TravelTruth - Turen on Travel

The 220,000 Gross ton, 5,400 Passenger Oasis of the Seas, will set sail on alternating itineraries this November. The world's largest ship will actualluy be delivered from its Finnish yard one week ahead of schedule requiring some massive changes in Innaugural bookings by Royal Caribbean.

In a recent article, Travel Weekly offered an inkling as to how large this ship will really be. TW reports that the ship has a donut shop, a candy store, and a cupcake bakery. But, amazingly, they are all located in the Boardwalk, only one of seven "neighborhoods" aboard this ship.

It seems that corporate headquaters is so pleased with the cupcake bakery products that regular shipments are sent to the Chairman's office.

As the first in a line of new Oasis Class ships comes closer to launch, Royal Caribbean will be releasing details of a large number of revolutionary plans that will change the ways in which large numbers of cruise guests are handled. Guests will not, for instance, carry their lifeboat jackets to the required drill. New embarkation and disembarkation procedures will be introduced. In addition to more then 20 dining venues, the Oasis will fauture the first ship to feature zipline ride at sea.

Within the industry, all eyes are going to be focused on how well RCI can handle the potential problems associated with long lines. Given all of the bells and whistles, if the long lines can be kept to a minimum and if the ship gets high marks for the way it handles almost 8,000 passengers and crew, the Oasis could be the breakaway ship of the decade..

Tauck World Discovery has secured space on the newest Franch-built and operated luxury yacht, Le Boreal, for two departures in July 2010 to the fjords and villages of Iceland. These one-week trips will fill up in a materr of days, not weeks. The trip will be offered on July 22nd and July 29th.

In a development that has travel agents and consumers applauding, the five-star Paul Gauguin, the premier small cruise ship operating out of Papeete, has been sold to Beachcomber Resorts located in Tahiti.

The ship has been operated by but was never owned by Regent Seven Seas Cruises. With the end of the Regent contract coming this December, agents were told the line's new owners would likely move the ship. Since the Gauguin was purpose-built for sailings in the Society Islands, this news was greeted with enthusiasm. Vantage Holdings tried to reassure the agency community about the soundness of its venture but never successfully endeared itself to the agent community.

Richard Bailey, the highly respected American travel executive, moved to Tahiti two decades ago to launch the Pacific Beachcomber brand of high-end resort hotels. His properties include the Intercontinental resorts on Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea. The synergy of the island's top-rated cruise ship and some of its best hotels seems immediately clear. One week cruises will now be supplemented by a growing variety of pre and post cruise options.

This is partly an "insider" travel story. Once the Regent contract expired, US travel agents were staying away from the Gauguin in droves. Now, the ship is clearly in the hands of management that is both stable and agent friendly. The Gauguin, virtually overnight, seems back in the industry's good graces.

Reservations will be handled by DMI, the new company established by former Crystal and Silverseas top Sales and Marketing executive David Morris. Morris recently left Silverseas where he was replaced by Ken Watson. Watson had been at Regent Seven Seas for several years and presided over the "free shore excursion" promo. Soon after he joined Silverseas, the line announced new "60% off all 2010 sailings" promotions.

It turns out that we are taking a chance when ordering restaurant decaf. A recent study appearing in Prevention Magazine, found that one out of every six cups of decaf served by three major restaurant chains contained at least 20 mg. of caffeine.

That's enought to keep you up at night if you're not used to it. A full cup of regular coffee normally has between 100-150 mg. of caffeine. So never mind the orange handle and the waitresses assurances. The only way to certify that your restaurant coffee os caffeine-free is to order tea. If you want to check, you can now go online and but decaf test strips. They turn red when you dip them in a coffee cup that has caffeine. Go to www.discovertesting.com

The parochialism of the United States is nowhere more visible then those moments when we are considering an apt vacation destination. Increasingly, we are dropping Canada from consideration.

This, despite the fact that the entire continent's most beautiful city in located in British Columbia, and some of the continent's finest food in found in the French speaking cities of Quebec and Montreal. And the Canadians still actually believe that our dollar is worth something.

But we're just not showing up. There were about 40 million US visitors a year in 1972. But that number has now been cut in half. Only 20 million visitors from the States will show up this year. It has something to do with the recession and a lot to do witht he new requirement that US citizens need a passport to cross the border.

Seventy percent of the adults in the US do not have a valid passport, preferring to get their view of the world from occasional glimpses at Survivor and Matt Lauer's annual vacation on Today.

Some of this is image. Someone once said that Canada is a country that is so square that the female impersonators are women.

I've decided to launch a counter strike within my own country. It is time to stand up for the beauty, the consistency, the value, and, yes, the subtle "electricity" of a vacation in Canada.

It's going to be hard to do. Why even their former Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau saId that Canada is a country whose two primary exports are hockey and cold fronts.

In a pricing move that has taken some of its competitors by surprise, Silverseas, ranked # 2 in traveltruth's listing of the World's Top Ten Cruise lInes, has announced that in 2010 the first guest in a cabin will receive a 20% discount off brochure fares while the second guest will travel for free (does not apply to taxes and port charges). This 60% per guest offer currently applies to all sailings between January 3rd and December 28th next year.

Even more amazing is the fact that a majority of these sailings will also include free economy airfare from 22 major gateway cities in the US and Canada.

The offer applies to all of Silverseas ships including its new build, the Silver Spirit.

Only that it is, to use a popular cruise industry fine print term, "capacity controlled." This means that Silverseas can, and certainly will, restrict the offer in certain categories on on sailings that reach an unspecified booking completion level.

But the fact remains that, for now, you can book Silverseas, long considered an industry benchmark brand in the luxury field, for considerably less then two-for-one rates. The only requirement is that you be willing to deposit now for a 2010 sailing.

Southwest suffered another PR setback this week, when a mid-flight rupture produced a gaping hole in the ceiling of a plane in flight forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

An unusual occurrence. But what is even more unusual is the willingness of certain members of the NTSB to point out that the 15-year old 737 in question had "numerous take-offs and landings" placing, perhaps, more than the usual strain on the plane's structural integrity.

This is interesting because it suggests the NTSB is now willing to include number of take-offs and landings as a measure of statistical safety. One of the treasons that Southwest has been profitable, when others are not, is the amount of time their planes are airborne. And as any airline executive will tell you, planes that are not flying are not producing revenue.

Should the consumer be concerned when dealing with airlines that place more than the usual wear and tear on the planes in their fleet?

I live "My Fat Greek Wedding" each and every day, having married a lovely Greek woman and inheriting a large Greek family package. When I saw the movie, the first time, I thought it was a documentary.

So little that I hear about Greece and the Greeks is totally surprising. certainly not the news that chewing gum and high heels will now bee banned from the Herod Atticus theater, at the base of the Acropolis.

For years, the culture ministry has permitted outdoor concerts by Yanni and other concert performers. More than 350,000 guests attend these concerts in a year, and they leave behind a residue chewing gum on ancient seats ands scratches on the marble floors caused by stiletto heels worn by tourists visiting the sites.

Just who is wearing stilettos to tour the Acropolis is unclear, but anyone caught wearing inappropriate shoe attire is now subject to arrest and fine.

Instead of bringing wine back from your broad - consider bringing back a few bottles of locally made olive oil. It will produce memories of your trip many times over the one night that a wine bottle lasts. And the chances are good that your wine is shipped to the states.

"Made in Italy" usually means the olive oil is, in fact, not from Italy. Moist so-called Italian olive oil priced at under $15.00 is bottled in Italy using Moroccan olives or, perhaps, second rate harvests from Greece. You must read labels carefully tot determine if the oil actually uses Italian olives.

No one ever tells you this but olive oil is very much a perishable product. If the bottle is not dated - don;t buy it.Try to purchase olive oil that is less then six months in the bottle.

The best olive oil is not sold commercially. The real first press is usually kept on the farm for personal friends from the city who are invited out to return home with a few bottles of the precious stuff. While in Italy, inquire if a visit to a major olive oil producer is possible. Nothing tastes better then the best grade of oil with a good Chianti Classico.

Do not believe that the "very best" olive oil comes from Tuscany. That is something a Tuscan would say but world class olive oils are available in Umbria and Emilio Romagna as well.

Always buy two kinds of olive oil. First press Virgin for topping salads and drizzling on steak and the darker and less expensive non-virgin oil for cooking. virgin olive oil burns if cooked at moderately high temperatures.

Many nutritionists with international reputations believe that olive oil is the single most important element in a healthy diet. Olive oil is at the core of the so-called Mediterranean diet. Travelers to Italy and Greece who include olive oil in two meals per day have experienced serious spikes downward in cholesterol rates when tested immediately before and after their travels.

True Tuscan's cook slices of water bread on a weber grill or similar aided by burning local twigs. The bread is cooked is toasted on both sides after first being rubbed with raw garlic. Immediately after coming off the grill the bread is sprinkled with large crystals of sea salt and then drizzled with the best olive oil available. "This ceremony" is known as "Fettunta" and it is magical in its simplicity. This is how every true Tuscan "takes" olive oil in its purest form.

From 2007-2009, the cruise lines serving the US market went through a planned slowdown with the number of retired or sold vessels exceeding the number of new builds. This means, in general terms, that the industry has gone through the past two years with demand clearly outdistancing availability. This kept pricing at acceptable levels and enabled the cruise lines to weather the increased fuel cost storms.

But all of that has changed in 2009 as cruise lines, not anticipating the economic slowdown, are taking delivery of twelve major new ships, the majority of them carrying more then 2,000 passengers.

The effect of the introduction of ships like Princess' Ruby Princess with 3100 guests, the NCL Gem carrying 2500 guests, the MSC Fantasia with 3900, guests, and Royal Caribbean's 3600 passenger Independence of the Seas, is an increase in the number of berths to be filled of approximately 20,000 a week.

Do the math and you will see that in the second half of this year and going into 2010, the cruise industry has an additional 1 million berths to fill annually in an extremely depressed market.

This is the real reason that consumers are seeing and will continue to see discounts and amenity packages that have never been previously offered. THe meg-ships, particularly, are going to be coming in with lower and lower pricing to entice folks onboard so they can spend money to offset the "below cost" cruise fares we are now seeing.

While consumers would be foolish not to take advantage of these offers, we would caution that ship yields are down significantly. If yields continue to decline, we may start to see cruise lines go under. Cruise lines have tangible assets that can be sold to ready markets overseas. And word has been coming out of China that interests there are looking for tonnage that can be delivered sooner rather than later.

With the advent of declining weather patterns in Europe and the advent of hurricane season in the Caribbean, October, November, and the first half of December pose a bit of a destination challenge.

Savvy travelers, however, know that this is a wonderful time to visit Hawaii. It is pre-Christmas crowd, rates are at their lowest, and the weather is sunny with comfortable off-shore breezes. Hawaii tourism is suffering mightily and the deals have never been better. Wholesalers have $550-$650 air tickets from the west coast. Consider trading in the Caribbean for a visit to the most beautiful of our states.

Please accept the fact that the sales agent at your local phone shop may not be all that up-to-date on what phone service will be like when you take your I-Phone or your Blackberry to Croatia, Bali, or Lahore. They just don;t have that level of expertise.

We recommend renting a cell phone from a reliable company about a week prior to your departure. When you call one of the following companies, they will put you through to an expert on the regions you are scheduled to visit. The phone will be configured to work properly and you will, likely, be able to receive calls at no charge. Expect to pay about $50-$75 per week. Once you make credit card payment, the phone will be shipped to you overnight with a re charger configured to work in foreign outlets.

This is the best way to avoid the frustration in finding out the hard way that your own carrier's coverage is not exactly as advertised. (Note T-Mobile has the best connections in Europe)

Once you begin traveling with the phone, expect to pay an average of $1.50 a minute for normal usage.

Virtually every media outlet is reporting that Americans are taking shorter vacations. This is, by the way, the exact opposite of what we are experiencing as 2009 has seen the average length of a vacation actually increase by an average of just over 1-day versus statistics from a year ago. But, accepting the premise, please consider a visit to your local butcher.

Consider: When you buy hamburger meat you are dining on as many as 100 animals. But if you select a nice cut of pork and another of beef, and have your butcher grind it for you, you are now limiting your exposure to just one animal. You also know exactly what cuts of meat you are using.

Once you eat hamburgers made with properly ground cuts of meat you have selected yourself, you will never go back to the pre-packaged mystery meat.

The travel industry has always been characterized by a steady stream of special price offers, upgrades, and amenity packages. We are now seeing a flood of new discounting initiatives designed to get Americans traveling in greater numbers.

But which of these offers is really new? Which represents the most unique opportunity to save real money? And which of these offers applies to the top-tier cruise and tour companies not normally known for deep discounting?

We have chosen the top three pricing opportunities from the hundreds of offers that cross our desks each week. We will update this list as new discounts become available. Our mantra that “discounted garbage is still garbage”, has not changed. Our Top Three List will only feature cruises, tours, and hotel/resort packages that meet our rigorous Five-Star standards – and yours. These are literally the best “REAL DEALS” in the travel marketplace at the moment:

With only two 50-cabin ships, Sea Dream has never been known to deep discount. But this summer there are still some amazing last-minute savings.

The Real Deal in Plain English – Straight discount program brings rates down to below $4,000 P.P. on select sailings on cabins with list of $8400. And Sea Dream actually sells at list price when sailings are close to full. Offers for Cat. 2 guarantees are capacity-controlled. And can be withdrawn at any time.

The world’s largest luxury cruise line stunned the industry with the announcement in January that guests will receive free unlimited shore excursions on 38 sailings this year. The news was greeted with such a surge in bookings that the program has now been extended to all 2010 sailings.

What is most amazing about this unprecedented offer is that it can be combined with Regent’s already generous Free Air (major gateways only) and Two-for-one pricing initiatives.

The Real Deal in plain English: On selected dates, you will receive free airfare, two-for-one cabin pricing, unlimited shore excursions, and a $500 cabin gift certificate if it is your first-time sailing Regent. In addition, if you book through a member of a preferred consortium group, you can also receive your choice of additional credits or amenities.

This offer applies to 21 sailings in Europe this year. For guests doing their own airfare and taking the air credit, this can reduce the cost of your cruise to under $3700 per person on a five-star ship with drinks, gratuities, and shore excursions included. Free Busi9ness Class Air (over water only) is available for guests booking the upper suite accommodations.

Guests who lock in their 2010 deposit now can receive the free shore excursion program and combine it with all current and future price incentive offers.

Availability of the shore excursion you want is the only issue. Regent Choice excursions,. the line’s most expensive specialty shore excursions are excluded from the offer but many of these can be booked using a “credit” from the free excursion program. Free air is only available from major gateway cities.

Traveltruth’s # 2 rated worldwide cruise line has just .undergone significant management changes (See Review). The new team has come out with unprecedented 2-1 sailings on nearly all remaining 2009 sailings. In addition, many of these sailings now feature a $1,000 Per Cabin onboard spending credit. Free or specially-priced airfare is available on selected sailings.

The 2-1 offer applies to 50 sailings, the majority in Europe. The onboard spending credit applies to70 voyages. Free or lower-priced air is available in combination with most other offers.

Since this is a new offer, availability is quite good. This is the deepest discounting in Silverseas history.

Each year, traveltruth chooses one tour program, from the thousands that cross our desk, that is so unique and inspiring that we deem it likely to be a life-enhancing travel experience.

Our Award is based on the art of the tour crafter's who piece together itineraries that work well logistically while enabling the traveler to experience the highest levels of authenticity and local culture and tradition, while retiring each evening, to an environment of luxury, comfort, and safety. Above all we look for originality in planning and superb execution execution. Our award winners are always true "Once in a Lifetime" travel experiences.

This year's winner is TCF Expeditions 21-Day LANDS OF THE GREAT BUDDA by Private Jet. Departing September 5th, this exclusive tour, limited to no more than 35 travelers, celebrates Buddhism's cultural treasures in China, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, the Kingdom of Bhutan, India, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Guests on this tour will travel in a private Fokker 100 jet that is large enough to crisscross Asia and small enough to land in locations in the Gobi desert, Katmandu, and Luang Prabang in Laos. A team of highly;y experienced guides and an expedition physician will accompany the group.

This tour, priced at $46,950 per person, based on double occupancy, includes major sites and exclusive experiences such as a night in Mongolia's premier expedition camp, a search for dinosaur fossils in the flaming cliffs of the Gobi desert, exploration of the mountaintop monasteries in Bhutan, and the birthplace of Buddhism at Bodh Gaya as well as the sacred bathing rituals by the Ganges River in Varanasi.

Based on recent Department of Transportation findings, your chance of missing a tight connection are greatest at;

This list is based on flight data that registers flights delayed by more than 15 minutes as a percentage of total take-offs. The current leader among the highest percentage of delayed flights is Chicago's O'hare at a whopping 35%. However, these figures change from month to month.

Yes and no. They are turning up everywhere, in hotel lobbies, at the foot of cruise ship gangways, and, now, aircraft boarding areas. The off-the-shelf variety that we buy in Walgreen's is about 60% alcohol. The claim that these anti-bacterial washes kill "99%" of germs is, essentially, true. What is missing from the claim is the fact that they are not necessarily effective when it comes to norovirus.

Norovirus is the second most common medical affliction after the common cold. It's an ugly 48-72 hour virus with two particularly debilitating strains, Feline and Murene. Murene is the worse and there is little evidence that the most popular hand sanitizers will really protect you. Frequent washing of hands is the best preventative but norovirus can be spread by food handlers or bedding.

The hand sanitizers used commercially by cruise lines and hotels are gel-based or ethanol. There is some evidence that they can reduce the risk of norovirus.

Mexico and Guatemala have had relatively high norovirus report rates. Travelers would do well to cary bottles of the strongest available anti-bacterial hand wash as well as anti-bacterial soaps. Wash hands frequently for at least 20 seconds. For those who like to prepare for a trip, protection against the illness with the greatest single chance of ruining your vacation is a recommended precaution.

As she was sailing out of Singapore, the 700-Guest, all-suite Regent Voyager became entangled in some fishing nets that attached themselves to the starboard side "pod" propulsion system. This has caused some rather serious damage and the ship has had to alter its itinerary. The President of Regent, Mark Conroy, flew to the ship and offered guests a number of options. Most guests elected to remain on board and accept the generous future cruise credits.

The ship arrived in Dubai where divers determined that the pod was damaged enough to require extensive repair. We have seen a number of exaggerated and inaccurate reports about this incident on several cruise "blogs".

The truth is that the ship is headed for Rome where she will enter dry dock for repair on April 19th. Passenger who have left the ship will have the option of returning to the ship's first post dry dock sailing commencing in Civitavecchia on May 21st.

It is fortunate that the ship was headed for Italy. She was built in Genoa and will find willing hands working to make the necessary repairs when she "comes home".

In a fascinating piece in USA Today, Phillip Longman points out that the populations of Europe, Russia, China, and Brazil are shrinking dramatically as average couples are now having fewer then two children. In the US, 20% of baby boomers have no children at all. Birth rates, while high, "are falling rapidly" in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Children, Longman points out, are increasingly being seen as an "avoidable liability" in places where survival is the goal.

This phenomenon can be seen in China where statistics show that each child entering the workforce will soon find it necessary to support a set of parents and two sets of grandparents. That will place immense pressure on government to raise salaries.

When the economy is getting you down, and the ugliness around you is starting to wear thin - head to the lakes and mountains of Switzerland.

You can join Insight Vacations on a fully-escorted 10-Day tour of Switzerland this summer for $2650 Per Person. Seeing Zermatt, Lake Geneva, and St. Moritz will renew your spirit and allow you to imagine that all is well with the world.

Oceania Cruises has, once again, come out of the gate with a frontal attack on cruise pricing in Europe. The line’s best offer, Free airfare from major gateways, and two-for-one pricing now carries an additional $2,000 off the price for early bookers. (offer expires August 31st, 2009) The unprecedented discounts apply to the entire collection of European sailings including 34 itineraries ranging in length from 10-36 days.

All prime season itineraries are eligible – a first for Oceania. The line is now including unlimited and soft drinks and bottled water on all ships.

The Real Deal in Plain English: You will pay 50% off the brochure rate and receive free air from major gateway cities plus an additional $2,000 off the cabin price.

What’s the Catch? Oceania’s air program is riddled with additional charges and exclusions. Some of these exclusions are: transfers, fuel surcharges, and air taxes. In addition, Oceania charges a “service fee” for the processing of all airline tickets it promotes as “free”.

This offer, while a noteworthy “act now” recommendation, is covered by one major caveat. It is “subject to availability” and “capacity controlled”, two terms that mean that if sales get off to a healthy start, the offer can be rescinded.

So I'm sitting in my seat en route to LAX on American, reading my new issue of Laptop Magazine. I read computer magazines to get my mind off travel for a while. I turn the page and see a headline declaring that airplanes are "Flying Germ Farms."

In the article, a microbiologist named Charles Gerba, points out that bathrooms in the air serving "50 people per toilet" are less hygienic then the ones in the terminal. Now there's a really high benchmark. At least you don;t have a congressman tapping his toes in the adjacent stall in an airborne toilet.

Perhaps the most alarming piece of information in the article was the summary of the University of Arizona professor that 50% of the faucets and 100% of the bathroom door handles on airplane lavatories tested positive for E coli.

I was actually eating lunch in First Class while reading this piece and was thrilled to discover that swab samples also showed that food trays were also "home to lots of bacteria" including MRSA, a staph infection that is so strong it can resist most antibiotics.

THe CEO of Ryanair, Europe;s largest discount airline has suggested, in a recent speech, that a one Euro charge might be instituted for use his fleets onboard toilets. If that includes a sanitary cleaning after each use, the public might be willing to pay.

There are numerous reasons to visit Copenhagen in the summer, but the free bicycle rental program is one of the best. Between April and October, the city maintains over 2,000 sturdy rental bicycles at 110 locations.

Leave a deposit of 20 Kroner and you are free to take the bike, drive it anywhere, and return it to any location. When you do, you get your 20 Kroner returned.

City planners take note. In the 60's, when car traffic began to clog the city, the Dutch authorities reacted by tearing down parking lots and turning them into parks and pedestrian squares. With fewer parking places, citizens took to riding bicycles. That is how you make a city livable. Copenhagen also manages to be one of the world's least polluted cities.

Congrats to Jane Levere writing in the February issue of Travel +Leisure for nailing comparative costs of visiting world cities. To compare relative costs for tourists, she priced a standard gin martini in at least three luxury hotels in each city to arrive at an average cost.:

Cape Town - An amazing $3.30. Rio de Janeiro at $7.08 and Bangkok at $8.63 followed.

There may be a better way to gauge your actual costs on the ground once you arrive in a city abroad, but for now, this one seems to me to be dead on accurate. Cape Town anyone? - and bring the olives.

Imagine - Delta's CEO tells Wall Street analysts in a recent call that "We think we're well positioned..". He bases this analysis on the current fuel cost situation and Delta's cost cuts to the "core" of its fundamentals.

This is optimism. But, as quoted in Travel Weekly on Feb. 2nd, Delta lost $1.4 billion during the fourth quarter and about $8.9 billion for the year.

Consumers can only envision optimism from these numbers if one factors in future cost cutting on a major scale.

But scale is what is making Delta feel that it may, indeed, have a future. The buyout of Northwest has made Delta the biggest airline in the world .Delta's partnership with Air-France-KLM is also bearing fruit as the French have taken a large stake in ailing Italian carrier Alitalia. This gives Delta a potentially huge frequent flyer advantage in Europe.

Delta is hopeful fuel prices will remain stable. They are going to reduce capacity by about 8% in 2009. If labor relations remain relatively calm, they could emerge a significantly stronger economic entity then they began the year.

It would be naive to assume that the travel industry will not be seeing the same level of bankruptcies we are seeing in other sectors of the economy.

Most Americans who travel overseas, do so under the auspices of travel firms whose financial health is not at all transparent.

Every traveler going overseas in the next year would be well advised to take out the kind of travel insurance that covers the financial failure of travel service providers. In most cases, travel insurers offer supplier failure coverage if the insured signs up within 14-20 days after the initial trip deposit is paid. The bankruptcy protection clauses are tied in to the waiving pf pre-existing condition coverage. This coverage only goes into effect if the traveler takes out the insurance within a prescribed time.

The consumer needs to be aware that supplier bankruptcy is on the rise. Travel professionals in the US have extremely limited knowledge of the financial health of the firms with which they work overseas. The worst-case scenario involves smaller, internet-based companies that arrange prepaid vacations for Americans.

The larger cruise lines and tour operators are not immune from the risk of financial failure. It is our view that anyone traveling abroad should be carrying .standard travel insurance with a provision that covers the the worst financial scenario.

This is the worst airline environment in memory for the global airline industry in modern history. But the U.S. airlines are cutting total seat capacity in 2009 by an estimated 6 to 7%. This, along with currently favorable fuel costs, could mean a profitable year for one or two of the majors.

Despite glimmer of optimism, the recession is not stimulating travel and some fare cuts are likely in the domestic market in the April/May period. For those traveling internationally, we are currently recommending immediate purchase if fares are within $150 of your desired price point.

Congress is looking closely at planned new, "supplemental" charges by the majors. The interest of lawmakers was spurred by the admission by Delta that they expect to see an additional $1 billion in revenue front he new sources in 2009. The bulk of this revenue comes from checked baggage fees. But 2009 will see a marked increase in the number of airlines charging for certain preferred types of seating. It is, for example, expected that aisle seats will cost more then middle seats in the months to come.

Consumers should also expect that how you book your cruise will impact the cost of the ticket. Non-airline portals will carry supplemental charges, according to most industry analysts.

In a move that has stunned some industry observers, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has announced that it will now include shore excursions in the cruise fare pf 35 worldwide sailings in 2009. The offer, the deepest price/value cut in recent memory, requires that new bookings must be made by March 31st. Existing reservations are not protected.

Given weakness in some sectors of the luxury market, Regent could have gone in several directions, including price cuts, increased travel agency commissions, or pre or post hotel stays. But they rejected all of the traditional discounting strategies to generate short-term bookings in favor of a totally new approach. A radical approach that is new to this segment of the industry.

While riverboats have been including shore excursions for years, no major cruise line has taken this step because all of the shore excursions have limited capacity, different pricing, and because they are not operated by the lines directly.

Regent has either created an ambitious pro-consumer carrot, one of the largest carrots ion the netherworld of cruise pricing, or they have created an operational nightmare.

How will they say "No" to guests already booked on the targeted sailings? What about the more adventurous shore excursions with limited capacity?

This has to be seen as a boom to consumers still undecided about travel in 2009 to destinations like Asia and the Pacific, Alaska, the Mediterranean, and the Baltic. Because shore excursions are an important profit center for lines and are priced on a per person basis, savings per couple could easily average $300 per couple, per day while the ships are in port.

This is not a Fire Sale. This is a post-fire "the apocalypse is here" offer. Amazingly it can be booked in combination of all existing offers, many of which include Free Air offers and 2-1 savings.

One of the more interesting aspects of this decision is that luxury competitors would have a very difficult time reacting to this strategy quickly. Regent is allowing guests to sign up for shore excursions online and in advance as per their procedure. But guests will have no shore excursion bill unless they choose from a number of private or VIP excursion options.

Clearly, Regent's aim here is to generate cash flow. Now, with drinks and gratuities already included, air included, and steep cruise pricing discounts, guests aboard Regent's ships will be hard put to find ways to spend money onboard.

This is not a Real Deal - it is THE REAL DEAL. One wonders if Regent is prepared to deal with those who will wait too long to take advantage of this fabulous offer or fabulous mistake.

Savvy cruisers will be watching closely as Oceania Cruises announces new pricing policies available for booking on January 7th. Previously, Two-For-One Pricing with Free Air from major gateways was Oceania's best marketplace offer. But the new pricing to be formally announced on the 5th of January, will see additional discounts applied to the current discount levels. This will bring some itinerary prices down to the 60-70% off range.

What makes this news is that the new pricing directives will affect the majority of Oceania sailings, not just a few difficult-to-sell repositioning dates.

One reason that Oceania can do this is that its brochure prices are artificially high. This line did not have to build its first three ships and purchased them at extremely favorable cost

But a deal is a deal and the pricing to be announced next week will represent the largest, across-the-board lower pricing initiative we ha seen to date. .

Although it would seem that they are alienating many of their better clients, most cruise lines will not honor new, lower rates if you are already booked on their line. You always need to ask if you are guaranteed to receive any additional pricing incentives as departure date approaches.

The bottom line on price protection is that most of the four-star lines will not do it This include Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America. Crystal always protects its guests, and most of the five-star lines can be talked into protecting guests by travel agents who have a relationship with the line.

Those who book directly will be forced to pay the higher rate. some cruise consultants will guarantee a "lowest price match" policy on every top line they sell. The wise consumer asks this question before beginning discussions.

Six months ago, it would have been difficult to identify a situation where those who book later receive an enhanced offer. The cruise lines had been down that road before and determined that it was advantageous to reward the first 40% who booked any particular sailing.

Some agents have contractual arrangements with the cruise lines they work with that include lower price notification and automatic re-invoicing. But the consumer may see the offer several days before agent receives the price change notification. No reputable agent will confirm a price that has not been put in writing by the line.

The five star lines do not want guests Iwo booked late to spread the word aboard ship that they received a better price then those who planed carefully and early for their vacation. So it has been their policy to go back and re fare those already booked, rather costly exercise. The top lines are still trying to adhere to this policy. But the mass market four stars and the budget three star lines are now feeling the pressure to change yield on a dime if they feel a sailing is in particular trouble.

Guests who are wait-listed for a better category of cabin are often misled about pricing. Many lines like Holland America, Princess, and Oceania, will, for example, charge the cabin price in effect ont he day the wait listed cabin clears - not the rate on the date the wait list was originally requested by the agent. This often results in pricing increases that are significant and unanticipated.

Last week, I contacted three of the top luxury escorted tour operators in the world. With all of the negative travel press related to the economy, I wanted to know which worldwide destination was the current bestseller.

Amazingly all three said exactly the same thing. Egypt and Jordan are off the charts. Most departures to Egypt have waiting lists and tours have been selling out before they reach the brochure stage. 2009/10 trends continue to reflect the fact that the Middle East generally, and Egypt specifically is the hottest worldwide destination for American travelers.

Clearly it has to do with the fact that it is a "Must See Before I Die" destination and travelers have concerns about their ability to sightsee comfortably in the region far into the future. The notion to "do it while you can" seems to trump any economic downturn news when it comes to travel to the Middle East, a region that has seen an increase in American visitors of 26% in the last year.

The best current Egypt Tour Programs are offered by Abercrombie & Kent, Tauck World Discovery, and Travcoa.

Two of the three tour operators also reported that Vietnam is selling extremely well, as is Cambodia.

This time, the media has it about right. There are unprecedented offers, particularly on premium and deluxe travel products where discounting was never a part of the marketing plan in the past.

You can book hotel stays through wholesalers like Classic Vacations in Europe next summer and receive air credits starting at $500 and going up.

Prime August 2009 Alaska cruise space on Regent Seven Seas is now selling at 40-45% off PLUS Free Round-Trip airfare from major gateways.

Even Silverseas, rated # 1 in the world in the current traveltruth.com rankings, is offering discounts on selected cruises plus Free Air to Europe.

The best offers are going unnoticed as consumers concentrate on the election outcome, the economy, and the upcoming Christmas Season.

Hotel Maid. And we really should. We're getting a poor reputation among members of the international housekeeping community.

There are few guidelines about tipping the maid so most guests from the US simply don't do it. But it would be appreciated and, in many circles, it is expected. Here are some current guidelines:

Tipping is based on the size of the hotel. If the hotel has fewer than 50 rooms, it is highly like that you will have the same maid throughout your stay. A well-placed envelope with a few dollars per day and a note of thanks should be left in a prominent place (the pillow is best) before you depart.

In larger hotels, let's say over 50 rooms, it is most likely that you will have two or three different cleaning teams handling your room at different times. For this reason, it is most appropriate to leave a tip (in Europe 3 Euros per day is recommended) each morning before you depart.

She has seven "neighborhoods", and stands sixteen stories high. She weighs in at 220,000 Gross Registered Tons, almost twice the size of her next biggest rival. She carries 5,400 guests in 2,700 staterooms and she is now "open for bookings." Her are some artists glimpses of the, rather incredible by any standard, Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas set to sail alternating Caribbean seven-night itineraries beginning in late 2009 .

Above: The Central Park "neighborhood" Will they employ actors posing as muggers?

The death watch for Italy's flagship carrier has begun. The consortium that was set up to keep the airline afloat has disintegrated after six of the nine airline unions rejected new financing proposals.

I remember summing up Al italia in a column a few years back by recalling a press release that covered all of the latest news from all of the airlines. Under each airlines name was a long list of current efforts to purchase new aircraft, to establish new routes etc. But Al italia's press release was only one sentence announcing that "Al italia is very pleased to announce that Giorgio Armanni has been selected to design our new flight attendant uniforms." Over the years, Al italia crew always looked better than any other crew getting off the plane. But one suspects that has something to do with the fact that they started doing their primping just about an hour after take-off.

This is one moor nail in the coffin when it comes to the loss of style in the air.

Tactically, any passenger currently booked on Al italia should be making immediate alternative plans. We think the shutdown could come as soon as the next ten days.

If you are booked on Al italia through a tour operator or cruise line, you will be notified of any schedule changes and you will be protected on other carriers should Al italia stop flying. If you booked Al italia directly, you are, unfortunately, on your own.

The last time I flew Al italia, I was headed for a meeting, at the behest of the Italian Government, in the former administrative hall of the Medici's, in Florence's Piazza Signoria. I could not hold bank the tears as I listened to what was being said about tourism with half an ear. I was really staring at the walls of the Palace, hoping by sheer will that I might get them to talk.

The respected London Telegraph has come out with its list of the very best golf courses to play in the world. Royal County Down in Ireland and Pebble Beach place second and third, but the top honor goes to a course constructed on land that was once a 5,000 acre sheep station, New Zealand's Cape Kidnappers.

Kidnappers is not a typical sandy dunes links course. Instead, golfers are dealing with harrowing ravines, holes along the rugged coast, and very fast greens that tilt more then a Brooklyn pinball machine.

Among the surprises on this worldwide list are two Caribbean courses, the new Green Monkey at Sandy Lane on Barbados and Canouan on the island of the same name. Designed by Jim Fazio, the Canouan course keeps rising from sea leve to the rim of a volcano that is, thankfully, extinct.

We have finally seen evidence that the better hotels in Venice, Italy are now priced at over $1,000 USD per night for a deluxe double.

In its 2008 listing of the World's Best Hotels, Travel + Leisure Magazine lists the following room rates for the 2008 summer-fall season:

The best deal in Venice is the Ca' 'Pisani, a real find in the Dorsoduro neighborhood. But its 29 rooms still start at $500 USD per night with additional taxes including 18% VAT.

Venice is now Italy's most expensive city for accommodations. The inability to build new properties despite an ever-growing demand is the primary reason.

For top quality at a better price, we recommend the San Celemente Palace, which sits on its own 17-acre island just minutes from San Marco Square. Room rates here begin at just under $800.

Even the top properties along Italy's gorgeous and expensive Amalfi Coast are coming in at $200 per night less then crowded canal hotels in overcrowded Venice.

There is a beautiful island in the Grenadines called Palm Island. Right now, they are offering room rates of $299 per couple. Think five perfect beaches and Jimmy Buffet perfection. What makes this price so spectacular? Palm Island is an all-inclusive resort.

Oceania continues to offer Free Air to Europe and Two-For-One pricing on some ideal; fall 2009 dates on some of Europe's strongest cruise itineraries. These offers are capacity controlled and are automatically withdrawn a sailing reaches a specified occupancy.

Every once in a blue moon a magazine comes out with a special edition that achieves instant "collectors Item" status before the ink has fully dried.

The September issue of Gourmet Magazine, devoted in its entirety to Paris, is one such example.

Traveltruth.com has previously reported that Oceania Cruise Lines has been running US bank-issued credit cards through a financial institution based in Dublin, Ireland. This has resulted in scores of Oceania passengers, many of them unaware, being charged an additional fee of up to 3 percent on their cruise deposits and final payments.

In the last year, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas were both sold to the cash-rich Apollo Investment Group.

Now, there are reports that Regent Seven Seas guests are also being charged additional fees on payments made on some Visa, Mastercard, and American Express Cards. Visa and Mastercard banks normally charge 3 percent. One major exception is Capital One which charges nothing additional for foreign purchases. But the largest bank groups such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America have been consistent in charging cardholders penalties on all charges originating outside the United States. American Express charges 2% for most of its cards.

Understand, these fees are penalties charged to cardholders who spend money outside the United States. Guests, for example, who spend upwards of $80,000 - $90,000 on one of the January Around-The-World sailings are looking at unanticipated extra fees of $2,500 or more. They are generally unaware of this as they give their travel consultant their credit card for processing.

Now, we have learned that Sea Dream Yacht Club has just started running some credit card payments through a bank in Norway. (Sea Dream has Norwegian owners).

Oceania and Regent respond that this is happening to very few of their guests and that when they are made aware of the credit card penalty charges, they will issue an onboard credit in the amount of the extra charge. But this has been handled on a "need-to-know" basis and we can find no example of guests being warned about these unanticipated credit card charges by the cruise lines involved.

The consumer rarely knows abbot these charges prior to their cruise. This is unlikely because the 3% will usually not turn up as final payment with the extra percent tacked on until the ship has already sailed - so to speak.

Sea Dream, one of the top-scoring lines in the Traveltruth Ratings, has not indicated that they would issue an onboard credit to all guests hit with the extra charges as a result of the company's international monetary policies.

These extra fees are in addition to the money made by credit card issuing banks whenever they convert foreign currency spending back to cardholders accounts at US Dollar rates.

Sadly, many of those paying 3% more for their vacation than anticpated, will never notice the additional percentage tacked on to their credit card statement by some of the world's very best luxury cruise lines.

We've been trying to gauge how prevalent lost baggage is these days with connections in Europe. We got some answers by talking with he purser's staff on a number of popular cruise lines. Speaking off the record, they identified the following air lines as most likely to lose your bags in transit.

U.S. AIRWAYS -- Not only do they currently enjoy an abnormally high rate of lost baggage, this airline carries the insult a step further by returning bags home instead of the ongoing destination. As one cruise ship purser tells, "when it is US Airways, we have no expectation that the bags will be delivered to the ship the next day. We just start processing a shopping voucher for the guests."

BRITISH AIRWAYS - Changing planes at Heath row still carries some risk but they are quite good about trying to find you in Europe.

AIR FRANCE - Few things in the airline industry are consistent. But Air France's ability to misplace your luggage may be one of them.

The best current strategy is to design very clear baggage tags that indicate where you will be staying during your first and second nights abroad, along with local contact numbers.

For the 8th consecutive year, Churchill and Turen Ltd. has been named to the travel industry's most coveted list - Conde Nast Traveler's annual " World's Top Travel Specialists"Awards.. This year,

Churchill and Turen received accolades for "World's Best Culinary Programs", "World's Top Spa Specialist, "World's Best Small, Luxury Cruise Specialists" and "Top Travel Generalists" Worldwide.

These are the most prestigious awards in the travel industry. C&T has won thirty-one awards, more then any other travel firm in the U.S.

Europe-Bound travelers would surely have second thoughts if the government suddenly announced that their dollar had dropped another 18% in value. Yet, in terms of overseas purchases, that is exactly what happens when Value-Added Tax exemptions are not claimed by travelers. And the fact is, that fewer then 10% of those who purchase goods from Duty-Free exempt shops in Europe, actually make claims to get their money together. We have, collectively, agreed to let the Europeans keep another 18-20% on all of our qualified purchases. How generous of us. Or, how stupid.

Other current value-added taxes, which American tourists can get back, amount to just under 8% in Switzerland. But travel to next-door neighbor Austria and you are up to 20%. It's the same in Belgium, and Italy. The sad fact is that most Americans just don;t know how to claim their refunds.

01 - If you are buying something that is too large to carry and is being shipped home by the store, ask that the VAT be refunded in the purchase price. Most stores will do this.

02 - The way it normally whorls is that the store will give you a Tax refund check. You get it stamped at the airport and then you take the stamped check to the VAT Refund Desk. That's two stops and there could be lines. Allow three hours for check-in if you are flying home from Europe and you have collect your tax.

03 - One way to facilitate all of this is to use a company called Global Refund. They are among the largest and are associated with many fine shops throughout Europe. Global Refund has its own refund desks in major European airports. To plan in advance use www.globalrefund.com

04 - If you don;t have time to do get your refund at the airport, make certain not to board your plane without first securing the mail-in VAT application.On the application, we recommend that you have the amount of your refund credited to your credit card. (You will need to supply the number) This will avoid the hassle of having to wait several weeks and then to receive a check in Euros.

05 - The general rukle of thumb is to try to claim a VAT refund for any eligible purchases from a single Global Refund approved store of over 200 Euros. Do be careful. "Duty-Free Store" is not a term you can ttrust.

The nation's airlines, reaching the desperation point when it comes to the search for non-ticket revenue sources, has long felt that charging the obese for an extra seat is worth careful scrutiny. Making such charges difficult to enforce is a little-known Canadian Law passed in March that prohibits Canadian Airlines from charging the disabled or the obese for a second seat. This is seen as a kind of international precedent, although even US airlines that fly to canada are not bound by the new rules.

Southwest Airlines has been the most aggressive in this area. Despite the protests of rights for the overweight groups, Southwest has maintained its right to charge those passengers for whom even a seat extender is not sufficient.

Delta and American have generally tried to handle the issue with diplomacy by placing seriously overweight passengers in an otherwise empty row. But with the number of planes currently being taken out of service to save on fuel costs, empty second seats are as hard to find as a belt buckle.

No decision is more important to your total satisfaction with the cruise vacation experience then the choice of cruise-provided or independent air arrangements.

The vast majority of cruise lines offer an air/sea program that includes round-trip airfare to and from the ship as well as transfers. Cruise lines wait until approximately 45 days before a cruise to turn over the names of their paid-in-full passengers from each gateway city to the airline with whom they have a contract on that date. You should accept the fact that you are unlikely to get a nonstop flight if you simply accept the air/sea assignment. One of the downsides of cruise line air programs is that seat assignments are often not available within forty-five days of a flight. You may be forced to wait until you arrive at the airport to get your seats. Even if seats can be booked, the aisle seat you prefer may not be available. On busy weekends, your agent may not even be able to secure two seats together.

There are two ways around this. First, you can always purchase your own air ticket. This usually costs more, sometimes a lot more, and the airline will not generally include transfers if you do your own air. We are now recommending that all of our clients, with the exception of those booked on Crystal, Seabourn, Silverseas or Regent Seven Seas, make their own air reservations rather than rely on increasingly poor routings and tight connections offered by the mainstream cruise lines.

One of the ways to avoid these problems is to ask for an air deviation. This allows your agent to request a preferred flight assignment immediately in writing. The air deviation request is usually returned to the agent within two weeks. The cruise line will either grant the request, in which case there is a $75-$100 per person extra charge, or reject the request. If the request is rejected you have lost nothing. But there is one important caveat. About a year ago, the percentage of air deviations that required an additional charge, on top of the normal fee, spiked dramatically. The larger cruise lines now routinely charge additional fees on top of the air deviation fee. They justify this by saying that the class of service for which they have contracted is no longer available. This is called an air "up charge." So, in reality, an air deviation can cost upwards of $400 per person.

Unfortunately, air deviations are usually not permitted during busy holiday periods such as Spring break, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Given the current high cost of airline tickets, many cruise lines such as Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity assign flights with limited regard for the comfort of their guests. These lines tend to work exclusively with their contracted carriers and if a connection is "legal" it may be assigned even if common sense dictates that more connection time be recommended.

The chances are good, in fact well over 90%, that you will thoroughly enjoy your cruise experience and decide to repeat it. But do make note of the fact that cruise lines report that fully 90%+ of all complaints they receive from angry guests have to do with transportation to or from the ship - not the cruise experience itself. That's why we recommend that you carefully consider an "air strategy" with your consultant. You will always receive an air credit by doing your own air Your cruise will cost more, but you are far more likely to have a hassle-free, less anxiety-ridden trip to and from your ship.

We know that some cruisers feel that if the cruise line blocks the air, they have some responsibility if the flight is delayed or cancelled. Sadly, they write away that liability in their contract of passage. They take no responsibility. When an airline cancels a flight, you are always dealing with the airline - not the cruise line. On the other hand, if a large group of passengers are booked on a delayed flight through the cruise line, there is a possibility that the Captain will decide to delay the ship. But that is never something to count on as it could involve a late departure and higher fuel costs for the line.

As a consumer, you are entitled to know what to expect from the Air/Sea departments at the various cruise lines. For that reason, www.traveltruth.com now offers a letter grade to each of the major cruise lines based on their willingness to consider connection times, passenger comfort, and booking flexibility beyond their normal contracts with the airlines. These “Grades” will be updated as situations warrant:

FOUR OF THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN THE WORLD - AND HOW TO CRACK THEIR RESERVATION CODE

The problem, at one time, was simply knowing the best restaurants. Now, with the success of The Food Network, Top Chef, and Mr. Ramsey's Empire, along with Zagat et. al. everyone wants/needs to dine at the best restaurants in the world. But some of these places only have thirty or so tables. How do you score one?

In its April, 2008 issue, Travel + Leisure Magazine does more then name names - it names numbers. Here are the best ways to crack the reservations "codes".

EL BULLI - Send a fax request eight to twelve months prior to your requested dinner to 34.97. 215 0717. Or, call one day ahead to see if there are cancellations at 34. 97 215 0457. Hint: don;t put a lot of effort into securing reservations in 2008. They are completely booked.

BABBO - Mario Batali's Manhattan outpost of creative and heartwarming Italian cuisine leaves it all up tot he speed of your telephone connection. Call exactly at 10:00 am. one month to the day prior to your requested date. Dial 212 - 777 -0303. Wear kitchen clogs if you can.

L'ASTRANCE - This top tier Paris Restaurant tries to maintain a waiting list. But the best way to secure an actual reservation is to call exactly two months to the day prior to your desired reservation. The call should be made at exactly 10:00 am. Paris time - or the middle of the night for North American foodies. The number to use is 33 1 40 50 84 40

THE FRENCH LAUNDRY - We think FL's Thomas Keller is the top chef in the United States. His Napa dining spot takes calls for reservations at 707 - 944 - 2380. Call several months in advance and always call during the day on weekends.

The vast majority of overseas travelers leave home without knowing the most important number every traveler should commit to memory: How do you dial a 911-type emergency number abroad?

Argentina 911 Hong Kong 999 Israel 100 Japan 119 Switzerland 144 and Thailand 191

We think it has become necessary for responsible agents to issue warnings to guests sailing on cruise ships that feature onboard art auctions. In this economy, cruise lines have been extremely hesitant about increasing the advertised price of their cruises from year to year. But onboard revenues, as a share of total profits generated, have increased dramatically. This has been achieved by the establishment of numerous profit centers onboard the meg-liners, not the least of which is the sale of art at auctions that occur several times during a cruise.

Most of the mainstream cruise lines work with a company called Park West Gallery. The onboard staff of Park West refer to their company as "the largest seller of fine art in America." Given the number of these auctions that occur weekly on the high seas, the quote may be accurate, but the definition of "fine art" is highly subjective. Park West sold more than a million pieces of art and is currently operating on more then seventy ships.

Here are some of the problems with the purchase of art aboard a ship by the uninitiated:

The contract between the onboard seller usually has language that essentially says that anything the seller (auctioneer) represented to the buyer is not in force unless it is in writing.

So-called Certificates of Authenticity do not represent the importance of the piece or even how rare it really is. In other words, the auctioneer can say anything but the fine print absolves the company that sells the art from any representations as to quality and worth.

Terms are sometimes used during the sales process that may be confusing or even meaningless to the purchaser, many of whom are making art purchasing decisions in a large lounge, during a relaxing vacation, with drinks available without leaving their seats.

Two terms we have heard used aboard ships are "pochoir" and the infamous "signed in stone." Art dealers ashore tell us that the term pochoir, while pretty impressive on its own, really refers to a stencil print which has far less value, normally, then a true lithograph or an original etching. The term "signed in stone" is a misleading way of stating that the artist never actually signed the work being sold.

It has been alleged, in one class action lawsuit, that onboard auctioneers use the old auction trick of pointing to bidders who really don;t exist to bid up the price of a piece.

At the very least, guests onboard who are considering a significant onboard purchase, ought to use the ships internet service to research both the art work and the firm doing the selling. And remember the contract is binding - the promises of the auctioneer are not.

In a word - yes. We have seen eleven fuel-based price increases by the majors during the past five months. This translates to additional fuel charges and taxes on some trans=continental flights of $310-$340 per passenger.

British Airways is set to re-open the new Terminal 5 in June. Most of the lost baggage, victims of the grand opening fiasco, has been reunited with its owners. Two airport executives have been replaced, and things may be on course.

United Airlines flights have been moved to Terminal 1 which all Star Alliance members should call home by the fall.

Meanwhile, Delta, Northwest, and KLM, part of the Sky Team Alliance, have completed their move to Terminal T4.

At present, all in-transit guests connecting to other terminals should allow two and a half hours minimum between flights.

Most of the major cruise lines now feature specialty restaurants. On the premium and budget lines, such as Holland America, Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Costa, and Princess, there is an extra charge for dining in these special venues. Guests who occupy the top suites are given reservations priorities and, often, may be able to secure more reservations then guests booked in non-suite accommodations. NCL because the line did not disclose to guests in regular cabins that guests in the most expensive accommodations would be given priority.

Now, a passenger who recently sailed on the Norwegian Star with her sister and mother, is suing because she could not get the dinner reservations she wanted

NCL heavily advertises Freestyle Dining as part of its Freestyle Cruising message. The guests, who have asked for class action status, are saying that they were not given the advertised dining options to which they were entitled.

So let's understand this. Guests who for a suite are not entitled to suite amenities which might include the availability of additional specialty restaurant reservations. It just doesn't;t pay to be rich anymore. I hope, if this suit is successful, that we can get the canapes away from those folks who paid $7,000 to sit in First Class,

Like the lemmings of northern Norway, American Airlines went to the edge of the luggage cliff and decided to jump. They have joined United and all of the other legacy carriers in imposing a charge for economy passengers charging a second piece of luggage. The charge goes into effect on May 12th. All full-fare Y ticket holders and premium elite Advantage members are exempt Also exempt are Business and First Class fliers. The extra fee does not apply to international routes.

It is easy to see why American had to cave. The airline lost $328 million during the first quarter. If fuel prices do not stabilize look for the additional add-on charges that airlines have contemplated for years, to be put on the front burner in short order.

If it does, you may be in for a more interesting and enjoyable long-haul flight. AVOD is Audio Video on Demand. Not all airlines or all aircraft types within a fleet have it. It provides in-seat entertainment that can be selected by the passenger to begin at any time during the flight. The newer versions of AVOD provide hundreds of video options.

You can fast forward or pause if you need to get up to use the restroom. Many of the better airlines have AVOD systems in the front of the plane and some have installed the system in economy.

Air New Zealand, Emirates, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore, and Thai.

If you are flying on a budget and want to secure the best pricing close in to departure make your reservation on Wednesday morning at 9:00 am. two weeks prior to your scheduled departure. Although not widely known, most airlines release their weekend pricing and availability two Wednesdays prior to departure. Obviously the flights have been for sale for eleven months. But close in, the airline's brainy computer systems tell them when a flight is light and new, lower pricing hits the system. This is called the Wednesday Update Sale.

It is simple really - fly to the European city with the highest percentage of Michelin three star-rated restaurants as well as the most memorable french fries, the world's best chocolate, and beautiful cities less than an hour away by comfortable train.

That would be Brussels, Belgium. While there, eat fresh baked waffles and cruise the city's lovely canals. Next, head to Mechelen, still rather undiscovered by American tour companies. While there, sample the famed white asparagus in season and order any of the chicken dishes on the menu at D'Hoogh, which sits right on the town square.

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to fly the new Airbus 380, you might want to click on the web address below:

http://www.gillesvidal.com/blogpano/cockpit1.htm

THE FIVE RESTAURANTS YOU MUST VISIT

IN THIS LIFETIME

For the past six months we have been working on a new report which will identify the Best Twenty Restaurants in the World. Surprisingly, many of them are a bit off the beaten path. But we can now identify the top Five Worldwide Restaurants that are so good, so memorable, and so revered by food critics, that any foodie has to put them on a list of “Must See” destinations. May we suggest that there are worse ways to choose an itinerary? Getting a table will require a strategy and far-in-advance planning. But these will be meals you will, we promise, remember for the rest of your life. We list them in order of our current rankings:

THE BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD

# 1 – El Bulli – Montjoi, Spain – Chef Ferran Adria is the world’s most important chef at this moment. He has combined science and gastronomy and his disciples are coming to a city near you. Dining here will quite literally change the way you look at food and flavorings. The restaurant is only open from March to December. The rest of the time, Adria experiments in his laboratory in Barcelona, “designing” new tastes and techniques. Forget getting in this year and next year will be difficult.

# 2 – The Fat Duck – Berkshire, England – A relatively comfortable experience. If Chef Adria did not exist, the Duck’s Heston Bluementhal would be the most famous chef in the world. And yes, it is true, they do serve bacon and egg ice cream as well a snail porridge.

# 3– Pierre Gagnaire – Paris, France – Now challenged by Spain, where the culinary world is flocking, Gagnaire’s dedication to the freshest ingredients and his absolute, some would say divine, skills, seems to have elevated his game. He is sounding the first alarms about pending shortages of truly organic, high quality gourmet foodstuffs. The small farms can’t meet the demands of the growing gourmet aspirations of a worldwide clientele he argues.

# 4 - The French Laundry – Yountville, California – Thomas Keller is America’s chef of the year and the year before that and…… His inspiring Napa cuisine is served in a lovely but relatively laid back setting in the heart of the California wine country. This will help show you everything that our local restaurants are not.

# 5 - Tetsuya’s – Sydney, Australia – Young chef Tetsuya Wakuda arrived in Sydney from Japan with a single suitcase and a plan to merge French and Japanese cuisine in a superb setting near the water. This is the restaurant to beat in both the South Pacific and Asia.

All of the fine print boils down to this. Most of the major airlines will not allow you to upgrade a coach ticket using miles unless the airline is literally operating all flight sectors. However, if you want to simply use your accumulated miles to purchase a free Business ticket that can be done using a combination of your airline and its partners.

Here is an example. Let's say you want

to fly from Chicago to Vienna round-trip from Chicago. Your miles are with American. You can do the trip using AA's partner, British Airways between London and Vienna. If you want to use 90,000 miles you can get a "free" Business Class ticket. But what you cannot do is buy a coach ticket and then use your miles, far less then 90,000 to upgrade to Business Class. You can;t even though the BA flights may have AA flight numbers.

If, however, you want to upgrade from coach on American flying round-trip Chicago-London, there is no problem since those are both true AA flights.

One of ther world's most respected culinary pracftitioners, Pierre Gagnaire of the triple Michelin-starred Balzac in Paris, is waging an unusual campaign.

He is trying to warn the consumers of fine dining that the environment cannot sustain the demands of a worldwide audience for truly natural food products. Aming ius specific warnings:

01 - Wild fish will disappear in th enext five to ten years. What will remain will be "farmed" fish.

03 - Exotic and in demand fruits and vegetables are getting so hard to find, that there is danger that restaurants without the best sup[pliers may have to close

His bottom line is that suppliers just can;pt cope with the demands of good restaurants.

He predicts large numbers of closings in the years to come along with prices that may double or triple today's top-level menu prices.

WHO REALLY GETS UPGRADED AT THE GATE? THE PRIORITY LIST USED BY MOST MAJOR AIRLINES

The following list highlights the very best strategies to get upgraded from coach to Business or First Class at the check-in gate. This is what really works – and what doesn’t. This is the pecking order – from top to bottom. This is the order in which upgrades at the counter are generally assigned:

Make sure you have elite frequent flier program status and an upgrade certificate to present at check-in.

OK, you don’t belong to the top status frequent flier program – but you do have that upgrade certificate in your possession.

High level Platinum or Gold Frequent Flier Members on a flight that is overbooked in coach.

Since the average flight is overbooked by about 12%, this happens more then you might imagine.

These are coach passengers flying on a non-discounted Y Class economy fare. Last-minute business travelers often fall into this category.

If you are flying on a partner airline and are a Top Tier, Gold or Platinum, Frequent Flier, you are next in line for n upgrade. American and British Airways, United and Lufthansa, and Delta and Northwest are examples of these partner airlines.

You are a top tier member of a partner airline FF Program and your flight is oversold in coach.

This one is a bit unusual. On lightly-booked flights, weight issues sometimes require that coach passengers be moved to the front of the aircraft for “balance.” It helps if you have been assigned a seat in the middle of the aircraft – those are the seats they move first.

If you are traveling alone and have no airline affiliation or a low level FF mileage account, this one could work. But the gods have to be smiling in your favor. Sit within site of the gate agent and be dressed in business attire. If a civilian needs to be upgraded and none of the category fliers listed above are available, you may be asked to vacate your coach seat for something in business.

Yes, you may be offer4ed an upgrade if you volunteer. But the chances are that you will have to fly later, perhaps much later, an possibly on a connection.

This one is hard to quantify but enough gate agents have told us this actually happens for us to believe it. They can place a comment on your record that reads something like “really nice pax”. When the supervisor of the flight is searching the passenger list, your namecould jump out when candidates for an upgrade are needed. But this one has to be played carefully. Gate agents were unanimous in telling us that they virtually never give upgrades to passengers who ask for one unless they meet some of the stringent criteria above.

NEW ROYAL CARIBBEAN GENESIS CLASS

TO LAUNCH IN 2009

Note: This wonderful article froim Popular Mechanics captures the relative size of the largest ship ever constructed.

GENESIS

Price Tag: $1.2 billion
Completion Date: 2009
Total Length: 1180 feet
Passengers: 6400

tIn the cruise ship industry, the battle for bragging rights has turned into a QE2-size slugfest. In 2003, Cunard stole the crown for world’s largest cruise ship when it launched the 151,410-ton Queen Mary 2; three years later Royal Caribbean topped it with the 154,000-ton Freedom of the Seas. Now, Royal Caribbean is set to raise the stakes yet again with the 220,000-ton Genesis, slated to launch in 2009 from a shipyard in Turku, Finland. (A second Genesis will launch a year later.) Why is bigger better? “Make no mistake, Genesis will be no lumbering behemoth. The ship’s three main propellers will swivel 360 degrees on independent bearings. All will be driven by electric motors powered by the ship’s central bank of six diesel generators, and steered by an integrated navigation and control system. From the bridge, the captain will be able to move the ship in any direction — forward, backward, sideways — with the flick of a joystick. No tugboats required.

The next shot in the "Weight Wars" has been fired by United. All domestic fliers who are not members of the airline's Mileage Plus Program will be charged $25.00 for a second, checked piece of luggage. International fliers oin United will not have to pay the surcharge.

It will be possible to check a third and fourth bag on domestic flights for an additional $100 per bag.

It will be fascinating to see how United's competitors will react. But this is just the beginning of new pricing policies that will attempt to connect the cost of the ticket with the weight of one's belongings. The next step may well be additional charges for Obese passengers, a plan several airlines are considering.

Last night, the folks at ABC's 20-20 did a special report on Dan Buettner's work on the Blue Zones Project. This is an attempt to rate the happiness quotient of the residents of countries around-the-globe using the latest database information and social science research techniques.

The answer turned out to be Denmark, a place with cold winters and a tax rate that hovers between 50-70% of income for the majority of residents.

And you know what - the people actually love the fact that their government has the highest per-capita spending in the world for children and the elderly. They love the fact that the government takes care of the costs of education, health care, and a thousand little annoyances that those of us in America put up with on a daily basis. And they love the fact that this all frees them to be "happy."

Canadians turned out to be far happier then residents of Fiji, Italy, or France. The US placed 23rd on the list. Singapore was one of the happiest places on earth and it has one-man rule.

There will be lots of discussion about this happiness thing, but I feel somewhat relieved that my past perceptions of the people of Denmark has, at last, been somewhat vindicated. There is virtually no crime, the people are inordinately healthy, and they sort of like their government.

Our favorite freeze from the report was a scene outside a Copenhagen coffeeshop. Baby carriages were lined up outside as the mothers ducked inside for a cup of coffee. No one was watching the babies. No one had to. Every passerby was watching those children. That may be the definition of happiness. It is a visual I will never forget.

If you needed proof that China has gotten off the anti-materialism bandwagen, look no further then the 3-D Gold Jewelry store on Man Lok street, Kowloon .

Head toward the back of the store and you will discover a solid gold bathroom complete with toilets, wash basic and, toilet paper holders. Even the walls are lined with gold.

It seems that the owner was intrugued by Lenin's statement that he wanted to see the masses sitting on gold toilets. If you don't want to hear a sales pitch, you might visit the loo at the Peninsula.

For information on the world's best, and worst toilets, visit www.the bathroomdiaries.com

Now that Singapore Airlines has taken delivery of the new, superliner in the sky, the Airbus 380, they must be a tad disappointed that publicity is swirling around the potential use of their double-bed "suites" in first-class.

The airline has rules against sex in the sky which it says it will enforce. Meanwhile, a British couple, became the first to occupy the suite and reported "no cigar" since the press was hovering in the aisle outside their tiny compartment.

The "suite cost just over $14,000 round-trip between LA and Singapore.. For that price, one might imagine the sky is the actual limit on extracuricular activitiy but after plying you with champage, the "Singapore Girls" will be watching. Just how activity in the bed will be monitored is still Singapore's secret. All of this serves to conceal the fact that the new aircraft, vital to Airbus' future, has been an initial success.

Is across the Tiber River in Trastevere. Imagine winding streets, narrow cobblestone paths, and Verdi or Puccini coming out a fourth floor open window. Imagine the best of Rome's trattorias and small bars, filled by inhabitants of the oldest neighborhood in the entire city.

The last time there, I brought friends to a small place near the Basilica di Santa Maria. We sat outside on the rear patio. As my friend leaned back in his chair, I was able to point out that he was leaning on a portion of the original wall that surrounded the ancient city. Somehow, this made the tortellini al sugo seem more memorable.

But where to stay?

There are relatively few hotels here and the two-star run-downs are not suitable for upscale visitors. But one little gem is the four-star Hotel di Santa Maria. Expect wood-beamed ceilings and frequent wake-up calls from the sound of the bells at the nearby Basilica. The three-star Ripa hotel is larger and the suites are fine but there have been maintenance problems are reason enough to avoid the place.

U.S. Passport holders are being urged to take extra precautions to protect their documents from gangs of thieves operating in several portions of South America.

According to State Department sources, Americans traveling to certain cities where these gangs operate, face greater than normal risk of having their documentation stolen. . There is suspicion that terrorist groups may be purchasing altered documentation from street hustlers willing to sell these documents to the highest bidder.

NBC Dateline recently aired a segment highlighting this problem which involves both stolen existing tourist passports and visas, as well as clean documentation which could enable a terrorist to enter the US.

Tourists visiting Lima, Peru, Santiago, Chile, and Caracas, Venezuela should be particularly alert.

Remember to never wear a fanny pack. Documentation should be stored in a slim bag around your neck.

The bottom line for visitors to South America is that this type of theft is up dramatically in a number of cities. Loosing your passport is a hassle. But when it is sold to anyone willing to pay for it, in an altered state, there are concerns that go deeper then inconvenience.

A new, all-suite, River Cruising Company headed up by Albert Peter, the former CEO of Silverseas, the world's top-rated cruise line, is causing more than the usual amount of industry buzz.

Jewel River cruises will debut in 2008 with six exisiting ships under three brand names. Jewel will be the luxury brand, Emerald River Journeys will be 4-star, and Princess River Journeys will be contemporary. Each of the five ships in the premium and contemporary category are chartered to European operators so all of the attention is being focused on the single ship Jewel line.

The real stiry is that two new-builds are already committed for delivery in 2009 and 2010. Peter and his team clearly intend to "own" the luxury River segment, a gap that is waiting to be filled in the fastest growing segment of the travel industry.What travelers ,can expect, at this point is an on-board Spa, several dining options, large cabins , and a new onboard approach to destination enrichment.

One of the other key executives is Ulrich Baur who helped launch Viking River Cruises. The third major player is a well-known Swiss financial player.

The Jewel Imperial Blue, previously known as the Hispania is going through a $3.5 million refurbishment and will sail, part of the year, round-trip from Paris.

Little-known Grandluxe Rail, based in Evergreen, Colorado is trying to reconstruct the good old days of upscale rail travel.

One of our favorite itineraries is an April trip that begins in New Orleans winding its way through the Midwest to New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, and San Francisco and its nearby wine country. Guests on the 8-day trip travel aboard a 21-car train that features appointments that border on "vintage.", capturing the feel of the so-called Golden Age of Rail Travel.

Passengers sleep in private compartments in an atmosphere that is reminiscent of the Orient Express. Grandluxe offers early booking discounts. The company does not have a huge advertising budget and this is an option you may have missed.

As reported in this space in late October, Regent Seven Seas, the world's largest-capacity Luxury Cruise Line, has been sold to a U.S. based private investment firm active in the Cruise and Hospitality industry.

Apollo Management, which owns 50% of NCL and 100% of Oceania Cruise Lines, paid a reputed $1 billion to The Carlson Companies to purchase Regent. The Regent Hotel chain remains in Carlson's hands.

Other then the obvious purchasing savings, all indications from a variety of sources, point toward little or no change in either the Regent onboard product or staffing.

Mark Conroy, the highly-respected President of Regent, will continue to operate the company.

The one unanticipated outcome of the purchase is the formation of a new Apollo corporation, Prestige Cruise Holdings. Former Oceania founder and CEO, Frank Del Rio,

will head up Prestige and both Conroy and Bob Binder, the President of Oceania, will report to him.

We anticipate an announcement by Regent in the near future that they intend to order at least one new ship for Regent.

Apollo has become a major player in the cruise industry, quickly building the nation's third-largest passenger shipping line. NCL is an entry-level line, Oceania is high-end premium, and Regent is true Luxury. It is an intriguing mix of brands and allows for future expansion with the favorable overall economics.

At this stage, no one at Regent has been displaced and there are few indications that changes will be made in either management or sales. Ships schedules willnot be altered.

Be careful out there. From Rio and Buenos Aires to Rome and Barcelona, Americans may be targeted by thieves with foul-smelling liquids in squeeze bottles.

The scam work likes this: Somehow, the liquid in the bottle, containing ketchup, mustard, or far worse, is spilled on the hapless tourist. Immediate apologies ensue and a helpful stranger arrives with some tissues to clean the spillage off your clothing. So, you put down your bag for a moment, or your purse. Or, if you are in the hands of a particularly adept crew, your pocket has already been picked. And off they run, dropping everything and scooping up your belongings.

Is this prevalent? In portions of the southern Med and South America the number of incidents have been growing. One of the reasons why thiis happens is the predicted behavior. We welcome the assistance of strangers.

The best rule is to keep walking if something spills on you until you get to an area where you can take care of it yourself

Travcoa, the California-based luxury tour operator for their 15-Day LAPLAND REINDEER SAFARI. This extraordinary travel adventure includes dogsled, snowmobile, and reindeer sleigh rides through pristine arctic wilderness. Guests meet the Sami, Scandinavia's ancient herders and sip Vodka while staying at the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjavi.

This hotel is rebuilt every winter from thousands of tons of snow and ice. The tour encompasses Rovaniemi, Lapland capital located directly on the Arctic Circle. Guests on the February 28th departure will celebrate the Festival of Maria's Day with the Sami people. This is an amazing trip for those who love the beauty of snow-encased villages in a magnificent landscape. It is thoughtfully planned with only 1 single-night hotel stay. We congratulate Travcoa and the team that designed The 2008 Travel truth "Escorted Tour of the Year".

Royal Caribbean has announced that the Aker yard in Finland is on "on schedule" for the delivery of the largest, most expensive passenger ship in marimtime history.

She is Project Geneis, and the first of two identical ships will be delivered in 2009.

The stats are amazing. She will be 220,000 Gross Tons and will hold 5,400 passengers. Each vessel is estimated to come in at a final cost of $1.2 billion.

Her size will dictate her placement. The Caribbean, likely alternating Eastern and Western itineraries that can handle a vessel of her size.

The publishers of the respected Lonely Planet Guidebook empire have just named Ireland as the World's Friendliest Country. Some residents of Belfast will find that amusing. The second place winner is Fiji, followed by Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim Country, and Malawi.

What won it for the Irish? The LP folks felt that the irish have the world's best-developed sense of huimor. They also felt that they are particularly friendly toward strangers. There is a strong feeling of optimism in the air now that the "troubles" are thought to have finally ended.

Also doing quite well in the polling was the US, Vietnam, Turkey, Scotland, and Samoa.

We think one could do worse then making futuire destination selections entirely on the basis of this survey.

If you want to join Abercrombie and Kent's Around-The-World by Private Jet departure on February 7th - you can't. It is sold out. At a price of $77,750 for a 25-day ultra-deluxe trip on a reconfigured 757, fifty guests were eager to sign on.

The trip takes in Machu Pichu, Easter Island, Apia, Sydney, Angkor in Cambodia, the Taj Mahal, Muscat's Grand Mosque, ancient Petra, and, of course, the Pyramids of Egypt. And so much more.

But we've just learned that a rather large family has cancelled, due to medical reasons, on the previous departure, on January 13th. Now, you can live the ultimate travel dream if you are prepared to leave in the next several months.

Scandinavia sweeps the most important statistical game on the planet. Four of the top five nations listed as the best places to live based solely on environmental factors are Scandinavian. One European country made the top five. The rankings appear in the latest edition of reader's Digest and represent the work of researchers who combined some of the leading data from sources covering 141 nations.

The report also rates the world's greenest, most liveable cities. Here are the five best and five worst:

This new web site, YAPTA.com is consumer friendly and quite useful. You simply type in your travel schedule and YAPTA lets you know when your airfare goes down. Since most airlines will actually give you a refund or a future travel voucher when the price drops, you can take advantage of serious price decreases.

Consumers should note that one specific advantage of buying your ticket from United Airlines and several other carriers directly is that there are no change fees for reissuing when the price goes down.

Today, we reward our readers with a closely-held secret. Every major airline, at every major airport, has one person who is literally in-charge of all customer relations. In airline lingo, that person is called the "Stationmaster."

The Stationmaster will do nothing for you on your day of departure. But real road warriors try to collect the names of the Stationmaster on the major routes they fly. They develop a relationship and call the SM prior to departure for special favors, upgrades, purchase of miles to secure upgrades etc. This is the key person to know and, if at all possible, to befriend.

But what of the special Mileage desk staff you normally call? In fact, they usually don;t even work for the airline. They are travel agents under contract to do the work and so they have little vested interest in taking care of your needs. Carlson Wagon-Lits is one company that does this contract work for the airlines.

The Mouse is flexing his anatomically correct muscles. Following recent announcements that they are building two new Disney Cruise Line Meg-ships, and following the launch of Adventures by Disney, their new tour arm covering 18 international destinations, Disney has purchased 21 prime acres on the island of Oahu.

The planned resort will be mixed-use - featuring a resort as well as timeshares that will be used by members of The Disney Vacation Club. The oceanfront real estate, which Disney bought for $144 million, will house 800 rooms as well as timeshare villas on the southwestern tip of the island.

There has been lots of hot air on this subject. So let's look at three rules that will help you secure a preferred accommodation at your favorite domestic hotel.

01 - Arrive at the front desk dressed to impress. Staff will judge your importance based, in large part,

on your appearance.

02 - Be friendly and give the desk clerk a reason to assign you one of the better rooms. Indicate why your stay is important. Perhaps you are celebrating something important, or you have a really critical meeting in the morning, or this is the first mini-vacation you've had in three years. Never just ask for an upgrade. Always try to give the front desk a reason to take care of you.

03 - Book your hotel stay with a consortium or travel marketing group member that has a complimentary upgrade program. This is a relatively little-known strategy but many of the better agency groups have negotiated complimentary upgrades on arrival for their guests. Some of the organizations that have these arrangements are Signature, Ensemble, American Express, and Virtuoso.

Trendsetter's take note. Recent reports indicate that this years best-selling tour has been Tauck World Discovery's 12-Day Essence of South America.

The wait-list is so long for this program that Tauck is taking wait-lists for departures in 2009.

For those who seek a stronger dollar great food, along with jungles and beaches and non-stop air, South America is becoming the continent of choice for experienced travelers.

Look for more and more travel companies to announce that they are going green. A recent study by the Travel Industry Association of America, reports that 58.5% of American travelers would be willing to pay 10% more for their trip by using a company that strives to protect and preserve the environment.

The first test will likely be the growing number of hotels that will be providing "purified" and "environmentally cleaned and protected" rooms. If these newly designed rooms are not popular, some of the projected environmental innovations touted for the next five years may be thwarted.

What with delays, lost luggage, and the constant challenges faced by even the most expensive deodorant stick, a change of plane shower is nirvana for the harried traveler. So the nice folks over at Terminal Three in London's Heathrow Airport (see story below), have opened up the "Island". This is a "pay as you go" lounge open to anyone willing to ante up an admission charge of $36. This will get you access to more then two dozen showers, some steam cleaning and, perhaps, a bit of a shine on your shoes, and "free" internet.

If you are changing planes at London's Heathrow Airport you may want to pack an extra pair of knickers in your carry-on.

Recent figures indicate that BA flights conencting at Heathrow are having major problems matching passengers with their luggage.

In addition to high lost luggage stats, BA is rigorously enforcing baggage weight limits and a rule that permits only one carry-on of no more then 22' height. Passengers traveling through London may find it advisable to ship their luggage ahead to their hotel or cruise ship via one of the well-regarded private luggage delivery services.

Among the companies that will pick up luggage at your home and haveit waiting for you at your destination abroad are:

(Traveltruth Exclusive) - The extremely well-funded Apollo Management Group recently purchased Oceania Cruises. Now, in one of the industry's best-kept secrets, Apollo has moved to take a 50% stake in Norwegian Cruise Line with a $1 billion cash offer. This will give NCL breathing room to expand and improve on its current services in the Caribbean and in Hawaii. Parent company ,Star Cruises,will retain a 50% stake in NCL.

This move could not have come at a better time for NCL. The infusion of cash will allow NCL to pay-off large portions of its current debt and will allow plans to move forward with new hull construction and the F3 generation of ships.

Apollo now owns niche player Oceania and is pledged to expand the line with two, new 1250 passenger ships. With the NCL deal firm, speculation is that Apollo is attempting, in short order, to become cruising's third largest brand. This would indicate that Apollo is poised to announce the purchase of a third line, one of the luxury brands.

We have just returned from one of the world's largest gatherings of worldwide travel consultants, cruise line executives, hotel managers, and tour operators.

The annual Virtuoso Travelmart at the Bellagio in Las Vegas featured participants from more then 100 countries. We met face-to-face with our 130 on-site offices and with airline executives. Last year, Virtuoso's 294 agency members produced $4.2 billion in leisure sales. Here are just a few initial observations from this gathering of travel's "Best of the Best".

02 - The percentage of American guests at the best countryside properties in Italy, Great Britain, and France is decreasing. We are hearing that American guests make up only 4-15% of some of Europe's best non-city hotel properties.

03 - Use of private jets for overseas travel is increasingly dramatically. Bljue Star Jets is one firm benefitting from this trend.

04 - Supplier-sponsored web sites are taking market share away from last years "Big Five" travel web addresses. Hotel sites have seen the most growth.

05 - The world's top three airlines are now all based in the Middle East. hey are cash-rich and able to provide service and amenities that exceed even the best of the Asian carriers.

On a personal level, the highlight of the gathering was a surprise visit by the Boys Choir from Kenya, young Masai singers and dancers. Their rendition of America the Beautiful succeeded in bringing hundreds of travel veterans to tears. Micato Safaris arranged for their transportation and accommodations. Seeing the Masai in their red plumage parading through the halls of the Bellagio in Vegas has to rank as one of the most incongruous sights of any travel year.

Visitors from tranquility base stopped by the office yesterday. I refer to "best kept secret" resorts belonging to the Aman group, the ultra deluxe company that owns, manages, and markets small resorts that are the envy of other hotel groups.

Every one of the seventeen Aman resorts is set in a beautiful natural location. The resorts are low key and on the small side, with the air of a Buddhist temple and the feel of lilly ponds dancing along the ridge of a small, mist-shrouded mountain.

Studies show that budget and midrange travelers do not have much hotel brand loyalty.but true luxury travelers do. And the languishing done at Amanresorts is done by some of Hollywood's top stars and some of corporate America's leading lights. They are extremely brand loyal. Now you know their secret.

The first Amanresort opened in 1998 in Phuket. There are now resorts in diverse locations such as

Bhutan, France, Cambodia, the Society islands, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the U.S. (Jackson Hole) and the Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean.

When it comes to vacation planning,, this is as close as a "sure thing" as you can get. These resorts are perfect for peace and tranquility seekers in the best resort locations on earth. Expect the highest levels of service and memorable cuisine.

The new Trendwatch Report from Harris Interactive on behalf of Expedia is filled with valuable information.

Perhaps most interesting are the results of a survey of 1500 European hoteliers that indicates that Americans are significantly better tourists then some would have us believe. In fact, the only higher-ranking tourists are the Japanese.

Americans are the "most generous" and, rather surprisingly, "the most likely to attempt a foreign language." Note we said "attempt" not "master".

We rank third when it comes to "best behaved" .Only the Japanese and the British are better guests.

On the down side, Americans are considered the very worst dressers, and remember that Russian tourists are part of this study. Were it not for the dependably loud Italians, we would also be the noisiest.

So you are leaving on a cruise that begins in Istanbul and you thought you'd have Fed-Ex pick up your suitcase at the house and ship it - to the ship. Current cost for a 50 lb. suitcase is $478.12.

And you're probably going to need more then one piece of luggage. $1,000 for two bags is just about right. It is a very costly alternative to having the airlines lose your luggage.

The most important trick used by the pros is really simple - yet very few travelers do it. Program the reservations number of every airline you will be flying into your cell phone contact list. Never stand in a long line if a flight is cancelled or severely delayed. Sit down, have a beverage, and call the airline on your cell phone to deal with an emergency like a suddenly cancelled flight.

If you are carrying a laptop, use Flighttracker to check on the status of your flight.

If you want to be fanatical - and really prepared, program in the telephone number of the lost baggage department. And don;t be surprised if the person at the other end of the phone is in Mumbai. Several major aifrlines have outsourced their lost luggage departments.

We've addressed this question before but it remains one of life's perplexing mysteries. Timing is everything. Here is the best current strategy:

01 _ If possible, book your air using miles 360 days prior to your day of departure. Begin calling about 20 minutes past midnight.

02 - If the above is not practical, we recommend that you wait until 90 days prior to your desired departure. Seats previously held for high level frequent flyers are often released at this time.

03 - If that doesn't work, try calling sixty days prior to your intended departure when additional seats may be released.

Remember that all airlines hold seats for their most premium frequent flyers. If you are an optimistic person, you can hope that still more mileage seats will become available on the day of departure. Try calling 24 hours prior to your scheduled flight to beat the system.

We have just received the August issue of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. CNT has, over the years, established itself as the true voice of literate, travel destination reporting and consumerism. It is a singular honor to be mentioned so favorably in their pages. It motivates all of here at traveltruth.com to keep doing what we are doing.

While it is true the number of passport applications grew from eleven to fourteen million in the early days of summer, the real problem with the passport office is just now coming to light.

It is a severe labor shortage of a particular kind. There are plenty of clerks to input the information - no problem. But after that, applications can sit for months waiting for official "ejudicators" to sign off on each application.

The ejudictores are in short supply. Their job is to take the data and to try to authenticate that the applicant is not a security risk.

The backup is now so extensive, that officials are bringing in more then seventy ejudication-certified specialists from diplomatic posts overseas. They are expected to be in place within the next 30 days. But don;t expect this governmental mess to be straightened out until Mid-September when applications will reach a more manageable number.

It is hot and your aircraft is full. There is going to be a percentage of folks who smell bad this summer and this could ruin your normally delightful flight experience.

Airline staff say the problem is getting worse. Some of them have taken to carrying essential oils which they apply to their nostrils. You may want to try this technique, choosing a scent that is strong enough to mask smells emanating from passengers in your immediate area. Try oil of lavender or even essence of vanilla.

Mix and match until you have developed the best possible odor mask on the planet. Then private label a few bottles and give some to your friends as gifts. Anyone would be grateful for something that will mask the odor coming from the perspiring fellow in seat 39 B who just took off his shoes to reveal he doesn't wear socks.

Cruises along the interior waterways in Europe are hot. In fact, they now represent the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry. Some of the leading contenders, such as Viking River, Amadeus, Tauck and Peter Deilmann, can't build new boats fast enough. Current shipyard orders are backlogged.

The reasons seem obvious enough. Fewer then 200 passengers. All meals and shore excursions are included so the cost, in dollars, is a real value compared to independent travel relying on the dollar rate against the Euro.

Each of the lines below is capable of providing a superior European River Boat experience. But like all other aspects of travel, there are qualitative differences. Here is how we rate the products available to Americans in 2007/2008..

The Swiss Emerald is the best riverboat on the Danube. The new 118 guest Tauck Riverboat will be ready in time for the 2008 season on the Danube. Luxury Suite cabins are just over 300 square feet. Wines are included and Tauck offers the most comprehensive and best-managed sightseeing programs.

Four Tauck Directors accompany each sailing. Pre and post hotel stays are part of the package. Tauck costs a bit more but they are the best on the waterways at the current time.

The largest European River Boat company, Viking offers an upscale product throughout western and eastern European Capitals. They also operate in Russia and they have two new boats offering comprehensive programs in China on the Yangtze. Viking River is reliable but customer service standards are not up to tauck's. Air schedules can be less then desirable so guests may want to consi8der doing their own air.

The onboard product is definitely first class. The major criticism of Viking River is the pace. Guests who do the line's China program will need a vacation when they return. But if daily sightseeing in Europe is your thing,, Viking represents the best cruise for the money provided you book early enough to take advantage of early booking discounts.

This is a highly-respected German company that operates nine river boats ranging in quality from 3 to 5 stars. The Mozart has long been a favorite of those seeking al elegant vessel with a largely German and Austrian clientele.

Announcements are in German and meals, particular dinners, tend to be a bit more formal then they are on boats catering to Americans. This line cruises the Elbe, the Main, the Rhine, and the Danube. Its vesseles also cruise in Provence and the Midi. This is an excellent choice for German-speaking Americans and those seeking a continental experience.

This is the riverboat firm owned by giant mainstream tour operater Globus. Their newest boats are the Tranquility and the tough-to-pronounce Imagery. Avalon is a well-managed company that has grown by 50% in the last 24 months. The line claims that its new Silent Drive System makes for a significantly quieter ride for guests. Early reports indicate that the system is quieter.

Routes include all of the main central European waterways with emphasis on packaging pre and post night tour stays. Avalon is not five-star but it is four and a half plus and the line is backed by one of the industry's largest and most stable brands.

Often confused with rival Avalon, Amadeus is particularly strong in central and Eastern Europe.

A large ownership is percentage is held by General Tours, a long-standing tour firm that made its name by bringing mass tourism to Russia. The line operates the refurbished Tolstoy on Russian waterway programs. Two new ships, the Amalegro and the Amadagip joined the fleet in the past twelve months and they are among the finest riverboats in Europe. The Amadante joins the fleet in 2008. Amadeus does market within Europe..

The Millennium, one of Celebrity's top-rated ships, is limping toward Naples after the propeller blade on its pod propulsion system was severely damaged.

Reports from the ship tell of an offer of $750 in cruise credits for guests who sat on the ship for several days after the accident, missing ports such as Livorno (Florence). Angry guests confronted the tour desk staff who fled the ships theater. Some guests were screaming for compensation. A committee was formed to confront the ships Captain.

A second memo was placed in ships cabins upping the offer to a 50% cruise fare refund. This did not satify the guests and there were more confrontations in the area of the Purser's lobby.

Finally, a third offer with a full refund of the cruise fare was posted outside each guests cabin.

Reports from the ship indicate that Celebrity caved in to guest demands and severly bungled the handling of a challenging onboard situation.

Data clearly shows that Turkey is the most dangerous place to drive in Europe. Greece is one of the most dangerous, along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia.

OK, perhaps I have convinvced you not to rent a car in any of these places. Someone is driving the tour buses and the taxis. Someone who may be contributing to the dismal accident statistics in these countries.

There is no means to protect yourself other then to work with a company overseas that takes pains to hire only the safest drivers. But that does nothing to control the guy driving towards you.

The safest roads are in England, ireland,, and Scotland, along with the Scandinavia countries.

There is a little-known fact that drives hotel execs crazy and is rarely talked about publicly. Most countries have laws that make it illegal for a hotel to take possession of a guests room on check-out day if the guest has decided to extend their reservation. This means that hotels, through no fault of their own, could have a number of guests utilizing rooms they thought would be free to sell. This can create an overbooking situation for even the most prestigious hotels worldwide.

Many families want connecting rooms. The best hotels will rarely, if ever, confirm them. And for much the same reason. If the rooms manager cannot kick guests out at the end of their stay, how can they truly guarantee specific rooms that connect?

This is one of the industry's best-kept secrets. Lawyers generally are aware of the rule, most consumers are not.

While there are technical ways for a hotel to circumvent the law, most will not risk the potential legal action that could arise when someone who wants to remain at a hotel is "required" to leave.

We have just completed our 2007 rankings of the international airlines that offer the best service in the sky. Our ratings are based on reviews of all available industry sources that use quantitative measures to determine which flight crews provide consistently excellent service. At this moment, the top five airlines in the world, based entirely on in-flight service, are:

Our ratings are focused entirely on service in-flight. The flight crews on the airlines in our Top Five, provide :memorable service" more often then not.

The biggest surprise is the rather sensational gorwth of Qater as it solidifies its standing as one of the world's great airlines. Another airline from the Gulf region, Emirates, places # 6.

The major cruise lines are now using proprietary software that selects flights for their guests on air/sea programs. Consumers would be surprised to know that human intervention in the selection of flights is rare. If the computer, for example, shows that a 45-Minute Delta connection at New York's JFK is "legal" then that may be the flight assigned. "Legal" connections are merely connections that the individual airlines say are legal.

One of the worst airports for tight connections is Frankfurt, where international transit passengers must pass through security checks even though they just walking from one plane to another.

Stomach-churning connections in Europe are now so common that we are recommending that all Europe-bound cruise passengers do air deviations or consider taking their air credits and having their consultant make private air arrangements.

Current estimates are that July is going to break all previous records in terms of international passenger traffic at the nation's major airports. TSA and the airlines are gearing up, but we may see significant delays.Discuss the specific time you need to be at the airport with your travel professional. July will see record numbers of European Cruise and Escorted Tour travelers, lured by the savings of prepayment in dollars.

For those seeking private guide services abroad, here is an idea that I really like for adventurous travelers who are comfortale making arrangements after they arive,

On the morning after your arrival, visit the local police station and ask to speak to the person in charge. Explain that you would like to employ an off-duty officer with decent English skills to give you an informal and personal tour of the city. Of course you will offer compensation.

This is a novel, and potentially fascinating way to travel safely while getting a true insider's view that even the guidebooks haven't discovered.

The hunt is on in Alaska waters. Shore excursions for this summer have some novel twists. Royal Caribbean will take guests on a Dog Sledding Tour at the Mendenhall Glacier. Or, if they prefer, guests can do a float plane trip in Ketchikan that will place thjem in some of the best bear-viewing territory near Anan Creek.

Holland America has a Bike and Brew Tour that combines a brewery visit with a bicycle trip through the rain forrest.

Regent Seven Seas will be calling at the Campbell River providing opportunities to ride on a mail-delivery float plane.

NCL has a Hummer Tour in Juneau and a boat that takes guests fishing for halibut or salmon, followed by the cooking of their catch on a remote beach.

But the best active shore excursion in the world award still belongs to Crystal Cruises which offers guests the opportunity to fly a Russian MIG over the city of St. Petersburg

Not long ago, the folks in the Statistics Department at Harvard came up with figures that clearly proved that you are safer, on average, in an airplane flying overseas then you are in your car on an American highway. But now, it appears, we are just about at the point of critical mass.

Could it be that you actually extend your life expectancy when you travel overseas?

This has to do with the fact that when you travel abroad you are not driving a car in America and you are not susceptible to gunshots from a fellow-American. More than that, you will not be killed by a falling television set, one of the major causes of death in the United States. Put together all of the dangerous things you will be avoiding, driving roads filled with self-important, intoxicated teens in high-powered cars chief among them, and your actuarial table will clearly show an increase in overall life expectancy.

There is a vacation that no one ever books. But now, new air schedules make it possible. It is an extraordinary combination of two of the world's great destinations. Here is how to set it up:

Fly one of two daily non-stop Emirates Air flights from New York to Dubai. If you prefer, stopover in London.

Take a helicopter transfer to the Burj Al Arab Hotel (ranked # 1 in the world). Stay five nights.

Fly Emirates (rated one of the world's Top two Airlines) to the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean with perfect weather, 26 atolls and 83 private-island resorts. On arrival, tale a 30-minute sea plane ride to the One & Only Kanuhura private island resort, with 100 luxurious villas along the water's edge.

Your launch will take you back to Male Airport for your overnight flight back to the States via Dubai.

This is the vacation for those seeking the "Best" in each component of their vacation, from airline to destination to accommodations.

Everyone does lists but us. If you are thinking about a vacation within the States and you want a sure thing, here is our current ranking of the five absolute best resorts in the United States:

# 3 - Amangani in Jackson Hole, Wyoming# 4 - The Sanctuary Kiawah island, South carolina

Wave month is upon us and wave week, the heaviest booking week of the year will arrive next Monday. Inustry analysts and executives are reporting the following trends:

01 - There is greater than normal weakness in the Caribbean requiring the extention of promotional pricing that was supposed to end in January.

02 - There has been a strong six-month surge in the booking of so-called exotics, featuring itineraries of 15 days or longer. Each of the lines doing Around the World cruises has reported record percentages of guests taking the full cruise versus segments.

03 - The luxury sectort is having some challenges in Europe but the premium brands are seeing extremely strong bookings.

Some lines feel that they will be able to "put Europe to bed" by the end of this month.

The travel press has been slow to report a growing level of crime directed toward American cruise ship passengers exploring certain European ports. Barcelona is one of Europe's most dangerous ports. On the November 4th sailing of the Crystal Serenity, two groups of passengers were attacked as they walked the streets of Barcelona.

One suffered serious knife wounds. In another incident on the same cruise, a couple was accosted at a red light as they sat in their rental car. A motorcyclist tried to force them out of the car. French police are now advising tourists not to stop at red lights in Nice after midnight becasue the situation has gotten so serious.

Americans renting cars along the French Riviera should know that criminals can easily identify their vehicles a vehicle from the rental pool.

Visa and Mastercard issuing banks have continued to jump on the "Out-of-Country" Fee scam. The vast majority of bank-issued Visa and Mastercards are now charging a 3% penalty fee for all foreign purchases made on their cards.

In addition, we are receiving reports that interest payment penalties are now beginning on the date of the charge, rather than the previous 20-30 day period after the original charge.

Holders of airline mileage credit cards are reminded that the IRS will allow tax payments by credit card in a number of circumstances. Please discuss this strategy with your accountant.

There is a list you need to look at. It is Seabourn Cruise LIne's list of Signature Value Sailings. Past guests of Seabourn, currently rated # 1 in the world in our latest traveltruth update, can now receive unprecedented savings of 50% Per Guest! This could bring the price of a seven-night cruise in Europe down as low as $2998 on this all-inclusive, gratuities included fleet. (Most fares will be higher)

And here's the secret. They define "Past Guest" as anyone who has sailed on any one of the parent company's lines of lesser quality. So if you have sailed Princess, Holland America, Carnival, Costa, or Windstar you are eligible for these same past guest rates. It is the single best cruise offer we know since it involves upgrading on a 2-1 basis with the world's very best cruise line.

Maverick cruise line, Oceania, has just completed the full out purchase of the ships it had been leasing from the holding company, Cruiseinvest for a total cost of $375 million.

Oceania has been realizing substantial early bookings as a result of its 2-1 pricing with Free Air offers. As of mid-October, the line's 2007 inventory was 72% sold with more than 30% of 2008 under deposit.

It turns out that research shows that Tuesday is the best day to secure low airfares, New fares are usually determined at Monday morning meetings. The fares are completed and available to book first thing Tuesday morning after being placed in the database on Monday night.

There are millions of exceptions to this advice. No hard and fast rules here. But if you have a choice, Tuesday should be your day to search out low fares.

Here is the confusion - the rules regarding Mexico, Alaska/Canada, and the Caribbean are, as things now stand, different for those who are flying into a neighboring country versus those who are cruising or driving. Technically, air travelers will need a Passport as of January 8th 2007. That's just a few weeks away. Cruisers to Alaska/Canada, for example, have until 2009. But the date for 2009 is not fixed and could bemoved up.

Meanwhile, some cruise lines, such as Princess, have already announced that they are requiring passports of all Alaska cruisers in 2007.

The Bottom Line: Since world conditions may make it necessary to have a passport for Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean sooner than 2008, all travelers are strongly advised to apply for a passport immediately. This includes children of all ages.

Why: Suppose you go on your cruise - without a passport. But you need to go home mid-cruise due to family emergency or illness. You would be flying into the U.S. without a required passport.

Details: A first-time passport costs $97 and is valid for ten years. For details visit www.travel.state.gov

Tehran's Official Republic News Agency reported, this week, that Iran is just simply not getting its fair share of American tourists. So, in an announcement that is bathed in irony, the nation's tourism minister, Mohammed Sharif Malakzadeh announced that his

department will pay travel agents $20.00 per head, hopefully not literally, for any American or European Tourists booked on vacation trips into the country.

If you are, say Asian, or South American - sorry - your travel agent only makes $10.00 a head.

I wish I had sat in on the focus group that discussed this new travel incentive.

Beautiful hotel palaces vie with the world's most enticing shopping arcades and you get to arrive on one of the world's top two airlines.

But Dubai's ruling Maktoum family, which holds controlling stock in the nation's three largest luxury real estate firms, is spreading its wings - as only Dubai can spread them

Look for mega resort projects with sports, hotel, and shopping components to emerge in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Turkey, Jordan, and Pakistan. But the first project is going to be Oukaimeden, in Morocco.

We're talking about imitation beaches, world class golf, two or three of the world's most luxurious hotels flanked by scores of millionaires villas etc. etc. Morocco, according to Newsweek Magazine, has earmarked $19 billion for this project.

Wherever you turn in the Middle East, well not exactly everywhere, no immediate projects are scheduled for Iraq, Dubai-style luxury gated communities are on the drawing boards. One of the wealthiest corners of the planet is constructing a new look that will make the Middle East a haven for those seeking the world's most upscale lifestyles.

Conde Nast Readers name Regent Seven Seas and Sea Dream Yacht Club Best in Class:

The Conde Nast Reader's Choice Awards for 2006 were announced last evening. in front of an auditorium filled with industry execs in New York's Museum of Natural History.

The star-studded event had the feel of the Academy Awards, with red carpet, press, and an elegant pre-awards reception in the midst of the Oceanographic section of the museum.

The two cruise awards were greeted with a ripple of surprise and applause. Crystal Cruises had swept the large ship award for years. That was not to be last night.

By the narrowest of margins, Regent Seven Seas was named "World's Best Large Ship" Cruise Line. This might have been a surprise to the crew aboard Regent's 490 Guest Navigator.

A murmer of shock could be heard as "Sea Dream Yacht Club" was named "World's Best Small Ship Cruise Line." Quite an honor for a cruis eline whose total guest capacity is 200.

Our recent evaluations are in line with both awards. We feel that Regent Seven Seas and Sea Dream, albeit different experiences, have learned how to implement recent improvements with a high degree of consistency.

Expressing confidence in the growth of the luxury sector of the cruise industry, parent Carnival cruise lines has announced the construction of two new ships for its Seabourn division.

The two new ships will be built in Italy at a cost of $250 each. The ships will be 32,000 tons with 225 cabins.

Speculation has been rampant regarding the ability of the three top luxury brands, Seabourn, Silverseas, and Regent Seven Seas to thrive without consolidation.

With this announcement, Carnival has made it clear that Seabourn is not for sale.

It is now possible to bring one plastic, see-through ziploc bag with a "reasonable" amount of necessities aboard most domestic flights. It is, therefore, possible to apply moisturizer passing ovcer Cleveland at 33,000 feet.

Although one of the world's great travel destinations, crime is areas of South Africa has reached a point where a number of governments are now issuing warning to its citizens about travel to the cities. Johannesburg Airport is home to organized gang activity as are numerous bus and railway stations. Car jackings are a major problem and muggings can occur at any hour of the day or night. Durban, Pretoria, and even Kruger Park visitors are now being warned of travel dangers in these areas. The US travel press, unlike the media in Australia and New Zealand, for instance, has been slow to inform potential visitors to South Africa of the crime problem. Stories are hard to write because crime statistics are not being released to the public by the police.

Now, even Cape Town, previously known as a safe haven, has its problems. Visitors to Table Mountain are being advised to travel excluseively in groups because of attacks on visitors using the roads into the park.

Sea Dream Yacht Club - Extremely strong advance bookings for these yacht-like 100 guests ships.

Rave reviews and Berlitz claims of "Best food of any US ship" has created very positive buzz.

Royal Caribbean - Freedom of the Seas Inaugurals went so well that the newest ship is gathering most of the attention. Meanwhile, seven-day Caribbean market is down. Sister company, Celebrity has committed to doubling the number of ships in Europe next year. Is this overkill given the fact that the Med is prone to the anxieties of the Middle East.

Norwegian Cruise Line: - Some poor financial results last quarter raised eyebrows. But the Hawaii product is a lock - no one else has it and it would take an Act of Congress to secure permission to operate in Hawaiian waters. NCL is Singapore-owned by Congress voted them special dispensation to sail seven days out of Honolulu. They tried to go with an American crew, required by their agreement, and found that the young Americans they were employing did not have the same work ethnic as the foreign labor employed on other ships. Can they recover?

Silverseas: - Right now, the talk of the industry. Rated Best in he World by us and virtually every rating organization, Silverseas has encountered some stormy seas as a result of the departure of a number of key on-board personnel. Problems seem limited to two of the vessels and the specific area of concern seems centered on the dining room and front desk. Rudeness and a lack of special service by crew members who somehow seem to have missed the fact that they are working for the "World's Best" seems to be the primary problem. Both Seabourn and Regent Seven Seas are the major beneficiaries.

Tauck Tours: The newly launched Swiss Emerald, which Tauck is using this summer on its Danube programs, came out of the yard exceeding all expectations. If this fleet expands with similar vessels and the kind of suites featured ont he Emerald, Tauck could become a major player in the European River Cruise Market.

Holland America: - The "Signature Service" upgrades, once derided as gimmickry, is now seen as a major strategic advantage for HAL in the 2007 Alaska and Europe Market. Three pillow choices, luxurious new bedding, and high-tech demonstration kitchens with a plethora of Great Chefs programs helping Holland America stand out as a premium brand. But how does Carnival position HAL when it also owns Princess, former arch-rival of Holland America, and thought to be a real competitor in the luxury category.

Old thinking - Holland will be for the traditionalists Princess will be the innovator with lots of choices for boomers - and their kids. But HAL won;t roll over and play dead so this rivalry is still interesting.

Oceania - The hottest of the hot. 2 for 1 pricing in Europe plus round-trip free airfare to Europe, has proven to be the promotion that drives them through the door. Some consultants expect Oceania to be sold out in Europe long before their rivals in 2007. Product reviews are quite good and the food is almost as good as the cruise lines claims. The crew seems happy and no one is looking at the original price that was cut in half. Why does all the marketing genius reside in their offcies?

Celebrity Cruises has become the first major player to blink when it comes to cruise calls in Turkey. As a result of bombings in Istanbul two weeks ago, the line has eliminated planned stops in Istanbul and Kusadasi and replaced them with Dubrovnik and Messina in Italy.

The cancellations aboard the Galaxy will inconvenience large numbers of passengers who have made private shore arrangements to view the highlights of Istanbul and the wonders of Ephesus, the primary port highlight in Kusadasi.

Several lines had already changed Istanbul from an embarkation or disembarkation port to a mid-cruise port becasue marketing departments now feel that Istanbul Airport is a net liability.

This weekend, tens of thousands of Americans will make a conscious decision to drive the family somewhere instead of dealing with the hectic, tension-filled delays at our nation's airports. And because of this decision, a percentage of them will die.

This happened just after 9/11. Afraid to fly, Americans packed up the SUV's and packed the family off on road trips. This is one of the most dangerous activities in which one can engage. Short of walking through a dangerous neighborhood at night, driving in America carries serious risk. In fact, if you do go to the airport and fly overseas, your life span actually increases. It increases in exact proportion to the length of time you are away from home.

The single biggest reason is that you will not be driving - therefore your predicted life span goes up.

With our silly vehicles, including giant SUV's that are plastered with "Support Our Troops" ribbons (If you really want to support the troops you might start by not supporting Arab oil), and our cell phone addictions, and our growing propensity to choose to dine while driving, Americans are gaining an interesting reputation as some of the world's worst drivers. And that doesn't;t even factor in our need for hot coffee within inches of our collective groins.

You do have an alternative to long luggage lines at the airport and the predicted substantial increase in lost baggage claims due to security delays. Cimoanies such as Luggage-Free, based in New York, will come to your home, pick up your bags, and transfer them to your destination, safely, and quickly.

What I like about Luggage Free is the ability to customize method of delivery - two-day is less expensive than overnight delivery etc.

The removal of the stress alone might be worth the price. You can reach Luggage-Free at 800-288-9818 for a free quote.

01 - The fact that a large group of British citizens was planning to blow up more then ten airliners in tandem over the Atlantic has taken many top security consultants by surprise. It has been widely assumed that the next attack of a serious magnitude would involve either domestic chemical poisoning or a shoulder-mounted small missile attack on an airliner. IN fact, it is this latter scenario, that has had airline executives most concerned, since a rogue cowboy, acting on his own, near any international airport, could literally shoot a plane out of the sky simply based on its livery.

It had been thought that the next stage would not involve carrying weapons or bomb-making materials aboard aircraft.

02- One part of the story that is never stated by the talking heads is the absolute fact that you are safer going out to the nearest international airport and getting on a plane to Europe then you are staying at home.

Be aware that the following airlines have been linked to terrorist threats and planning.

This list is subject to change - quickly and often. Discuss it with your travel consultant.

04 - What can you bring onboard? Will we be safer because the person sitting next to us could not bring his toothpaste or deodorant onboard? Probably not. But they have to do something. Allow three hours for international and domestic flight check-in until further notice.

You may also want to watch the current confusion regarding carry-on electronics. NBC News reported, incorrectly, that cell phones, Blackberry's, and laptop computers would no longer be allowed in the cabin. For now, you can travel with this equipment - but leave chug the Starbuck's latte before you get to security.

05 - Most of this is, of course, cosmetic. Because what they really won;t tell us is that the Israeli's know how to keep their aircraft safe. As the head of Israeli flight security told CBS's Sixty Minutes, "the difference is that we know who is boarding our aircraft at the time they make their reservation. You (America) wait until they get to the airport." The next likely step is an impossible to forge security ID, perhaps using fingerprint technology.

For now - think with your head and not your heart. Remember you are statistically safer when you fly then you are staying home.

Churchill and Turen Ltd. will shortly become one of the first authorized travel firms in the world to book space tourists. The programs are now available in conjunction with Richard Bramson's launch of Virgin Galactic, the tour operator devoted to space tourism.

The tickets, now available on Virgin's Galactic, will take 150 passengers into suborbitol space for fifteen minutes, including five minutes of weightlessness.

Those who have already booked this program include the designer Philippe Starck as well as a member of the British Royals who has not yet been identified. The price of each ticket is $200,000. Ticket sales to date total $15 million.

For those who might want to try experiencing weightlessness at a lower cost, may we suggest skipping lunch. It was the great Gordon Gecko in the film "Wall Street" who adv

Trend spotters might note that the Four Seasons Hotel chain has started hiring Teen Concierge staff. Their role will be to talk to teen guests about the coolest hang-outs in town, the club scene, available concert tickets etc.

This new service is a tribute to Four Seasons because they are the first to discover several universal truths:

It always amused me that even the virginal wannabe's at Disney Cruise Line, finally figured out that what the teens onboard their ships really wanted was a bar - of sorts. So they now have one, compelete with bar stools, sports ont he wide-screen, pool table etc. Of course the bar is non-alcoholic and serves, among others, a range of coffee drinks. So much better to get the kids high on caffeine then alcohol.

The Chicago City Council is considering legislation that would make the city the first to outright ban food filled with trans fat. The need for this legislation can easily be observed during the city's famous Taste of Chicago, a meg-event that has provided Chicago's cardiologists with substantially more business then they can handle. Chicago was recently awarded the distinction of being recognized as "America's fattest city", a tribute, of sorts, to the town's native cuisine. Pressures have been put on the author of the legislation, Alderman Ed Burke, and he has amended his original proposal to include all food corporations that generate more than $20 million in annual sales. Who could that possibly be?

Meanwhile much like the seats on planes taking off from O'Hare, the new breed of super-sized mega ships, more than two dozen of them, are sufficiently "overweight" to be unable to fit through the Panama Canal. This includes the Voyager class ships on Royal Caribbean, the Grand class ships on Princess, Carnival's Conquest class, and Cunard's new Queen Mary 2. The solution to this ship obesity problem? On October 22nd, voters in Panama will determine if the government can go ahead with plans to expand the present Panama Canal by adding a new lane of traffic for the "fatties", a super-wide lane and a deeper lane than currently exists. The project would be completed in 2014, would double the Canal's size and would be paid for by "higher tolls."

So, let's see .......does that mean that we will all pay for the need to provide special services to the voluntarily obese?

Several independent journalists have concluded that the Starwood Preferred Guest American express Card offers the most mileage for travelers seeking to maximize their options.

This Amex card, which is free for the first year, $30 thereafter, converts dollars spent into Starpoints. These points can be exchanged 1-1 on more than 25 major airlines. The reality is that they are really worth 1.25 miles per dollar spent because Starwood gives you 5,000 additional miles when you convert 20,000 points.

But beware - American Express is charging 2% for all overseas purchases charged on the card to cover their "conversion fees".

A team from the University of Leisterter and colleagues have come up with the news that flying, by itself, does not cause blood clots. It is the sitting for a long time in a confined space that is the culprit and it doesn't much matter of you're sitting in an aircraft or in someone's home shortly after being kidnapped.

The study identifies DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis, as a more frequent occurrence than originally assumed. For every six 747's taking off from any airport, one passenger will likely suffer a blood clot.

Clots become dangerous when they form in the deep veins of the leg, and then break off to block a blood vessel in the lungs, walking about and doing leg raises are two recommended preventatives. The study points out that long distance car or train sitting is just as likely to cause DVT.

If one conducts one's affairs without ever sitting down, the likelihood of DVT virtually disappears.

(With appreciation to my friend, Suzanne Schumacher)

These are the best current recommendations to utilize your time to seek out the best wines in the Napa Valley:

To Begin: Do Domaine Carneros just before you reach Napa. Some really good champagne in a French Chateau-like setting.

Pinot Noir - Robery Sinskey. Trust us. This is the one.

Sauvignon Blanc - Chateau Potelle. Really lovely and very, very hard to find. We also highly recommend Cakebread Cellers.

Chardonnay - Trefethen Newton - But you should make an appointment

We are now hearing anecdotal evidence that credit card holders who raise a major fuss with their credit card issuers have been successful in getting the 3% charge for overseas purchases rescinded.

The fees have been quietly added by most of the major card issuers foir any pourchase of an overseas based product or service. This, theiretically,means that you could be unknowingly charged the fee even if you purchase travel online in the US if the payment on your card is run through an overseas bank.

Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will be adding private double beds to its configuration of the new Airbus 380, the world's largest jetliner now under construction. Virgins version of the new aircraft will also feature a small gym and an on-board casino. If you can work out, gamble, and sleep on this aircraft, why would you ever get off? Well, perhaps to shower. But not to worry - when it takes delivery of its first 380,Dubai-based Emirates Airlines says it will have showers for upper class passengers to be located on the plane's lower deck.

Industry anaysts believe that a rumored strike by Delta pilots could prove fatal to the airline. Although this scenario is unique, Delta's pilots are uniquely fed-up with management. The key datre may be April 15th when the arbitration board in this case is expected to rell delta they must make an additional $300 million in pay cuts. If you are holding Delta tickets these are sme things worth noting:

01 - Your travel insurance will not protect you against losses since most policies consider strikes non-insurable.

02 - Airlines abide by their "Contract of Carriage", a copy of which normally appears on ticket holders or in fine print on theor web site. This constitutes the legal contract between you and the airline. Delta is not required to put you on another airline nor are other airlines required to accept a Delta ticket at face value. You would normally receive a refund for the value of your ticket but that could be a long process if you paid cash. Credit card payments should be quickly refunded. Unfair - but that's the way this has worked in the past.

03 - Cruise lines and tour operators that ticket on Delta as part of their air/sea or tour package have an obligation to get you to your ship or tour and, in the event of this strike, they will attampt to make alternative travel arrangements. However, guests who have been booked on Delta, may want to consider booking their air directly on alternative carriers.

Now that the smoke has, literally, cleared, the results of the fire that took the Star Princess out of service have come into focus.

01 - Princess crew received, almost universal, praise from passengers regarding the manner in which they handled this emergency. Affected guests were quick to assure the press that they would go again on Princess.

03 - The ship is on-track to return to service on May 15th. This is due, in part, to the moduler method of building modern mega-liners. Replacement of cabin sections and refitting tales weeks not months. This is one reason that refurbishments are so successful.

04 - Industry analysts are pleased and a little surprised that the story passed so quickly. Crew performing as per their training, is, in this travcel tabloid age, a rather boring story.

Travelers who stay in $159 per night rooms off New York's Times Square are not 'deluxe travelers" but you would have though they were by the breathless reporting in Prime Time on ABC last night. The show's premise, with the aid of a certified bug expert, was that the nation's hotel rooms are sporting "uninvited guests". In fact, the hotel used, the Crown Royale, did have a problem in one of its rooms but the bug expert pointed out that "there could also be a hundred rooms in this hotel with no bugs at all."

Good Morning America jumped on the ABC anti-hotel bedbug crusade. It reported that "legions of bloodsucking bugs are biting their way through the Big Apple."

01 - There is an "epidemic" and a sure way to locate the bedbugs is by booking hotel rooms in central Manhattan for less than $300 a night.

02 -Mattress manufacturers have been taking used mattresses, reconditioning them, and selling them as new. This has helped spread the problem.

03 - The first place to look for the blood stains that accompany bedbug rest areas is behind the headboard. Most lift away. This is an area that is never cleaned by hotel personnel and the bugs, as simple as they are, seem to know this. The next best thing to do is lift the mattress and use a flashlight. Or, you could stay exclusively in hotels located within Switzerland.

Radisson Cruise line has long-suffreed from its association with the mid-range Radisson Hotel brand. Now, parent company, Carlson companies, has purchased the upscale Regent Hotel chain and Radisson has been renamed Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Look for newservice standards, new bedding, and a rather comprehesive branding of the name Regent to connote quality of the Ritz Carlton variety. Regent is serious.

In a bold move, the cruise line's charismatic President, Mark Conroy, has been given the dual role of running the line as well as the new hotel brand. This is a synergy that is new for the industry It is a direct partnership between a seagoing and a land-based luxury hotel operation, with one person at the helm. It is going to be fun watching Regent Hotels grow and Regent Seven Seas Cruises flexing its muscles as it competes with the world's top two cruise lines, Seabourn and Silverseas.

My guess is that we will be reading soon that Regent has swallowed one of its rivals. It is already the largest player in the lux cruise market.

United is charging for it's extra legroom economy, American is taking out the kitchens on the rear of its MD-80 fleer, installing more seats. On-board meal service is now seen as a profit center.

But this is just the beginning. We are hearing that seat amenities and location may be future profit centers. Expect at least one major airline, for instance, to see if it can charge extra for bulkhead or even aisle seats. Pricing technology is now sophisticated enough for the airlines to handle this. Certain seats in economy could be outfitted with he same entertainment system used in the front of the plane - for a supplement. Placement and amenities may enable the airlines to begin introducing even more fare types and categories.

The American tourist is part of a vast army that travels on and often through its collective stomach. We are constantly in search of food discoveries. Some of the best food destinations are relatively unknown. Here is a list of some of our favorites:

Naxos - or Samos, or Paros, or any one of the 55 or so inhabited Greek islands. It's the cultural requirement that only the freshest ingredient be used that makes island cuisine truly memorable. How do they do that with a simple Greek salad?

Spain - in the small towns and villages an hour or two outside Madrid, restaurants like El Bulli are creating flavor-envy among denizens of the culinary underworld. Spain. for Foodies, is simply where its happening. Go there or be square.

Bologna - Every Italian knows that the best, the very best, food in Italy is found in the small restaurants in little-known Bologna. That it happens to be utterly beautiful with its miles of colonnades, and only an hour from Florence, makes it even more attractive as a destination.

Lyon - One could argue - but Lyon probably has the best food in France, and despite our prejudices, that still means that it has, block for block, the best food in the world.

Brussels - Rapidly gaining on Lyon as a foodie haven. The world's best chocolate is, alone, a reason to visit.

Oaxaca - Not a bad place to begin the search for Mexico's true culinary foundation. Less Mayan and more heavily influenced by the Spanish, this area has some of Mexico's very best small restaurants, almost all set in a Jimmy Buffet kind of environment.

Montreal - Yes Candia, that part of the world least familiar to Americans. The locals don;t really care if you come or not, but this is a nearby cosmopolitan gem of a city that seems to be totally involved in the creation of memorable cuisine. This is the "no-brainer" destination for foodies.

Much of the press has gotten the current port security flap wrong. There is a missing piece of the story.

Princess Cruises was owned by P&O, until the Carnival Corporation bought them. P&O is a venerable British company that invented the concept of cruising for pleasure. P&O is heavy into building, catering and, lately, security. You have probably seen P&O logo shipping containers, trucks, and construction sites. It was P&O that had the contract for much of the port security currently under discussion. But the P&O port security busness was purchased by a Dubai corporation. That is how security actually ended up in "the Arabs" hands.

Listening to some of the phone callers to talk radio, one wonders what they're reaction might be if they actually visited the beautiful oasis that is Dubai, home of the world's best airport, the world's top-rated hotel, an amazing assortment of upper end shops and famed-chef restaurants, and a population that seems exceedingly peaceful - even content.

The airline industry is powerful enough to keep some news out of circulation in the mass media. The potential dangers of cabin sun on longer daytime flights may be one of those stories.

A Commission in England has been investigating the sharp increases in cancer rates among long-haul BA pilots and cabin crew. The claim is that the sun's harmful rays streaming through aircraft windows may be far more dangerous than most flyers would imagine.

Think about it. You are flying to Australia, or back from Europe. It's a bright, t, shiny day. The sun comes through the window. All is well with the world. But here's the thing. At 33,000 feet, you are flying over the atmosphere - not under it or in it. The atmosphere serves as a filter of many of the sun's most harmful rays. But when there is no atmosphere to protect your skin, what happens? Does the planes fuselage protect you?

No, say many BA personnel. And they've gone to court to state their case. Meanwhile, this story goes largely ignored by the mainstream media.

Look around your cabin the next time you fly. Watch the Europeans closely, particularly those in First Class or Business. Watch them close their shades soon after boarding a daylight flight of several hours.

All the evidence is not in and the shade may not even protect you. But it might. So why not just shut it like the pros do.

If you subject yourself to the nightly diatribes against the cruise industry provided by CNN and MSNBC, you may get the impression that flying off the back of a moving cruise ship is an activity rivaled only by bingo in onboard popularity.

Here are the facts. In the past 24 months, there have been 14 cases of passengers who went "missing" and were presumed to have fallen overboard aboard ships that cater to Americans. This figure seems significant until measured against the almost 20 million guests who sailed during this period.

One of the points that seems to have been overlooked in the press coverage is the fact that cruise lines have, for the past several years, required all crewmembers to undergo State Department background checks as part of the process of securing a US Seafarers Visa. This is not a guarantee of any sort, and there are people working aboard ships who shouldn;t be, but this is all a marked improvement since the days when ships crew were hired abroad without any background check at all.

We call it "Code 331.12:26", the strategy used by the nation's best connected elite flyers to secure the upgrades they need worldwide.

Most major airlines follow the same procedure, to the day, when loading flights into their airline computer systems. The flights are loaded 331 days prior to the departure date - exactly 331 days. AND, they are loaded beginning at midnight, meaning that they are available to book at approximately 12:25-12:30 am, a time when it is relatively easy to get through to the elite desk.

Many long-haul flight segments now allocate only two to four seats in Business or First Class for utilization by high mileage flyers. . The real road warriors set their alarms, allow about twenty-five minutes for loading, and make certain they are on the phone with the mileage desk at 12:26. You see, 12:30 may be too late, and it is unlikely that the loading will be completed by 12:15.

There are times, seasonally, when far more than the usual number of new flights are being entered in the system. The strategy here is to continue trying between 12:26 and 3:30 am. when most flights are available for mileage upgrades.

This strategy is virtually flawless because very few flyers know about it. It does take determination but the rewards are great. And always remember to play both options - pure use of miles for the tickets or purchase of coach fare using miles for the upgrade portion. The latter strategy works most often.

That particular honor would go to the television remote. But ask hotel executives and they will tell you that they NEVER drink out of those glasses in the bathroom that have that nice paper wrapping around the lid.

Do not assume that these glasses are sanitized and certified clean. More likely, someone just rinsed them quickly and put the paper around the glass. Blue light stufdies have shown that these glasses are covered with bacteria and worse.. Hotel execs always rinse them out carefully in the sink before daring to actually drink from them. This also applies to those nice champage flutes in the suites.

One exec from a top chain told me "Richard - we ala carry those little paper cups when we travel. There is no way we're risking the plague by drinking from a glass provided by the hotel.."

Given the press corps handling, to date, of the 'missing honeymooner" case, one can certainly understand why families traveling on one of the mass market lines, like Royal Caribbean, might want to know where their children are at any given time of the day or night. Royal Caribbean is now providing telephones that are hooked up to the ships local frequency allowing for perfect sound communication.

The cost for this service is $25.00 per phone - an excellent investment given the fact that some of these ships weigh in at 115,000 Gross tons - which doesn't mean much until you consider that the ship used for filming the television series Love Boat was 20,000 tons. Kids can get lost aboard these ships.

Since much of the staff hiring on the maga-ships is done in places like the Phillipines and Thailand, don;t asume that local security background checks are comprehensive.

Cruising with kids is still statistically far safer than driving with kids. But there are reasons for caution. We hope that all cruise lines will make telephones available to families.

Merhan Karimi Nasseri is not a household name. He was born in Iran, studied at Bradford University in England and then returned home to face tough questioning about his anti-Shah activities. He went back to Britain but he was refused political asylum.

He ended up at Charles De Gaulle Airport, outside of Paris.. He claims his name is Sir Alfred and denies he is Iranian. He has become a mascot in the Terminal where he makes his home.

Stephen Spielberg's film, "The Terminal", is very loosely based on his life. But unlike Tom Hanks, who falls in love with a flight attendant, Merhan does not have a single friend. He washes in the public restrooms at night, when they are empty. He has walked outside the terminal - but has never ventured more than 100 yards. He appears to have mental problems but he does have dreams - mostly about visiting Hollywood. The French authorities say he poses no problems. Dreamworks has paid him just over $300,000 in royalties. He never goes shopping and has not seen the movie that ostensibly portrays his life. He reads and he writes.

On September 17th, 1999, an international travel card and a French residency permit were gently placred in his hands by French authorities. He will not fly to another country for fear they will list him as an iranian.

Most of the millions of travelers that pass through Charles De Gaulle Airport never notice the balding man on the red bench next to the luggage store in Terminal One. He has been at the airport for the past eighteen years.

The industry is abuzz with the news that Boeing is, not so quietly, running up huge sales of both its 777 and new, 787 Dreamliner. At the November Air Show in Dubai, the world's most important, Boeing sold 138 of the new aircraft, swelling its orders to over 800.

The 787 carries 250 passengers on two engines .Boeing insists that there will be at least a 20% fuel saving on long hauls like Sydney - Los Angeles, compared to current 747 aircraft.

This is not wonderful news for Airbus, Boeing's tough European competitor. Airbus is getting all the press with its "largest ever" 555 passenger A380, referred to in the aviation press as "the flying circus". Airbus is putting its bets on the need for greater capacity aircraft with more amenities. Boeing is putting its money on increased fuel efficiency.

Travelers crossing the Atlantic can choose the A340 from Airbus, a popular four-engine long-haul aircraft. Or they can fly the Boeing's 777 to Europe on two engines. Comparing apples to apples, it is said that the triple 7 is about 22% more fuel efficient and that is why the current version is selling so well.

What is so interesting about all of this is the success that the marketing people have had convincing the consumer that two engines cross the Atlantic are as safe as four. On a two-engine failure, I'm not at all certain that is true.

The easiest way we know to have a vacation you will never forget - fly to Marrakech. Get there on an inexpensive flight out of London, it is only 3 hours away. Check onto a riad, one of the traditional historic houses, in the old quarter. If you are looking for a good one consider Dar Mouassine.

Then - prepare to watch some of the planet's best sunsets, dine on wonderful food, and enjoy a never-ending circus of color and sounds from your rooftop terrace. The thick stone walls of these riads allow your Arabian Nights fantasies to proceed without the awareness of adjoining rooms.

The Latest Credit Card Scam: Hidden Cruise and Tour Charges - the 3% No One is Talking About:

Imagine returning from that European cruise, having paid in full months before,only to find that you have been charged an additional 2-3% FTF on your credit card statement. This is happening. It is happening now, particularly, it is alleged, to cardholders who are using Visa and Mastercard accounts with MBNA, Citi, and Chase.

The charges are called Foreign Transaction Fees. Thus far, it has become an issue for a small percentage of guests sailing Oceania Cruises.

FTC are tacked on to your statement by your credit card company. In the case of Oceania, these fees seem to be generated because credit card charges in dollars are processed through the cruise lines bank in Dublin, Ireland. Your credit card issuing bank may consider that a Foreign transaction, even through you simply gave your credit card to your travel consultant. Fees are added to your cc statement. Sadly, most consumers will never notice the additional charges.

What is most disturbing about this developing story is that the number of banks charging FTF's is growing so quickly that an accurate list of the bad guys is impossible to maintain. Some banks say that you can opt out if you call in advance. Others will reduce the charges if you complain.

Oceania appears not to be at fault. The cruise line has to process through a European bank because it is a European headquartered and financed company.

One Oceania passenger was able to negotiate an on-board credit promise in the event he returned home from his cruise to find the extra charges on his bill.

This is a credit card virus that is spreading. Hopefully, the consumer travel press will be able to shed light on this practice so more consumers become aware of the hidden cost of their overseas vacation.

In the menatime, we urge our clients to contact their credit card issuer to determine their current policy regarding FTF's.

The Singapore Government has carried out its threat to kill a 25 year-old Australian national accused of carrying a bag of herion through airport customs. The hanging has received a great deal of front page notoriety throughout the civilized world. Clearly, the government of Singapore feels that their"toughest on crime" reputation bodes well for the long-term growth of tourism. Singapore hangs more souls per capita then any other nation on the planet.

During my last visit I was assured that Singapore had "the world's lowest crime rate" even before I was off the airport grounds. It was explained that fewer than 18 persons were in the entire Singapore prison system.

Whipping is, of course, still considered a viable punishment for offenses such as littering or acts against property.

All of which serves to explain why the next crop of great stand-up comedians is not coming out of Singapore.

So I'm standing in line at the Hertz counter in San Jose, California last Friday when I heard screaming from the well-dressed gentleman in line behind me.

"Don't anyone buy their gas plan. Fill your car up before you bring it back. What Hertz does is immoral - they're worse than the Saudis. They ought to be fined for their outrageous prices."

The counter clerks ignored the screams - even when several other Hertz customers joined the chorus. I didn't react immediately, becauae people often scream out loud in California, particularly when they are on airport property. But you know what? The guy was right.

Here's the deal. Car renters who do not pay for their gas in advance are going to have it filled up at a posted rate of $6.34 per gallon! The rate is so high because Hertz, and most of its competitors, hit the consumer with a service charge for pumping the gas. This so-called "convenience charge" adds more than $3.00 to each gallon of gas.

This is an outrage worthy of a congressional investigation. It turns out that the highest gas prices on earth are not in Scandinavia or Tahiti. The highest prices are in America - wherever you see a Hertz car rental location.

Never, ever return a rental car with anything less then a full tank. When they pump you lose. Of all the major rental car companies, Enterprise seems to have the lowest current prices for gas.

Las Ventanas is, arguably, the best hotel on the continent of North America. Think of a sewing kit delivered to your room on the second day. It is delivered on the second day of your stay because every thread in the kit matches the threads of the clothing hanging in your closets. Think excellent service with underground staff tunnels so as not to disturb guests. This all happens amidst lush surroundings in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. But now, Las Ventanas has a new innovation. The resort has a new "Director of Romance", a staff position totally dedicated to the creation of magical moments for couples in love. This could catch on.

The folks in Findlay, Ohio don;t cotton much to havinbg their tax base eroded by large, internet-based hotel discounters. Findlay is suing 12 of the largest web sites claiming that they are charging their customers taxes based ont he retail rate while paying the city taxes based on wholesale rates. They are, the suit alleges, pocketing the difference.

The suit could attain class-action status. Other cities, including Los Angeles, have filed similar suits.

Cruise line entertainment reached a new low this weekend, when the Seabourn Spirit, one of the world's top-rated luxury ships, was attached by eight terrorists with at least one rocket propelled grenade launcher off the coast of Somalia.

The Spirit's Captain, Sven Erik Pederson, who may already have a book deal in he works, skillfully protected both his passengers and his $50 million vessel by outrunning the pirates two boats.

Initial press reports claim this was an organized terrorist act but it appears that this may be an activity by one of three gangs that have been operating off the Somali Coast since the collapse of the central government. In a country where warlords rule, attacks of seagoing vessels are not a new thing. In fact the International maritime Commission had recommended that all ships sailing off the coast observe a minimum 150 mile distance. Reports from the Australian press, there were 22 Aussies aboard, indicate that the ship was just 100 miles off the coast, an issue that should be resolved in the next several hours.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the attack and eventual race, is that a Gurkha soldier sat on the bow of the Seabourn ship firing a sonic deflector which was aimed at the gun-toting pirates in their two boats. The lone Gurkha stayed at his post during some very difficult moments.

The Gurka's bravery combined with Captain Lorentzen's driving skill and ability to outrun the much smaller boats, contributed to the safe escape of the vessel without loss of life. The ship is now in the Seychelles.

Shoulder-borne RPG's have long been the great concern of airline security analysts. This is the first time that an American cruise ship has been fired on using this type of weapon.

Exotic sailings to the Middle east and elsewhere have been selling out this year and are heavily booked for 2006. Somalia is clearly an anomaly, a lawless nation with a long track record of attacks at sea.

But look at a map. A ship coming down the length of the Suez Canal and entering the Indian Ocean, must pass through the Gulf of Aden bordering the long Somali coast. Halfway down that coast lies the one port city in all of Somalia - a place called Mogadishu.

Among the exciting new ships en route to us in the coming 24 months, none has generated the initial buzz of The Four Seasons, a 42,000 Gross-ton beauty under construction in Finland. We are hearing that the 100 or so apartments that range in size from 1300 to over 3,000 sq. ft. are selling out prior to the company's launch of an official sales piece.

The apartments wil be sold or leased on a t one-month per year basis lasting fifty years. Prices started pre-launch at $400,000 - an incredible value when one works the math. The ship will literally follow the four seasons and it will feature the hotel chain's list of of high-toned amenities If you want to see a preview of the deck plans and apartments, go to www.oceanresidences.com

When it comes to airline miles not all flyers or airline programs are created equal. Although the travel ads will never tell you this, frequent flyers can manipulate the system to secure the upgrades that seem so elusive for the rest of us.

One of the best techniques is to use two different Elite Status Mileage cards - say one on American and one on United. You can try to get an electronic upgrade, the kind that can be purchased for $40.00 currently. Then, 72 hours prior to your flight, your upgrade status will be confirmed in First or Business.

The secret is to use two cards and to make two reservations on two different carriers. If they both clear you can pay a change fee and still use it later on. But by using two cards you have increased your upgrade opportunities by 100%.

Spain's El Bulli restaurant has been nothing short of Mecca for food writers and a huge posse of trendistas intent on sampling a new cuisine that involves infusions of pure flavor essences.The food fusion movement has been called the inevitable merging of fine dining and science.

Now, the internationally respected Restaurant Magazine, an industry publication read by anyone who counts, has named the Fat Duck, in Bray, England as the "Best Restaurant in the World". This is probably the single greatest honor a restaurant can ever earn.

Bray, a rather typical English village not far from London, is presided over by the new star in the restaurant galaxy, Heston Blumenthal.

The Fat Duck is merging chemistry and cooking, with alarmingly satisfactory results. Who would have, for instance, imagined snail porridge, Or a puree made of Douglas fir and Mango?

Blumenthal works with flavor and creative fragrance companies. He maintains glass cylinders of stored flavors in his own personal laboratory.

This new wave of cooking has a name. In fact it has several. Bluementhal has been called a molecular gastronomist..Some call the new approach to food Culinology.

In New York, famed Chef David Burke has been profiled in Lexus Magazine. He has been experimenting in his lab to create flavor sprays and serves unexpected treats such as salmon lollipops in his hot restaurant, David Burke and Donatella. Burke expects that we will soon see an earthquake-size tilt in the way that cocktails are served in restaurants. Individual flavor sprays and infusions will create millions of flavor options and drinkers will have the opportunity to create their own.

Then there's Chicago's Grant Achatz. His new restaurant, Alinea in Lincoln Park, has quickly become the city's hottest ticket. Foodies from all over the country are flying to Chicago to sample his Dungenmess crab served on a puree of coconut, cashew, and parsnip flavorings. Even sponge cake comes infused with a wonderful vanilla bean flavor as it rests on a bed of sour cherries.

From Spain - to England - New York - to Chicago, the world's top restaurants have one thing in common. They are creating an entire new world order of flavor pairings and infusions. And, I believe, what they are creating in their flavor labs, will influence every future generation of fine dining addicts.

This is not a trend. It is a revolution, making possible tastes, smells, and textures, that were previously unavailable to the dining public.

What we have here is a failure to communicate. When exactly is hurricane season in the Caribbean?

The unreported story is that we are now considering the entire month of November as hurricane season. In the past, before Pat Robertson decided to change the world's weather patterns, cruisers were told to avoid the last two weeks of August through the end of October. The lucrative Thanksgiving cruise week was always thought to be safely on the other side of the season. Now that has changed. As we've run out of names to call these things, we've also run out of ways to contain the season. The fact is that hurricane season now extends from the 15th or so of August through the first of December.

Cruisers looking for alternative fall sailings should consider Tahiti or the Mexican Riviera.

Of the several Gordon Ramsay's, the best of the lot, GR at Royal Hospital Road, is currently London's finest. Getting in takes a top-notch concierge or serious pre-planning.

The other top toque in town is Shane Osborn of Pied A Terre on Charlotte Street.

Both of these restaurants produce innovative "New French" cuisine, meaning an almost complete absence of flour-based sauces. Both also offer a luncheon service that does not require that one sell the flat in Mayfair.

The Egyptian tombs, that is, in New York's wondrous Metropolitan Museum where the Cionde Nast folks hosted their annual Reader's Choice Awards. Cocktails were offered in the huge room holding The Temple of Dendur circa 15 BC.

Hotel exeus, cruise line execs, and representatives of worldwide destinations were in the running for awards that are worth their weight in marketing gold.

Some of the awards were easy to handicap. San Francisco, everyone's favorite US city, although one must be careful not to trip over the poets sleeping like so many jack-o-lanterns along the street. Jet Blue won best US airline - but that's a lot like saying "he has the nicest house in Calcutta".

Singapore was voted world's best international carrier. Business majors note that it is far easier to design the world's best airline without the disruptions caused by a two-party system.

That would be Fergus Henderson's place, St. John, located in what was once a smokehouse in the not yet absolutely completely fashionable Smithfield Market neighborhood. The place has been creating meals out of portions of the pig that even the Chinese discard.

But lo and behold, when Restaurant Magazine, an important European restaurant industry publication, published its list of the 50 best restaurants in the world - there it was, way up there in 16th place. Not only that, it has also been named most improved restaurant on the list.

So if you're London-bound you may want to try it. But first prepare yourself for a menu that highlights both roasted bone marrow and squirrel with offal on toast. I don't know about this. I always eat my squirrel with offal on pita bread.

A new 9-story hotel and shopping center complex has opened in Kabul, Afghanistan. The 90-store mall is the first fully air-conditioned building in the nation and features Afghanistan's first ever escalators.

Security outside is tight. Half a division or so troops are protecting the shoppers, most of whom have never seen a mall before. As relatively unsafe as things appear to be outside, the real danger is inside where burkas have been catching in the escalator mechanisms causing a good deal of anguish and fear .Moving stairways to lady's fine fragrances is a new concept in these parts.

The Mall's developers have announced that they are planning on opening a second mall in the western part of the country in Herat. It's tentative name is The Twin Towers.

If you own an Einstein bagel franchise, you may want to be aware that not all of the 90 retail spaces are currently rented.

An important, but little-known fact, is that nearly 80% of all cruise reservations are made on Monday.

They are made in that tenuous period between the Today Show and Monday Night football. Mom and Dad have discussed things over the weekend, played on the internet, perhaps, if they are intellectuals, even scanned the Sunday papers. And now they are ready to book.

But Monday is also the day when most of the cruise pricing increases hit the computer screens in corporate headquarters. Cruise lines now employ pricing technology that can be set to adjust upwards on Monday based on utilization factors.

We recommend that all cruise reservations be made Wednesday through Friday. If you must book on Monday, have your agent call in prior to 10:00 am

The Ritz-Carlton in South Beach, the currently oh so hot enclave in Miami, employs a tanning butler. This fellow's brief is to walk the pool area in search of those who may need assistance applying sunscreen to those areas of the body that may be difficult to reach. He carries a small selection of oils because some of us are butter people and some of us aren't.

Given the super-sizing of America, one wonders if this will eventually lead to a charge for this service based on square footage. But that is not yet a problem in South Beach.

The Traveler's Cheque card from Amex and the Visa Travel Money cards seem like a good idea. You pay for the cards in advance and then simply use them at ATM's throughout Europe until you've used up your money.

But be careful. There are activation fees and "reload" fees. You are, in essence being charged to use your own money. Worse, many ATM's, a great many, won;t accept the cards. Some users are reporting that they have to visit an actual American Office.

The Visa version is available through the American Automobile Association. They charge less than Amex but the you may find yourself dealing with Visa's partner in this venture - Travelex, a Europe-based currency trading firm.

These cards place limits on what you can withdraw. You will also likely pay a foreign "conversion charge."

At this point, we are only recommending the card for students on a tight allowance and even there we have concerns that the card may not be useable in an emergency. This is an idea whose time is yet to come.

Look for 2006 to be the year River Boats in Europe and Asia come into their own. Cruising the Danube, the Rhine, the Soane, or the Yangtze with just a few hundred fellow Americans is perceived as a safe, cost effective, and almost intimate way to experience important parts of the world. You can see China, albeit in a somewhat sanitized way, experience "The Path of the Czars" or simply glide through Burgundy and Provence on a one-week idyll. Most shore excursions are included, there are air programs from the States, and pre and post hotel programs. Costs average $250-$300 per day.

River Cruising has been around for a while. But judging by early booking trends, this is definitely the next big thing. For the best experiences shared with a predominantly European cast of characters, we recommend Peter Deillman Cruises. The best of the "mostly American" lines is Viking River.

The first thing to know about the French is that the drinking age is 16 and is never, ever enforced. In fact, French mothers have been known to mix a bit of wine with baby's formula to begin the path to maturity.

It appears to work because the only drunks I've ever seen in Paris were over-the-edge hooligans from countries where pints outsell happy meals.

The French thing was actually explained best by a French sociologist. It turns out that French "yoooot" are raised to believe that people who smile are simple-minded people or, as the French say ‘imbeciles”. French kids on the soccer field who smile a lot are teased for the habit.

So here we come, all smiles, grinning from ear-to-ear, wearing our sweats and our John Deere caps, and they think we're imbeciles. It is not rudeness. It is just culture. They have one – we don’t.

The French don’t react well to questions. They think that people ought to do their homework before visiting a country. You will notice that most of the French tourists you see in Vegas, for example, know how to say “is that for an hour or all night” in English.

While the French do not handle questions well, they do love to solve problems. Asking them to help you solve a problem appeals to the not far under the surface French ego. So it’s best to begin each conversation by stating first that you "have a problem." Watch how quickly the French come to your aid. You will soon forget about the rudeness myth, unless of course you smile while speaking.

The anecdotal evidence is in – and Europe has officially been labeled a “rip-off”. Cruises and escorted tours to Europe are booming while independent travelers are returning from France and Italy with tales of $300+ lunches and plans to re-mortgage the house.

The European-bound traveler needs to consider paying in dollars up front. The romantic notion of negotiating hotel rates in the lobby of some quaint left bank family-run three-star on the fly is but a dream.

Strategizing your vacation in Europe almost demands a US dollar-based cruise or escorted tour program. At 1.31 to the Dollar, the value of the Euro added to an ever-growing list of 18% VAT eligible items, such as lodging and meals, means that current prices in Italy are running about one-third higher then they were thirty-six months ago. And no one in Europe wants our dollars.

But for those of you who are open to new travel truths” it might be worthwhile to consider some parts of the world where the dollar is actually getting stronger.

Start with Mexico. Top resorts in the Cabo San Lucas area now include the top-ranked resort on the continent – The One and Only Palmilla. Do the off season, take advantage of package pricing, and pay in dollars up front to receive a $1000 a night experience at a $400 a night price. Also look into the new 5-star resorts that are nestled at the end of dirt roads in the Puerto Morales section, just 25 minutes from Cancun airport.

The non-French Caribbean has generally held its own and the currency of Jamaica has lost 20% of its value against the dollar so now, "Man – it really is better in Jamaica."

Inflation in South America and the price of fuel have combined to form an exciting mélange of contradictions – but the continent is still a good deal. But the real values are in Central America where Guatemala, Panama, and El Salvador offer high rewards to gringos with dollars.

There have been some contradictory press reports regarding the value of a safari vacation in Africa. The bad news comes out of South Africa where, among his other achievements, Nelson Mandela has been able to watch his currency surge ahead of the dollar increasing custom vacation costs by 20-25%. But East Africa, particularly Kenya and Tanzania, have generally maintained price stability.

In Asia, American travelers won’t find any currency surprises unless they are visiting Jalap, where the yen is up almost 10% against the dollar. But China and Malaysia are more or less pegged to the dollar. Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia are all high on the value chart with 5-star hotels pricing out at a 3-star rate in New York or London.

One of the under-reported stories is the gentle rise of the Australian dollar and the New Zealand kiwi. Each is up about 25% in the past 24 months meaning that your dollar will now buy 75 cents worth of Foster’s – and that won’t really satisfy your thirst.

I was strolling the back aisle of a small bookshop in the Notting Hill section of London the other day, thinking how very unlike Hugh Grant I am, when a new title by BBC producer Jessica Williams (Disinformation Company Ltd.) caught my eye.

"50 Facts That Should Change the World" is a book that could well change the way that you view the world. I hope you will consider reading it.

Let me offer a few of the facts that I think make exploration of this planet by American travelers a moral imperative. We can save "Wallyland" for later in our lives when we're too tired to walk Patagonia.

It is not all homogenized out there – it is not all the same. We need to see it, to feel it; we need to know why the average woman in Japan lives to be 84 while the average woman in Botswana lives to be 33.

There are fascinating explanations and documentation of each of the "facts." We learn that more people on earth can identify the golden arches than the Christian cross, that there are 27 million slaves in the world at this moment. But the most telling "facts" are those that include our own country. These are some things about the US that help form our image abroad.

Over the years, we often miss the point about so-called Anti-Americanism, particularly the Euro-trendy brand. In fact, many young people abroad dislike us for two primary reasons – the fact that we still execute folks and the fact that we refuse to be signatories to some of the more important environmental treaties such as the Kyoto Accord. These are issues that may come up in conversation on the streets of Madrid or Copenhagen.

Of course there's always the time-tested alternative. Announce you're a Canadian – there’s no really good response to that – except perhaps a yawn.

Yesterday – a slow news day until two academics got us thinking ……….to whit, two profs in the Geriatric Medicine field at Chicago’s prestigious Northwestern University.

Doctors Robert Golub and Lee Lindquist wrote an article in the Journal of The American Geriatrics Journal that suggests that a modern cruise ship is well equipped to fill the role of a floating assisted living facility.

Their article was accompanied by some cost estimating that essentially boils down to a monthly cost of cruise ship care in the $3000 per month range. That compares quite favorably with current assisted living costs.

The idea is designed to appeal to Baby Boomers who dread the thought of being institutionalized. For the same approximate price, the doctors theorize, a family could tell a loved one that "instead of placing you in a home or a nursing facility, we are going to place you on a cruise ship in the Caribbean."

Crews would have to be trained in eldercare, helping guests get around the ship, assisting them in the morning as they get dressed etc. But on-board medical care is not a problem, accessibility to major hospitals in Florida is not a problem, and the non-medical benefits are not insignificant.

"Mr. Wilson we want you to feel better tomorrow so you can go ashore in Aruba" would seem to be better motivation than that currently offered to our seniors in most medical settings on land.

Some have ridiculed the concept. I won't. Sure it's out there and I don't see Carnival or NCL jumping on this anytime soon. And yes, we might have to get rid of the rock climbing walls. But think about the possibility that housekeeping, meal service, staff to patient ratios, and the availability of 24/7 medical care are all potentially better and more affordable aboard ship then they currently are on land.

Perhaps, some day, we can take our slightly worn voyagers, diamonds, and princesses, and find a far better use for them in their old age as we improve the golden years of some of our slightly worn but still regal citizens.