Alaska Cruise Excursions, Resort Mistakes Travelers Make & Airline Fare Changes

Ready to travel smarter and come home with better stories? We dig into the headlines that actually change your plans—like Carnival’s first calls to Africa—and the on-the-ground tactics that keep your trip smooth, from airfare fine print to street-level scams targeting cruisers and city wanderers alike. You’ll hear clear, practical ways to protect your budget without losing the joy of discovery.

We start with cruise news that widens the world: how adding African ports lowers the barrier to a continent many travelers find complex and costly to visit, and what that means for choosing itineraries that balance sea days with meaningful, unrushed shore time. Then we unpack a big airline shift as carriers roll out “basic” business and first class. Cheaper up front doesn’t always mean value; we outline what could be missing—seat flexibility, upgrades, mileage accrual, or changes—and how to read fare rules like a pro before you click buy.

Scam-proofing is next. From taxi fares that morph into “per person” charges to fake ticket hookups, staged “free” gifts, and distraction plays that separate you from your phone or wallet, we map the patterns and give you scripts and habits that work anywhere. Small bills separate from cards, official ticket sources only, no return rides prepaid, and firm boundaries for unsolicited photo ops and “helpful” strangers.

If a sunny escape is calling, we share the all-inclusive missteps that derail a getaway—and how a knowledgeable advisor can match you to the right beach, room category, and vibe. Learn why concierge tiers sometimes add outsized value, how early dinner reservations save your evenings, and the free water sports and sister-property perks most guests miss.

Finally, we head north to Alaska with shore excursions that earn their price: Juneau’s whale watching with Mendenhall Glacier, Skagway’s White Pass Railroad and Gold Rush lore, Ketchikan’s totems and Misty Fjords floatplanes, Sitka’s wildlife rescues, and quick-hit ideas for a magical evening in Victoria. These are the choices that turn a bucket-list cruise into a lifetime highlight.

Enjoy the episode, subscribe for weekly travel insights, and share it with a friend who’s planning a trip. If we earned it, leave a quick review—it helps more travelers find their way to better journeys.

Transcript

Sponsor & Show Setup

Show Voice 0:00

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. Our ocean front resorts are exclusively for adults and have been voted among the most romantic resorts in Mexico and the world. To book your romantic beach getaway at an El Dorado Spa Resort, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or Blue Planet Vacations.com.

Mark Faldmo 0:27

Coming up today on Inside Travel Talk, a cruise line is visiting a brand new continent for the first time ever. Airlines are changing how premium seats will be sold. We're sharing four travel scams you absolutely need to know about, plus Alaska Cruise Shore excursion ideas you can actually use on your trip.

Patrick Wiscombe 0:44

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.

Show Voice 0:58

Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice.com. Call or text the show now at 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk.com. And now, here are your hosts, Patrick Whiskey and Mark Faldmo.

Cruise Line Expands To Africa

Airlines Unbundle Premium Cabins

Mark Faldmo 1:38

Hello and welcome to the Inside Travel Talk radio show and podcast. I'm Mark Faldmo with Blue Planet Vacations, and this week you've got just me. Patrick is away traveling, which honestly feels appropriate for a travel show. We've got a really helpful show planned for you today. First, we're going to start with two big travel news stories that will actually affect how you book travel. One from the cruise world and one from airlines. Then we're going to play a recorded segment Patrick and I recently did about four travel scams travelers are seeing right now. And some of these are catching even experienced travelers. After that, we'll share our best, all-inclusive resort tips, how to choose the right resort, and avoid the most common booking mistakes. And finally, we'll answer a listener question from Janice, who is taking an Alaska cruise and wants to know which shore excursions are truly worth it. So I'll share some of my personal favorites from Alaska. So we've got a lot of practical travel advice coming up today. Let's start with travel news. The cruise industry continues to expand destinations, and Carnival Cruise Line just announced something pretty historic. Carnival will be making its first ever port visits to Africa. This is actually a big deal because for many travelers, Africa has always been a very difficult and expensive destination to visit. Traditionally, if you wanted to go to Africa, you were looking at a long flight, complex planning, and often a very high cost land tour. Cruise lines are slowly changing that. By adding African ports, travelers now have a way to experience parts of the continent as part of a cruise itinerary instead of planning an entire trip around it. Now, this won't replace a full African safari, but it does introduce travelers to destinations they may never have considered before. And historically, cruising has often been the gateway trip that inspires people to go back later for a deeper visit. So this is one to watch. Cruise itineraries are expanding far beyond the traditional Caribbean and Alaska routes. Speaking of changes in travel, airlines are also making a big shift in how premium seats will be sold. Delta Airlines announced they are introducing something new called basic business and basic first class fares. At first that might sound like an upgrade, but it's actually the opposite. Airlines are beginning to unbundle premium cabins the same way they already did with economy tickets. What that means is you may be able to buy a cheaper business class seat, but it won't include everything you're used to. You could lose perks like seat selection flexibility, upgrades, mileage earnings, or change privileges. So travelers need to be careful. You may see a lower price and think you found a deal, but you're really buying a more restricted ticket. This is very similar to basic economy, and it means comparing airfare is going to become even more complicated. My advice before purchasing premium airfare online, make sure you know exactly what the fare includes. Not all business class tickets are going to be equal anymore. All right, coming up next, we're going to play a recorded segment. Patrick and I did recently, and this is important. We discussed four travel scams travelers are encountering right now, including one that specifically targets cruise passengers.

Patrick Wiscombe 4:50

Let's get to the seven crafty cruise tricks. Do not fall for these, and let's go over the first one, which I think has to do with taxi rides.

Mark Faldmo 4:59

This is geared towards cruisers, but this is also good advice for anywhere in the world. All of these happen all the time, especially to tourists. Tourists are a good target for scammers. Always set your fare with the driver before you get in.

Four Travel Scams To Watch

Patrick Wiscombe 5:14

Yeah, don't do it in the middle of the road.

Mark Faldmo 5:16

Don't do it in the middle or when you get out, or you'll be surprised. Oh, yeah. A common trick that taxi drivers will use is they'll give you this is the rate $10. And then you'll get there and they'll say, Oh, I told you $10, but that was per person, so now you owe me $20. So make sure you set it for the whole party and to where you're going, and then make sure you have bills to cover that, not too large of a bill, because they will always say they don't have change. And then you're stuck paying them a lot more. What was the other trick that they try and pull taxi drivers? A lot of times people will say, Can you take me to the beach and then come pick me up at this time? Yeah. And I'll say yes, and they'll have you pay for that return trip up front. Never pay for the return trip up front. Tell them you'll you'll pay for when they take you there, and then you'll pay when they take you back. Yeah, because otherwise they won't return.

Patrick Wiscombe 6:12

Yep. See you later. Say goodbye to your money right there.

Mark Faldmo 6:15

Yeah. A common thing for a lot of people to do is to just hire a taxi to take them sightseeing. You know, they don't want to take the excursions the ship offers. Taxi drivers are really good at this. I've actually been on some very good tours by taxi drivers. Oh, you have? But do some research and know where you want to go. Meaning you choose the destination. You choose the destinations and how long you want to go there. Otherwise, they're going to take you to their brother's shop, to their sister's shop, everywhere where they get a kickback, and you're going to spend most of your time shopping and not actually doing the sightseeing that you want to do. So make sure you detail what you want to do, what you want to see. And if you don't want to shop, you need to tell them up front, I don't want to shop. And the next one is fake ticket scams. Okay, what is that? There are some places that you need to buy tickets to in advance. And some taxi drivers will say, Oh, I I know someone, I have an inn, I can get you a ticket. Oh boy. You'll pay them for the ticket, they'll drop you off. It looks like a legitimate ticket, but when you get there, they'll say it's a fake ticket. Oh boy. So only buy tickets from legitimate sources, don't buy them from a taxi driver. And then the next one, this is one that really bugs me, is don't take the free gifts. You know, a lot of vendors will come up and say it's free, it's free, it's free. Because then they just keep hounding you for more and more. And a lot of times it's part of a pickpocket scam where they're watching where money comes from, how you act, and they will pickpocket you to do that. And then also along those lines of pickpocketing, keep your small bills and coins that you're going to use for street vendors and stuff in a separate area from your main money because those pickpockets watch tourists where their money comes from.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:07

Yeah, they're you're being watched.

Mark Faldmo 8:09

They will you get pickpocketed for a few dollars. That's probably fine. You don't want to be, but you don't want everything taken.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:15

You had an interesting story that actually happened to you.

Mark Faldmo 8:19

A common thing is someone will spill ice cream, gelato, a drink or something on you. If anyone spills something on you, do not let them help you. Because it's a pickpocket scam. Oh my goodness. Because the one thing that pickpocket needs is touch to distract you.

Patrick Wiscombe 8:36

Oh yeah.

Mark Faldmo 8:37

And so my thing was I was at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and a guy came up and said, Hey, you're American. Do you know judo? Like, that's a strange thing to add. And then he was doing these judo moves on me, and all of my pockets were emptied. Oh, luckily, it was just a map of the Paris subway system, so I had a hard time getting back to my hotel. But that's what pickpocketers need is a lot of times that slight distraction.

Patrick Wiscombe 9:05

In all of my life, I have never been asked, hey, do you know judo? Yeah. I'm sorry that happened, but that's kind of funny.

Mark Faldmo 9:13

Yeah, it was funny. Yeah. And you know, another common thing is you'll go, we'll say the Coliseum in Rome. There are lots of people dressed as Roman soldiers to go take your picture with them. Don't take your picture with them. A lot of times they are pickpocket scams as well, or the pickpocketers are watching the people with that. Um, if you do want to do that, set your price with the person beforehand, because a lot of times you'll try and give them five dollars or whatever, and they say, No, it's ten, fifteen, twenty. Oh man. And then you'll have a miserable situation there. You know that they won't let you go. Yeah, and then never give your phone to someone to take a picture and unlock it. Or if someone comes and says, You can't, you took my picture, you can't, and they want you to unlock your phone to see that. What they're trying to do is get you to unlock your phone, and then they're gonna grab it and run away with your unlocked phone and get all of your stuff, which is quite popular. It happens a lot more than you would think.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:16

Having you articulate it like that is justification for me just going, no, no, that thank you for asking, just get away, buzz off.

Mark Faldmo 10:25

And then well, there's kind of two things that we'll do. If you're buying something and they're gonna take it in the back to wrap it up for you, make sure you check it before you come back. I I've heard stories of where people will have an expensive handbag and they'll take it back to wrap it up, and then when they get back to the ship or to their hotel, it is a totally different product, and then they're out of luck.

Patrick Wiscombe 10:49

And then they can't come back because the cruise ship is going to take off. Yep.

Taxi Tour Traps & Fake Tickets

Mark Faldmo 10:52

And then the last thing is know the exchange rate. Well, how would you know that? There are apps, there's one called XE Currency Converter where you can just quickly put that in so you know about what you should pay. It won't always equal that because there's some different fees and stuff, but you'll know about what you'll pay. There's been vendors that say, yeah, it comes out to about 200 US dollars. And then when you get back, if you're not savvy and don't know the exchange rate, people have had five, six hundred dollar charges when they thought it was two hundred dollars. So know the exchange rate. You're listening to Inside Travel Talk. I'm Mark Faldmo. Next, we're going to play another recorded segment where Patrick and I share our best tips for booking all-inclusive resorts, how to pick the right one, and how to avoid the resorts that look good online but disappoint in person.

Patrick Wiscombe 11:39

We wanted to talk about eight mistakes that everyone makes when visiting an all-inclusive resort. Let's start with number one, not knowing what you're getting when you actually book the trip, and that you actually recommend using a travel advisor.

Mark Faldmo 11:54

Yeah, this is one reason why you should use a travel advisor. Not all all inclusives are created the same. There's adults only, there's family. Some have great beaches and bad pools, some have bad pools and great beaches. And a travel advisor who's done this and sold this knows most of these resorts. So not knowing what you're getting is a big mistake. Some people will just purely choose by price and then be disappointed, or they'll pay a lot and be disappointed because some amenity that they wanted was not as expected.

Patrick Wiscombe 12:27

Oh wow. Basically, use a travel advisor. By the way, have you ever seen a bad beach and a bad pool? Yes. Oh, yeah. Okay. Number two, overlooking VIP and concierge level rooms. What does that mean?

Mark Faldmo 12:42

Well, a lot of the all-inclusive hotels do have the upgraded VIP or concierge level rooms. Now, while that might not be for everyone, a lot of times the price is not that much more, and you get a lot more amenities with it. So it is worth looking up those, and especially if you want to view, a lot of those VIP and concierge level rooms have better views. You did that for me in Hawaii.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:05

It wasn't all inclusive at the Hawaii Hilton Hawaiian village, at least when we went. We talked about that last week, but that wasn't part of our package that you upgraded us because you knew the property, and that was a huge benefit for Nikki and I. Yeah. Number three, not making dinner reservations. First thing you told me to do when we were doing this last trip to Hawaii, you said make sure that you get your dinner reservations.

Mark Faldmo 13:30

Yeah. So, and especially at an all-inclusive, a lot of hotels will offer reservations, but say they're not necessary. 7 30 p.m. is the prime time to dine when everybody wants to dine. And if you don't make a reservation, you're either going to be eating at nine o'clock just before it closes, or not eating at all, or eating at 5 30 or 6 when the restaurants first open.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:54

You mean the senior citizen hour?

Mark Faldmo 13:55

Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 13:56

So and I'm not demeaning our senior citizen friends, but um you guys eat early.

Mark Faldmo 14:01

Yep. So yeah, just be aware that you can make reservations at a lot of those places and you will want to make them. You can always change them, but you'll want to get a plan set to make them.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:11

I'm guilty of this next one. Filling your plate at the buffet before browsing the entire buffet to see all of your food choices.

Mark Faldmo 14:19

Yeah, I always take a walk around everything and just make sure, but there's usually lots of options, and sometimes you don't get what you want because you start at the beginning and then you're full.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:31

Number five, not tipping.

Mark Faldmo 14:33

Yeah. Now, a a lot of resorts say they're not tipping, but it's still good practice. It does give you better service in the long run. You'll have a waiter that recognizes you that gives you service, even though tipping is not necessarily expected. I usually give them a little something. Unless the hotel specifically says no. Don't do it. Let's do some tipping etiquette.

Patrick Wiscombe 14:55

There's something going on here in Utah. I only want to spend 10 seconds on it tipping for everything, even though you do all the work for it. How much do you tip on a bill? I'm usually about 10 to 15%. Yeah, okay. All right. I'm somewhere between 10 and 20. It it really depends on how great the person was.

Mark Faldmo 15:12

If I get someone that flips one of those machines over to me to ask me to tip, I try and take money out. You give me a dollar for doing this.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:22

Yeah, listen, I did all the work here to come here.

Mark Faldmo 15:25

Yeah.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:25

That drives me nuts. Yeah. Tip number six, not taking advantage of sister property amenities.

Pickpockets, “Free” Gifts, And Photos

Mark Faldmo 15:32

A lot of hotels have sister properties, which means you can enjoy the amenities at all of them. You can go eat at them. You can enjoy the activities at other properties. And some of them are just right next door. So you really want to, if there are sister properties, take advantage of those.

Patrick Wiscombe 15:49

Number seven, not using non-motorized water sports. I said there were eight. There's actually seven.

Mark Faldmo 15:55

Seven. Yeah. That's one of the things with all inclusives is they usually all include non-motorized water sports. So like snorkel masks, paddle boards, boogie boards, things like that. A lot of people don't take advantage of them, but that's a nice little perk that you can take advantage of.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:10

Okay, so those are the seven tips that we have if you're going to an all-inclusive resort.

Mark Faldmo 16:16

Welcome back to Inside Travel Talk. We received a listener question from Janice, who has taken an Alaska cruise and asked what shore excursions are actually worth doing in Alaska. This is a great question because Alaska is one of the few cruises where the shore excursions are actually the highlight of the trip. Instead of me repeating it here, we're going to play a segment from a prior show where Patrick and I talked about my favorite Alaska excursions and why they matter.

Patrick Wiscombe 16:42

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 17:07

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 cruisings visit these in different order. In Juneau, I think that is 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 Juno. And then where most of the well-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 18:01

I'll just let people know that when you are on a glacier tour and it sounds like you're in a gunfiring range, it's the ice hitting the water. And man, does it make a racket?

Mark Faldmo 18:12

It does. And then the next tour that I really like to do in Juno, 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 side is up, and they've turned the roots into a planner 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 Juno is at.

Patrick Wiscombe 18:44

What a unique idea.

Currency, Exchanges, And Receipts

All-Inclusive Resort Mistakes

Mark Faldmo 18:45

Turn trees upside down. 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. Um, but that's probably one of the more popular tours in Juneau is to do the salmon bake. 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 White Horse Pass. So I like going there and exploring that history. 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, and it has a dog sledding camp that you go to a lunch. Um, and that's a pretty interesting tour. It it is an all-day tour, but very interesting. Another thing you can do in Skagway, which I really enjoy doing, is they have a streetcar tour, just they have old, like 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 is 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 20:48

Is it bad to say that I have no idea who Soapy Smith is? Not very many people do, unless you've been to Skagway.

Mark Faldmo 20:56

Okay. So well, I have been there and I still don't know who it was. Yeah, so you didn't do the right tour then.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:02

That's what I'm saying, yes. Okay, Ketchukan is one of the ports. What do you like to do there?

Mark Faldmo 21:07

And Ketchikan, it's best known, I think, for its totem poles.

Patrick Wiscombe 21:11

Oh, that's right. Totem pole. Yes, yes.

Mark Faldmo 21:14

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 thing to do. Yeah, I've done that several times. So I really enjoy the 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 Potluch Totem Park. So that 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 22:33

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?

Mark Faldmo 22:45

Sitka 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's a battle fought there. And so they've built a park there. And 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 for the prey. Yes. Oh, birds. Okay. Birds. Birds. So so those are the three things I like to do, and I've always done them as a combo tour.

Patrick Wiscombe 23:45

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, 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 24:02

Victoria is the uh international stop that cruise lines have to make. So often you're only there from 6 or 8 p.m. to midnight. So it's usually a shorter stop. But as you mentioned, I love it. If 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, blue fish, best fish and ships 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. That's about the only fish that I'll eat, halibut. Welcome back. And that's a great example of why Alaska cruises are so memorable. The experiences off the ship are really what define that trip. Today we covered quite a bit major cruise itinerary, expansion, airline fare changes, travel scams to avoid, all inclusive resort tips, Alaska shore excursion ideas. If you have a travel question you would like answered on the show, you can reach out to us at Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or visit inside travel talk.com. And as always, and whether it's a cruise, Europe, Alaska, or a tropical vacation, planning makes the difference between a good trip and a great trip. Thanks for listening to Inside Travel Talk. I'm Mark Faldmo, and we'll see you next week.

Tipping, Perks, And Water Sports

Show Voice 25:39

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 Whiskey 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. Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or BluePlanetvacations.com.