Inside Travel Talk
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Inside Travel Talk
Exploring America by Rail: Grand Canyon Railway and Rocky Mountaineer
Step aboard as we journey through America's most magnificent landscapes without ever getting behind the wheel! This episode is a treasure trove for train enthusiasts and cruise lovers alike as we explore iconic rail journeys and pristine Alaskan waterways.
Discover the historic charm of the Grand Canyon Railway, operating since 1901, where your journey becomes part of the adventure with roaming musicians and perhaps even a staged train robbery! We uncover how this 64-mile route transformed from hauling copper ore to delivering wide-eyed travelers to one of nature's most spectacular wonders. With six classes of service from open-window Pullman cars to luxury domes, there's a perfect option for every traveler.
The conversation shifts to Rocky Mountaineer, where luxury meets wilderness in a unique daylight-only train experience through Canada's breathtaking mountain landscapes and their newer Rockies to Red Rocks route connecting Denver to Moab. Unlike traditional train journeys, Rocky Mountaineer passengers enjoy all the scenery by day and comfortable hotel accommodations by night, with gourmet meals and drinks included throughout.
With Alaska cruise season just days away, we provide an expert breakdown of must-do shore excursions at each iconic port. From Juneau's whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier to Skagway's historic White Pass Railway and Ketchikan's spectacular Misty Fjords flightseeing tours, we guide you through the experiences that make an Alaska cruise truly unforgettable. Plus, we reveal an incredible deal on MSC's new Alaska sailings for 2026.
We wrap up with crucial travel document information as Real ID requirements approach (May 7th) and outline the eight passport mistakes that could derail your international adventures. Are your documents ready for your next journey?
Ready to book your own rail adventure or Alaskan cruise? Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or visit blueplanetvacationscom to start planning your journey today!
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. On today's show we will be talking about planes, trains, but no automobiles, Alaska and Alaskan shore excursions and real ID and passports. We've got to straighten all of that out. All of those terms can be confusing. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacationsations. 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.
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 here in the studio here in just a moment. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show, and if you are brand new to the show, or longtime listeners, our job is to help you plan and book your next vacation. And if you have no idea where to go, then our job is very simple we want to give you ideas of where to vacation next, and this show is presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, which is Mark's company, and thank you so much for taking the time to stop and listen.
Patrick Wiscombe:Coming up on today's show, we are heavy on trains. We are talking about rocky mountaineer Denver to Moab and, of course, in the Canadian Rockies such a great combination if you want to head to Alaska. And then we're also going to be talking with Sam Langner of grand canyon railway. That is coming up here in the first two segments of the show. But let me bring in my co-host and good friend, mark Faldmo. It's good to see you on camera, since Nikki and I are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean right now.
Mark Faldmo:Good to be here.
Patrick Wiscombe:Glad to hear that you've had a great cruise. We are on Celebrity Ascent Maho Beach which, by the way, if you don't know what Maho Beach is, what is it? Sunset? All of a sudden, I'm blanking Sunset Beach. Okay, yeah, sunset Beach. This is the beach that you always see on YouTube, with the airplanes flying over your head, like feet over your head. It is absolutely terrifying. It is real that when they land, they're feet over your head, but when they take off, people really do get blown into the ocean and possessions. It's complete chaos on the beach.
Mark Faldmo:It is one of my favorite places. It's on the island of St Martin and I love it. There's a little beach bar there where you can just sit and watch the airplanes land and also watch the people that want to get blown over by the jets when they take off.
Patrick Wiscombe:It is absolutely one of the most magical experiences that I've ever had in my entire life. That alone is a destination and a vacation just by itself.
Mark Faldmo:Would you agree? Yes, I would. I love airplanes, so that's one of my favorite spots in the Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe:The majesty of airplane travel and watching them come in is something I will never forget. And so there's our planes. Let's move on to trains. Oh well, done A little bit earlier this week. Mark and I are big train people and Mark actually introduced me to this gentleman, Sam Langner, with Grand Canyon Railway. We talked to him a little bit earlier this week as we were in port so we could get this on the air for our listeners. And we're just going to talk about Grand Canyon Railway. Let's just go Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel 101. How long have you existed? And take us where you get on the train and what listeners can expect.
Sam Langner:Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel has existed since 1901.
Sam Langner:Originally the route up to the South Rim was used for mining copper ore, but then it became very clear that hauling tourists up to the Grand Canyon was one a better business proposition and people love to go see that natural wonder of the world. So again, it was in 1901 that the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway worked with the Fred Harvey Company to develop the line and develop the South Rim Village. So it's very ingrained in the history of this region. Of course, in the modern era we operate a hotel, a 298-room hotel in Williams, Arizona, that has two restaurants and is in Williams, which is a historic Route 66 town. So it's just kind of that classic Wild West meets classic American attractions. And so the railway itself it does that 64 mile run up to the South Rim, two hours and 15 minutes one way, starting in the morning in Williams, going up to the South Rim and giving guests a couple hours to go explore that beautiful natural wonder. So it's this very dynamic experience. It's just a great way to spend a long weekend or a weekday for anybody.
Patrick Wiscombe:How many day tours are there, or do you just pick how long you want to stay there?
Sam Langner:So the train itself. It operates 364 days a year. We run every day except for Christmas, and so there's always a train that goes up there. When you're at the South Rim there are tours that are available. So if folks want to do a guided bus tour, that's an option. You know a lot of folks just get off and again during the official three hour layover. If you're not spending the night, you know three hours is enough to to at least take in the grandeur. Personally, I always say you need to spend the night to really get the full grandeur.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh yeah.
Sam Langner:The ride on board. It's more than just an A to B trip. This is an enchanting journey and it's an entertaining journey as well. For the train cars. You have entertainers, so we have roaming musicians that come around. There's a café car on board, so you get snacks and higher levels of service. So first class and deluxe. There's finger foods and even a champagne toast, and maybe, just maybe, there might be an old-fashioned train robbery, but I won't ruin that for you.
Patrick Wiscombe:So where does it start? You say Williams Arizona, so everyone has to get themselves to Williams Arizona, which is where, if people don't know geographically where it is, Correct.
Sam Langner:So we're right off I-40. If you're familiar with Northern Arizona at all, we're just about 35 minutes to the west of Flagstaff. Arizona Williams is a historic Route 66 town, so it's one where there's classic car shows and the neon lights and old restaurants. A quick and easy trip. Again. You can fly into Flagstaff and take a car over Easy. To get here from Phoenix as well, it's just a couple hours.
Patrick Wiscombe:What's your favorite thing about Grand Canyon? What's the one thing that you just go, man, I just don't get tired of this.
Sam Langner:Well, there's a lot of pretty places in the United States and I might be a little bit biased, but for my money the Grand Canyon is the most spectacular visual representation of Earth's layers. So you are seeing back in time by looking at Grand Canyon National Park, in some cases down at the bottom well over a billion and a half years of Earth's history exposed in rock. Sunsets there and sunrises are breathtaking. It's just a very pun intended. It's a grand place. It's hard to comprehend and it makes you feel insignificant in a charming way.
Patrick Wiscombe:So when you start in Williams Arizona, how long does the journey to the South Rim take?
Sam Langner:So when you get on the train it's a two hour and 15 minute ride North. You get three hours while you're up at the South Rim and two hours and 15 minutes back About 64 miles one way. We always joke it's not the fastest way to get to the canyon. If you want to go, drive up there you'd get there faster. This is about enjoying the ride. Stepping back in time, you're traveling at about 40 miles an hour. Again, it's about that onboard entertainment and soaking up these classic rail cars. We always like to say we do the driving for you. You're there to enjoy the ride and by riding aboard Grand Canyon Railway we figure we keep upwards of 60,000 cars out of the park per year. So it's a great way also to keep just traffic and congestion out of Grand Canyon National Park while enjoying the ride better than you would while driving.
Patrick Wiscombe:So, once you get to the canyon, which is really the main feature of this whole of the train, you have hotels on both ends, meaning Williams and at the Grand Canyon. If you could design a perfect vacation, how many days would you stay in Williams, or how many days, or, and how many days would you stay in the Canyon?
Sam Langner:The good news is that we've already created one for folks. It's called the Canyon Rails Getaway Package and effectively that is our curated event for someone to enjoy their time while they're here. What that includes is a night at Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, a dinner and a breakfast, a train ride up to the South Rim, a overnight stay at Maslowick North and then the opportunity to go up and enjoy tours of your choice. So as an add-on, you could do a bus tour that's available up there, or just a walking tour, and then the next day is a southbound trip to Williams and an overnight stay. So if you're looking for a very full, long weekend or just a week getaway, that's the way I would do it Again, that's the Canyon Rails getaway package.
Patrick Wiscombe:I didn't even know you existed. I am so glad that we found you.
Sam Langner:Something I didn't mention before. Well, a few things. First and foremost, for those that are looking to figure out exactly what class of service they would like to choose while they're on board, we offer six different classes of train service aboard Grand Canyon Railway. You know, if you start at the entry level, there's the Pullman class, which is a classic 1920s era rail cars, where these are just windows open we call it 40-40 air conditioning, where all the windows are open and you're traveling at 40 miles an hour. Just charming for families and just a great classic ride.
Sam Langner:Then you have our coach class cars, first class, and luxury and luxury cars Again 1950s era business cars. There's domes, there's bars on board on those upper levels of service and it's really spectacular. Just very, very pretty cars, depending on which ones you choose. We do also have special Steam Saturday events. So we operate a 1920s era Baldwin Locomotive Works steam locomotive that was retrofitted to run on recycled waste vegetable oil and we call it we lovingly call it the French Fry Express. It's a, again, just a beautiful steam locomotive, and on select Saturdays, typically the first Saturday of the month, we run that and pull the consist up to the South Rim. So that's very exciting, but throughout the year again, there's always something to look forward to.
Patrick Wiscombe:Sam Langner with Grand Canyon Railway. What a unique way to see the world, especially the Grand Canyon. If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, you're missing out. It is truly one of life's most spectacular visual displays, and especially at golden hour the last hour 90 minutes of when the sun goes down, the Grand Canyon never disappoints. It is a spectacular time. If you are interested in going on Grand Canyon Railway Williams to the south room of the Grand Canyon, call Mark in his office during the break. Just get the conversation started. No obligation, just call him 888-718-7717. And he will also post this on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. Segment number two the hot travel deal of the week, and this time we are talking about trains in Alaska and southeastern Utah on Rocky Mountaineer. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show, continues Alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your weekend. We will be right back.
Show Voice: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.
Ad Voice:We'll be right back Inside. Travel Talk is brought to you by Anna. 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.
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 to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo, Coming to you live from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, courtesy of Starlink. I never get tired of this being in the middle of the ocean, having good, reliable internet service and being able to do the radio show from the ocean.
Mark Faldmo:it's just incredible to me that we can do that it's amazing technology and amazing that you have the views that you have looking out your window right now it's kind of hard to complain when you've got the ocean on the horizon.
Patrick Wiscombe:A little bit earlier this week, while we were near Maho beach, while we were in port in Phillipsburg, we had the opportunity to talk with a gentleman by the name of August Bont with Rocky Mountaineer. They're the company that does Denver to Moab on a train and they also do train tours up in the Canadian Rockies. Let me bring in August Bont with Rocky Mountaineer. It's good to have you here.
August Bont:Oh, thank you so much, Patrick. I'm excited to get to share the Rocky Mountaineer story.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's go. Rocky Mountaineer 101. What is Rocky Mountaineer? For those who have never heard of Rocky Mountaineer, Rocky Mountaineer.
August Bont:We are a luxury, daylight only sightseeing train. We do a lot of our business in Western Canada, but our newest route operates between Denver and Moab, so we get to take our guests through some absolutely stunning scenery on the remote Canadian and US rocky wilderness. We get to take our guests on roughly one week journeys through Vancouver, Banff, Jasper, lake Louise, with some stops and sightseeing along the way. How many days is it? We are customizable. That's why it's such a great idea to work with some lovely travel advisors like Patrick and Mark, but most of our guests take about a week journey with us.
Patrick Wiscombe:What does a typical trip look like for most?
August Bont:travelers. I could give you a typical trip. It might be seven days between Vancouver and Calgary or Calgary to Vancouver, with a couple stops along the way in a little town of Kamloops and then either Lake Louise or Banff. So you'll spend two days in Calgary and then you get on the train through the Rocky Mountains and through some beautiful canyons on lakes and rivers and waterfalls. Then you might spend two days in Banff, kind of doing some sightseeing and exploring, and then continue on to the frontier town of Calgary before heading back home. So seven days, six nights, pretty typical package for our clients. But you could do it anywhere as short as two days or if you wanted to really go for you go 15 days round trip Vancouver.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, let's extend it from seven days to 15. Where do you go after, once you get to that Eastern part?
August Bont:We have three different routes in Western Canada, so if you want to loop together two of those three routes together and see more parts of Alberta and British Columbia, kind of how you might extend that with maybe a week of sightseeing in between your four days on the train.
Patrick Wiscombe:What is your favorite trip? The one that you would do over and, over and over.
August Bont:So my favorite trip is probably a little bit different than what you might hear from interviewing some other Rocky Mountain Air employees. I love going on Journey Through the Clouds up to Jasper because it's so remote. You just get a much better sense of scale of the Canadian wilderness. There's more wildlife, there's fewer people. But our flagship most popular route is over to Banff and Lake Louise because it has all the iconic kind of postcard picture highlights that you might be looking for out of British Columbia.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's talk about Denver to Moab. Is that two days, three days? What is that one?
August Bont:Correct. Denver to Moab is two days on the train, and that is where my heart lies. Before coming over to the sales team, I worked on board the train as a host. Oh, you did, yeah. So I got to tell the cowboy stories, serve the food and drink, and I think that's part of what makes Rocky special. It's the people that make the difference, and we have such an incredible onboard team as well allows us to get these wonderful guest satisfaction scores.
August Bont:But Denver to Moab is such an incredible change in scenery up and over the Rocky Mountains, through canyons and valleys, along the Colorado River, out to the what's always called cowboy country of the Utah high desert, las Vegas. Is that an option? Las Vegas is an option, so we have some tours off the train that we can enhance the journey. So if you go Denver to Moab, meet off the train and do a two-day add-on as a small group tour through the Mighty Five National Parks out to Las Vegas, so we call that the Mighty Five Explorer and it's a seven-day, six-night itinerary. So what national parks do we go to? We go to Arches Canyonlands. That's going to be on your first day off the train. Your second day off the train you'll hit Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon, and then, your third day, you'll go through Zion National Park into Vegas.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's a good day. You do it in reverse too, right Moab to Denver. Okay, let's go Canada first. So we arrive in Calgary, we arrive in Vancouver. What is the onboarding experience like and what are some of the accommodations?
August Bont:We stay in hotels overnight before, after, during the journey, so no sleeping in bunk beds or cabins.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh wait, hold on just a second. That's an important point. So we're not sleeping on the train, we're actually sleeping in hotels.
August Bont:Oh, correct, staying in hotels overnight. That's kind of a differentiator for us is that we are a daylight only train, and so we get to stay in hotels overnight.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, I like that. I love trains, but I like that idea.
August Bont:Absolutely. So to get back to, I guess the original question was what is the welcome experience like?
August Bont:So, you'll make your way from the airport to one of our partner hotels where a Rocky Mountaineer employee is waiting for you. You can get checked in that afternoon, but likely you'll have two nights in that hotel. We've got such an incredible team. The morning of departure you'll go down to the lobby and hand your luggage over to us. It does not actually travel on the train, it goes on a motor coach ahead of us and so we'll take you over to our train station and then you'll get your boarding passes, get checked in, get a cup of coffee, but you'll enjoy your nine or so hours on the train that evening. When you step off the train, we've already checked you into your hotel room and so when you step off the train, your room key is handed to you. We take you over to the hotel room, maybe 10 minutes on a motor coach, and your luggage is waiting for you in your room.
Patrick Wiscombe:So you do all of the quite literal heavy lifting in this case.
August Bont:Exactly, exactly. We're here. We have the little magical woodland ferries around to move your luggage, so kind of handled out of sight, out of mind, and we're just, you're just here to enjoy the experience and let us take care of you.
Patrick Wiscombe:So if it's day only, that means that you're going through amazing wilderness. Whether it's Denver to Moab, the scenic red rocks following the river, or you're up in Canada, you're looking at the scenery, the train cars are they domed? What are the train cars and accommodations?
August Bont:Let's talk about the actual, the travel experience. And so every single one of our rail cars has a beautiful dome window, spacious seats I would compare them to like business class type seats on an airline so tons of legroom, super comfortable. And while you're on board, everything is taken care of for you your food, your drink, the gratuities you will not want for anything. We serve breakfast, lunch and snacks throughout the day. We don't serve dinner because we're into our destinations before dinner time. Dinner would be on your own but honestly, in my experience, I ate so much food on the train I don't actually need dinner by the time I get into a BAMF, Kamloops, Vancouver, wherever I'm heading.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'm partial to the Southwest Denver, to Moab, but if you're doing this for the first time, you can only take one Rocky Mountaineer. Which one would you tell people to do first?
August Bont:It's kind of a two-parter. If you're doing it once, and only once, I would say, go for our three-day route. We do have one three-day route out the west coast of Canada between Vancouver, whistler and Jasper. I'd say, if you only get to do it once, take in the three-day route and really get to go for it. But if you're doing it for the first time and you're a little bit more of a local and you want to try something close to home our Denver to Moab route was named world's best rail experience by Travel and Leisure magazine so to have that in your backyard, if you're nearby and get to kind of trial Rocky Mountain, then take an international trip up to Canada is a good way to do that too.
Patrick Wiscombe:When is your favorite time to travel? We?
August Bont:operate from April to October. In the winter we just don't have enough daylight, so that does pare things down a little bit. I am partial to September. I love the crisp fall air. There's more wildlife activity, some dustings of snow on the mountains. But in Canada our busiest time is going to be July and August because you get the long, warm summer days. People are escaping the summer heat, but in April and May you get beautiful snowfall, animals are coming at the forage, there's wildflowers and then by September, October, towards the end of the season, you get the snow back on the mountains and some great wildlife sightings.
Patrick Wiscombe:You mentioned that you sleep in hotels at night, but what do you like to do or what is there to do when you get off the train in some of those cities or towns?
August Bont:There's all kinds of options, so we do package these itineraries so that you have choices. Do you want to take a motor coach tour through the national parks? Do you want to go whale watching in Vancouver? Would you rather spend your time going up and down the shops in Banff? Do you want to take the gondola to the top of the mountain? Do you want to go golfing at Fairmont Banff Springs? We do leave it pretty wide open to be able to cater to what our guests are looking for, and so it's kind of a choose your own adventure. You know we're here to help guide you along, give you some choices, but if there's something you've always had on your bucket list, we can try to make that happen.
Patrick Wiscombe:Who is the perfect traveler or candidate for this trip?
August Bont:I don't think there's any one demographic or age range that Rocky Mountaineer fits. I think, really, who we do well with are people who are looking for a luxury experience and want to be incredibly well taken care of and going out to these remote, beautiful places, but still want to have some independence when they're off the train to be able to kind of go back and choose your own adventure and figure out where you want to go, what you want to do. We're here to guide you along. We're here to you know. Make sure that you have the right experience that you're looking for. It's getting to go to remote, beautiful places and luxury.
Patrick Wiscombe:Last August 2024, you were on Rocky Mountaineer from Denver to Moab.
Sam Langner:And what was your?
Patrick Wiscombe:experience.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, I was lucky enough to be on that Rockies to Red Rocks itinerary. I loved it. You know the stories they tell of the Southwest going over that beautiful scenery. It was an amazing experience.
Patrick Wiscombe:When we were talking with August Bond of Rocky Mountaineer, he gave us an exclusive only available on this radio and podcast. What's the promotion for listeners?
Mark Faldmo:For our listeners in Utah. So Utah residents save a hundred dollars per person on the Rockies to Red Rocks itinerary. A hundred dollars per person. A hundred dollars per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Take advantage, go see Rocky Mountaineer. Awesome, awesome, awesome, you will not be disappointed. Near Awesome, awesome, awesome, you will not be disappointed. Call Mark during the break, get the conversation started. No obligation, of course. 888-718-7717. And he will also post this on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. We've got the cruise deal of the week on Holland America and we've got some additional MSC cruise news that you need to be aware of. That is next with the Inside Travel Talk podcast. Our radio show continues alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We will 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's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. We'll be right back.
Ad Voice:This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El Dorado Spa Resorts. Escape to Cancun's Riviera Maya with authentic all-inclusive luxury at an El Dorado Spa Resort. To book your romantic beach getaway, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Coming up. In the next 28 minutes we will be talking about Alaska cruises. Starting literally next weekend, you can officially board an Alaska cruise, and so we will be talking about shore excursions in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Sitka and Victoria by the way, Victoria's spectacular, Beautiful. 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.
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 Fulton-Mo.
Patrick Wiscombe:All aboard. It is time to talk cruising and, as I alluded to right at the very bottom of the hour, we're talking Alaska cruises. It's official Next week you can get on an Alaskan cruise. So this week, the infamous Just Cruising segment is only about Alaska. I know that this is a subject near and dear to Mark Faldmo's heart, and the reason we're bringing it up is we received a text message from Jill a little bit earlier this week that she is taking an Alaska cruise that's already been booked. You took care of that already, right? I did. Yes, okay, she's going to be taking an Alaska cruise this summer and wants to know what you would suggest for shore excursions.
Mark Faldmo:Well, I think there are several amazing shore excursions in Alaska. Each port is different. Probably some of my favorite shore excursions in the world are in Alaska, so I'll just give a rundown. We'll start in Juneau. This isn't in any particular order because cruise lines visit these in different order. In Juneau, I think that is the best port for whale watching. The best port for whale watching, my number one tour would be a combo tour which includes whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. The whale watching is superb in Juneau and then, where most of the whale watching ships leave from, you have to drive right past Mendenhall Glacier, so you might as well book a tour that also includes that. And you spend about an hour or so at Mendenhall Glacier, where you can go to the visitor center, learn about the glacier, and there are also some hiking trails around Mendenhall Glacier that you can do.
Patrick Wiscombe:I'll just let people know that when you are on a glacier tour and it sounds like you're in a gun firing range, it's the ice hitting the water and man does it make a racket.
Mark Faldmo:It does. And then the next tour that I really like to do in Juneau. It's called the Glacier Gardens Adventure. This is a garden where they've taken all of the fallen trees, drilled holes, turned the trees upside down so that the root site is up, and they've turned the roots into a planter box and so it's just hanging with flowers and ferns, and then there's a couple of trails there. They take you by a vehicle kind of up to the top of the mountain where you have an amazing view of the whole valley, where Juneau is at.
Patrick Wiscombe:What a unique idea Turn trees upside down.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, turn trees upside down, so pretty cool thing there. Time permitting, I also always like to do the Mount Roberts Tram, which is right there where most of the cruise ships pull into. If there's time, walk around the town. There's some pretty good shopping right there in downtown Juneau, and then the Mount Roberts Tram is a great thing to do if you have extra time. There's also, from what I hear, a pretty good salmon bake. I'm not a fish eater, but that's probably one of the more popular tours in Juneau is to do the salmon bake.
Mark Faldmo:What about Skagway? Skagway is probably my favorite port in all of Alaska. I do have some family history there. My great-great, or maybe three great-grandfathers I'm not sure how far back was one of the miners that went over the Whitehorse Pass. So I like going there and exploring that history.
Mark Faldmo:The number one thing to do there is the White Pass and Yukon Railroad, and there are three different versions you can take of this. One is you can just do the summit and return, which is round-trip train. You can take the train up and then take a bus back, which you'll get two different sides of the canyon there. Or you can take the Yukon Explorer, which takes the train off and then you get on a bus and you go deep into the Yukon territory. It has a dog sledding camp that you go to a lunch and that's a pretty interesting tour. It is an all day tour but very interesting.
Mark Faldmo:Another thing you can do in Skagway which I really enjoy doing, is they have a street car tour. They have old you know they're 1930s buses that you get on drive around. They tell about the history of the town. You go to a scenic lookout and you go up to the cemetery where Soapy Smith is buried, who was one of the kind of villains of the old mining town, and all your tour guides dressed in period clothing. So it's a pretty fun little tour to do and you get a good history of the town of Skagway.
Patrick Wiscombe:Is it bad to say that I have no idea who Soapy Smith is of Skagway? Is it bad to say that I have no idea?
Mark Faldmo:who Soapy Smith is.
Patrick Wiscombe:Not very many people do, unless you've been to Skagway, okay, Well, I have been there and I still don't know who it was. Yeah, so you didn't do the right tour, then that's what I'm saying. Yes, okay, Ketchikan is one of the ports. What do you like to do there?
Mark Faldmo:In. Ketchikan it's best known, I think for its totem poles.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, that's right. Totem pole, yes.
Mark Faldmo:So that's where you can get a lot of the good history of totem poles, although I will say my favorite thing to do there is to take a Misty Fjords flight scene tour, where you take a float plane, fly up into the Misty Fjords, you land on a lake up there. It's a pretty fascinating thing to do.
Patrick Wiscombe:I've done that several times.
Mark Faldmo:So I really enjoy that Misty Fjords flight scene tour. But if you are interested in totem poles and this is the tour that I do most of the time when I take groups up there or that I recommend there are three different areas you can see totem poles. One is Totem Bright, which is my favorite, and then there's Saxman Village and then there's Potluck Totem Park. So there are three different things you can do there, and then those are usually combined with the wildlife tour. There's a really good spot in Ketchikan where you can go, usually watch the bears. What else do you like to do in Ketchikan? I'd say, make sure and go to Creek Street. You can walk there from most of the cruise terminals and it's just a nice little shopping street. I love Creek Street. And then the other thing that's popular to do that I quite enjoy is the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. It's USA versus Canada and they have a logging contest. It's pretty fun. It's a very well put together show.
Patrick Wiscombe:So instead of hockey, we've got logs flying around. Yes, when Nikki and I went to Alaska, we did not go to Sitka. So what do you recommend doing there, sitka?
Mark Faldmo:is probably the fourth port of Alaska. Not all cruise lines go there. There's not room for a lot of ships, just one ship at a time. It used to be that pretty much only Holland America went there, but more and more cruise lines are starting to go there. So there are three things I like to do there. You can do these as a combo tour or individually. I've always done them as a combo. And one is Sitka National Park, which is where there was a battle fought there and so they've built a park there. The other is Fortress of the Bear, which is kind of a bear rescue. It's very interesting. You can go watch up close to grizzly bears from a safe distance and kind of see, because it's kind of a rehabilitation center. And also same with the Raptor Center, which is a third place on this, which is where they rehabilitate birds of prey Four trucks.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, oh, birds, okay, birds, birds. So those are the three things I like to do, and I've always done them as a combo tour.
Patrick Wiscombe:One of my favorite ports, truly just for its beauty. I've been there during the day and I've been there at night. Victoria in Canada is if you can get there during the day, and I've been there at night. Victoria in Canada is if you can get there during the day. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth that I have ever seen and I love it. But what do you like to do there?
Mark Faldmo:Victoria is the international stop that cruise lines have to make so often. You're only there from 6 or 8 pm to midnight, so it's usually a shorter stop but, as you mentioned, I love it. If there's a cruise line that spends more time there. I wish they would. Usually you only have time to either do a Bouchard Gardens tour which I would do that with the cruise line because of the timing or I just go into the harbor area, walk around and explore. It's fascinating. Speaking earlier of fish, there's a place there called Redfish Bluefish best fish and chips I've ever had and you can have it made with several different types of fish. I get my halibut and I'm fine with that.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's about the only fish that I'll eat halibut. Always in this segment of the show. This is the infamous Just Cruising segment, where it's only about the cruise news and it's only about cruise deals. What Alaska cruise deals do we have for listeners this week?
Mark Faldmo:So I've got two. One is this summer and the other is next summer. Just because I want to get people thinking about that. For this summer, the end of August is typically a pretty good time to go for pricing. Summer, the end of August is typically a pretty good time to go for pricing. So this week's deal is a round trip Vancouver on Holland America line. It visits Tracy Arm, fjord, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. The price this is for an August 30th date. The price and inside cabin starts at $959. So for an Alaska cruise, that is pretty good and a balcony cabin starts at $959. Wow, so for an Alaska cruise that is pretty good, yeah, and a balcony cabin starts at $1699.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay so significant increase. But if you're not going to be in your room anyway, just go out to the outside decks. Yes, wow, do we know what ship? That's on the Holland America? That's on the Koningsdam. Okay, next week I'm going to be Holland America, but it's going to be on the east coast of the country. I'm going on the Rotterdam.
Mark Faldmo:Their sister ship, so it'll be a similar ship Alaska.
Patrick Wiscombe:You just can't go wrong. Okay, so to get everyone primed for next year, 2026, if this is not the year for you to go, what other promotion do you have for listeners?
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, so year for you to go? What other promotion do you have for listeners? Yeah, so I just wanted to throw this out because next year, 2026, are going to be two new cruise lines sailing to Alaska. One is Virgin Voyages and the other is MSC. And I just wanted to throw this MSC one out because of the price. It is such a good price. It's round trip Seattle visits Ketchikan, Juneau. It's roundtrip Seattle visits Ketchikan, Juneau, icy Strait and Victoria. But where this gets good is this is a June 1st date. Ooh, inside cabin is $929, which is about what we just gave for Home to America. Right, but the balcony cabin is $1,299. Whoa, and this $1,299 price is only slightly increased as you get into June, so you can get peak season balcony for under $1,500. That's incredible. I have seen on other sailings on MSC that these prices are starting to creep up. So if you are thinking about Alaska in 2026, you should look at MSC and get something under deposit.
Patrick Wiscombe:How much for a balcony then?
Mark Faldmo:$1299 for the June 1st date and it goes up to $1349 for a June 29th date.
Patrick Wiscombe:That is amazing For Alaska. That's incredible. Call Mark in his office during the break. You've got to take advantage of that one. That's a good price to go see Alaska, especially seven days round trip out of Seattle 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And of course, mark will post that on blueplanetvacations. com when we come back. Final segment of the show. We've got Mark's travel tips and we'll wrap up the show and we will be talking about real ID and passports. This is important If you're traveling. We always talk about having the proper documentation to travel. We're going to give you all the insights. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast, our radio show, continues Alongside my good friend Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you for listening. We will be right back.
Show Voice:Explore your world. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700. That's 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com.
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Show Voice: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 inside of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. We hope you are having an absolute terrific weekend. My name is Patrick Wiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo Coming up in this segment, the final segment of the show Mark and I will be talking about travel IDs and we got a text a little bit earlier this week from one of our listeners, Jessica2426. She had some questions about real ID and we're also going to be talking about eight passport mistakes and what is a travel visa. But before we get to Jessica's question, I want to bring up the hot deal update, which is the email that you send out every one to two weeks with the latest travel information. Let's talk about that for a second.
Mark Faldmo:This is a great way to find out about upcoming travel deals and offers. It's really a curated list just for my clients and our Inside Travel Talk listeners Really look for the best deals out there and try and find some of those unique offers, and also a little bit of travel news and updates come out on that as well.
Patrick Wiscombe:And how do people sign?
Mark Faldmo:up for it. To sign up for that, just go to blueplanetvacations. com and there will be a pop up if it's your first time visiting the site. If not, you can go to Hot Deals, which is in the upper navigation bar, and you'll see a link there to enter your name and email address. That's all we need for this, and we really try and not spam you with this list. Make sure it's relevant and valid at the time we send it. Also, if there's something time sensitive, since we only do this show once a week, if there's something time sensitive, I'll put it out and send it, just so that people get the most current travel deals.
Patrick Wiscombe:You and I received a text from one of our listeners, Jessica 2426, last four digits of her number, and she said I saw something about real ID and that it will be required soon. So her question is how do I know if I have real ID and what is real ID, and should I be worried?
Mark Faldmo:So I'll start with the last thing that she mentioned. Should I be worried Right now? If you have a Utah driver's license or an Idaho driver's license, which is most of our listening area, you don't need to be worried. In just a moment we'll talk about how to identify if you have a compliance ID. The states of Utah and Idaho have been issuing these driver's licenses for quite a while that are REAL-ID compliant. What is REAL-ID? REAL-id was a recommendation from the 9-11 Commission and passed by Congress in 2005. And it was to make traveling more secure. They were finding a lot of fake IDs were being used to get through airport security lines, and so RIL-IDs are a little bit harder to forge and there's some things in there that help TSA identify it as a valid ID.
Mark Faldmo:The main thing we should talk about is the real ID goes into effect May 7th of this year. That's about four weeks from today, probably why a lot of people are seeing these stories. You'll want to make sure, if you're traveling after May 7th, that you either have a passport or a Real ID compliant driver's license. Jessica's main question was how do I know if I have a Real ID? In the upper right-hand corner? On most states' driver's license you'll either have a gold or black star. If you're from California, it'll actually be a gold bear with a star in the body of the bear. California is different, but everyone else has. Most states have a gold star. Some states have a black star in the corner of your passport.
Patrick Wiscombe:It is happening for sure May 7th 2025. All 50 states.
Mark Faldmo:That's correct.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, it's nice to know that we can move quickly. Yes, let's get to the eight passport mistakes. Where do you want to start on this one? The?
Mark Faldmo:first thing, if you're taking an international trip, look at the expiration of your passport and do this in many cases before you start planning your trip. Unfortunately booked a couple of trips for people over the years where they have not looked at their passport and then found out that it's expired. Or the main mistake is being unaware that most countries require your passport to be valid for six months after your last date of return. Some countries do not have this rule, but just as a rule of thumb I tell people make sure your passport is valid for six months after your last date of return. Some reasons for this are what, if you have something medical come up and you have to stay, you don't want your passport to expire while you're undergoing that, because then you will have to go and wait for a new passport to be issued for you to get back home?
Patrick Wiscombe:How many times have you renewed your passport?
Mark Faldmo:I think I'm on my fourth passport.
Patrick Wiscombe:Do you get an email from the state department? Who do you get that email from?
Mark Faldmo:You don't get an email, although, if you are a Blue Planet Vacations customer and we've put your passport information in our system, you will get a one-year email notice.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, so no email unless it comes from you. Correct, at least as of right now.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, as of right now. Okay, next, most common mistake people make with passports is when they're getting a new passport, they don't check the current passport processing times. The current passport processing times is six to eight weeks for routine service or two to three weeks for expedited service, and you can always check this on the state department, the travelstategov website, or there's a link to it in the resources on Blue Planet Vacations where you can get the current processing times.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay. Is it even an option to get a rush or a same-day passport?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, it is in certain circumstances. First of all, you have to be near a passport office and you do have to prove a couple things to get an expedited same-day passport, or within a few days, you have to prove that you're traveling within 14 days, or you can also get expedited service for passport if you need to get a foreign visa within four weeks. If you do get an appointment to get a same-day passport, you do have to pay the $60 expedite fee on top of the regular passport fee.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, the newly announced passport office in Salt Lake, and I think it was going to be at the airport. Is it open yet? It is not open.
Mark Faldmo:On the State Department website it is listed as a location and it lists the opening date as TBA. So who knows when that's actually going to open? But that will be exciting to actually have a passport office here in Salt Lake for the listeners of the radio show.
Patrick Wiscombe:Before we hit the show, Mark, I have a question. What is a travel visa and it's not a credit card. I know that.
Mark Faldmo:Some countries require you to get a visa for entry. For instance, when I went to China, I actually had to send my passport to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco and they issued me a visa.
Mark Faldmo:So you have to pay the fee, fill out a form and you actually get a stamp or a sticker in your passport.
Mark Faldmo:If you take multiple trips and you need a visa, you really need to look at your passport expiration, as we were talking about before. Right, Because I know my father was going on several trips, needed a visa and it was to China as well and there was just no way to get his visa back, because sometimes the foreign consulates keep up for six to eight weeks themselves, oh wow. And so my dad actually ended up having to get a second passport, which is also interesting to get because the second passport is only valid for five years. You have to prove some things in order to get a second passport, so for a while he had two passports because of that visa. So if you're traveling to a country that requires a visa yeah, and that's something to really check out your passport expiration It'll make sure it's all going to work within your travel plans to get your visa back in time, which a visa is essentially travel authorization to enter that country back in time which a visa is essentially travel authorization to enter that country.
Patrick Wiscombe:There's a lot of jargon. I think this conversation that's taken place for these few minutes is really going to clean up a lot of questions that travelers or potential travelers have had for a very, very long time.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, it is, and actually also one more passport mistake I'm sorry I forgot to mention this is Some countries require you to have consecutive pages, so you have to have two to four consecutive pages in order to enter the country.
Patrick Wiscombe:Oh, that's right.
Mark Faldmo:I've had people go show up in a country without those blank pages and they have been turned away. Oh my, goodness, I forgot about that you really have to check the entry requirements and passport requirements and visa requirements for countries you're visiting.
Patrick Wiscombe:And you can help people with that.
Mark Faldmo:Yes, yep, and actually on the Blue Planet Vacations website in the resources, there's a link called Passport Requirements and that goes to a site called Sherpa, which you just put in your travel date and country and it'll tell you everything you need to enter that country.
Patrick Wiscombe:This has been very, very helpful. This is going to be one of those segments that we could probably just put on repeat multiple times to help people out. Yeah, all right, if you have travel related questions about real ID, passport mistakes, travel visas call Mark in his office, and you can also call him about all of the deals that we've talked about during this entire show. His phone number is 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717. And he has many of the resources on blueplanetvacations. com.
Patrick Wiscombe:You can listen to this show again tomorrow morning, Sunday, at 11 am, right here on this radio station and around the country, and you can stream, download and subscribe to the podcast at insidetraveltalk. com. A lot of people just like going to the website and just hitting the play button, but if you are a podcast subscriber, we're on all of the major podcast platforms. Okay, our job is done, so now it's your turn to get out and explore the world while you can, because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. Could be sickness, could be whatever. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally, and thank you so much for listening. We'll talk to you again next week.
Show Voice: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 BluePlanetVacations. com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
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