea of Cortez and 10-night Sea of Cortez cruises round-trip from La Paz. Right now, they’re offering $500 off per person. If you’re a solo traveler, they have 50% off the single supplement. Kids are $500 off as well. It’s a very good offering from UnCruise.
The ship’s name is Safari Voyager. It’s a 66-guest expedition ship designed for this type of voyage.
Jacques Cousteau called the Sea of Cortez “the Aquarium of the World.” Heather and I had the opportunity a few years ago to cruise in the Sea of Cortez. It was fabulous. The whales that you see—you’re cruising among whales. The ports are different.
I think it was last week that we talked about the Magic Towns. You really get to visit some of those Magic Towns that are not visited as much, and you really get into the culture of Baja, which is totally different from the rest of Mexico.
They mainly do Alaska, but in the wintertime they need places to send their ships. One place is the Sea of Cortez.
One thing that’s interesting is that the 10-night cruise is called In Steinbeck’s Wake. It retraces John Steinbeck’s expedition across the Sea of Cortez. For those of you interested in the literary aspect, they really bring that into this voyage.
Both the seven- and 10-night cruises sail between November and April. Specific to Garrett’s question, he wanted to go in January, and they do offer these cruises then.
If you’re interested in something small, with just 66 guests on board, everything is all-inclusive. Your meals, beverages, excursions and local activities are all included on UnCruise.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Let’s go over to the cruise deal of the week. I said 30%; it’s actually 40% off all MSC cruises. This is their Labor Day sale. It’s been extended for us because of Laura, correct?
MARK FALDMO: It has, yeah.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Okay. Let’s get to the cruise deal of the week.
MARK FALDMO: MSC Cruises, like you said, is offering 40% off and kids sail free. This 40% off only goes through Monday.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Uh-oh. We’ve got to move on this—September 8th.
MARK FALDMO: You can call on Monday to get it. It may be extended, or you can go to BluePlanetVacations.com to search for a cruise and book it. It is available right now. If you call today, I can also get one of my agents to help.
As we’ve talked about several times, MSC does a very good job with its product. They had a rough start launching in the U.S., but over the last 18 months, they’ve done a really good job.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: It seems like they’ve really hit their stride in the last one to two years. Something special has happened.
Let’s talk about one of their sailings. Which one do you have in mind?
MARK FALDMO: The one I have in mind leaves from Galveston. This is a January 11th date. Again, if you’re looking to get out of the cold, I predict it’ll be under 30 degrees on January 11th here in Salt Lake.
According to my meteorological skills, which I can do just as well as the guy on TV, probably—
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Shots fired.
MARK FALDMO: Yes. An inside cabin on January 11th starts at $449 per person. But for just a little bit more—and if you’ve never cruised in a balcony—this balcony is lower than most other cruise lines’ inside rates: $669 per person for a balcony.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Is that on Seascape? I think it’s on Seascape.
MARK FALDMO: MSC Seascape.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: If you don’t know what MSC Seascape is, it’s the name of the ship. Do a search for MSC Seascape and you’ll see what a beautiful ship it is.
MARK FALDMO: A few weeks ago, we talked about how they’re launching that ship in Galveston for families. They’ve added a lot of family-themed things.
With kids sail free, if you find the right date, you could probably get a family of four on this cruise in a balcony for less than $1,500 for the whole family, plus your airfare and the other things that go along with the cruise.
It’s a very good cruise experience for a very good price.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: And the food is good, too. That’s the other thing that a lot of people don’t mention. MSC has really upped its food game.
MARK FALDMO: They have.
PATRICK WISCOMBE: Take advantage of those offers. Call Mark in his office and get the conversation started. There’s no obligation, but you won’t be disappointed if you decide to go: 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717.
You can also get the contact information and some of the sailing information at BluePlanetVacations.com.
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It is now 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—and you know what I’m talking about.
Live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally. And a sincere thank you for listening. We don’t have a show or a business without you. Thank you. Have a great week. We’ll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday.
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.
