Everybody likes to go on vacation. I’ve never found an exception to that statement. Going on vacation recharges the mind and soul and yet it’s the one activity humans put off year after year because life gets in the way. The entire purpose of this podcast is to help you get out and see the world. We do that by helping you plan and book your next vacation or give you ideas where you should consider going next. Plus, we give you the travel news that actually matters and general news that's simply entertaining.
Time is going to pass anyway, so you might as well do the things you love and inspire you. This show is all about living life deliberately and intentionally. You only get one shot at this life so make it count. Make memories with those that matter most to you.
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TAKE ACTION: Quit talking about going on vacation, just do it. If you want more information about any of the destinations we discuss during the show, or have your own custom vacation in mind, I can help you. Please call, text, or email me.
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Mark is broadcasting from a quiet booth at the Delta Sky Club in LAX, minutes before hopping terminals for a Fiji Airways flight, so we keep this travel podcast tight, practical, and packed with value. If you like a weekly travel briefing that helps you plan and book smarter, this is one to save.
We start with a cruise news update that matters for families and group travel: Carnival Cruise Line is tightening policies for minor guests. We explain what the new cabin distance rules mean for travelers ages 15 to 20, what changes for kids under 15, and why age requirements can create real booking headaches if you don’t map out cabins correctly.
Then we hit airline and loyalty news with two angles: time and flexibility. Southwest is leaning into “airplane mode” to help busy travelers reclaim downtime in the air, and we talk about why unplugging can be the best part of flying. On the rewards front, American Airlines now allows mixing miles and cash for redemptions, making it easier to book even when you’re a little short on points.
We wrap with cruise inspiration and a deal: Viking welcomes a new Nile River cruise ship in Egypt, and National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions is offering up to $2,000 per person in airfare credits on select voyages, including Japan and a Scotland-to-Portugal sailing. If you want help booking any of the trips we mention, subscribe for more travel deals, share this with a friend who needs a vacation, and leave us a review so more travelers can find the show.
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Thank you for taking the time to listen to the show. There are literally thousands of podcasts from which you can choose, yet you listened to this show.
The entire purpose of this podcast is to help people plan and book their next vacation or give listeners ideas of where they might consider going on vacation next. Our goal is to help our listeners live their lives deliberately and intentionally. You only get one shot at life so you might as well make it count. Make memories with those that matter most to you.
TAKE ACTION: Quit talking about going on vacation, just do it. If you want more information about any of the destinations we discussed during the show, or have your own custom vacation in mind, I can help you. Please call, text, or email me.
Explore your world. It's The InsideTravelTalk 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
Live from LAX. Yeah, really. Mark Faldmo is in Los Angeles doing The show from one of those quiet booths. I don't know that they're soundproof. You are listening to The world-famous InsideTravelTalk podcast and radio show. Hello there. I am Patrick Wiscombe, The Vacation Nerd. The entire purpose of this travel podcast or radio show is to help you plan and book your next vacation and to give all of our listeners The latest travel news as well as The best travel and cruise deals that are designed to save you money. So we want you to consider this show your must-listen weekly travel briefing. If you love to travel or if you've always wanted to start traveling, and this show is presented by The man in The booth, Mark Faldmo with BluePlanetVacations.com. I will say that I can't hear anything going on around you since you're in The Delta Sky Club at LAX. It sounds pretty good.
Mark Faldmo
It is. I've actually never been in one of these quiet booths that they have, but it's a nice quiet area, especially to do The podcast and radio show from.
Patrick Wiscombe
All right, so I guess we should tell why you're in Los Angeles. We should tell listeners that this is a shortened one-segment show this week because Mark is on his way to Fiji. Yep.
Mark Faldmo
It'll be nice to be in Fiji and on The calendar. In two days, I'll be there, but really in about 15 hours I'll be there. Right after we're done here, I have to leave this terminal and transfer over to where I can catch Fiji Airways to fly off to Fiji. Business class or you just economy? What do you do? No, just economy. This trip is a meeting trip where we're going to see hotels. It's hosted by Fiji Airways. So they paid for The airfare and we get what we get when it's free.
Patrick Wiscombe
So oh darn. We're going to Fiji. Yep. Coming up in this segment of The show, we will have The hot travel deal of The week. But let's first start with The most important travel dues from this
past week. And let's start with Carnival Cruise Line. So we're gonna go combo platter here. Carnival Cruise Line tightening their policy on minor guests. So I'm curious what The details are.
Mark Faldmo
They did put it into effect a while back, but it's for sailing starting in this month in October. So I it's a good thing to review. And this particularly affects minor guests between 15 and 20 years old. You do have to stay in a cabin that is no more separated than three cabins from your adult relative or guardian, which The adult relative or guardian is someone over The age of 25. Really? Prior to this, guests between 18 and 20 didn't have any restrictions, but now they're making that between 15 and 20, you have to be fairly close to your adult relative. And then if you're younger than 15, you have to stay in an adjacent or connecting cabin.
Patrick Wiscombe
I would like to know The backstory of why this had to change.
Mark Faldmo
This feels like something happened. I'm sure there's something that happened. They've probably had issues with kids running wild and just trying to control that a little bit. And one thing that's important to keep in mind, and this is pretty much every cruise line, is that everyone in The cabin has to be 21 years old or older to sail in a cabin without someone 25 attached. Really? So if you have a 20-year-old and a 21-year-old, you need to be sailing with someone who is 25 and older. the only exceptions to that are legally married couples and select military personnel can crews at a younger age. This is why you work with a travel advisor. I have some pretty big family groups, 10, 15 cabins sailing, and we've got to fit all of their kids into The right areas of The ship so that they meet these age requirements. Otherwise, it's pretty hard to do.
Southwest Airlines is inviting busy Americans to what they call airplane mode and reclaim their time. What's this initiative about?
Mark Faldmo
This is a new ad campaign that they're doing. I actually just saw The first one of these ads come out this past week. But this is something we've talked about in The past. When I fly, I'll work at The airport, but once I get on The airplane, I don't do any work. That's my time, I'll watch some movies, I'll do things. And Southwest is having this campaign to enter airplane mode and just relax while you're on board. And so I like this. It's something that I've practiced for years. You know, ever since Wi-Fi has been introduced on airplanes, it is one of The few times where I can just sit and do nothing is on an airplane.
American Airlines is now allowing travelers to mix miles and cash for redemptions. I like this idea.
Mark Faldmo
This actually kind of brings The American Advantage program in line with rivals like what Delta and United offer. American used to be you could only redeem miles, but now you can pay for part of your miles in cash and part of your ticket in miles. Just makes it easier to redeem. One thing on this that I like about American, which I don't believe you can do on Delta, is you can say I want to use 11,000 miles and pay for The rest of it in cash. And they have a calculator right on The screen that will make that calculation for you. That is really helpful. It is. I always hate it when I'm a hundred or two hundred miles short of redeeming a ticket. And so, you know, which for me that doesn't happen on Delta, but other airlines, I get right up to there and I don't quite have enough. So I do like The miles plus cash option, which can help with that.
takes delivery of The newest Nile River cruise ship. What's this ship called and when do they set sail?
Mark Faldmo
It is becoming one of those kind of hot travel places to go. Egypt has so much to offer, so much unique and interesting history that The river cruise business has really kind of taken off there. So this new ship is called The Viking Seek Met. It'll be just another option for travelers wanting to go to Egypt. the one thing I like about this is it's a much smaller ship. So it just has 82 guests, so 41 staterooms on board. It offers 12-day cruises on The Nile called pharaohs and pyramids. You know, so so this will be just another unique way to see that. Viking keeps expanding. You know, we've talked about The expansion of their ocean and river before. This is just another addition to Viking's fleet.
Let's get to The hot travel deal of The week before Mark takes off to switch terminals as he heads over to Fiji. What is The hot travel deal of The week this week?
Mark Faldmo
This is on The National Geographic Linblod Expedition Voyages. They're an expedition type cruise. And right now they're offering up to $2,000 in airfare credits per person. So that could be a savings of up to $4,000 per person on National Geographic Linblad expeditions. I went through and looked at some of their programs that are part of this save up to $2,000 in air credit per person. And I chose two salines that aren't really your typical expedition type cruise. One of them is called The Celtic Coast and Iberian Shores. This cruise leaves from Edinburgh, Scotland, and ends up in Lisbon in Portugal. And so it kind of goes down The east coast of The United Kingdom, gets Portsmouth, Valmouth, and then goes down, gets a port in Spain, and then Porto in Lisbon, which has become a very popular place to visit in Portugal, and then ends in Lisbon. This is a 10-day cruise and it's on a smaller ship. This has a pretty good rate on it, especially for one of The smaller expedition ships. So it starts at $7,500 per person, plus you get The air credits on top of that. And then The next cruise I wanted to highlight is a destination we've talked lots about The past few weeks. And it's called Coastal Japan, Imperial Dynasties and Modern Culture. This cruise starts in Osaka, Japan, and ends in Osaka, Japan. You visit places like Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and then it also takes a little bit of a detour and goes over to South Korea for a while. And so it is a 16-day tour. And there are several more ports that I didn't mention. But Japan has become one of those hot travel destinations. And to experience it on a ship like this, where they really try and immerse you in The culture, and you have all sorts of local and professional guides that are helping you through that experience. I think this is a great way to visit Japan. This is more expensive than your typical large ship cruise. Um this one starts at for The 16-day cruise, starts at $16,500 per person. But The experience you'll have with The National Geographic Guides will be so amazing. And then plus you get save up to $2,000 a person on The airfare.
Patrick Wiscombe
Okay, so you still have The savings there as well. Yes. Okay.
Mark Faldmo
Good. And then that is also offered on their typical Arctic, Antarctic, Galapagos, what you typically would think of expedition. I just thought it was interesting that they have these destinations that most people wouldn't think about expedition cruises, that they're turning those destination into that same expedition experience.
Is there any promotion for our listeners who want to go to Fiji? I mean, obviously they'd have to be in The airport with you right now, but it if they want to go to Fiji, are there any promotions?
Mark Faldmo
Yeah, and that just quickly, um, they have a pretty good airfare right now. Starts at $8.99 per person from Los Angeles or San Francisco. Next week we'll talk a little bit more about Fiji. We'll kind of highlight The trip, what I'm doing, but there is really good airfare, and then I can certainly help you put together a trip to Fiji, especially you know, since I'm going there this week. It's gonna be six nights total. I'm gonna stay in five different hotels.
Patrick Wiscombe
Oh wow, so you're gonna experience The properties.
Mark Faldmo
Three different islands. I'm doing several excursions and activities, so a lot of them I have not done before. Fiji's one of my favorite places, but this will be a lot of new experiences for me. Two of The hotels we've stayed at, I've stayed at before, but all The other hotels are new, so I'm excited for that.
gonna do it. So if it felt like a short show, it was. Very short show. You've got to get out. Take advantage of those offers for Mark. Even though he's in The air, call him in The office. Just get The conversation started about getting over to Fiji. If you want to book any of The uh cruises that we talked about from National Geographic Linblod Expeditions, call Mark 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he will also post this on The website, BluePlanetVacations.com. Well, that's it. We are done. We've done our job, and 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 Mark will help you get there. Thank you so much for taking your time to stop and listen. We truly appreciate you joining us for The show. We don't have a podcast, we don't have a radio show, we don't have a business without you. Our listeners make all of this possible. So for Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe, The Vacation Nerd. Thank you so much for listening. Make it a fantastic week, and we'll talk to you again next weekend.
Todd Carlson
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.
