Welcome And How We Help

Todd Carlson 0:32

Explore your world. It's the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.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 1:06

Someone's been on the treadmill again! Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show. Live from Salt Lake City. Hi there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe, the Vacation Nerd. The entire purpose of this travel podcast radio show is to help you, our listeners, plan and book your next vacation, and to give our listeners the latest travel deals, cruise deals to help save you money. So we want you to consider this your must-listen personal daily and weekly travel briefing if you love to travel or if you want to start traveling. And this show is presented by my good friend's company, Blue PlanetVacations.com. Mark Faldmo will be here in the studio here in just a moment. He's printing off the hot travel deal of the week. Coming up in this first segment, we are going to get the most important travel news. And as Mark Faldmo makes his way into the studio, let's start with the hot travel deal of the week right out of the gate. Can you tell I am delaying? D As you said.

Mark Faldmo 2:21

Okay, all right.

Nonstop Peru Deal And Dream Itinerary

Patrick Wiscombe 2:23

Let's get to the hot travel deal of the week, which is presented by Airwolf H V A C. Are we going to South America or was that a little bit later?

Mark Faldmo 2:33

Yep, no, we're gonna go to South America and Peru.

Patrick Wiscombe 2:36

So this is the hot travel deal of the week.

Mark Faldmo 2:38

Yep. Delta has continued with its seasonal flight between Salt Lake City and Lima. This is something we talked about last year. They first launched this. The best part this year, there are some really great airfares. So the flight operates between December 1st and January 31st, which is peak travel season. That's the summer season in Peru. But the airfare starts at $771 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:04

Wow.

Mark Faldmo 3:05

Round trip. Even though this is a short period, what it does, you know, I know we mentioned Salt Lake City, but this opens up Peru to the West Coast to be able to fly on a single airline. Before those on the West Coast, we either have to take a flight back to Atlanta, then to Peru, or to some connecting city, or fly to somewhere like Los Antes or San Francisco and switch airlines to Latam. Now you can do that all on one airline for those of us here in the West. So much easier.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:35

So it's a direct flight.

Mark Faldmo 3:36

Wow. Nonstop flight. That flight time between Salt Lake City and Lima, Peru is eight hours and fifty minutes. Oh. So that's not too long of a flight. I mean, that is a long flight, but considering other routes would take you 13 to 14 hours to get there, that shaves a lot of time off of that by taking that nonstop for those of us in Salt Lake.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:01

What are some of the things that you have done or that uh people should consider doing when they're down in Peru?

Mark Faldmo 4:07

The thing that most people think about in Peru is Machu Picchu. If Peru's on your bucket list, don't make the mistake of thinking Peru is just Machu Picchu. Combine it with the Amazon rainforest, with Cusco, with the Sacred Valley, along with Machu Picchu. Here's my recommended itinerary. This is one I do for groups and for families. I would start with the Amazon, three nights there, which means you'd have to fly from Lima to Porto Maldonado. And this is really nice because you take a boat up to these rainforest lodges where there's real no electricity. They have generators that generate the power that's on for a short time during the evening and meals. There's wildlife viewing, monkeys, macaws. You take canoe trips. I remember when we were there, it was my niece's birthday, and we went piranha fishing, which was very interesting. She was the only one that caught a piranha that day. And then other groups came back and we ate piranha for the evening meal for those that wanted to try it. Tastes like chicken. Yeah. Yes. Well, it tastes like another fish. I'm not a fish eater, so I didn't partake in that. And then from the Amazon, go into the Andes, go to Cusco, which is the capital of the Inca Empire. And it's also the gateway to Machu Picchu. So that's where you'd want to start your journey to Cusco. Cusco's at a high elevation, and you drive down into the Sacred Valley, which is a valley with 13,000 foot mountains on either side of you. Wow. Stay there. There's a lot of Incan history. There are small communities, spectacular scenery. And then after that, you would go into Machu Picchu. I would recommend spending at least one night, but maybe two nights there. So you can get two full days in Machu Picchu and then back to Lima. You can spend a night or two in Lima, explore the history there, and then head on your way home. That's a nine-day trip, depending on how long you wanted to spend in Lima and in Machu Picchu area.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:08

So the hot travel deal of the week was to Lima, Peru. $771 round trip. That's basic economy. But if you want to package the type of trip that Mark was just talking about, call Mark in the office right now or right at the break. There's no obligation. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And now let's get to the travel news of the week. I

Delta Updates And Europe Route Boom

Patrick Wiscombe 6:37

saw that Delta has added live sports on international flights. Delta says that they're partnering with Sport 24 to stream live sports through Delta Sync Wi-Fi on international routes, and it's going to include the NFL, which by the way, I'm glad to have football back starting tomorrow. The NBA. Because five steps is not traveling. Probably, yeah. Soccer, the Premier League, Formula One is on, and of course, tennis coverage. Airlines are expanding into Europe.

Mark Faldmo 7:15

This is one of the biggest stories headed into the summer of 2027 is this expansion by U.S. carriers into Europe. Delta, over the last 15 years or so, have been the dominant airline on that transatlantic presence between the US and Europe. But competitors are starting to add international capacity to Europe. But what's interesting about it is their strategy. Rather than simply flying to the big cities like London and Paris, the airlines are increasingly scheduling flights to secondary European cities and leisure destinations.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:49

What's considered a secondary city? Would that be like Sicily, Marseille, Luxembourg, those types of areas?

Mark Faldmo 7:58

Vienna, yes. Oh, Vienna, okay. And so, yeah. So, you know, in just a moment, we'll we'll go through what each airline has added. And United is the clearest example, which we'll get to in just a moment. Alaska Airlines, and we've made mention of this on occasion, they are taking on Delta directly in their Seattle hub and adding more European flights. What about United? United has announced 10 new international routes for the summer of 2027, which is its largest international expansion ever. Eight of the 10 destinations that they're flying are currently not served nonstop by another US air carrier. Oh, really? United is one that is deliberately going beyond Europe's traditional gateways and focusing in on those secondary gateways. So from Newark, New Jersey, they'll be flying to Luxembourg, Marseille in France, Ibiza, Valencia, the Azores, Slovenia, and also Sicily. And this is a big shift from those larger primary cities into the secondary cities. American is expanding as well and has announced seven new international routes and three totally new destinations for them. Philadelphia is getting service to Vienna and Porto. Plus, they're returning their Reykjavik flight in Iceland back.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:21

By the way, Porto. Sneaky great. That is an underrated city. That area. Oh my goodness. Fiji Airwaves 75th anniversary sale is coming up. Actually,

Fiji Sale And Cheap Sydney Hack

Patrick Wiscombe 9:36

I think it's live now.

Mark Faldmo 9:37

Yeah, it's live now. You have to book by September 8th. So just a few days to do that. So it's for travel between January 1st and June 15th of 2027. And on select dates, you can find some really good airfares. Fiji Airways, you automatically think of Fiji. So between Los Angeles and San Francisco, it's $773 round trip. Whoa. But one thing to remember, Fiji is also a great connecting airline to other places in the South Pacific. In February, I found a fair between Los Angeles and Sydney, starting at that same $773 per person round trip.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:17

That is phenomenal.

Mark Faldmo 10:19

With that, you can add in a stopover in Fiji. So you could spend two or three days in Fiji and then continue on to Sydney. So it breaks up that long 14, 15-hour flight into two shorter flights. But to get between Los Angeles and Sydney for under $800 is a pretty good deal.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:37

Oh, that's an unbelievable deal.

Mark Faldmo 10:39

I'm actually going to Fiji in October. So we'll be talking about Fiji uh in in a few months here. So uh I'm excited for that.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:48

So I would be too.

Disney Holiday Travel Discounts

Patrick Wiscombe 10:50

But I have seen a lot of commercials about Disney for holiday travel 2026.

Mark Faldmo 10:57

Holiday season, particularly at Disneyland, is a big celebration. We're gonna kind of talk about both resorts here, but Disneyland in California has some special things going on right now. Disney's holiday season runs November 13th to January 6th. So that's when they kind of convert to the Christmas season. They do have their Halloween October things uh that's before that, but the park gets a major upgrade for Christmas. Even the attractions change at Christmas. You know, the haunted mansion will celebrate its 25th year this year, um, and it's a small world, gets seasonal music and decorations and up to 400,000 lights on the exterior of It's a Small World. California Adventure does its own thing. Carsland is especially fun during the holidays. I love Luigi. Yeah. And Nader. And Nader, yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:51

Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know why I called him Nader.

Mark Faldmo 11:56

Yeah. The deals are particularly good as well. Right now, Walt Disney World has save up to 20% off on select Disney resorts. This is for stays Sunday through Thursday, so it doesn't include the weekend. And that one does include the Halloween time. So that one's October 4th through December 24th, is when those Walt Disney World things are. And then the Disneyland has specific room discounts up to 20% on certain days, uh, which also can be combined with their kids' dining packages, uh, usually they can't be combined. So that's a really good offer for Disneyland in California.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:39

As we go to break mark, let's just refresh our listeners' memory. What we've already talked about in this first segment of the show. We had the uh airfare to Peru for $771 round trip. That's basic economy. That's on Delta. When were the travel dates on that?

Mark Faldmo 12:57

That flight between Salt Lake and Lima runs December 1st to January 31st. For our listeners outside of Salt Lake, it's a great connecting point to get to Lima. And then the second item was Fiji Airways. This is their 75th anniversary sale. Just have a few days to book this round trip from Los Angeles or San Francisco. You can get to Fiji starting at 773 round trip, or between Los Angeles and San Francisco, you can get all the way to Sydney for $773 round trip per person on Fiji Airways. And then the Disney offer was what? Was 20% off select Disney resorts in Florida or 20% off plus the kids' dining package at Disneyland in California.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:41

Take advantage of those offers. Call Mark in the office at the break. I know we're on the air right now, but just get the conversation started. He'll either return your phone call or someone in his office will return your call. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717, and he'll post all of this information on Blue Planet Vacations.com. When we come back, it is time for the Just Cruising segment, the segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. We will have the cruise deals of the week. And we've got some cruise news that was genuinely kind of surprising. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or radio show continues. Alongside my friend Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, the Vacation Nerd. Thank you so much for listening.

Todd Carlson 14:35

We will be back in about two minutes, taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show is presented by Blue PlanetVacations.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.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 Insidetrav.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:48

Welcome

Barcelona To Lisbon Cruise Deal

Patrick Wiscombe 15:49

back to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show. Hello there, I am Patrick Wiscombe, the vacation nerd, alongside Mark Faldmo, the owner of Blue Planet Vacations.com, and this is the infamous Just Cruising segment. The segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. And to all those boarding the show right now, let me just simply say ahoy, Mateus. Ahoy. Coming up in this segment of the show, of course, we will get to the cruise news, but we found one cruise deal this week that we just had to come back from break to promote. So we'll call this the cruise deal of the week. And you can book this at BluePlanetvacations.com 888-718-7717. Let's start with the cruise deal of the week, which is I think you are going on Celestial Cruise Line. Is that right?

Mark Faldmo 16:52

That is. So this is kind of the fun part. I'm going on this cruise. So the cruise deal of the week, I'm inviting everybody to come with me on Celestial Cruise Line. And this is a cruise. It's a seven-night cruise that starts in Barcelona and ends in Lisbon. Seven nights cruising southern Spain, Gibraltar, and Morocco. Whoa. This is not your typical Mediterranean cruise. And it's on December 5th, and the price starts at $549 for an inside cabin and $13.29 for a balcony cabin. And the reason why that's a little bit higher is because this is an older ship and was designed really when balconies were kind of a premium luxury thing. And so there aren't very many balconies on this ship. It just has, I think, one level of balconies on it.

Patrick Wiscombe 17:39

Now, when you say December 5th, the inside cabin start for $549, you're talking about December 5th, 2026. So we're talking 2026. Basically 90 days from now, three months from now. Yeah.

Mark Faldmo 17:51

Three months from now. Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 17:52

Awesome. Okay.

Mark Faldmo 17:53

So what makes I've already got a few people that are joining me on this. So everybody else, give me a call. It's a a great cruise.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:00

Yeah. 888-718-7717. What makes this cruise unique?

Mark Faldmo 18:05

First of all, Barcelona, where it begins, this gives you an opportunity to experience one of Europe's great cities. I love Barcelona, but one thing I'm looking forward to is visiting the Sagrada di Familia because it was finally finished in February after 144 years worth of construction. Whoa. So to see it without the cranes, I'm looking forward to that. I also plan on taking a visit to Montserrat, uh, which is a monastery up in the mountains with some of the most breathtaking and amazing views, I think, in all of Europe, which is saying something. I love to go to Montserrat.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:43

Where else do you go?

Mark Faldmo 18:44

And then it goes to Malaga in Spain, which takes you to the southern coast of Spain, part of the Spain's Costa del Sol, explore Malaga itself, or you can take that time to go visit more of outlying southern Spain. And then one of the most unusual stops is Gibraltar, which is famous for the Rock of Gibraltar, you know, it's British culture sitting right there in the southern tip of Spain. When on a clear day from the Rock of Gibraltar, you can see to North Africa. The part I am most looking forward to is visiting Casablanca. You know, so actually going to North Africa, I think that's one of the best selling points. One thing I'm looking forward to is going to Rick's Cafe from the movie Casablanca. Oh, yeah. Morocco also gives a different cultural aspect to this. You get that northern African culture, whole different architecture, and then go to Cadiz, another side of Spain historic port that has walkable streets, plazas, beautiful waterfront. And this is just a city you can get off the ship and roam around and see what there is to see. And then finishing in Lisbon. The one reason why I chose this is because out of all of these ports, Barcelona is the only port I've been to. Everything is going to be new to me. Oh wow. So I'm actually spending an extra day in Lisbon just to see more of Lisbon. Why did you choose Celestial in this case? I chose it because it's smaller than most major cruise lines. They do destination intense Mediterranean cruising. We've mainly talked about them doing the Greek Isles. That's what they're known for. But in the wintertime, they're doing some of these special Mediterranean sailings. And I just thought this is a great time to go see Europe and Morocco, kind of in the offseason. Less crowds, still pretty good weather. I chose it mainly for the destination immersion. The appeal for me is the destinations of the entertainment. Not looking to choose an itinerary based on the ship, but based on the destinations.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:52

Barcelona, Malaga, Gibraltar, which have I was wanted to go. Casablanca, Cadiz, Lisbon. That's pretty great. How did you find this one?

Mark Faldmo 21:02

I actually found it, and probably listeners are gonna get sick of this, but at GTM. Yeah. I met with the celestial cruises. I've known about them and we've talked about them before, but they particularly brought this up. And so it's like, okay, I'm gonna go on that and I've arranged my passage.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:22

December 5th, 2026, $549 for an inside cabin and $1,329 for a balcony. The reason, what is that about? $800 difference, roughly, is because there's very few balconies on the ship, so it's just a limited number. Okay. So if you're interested and want to go with Mark, $888-718-7717, and he'll also post this on blueplanetvacations.com.

Big Cruise News And New Home Ports

Patrick Wiscombe 21:51

Shall we get to some cruise news now? Let's go. Okay. Oceana is owned by NCL Norwegian Cruise Line. Have I got that right?

Mark Faldmo 22:01

Correct.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:02

Okay. So they have NCL, which is kind of their base product, and then they have I think it's Regent, which is their luxury product. Is Oceana above or below Regent?

Mark Faldmo 22:14

Bel below. Okay. Oceana is kind of an upper premium. Okay. Um, and then Regent is a luxury, a true luxury product.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:48

So Oceana has launched their brand new Oceana Sonata.

[Ad] The Best Mini Golden Doodle Breeders

Patrick Wiscombe 22:52

That's the name of the ship this past week. It's nearly 14. Passengers, and they're going to start sailing with passengers in 2027. And they're also beginning a new five-ship, what they're calling the Sonata class expansion extending through 2037. So Oceana, if you don't know anything about them, it is that's some pretty great cruising right there.

Mark Faldmo 23:18

It is. Yeah. And you know what I like about them, they used to define themselves as country club casual. They've always been a premium in

(Cont.) Big Cruise News And New Home Ports

Mark Faldmo 23:28

that premium space. They're kind of the only cruise line that sits between premium and luxury. So they're kind of right on the border of luxury, but not quite there. But that's not a bad thing. That just means you get a really good product for a slightly lower price.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:43

Oceana is take a look at them. They're it's pretty great.

Mark Faldmo 23:48

One thing that Oceana is known for is longer stays import. They were the first cruise line to really start with overnight's imports to stay longer so you could really immerse yourself in the destinations. Another selling point is their food. They pride themselves on food. They probably have better food than even some of the luxury cruise lines out there. They do a great job. And then they're smaller ships. They're anywhere from 670 up to this newer class of ship, which is slightly below uh 1,400 passengers.

Patrick Wiscombe 24:23

Philadelphia has officially become a cruise home port. We'll stick with the Norwegian news here. Philadelphia opened its new cruise terminal with Norwegian cruise line, and they've committed to at least 41 Philadelphia sailings annually through the year 2033.

Mark Faldmo 24:42

Norwegian actually used to cruise out of Philadelphia 15 years ago. I'm not sure why they stopped, but now they've committed to it by building this new cruise terminal. One thing that this really opens up is Bermuda cruises. We don't really talk about Bermuda cruises a lot. It's an interesting cruise, and we'll talk about it in just a moment. But one thing that they will do out of this, they're going to do Caribbean cruises, they're going to do Canada-New England cruises. And so it does open up a ride variety of cruises from a different port other than New York City or Boston, where those are typically done from.

Patrick Wiscombe 25:18

Disney is coming back to New York City after a three-year absence. The Disney Wish will be sailing seven itineraries of four to seven nights beginning in late September, which will also mark include Bermuda, Canada, New England, and Caribbean voyages.

Mark Faldmo 25:38

A lot of cruise lines have kind of left there, but now they're starting to come back. Disney in particular hasn't been there for several years. They will go year-round. It's kind of interesting because a lot of people say, Well, why did I take a Caribbean cruise in December from New York? I've done that several times in December and January. It's cold when you get on the ship, but you leave, and then overnight you're already down into the Carolinas and Florida. So the weather is not bad. It's just getting past that first day, and then you're in the Caribbean. Disney, with their fleet expansion, they're able to come back in New York City for a longer amount of time. They're also able to add San Juan, some more Panama Canal cruises, and then they're gonna actually have three Disney Wish class ships in Port Canaveral. They're really expanding their cruise presence around home ports in the U.S. and also in Europe. Galveston is gonna get a fifth cruise terminal.

Patrick Wiscombe 26:35

Royal Caribbean Group and the Port of Galveston are negotiating a brand new terminal.

Mark Faldmo 26:41

We previously talked about MSC that just opened up big new terminal in Galveston. Real Caribbean already has a terminal. They want to open a second terminal. I love Galveston from our area, from the Western U.S. It's easier to get to, and you can still get to most of the regular Caribbean ports that people like to visit from Galveston. Yeah. It's a little bit harder to get to the Eastern Caribbean, but you do get that Western Caribbean and kind of Southern Caribbean, exotic Western Caribbean. You can get all of that uh from Galveston.

Patrick Wiscombe 27:15

China is experimenting with what they're calling ultra cheap cruises to nowhere. Oh boy. Tianjin Oriental Cruises is offering the sailings with no ports of call. The cruises are priced from $75 to $200 per person. Basically, explain a cruise to nowhere. You leave whatever port city you're in, you literally just go around in circles in the ocean, don't go anywhere, and then you come back to port. That's basically what it is.

Mark Faldmo 27:46

During COVID, Royal Caribbean operated a ship out of Singapore, and they did cruises to nowhere because no ports would take them. Um that's possibly where that's coming from. We'll see if that works or not. I I don't think so, because one of the main reasons to cruise is to explore the destinations. Yes. Not just experience a boat.

Patrick Wiscombe 28:08

So And if it's anywhere near Wuhan, I'm out. Yep. Let's get to Mark's vacation tips and tricks presented by grizzlytire.com. What tips do you have for our listeners this week?

Mark Faldmo 28:23

The tip is don't assume

Europe Carry On Trap And Wrap Up

Mark Faldmo 28:24

your carry-on bag is actually a carry-on bag in Europe. That's a great point. I hadn't thought about that. Your bag may fit in the overhead bin, but in Europe it can be a little bit different. There's different size restrictions. Some airlines, especially the low-cost carriers, don't allow you to use the overhead bin. Everything has to fit underneath unless you pay a higher fare.

Patrick Wiscombe 28:47

Right.

Mark Faldmo 28:47

Um, or pay for that bag to go in the overhead bin. There's no universal carry-on size. It can vary differently by different airlines in Europe. One example that's kind of interesting is Lufthansa in Germany, has totally different sizes and weight limits, which can really mess people up. So they're a partner with United. So some people will fly to United and then fly in United to Germany and then switch, and they'll make them check their bag because they don't count it as a carry-on bag. Oh, interesting. Just pay attention to that. If your itinerary uses multiple airlines, make sure and check each airline, even if it's a code share, make sure you're checking the carry-on limits for each airline that you'll be flying on.

Patrick Wiscombe 29:35

That's a great point. I had forgotten about that. So what works on one airline may not be small enough for another. In this segment, we talked about your trip to Barcelona on December 5th. $549 for an inside cabin and $1,329 for a balcony. And if anyone wants to go with you, they've got to call you in the office. So $88-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And Mark is going to post all of this on Blue Planet Vacations.com. New episodes of this show are released every weekday on my website, thevacation nerd.co, thevacation nerd.co, and weekly on Mark's site, inside travel talk.com. Both of the shows are available on all podcast platforms. Just do a search for Inside Travel Talk or The Vacation Nerd on your favorite podcast platform. That's it. We are 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 do it. Take action. And we'll help you get there. That's where Mark comes in. Call Mark in the office, 888-718-7717. Thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. We truly appreciate you joining us for the show each week. We don't have a radio show or podcast without you. So alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe, the Vacation Nerd. Make it a fantastic week. We'll talk to you again next weekend.

Todd Carlson 31:24

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.