Inside Travel Talk

Bucket List Destinations: From Baltic Waters to Egyptian Pyramids

• Mark Faldmo & Patrick Wiscombe • Season 3 • Episode 10

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The perfect Eastern European vacation doesn't require the typical London-Paris route that everyone takes. Instead, discover the magic of Budapest, Vienna, and Prague – a cultural triangle that delivers incredible value with fall flights starting at just $749. Budapest captivates with its dramatic Danube views, thermal baths, and vibrant Market Hall, while Vienna dazzles with imperial Schönbrunn Palace and musical heritage. Complete your journey in Prague, where castle views, the Charles Bridge, and Old Town Square transport you to a fairy-tale setting with delicious local pastries and Prague ham.

Our hot travel deal spotlights Egypt, where tourism is surging with bookings up 300% for some companies. Experience this bucket-list destination through Globus Journeys' nine-day tour from $2499, exploring Cairo treasures and cruising the Nile. For a more immersive experience, AmaWaterways offers an 11-night program from $5499 with deeper exploration of UNESCO sites including the Valley of Kings and Queens. These promotions won't last long – the best time to visit Egypt is October through April when temperatures are more comfortable.

Cruise lovers have plenty to celebrate with Royal Caribbean's new promotion offering up to $500 off flights to Europe or Alaska when booked by March 31st. Their Serenade of the Seas delivers an incredible Alaska value with seven-day sailings from Vancouver starting at just $895 per person. Meanwhile, Norwegian Cruise Line's Baltic itineraries showcase Scandinavia's gems with 11-day cruises from Southampton visiting Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Denmark and Amsterdam from $1999.

A persistent travel myth suggests travel advisors only work with wealthy clients, but national surveys reveal 83% of advisors say their clients' average trip costs under $5000, and 90% welcome clients regardless of budget. Working with a travel advisor typically results in higher satisfaction rates – 90% compared to 70% for direct bookings – with no additional cost to you since commissions are already built into prices.

Ready to turn these travel ideas into reality? Connect with a professional who can craft your perfect getaway, whether it's exploring Eastern Europe's cultural triangle, witnessing the ancient wonders of Egypt, or cruising the spectacular coastlines of Alaska or the Baltic region.

Show Introduction and Topics

Patrick Wiscombe

Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. On today's show we will be talking about Eastern Europe vacation ideas, bucket list, Egypt vacations, as well as Baltic and Alaska cruises. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity-controlled and subject to change without notice.

Show Voice

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.

Travel News Headlines

Patrick Wiscombe

It is the weekend, which means it is time to talk travel. Hello there, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo will be in the studio here in just a moment. The entire purpose of this podcast and radio show is to help you plan and book your next vacation, and if you have no idea where to go, mark and I will be giving you some ideas of where you may want to consider next, and we are presented by blueplanetvacations. com and we want to thank you for taking the time to stop and listen and coming up on today's show. We've got the Eastern Europe vacation ideas bucket list, Egypt vacations, as well as Baltic and Alaska cruises. And let me bring in the co-host of this award-nominated radio show. Hello, mark Faldmo. Hey, Patrick, let's get to the travel news headlines. American Airlines is going to start testing complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi. I thought that was one of those things that was just included.

Mark Faldmo

We're spoiled because we live in a Delta market and Delta has had free Wi-Fi for a few years now. American has not had that. They still charge $10 a device per flight or you can buy membership. So they are testing this out. To get that free Wi-Fi you have to be a SkyMiles member. So this just seems like it'd be a great way to increase people in their frequent flyer programs. But they are testing it out to see how it does. In part, American Airlines kind of had a rough year last year. They made some changes that really alienated some of their corporate clients with who they could book with and a couple of things in their frequent flyer program which really gave them a downturn in bookings. They quickly changed course on that, but they're trying these ways to get people back to American Airlines. They struggled last year. I think they should just go all complimentary Wi-Fi. All airlines should offer a similar program to what Delta offers. Hotels used to be that way. Now all hotels offer free Wi-Fi in one form or another.

Patrick Wiscombe

If you have travel-related questions for the show while we are on the air. 801-649-3700,. 801-649-3700 is the studio on the text line. Delta adds Morocco in a three-route expansion. We don't talk about Morocco very often.

Mark Faldmo

Delta is adding a flight from Atlanta to Marrakesh. Along with this announcement, they announced two other routes, one to another African destination, to Accra, ghana, and then the other route that they offered was from Austin, Texas to Cancun, was from Austin, Texas to Cancun, Mexico, so not quite as exotic as those other two, but Morocco. That, I think, is a great add for the Delta route system, makes that destination a one-stop for us here in Salt Lake City and for many travelers that are in Delta airline cities.

Patrick Wiscombe

It wouldn't be a show if we didn't talk about London. So Gatwick is expanding their airport and they could add 100,000 more flights. That's a lot of flights.

Mark Faldmo

That is. So yeah, that's 100,000 more flights annually if this proposal goes through. And what it would take is they need to relocate one of the runways, because right now they can't operate the runways simultaneously, so one needs to be moved so that they can operate one for takeoff, one for landing, which would enable more flights. And then they're going to renovate and update all of their terminals at Gatwick.

Eastern Europe Vacation Ideas

Patrick Wiscombe

Always in this first segment, it is always the destination spotlight. We received a text from Debbie. Did you see that text come? In I segment, it is always the destination spotlight. We received a text from Debbie. Did you see that text come in?

Mark Faldmo

I did see it. I started pulling up some information and putting some thoughts together on it.

Patrick Wiscombe

Okay, Debbie says that she wants to go to Europe but does not want the regular London, Paris, et cetera. She wants more of a custom trip and she's asking for your recommendation somewhere between eight and nine days. What do you recommend?

Mark Faldmo

A couple of things come to mind. I would recommend doing a three city tour, which would be Budapest, Vienna and Prague.

Patrick Wiscombe

That's a pretty good one too.

Mark Faldmo

You can do those easily in anywhere from seven to nine days, depending on how long you wanted to stay in each city. Looking at airfare, looking for a custom trip where we'd fly into Budapest and home from Prague. For this fall, I found flights as low as $749. And that was two connection flights, so you'd connect somewhere in the US and somewhere in Europe to get there. If you wanted one connection flights, that price is $1,100, which is still a pretty good price. Right now for hotels, there's a Europe sale through the end of March for 20% off select hotels in Europe. How I would form this vacation? I recommend flying into Budapest, spending about three nights in Budapest, spending two or three nights in Vienna and spending three nights or so in Prague. These cities are easy to get between. I take a train. I just do train travel to get to those. Budapest is about a two and a half three hour train ride from Vienna, and Vienna to Prague is about a four hour train ride.

Patrick Wiscombe

We're so used to having cars here in Salt Lake that the idea of taking train is just a little bit foreign to us.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, it is, train is a great way to get around Europe.

Patrick Wiscombe

So let's talk about Budapest first. What would you recommend that Debbie does in Budapest? Let's start there.

Mark Faldmo

I'll take each of those three cities and just give some highlights. There's a lot more to do than this. In Budapest, the main thing is explore Buda Castle and the Fisherman's Bastion, castle Hill, where this is at, up on a hill, overlooks Parliament, overlooks the Danube River. It's the main thing I would visit there. The next thing is Market Hall, which is their local market. It's your classic, typical European market. There's food, there's a fish section, a meat section, there's souvenirs. Just a great place where you can go and shop for things and watch local shop as well.

Patrick Wiscombe

Not to mention just taking the scenery while you're doing all that.

Mark Faldmo

Yes, Budapest is probably one of the most scenic towns along that line, Patrick. It's such a great thing, you know, just walking along the Danube. I love to do that in the evening time, when the parliament buildings lit up and the castle hills all lit up. It's just an idyllic location, I think. Moving on to Vienna, you should visit Schönbrunn Palace. It's comparable to Versailles in Paris. In France, Vienna is known for its musical heritage. Go to a classical concert in one of the many venues in Vienna, and then also in Vienna, I like going to St Stephen's Cathedral. You can actually climb to the top of this cathedral and have great views of the whole city of Vienna.

Patrick Wiscombe

You know, there's something for me personally about being in an elevated position and I'm literal elevation and just looking over things I don't know what that is inside of my brain that just lights up and makes me happy. That's Vienna. By the way, I thought of something that you may have forgotten to do in Budapest the thermal baths.

Mark Faldmo

Thermal baths yeah, Budapest is famous for that and those thermal baths. There's lots of places you can do that. Definitely that should be on your list to do in Budapest.

Patrick Wiscombe

All right. So we've got Budapest, we've got Vienna, let's go to Prague. What do you like doing there?

Mark Faldmo

It's known for its castles and spires Prague Castle up on a hill. When you get up there, look across the city of Prague and see all of the church steeples and spires and it's quite the sight. And then also walking across the Charles Bridge, which is an iconic bridge in Prague from the very first Mission Impossible. That's the bridge where one of the important scenes of Mission Impossible happens. It's a must-see when you go to Prague. My favorite thing to do there is just explore the old town square. When you think of a European town square, I think Prague town square is exactly what I envision. There's street vendors. My most favorite travel foods are there. One is the trundle neck, which is a roasted bread. They wrap it around a wooden dowel and it kind of is a rotisserie on the fire and so they're kind of cone-shaped bread, usually cinnamon and sugar and then Prague ham. It's a great experience in Prague.

Patrick Wiscombe

Because you brought up Mission Impossible. Just let listeners know that Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 2, called the Final Reckoning coming out May 23rd.

Mark Faldmo

Looking forward to it.

Patrick Wiscombe

I am too.

Mark Faldmo

I've always liked that Mission Impossible franchise.

Hot Travel Deal: Egypt

Patrick Wiscombe

I think Tom Cruise has done an amazing job with it. Yeah, Debbie, you are in for a treat by going to any of those cities and going to all three, especially by the train. An amazing experience. You will not be disappointed. Call Mark at his office. Get the conversation rolling, no obligation, of course. Call him at 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And you will post this on Blue Planet Vacations, right, mark? I will Yep BluePlanetVacations. com when we come back. It is time for the hot travel deal of the week, regardless of the destination, and this week we are talking about Egypt and we'll also have more travel news headlines. That is next with the Inside Travel Talk podcast. A radio show continues alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be right back, mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick.

Show Voice

Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be right back, 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.

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Show Voice

Now back to the Inside 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 InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe

Welcome back inside of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo. You can listen to this show each and every Saturday and Sunday morning at 11 o'clock right here on this radio station and around the country, and also on InsideTravelTalk. com Coming up in this segment of the show. We've got the hot travel deal of the week and this week we are going to Egypt.

Mark Faldmo

Mark I saw on the rundown man, you've got a really a pretty great promotion to go see Egypt on this one. Yeah, there's some really great ways to see Egypt and some good promotions as well.

Patrick Wiscombe

Before we get there, let's get to the travel news headlines and let's start in Bali. This time they, Bali, are considering a hefty new daily tourist tax. That's not something I want to hear. What are the details?

Mark Faldmo

Bali is on many travelers' bucket list. Last year, Bali instituted a $10 mandatory fee for all tourists entering and they are considering upping that fee to $100 per person per day, which is a huge increase.

Patrick Wiscombe

Wow. Normally, when we talk about tourist taxes, it's $10 to $20, not $10 to $100.

Mark Faldmo

The reason why they're doing this is because they kind of want to pick and choose who visits the country. That, unfortunately, will price a lot of people out. Yeah it will, but there are some places in Bali where it's almost like spring break all the time Tourists behaving badly, I guess and so they're really trying to cut that out. I hope the fee does not go that high. It's a destination they feel they almost have to because of some of the trends in tourism that are happening in Bali.

Patrick Wiscombe

Trevi Fountain. How many times have you been there?

Mark Faldmo

Several times, probably 20 or 30 times.

Patrick Wiscombe

Well, here's one thing I didn't know Trevi Fountain is reopening. But there's also a whole bunch of rules.

Mark Faldmo

It was closed for renovations. They're now limiting access to the fountain itself. If you've not been to Trevi Fountain, it's set in a small square. The square is open, but they've kind of gated off. There's almost like stadium seating, kind of like three terraces where you could sit. Look at the fountain, and they're now limiting that area to 400 visitors simultaneously.

Patrick Wiscombe

Whoa, whoa, wow.

Mark Faldmo

They're really cutting down, so when one person leaves, another person can come in.

Patrick Wiscombe

Isn't Trevi Fountain the fountain that was in Angels and Demons with Tom Hanks?

Mark Faldmo

Yes, it was.

Patrick Wiscombe

Okay, all right, that's where they dumped the priest.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, another thing which I like is there's no sitting on the basin edge. People used to just sit there and eat their gelato, which would really ruin the view. Me being a photographer, I've always wanted to get a good shot of that, but you almost never could because someone was always sitting at the base of the fountain. I think these changes are good and will enhance the overall quality of visiting that monument in Rome. And these are in effect every day from 9 am to 9 pm. On Mondays and Fridays it won't open until 11 am because they have to go in and collect all the coins that are thrown in to Trevi Fountain twice a week a week. Some of the local lore around Trevi Fountain is if you toss a coin into the fountain, it means you'll come back to Rome again. They collect lots of money, people that want to come back to Rome. They get thousands of euros each week.

Patrick Wiscombe

Do they really?

Mark Faldmo

It's that much Into Trevi Fountain Wow.

Patrick Wiscombe

I would like to know if you put your hand in there to collect a few coins, if you're going to get yelled at.

Mark Faldmo

Probably so you probably will. Yes, you probably will Okay.

Patrick Wiscombe

I saw a story that tourism in Egypt is really, really starting to take off. What kind of stats are we seeing on it?

Mark Faldmo

Egypt is up about 6% 2024 versus 2023 and 2025 and 2026. Some things are already sold out. There are some companies that sell Egypt that have seen 300% increases in their sales to that destination.

Patrick Wiscombe

I was talking with Nikki last weekend about going to Egypt to go see the pyramids. It's kind of funny that we're talking about this.

Mark Faldmo

Going to see the pyramids in Egypt is on probably most people's bucket list. It is still on my bucket list. I have not been to Egypt. I usually would get one to two requests a year to Egypt. I've already had four requests this year, really, of people wanting to go to Egypt. So even at Blue Planet Vacations we've seen that increase in interest to Egypt.

Patrick Wiscombe

Let's talk about this week's hot travel deal of the week, which just happens to be Egypt. When's the best time to visit Egypt? The best?

Baltic and Alaska Cruises

Mark Faldmo

time to visit Egypt is October through April. It's cooler. In fact, a lot of the companies that do Egypt don't even go in June and July. The best way to see Egypt, I would say, is either through an escorted tour or a Nile River cruise. That's a little bit misleading, because the Nile River cruises include quite a bit of land and the escorted tours also include a Nile River cruise. So it's different experiences, because now river is important and some of those places on the now river you can see best when visiting them by a river cruise. So all of the ways to do this include a component of a river cruise and the tour.

Patrick Wiscombe

Either way, you you're probably going to be okay.

Mark Faldmo

Yes, yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe

Well, which promotion do we have for listeners this week?

Mark Faldmo

I've got two promotions. One is with Globus Journeys, which is one of the really good hosted vacation providers that I use Right now. They have save $1,000 per tour and they have a nine-day tour that starts from $2499 per person. This tour includes a few days in Cairo and then you fly to Luxor and see a few places there, and then you do take a river cruise on the Nile and then you fly back to Cairo for a night to fly home. This is a fairly economical way to see Egypt and the Nile River.

Patrick Wiscombe

So nine days, nine days, wow, okay, you're right, that is economical.

Mark Faldmo

So that price would be for the end of August. It goes up a little bit from there still in the hot season, but kind of at the beginning of the season when it starts to cool a little bit.

Patrick Wiscombe

Well, that explains the $2499 then.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe

Still hot, but we still want you to go. If you can endure the heat, correct. What if you want to do the cruise option?

Mark Faldmo

There are similar tours, but Ama Waterways, which would be my pick, to do Egypt and the Nile. Their program starts at 11 nights and it starts at $5499 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe

What are the ports on that?

Mark Faldmo

This one you get, compared to what we talked about with Globus has a few more days, a few more experiences. So it has three days in Cairo, visiting the various museums, the pyramids at Giza. Then from Cairo you go to Luxor, the city formerly known as Thebes. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From there you have the Valley of the Kings, valley of the Queens. This tour also goes to Aswan, which is an area where Ramses II was one of the most active pharaohs in Egypt, and then a few other places, comes back to Luxor, where you'll see some more sites in that area, and then go back to Cairo.

Patrick Wiscombe

That's a part of the world that is always featured in films. That has always grabbed my imagination.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, it would be fascinating, I think, to visit my imagination. Yeah, it would be fascinating, I think, to visit you. Look at these itineraries, both the Globus and Alma Waterways. What they offer, just fascinating sites to see. We did mention that price of $5499. Those are for September dates for Alma Waterways.

Patrick Wiscombe

Okay, so September of this year, 2025. So not next year. Correct, Okay all right, so you still can go, if you can get there.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, right now, Amma Waterways has up to $2,000 off select departure dates. They have some that are $500, some that are $1,500, some that are $2,000, just depending on the date that you want to go.

Patrick Wiscombe

So the $5,499, that includes that savings of $2,000 per stateroom for those 11 nights.

Mark Faldmo

On select dates. On select dates, okay.

Travel Advisors and Final Tips

Patrick Wiscombe

All right, that's just one of those trips that you just you'll remember for the rest of your life. It's that part of the world that doesn't get a lot of press, but when you see it it absolutely is stunning. Take advantage of those two offers. Go to Egypt. Call Mark in his office during the break, just to get the conversation started 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And he will also post this on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. It is almost time for the infamous Just Cruising segment. We've also got some cruise news of the week and we're taking a Baltic cruise on NCL. That is next, when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Oh, as well as Alaska, that is next. We'll be right back.

Show Voice

You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. That 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. We'll be right back.

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Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Amar Waterways. From castles and capitals to vistas and villages. Visit some of Europe's most remarkable sites and cities To set out on your own river cruise journey. Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com.

Patrick Wiscombe

Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show coming up. In the next 28 minutes we will be talking about short Royal Caribbean vacations and here's one that I didn't have on the rundown at any point Russia getting into the cruise game and we will also be discussing Baltic and Alaska cruises. Let's get back to the show. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice and subject to change without notice.

Show Voice

This is the Inside 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 now here are your hosts Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe

All aboard for the infamous Just Cruising segment on the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Hello there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, and I am coming to you from downtown Phoenix, Arizona. I have to do the radio show. While I'm on the road, mark is back in Salt Lake handling all of the producing duties. Make sure we get and stay on the air. I noticed we had a little bit of a glitch during the break. You're not gonna have to do the show by yourself, are you? Hope not? If something goes horribly awry, I will call you from the phone and you'll just have to patch me in, if that's okay. Yeah, the internet here in my Airbnb is a little bit. It's reliable-ish.

Mark Faldmo

Hopefully it stays reliable for the next 28 minutes.

Patrick Wiscombe

Coming up in this segment of the show, as I mentioned, is we're going to get into the short vacations from Royal Caribbean. Russia could appear on some cruise itineraries I don't know about that one quite yet. Things have got to kind of mellow out and we'll be talking about Baltic and Alaska cruises. Where should we start here? Should we? Let's go to the cruise news headlines. You okay with that? Let's do that, All right. I saw a story that Nice is backtracking on a cruise ship ban. I'm curious about the details.

Mark Faldmo

So I think this is great news for cruisers in the Mediterranean. That area of Nice has always been fascinating for me to visit. Go out to some of the small hilltop towns in southern France. So last month the mayor of Nice announced that cruise ships carrying more than 900 passengers would not be permitted in the nearby port of Ville-France, which is where most of the cruise ship passengers to Nice would come. There was a little spat between the two mayors.

Mark Faldmo

The mayor of the small town said well, those ships dock in territorial water so you can't ban them. So they've come up with a compromise and they've increased the ship capacity to 2,500 passengers will be allowed to visit that port and that's going to start next year. But what that would mean? If you took this year's cruise schedule, only 65 of the 90 scheduled calls would be allowed to visit. So they started looking at this the local merchants and it would cost the city annually about $3 billion in lost revenue by not allowing these cruise ships. So it's a good compromise. I know locals sometimes have problems with the floods of tourists that come through, but you also need your community open to others so they can experience your culture and your destination.

Patrick Wiscombe

Royal Caribbean is leaning into short vacations starting 2026 and 2027. Now I'm going to assume three and four day vacations are what they're talking about.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, so this is actually three to five night cruises is what they're talking about here. They have really found the trend, as people want the shorter vacations. Personally, for me, I think I'd only go five nights or longer. Yeah, the shorter cruises are a little bit too short for me. Yeah, but they are finding that's what people want. They're moving the Utopia of the Seas year-round Port Canaveral, doing three and four-night sailings. Some of their newer ships, miami, the wonder of the seas, is going to do three to four night sailings from Miami. They actually have a couple of ships in ports that traditionally don't have summer sailings. For instance, in Galveston, the mariner of the seas is going to do four and five night Caribbean sailings, which those shorter sailings have some pretty interesting ports. They go to Costa Maya and Cozumel. They also have a ship there in the winter doing the same thing, but a different ship. So they will have 11 ships in 26 and 27. Wow, doing exclusively three to five night sailings.

Patrick Wiscombe

You know what, which is a huge number, oh my goodness. Yes, I kind of get it. These ships are very, very expensive and you can charge a lower ticket price for three to five nights versus seven and longer, so it's an easier sell. Yes, and so the turnover you have to pay for the ship. Somehow, with this amount of turnover, that will resolve that issue.

Mark Faldmo

I just feel sorry for the crew that has to turn a ship around twice a week instead of once a week, because, you know, turning a ship around getting 4,000 people off and then another 4,000 people on in a matter of a few hours is quite the task.

Patrick Wiscombe

Oh, my goodness.

Mark Faldmo

They've got it down to a science and it does open up cruising to a wider audience Some people, as you said, you can charge a lower price. It does make it more affordable to more people.

Patrick Wiscombe

Russia appearing on cruise itineraries. What is this?

Mark Faldmo

This was the president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line saying that they are positioning their fleet to potentially add back in St Petersburg to their Baltic cruises as soon as 2026. There's two regions that a few years ago were very popular to add into cruise itineraries One was the Baltic that included Russia and the other was Eastern Mediterranean that included Israel, two ports that are in the midst of conflict. Right now, all those sailings have stopped. One of my favorite cruise moments doing a Baltic cruise and sailing out of St Petersburg.

Patrick Wiscombe

Oh, so you have been there.

Mark Faldmo

I have been there. I did it in June. St Petersburg is far enough north that they get lots of light till late at night and my wife and I just sitting out of the balcony as we sail that because it's quite a long sail out from St Petersburg, but St Petersburg was a wonderful stop on that port. So hopefully these conflicts around the world can die down so we can experience some of these interesting places in the world.

Patrick Wiscombe

I would go to St Petersburg in a minute, just not in the middle of a war.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, just not right now, and I think 2026 might be too soon for that, although Norwegian did say that they have 11 ships that are based in Northern Europe in 2026. So taking one of those ships and adding in St Petersburg, if it became possible, they could easily do that in 2026. So they're already positioned pretty well for just Northern Europe cruises in general the Scandinavian countries, Iceland, all of the Baltic, with the exception of St Petersburg.

Patrick Wiscombe

I was just curious how close Kiev is to Moscow or St Petersburg. It's really kind of not that close. I thought it was way closer to the conflict zone. It's quite a ways actually. It's thousands of miles. Okay, so that would be like, hey, I'm not going to go to Los Angeles because they're at a war, but we're in New York a little bit. Yeah.

Mark Faldmo

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe

Okay, I just hear Russia and conflict in Ukraine. I'm like I don't want to go anywhere near that, but they're really not close at all.

Mark Faldmo

You probably could do that, but right now it's all kind of political and people's confidence in the destination.

Patrick Wiscombe

You mentioned NCL. Let's talk about that Baltic cruise.

Mark Faldmo

This year. They have a pretty good itinerary I looked for later in the year, later in the fall, which I think is a great time to go to the Baltic. This was end of September, first part of October. This is a round-trip cruise from Southampton, flying to London to get to that port of Southampton. It goes to two ports in Sweden goes to Tallinn, in Estonia, Helsinki, Finland, Copenhagen, Denmark which is one of my favorite ports in this area Probably Tallinn and Copenhagen are my two favorite ports and then it goes to Amsterdam and ends in Southampton.

Patrick Wiscombe

Wow.

Mark Faldmo

So that is an 11-day cruise Inside cabin starts at $1999 per person and a balcony cabin starts at $2949 per person, which NCL?

Patrick Wiscombe

ship is this one on?

Mark Faldmo

$29.49 per person. Which NCL ship is this one on? So that is on the Norwegian Star, which is one of their older ships. It actually happens to be one of my favorite Norwegian ship. I personally like the layout of it and it's also the first Norwegian ship that I ever went on. There we go, so that kind of holds a special memory for me, okay.

Patrick Wiscombe

So okay. So Baltic cruise, how much did you say? It was inside cabin 1999. Is that what you said? 1999., and then a balcony cabin basically 2948 per person. Okay, let's get to the cruise deal of the week. Believe it or not, that was not the cruise deal of the week. Let's talk about Alaska and Europe. Where do you want to start here?

Mark Faldmo

So I just want to mention this promotion that Royal Caribbean just put out. This is for the month of March and their promotion to save up to $500 off of flights to Europe or to Alaska. So they're really trying to drive people to those two destinations, Europe and Alaska. Book by March 31st sale between mid-April and the end of October to get that up to $500 off, and it's a tiered discount based on where you're coming from. Just another great way to enhance and lower the cost of your vacation. And this is combinable with their current promotion, which is 60% off. The second guest and kids sell free.

Patrick Wiscombe

Wow, Okay, so today is depending on when you're listening to us. It's either March, Saturday March 8th or Sunday, March 9th. Basically, this promotion goes for the next three weeks. And when do you have to? Sail by Sail by the?

Mark Faldmo

end of October. I think it's October 27th is the actual date.

Patrick Wiscombe

So basically within the next six months Book, but sail within the next six months. Let's also talk about the Royal Caribbean Alaskan cruise. Which ship is this on and when does it sail?

Mark Faldmo

As I was looking for that airfare deal, I stumbled across this cruise. It's a very good price, for this is June 1st of this year. Sailing round trip Vancouver. It goes Vancouver to Sitka, to Tracy Arm Fjord, Juno, Ketchikan, prince Rupert and back to Vancouver. How many days? So it's a seven-day cruise. Wow, they're moving around. Yep, it has two days at sea plus the half a day which has seen that Tracy Arm Fjord. The other half of that day is seeing Juno. So this is a June date of this year. Inside cabin starts at $895 per person, which is amazing for a summer Alaska cruise. It sure is. A balcony cabin starts at $1,329 per person. Which ship is this on? So this is on the Serenade of the Seas, which is one of Royal Caribbean's smaller ships, then again getting on and off in Vancouver, one of my favorite cities in the pacific northwest oh yeah, you have found some really good stuff this week.

Patrick Wiscombe

Man, book those vacations, get on it. Get out and see the world with your friends, family, whoever, whoever you want to take, call Mark in his office during the break 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And Mark will also post this on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. Final segment of the show we've got Mark's travel tips. Mark, I'm going to put you on standby here. I want to ask you the question do travel advisors like you only work with the wealthy? And we've got some final travel news headlines. We'll wrap up the show when we come back. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. He is Mark Faldmo. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. We will be right back Talk podcast and radio show.

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We will be right back, helping you get out and see the world. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com America's best travel advisors. Book your Vacation now 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. The show will continue after this.

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This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com America's best travel advisors. Call the show right now 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe

Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show this week originating from Phoenix, Arizona, inside of an airbnb. We're doing this show on the road. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. Each and every Saturday and Sunday at 11 am, mountain time on this radio station and radio stations around the country. And, of course, you can pick up the show at insidetraveltalk. com and you can just stream the show there, as well as subscribe to the show Coming up. In this final segment of the show, we've got Mark's travel tips and we're going to be talking about travel advisors the very thing that Mark does and if he only works with the wealthy. And the answer is no. But we're going to detail who travel advisors, generally speaking, work with. But before we get there, we've got some more travel news headlines that we need to get to. Southwest Airlines has announced a big partnership, which is who?

Mark Faldmo

Well, they've announced that their flights will be available on some online sites like Expedia.

Patrick Wiscombe

They're going outside really.

Mark Faldmo

Which is very interesting. I've always thought it odd how Southwest has operated their booking business Online. You could only get their flights online by going to their website. Yeah, Even with travel agents a really quick, high-level overview. There are four different airline booking systems that a travel agent can use. For the longest time, Southwest was only available in one of those four systems, so it was really odd. They had that policy and now they are starting to branch out. They're in more and more booking systems for travel agencies. And now to the general public. The prices are pretty much the same across no matter how you book it, but it's just giving people more choice in how they book it.

Patrick Wiscombe

So, to summarize, you've got, of course, Southwest, the app or online, you've got Expedia and you've got one of the booking engines instead of four, if I've got that right.

Mark Faldmo

The booking engine that travel agents use, and we also have a travel agent site where we can book Southwest.

Patrick Wiscombe

You know that I really like Hyatt properties. Nikki and I will be staying one in Miami Beach coming up in April. Apparently there's some Hyatt news. What do listeners need to know.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, there is, and this is for those that are part of World of Hyatt, which I am and which I am. I've always appreciated Hyatt's award charts and how easy it was to book hotels with them and get a good deal when you're using your frequent stayer points, your world of Hyatt points. They are recalculating this and they have so kind of the bad news is 118 hotels are moving to higher award categories.

Patrick Wiscombe

So they're going to chew up more points.

Mark Faldmo

Compared to years past. There's been anywhere from 30 to 50 that have gone up. Very few go down. In years past they've had a few hotels that have gone down, but it doesn't list any number of hotels that have gone down. Hyatt has always been, I think, the most valuable hotel program out there. I have a hard time because I'm a titanium elite member with Marriott, so I'm usually going there to get into the lounge and all of the stuff that that brings me, but if it comes to redeeming points, I'm always trying to go to Hyatt.

Patrick Wiscombe

United Airlines is opening its second grab and go lounge. I'm really hoping that's food it is.

Mark Faldmo

You know it's interesting. We, you know we've talked about our airport lounges in the past on this show. Sometimes you have just a shorter connection. So United is trying these grab-and-go lounges out, so people that are part of United's lounge system. They've opened most recently in Denver and they have one in Houston where you can go in and they just have grab and go food and drinks, which I think is an interesting concept, because if you have a shorter hour connection, 45 minute connection you don't have time to go in and enjoy the full lounge experience, lounge experience We'll see how that goes. It kind of looks like they have a picture of it and it kind of looks like the market in a hotel lobby just has some food and things like that. For those that spend a lot of time in airports, a lounge is a great little retreat from the hustle and bustle of an airport.

Patrick Wiscombe

One thing that we forgot to include in the second segment of the show during the hot travel deal of the week is this Hawaiian Mexico. Let's throw it in this segment so listeners can take advantage of this, but they have to move really quick on this one, though.

Mark Faldmo

Yeah, so this is a promotion for Hawaiian Mexico that ends on March 14th.

Patrick Wiscombe

Oh, so next Saturday.

Mark Faldmo

Next Saturday, so you'll want to book your vacations to Hawaii or Mexico by then.

Patrick Wiscombe

I'm sorry, next Friday.

Mark Faldmo

Next Friday yeah, Friday. So I was just doing some looking for fall dates to Hawaii. Now this promotion. You have to book an air and a hotel package to get this. But I was just looking quickly for flights in October Salt Lake City to Honolulu and I found several dates that were about $480. If you combine that with a hotel, you can get up to an additional $200 off your vacation.

Patrick Wiscombe

So Hawaii and Mexico save up to $200, but you have to book by Friday, March 14th.

Mark Faldmo

And travel by December 15th, so it's basically for 2025 travel.

Patrick Wiscombe

We've discussed this before. Working with travel advisors. Meaning what Mark does. The old term is called travel agents, so travel advisors are meaning what Mark does, the old term is called travel agents. So travel advisors are travel agents, just a different term that they're using and one of the questions that has come up. I know that you've had this question, but I've also had this question Do travel advisors or agents only work with the wealthy?

Mark Faldmo

The short answer is no only work with the wealthy?

Mark Faldmo

The short answer is no. Yeah, the short answer is no. Over the last few years and I'm not sure why, that has become kind of a perception out there. I've even seen it on some travel forums both you and I watch regularly is people thinking that travel agents only work with the wealthy? There was a national survey done of travel advisors. 83% of travel advisors say their client's average trip in 2024 was less than $5,000. And more than that, 90% of travel advisors say that no amount of a trip is too low for them to work with clients.

Mark Faldmo

And I hope most travel advisors would have kind of the same attitude I have. I've always had a love for travel and just really want to get people out there to experience the world. In this show we've talked about some pretty interesting and exotic destinations and some of them are a little bit on the pricey side. But to get people to Mexico, Hawaii, even to Florida, southern California, I just really want to help people experience other parts of the world. So I don't care how little it costs or how much it costs. I'll help anyone get out there to see different parts of the world.

Patrick Wiscombe

And Mark means it the number of times that he has helped me personally and I realize that I am in a fortunate position where I'm doing the radios, but Mark helped me out with this short business trip that I'm on in Phoenix. Called him hey, where do you recommend I stay?

Mark Faldmo

I've always said it's a great industry to be in. It's one by consumers that's often misunderstood. They don't know how we get paid, which we've talked about that in the past. Travel agents are paid mainly by commission, so if you're booking a cruise, that commission is already built into the cruise, no matter how you book it. So you're paying for the use of a travel agent, whether you use one or not.

Mark Faldmo

In many cases and we've also talked about in the past a lot of suppliers like working selling through travel agents because the customer satisfaction is so much higher. Four, maybe five weeks ago we talked about a study from a cruise line where those that booked with a travel agent had a 90% satisfaction rate compared to a 70% satisfaction rate for those that book directly with the cruise line or online. Working with a travel agent does give a better experience overall. That's our goal and that's what we work at every day to provide for our customers. There are lots of great travel advisors out there. I know plenty in this area and outside of this area that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. I'll always first recommend myself and my employees, but I say work with a travel agent.

Patrick Wiscombe

That's going to do it. We are done for the week. Now to springtime baseball in Phoenix. That's not why I'm down down here, but that is a nice benefit. Yeah, you can listen to this show again tomorrow morning at 11 am right here on this radio station and you can stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com and we are on all of the major podcast platforms. Book your vacation Any of the deals that we've talked about during the last hour. Call Mark in his office, 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And he will also post it on blueplanetvacations. com. Now it is your turn to get out and explore the world, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. As we say each and every week, live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally. Thank you so much for listening. We will talk to you again next Saturday and Sunday that's it.

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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 dot-com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888 718718-7717. That's 888-718-7717.

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