Inside Travel Talk

From Morocco to the Falklands: Travel Warnings, Tours, and Cruise Deals!

• Mark Faldmo & Patrick Wiscombe • Season 3 • Episode 51

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Planning a trip should feel exciting, not chaotic—so we’re starting where most journeys begin: how we treat each other. We unpack the DOT’s new civility campaign for air travel and share simple, real-world habits that calm cabins, shorten delays, and make flying more pleasant for everyone. Small acts like dressing respectfully, saying please and thank you, and offering a hand with overhead bins go a long way when the aisle gets tight.

From there, we pivot to timely safety intel: a focused advisory for northern Japan due to increased bear encounters. The country remains a low-risk destination overall, and we explain how smart routing, local guidance, and cruise itineraries create an easy, cost-effective way to explore Japan’s ports and seasons. That dovetails with a surge in capacity—more ships, longer seasons—and fresh opportunities to lock in value if you move early.

Speaking of value, we highlight a standout promotion: save up to $500 per couple on select Cosmos Tours. We walk through three itineraries that balance price and experience—10 days through Morocco’s iconic cities and desert edge, a seven-day glide across Prague, Vienna, and Budapest, and a classic Italy route that keeps costs down by staying off-island near Venice and using boats for access. Each option trades a bit of proximity for flexibility and smart pricing without stripping away the magic.

Cruise fans get big news, too. MSC World Atlantic is open for reservations with rare launch fares that beat typical new-ship premiums, especially compared to other mega-class debuts. We discuss MSC's current promotions and offers. We also break down Norwegian’s renewed focus on families: reduced third and fourth guest pricing, headline attractions like go-karts, and the Aqua Coaster on newer ships that make the total cabin cost highly competitive. Finally, we answer a listener question about cruising to the Falkland Islands, pointing to an exceptional 14-day Buenos Aires loop that hits Montevideo, Port Stanley, Ushuaia, and Punta Arenas—prime balcony territory during the southern summer.

If you want better trips and better deals, act early, hold space with a small deposit, and lean on advisors who can reprice when promos shift. Subscribe, share with a travel-loving friend, and leave a quick review to help more travelers find smarter ways to see the world.

Patrick Wiscombe:

It is time for the Inside Travel Talk Podcast, a radio show. Coming up on today's show, we will be talking about air travel courtesy, a travel warning if you're headed to Japan. MSC World Atlantic Reservations coming online. That's their big brand new ship. Norwegian is trying to attract more families, and we're gonna help you save up to $500 per couple on worldwide tours. Let's start the show. The Inside Travel Talk Podcast radio show presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com contains travel deals, promotions, and offers that are 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 Blue Planet Vacations.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:

Welcome to you live from the brand new and very spacious Wiscombe/ Faldmo Radio Studios. Hello there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast Radio Show. The entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is to help you plan and book your next vacation. And if you have no idea where to go, we're going to give you ideas of where you may want to consider vacationing next. And we are presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com, Mark's company and co-host of the show. And just a sincere thank you for taking your time to stop and listen to the show. This week we are talking about air travel courtesy. This should be interesting, Mark. A travel warning if you're headed to Japan. This doesn't happen very often, where the State Department is issuing a travel warning if you're headed to that part of the world. You've heard of MSC World Europa. You've heard of MSC World America. Well, guess what, folks? MSC World Atlantic. The reservations are coming online, and Norwegian is doing their best to attract more families. And probably the most important part of this show is we're going to help you save up to $500 per couple on tours. Some of the highlights include Morocco, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Rome, Florence, Venice. We'll get to that here in this opening segment of the show. But let's bring in my co-host, Mark Faldmo. Let's get right to the travel news headlines. This feels like a public service announcement. This feels like something you would hear on NPR. It is, yeah. They're calling for courtesy in air travel. This is a brand new public service campaign.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, and so the DOT has launched a new, they call it a civility campaign. Um called the Golden Age of Travel Starts with You. And what they're trying to combat is since COVID, the number of unruly passengers has exploded by a factor of six compared to 2019. Some of that was caused by the frustration due to the pandemic, the mass mandates and all of that. But we haven't had that for years, and there still continues to be several unruly passengers per year. They're encouraging flyers to consider where they're dressing with respect, saying thank you to flight attendants, saying please and thank you, helping pregnant women and elderly with placing bags in the overhead bin. So manners. So manners. I'm always surprised at how uncivil air travel has become. I travel once or twice a month, and most of the time it's okay, but there really is some travelers that do need some manners out there. It's kind of funny that they need to put out a program like this. It's continued to be a problem, so they're trying to address it.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Here's what my commercial would be: say your please and thank yous, and don't wear pajamas. Come on. Yes. The State Department has issued a travel warning for Japan for a very unusual reason. What is the reason?

Mark Faldmo:

In the north of Japan, there have been more than a dozen bear attacks in Japan. In some of their national parks, some of their northern cities, there's a safety travel warning for traveling in the north of Japan. You don't see warnings like that very often.

Speaker 4:

No.

Mark Faldmo:

You know, as a whole, Japan remains as a level one, which is the lowest you can be. And so Japan is still relatively safe. Just if you're in those northern areas of Japan, like Sapporo, there have been some bear attacks.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Is Japan the new Yellowstone? Watch out for the bears. It should be. Yeah. Watch out for the bears. It's time for the travel deal of the week. And this week we are going to help our listeners save up to $500 per couple on Select Worldwide Tours. So let's help people save the $500, Mark.

Mark Faldmo:

This is on Cosmos Tours. Save up to $500 per couple on Select Tours worldwide. Cosmos is a company we've talked about a little bit. They're under the Globus family of brands. Cosmos tours usually will not stay in the city center. They'll stay more in suburbs to save a little bit of money. They'll have more optional tours and less included tours. So you can decide if you just want to spend free time or take the tours that they are offering. I really like Cosmos. I've been on a few of them. In fact, one of the tours that we're going to talk about, I have been on and really enjoyed it. But I picked out three of their tours that I really think are a good value and also a good tour. The first one is the highlights of Morocco. This is a 10-day tour that with that discount starts at $1389 per person. Whoa. So a 10-day tour, that's what, a hundred and like 130? 130 per person. Radio math. Um per day. Yeah. It starts in Casablanca, goes over to Fez.

Patrick Wiscombe:

So the prices that you're quoting are the savings.

Mark Faldmo:

They are with the savings already included in there. Casablanca. So again, starts in Casablanca, goes to Rabat, spends two nights in Fez, two nights in the south of the country in Earth Road, and then up to Marrakesh and back to Casablanca. My father actually did with the group, he did a very similar tour to this, and he just said how amazing Morocco was. And so for this price, starting at $1389 per person for 10 days. Wow. That's a very good price.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah, do you have to throw airfare on top of that to get over there?

Mark Faldmo:

You you do. Probably. That that is plus airfare.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah, okay. That's a phenomenal deal. Really?

Mark Faldmo:

That is. Especially for that part of the world. It is. And you know, that's always a place I've wanted to visit. I unfortunately have not been able to visit there yet, but I've been looking at some transatlantic cruises that include Casablanca that I might get on. So um so I can at least say I've been to Morocco.

Patrick Wiscombe:

That sounds like such a marked thing. I need to find a cruise so I can so I can go over there.

Mark Faldmo:

Yep. Well, those transatlantic cruises are such a good deal that if there's a port on there you want to visit, that's the way to do it.

Patrick Wiscombe:

When Nikki and I go from here to Norway, we're thinking about going out of Port Canaveral on a celebrity edge. We're thinking about the second tour.

Mark Faldmo:

So the second tour, and this is one I've done several times, and I absolutely love it. It's Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. Oh, you love the yeah, you're right. Yeah, and so this one is seven days, three countries, and it starts at $1399 per person.

Show Voice:

Wow.

Mark Faldmo:

So so it's two nights in Prague, two nights in Vienna, two nights in Budapest. Wow. We've talked about these places before. Prague, the the main square in Prague, I love. Um you know, get your Prague ham and your I always say this wrong, but it's Trundelnik, the spit-roasted bread, sweet bread. Oh yeah. You know, go to Vienna, all the history there, and then Budapest. Three amazing cities in one tour.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And what's your third tour?

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, and so this one is probably one of the more popular tours you'll see in Cosmos, and it's the best of Italy. So it's Rome, Florence, and Venice.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Man, I'm having a hard time choosing which one we're gonna do. Oh my word.

Mark Faldmo:

So again, this one is uh seven days, six nights, all Italy, two nights in Rome, stop in Pisa, two nights in Florence, and then go up to Verona, uh, which is Romeo and Juliet, and then two nights in Venice.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Do you stay in Venice or is that Venice adjacent? So that's Venice adjacent.

Mark Faldmo:

I did this on Cosmos when we actually stayed on the the mainland. I remember it because it was called the Poppy Hotel and the fields all around it. It was in the springtime, just covered in red poppies, and so it was very interesting, but I'll always remember that on that tour. And then we would take the boats into the Venice area for the different tours that we did.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah, that'd be fine. While it would be fun to just stay in Venice proper, I'm okay with taking a boat and just kind of having doing stuff like that too.

Mark Faldmo:

And it's really, you know, easy to get into Venice. Staying in Venice is probably gonna add $200 a night to that tour. Uh, it's just so expensive to stay in Venice. Now it is worth it. I'd recommend travelers stay in Venice at least once in their life. It's very amazing to stay there. But for a tour like this, I don't think you need to do that.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah. I don't think listeners can go wrong with any of them. Here I am going to let's see, I do want to go to Morocco. I do want to go to Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Rome, Florence. Okay, yeah. Sign me up. Call Mark in the office. Just get the conversation started. No obligation. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And he will also post this on blueplanetvacations.com. Again, we're going to help you save up to $500 per couple on those select tours that go to that section of the country. Really, it's all worldwide tours. These were just Mark's picks. And it's from Cosmos Tours. When we come back, it is time for the infamous Just Cruising segment. We will be talking about MSE's new ship, MSC World Atlantic. Norwegian is trying to get more families on their ships, and we've got a caller question from Sunya, and we'll be featuring a 14-day celebrity cruise from Buenos Aires, Argentina. We're going to answer your questions. When's the best time to go? All of that is coming up next when the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, I am Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for listening. We will be right back. Give us about 60 seconds.

Show Voice:

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 Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Book your vacation now. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. The show will continue after this. This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by Star Clippers. For over 30 years, Star Kippers has offered unique, authentic tall ship sailing experiences featuring creative itineraries throughout the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Central America. To book your unique Star Kippers sailing adventure, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or Blue Planet Vacations.com. Now, back to the Insight Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's best travel advisors. Get us up right now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravel Talk.com. Here's Patrick and Mark.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Hello there. I am Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for taking your time to listen to this award-nominated podcast or radio show. We haven't won yet. But we will. We have big goals for 2026. We are going to come home with a radio award. Mark, it's I'm feeling it. Do you feel it? Yes. It's gonna happen. I had no idea I was gonna jump on this totebox. Coming up in this segment, it is the infamous just cruising segment, which is only about the cruise news and only about cruise deals. And to all boarding the ship right now or the radio show and podcast. Ahoy, Matees! Ahoy. Let's get right to the cruise news headlines. I was excited to see this headline a little bit earlier this week that MSC World Atlantic, that is their brand new ship. So there's World Europa, that was the first one, World America, which both of us have been on, and now MSC World Atlantic. So basically it's version three of the ship. Reservations are now opened.

Mark Faldmo:

And actually, this is version four. There's also World Asia. Oh, that's right. I forgot about that one. Which starts next year, sometime in 2026. So this will be the fourth version of that ship. And yeah, as you mentioned, reservations are now open for MSC World Atlantic, which will start sailing in November of 2027.

Patrick Wiscombe:

So we're out there a little ways. I was thinking November of 2026.

Mark Faldmo:

No, so we are a year and a half. Two years or two. Two years. You're right. Yeah. Two years away.

unknown:

Okay.

Mark Faldmo:

I guess I can't do calendar math either. Radio math, calendar math. Yeah. So uh and it'll be doing six and seven night Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral.

Patrick Wiscombe:

World America is gonna stay in Miami, and they're gonna also keep World Atlantic out of Port Canaveral then.

Mark Faldmo:

So they're gonna keep Canaveral.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Holy cow. That means they're gonna be flooding the uh Caribbean. Meaning that two wow.

Mark Faldmo:

Okay. We're kind of laughing that we're talking about November of 2027. What are the starting prices on that? So I didn't look right in November when it came out. I'm looking for January dates of actually 28. Okay. Um, and you know, a a lot of time, you know, we kind of laugh that we're talking about January of twenty-eight or even November of twenty-seven on this. But really, if you book now, you're gonna get the best prices. You can always put a deposit down, and if something's better or you decide not to go, you can cancel it. Um, but for a brand new ship, MSC World Atlantic, these are two seven-night cruises in January, they start at $822 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Whoa! For a brand new ship?

Mark Faldmo:

For a brand new ship. If we compare that, let's say to the icon of the seas, it started at about sixteen, seventeen hundred a person. So this is for a brand new ship, this is half of what Royal Caribbean launched their new ships at.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Michael Kidd, one of our listeners, you better call Mark. I think that's the one we're gonna go on then. Yeah. Oh. What is a balcony, Mark?

Mark Faldmo:

A balcony is a thousand ninety-nine per person. Oh man!

Patrick Wiscombe:

That is so cheap for a brand new ship.

Mark Faldmo:

It is. You can get a suite for under $2,000.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Wow! Okay, here's my credit card. Okay. That is amazing. Oh, if anyone ever asks, and I have been asked, I know you've been asked, when's the best time to book a cruise? It's right when the prices come out. And it just came out.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, and you know, like as we mentioned, you can always put your deposit down and cancel it if you don't want it to go in most cases.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And that's why I always tell listeners, I don't know that I've been this explicit, but I tell listeners, get the conversation started. Maybe I should start saying put the deposit down just to hold it and then decide what you're gonna do. Yeah. That way you have it. Yes. Let me just give out the number right now. Mike Kidd, if you're listening, 888-718-7717. Really, this number's for anyone. 888-718-7717. And you can get the contact information at blueplanetvacations.com. You know, I've noticed a trend in the industry, a lot more cruising in and around Japan.

Mark Faldmo:

Are you seeing that as well? That is definitely the case. We've done a few stories, mainly talking about Japan and taking land tours or visiting there by land, but cruises have really seen a sharp demand right now. As Mara cruises has added a few more sailings, they've gone into the fall of 2026 and they've added some spring cruises of 2027, so they've lengthened their season. Princess added a whole extra ship to Japan in 2027. Yeah, we talked about that a couple weeks ago. We we talked about that a few weeks ago. Oceana Cruises has added um another ship and extended their season to Japan. Japan is just in such high demand. I guess you'll have to watch out in those northern ports, watch out for the bears, as we talked about earlier. Um, there's some pretty good offers there. Obviously, when you add more inventory, hopefully that makes the price come down a little bit more.

Patrick Wiscombe:

And Japan could be so expensive that uh cruising might actually be the least expensive way to do it.

Mark Faldmo:

It is, and it's probably the easiest way to do it as well.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Norwegian cruise line is saying, hey, we want more families. Come get on our ships. What are the details? What are they doing?

Mark Faldmo:

They're really trying to attract families. If you look at cruise lines, think of families, the first cruise line you're probably going to think of is Royal Caribbean. Yeah. But Norwegian really wants to try and solidify that number one spot for families. And they've always had a really good program for families. But what they're doing is the first and second guest in the cabin, their prices are actually. Actually up a little bit, but they're adding more of the third and fourth reduced rates or third and fourth cruise free promotions, which is making the overall cost for families lower on Norwegian than any other cruise line when you take that in. But when you look at things that Norwegian has added, like on several of their ships, they have the go-kart track.

Speaker 4:

Yeah.

Mark Faldmo:

You know, on the new Norwegian Aqua, they have the Aqua Coaster, that the water slide roller coaster thing. And they have a lot more kids programming. And so they're really trying to become known as that family cruise line.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Nikki and I were on Norwegian's Aqua in April, and I could not believe the top deck near the Aqua slide, the roller coaster. There was so much to do for kids up on that top deck, midship and aft. Amazing. I couldn't believe how much there was to do.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, and you know, starting with Norwegian Prima. So there's, I think, four ships in that class now. They've really gone all out on those family and children things. And then that top deck, like you said, is amazing for kids and families.

Patrick Wiscombe:

By the way, the aqua coaster, when you take off, I think it shoves you up the uh the ramp at about, I want to say 30 miles an hour, 25 to 30. And then it's just kind of a casual ride down. So it's not just crazy, but but when you take off, you know it. It's yeah. Especially when it shoves you right in the tube.

Mark Faldmo:

Yes, yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Always in this segment of the show, the infamous just cruising segment, we've got the cruise deal of the week. We've got a text question from Sonia. And by the way, if you have travel-related questions and you want to ask them on the show, whether we're on the air or off the air, 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. All of those calls and texts go to Mark. Sonia is asking, are there any cruises that visit the Falkland Islands? When is the best time to go?

Mark Faldmo:

First of all, some people may not know where the Falkland Islands are. They're in South America. Um, kind of the their islands off of Argentina. South America on the owned by Argentina. Yeah. Okay. The best time to go is January and February, which is the heart of their summer, so mid-summer in the southern hemisphere. The best time to book is eight to twelve months out. Although what I'm going to give is this coming February, so like in two months, and it's a pretty good deal to cruise there to the Falkland Islands. First of all, the cruise lines that sell to South America and hit the Falkland Islands particularly are Princess, Celebrity, and Viking. And Viking will sell out very fast.

Patrick Wiscombe:

You know, Vikings just been selling out quick anyway.

Mark Faldmo:

Yes.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Regardless of the destination.

Mark Faldmo:

Viking Ocean cruises sell out very fast. But I did look for this coming February, so pretty quick here, a celebrity cruise that does hit the Falkland Islands. But first I'll give celebrities promotion that they're renting. So right now, their promotion is 75% off of the second guest in the cabin. And then they have what they call their semi-annual sale. Now what's on going on right now actually ends today, but a new version of this is again the semi-annual sale, and they'll have another promotion starting tomorrow. Okay. Which I don't know what it is, but it's usually a free room upgrade, an onboard credit, an additional savings off the cabin, something like that. But you do have the 75% off second guest and third and fourth guest sell free on Select Sailings on Celebrity. Celebrity has a 14-day cruise. It's on the Celebrity Equinox. It's round trip from Buenos Aires. The main ports on that are Montevideo, Port Stanley, which is in the Falkland Islands, and then Ushuaia and Puntarenus, cruising around Cape Horn, Magellan Strait, and then there's a few other ports there in Argentina that it visits. But what I thought was great about this cruise, again, it's close in, but the cruise for 14 days starts at $1329 per person. Whoa. But a balcony starts at $1529 per person. Wow. And I think this is a cruise cruising Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, that southern tip of South America. You probably almost definitely want a balcony cabin.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Oh, yeah. Not only for the price, but just that part of the world. Take advantage of that. Call Mark, get the conversation started, and I'm gonna say just put a deposit down. Just get just get things rolling. Get things reserved. In fact, that's what I did. That's what Nikki and I did for Norwegian Fjords. We're not going till I think it was May of was it 27, Mark? Yeah, that sounds right. 27, yeah. That's how we're holding our spot. Call Mark 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he'll also post all of this information on Blue PlanetVacations.com. You can listen to this award-nominated podcast or radio show each Saturday and Sunday morning right here on this radio station and all radio stations around the country starting at 11 a.m. local time, and you can listen to the show by streaming, subscribing on inside traveltalk.com. All podcast platform links for the show can be found at insidetraveltalk.com. That's it. We're done. We've done our job. Now it's your turn to get out and travel the world while you can because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. And some of those curveballs, man, they stink. Live your life deliberately. Live your life intentionally, and a sincere thank you for taking the time to stop and listen. We don't have a show, we don't have a business without you. Thank you, really. Have a great week. Make it a great week. We'll talk to you next Saturday and Sunday.

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 Blue Planet Vacations.com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.com.