Nomadic Cruises, Weighed Passengers, and Luxury for Less!

Today we tackle unconventional travel experiences and trends. We start with Mike's unforgettable story from Cancun, showcasing the profound impact that immersive cultural experiences can have.

Then, we dive into a groundbreaking trend in the travel industry - "Life at Sea Cruises." This year-long journey offers the perfect blend of work and leisure for the modern, digital-age professional. Not shying away from controversy, we also discuss Air New Zealand's proposal to weigh passengers for safety reasons.

James guides us through the emerging trends shaping post-pandemic travel, from fulfilling ambitious bucket-list dreams to the surge in 'bleisure'—the fusion of business and pleasure. We also bring you an exclusive conversation with our deals guru, Jessica Deverson, who reveals some enticing deals from popular Caribbean resorts and gives us a sneak peek into the ultra-luxurious all-inclusive Seabourn cruises.

Join us, see the world from a fresh perspective, and discover the real essence of travel.

Announcer: Welcome to No Tourists Allowed, a podcast where two recognized travel industry executives with a combined 71 years on the inside of travel and technology give up their secrets to the thing everyone wants to do. Travel better, pay less, and see more of the world. Here are your hosts, Mike Putman and James Ferrara.

Mike Putman: Welcome to No Tourists Allowed. I'm Mike Putman.

James Ferrara: And I'm James Ferrara. Welcome to our third episode of our second season of No Tourists Allowed. We're glad you took the time to join us today.

Mike Putman: Please share with your friends and family. If you enjoy this podcast, share with them the good news of No Tourists Allowed.

You can also go to our website, NoTouristsAllowed.com, where you'll find show notes and additional information. You are also able to submit questions there.

If you have any questions for James or myself, please feel free to submit them. We'll talk about those on the air for those that are of interest to our audience; otherwise, we will personally respond to you. So NoTouristsAllowed.com, please come and check it out.

The Philosophy of 'No Tourists Allowed'

James Ferrara: Mike, one of the most common questions I get about our podcast is what do we mean when we say No Tourists Allowed? We have new listeners every week.

I am still, as you can hear, going through my oral surgery. I am almost done and hopefully, by this time next week, I'll be back to sounding normal. Thank you for your patience. I'll also be able to eat a steak for the first time in five months, so you will hear the joy in my voice.

But people want to know what do we mean when we say No Tourists Allowed? For some people, it's a little confusing, like they're not allowed to listen because they love travel.

Mike Putman: Not at all. We want our listeners and the people in our circle to enjoy travel, of course, but enjoy travel not like a tourist.

Go visit destinations, enjoy the local culture, the local food, and soak those things in versus getting stuck in an all-inclusive resort for seven days and never leaving the boundaries of the property.

James Ferrara: Or a big branded American box hotel. We want you to have a real sense of place when you travel because that's really what makes memories. That's what changes lives. That's what opens you up to other cultures and enriches you.

That's the kind of travel we try to do ourselves, and we wish it for you as well. Nothing disappoints me more than hearing someone talk about their travels and saying they didn't enjoy the food or they didn't like the people.

My follow-up questions to that are: where did you eat? Invariably I hear, "Well, we ate at this big tourist spot that the tour operator recommended," or the hotel, or an American-style restaurant when they were in France.

And people weren't kind to you? Did you attempt to speak the language? Did you get out of the big touristy, overcrowded areas?

When you get to the real people and you act with the respect, kindness, and interest that you would want people to show you in your home country, then I don't think that is ever the experience. We're just trying to help you see the possibility and give you tips from our joint many decades.

What did we figure out, Mike? Seventy-one years together in the travel industry and our personal intense travel experience. We're giving you tips and tricks and then bringing you some big names in the travel industry to do the same.

How Travel Changes Perspectives

Mike Putman: Exactly. For me, James, this has become my "why." I've been in the space for thirty-eight years now. After doing this for so long, people say, "Do you get burnout? Are you tired of travel?" because it's really all I've done my adult life. I say no.

There was a point in time when I was getting a little bit tired of it, but my last company did a lot of group trips. We did literally a few thousand of these a year at one point where we would take people to different places around the world.

One in particular was a group of Midwest folks. No discrimination against Midwest folks, by the way, but a lot of these folks had not seen the ocean. These were people in their forties and fifties.

There was a trip down to Cancun and I'll never forget it. This group of people walked into this fabulous lobby. For those of you who have not been to some of these large resorts in Mexico and throughout the world, there's been a real renaissance in how they're making these entrances so grand and luxurious.

I see this group of people come in who haven't seen the ocean and just watch their jaws drop as they walk in. They see these forty-foot high ceilings and chandeliers, maybe only two walls to the building where it is open-air as you walk in, with an open side towards the beach and the cool air blowing in.

As I spent time with those folks throughout this three or four-day period, you saw some of those prejudices melt away. That guy with black hair and brown eyes in Mexico was serving them.

The folks from the Midwest, in particular, may have had some biases against these types of people. Once they saw how nice they were, that they were really just exactly like them—they just spoke a different language and maybe their skin color was slightly different—it was great to see them get immersed into this.

Even though we were in what we might refer to as a tourist area, that was a big exposure for them. That was a life-changing event for a lot of people. It changed more than just their travel habits; it changed how they look at the world with more acceptance and more love.

James Ferrara: Travel's our religion. That could have been another podcast title for us: Travel Church. That's very hard for me to say at the moment. That might be a stretch.

Anyhow, there are some very interesting things going on in the world of travel at the moment. We want to talk about some of them, some trends this week.

We also have coming up some incredible research done by our very own deals guru, Jessica Deverson. She is going to bring us some great deals and offers. But before we get there, Mike, let's talk about some of this recent news.

The Three-Year Residential Cruise

Mike Putman: Absolutely. There's a new cruise line called Life at Sea Cruises, and they have begun something that is really interesting to me. We love cruises. I've been on sixty-plus cruises through my life.

I started going when I was a young child and have chosen to take cruise vacations throughout my entire life. I've got a propensity to enjoy and even recommend for people to take cruises as a form of vacation.

This new organization called Life at Sea Cruises is offering something really unique: a three-year cruise. As our listeners know, cruises come in all sorts and fashions—three nights, four nights, seven nights, fourteen nights. There are cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska, Mediterranean, Asia.

But this organization is launching a three-year cruise and you as a consumer can buy segments. Their lead-in offer is extremely interesting: you can cruise for one year, continuous cruise, for as low as thirty thousand dollars.

If you think about the cost of living just staying in an apartment somewhere, having meals, etc., this breaks down to about twenty-five hundred dollars per month that you could be aboard a cruise ship sailing the seven seas, being in different ports of call each week, and living the high life for an entire year.

James Ferrara: That's food, entertainment, service, activities, everything?

Mike Putman: It's everything based on the itinerary. Let's say it's another five thousand dollars in port charges—it's probably less than that—you're still looking at three thousand dollars a month for a quality of life that seems pretty attractive.

James Ferrara: And if there's one thing the last couple of years taught us, you can work from anywhere. They do have satellite Wi-Fi now. Wi-Fi on cruise ships was a joke for a while that we used to get a good laugh out of, but now it's seriously good. You could really live your life and work this way.

Mike Putman: Some unique aspects about this cruise ship, which is designed for more of a residential lifestyle, is that the ship is equipped with a full hospital and 24/7 medical support. They've got the ability to do operations which you might not find on a normal cruise ship.

They also have a business center with meeting rooms and they offer fourteen offices. You really could be the roaming nomad and have your own office space as well as a business library set up for Zoom calls in case you've got multiple people on the ship with you that need to be on a call. It's a pretty amazing idea.

James Ferrara: I want to be clear, they are not a sponsor of our show, and in fact, neither Mike's company nor mine sells this product, so this isn't a commercial for them, but just a true appreciation of the idea. Pretty fascinating stuff.

Airlines Weighing Passengers

James Ferrara: There's some controversial news out there in the travel industry that we wanted to touch on. One of them is that airlines are now talking about weighing passengers before they board international flights.

They're doing this for safety reasons. They need to know the weight of the aircraft in its totality, including all the people and the luggage. I have been on planes before where that has been an issue.

I was on a plane which didn't take off because of a problem with the brakes and it was late at night. It wasn't that the brakes were totally inoperable, but they were compromised in some way. The flight crew and the local engineers did a calculation: if there was below a certain amount of weight for the plane, they could still safely take off and land.

When they made that announcement and gave people the option to get off the plane, a lot of passengers got off. But I did not. I want you to know I'm an intrepid traveler, and I took the risk and I made it fine. I understand that weight is a real issue, but as a weighty person myself, I will say I take this as a personal attack.

Mike Putman: But you can see the point. This is Air New Zealand and they came out with the concept of weighing people or having the right to weigh people prior to boarding for all the reasons James has just explained.

Another technical element is weight and balance. It's not just total weight, but how the weight sits on the plane. I have been on planes where for whatever reason there's more people sitting on the left side than there are on the right and they've asked people to move.

With these large super-jets doing international flights, I'm not quite sure how much that comes into play, but at any rate, there could be an operational argument to say we should be able to weigh people for that purpose.

James Ferrara: We should say they're not going to display or disclose people's weight. The scales would be private and the data is anonymous. This isn't like a joke that they would make out of it, but still, it's a little concerning to me.

Also, here they are potentially stressing out passengers, embarrassing passengers, and at the same time they allow people to bring goats and chickens on the plane. People come overloaded and little old ladies with suitcases bigger than they are and all this crazy onboard luggage and that doesn't seem to concern anybody.

Mike Putman: True. And there are, like you said, the other side of the story is people should have the right to be able to fly. But let me give you yet another side of the story.

As a passenger, I have sat beside people that were—I'm just going to be really frank about the statement—that spilled over the seat. Especially on a long flight in coach, the seats are not like La-Z-Boys. They are somewhat constrictive and to have someone that's spilling over into your space, I mean you've got this armrest that you put down, but they kind of have more mass than the space allows.

To have them physically touching you for seven or eight hours on a European flight, it's uncomfortable. I get that everybody should have their rights, but the people who are exposed to that should have some rights as well.

James Ferrara: Part of that problem though also is that the seats are not well sized to contemporary Americans. If you looked at what the average waist size or dress size is of a man or woman in the United States, it's probably a good bit larger than what those seats are designed against.

That's a bit of prejudice that exists in a lot of areas—in the fashion industry, in theater seats on Broadway, and in plane seats also. So I think there's some accountability there. Some people are really, really large, and those people sometimes will buy two seats.

I saw a really interesting seat design that goes back a couple of years now. It's kind of a complicated contraption where the armrests could move side to side. You could make the seats smaller or larger. Families who had a row of three—like two parents and a kid—could make the middle seat for the kid narrower which made the two seats next to it wider. It was a really cool design. I don't think it caught on anywhere though.

Mike Putman: That is really interesting. I haven't heard of that. I've been on a flight with a professional football player—big broad-shouldered guy—and we were on an RJ, a regional jet. He purchased two seats. Not inexpensive to do that, but he had the right to.

James Ferrara: So they're going to weigh me, but the lady next to me is still allowed to bring her support ostrich on board or whatever? Come on, let's get to what some of the real problems are. You put a vest on any animal and all of a sudden they should be allowed on aircraft.

I had a cat run up the aisle on a recent flight and then the pilot had to come on loudspeaker: "Will passengers please contain their livestock during the flight?" That reminds me of stories I heard about Aeroflot, the Russian national carrier back in its day.

Post-Pandemic Luxury Travel Trends

James Ferrara: Mike, you've recently been in touch with or have been part of media here with the New York Times. What was your topic with the New York Times?

James Ferrara: I did an interview this morning with them and it's a writer that I have spoken to a couple of times, Christine Chung. She asked about post-pandemic trends in travel, and particularly about ultra-luxury travel and adventure travel—things that maybe would have been considered more extreme prior to the pandemic and now seem to be becoming more mainstream.

I think what's happening here is that people have always had bucket lists, but after having travel taken away from them during the pandemic and now getting it back, people are feeling a little urgency to get to those lists.

Their priorities have changed a little bit. They're thinking, "I'm not going to wait till the golden years, but I'm actually going to pursue these bucket list experiences now."

We've seen a real increase in round-the-world cruises. There are these cruises that go across six or seven continents. They go on for more than a hundred and twenty days, a hundred and thirty days. So you're on a cruise ship for, let's say, four or five months.

Some of them even go pole to pole. They go from the North Pole to Antarctica, touching on continents along the way. We're seeing lots of interest in that area. As a travel advisor, you sell one of those cruises and it's a huge commission because you're looking at a hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars per person cruise fare. That's a commission of thirty or forty thousand dollars.

On land, we're seeing holidays including six-star hotels like in Dubai or those over-the-water bungalows in Mauritius. Those can be two or three thousand dollars a night, although a good travel agent can find you a version of that for three, four, or five hundred dollars a night. There's really no ceiling if you have unlimited funds.

Private jets, private villas, even private islands are another example. We recently had a sale to an island called Velaa Private Island in the Maldives where you take the whole island. We had a family travel there.

There's also one in the Caribbean, Petit St. Vincent. Sir Richard Branson has Necker Island, and you can rent that out for, I think, twenty-five thousand a night.

There is heightened interest in adventure travel, particularly in expedition cruising. There are new brands entering that market, like Explora Journeys from MSC Cruises. It's their expedition version, but a real luxury ship.

Celebrity Cruises has specific ships in the Galapagos—one of them is called Flora. You can go to the ends of the earth with expedition cruising in Iceland or Antarctica. You can even visit Antarctica by helicopter now. That's a very luxurious adventure trip.

National Geographic has become huge with offering jungle trekking to see the gorillas. That's an awesome experience to come upon these majestic gorillas in the middle of the jungle. They've also been offering National Geographic underwater submarine trips, although this week that's probably not something we want to talk about. There was a mishap this week. You heard about that, right, Mike?

Mike Putman: Yes. Terrible.

James Ferrara: A Titanic submarine has gone missing, so we all pray for those people.

There are luxury African safaris. I have always wanted to stay in one of the great treetop hotels and observe the game—the giraffes and the elephants—eye-to-eye, or go glamping in these luxurious tents with mahogany furniture and butler service.

We're also noticing that Egypt and Jordan in the Middle East are really hot destinations right now. I was talking with the Times about all that, and I think the most surprising thing for her was that these ultra-luxury trips and adventure trips are sometimes booked by relatively ordinary people who don't travel that way for every trip.

They've saved up for a once-in-a-lifetime experience and as long as they see the value for that money, they're willing to make that extraordinary spend.

I've also seen with millennials that they are blending experiences. They'll do a backpacking portion of the trip in Asia or Europe, but then they'll couple it with a portion of the trip that's a luxury hotel stay. They're covering both the adventure and the luxury in one trip.

Mike Putman: It's a real change in the industry for sure. Like you said, we're seeing normal people take extraordinary trips. I was on a river cruise during Christmas in Europe and met a couple. Those river cruises are not inexpensive.

One was a teacher and I think one worked as an auto mechanic. Normal people, but they just had a fascination and a love of a type of travel that is somewhat exotic to us, and they did it over and over again. That's how they spent their disposable income. I guess they probably didn't spend it on cars or a luxury home, but spent it on travel.

The Rise of 'Bleisure' Travel

James Ferrara: Taking this back around to your first story about the year-long cruise, the other trend we've seen so much about is blended travel or "bleisure" travel. We see people covering both their business travel or taking advantage of a business trip to add on a little bit of personal time.

If you're a traveling executive and your company is picking up the cost of the airfare, why not add on a couple of days and you just pay for your hotel and your expenses?

Both you and I are heading to London in the next couple of weeks, Mike. My daughter is tagging along with me. I'm doing the business side of the trip and she gets the leisure. She's visiting friends and revisiting her old haunts while poor old dad toils away.

Mike Putman: Oh yeah. I'm sure he'll really suffer. For me, it's the front end of a golfing trip to Scotland that I do annually. I'm looking forward to that and sharing my experiences with our listeners as I return.

James Ferrara: It's that time. We have our beloved deals guru, who spends her days dealing with the top brands in the industry and bringing the best deals in travel to a wide range of customers. She's lent her expertise to our podcast to help you guys see examples of what we talk about. It's time to bring on Jessica Deverson. Jessica, you with us?

Sizzling Summer Resort Offers

Jessica Deverson: Yes I am. In honor of the first official day of summer being this week, I'd bring you some sizzling summer resort deals.

First off, Sandals and Beaches. These are all-inclusive resorts located in gorgeous tropical settings throughout the Caribbean. You can really stay and play. There's lots to do, tons of activities.

The great thing about Sandals and Beaches is it's all unlimited. Gourmet dining, unique bars, premium liquors and wines, and every kind of land and water sport you can think of. For the golfers, there's complimentary green fees at the golf resorts. You can get scuba diving certified or even have a free wedding there.

Beaches is a perfect family getaway. You and your family can spend your vacation in luxurious rooms, have fun at the water park, and they have really great inclusions just for kids—certified nannies, special water parks, and entertainment for all ages from Sesame Street to night entertainment for the teens.

Right now they have their Rhythm and Blues sale. For both Beaches and Sandals, you'll get up to five hundred dollars in air credit, a hundred and fifty dollar spa credit, and rates starting from two hundred and forty-one dollars per person per night.

James Ferrara: The Sandals brand is so interesting and successful. The Sandals branded ones are couples only. It’s a really interesting concept and it's really luxury.

At some of the resorts, you can get butler suites, butler service, and swim-out pools. They even have over-the-water bungalows. The one thing we always say is that although the resorts are designed so you never have to leave them, you should leave them.

You're in Jamaica or some beautiful island. Get off the property a little and try to find the heartbeat of that place. Meet some people and see something special off the resort.

Jessica Deverson: Definitely. And if time is an issue, just book more nights. In that same vein for adult travel, Karisma Hotels & Resorts is having their Summer Love and Adult Travel Sale.

Right now they're doing room upgrades, free nights, and up to 70% off. This includes Karisma Hotels & Resorts, El Dorado, and Margaritaville resorts. These are all in tropical destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean.

These are all-inclusive resorts where you'll be spoiled with great service and luxury amenities. When you book with an InteleTravel agent via a Vacation Express certified travel advisor, you'll actually have access to exclusive nonstop flights. Those flights are available from nine cities and go to Cancun, Riviera Maya, Jamaica, Los Cabos, and Punta Cana.

James Ferrara: InteleTravel, of course, is a certified Vacation Express seller. Karisma is known for its gourmet food; that's really their brand position. And everyone knows what Margaritaville is known for—Jimmy Buffett, kicking back, having a bruske, totally relaxed fun.

I have been so impressed with that whole Margaritaville brand. It's like America's version of Virgin. Now they're into cruises, hotels, and resorts. They also have the largest retirement communities in the world where people go to live that Margaritaville life.

Mike Putman: Sounds like you've done your research on the retirement homes, James. He actually put a deposit down on a home. The theme of this podcast is my retirement, apparently. Mike has me retiring next month.

James Ferrara: I've been to a couple of Margaritaville resorts and they are really upscale. I've been to the one in Pensacola Beach and the one in Hollywood, Florida. It's really well done.

Luxury Cruising with Seabourn

Jessica Deverson: Last but not least, for those who prefer ship to shore, I wanted to mention Seabourn, which is an ultra-luxury, all-inclusive floating resort at sea. The Seabourn cruise experience is luxurious but relaxed and elegant—casual yet sumptuous.

The intimate ships visit the most desirable destinations and sail to all seven continents. With about five hundred people on board, they can sail to hidden gems where larger ships cannot go. It’s like a yacht experience.

Guests on board have almost the same amount of crew as well, nearly a one-to-one ratio. It is 90% balcony suites, all oceanfront. They are now really big into expeditions. One of their big things is "Caviar in the Surf" where the crew serves you caviar while you're in the water.

Included are premium drinks, world-class dining in partnership with Chef Thomas Keller, gratuities, Wi-Fi, and shore excursions. They also have amazing enrichment programs on board with explorers, renowned chefs, and scholars who actually share meals and go ashore with you.

Right now, Seabourn has their Bon Voyage event. You'll receive up to a two thousand dollar air credit per person, a complimentary two-category suite upgrade, plus reduced deposits.

James Ferrara: That's my kind of expedition—from the caviar bar to the Thomas Keller restaurant. Seabourn comes to us out of the Carnival Corporation family alongside Holland America Line, Princess, and Carnival.

A competing line that offers a similar product is Regent, which comes out of the Norwegian Cruise Line family. Both are incredibly beautiful and offer more value than some people might assume.

It really is much closer to all-inclusive. If you have the wherewithal to splurge or you usually cruise in suites on regular cruise lines, you might be surprised at how much value is here.

Mike Putman: Generally, they'll offer wine with meals. I was on a Regent ship and they asked what type of drinks I wanted in my refrigerator in my suite and they fully stocked that. A lot of value there for sure. Jessica, thank you so much. These are exciting. We would like you to go out and test them all personally and report back in a couple of weeks.

Jessica Deverson: Absolutely. I can record from the beach, from the sand, from the caviar in the surf.

Wrap-Up and Future Guests

James Ferrara: That wraps up our third episode of season two of No Tourists Allowed. Thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us. Hopefully, you're able to take a couple of nuggets of knowledge away.

Mike Putman: Stay with us this season. Still to come, we have experts talking about space travel, travel writers telling us about what readers find interesting right now, and many other leaders from the travel industry.

James Ferrara: Come back with us each week and we thank you so much for listening. Bye for now.

Announcer: Thank you for listening to another episode of No Tourists Allowed. We'll see you next week for another episode. No Tourists Allowed is produced by Podcast Studio X.