Todd Carlson 0:15

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 InsightTravelTalk.com. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe 0:49

Live from the great state of Utah, right here in Salt Lake City, and broadcasting live from what was USANA Amphitheater. We're getting ready for the Motley Crew concert. Those were words that I never thought that I would say. That's a lineup. This is not a show about concerts. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. He's fresh off seeing Motley Crew on what was it? Monday night? I think it was.

Mark Faldmo 1:47

Monday night, yep.

Patrick Wiscombe 1:48

How was the show?

Mark Faldmo 1:50

It was good. It's kind of interesting to see those really old guys performing wham rock.

Patrick Wiscombe 1:59

Oh, I'm so glad you went. Yeah. It was fun. In case you are wondering, this is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show. Hello there. I am Patrick Wiscombe, the vacation nerd. And the entire purpose of this travel podcast and radio show is to help you plan and book your next vacation. And to give our listeners the latest travel news as well as the best travel and cruise deals, which are specifically designed to help you save money. So we want you, our listeners, to consider this show 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 stage crew manager Mark Faldmo. Rock on, dude. Let's start with the travel news. Travel advisors are reporting strong early demand for Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations, particularly Caribbean resorts, cruises, villas, and multi-generational trips.

Mark Faldmo 3:01

This time of year, September, people start calling and saying, well, we want to go somewhere for Thanksgiving or Christmas. And you really need to start planning that in April or May. But this year in particular, it's hard to find anything available over the holidays. Oh, wow. Mainly, that's because many travelers are investing it in memories over material goods. And so they're splurging a little bit on trips. There still is some inventory, like if you're looking for a villa stay or a larger group, it's going to be tough at this time. If you're looking for holiday travel between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you really should start planning that April or May.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:41

If anything's available, you're going to pay more anyway.

Mark Faldmo 3:44

Some of the places like we talked about St. Thomas a few weeks ago, that's getting tough to find anywhere over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, mainly because you don't need a passport. So a lot of people want that beach vacation. Yeah. A lot of the other U.S. Virgin Islands, the same thing.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:01

American, United, and Southwest Airlines are reconsidering. This is a big development year. They're reconsidering flight schedules as the cost of jet fuel is just going through the roof. So it's obviously it's going to affect profits. American says it could reduce capacity if fuel remains expensive, while United and Southwest are also adjusting growth plans. Basically, they're saying jet fuel is out of control, so we have to be profitable.

Mark Faldmo 4:32

In order to do that, they are reducing capacity, reducing flights, not adding new routes. Although this past week there have been several new routes mentioned, but there was a new airline that was looking to come into Salt Lake City and they decided not to. Really? Because of the fuel cost. It would have been a great route for those of us here in Salt Lake City to a great destination. But because of the cost of fuel, they just couldn't risk that, especially during some of the holidays and the winter months where they can get a higher margin. They're just going to reduce seats and sell them at a higher cost so that the plane itself remains profitable.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:12

Hyatt is expanding its all-inclusive strategy with a new Grand Hyatt planned for a gated community in Cancun, one of your favorite places.

Mark Faldmo 5:23

Typically, kind of the mainline Hyatt hotels have stayed out of the all-inclusive and they've let those go to some of the other inclusive brands that they have, like Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zolera, Secrets. But now Grand Hyatt is jumping into that in Cancun. I'll just add another kind of premium high-end hotel in the area for those that want that experience. And you know, Grand Hyatt's, I love Grand Hyatt's. My favorite one, Grand Hyatt on Poipu Beach in Kauai.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:55

Yeah.

Mark Faldmo 5:55

Um, but they're they're great hotels to stay at.

Patrick Wiscombe 5:58

Oh, yeah, they sure are. Singapore Airlines has overtaken Qatar Airways to become the world's highest ranked airline in the 2026 Sky Tracks Awards. Qatar Airways, those are special planes. So Singapore Airlines overtaking them, that's something.

Mark Faldmo 6:16

Four out of the top five list are Middle Eastern Airlines or A or Asian airlines. So number one was Singapore, number two, Qatar, number three, Cathay Pacific, uh, which operates out of Hong Kong mainly. Number four, Al Napon uh Airways, which is Japanese, and then Turkish Airways rounds out the top five. I'm surprised Emirates on here is six. And I'm surprised it is not higher because it it has some of the best premium cabins out there, but overall, those were the top five in the top 20. There's not a single US-based airline in the top 20. We often talk about Delta and their push for premium, but they didn't even make the top 20. I think there's 88 airlines. But one thing they did add a new category, which was the best Wi-Fi service. And Delta is number one on the best Wi-Fi service of airlines in the world.

Patrick Wiscombe 7:14

Always in the opening segment of the show, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, which is presented by Airwolf HVAC in construction. If you're having cooling issues, just because it's still a little warm, it's not as hot as it was. And with the winter season coming up, get your HVAC check. Call Jason at Airwolf HVAC in construction 801-735-3293, 801-735-3293. He actually answers his phone, which is amazing because uh if you've ever tried to contact any HVAC company, they don't answer their phone. By the way, if you want to win in business, just answer your phone. You can also schedule online at airwolf.com a I-R-E wolf.com. This ties into the hot travel deal of the week. We received a question earlier this week from Clara saying that she wants to go to Jamaica in January, since it's uh going to be cold here in Salt Lake or February. Her question is, has Jamaica recovered from the hurricane last year? And the answer is, yeah, I think it has actually.

Mark Faldmo 8:35

Yeah, it has recovered. There are a few resorts that have not opened, but they could have opened. They've just made a strategic decision to completely renovate the property. Most things are open. The island is open. This year is the first hurricane season since 1914 to have no hurricanes yet. Really? And so the 1914 season ultimately went the entire year without a hurricane. The forecast for hurricanes was there'd be 13 name storms with six hurricanes and two major hurricanes. So far this year there have only been six namestorms, but none of them have become hurricanes. So it's been a very quiet year, which really helped a lot of those islands that were affected by, I think it was Hurricane Maria last year, helped them recover and rebuild because they haven't had to deal with any significant weather. I think that has something to do with El Nino and the strong El Nino that kind of suppresses Atlantic and builds up the Pacific. I'm not a weatherman, but I did stay to Holiday Inn last night.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:46

Oh my goodness. That was good. All right, so let's talk about the uh places that Clara could go in January or February 2027.

Mark Faldmo 9:57

One of the hotel chains that I really like in Jamaica, there's several, but as far as a brand, I like the Royalton resorts. And they just officially had the last of their five resorts open this month, and that was the Royalton Grill. If you're looking to go to Jamaica, I would highly look at Royalton resorts, and they actually have a pretty good deal going on right now, kind of celebrate those hotels opening and that last one finally opening. And there's a save up to 25% on Royalton hotels in Jamaica. That can also be stacked on other current promotions. You know, we've talked about the past few weeks where with Blue Planet Vacations, you can save up to $550 if you book your vacation in full. Um, that one ends pretty quick here, but you can stack that 25% on top of those other savings. So if you're looking to go to Jamaica, now would be a great time to book. I have two of the Royalton properties that I'd recommend staying at. If you're looking for a family-friendly experience, I'd stay at the Royalton Blue Waters, which is in the Montego Bay area. I like this one and I like Royaltons in general because they're smaller resorts. So this one just has 225 suites, nine restaurants, seven bars, a lazy river, a pirate-themed water park for the kids, kids' clubs, two teens club, along with regular spa that a lot of adults would like, but it's a great family-friendly experience. And then if you're looking for an adults-only experience, the Royalton Hideaway in the grill, a smaller resort, 140 suites. It has its own beach, a great pool, exclusive restaurants. But one thing that's nice about this is there's another Royalton that's nearby. And if you stay at the adults only, you can use all of the facilities at the Royalton Negrill. So that would give you up to 12 restaurants to choose from. I think Royalton is a great pick for Jamaica.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:04

Let's talk about maybe five things to do in Jamaica.

Mark Faldmo 12:08

My top five things would be one, climb the Dunge River Falls. A lot of people say, oh, that's just a pretty big tourist trap. And it is, but it's also a very unique experience. You start down at the ocean and you hike up the waterfall, and it it's just a beautiful area to be in. Next, which is kind of a fun thing, is the Jamaican bobsled experience.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:34

Oh yeah, that's right.

Mark Faldmo 12:35

Which is a m a mountain roller coaster. You kind of ride like a ski lift up the mountain and then take the bobsled run down. Another thing is spend a day in the grill. You know, the grill is one of the most beautiful areas of Jamaica. There's seven mile beach. A unique thing to do there is Rick's Cafe and watch the cliff divers.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:56

Ooh, that'd be uh delightfully terrifying.

Mark Faldmo 12:59

Yeah, there's nothing like a sunset at Rick's Cafe. Another one of my favorites is the Rose Hall Great House, which is also near Montego Bay area. It's best known for the legend of Annie Palmer, which is the white witch of Rose Hall. This is supposedly a haunted old plantation house. You can do a daytime historical tour, which is nice. The nighttime haunted tour is actually an amazing tour. It's got that atmosphere of mixing in Jamaican culture and kind of the haunted history of the Rose Hall Great House. And then no destination would be complete without me talking about food. So, you know, experience Jamaican culture, reggae, and food. One of my favorite places, eat at Scotchy's Scotchy's traditional Jamaican jerk chicken or jerk pork. They have sausage and all sorts of other things. If you don't go to Scotchy's, you have to experience traditional Jamaican jerk somewhere. I know you do. Every time I go, I have to go to Scotchy's to get some ting, which is like fresca. It tastes like fresca, but it's the Jamaican version of that. I get some festival, which is like a little discot cornbread-ish type thing, but then just get the Jamaican jerk chicken. And I know you wouldn't like this, but Scotchy's is because of the Scotch bonnet pepper. Get their little hot sauce and dip the Jamaican chicken, the jerk chicken into it. Very good. Very hot.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:37

Dude, I sweat at ketchup.

Mark Faldmo 14:40

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:41

This might just this might land me in the bathroom. Yeah. Clara, I hope that that helps. Call Mark. If you have additional questions, you probably will, and uh as well as our listeners. Call Mark in the office here at the break. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he'll also post this information on his website, blueplanetvacations.com. When we come back, it is time for the Just Cruising segment. This is the segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. We'll be talking about MSC making big, big, big moves. They're serious. Getting into cruising. We'll explain. And of course, we have the cruise deal of the week. We are going to Alaska because that's where all of the promotions are right now. 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. We will be back in about two minutes. Thank you so much for listening and allowing us to be part of your weekend.

Todd Carlson 15:55

Taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show is presented by Blue Planet Vacations.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. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.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 InsightTravel Talk.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe 17:15

Paging Doctor Feel Good. Paging Doctor Feel Good. Fresh off the concert at uh whatever venue, Usauna Amphitheater, Utah Community Cra whatever the name of the venue is now. They've changed so often now that you can't really keep up with them. Yeah. By the way, I didn't even ask at the top of the show, how are your ears doing? They're doing pretty good. I've had a few days to recover.

Mark Faldmo 17:42

So you still have ringing? A little bit. A little bit of ringing. I should really get some airplugs to go to those concerts, but not a concert without the loudness.

Patrick Wiscombe 17:56

I know. You know you're getting old when you turn down the music to see out the windshield more clearly. I can't see. I'm glad you were able to go. Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. I am Patrick Wiscombe, the vacation nerd. He is my nerd friend, Mark Faldmo, owner of Blue PlanetVacations.com. This is the Just Cruising segment, the segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. And to everyone listening right now, ahoy mates. Ahoy. Coming up in this segment of the show, we'll get to the cruise news. And of course, we have the cruise deal of the week, but let's uh start with the cruise news. This was for me a huge story. MSC is in discussions to acquire the German federal government's roughly 80% stake in Meyer Werft. Why is that significant? Meyer Werft is one of Europe's most important cruise ship builders. They're not just going to contract the stuff out, they just want to become the builder. They they kind of basically want to own the whole ship from start to finish.

Mark Faldmo 19:07

Think of it as an Italian cruise line. Most of their ships have been coming out of Italian shipyards. Well, in 2025, we talked about the MSC and Meyer Werft had signed a deal to build five new ships. We talked about it again in June that they said the deal was coming and nothing has come. And so I wonder if MSc just got frustrated with that and said, well, let's just buy the shipyard. MSC is one of the few privately held cruise lines. They're also the largest shipping company in the world. So all of their container ships. Cruising is actually a very small part of their portfolios. I think they just want to control that process for everything. Yeah. Building their container ships, building their cruise ships. It'll be interesting to see how that affects the cruise market because a lot of other cruise lines build out of that shipyard. I'm sure they will continue to do it because they are a premier cruise ship building shipyard, but I wonder how another cruise line would feel about having another cruise line build their ships.

Patrick Wiscombe 20:09

Whittier's new Alaska cruise dock. This is a brand new place, has been declared a total loss. Why? There was a fire about 10, 12 days ago that destroyed much of the $80 million Glacier Gateway Terminal in Whittier, Alaska. Norwegians Jade escaped damage, but future operations may rely on the older cruise terminal one while rebuilding plans are being assessed.

Mark Faldmo 20:35

This was a tour excursion ship. They they don't know exactly what caused it or if the excursion boat was the cause of it, but the excursion ship was a total loss. So there's a fire damaged the pier that's been open for two years, but its first full year was this year. It's now a total loss. Earlier this week, the goal is to have the pier rebuilt so it's operational for the 2027 Alaska season. Okay. Um, but nothing formal has been announced because they're still assessing the damage and what's going to be needed to fix that. Luckily, there are other facilities in Whittier, or they could move back to Seward if they needed to. But Whittier is one of the ports that's usually the starting or end point of the north or southbound cruises. So there are other facilities, but to have that brand new facility destroyed is not good for the cruise industry.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:28

Philadelphia's fall cruise season is getting underway right now. Norwegian's Jewel is now sailing 10 and 11 night Canada New England cruises from Philadelphia. Norwegian Jewel is going to be making calls in Quebec City, Halifax, Bar Harbor, and Baston. Norwegian Pearl is planned for year-round Philadelphia service in 2026 and 2027. So things are getting underway for Philadelphia.

Mark Faldmo 21:59

Yeah, they are. And you know, I was just looking at the 2027 saline for a 10-night cruise. Prices start at fifteen thirty nine.

Patrick Wiscombe 22:09

Wow, that's phenomenal.

Mark Faldmo 22:10

It is. And again, this is a great fall sailing. Starting or ending in Philadelphia, setting to Boston, St. John, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottown on Prince Edward Island. So for those that are fan of and of Green Gables, that's where That all took place. Um, and then ending up in Quebec City, a great itinerary, good price for an itinerary like that. And, you know, right now, Norwegian has a special for up to 50% off sailings. Now that does end the end of September. So you've got to book that pretty quick to get that. I used to recommend for those that want to fall, do one of the round trip Boston or New York. But the more I look at these itineraries, they're so interesting. Do the one-way cruises that end in Quebec City. In this case, we're talking about Philadelphia, but they also start in New York or Boston to do the one-way cruises.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:05

Uncruise Adventures is more than doubling capacity on its popular Aleutians Islands itinerary for 2028. Strong bookings prompted the company to replace a 36-passenger yacht with a 74-passenger ship. Makes me wonder if Captain Dan was actually working on it.

Mark Faldmo 23:25

Might have been the one he was working on when we interviewed him. So this itinerary is one that's always stuck out to me. We've talked about uncruise quite a bit. They do a great job in Alaska, but this is a special cruise. So it starts in Seward. It's a one-way cruise between Seward and Dutch Harbor. Dutch Harbor, famous for Deadliest Catch. Now, for those that watch that, that's where all of the that starts and ends. But you go to Kenai National Fjords Park and the Glaciers, Katmai National Park, Kodiak Island, and then a couple of other places just going down that kind of tail of Alaska, eventually ending in Dutch Harbor. I like Uncruise because it turns cruising into an adventure rather than kind of a port-to-port. They're smaller ships, they take you to remote places, and this definitely is remote places on this 10-day cruise. And they really immerse you in the destination. Days are built around kayaking, hiking, wildlife, and really getting up close and personal with the destination. And they're kind of flexible cruises as well. They might see wildlife in one bay and go there. There's not there's a loose itinerary, places they have to stop during the day, but they'll take the ships wherever they need to go to give you the best experience. Right now, Uncruise has a pretty good deal for 2027 sailings. It's save $350 to $500 per person. The $500 off is spring and fall sailings, $350 a summer. Or, and you really should be looking if you're wanting to book Uncruise because they really sell out early, receive 10% savings for early booking on 2028 Alaska trips.

Patrick Wiscombe 25:10

Let's talk about the actual cruise deal of the week, which is always in this section. It's a uh river cruise sale on Viking. What are the details, Mark?

Mark Faldmo 25:20

This ends pretty quick. It ends September 30th. Okay, so about four or five days. Four or five days, but it's up to 40% off the cruise fare, free international airfare on select sailings, and just a $25 deposit to hold your cruise space.

Patrick Wiscombe 25:38

So they're still doing the $25 deposits.

Mark Faldmo 25:41

They're still doing that low deposit, and they've added in the free airfare and the 40% off. Viking is the most known river cruise company out there.

Patrick Wiscombe 25:52

Yeah.

Mark Faldmo 25:52

I'd say a river cruise should be on everybody's bucket list. This actually just helps you get closer, more affordable to experience the rivers of Europe. I'd like to just kind of give two quick itineraries that I really like on Viking. One is the Grand European Tour. All of the rivers are interconnected. The Grand European Tour on Viking sails between Budapest and Amsterdam. So that's the Rhine, the Rhine-Danube Canal, and then the Rhine to Amsterdam. So you get that whole thing in 15 days. You get to experience both of those rivers. And again, with this promotion, it's pretty good. And another one that I think is interesting, I just had some clients get off of this one. It's called Paris to the Swiss Alps. It starts in Paris and ends in Zurich. But you take a bus or train after you're done with your time in Paris to where you're eventually ending up about halfway up the Rhine and you do the Rhine uh to Basel and then end in Zurich. I didn't even know this option existed. Oh. Um, so it must be fairly new. Start in Paris, end in Zurich, or vice versa. Just another interesting thing that Viking is doing.

Patrick Wiscombe 27:11

Let's get to Mark's vacation tips and tricks presented by Grizzly Tire. The travel tip this week is the flat tire rule. I love it when it's literally called the flat tire rule and you have a tire sponsor. That was unplanned. So it just happened to work out that way. So if you need new tires, you need wheel alignment, oil change, brake service, call the experts at GrizzlyTire 801 895 4749, 801-895-4749, or you can schedule your service online at grizzlytires.com. In the upper right corner, it just says schedule service.

Mark Faldmo 27:51

All right, Mark, let's get to the flat tire rule, which is I've heard of this before, but never really looked into it. So again, it's called the flat tire rule. And it's if you miss your flight because of unexpected traffic, car trouble, illness, or another situation outside of your control, don't automatically assume you have to buy a new ticket. It's not an official rule, it's an unofficial practice that many major airlines implement. And it's where within two hours of your scheduled flight time, airline employees can rebook you on a later flight, put you on a standby flight without charging the normal change and rebooking fees. It's not a guaranteed rule, and you should always still try and be to the airport on time. But if something happens, just mention and ask for the flat tire rule. They probably won't do this if you're flying in the basic economy type fairs, but you can still ask for it if you happen to miss your flight because of a flat tire.

Patrick Wiscombe 28:53

All they can say is no.

Mark Faldmo 28:54

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 28:55

So you might as well ask.

Mark Faldmo 28:57

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 28:57

Yeah. As we wrap up, let's wrap up the three deals that we just talked about.

Mark Faldmo 29:02

Well, first let's go back to Jamaica. Oh, yeah. Um, so for Royalton Hotels in Jamaica, we have up to 25% off, which is combinable with other promotions. There's one that ends pretty quickly here that save up to $550 if you pay in full for your vacation. We also talked about the uncruise offer, which is sailing to Alaska. Save up to $350 or $500 per person, depending on when you sail for 2027 sailings or up to 10% off of 2028 sailings for early booking Alaska. And then the Viking cruise offer, which is for the rivers of Europe, save up to 40% off, plus free airfare, plus $25 deposits on select voyages.

Patrick Wiscombe 29:51

Take advantage of those offers. Call Mark in the office. We're wrapping up right now. Just get the conversation started. There's no obligation. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he'll also put this on blueplanetvacations.com. New episodes of this show are released every weekday on my website, thevacation nerd.co. It's not.com, it's dot co thevacationerd.co. And weekly on Mark's site, inside travel talk.com. The shows are available on all podcast platforms. Just do a search for inside travel talk or thevacation 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 get out and do it. Make some memories and we'll help you get there. That's where Mark comes in. 888-718-7717. Thank you so much for taking your time to stop and listen. We don't have a podcast. We don't have a radio show. We don't have a business without you. So we truly appreciate you joining us for the show alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, the Vacation Nerd. Make it a fantastic week. We will talk to you again next weekend.

Todd Carlson 31:19

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.