Back To Just Cruising

Todd Carlson 0:17

Now, back to The Insight 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 InsightTravel Talk.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Mark Heads To Fiji For Work

Patrick Wiscombe 0:58

All aboard for The Just Cruising segment right here on The InsideTravelTalk Podcast radio show. Hello there. I am Patrick Wiscombe, The Vacation Nerd, and on The other side of The glass is my Nerd friend, Mark Faldmo, who is headed to Fiji for The next two weeks. He will be doing The show from Fiji next. Well, really The next two weeks.

Mark Faldmo 1:23

Yeah, The next two weeks.

Patrick Wiscombe 1:25

And other than it being Fiji and one of those places that everyone is like, oh man, Mark is so lucky to go to Fiji. What are you gonna be doing down there?

Mark Faldmo 1:37

I am actually going on a site inspection. So I'll be at a different hotel every night, along with some excursions just to be introduced to some new hotels.

Patrick Wiscombe 1:48

That is rough sailing. It is. I guess technically it is, yes. It is, yeah. Although it's hard to say that with a straight face. Yeah. Coming up in this segment, The just cruising segment, we've got The cruise deal of The week, but let's first start with The most important cruise news from this past week. You and I have both seen it. Not in pro well, no, we have seen it in person. We just haven't been on it. Correct.

MSC Breaks Ground On Sandy Cay

Patrick Wiscombe 2:19

MSC Cruises or MSC Group is holding a groundbreaking for their luxury private island. And what are The details about this luxury private island?

Mark Faldmo 2:29

the name of it is Sandy K. You'll access it by tenderboat from Ocean K, and it's going to be a luxury experience. I assume it's probably going to be mainly for MSc Yacht Club people and explorer journeys, or is going to be a more premium experience that you would have to pay to get on this island from. the renderings are incredible. It has six bays, and that's The number of bays that Ocean K also has. But this island is probably an eighth or a quarter of The size of Ocean K. It just has kind of one central hub where there's you know The restaurants and facilities, and then you just go take your pick of bays to go relax on. There'll be more information released on this island soon, I'm sure. Um, but they are starting to actually build The facilities on

Holland America Adds A 12th Ship

Mark Faldmo 3:23

it now.

Patrick Wiscombe 3:24

Other cruise news, Holland America is expanding to 12 ships now.

Mark Faldmo 3:29

Holland America, as well as several other cruise lines, are all part of Carnival Corporation. So they build ships with similar platforms. So Holland America's 12th ship will enter in 2029, and it's going to be what is now a PO cruise ship, but it's built on The exact same platform as Holland America's Oster Dam, Nordam, Wester Dam, and Zurndam. It's basically The same ship, so they'll have very little changes they need to make, just a few branding things. It's already an existing ship, not a new build, but it's very similar to other ships that they already operate. Holland America's been very quiet for a long time, and all of a sudden, yeah, bam. PO is losing a ship, but they are going to get Cunard's Queen Anne in The same transaction. Oh, really? And so it's actually Cunard that is going to shrink by one ship. And so this will give PO cruises a much larger ship than what they traditionally operate. It will give them a 3,000 passenger ship. We don't talk a lot about PO. They're particularly a South Pacific Australian brand, but it's interesting how these ships, all of them moving around within The carnival family of brands, cruise lines.

Royal Caribbean Expands Alaska 2028

Patrick Wiscombe 4:48

Royal Caribbean, probably The biggest owner of cruise ships, or at least certainly The most aggressive. Couple weeks ago, two, three weeks ago, we talked about them taking a 50% stake in sandals in Jamaica. Haven't heard any news since then, really, because that was The news. Royal Caribbean is going to bring four ships to Alaska in 2028. Royal Caribbean's going hard into Alaska now.

Mark Faldmo 5:12

They are. Massive demand. And so this does bring an additional ship into Alaska for 2028. So they'll have The Anthem of The Seas, which is going to sell The north and southbound cruises between Vancouver and Seward. They'll have The Ovation of The Seas, which will sell Round Trip from Seattle. They will have The Voyager of The Seas, which will also operate Round Trip from Seattle. And then their smaller Serenade of The Seas will operate Round Trip from Vancouver.

Can You Cruise To Tahiti

Patrick Wiscombe 5:43

If you have travel-related questions either right now or during The week, and you just want to ask us, you can call or text us at 801-649-3700. Krista sent a text. I want to visit Tahiti, but I don't want to fly. Are there any cruises where a long flight is not involved? the answer is yes, and I think it's Holland America that does it.

Mark Faldmo 6:08

It is. Yeah. Princess used to operate this, but I haven't seen it on their schedule for a while. So it is Holland America. They do offer a few different versions of this, but I chose an itinerary that I personally think is The best of The three different versions of this. So what it is is it's a 35-day cruise that goes between Hawaii, Tahiti, The Marquesas Islands, and sells round trip from San Diego. Oh wow. So you just need to get yourself from San Diego. Here is The itinerary, and then we'll go over The pricing

The 35 Day Hawaii To Tahiti Route

Mark Faldmo 6:41

of it. So The first few days are at sea, and this is between San Diego and Hawaii. You stop in Hilo, Hawaii on The Big Island, Honolulu, Hawaii, then to Maui, and then back to The Big Island Tacona. Oh, really? And so two stops on The Big Island, and then you'll have two days at sea. One of those you cross The international date line, stop at probably one of my favorite all-time cruise ports, although it's really hard to get to. Not very many cruise ships stop there. And it's Fanny Island in The Republic of Kiribati. Norwegian cruise line used to operate cruises from Hawaii that visited here. And I had The opportunity to do that several times. Just a really interesting port. For The most part, they still live in grass huts there. There's no real infrastructure. It's kind of your typical Polynesia. And then you go down another few days at sea, this time, crossing The equator, crossing back The international dateline The next day. So you're coming back and then visit Keohini in French Polynesia and then Bora Bora. And this is why I chose this itinerary because Bora Bora was not included in The other two options. And then goes to Riatea and then Morea.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:03

Two of your favorite spots.

Mark Faldmo 8:04

Yep. I love Raytea. And then Morea is I like Morea better than Bora Bora. That's probably debatable by a lot of people, but I like Morea. And then Papietay, again, The The capital there of French Polynesia.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:19

35 days? Wow.

Mark Faldmo 8:21

Yep. And we're still only on day 23. Oh, on this. So day at sea, and then go to The Tuomotu Islands, go to Fakarava in The Marquesas, go to Nukahiva, and then it goes back up six or seven days, back up to San Diego. They're all 35-day cruises. They have different islands. I like this one because of Bora Bora and because of The number of ports in The Marquesas Islands as well as Fannie Island. the others do not include Fanning Island. That kind of breaks up that longer sail between Hawaii and Tahiti.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:57

So 35 days, how much is this particular and what ship is it on?

Mark Faldmo 9:02

This is on The Zandam, and I think this is The best part. 35 days, starting price, $4,469 per person. That's phenomenal.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:13

For 35 days?

Mark Faldmo 9:15

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:16

Wow. But what's The actual cruise deal of The week?

Mark Faldmo 9:19

the cruise deal of The week is uh Royal Caribbean. Right now they have 60% off The second guest and third and fourth guests. So basically kids sail free, but this is for third and fourth guests, regardless of age. I kind of picked out my top three picks on Royal Caribbean. Kind of chose a last minute cruise, which is a December 4th sailing on The Mexican Riviera. This one starts at $463 per person for December 4th. That's a seven-night visits Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlon.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:53

And that's out of Los Angeles.

Mark Faldmo 9:54

That's out of Los Angeles. Okay.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:56

And then what's The second one?

Mark Faldmo 9:58

And then The second one is a six-night Caribbean cruise. This one is

Shockingly Low Price For Zandam

Mark Faldmo 10:01

April 18th, and it starts at $439 per person. Cruises from Fort Lauderdale and visits Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Nassau Bahamas. Wow. So I like that. It's six days, but visits three ports. Yeah. Or, you know, a lot of seven-day cruises also visit three ports. So you're one day shorter, but you visit in most cases The same number of ports you would on a seven-day cruise.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:30

Okay, and what's your third pick? So I went to The Royal Caribbean.

Mark Faldmo 10:33

I went a little exotic here. This is a nine-night cruise,

Royal Caribbean Sale And Top Picks

Mark Faldmo 10:38

round trip Sydney. Um, so this is March 14th, starts at $1,317 per person. What I like about this, it does have a lot of sea days, but The ports that it visits are very interesting. So The highlight ports are Vanuatu, which I believe this is The port that we've been talking about of Rural Caribbean that is their private island in The South Pacific. Then it visits Mystery Island. It has some World War II history there. And there's an old military airstrip that was built there and also great beaches. And then it goes to New Caledonia. It's a French territory, so it kind of has that European flair with The South Pacific beauty. So a little piece of France in The Pacific. All three of these are great options. I think that Australia one leaving from Sydney is one that I need to add to my bucket list because those are those are certainly very interesting ports to visit.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:38

Let's get to Mark's vacation tips and tricks. This is an important topic. If you're have any kind of medication, where do you want to start here?

Mark Faldmo 11:45

I just want to kind of reiterate that if you do travel with prescription drugs or with over-The-counter drugs, you need to really check with The countries you're visiting. First thing is always travel with medications in their original prescription containers. If possible, also have The doctor's prescription with you when you travel or a doctor's note saying these are all of The things that you're taking. Because there are some even prescription drugs that we can get here in The US that are not allowed in other countries. There are actually a lot of over-The-counter drugs like Pseudafed and Benadryl that are not allowed in countries. I had someone in Mexico went to a pharmacy, bought some Pseudafed, and they were stopped in The airport coming home. And they almost didn't make it home because they were stopped because of The Pseudafed that they purchased in Mexico, which you're not allowed to carry with you in Mexico. And so, you know, there are some medications for ADHD and some other conditions, particularly Japan, United Arab Emirates, that have very strict rules. What I would do first is check The embassy, The US Embassy, and The country you're visiting. They usually have a page, and also The CDC has a page that will help you sort through this about what medications you can and can't bring in The countries and some of them like there's some medications that you have to have, you can't take, and you may need to apply for permission to bring those into The country.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:14

I don't take any medications, and so I just haven't even thought about this.

Mark Faldmo 13:18

And so I'm I'm glad you're bringing it up. I bring that up because I I think we talked about

Medication Rules That Can Derail Travel

Mark Faldmo 13:23

this last year. I had a few Caesars, and so I am now on medicine for epilepsy, and some of those are banned. Some of The medications I'm on are banned in certain countries. So I've had to do some research as I'm traveling to make sure I'm okay because I have to take those medications now for The rest of my life. It's just something to look at and to consider when you're traveling. I hadn't even thought about that.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:47

You know, medications that we just take for granted here, that we sustain life, whatever it is, could be banned elsewhere.

Mark Faldmo 13:53

Yeah. And you know, I I think specifically like The Pseudofid and Benadryl, that surprises a lot of people. And a lot of people go to Mexico and get caught with that, and they usually are able are okay, but that's something that could cause some issues.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:10

I'm glad you brought this up. Very, very important. If you uh have not The medication questions, look for that blog post on blueplanetvacations.com and also Mark will post The cruise deals of The week. Royal Caribbean Sale, 60% off as second guest, and The third and fourth guests sale free. Call Mark in The office to take advantage of those promotions. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And

Where To Book And Final Sendoff

Patrick Wiscombe 14:42

like I said, he'll post this on BluePlanetVacations.com. New episodes of this show are released every weekday on my website, thevacationnerd.co, not.com, TheVacationNerd.co, and weekly on Mark's site, InsideTravelTalk.com. We are done. It's your turn to get out and see The world while you can, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. Life is short, book a trip, quit talking about doing stuff, just get out and do it. And we will help you get there. That's where Mark comes in. Thank you so much for taking The time to stop and listen. Have a terrific week. We will talk to you next weekend.

Todd Carlson 15:24

That's it. That's The end of The show. You've been listening to The InsideTravelTalk 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.