Inside Travel Talk
Discover the world one conversation at a time with Inside Travel Talk, the best travel podcast for curious explorers. Each episode delivers expert travel tips, hidden gems, and insider advice on the best destinations. We deliver inspiring stories, proven travel strategies, and insider travel tips you can trust. Learn the smartest ways to save money while experiencing the best destinations. Plus, hear from travel pros who know the must-see spots around the globe. Whether you crave beaches, city adventures, or cultural escapes, this podcast sparks wanderlust instantly. Above all, we make travel planning fun, simple, and inspiring. Tune in weekly for the latest travel hacks and get motivated to book your next adventure today! Brought to you by Blue Planet Vacations.
Inside Travel Talk
The Ultimate Guide to Princess Plus, Luxury Cruises & Hawaii Vacation Deals
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You can feel travel shifting right now: airports are experimenting with new ways to run security, airlines are trying to sell you something you’ve wanted for years, and cruise and tour companies are stacking itineraries that turn “someday” trips into actual plans. We start with travel headlines that matter for real-world comfort, including more airports considering private contractors for TSA-style screening and United’s move to sell Economy Plus with a guaranteed empty middle seat. If crowded rows and elbow battles make flying miserable, this is one of the most practical upgrades we’ve seen in a long time.
Next, we dig into the onboard experience once you’re in the air. Starlink Wi-Fi continues spreading across fleets, and we explain why faster satellite internet is only part of the story when airlines also care about how the Wi-Fi portal looks and feels. From there, we jump to guided travel with Globus rolling out new tours beyond Europe, including Chile and Northern Patagonia, Peru and Ecuador with Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley plus the Galapagos, and Southern Australia with Tasmania, along with a compelling early-booking incentive for future departures.
Then we get specific with inspiration you can use immediately: Hawaii, the Big Island, and the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary just minutes from Kona International Airport. After that, it’s time to cruise, with updates on MSC’s luxury push through Explora Journeys, Port Canaveral’s expansion for the next wave of mega ships, Regent Seven Seas Christmas market sailings, and Viking’s Oberammergau Passion Play trips. We close with a listener question we all get: is Princess Plus worth it, and when does Princess Premier make sense, followed by strong Princess cruise deals to Hawaii and the Caribbean.
Subscribe for more travel news, cruise tips, and vacation planning help, then share this with a friend who needs a trip and leave a review so more travelers can find us.
Welcome And What’s Ahead
Show VoiceHelping you plan your next vacation. This is the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Call us now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at Insidetravel Talk.com. Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick WiscombeIt is time for another edition of the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Hello there! I am Patrick Wiscombe, the Vacation Nerd. Alongside Mark Faldmo, he will be here in just a moment. And if you are brand new to this show, or you've never heard us, or you've been a longtime subscriber, the entire purpose of this radio show and podcast is to help you get out and see the world. And we're going to do that by helping you plan and book your next vacation, or we're just going to give you some ideas of where you may want to consider going on vacation next. And this show is presented by BluePlanetVacations.com, which is Mark's company. Coming up on today's show, we will be talking about how to guarantee your self-emptiness. TSA workers are disappearing. Man, this is ominous already. Starlink coming to more flights, and Globus announcing new tours beyond Europe. And we have some incentives that are gonna get your attention. And we have a very simple question. Mark, this is regarding Princess, is it the Plus package?
Mark FaldmoYeah, Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages.
Patrick WiscombeIs it worth getting those packages? That's all coming up on today's show.
Airports Testing Private TSA Screening
Patrick WiscombeBut let's get right to the travel news headlines. Let's start with this story that uh there are three airports that are looking or could replace TSA workers with private security screening.
Mark FaldmoYeah, so we talked about this a few weeks ago. It's called the TSA Gold Plus. It's mainly for smaller airports where they can hire private contractors to do the TSA security screening. There are currently 20 airports that use it, including some pretty big ones. But the new airports that are looking to add this are Charleston in South Carolina, Des Moines, Iowa, and then a bigger airport, Tampa Airport, is looking to add this.
Patrick WiscombeDes Monet.
Mark FaldmoYes.
Patrick WiscombeIn Tampa, that one surprises me a little.
Mark FaldmoYeah, so you know, there's a debate right now. The TSA union is against this.
Patrick WiscombeOf course they are.
Mark FaldmoAlthough by federal mandate, the pay has to be the same. And for many of the airports using this, the pay is actually higher than TSA. So these agents have to go through the same training. They use the same machines. A few weeks ago, when we talked about this, at many airports that are using this TSA Gold Plus program, it's about nine percent more cost effective to use the private screeners than the TSA screeners. So it saves airports money when using this.
Patrick WiscombeAny other larger airports that are going to come online with this idea?
Mark FaldmoYeah, and actually one that's already been on and has been on for quite a while is San Francisco International Airport. So that's a big airport that is using this. Other ones are much smaller, like Atlantic City, Great Falls, Montana, Kansas City, another bigger airport, Roswell International Air Center. So the aliens use it. So I think more and more airports are gonna go back to private screening companies. You know, pre-9-11, it was all private screeners. Each airport had, you know, its own company that hired to do security.
Patrick WiscombeTwenty-five years ago, world was different. It was so at least we can start entertaining this again. Yes.
United Sells Empty Middle Seats
Patrick WiscombeUnited Airlines is going to sell economy plus seats. That doesn't sound good by itself until you get to this part with guaranteed empty middle seat.
Mark FaldmoYeah. Okay. In Europe, when you buy an intra-Europe first class, this is what you get. You get seats with an empty middle seat. And so I think it's interesting that United is starting to sell their comfort plus seats with a guaranteed empty middle seat plus the extra leg room.
Patrick WiscombeI am all over this one. I know that you just can't reconfigure planes, but if they could just space out the 3-3 configuration just a little.
Mark FaldmoYes.
Patrick WiscombeJust just a little, I would be thrilled. Some people just kind of ooze over into the next seat. Both seats, and that's that's when it gets a little rough.
Mark FaldmoThis is good. It'll be interesting to see how it goes and see if it brings extra revenue.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Mark FaldmoTo see if people, you know, they're already paying for extra legroom, or that people are gonna pay for that extra space on short haul flights. It'll be interesting. I think it'll work, but we'll see how it goes.
Patrick WiscombeI think it will work remarkably well.
Starlink Wi-Fi And Airline Branding
Patrick WiscombeStarlink, SpaceX. More airlines are adding Starlink Wi-Fi to their aircraft.
Mark FaldmoWith adding the Starlink, it just makes it better. I you know, I typically do not work on airplanes, so the Wi-Fi is not as important to me. But the other day, coming home, I was on Southwest on a plane that is fitted with our old internet system, and it was so slow and cumbersome. Uh, so it'll be good once this gets across. And there's actually another competitor out there to Starlink now, and it's Amazon's Leo system, uh, which Delta just signed up for.
Patrick WiscombeOh, are they going Leo?
Mark FaldmoThey're going with Leo, and the reason why is because Amazon won't let Delta do custom branding on the site, so it all has to be Starlink branded, where Leo will let them have, call it Delta Wi-Fi and all of that. And so it was more a branding issue where Starlink would not let them do certain branding things that they wanted to
New Globus Tours Beyond Europe
Mark Faldmodo.
Patrick WiscombeGlobus has announced a new tour or tours that are going beyond Europe. They have a pretty good incentive where if you sign up for one of their new tours, you can save up to five hundred dollars per couple on any of the 2027 and 2028 departures. The next logical question is where are they going?
Mark FaldmoThis is good news because, like you mentioned, we talk about Globus quite a bit. I love doing tours. You know, two weeks ago I did a private tour, the America 250 tour, the bus tour that we reviewed last week. And I love these types of tours. Globus has always done tours around the world, but they've mainly been Europe focused. They've moved in and added three new tours that I think are fascinating. The first one is Chile and Northern Patagonia, the next one is Peru and Ecuador with Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, and then they've added Southern Australia and Tasmania.
Patrick WiscombeOf those three, I'm trying to decide which one I would want to go on the most.
Mark FaldmoI probably would choose the Chile and Northern Patagonia. Yeah. Just because I have not been to that area before. And so that one starts or ends in Rio. You fly to Iguasu Falls, then down to Buenos Aires, uh, then down into Patagonia. There's a cruise involved, and then ending in Santiago. That one's a little bit more expensive because it's all by flight to each of the cities. That's a great way to see that part of South America. The Peru and Ecuador one, one thing I didn't mention when I uh introduced that is it also includes the Galapagos Islands. So you're seeing Peru, Ecuador, Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, and the Galapagos all in one trip. Now that's a 19-day tour, just an amazing itinerary. And Tasmania, one place I've always wanted to go. So that one starts in Melbourne and ends in Sydney, and then just does Southern Australia with a couple of nights in Tasmania.
Patrick WiscombeThey're all three pretty inviting. But if I had to choose one, I'd oh man, I don't know. Chile and Patagonia, that I think my second choice would be the Galapagos, the Peru and Ecuador.
Mark FaldmoYeah. And with that discount, the save up to 500 per couple on 2027 and 2028 departures, it does help cut down on the higher cost because those are pretty extensive tours that instead of like in Europe where you can do a bus pretty much everywhere, you're flying from city to city on most of these tours.
Patrick WiscombeSo and see, even that's fun. I didn't realize how much I love flying. Just get in an airplane and just go.
Mark FaldmoYeah, I I love it.
Patrick WiscombeAlways
Kona Cloud Forest Near The Airport
Patrick Wiscombein this opening segment of the show, we've got the destination spotlight along with the hotel spotlight, and we are going to Hawaii. There are two vacations that you can book and you will have guaranteed success: Alaska and Hawaii. And this time we are talking about are we going to Kona on this one?
Mark FaldmoYeah, we're gonna go to Kona and talk about a unique activity. I've heard about this but never done it. It's called the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary. This is just 10 minutes away from the Kona International Airport. So you go basically straight up the mountain. You're at about 3,000 feet in elevation. You enter into a cool, misty, tropical cloud forest. Uh it's interesting because it is the only cloud forest in the US. And what a cloud forest is where the plants get all of their nutrition and water from the water vapor in the clouds. It doesn't necessarily rain, but just the clouds going through is what is what waters is what waters them. Um cloud forest, it's fifteen to twenty degrees cooler, and then if you're down at the ocean level. So it's a nice little retreat there, just ten minutes away from the Kona Airport. I'm glad you found this. Yep. So next time I'm there, I'm going to do this. Drive up there, check it out. The big island is so diverse. It has almost every climatic zone except Arctic and Tundra. It has every other climate zone in the world on the one island. So very
Hawaii Package Deal And How To Book
Mark Faldmodiverse.
Patrick WiscombeLet's get to the travel deal of the week. Always in this opening segment, we were talking about uh Hawaii. We were talking about the big island specifically, but uh the travel deal of the week is to go to Hawaii. It doesn't have to be the big island necessarily, correct? Yeah.
Mark FaldmoSo yeah, this is for all of Hawaii and it's save up to $250 with errand hotel packages of a fortnight minimum. And it's coming up pretty quick, the book by date, which is August 16th. So one week to get in on this promotion to Hawaii can be any island, but we did just talk about that cloud forest adventure. So go to the big island and experience that.
Patrick WiscombeYou just can't go wrong with Hawaii. You just can't. I mentioned that Alaska's great, Hawaii's great. Take advantage of the offer. If you've always wanted to go to Hawaii, go. Just make it happen. Call Mark in the office, get the conversation started, get your deposit down. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And he'll also post this on BluePlanetvacations.com. What a great time to be alive. Just jump on a plane and go. Take advantage of it. When we come back, it is time for the Just Cruising segment. The segment of the show that has made us famous around the country and around the world. We'll have the cruise news headlines. By the way, Mark, I don't know if you've noticed this, but MSC, man, they're getting serious about luxury cruising.
Mark FaldmoThey are.
Patrick WiscombeYeah. We'll talk about that next. We've also got the uh Regent 7C's cruises for the 2026 holiday season and a whole lot more. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast or radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe, the vacation nerd. We will be right back. Give us about 60 seconds. And thanks for listening.
Show VoiceThey've literally traveled millions of miles to answer your travel-related questions. Yeah, they really have. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show, presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Patrick and Mark will be back after these messages.
Ad VoiceThe 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. Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by AMA Waterways. From castles to capitals, discover Europe the way it was meant to be seen. By river, experience iconic destinations, immersive culture, and unforgettable moments, all in comfort and style. Whether you love history, food, or scenic beauty, there's a journey waiting for you. To set out on your own river cruise journey, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or BluePlanetVacations.com.
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Show VoiceYou're listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show. Presented by Blue Planet Vacations.com. America's Best Travel Advisors. Call or text the show now. 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at Inside TravelTalk.com. Here's Patrick and Mark.
Cruise Segment Sail Away
Patrick WiscombeThat is the ship horn of Norwegian's Aqua. And then when you hear that, it is time for sail away and being on a cruise ship as you sail out of port. I think Aqua's coming out of what Fort Canaver right now? I think. Maybe it's Miami. What a glorious experience it is to set sail for the open seas. Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast or radio show. I am Patrick Whiskb, the vacation nerd. And to all listening to the show and boarding this section of the program, Ahoy Mate. Ahoy, and thanks for listening. Coming up in this segment, we have the cruise news of the week. We'll also talk about Regent Seven Seas cruises for the 2026 holiday season. And of course, we've got the cruise deal of the week, always in this segment. But Mark, it is time to get to the cruise news.
MSC Pushes Into Luxury Cruising
Patrick WiscombeLet's start with MSC. So MSC Cruises or the MSC group took delivery of Explora 3. So they have Explorer 1 and 2. This is three. And it's the third of their ultra-luxury ship for Explorer journeys. And they are making a serious run at the luxury cruise market, which, by the way, those Explorer ships, just being objective, are absolutely beautiful. And the experience is unbelievable.
Mark FaldmoYeah, they are. And you know, they're kind of medium-sized ships, but they have the fill of a private yacht.
Patrick WiscombeYeah. And I think that they have uh three more ships. So the four, five, and six are on the way. I don't have uh dates on when those are coming out yet. Probably one a year is my guess. Yep.
Mark FaldmoProbably at the rate they're building them. Just about 10 days ago, the first sailing was from Genoa, which I believe is where the shipyard is, to Rome, Shitavecchia. One thing I like about Explora is they don't do very many repeat itineraries. It's like one continuous world cruise. This ship, it's inaugural season. It will go through northern Europe, Iceland, Greenland, and North America with no repeat itineraries.
Patrick WiscombeThat's interesting.
Mark FaldmoThey might have a couple of cruises that depart from Rome, but they'll all be different itineraries. You can probably find an itinerant explorer that has a port that interests you.
Patrick WiscombeThese ships are beautiful. I know the destination isn't the ship necessarily, but man, are you staying in some pretty posh digs? You are, yeah. In other MSC news, MSC World Asia has completed its first sea trial. So these are the gargantuan ginormous ships. So there's MSC World Europa, there's MSC World America, which it goes out of Miami, MSC World Asia. Am I forgetting one? Is there a fourth one? I think there's only three right now, but they've got a three right now. Yeah. And they've still got a couple more of the world-class ships, the gigantic ships, forthcoming. Sea trials is a good sign that it's going to come online very quickly.
Port Canaveral Expands For Mega Ships
Patrick WiscombePort Canaveral. In case you're wondering where Port Canaveral is, it's about 40 miles, what, east of Orlando or Orlando International Airport. Correct. So Port Canaveral is Florida's. You would think that Miami is the busiest. No, Port Canaveral is. It's Florida's busiest cruise port, and they are said to be investing $175 million to grow cruise terminal number five and add a 3,700 space parking garage. And they said that they're preparing for the next generation of the world's largest cruise ships. Translation sounds like icon of the seas is going up there. So, or at least one of the uh maybe it's already there.
Mark FaldmoOne of them is already there. One of those big ships is already sailing out of there. I think it's stars. So so they are really working on that port. I think a few years ago, we talked about they were gonna do a terminal six and it kind of got scrapped, and they so they've had to kind of redo what they're doing, but it still is Florida's busiest cruise port.
Regent Holiday Cruises And Christmas Markets
Patrick WiscombeRegent seven Cs cruises the 2026 holiday season. So if you've ever wanted to go experience Europe's Christmas markets in luxury, man, Regent Seven C's is the way to do it. Man, that that is some next that's right up there with like Explorer 3 type stuff.
Mark FaldmoYeah, yeah. And I I think Regent is actually a step up from Explorer, and that's hard to say. Regent. Yeah. When I've sailed on Regent, absolutely amazing how they do their service and their little bit smaller ships. But I think this is an interesting story. I think three weeks ago we talked about Holland America starting to sell year-round in Europe. Yes. And now this is another kind of iteration of that with a luxury cruise line starting to do that. Many places call them ultra-luxury cruises, and they've announced 56 brand new festive shore excursions and five new pre- and post land cruise programs centered around Europe's holiday markets and holiday traditions. These will focus on Christmas markets, seasonal cuisine, local holiday tradition, and cultural celebrations unique to each destination that they go to.
Patrick WiscombeWith each cruise, there is a land program. What are they offering?
Mark FaldmoYeah, so you can add these on. So one of them is holiday magic in Catalonia. So that's Spain, Barcelona area, where you'll explore Barcelona's Christmas markets, the Gothic quarter. And then they have one in Rome, which is you know, you'll see the historic sites of Rome. The Rome has a pretty good Christmas market as well. And then they have one also in Italy, Tuscany's Winter Magic, which is where you'll experience Florence and the Tuscany area. Uh, which is this is where you'll really get the cuisine part of the cultural cuisine. Tuscany has great cuisine.
Patrick WiscombeI'm going to assume that the ship have a bunch of Christmas decorations.
Mark FaldmoYeah, they will be. And you know, that's something that I like about all cruise lines, is especially for Christmas time, they get all decked out in Christmas decorations, and it's a really good time. And especially on this ultra-luxury Regent 7C's, I think they'll just take it a step above all the other cruise lines when they do their holiday salings.
Patrick WiscombeRegent 7C's is next level awesome. Truly. That is some luxury cruising right there. Um, what comes with it, Mark?
Mark FaldmoYeah, so Region is already kind of has an advantage because they're already include most shore excursions. They also include all the dining, premium beverages, Wi-Fi gratuities, laundry, making it one of the more comprehensive cruise experiences available. So it's pretty much all inclusive, even with a lot of the shore excursions included. That just really adds a step up on your vacation where you don't have to worry about a whole lot. You pay the price, and that's pretty much what you'll pay.
Patrick WiscombeHow many Christmas market cruises have you been on?
Mark FaldmoI've not been on one ocean cruising. In fact, these last few weeks when we've been talking about it, is the first time I've ever heard of an ocean cruise doing a Christmas markets celebration. I have been on a river cruise, uh, Christmas markets
Viking Oberammergau Passion Play Explained
Mark Faldmobefore.
Patrick WiscombeI saw this story and I thought I'd bring it up that Viking is unveiling or has unveiled cruises for Germany's Obberammergau, the Passion Play.
Mark FaldmoFirst, we should explain what the Passion Play is. The Passion Play is in the village of Oberammergau in Germany. This dates back to the year 1634. Oberammergau vowed to perform a play of the life of Jesus, his death and resurrection, every 10 years, if their village would be spared from the Black Death, which it was, and so now every 10 years since the year 1634, they've been putting on this play. The last Oberammergau, I had the opportunity to go to this, it is a full day experience. So I mean the play is like twelve hours long, and it's it's all in German, but it's it's broken up into meal breaks. So you do part of it and then you go to a meal, then you do part of it, and then you go to a meal. It's a very unique opportunity, and this is something it's on many people's bucket list. And if it's not on your bucket list, I would say put it on your bucket list. We're talking three years out now, and I bet Vikings are already halfway sold of these itineraries.
Patrick WiscombeMan, at least they're true to their word. Let the Black Death pass us over, and we promise to do this play every 10 years.
Mark FaldmoYeah, I will say it was supposed to go in 2020, but because of COVID, it didn't happen. So that was the other Black Death. That was the other Black Death. So they did do that one in 2022, and that's when I went. So this is just eight years removed. Um, but they're back on their every 10-year schedule to do that. But you know, Viking has a 13-day Oberammergau trip, which you do a river cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, and then they do the land part, which is Innsbruck, Oberammergau, and ends in Munich. And then they have one that's more Danube, which is Passau to Budapest, uh, which includes Salzburg, and Oberammergau is the land portion of the cruise. If this isn't on your bucket list, it should be. If it is on your bucket list, you should start thinking about booking it now. Um, and as a side note, I'm going to put together a tour to do this. Gonna try and get 40 people to do a tour, a river cruise, and an Oberammergau group. And I'll have information on that hopefully in the next few weeks. But Oberammergau is definitely something that should be on your list.
Patrick WiscombeA
Is Princess Plus Worth It
Patrick Wiscombelittle bit earlier this week, we received a uh a text question from Harold. And if you want to get in touch with the show, you can send your text or you can call the show at 801 Area Code 6493 801 649 3700. Harold was asking when going on a princess cruise, and they have multiple ships. Is the Princess Plus package worth it when booking a princess cruise? I'm gonna say yeah, I think so.
Mark FaldmoI think it's worth it. I kind of weigh this every time. Uh, you know, I think a few weeks ago we talked about the British Isles cruise that I'm taking. Um, I actually opted not to take the Princess Plus cruise on that one just because of some logistic things I needed to do, but generally, I would say the Princess Plus package is well worth it. I guess we have to break down what everything includes. They have three different fairs. One is their standard fare. So the standard fare includes your stateroom, the main dining rooms, buffet dining, and then for additional charges, you can do some of their upgraded restaurants. That includes all the things like the pools, hot dubs, fitness center, youth programs. What's not included are beverages, alcoholic, non-alcoholic, and specialty coffees, Wi-Fi, your gratuities. Most of the casual dining venues are not included in additional charge.
Patrick WiscombeOkay.
Mark FaldmoAnd shore excursions.
Patrick WiscombeWhat about soda? You know, I heard the other beverages.
Mark FaldmoYeah, so in the standard fare, soda is not included. Okay. Yeah. So, and then the Princess Plus package is what most people would purchase. This has a cost of $65 per person per day when it's purchased at least four days prior to sailing. This is something I usually talk to people about and will book it when they're booking their cruise, because that is the best way to do that. If you book it while you're on your cruise, it's uh slightly more expensive. So, what the plus includes is everything that standard includes. Plus, it has beverage package for drinks up to $15. This pays for itself. The prepaid crew appreciation, so the gratuities, Wi-Fi for one device, and then it does include four casual dining meals that they're specialty restaurants, and then it includes room service delivery. Cruise lines now charge for room service delivery. So if you have the Princess Plus, there's no charge for that. And then it includes other discounts on select higher-end beverages.
Patrick WiscombeSo you really have to kind of weigh how much Wi-Fi you're going to use, how much how many drinks you're going to have, and see if that adds up to about $65 a day.
Mark FaldmoYeah. And usually it does. When I've added this up, I think where it works out best is on the seven-day cruises, longer cruises, kind of have to weigh it. That's why I decided not to do it on that British Isles cruise that was 12 days long. Then they have one more kind of jump up, which is their Princess Premier package. So that includes everything that plus includes, and the cost of the premiere package is $100 per person per day. So that can add up. So it includes the drinks up to $20 each, Wi-Fi for up to four devices, but really I just disconnect my device and connect another one if I'm on the other package. So the four devices doesn't mean a whole lot there. And then it has unlimited specialty dining, unlimited casual dining, uh shore excursion credit of up to $300. One thing that might be nice on this is it does include priority seating in the theater and an unlimited digital photo package. Personally, I think a hundred dollars per person per day is a little bit steep, um, but people do buy that.
Patrick WiscombeYeah. So to summarize, you've got the standard fare, and then you've got the Princess Plus package, which is the one that you're kind of shooting for, or at least that you're saying that that's probably the best deal. And then of course the Princess Premier package, which is the hundred dollars per person per day.
Mark FaldmoThat's correct. One thing that those do is it kind of takes a little bit of stress out of your crews if you buy one of those packages.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Mark FaldmoYou know, one thing that a lot of people ask me about is the gratuities, and I explain how that works. You know, they charge about $14 per person per day for the gratuities, and then they start doing math in their head and they get nervous and they ask questions and they ask more questions. So Princess Plus kind of takes a lot of that thinking out. Um, but you do have to weigh if it's worth it or not. And you know, again, in most cases, I do think the Princess Plus is worth
Princess Cruise Deals To Hawaii And Caribbean
Mark Faldmoit.
Patrick WiscombeYeah, I think so. Well, that naturally leads into the cruise deal of the week, which has to be Princess. So let's do this for Harold. We're gonna save you some money.
Mark FaldmoYep, we will do that. So, you know, right now Princess has save up to 40% off, plus a third and fourth guest sale free. And this really makes a big difference in the cruises. I chose two itineraries that I've had a few people call on before. One is a 16-day Hawaii round trip, Los Angeles. So it's 16 days, five ports, so it's a lot of C days, but the cost on that is amazing. It starts at 1204. Oh wow, that is phenomenal per person, yeah. And so that's for uh end of November, first part of December sailing of this year. Um, you know, but you know what I like about that is you do get the C days, so it's five C days and then Hilo, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, Kauai, and then back to the big island in Kona, and then five sea days, and then Ensenada, Mexico for just a short stop. That's more of a technical stop.
Patrick WiscombeThat's the your international port.
Mark FaldmoThat's your international port. As far as cruise values, this one usually, especially if you like the cruising experience, this 16-day cruise is a great way and a great price. I mean, it's normally about $2,000 a person. So, you know, to get that for less than $100 per person per day in the inside cabin is a great deal.
Patrick WiscombeThat is a phenomenal deal.
Mark FaldmoThen the next one I chose, um, this is a six-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. Um so it has the Turks and Caicos and Celebration Key, uh, which is Princess's private island. Uh, so again, a six-day cruise that starts at $464 per person. And this is for the end of January. So kind of right in that winter season when people really want to go. The ports on that Celebration Key, the private island, then goes to Grand Turk and Nassau Bahamas. Uh, round trip from Fort Lauderdale.
Patrick WiscombeThere is just something special about going on a cruise. So basically, the uh 16-day Hawaiian round trip is five days of sea days. Sail around the islands for about five days and then five days back, roughly.
Mark FaldmoRoughly, yeah.
Patrick WiscombeAnd then Eastern Caribbean, that's great too.
Mark FaldmoEspecially for that time of year, under $500. So that's another one. Less than $100 per person per day.
Patrick WiscombeTake advantage of that offer. 888-718-7717-888-718-7717. And Mark will also put this on blue planetvacations.com. And uh, I think you'll be getting a call from me. On that one. New episodes of this show are released every single weekday or encore presentations of the show. Released every weekday on the vacation nerd.co. That's my website, the vacation nerd.co. And new episodes are found weekly on inside travel talk.com. And this show is available on all podcast platforms. All you have to do is do a search for the vacation nerd or insight travel talk on your favorite podcast platform.
Final Thoughts And Sendoff
Patrick WiscombeWell, that's it. We're done. We've done our job, so now it's time for you to get out and see the world while you can because you never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you. Make sure you are living life with purpose and intention, and we truly appreciate you joining us for the show. Go out, make it a fantastic week. We will talk to you again next weekend. Thanks for listening.
Show VoiceThat's it. That's the end of the show. You've been listening to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast and Radio Show with Patrick Whiscombe 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.
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