WAV Travel News - Wednesday Edition
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
Some attractions and restaurants shut down in Baltimore
Baltimore on Tuesday began a weeklong nighttime curfew, while some of the city’s popular attractions were shuttered after riots on Monday resulted in more than 100 vehicle fires and more than 200 arrests.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Black on Tuesday instituted a citywide curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. that’s slated to run through May 5.
The B&O Railroad Museum, National Aquarium and Walters Art Museum were closed Tuesday, as were a half-dozen restaurants at or near the city’s Inner Harbor, including the Hard Rock Café, Rusty Scupper and Tin Roof. A Baltimore Orioles baseball game at Camden Yards was postponed for the second straight night on Tuesday. The Orioles will play on Wednesday afternoon but in an empty stadium, as Major League Baseball made the unprecedented decision to close a game to the public.
“Truly saddened by what is going on in our city,” a representative with Hyatt Place Baltimore Inner Harbor wrote on the hotel’s Facebook page Tuesday. “We are glad our friends and staff are safe and are thankful for the National Guard’s presence in our time of need. We still love this city and hope everything passes quickly.”
In a statement, Marriott International said, “We are closely monitoring the ongoing situation in Baltimore. While the events are not directly affecting our local hotels, we will continue to assess the situation at our properties and work with local authorities to help ensure the safety of our guests and employees. Marriott will continue to evaluate the situation and will respond accordingly.”
Starwood Hotels & Resorts said in a statement, “None of Starwood’s hotels have been physically impacted in any way by the demonstrations. Some large groups scheduled in Baltimore have canceled. Given current circumstances, we are waiving cancellation fees at this time.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday declared a state of emergency and said he would bring in as many as 1,000 members of the National Guard after riots erupted throughout the city. The civil unrest resulted in 144 vehicle fires, 15 building fires and 235 arrests, according to the Baltimore Sun. One person was in critical condition from the fires, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, about a dozen Baltimore restaurants, including Ammici’s, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, Blue Moon Café and Rope Walk Tavern, offered free meals for uniformed serviceman.
Riots erupted after Monday’s funeral for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man who died April 19 from injuries sustained while in police custody.
Rein to leave Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Cruise Line announced that its vice president of worldwide sales, Joni Rein, will depart after seven years at Carnival. Rein will step down Aug. 15 but consult for Carnival for the balance of the year.
Rein joined Carnival in 2008 as vice president of field sales from the North American office of Costa Cruises, where she had been vice president of sales development. She was promoted to her current title in 2009.
As head of sales, it fell to Rein to rally travel agents, including some who were disenchanted with Carnival, following the Carnival Triumph engine room fire in 2012. Rein spearheaded the Carnival Conversations program, a series of steps to repair agent relations at Carnival and implement more agent-friendly policies.
“My decision to depart the company was a difficult one,” Rein said in a statement, "but I feel it’s the right time with brand and trade sentiment at their current levels and an incredible executive leadership team in place, all of whom I respect tremendously.”
Carnival said no replacement for Rein has yet been named.
Early House ending leaves baseball stadium hopeful but kills Uber bill
In the aftermath of the abrupt adjournment of the House on Tuesday, Palm Beach County is closely watching three local bills that could still pass the Senate and go to Gov. Rick Scott as early as Wednesday.
Among them is the House bill (HB 1213) that would advance efforts to bring the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals to the county by freeing up 27 acres of land near the M Canal in West Palm Beach for parking.
The House approved the bill on Friday and sent its version to the Senate for approval. If the House was still in session, the Senate could review the House version, make changes and send it back to the House for negotiation. But with the House no longer in session, there is no ability to negotiate.
“Basically, what you have is what is parked right now,” Palm Beach County’s lobbyist, Todd Bonlarron, said. “If there are any changes, it will die.”
Facing the same situation in the Senate are:
HB 1253, which would allow the school district to install signs recognizing business partnerships. That bill passed the House on Friday.
HB 1167, a bill also approved by the House last week that would make changes to the West Palm Beach Firefighters Pension Fund.
After the House’s action Tuesday, Bonlarron took quick inventory of the bills the county had been pushing.
Among those that died were bills that created incentives for film and television development and enterprise zones and that would have set statewide rules for ride services like Uber and Lyft.
“You take your victories with your losses,” Bonlarron said. “You pick up and go on to your next opportunity.”
The failure of the ride-services bill in particular puts the ball back in the court of cities and counties. Many were looking to Tallahassee for guidance at least on matters like the minimum insurance ride services and their drivers should carry, though questions remained on differing House and Senate bills such as whether local governments should be able to set standards on things like background checks.
“The early adjournment … means that Palm Beach County will continue to work locally on an ordinance that allows residents and visitors to make good, safe choices about their modes of transportation,” Bonlarron said. The county has a temporary operating agreement in place.
Meanwhile, lobbyists for the three bills with hope left in the Senate are already working on their next opportunities.
Just in case, the Astros and Nationals have started studying ways the project could move forward if the bill dies. The teams might consider starting the stadium project without the land, then add it to the site if the Legislature approves the bill at a later date.
But a potential sticking point, if the bill dies, is that the loss of the 27 acres would mean the loss of multi-use soccer fields that would be used year-round by residents. The county’s Tourist Development Council endorsed spending up to $108 million in hotel-tax revenue for the baseball project partly because the site included the soccer fields for city residents.
Of course, the biggest concern for the county is what comes of its various requests in the state budget, and that will be settled in a yet-to-be set special session.
“There are a lot of priorities that rest there and a lot of opportunities to address those issues,” Bonlarron said. “I look forward to working on the budget.”
Quantum of the Seas: Could ‘smartship’ be the future of cruising?
ABOARD THE QUANTUM OF THE SEAS — It was Friday, Feb. 13, a 15-degree winter morning. But that did nothing to discourage the thousands of travelers who turned up to seek happiness alongside the ice-slick docks in Bayonne, N.J.
The attraction? Quantum of the Seas, which is not a James Bond sequel but a $1-billion Royal Caribbean cruise ship. It launched in late 2014 and will soon head to China. Some people think it’s the future of cruising. Others aren’t so sure.
But plenty are curious. By 3:45 p.m., we passengers — about 4,800 of us on a seven-night itinerary to Florida and the Bahamas — were racing from novelty to novelty on the 1,141-foot-long ship. On Deck 16: simulated skydiving in a 23-foot-high vertical wind tunnel that looked like a see-through smokestack. On Deck 3: the casino. In the SeaPlex recreation area: bumper cars. At the Bionic Bar: robots mixing drinks.
And don’t forget North Star, an observation capsule on a long arm that lifts passengers 300 feet above the sea and (when it’s not too windy) swings them over the side for staggering bird’s-eye views. Before anybody could go up, however, the ship’s captain, Henrik Soerensen, broke in on the public address system to welcome us and enlist our help.
“Please keep an eye on the temperature,” Soerensen said. “If it doesn’t get warmer, that means we’re going in the wrong direction.”
How long, I wondered, until that punchline is tweeted? Eager to spread the word of this ship’s wonders, Royal Caribbean has outfitted Quantum to be the Web-friendliest cruise ship ever so passengers can post their vacation tweets and snaps (after paying as much as $30 a day in Wi-Fi fees).
Conde Nast Traveler calls it “the first cruise ship built specifically for selfies.” The cruise line calls it the world’s first “smartship” and has a new app to help passengers book meals and activities.
Quantum isn’t just big and busy and filled with new technology. It’s also a telling move in the cruise industry’s global chess game.
The ship is moving to a home port in Shanghai, where Royal Caribbean hopes to entice a mix of Chinese and Western travelers. Meanwhile, Quantum has a near-identical sibling (Anthem of the Seas) due to debut in April and start sailing the Caribbean in November.
So how much fun is this smart new ship? It’s fun and it’s vexing, depending on what you’re up to.
Perhaps the ship’s biggest hit was the North Star observation pod, which holds up to 14 passengers at a time (first come, first served). Passengers waited up to two hours for their chance to spend about 10 minutes in the sky, looking down on the ship and out to sea. The warmer the temperature got, the longer the line. I went up three times, on three different days, after waits of five, 20 and 90 minutes. On the way down, I asked my capsule companions whether the view was worth nearly two hours of waiting. The grins and yeses were unanimous.
The simulated skydiving classes, Ripcord by iFly, were almost too popular. Trainers said most of the available slots were booked before the cruise began, which left some passengers grumbling and others competing to fly “standby” when no-show spots opened up. (That’s how I got my chance.)
As for the faux flight itself, after you don a flight suit, watch a video and get a little personal training, you spend about a minute in the air with an instructor, hovering, spinning and getting buffeted from below. If you’ve ever wanted prominent cheekbones, have somebody snap your picture while you’re looking down at that big fan on the floor.
Unfortunately, Quantum’s new “dynamic dining” system isn’t as uplifting. Instead of relying on one grand dining room like ships of yesteryear (formalwear, captain’s table, ice sculptures, two assigned sittings per night), Royal Caribbean has re-imagined that space as 18 restaurants, including Asian, Italian, buffet, pub and steakhouse options, from ultra-casual to formal.
This gives passengers more choice — and the cruise line more revenue, because eight of the restaurants charge extra fees, from a few bucks for a snack at Johnny Rockets to $45 per person for an evening of cutting-edge gastronomy at Wonderland.
The idea is that passengers will scan the choices and book their dinners online before boarding. Passenger Kevin Marshall of Pennsylvania said it worked perfectly for him. In fact, he said he would be back aboard in April for another cruise.
But many passengers viewed booking before boarding as a burden, and many had trouble making reservations. Every day, dozens appeared at the Passenger Services desk or at the restaurants’ entrances, stating their cases.
Although many passengers praised their meals, when I asked seven of them to grade the reservation system, the median rating was 6.5 out of 10.
“It was a lot of work to do this cruise,” said Sue Bonelli of Long Island, N.Y.
“I feel nickeled and dimed,” said her husband, Guido Bonelli, referring to the dining and Wi-Fi charges.
At a Q&A session on Day 7, Dean Bailey, the ship’s hotel director, told passengers that the dining program “is still evolving. … It’s not where we want it to be.” Indeed, the ship had already added personnel and items to menus to appease passengers who prefer to stay put in the biggest dining rooms. But it’s clear there’s work to be done.
The ship’s Wi-Fi was hit-and-miss for me. After paying $140 for eight days of access for two devices, I lost my laptop and smartphone connections just about every day, sometimes more than once. (Conversely, I got so fond of my “virtual balcony” — the monitor disguised as a window in the ship’s 375 inside staterooms — that I left it on for the entire cruise.)
The ship’s entertainment got high marks for the singers who rose above the plot of the ABBA musical “Mamma Mia!” and for the dancers and musicians in striking original productions called “StarWater” and “Sonic Odyssey.” The 1,300-seat Royal Theater is a pleasant venue, and the space known as “Two70” is a multilevel entertainment area enlivened by six suspended video screens that tilt, slide, merge and regroup to create remarkable visual effects.
The roster of family-friendly activities is long, including the FlowRider wave-maker (for surfing and boogie boarding), the rock-climbing wall (next to a 30-foot-tall magenta bear by sculptor Lawrence Argent), circus trapeze lessons, roller-skating, basketball and, in a nod to decades gone by, one lonely shuffleboard court.
“I tried rock climbing for the first time,” said Emanuel Strong, 40, a New York corrections officer who was traveling with his wife and two kids.
Heather Rubinstein, a veteran cruiser and wheelchair user who came from New York with her husband and two kids, told me that access on the ship was “pretty good.” (However, her husband had just lifted her to a spot that she couldn’t reach independently because crew members couldn’t find a key to some accessibility equipment.)
Passenger Tom Murray, who brought his family from London, loved the artwork and service. But he called the dining-and-entertainment reservation system a waste of time, found the main promenade cramped and the ship “too gimmicky.”
Passengers Miranda Tso and Katty Lam, New York moms who brought a friends-and-family group, didn’t like the restaurant reservation scheme or the food. Next time, they said, they’ll try another cruise line.
I’m guessing the cruise line has already solved some of these problems. But the equation is about to change.
Before the ship moves to Shanghai, Quantum’s workers say, they’ll tear out the Music Hall bar, expand the casino, add shops, retune the restaurants and bring on more Mandarin-speaking crew. Tailoring the ship to Chinese passengers, many of them new to cruising, will surely mean more trial and error.
In other words, the world’s first smartship still has plenty to learn.
Spirit matches Street 1Q forecasts
Spirit posts 1Q profit, results meet Wall Street estimates
MIRAMAR, Fla. (AP) -- Spirit Airlines Inc. (SAVE) on Wednesday reported first-quarter profit of $69 million.
On a per-share basis, the Miramar, Florida-based company said it had profit of 94 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 96 cents per share.
The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 96 cents per share.
The airline posted revenue of $493.4 million in the period, which also met Street forecasts.
Spirit shares have climbed 3 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 33 percent in the last 12 months
Hilton meets 1Q profit forecasts
Hilton matches 1Q earnings expectations, tops revenue forecasts
MCLEAN, Va. (AP) _ Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $150 million.
On a per-share basis, the McLean, Virginia-based company said it had profit of 15 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 12 cents per share.
The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 12 cents per share.
The hotelier posted revenue of $2.6 billion in the period, exceeding Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.49 billion.
For the current quarter ending in June, Hilton expects its per-share earnings to range from 21 cents to 23 cents
iPad glitch grounds two dozen American flights
A glitch with iPads used by pilots forced American Airlines to ground about two dozen flights Tuesday night.
Healthcare entrepreneur Dan Webb told USA TODAY via Twitter that he was on board American Flight 1654 that was to travel Tuesday night from Dallas to Austin, his home, when the crew informed passengers of the problem.
"Passengers told they could get off if wanted to," tweeted Webb, 32.
American said in an email to USA TODAY that the issue was rooted in a problem with software application on iPads. About two dozen flights of varying fleets had to be grounded because of the issue, said Andrea Huguely, American Airlines director of corporate communications.
"In some cases, the flight has had to return to the gate to access a Wi-Fi connection to fix the issue," Huguely said.
"We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers," she said. "We are working to have them on the way to their destination as soon as possible."
Webb said he boarded another flight to Austin. The entrepreneur was on board that second flight as he communicated with USA TODAY.
Webb was one of a handful of people buzzing via Twitter Tuesday night regarding the iPad issue.
Business owner Bill Jacaruso also was on the flight and said after the airplane was sitting for quite some time, the pilot came over the loudspeaker to explain.
"He said, 'My copilot's iPad went black. Exactly 24 minutes after that, mine went black. We were informed it looks like a problem with all the iPads on 737s,' " Jacaruso, 54, recalled.
He and his wife, Toni, were returning from a visit with his mother in North Carolina and opted to rent a car and drive back home to Austin.
Passenger Philip McRell, who lives in Plano, also opted to drive to Austin, where he has business appointments.
The crew explained that flight plans are transmitted on the iPads, which make them crucial to navigation, said McRell, 43.
McRell said when he left, about a dozen other passengers also opted to abandon the flight and continue their travel some other way.
Passengers and crew rescued from burning ferry
Passengers and crew had to be rescued when a fire broke out on a Spanish ferry from Mallorca.
150 passengers and crew had to abandon ship when the blaze began on The Sorrento while it was on its way to the coastal city of Valencia.
Several ships including two passenger ferries helped passengers and crew on life rafts.
At least three people were injured and have been taken to hospital by helicopter, reports the BBC. One is reported to be seriously hurt.
The fire, which broke out on the Italian owned ferry, started on one of the car decks yesterday.
"Due to the fire that it has suffered, The Sorrento may sink in the position in which it finds itself," the Balearic Islands port authority said in a tweet.
Miami congressman wants to limit expanded travel to Cuba
TAMPA — The growth of charter flights to Cuba from Tampa International Airport may hit its first roadblock since President Barack Obama eased travel to the island nation by executive order in January.
U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American in his 12th year representing a Miami district, attached a proposed amendment to a $55.3 billion transportation and housing funding bill that prevents federal money from being used for new scheduled flights to any site that was confiscated by the Cuban government.
The five weekly charter flights to Cuba from Tampa would not be affected.
But the measure would prevent the two companies operating those charters, ABC Charters and Cuba Travel Services, from expanding.
The flights rely on support from federal employees such as air traffic controllers, and the planes require certification from the federal government.
Another amendment to the bill would block federal maritime officials from issuing a license or certification to any vessel that has docked within the past 180 days and within 7 miles of a port on property confiscated by the Cuban government.
This would prevent the establishment of a ferry service shuttling passengers between the U.S. and Cuba and cruise ships from regularly visiting the two nations in the same trip.
Cargo ships also would fall under the umbrella of this maritime provision, but the embargo on travel and trade with Cuba already requires that any cargo ship docking in Cuba must wait 180 days before it can return to the U.S.
There are no regularly scheduled cargo ships traveling to Cuba from Port Tampa Bay.
The restrictions proposed by Diaz-Balart come as U.S. travel to Cuba is growing.
Broward passes Uber law despite company's threat to leave county
Broward County commissioners on Tuesday passed a sweeping new law regulating app-based ride services such as Uber, despite the company's threat to leave town if they did.
The new regulations legalize services including Uber and Lyft, whose drivers use their personal vehicles. But the law left intact tough provisions that Uber said would make it impossible to operate in Broward.
Each driver will be required to register with the county, submit to a county-run fingerprint-based background check, and carry the heightened insurance state law requires for commercial vehicles for hire.
"We are disappointed at some of the decisions that were made today,'' Kasra Moshkani, Uber's South Florida general manager, said after the vote.
But he said the company has to review what passed before making any decision to leave. He called Tuesday's lawmaking "chaotic,'' with many amendments passed, scrapped or altered.
Commissioner Stacy Ritter said she disliked Uber's public relations campaign, which included emailing and mailing fliers to residents telling them the county was forcing Uber out with its regulations.
"If Uber leaves this county,'' she said after the vote, "It's Uber's decision to do so voluntarily. There's nothing in this ordinance that is onerous. Uber can comply with this ordinance without any problem. This is a company worth $40 billion, with a 'B.' If they can't pony up a few dollars for insurance, background checks and permits, then shame on them.''
Uber had hoped state legislators would have passed a law preventing local governments from regulating it, as well as setting insurance and background check requirements for drivers. But the House adjourned its session Tuesday without passing an Uber bill.
With the new laws, the county:
•Enhanced background check standards to "Level II,'' requiring fingerprinting. Uber representatives had said a "significant'' number of Uber drivers wouldn't submit fingerprints when Columbus, Ohio, implemented the rule. Any driver who applies for a license will be allowed to carry passengers under a temporary two-week license until the background check is complete.
•Scrapped a requirement for liability insurance for drivers, but required drivers to follow state law, which county officials said requires 24-hour commercial insurance. Uber currently has different insurance coverage that the county says leaves gaps.
•Upgraded vehicle inspection standards for all cars for hire, including Uber and cabs. Third-party licensed mechanics will give 19-point inspections.
•Raised the standards for drivers, excluding those with serious criminal backgrounds or poor driver histories. The law removed some of the subjectivity in granting the chauffeur registrations drivers must obtain.
•Stripped the county's Consumer Protection Board of some of its authority to grant chauffeur registrations to drivers who were rejected by county staff. The change was proposed by Commissioner Mark Bogen after the Sun Sentinel reported earlier this month that the Consumer Protection Board overruled staff in 62 percent of appeals, putting drivers with lengthy rap sheets, including violent crimes and DUIs, behind the wheel.
•Allowed Uber to field unlimited vehicles, with no restrictions on fares. Uber can charge less than the county-mandated cab fare, and can continue its "surge pricing,'' which is exponentially higher.
An overflow crowd filled the meeting Tuesday, split between Uber and taxi drivers.
Robert Bonner, the owner of Intercity Taxi, said he supported the additional regulation.
"If there's been one recurring theme, it's been safety. When people get into a vehicle for hire, they want to know someone has checked out the driver, someone has checked out the vehicle and that it has insurance. This is added expense, more red tape, more work involved. It's worth it.''
The debate over the past eight months was tinged with criticism of the traditional cab system in Broward, with riders complaining about dirty cars, rude, unreliable drivers who don't speak English well, broken air conditioning, inoperable credit card machines and late arrivals.
"It's the taxi industry that needs a kick in the butt, not Uber,'' Hollywood resident Doug Eney wrote to elected officials. "Services like Uber and Lyft are the only way the taxi industry in Broward will invest to really clean up its act.''
Dan Lindblade, CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, said in a letter to Commissioner Chip LaMarca on Tuesday that he'd spoken with many hoteliers and restaurateurs who support Uber. He urged the county to find "common ground.''
"Our guests expect this type of solution to an otherwise mediocre traditional cab system,'' he wrote.
Uber's aggressive tactics turned off commissioners from the beginning. As it has done throughout the world, Uber refused to follow county taxi laws, simply paying fines when drivers were cited.
The company was not subtle.
Miami-Dade activist Darrin McGillis sent law enforcement officials this month an email from Uber Miami, advising drivers how to avoid detection at South Florida airports, where Uber drivers have been cited and fined.
The email said that "while we continue discussions'' with local officials, there are a few ways to make the airport trips "more enjoyable.''
"Keep your Uber phone off your windshield — put it down in your cupholder,'' the email said. "Ask the rider if they would sit up front.''
LaMarca, the company's main supporter on the dais, said the county has been patient with Uber.
But now a law tailored largely to Uber is on the books, eight months after Uber arrived and asked to be treated differently than traditional cabs. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties are working on new laws as well.
"If they do the wrong thing and break the law,'' LaMarca said, "we come down on them like a ton of bricks, like we would anyone else. That's it.''
What to know about Nik Wallenda's Orlando Eye stunt
Management for I-Drive 360, where the Orlando Eye is located, are hoping most people choose to watch Nik Wallenda's spin around the wheel from the comfort of home Wednesday.
High-wire artist Wallenda's stunt can be watched live as part of NBC's "Today." He is scheduled to walk between 8-8:15 a.m., weather permitting.
John Stine, the complex's director of sales and marketing, said he knows the stunt could possibly draw a crowd. No public event is planned.
"We are not doing anything special," said Stine.
As of Tuesday morning, there were metal barriers around the complex limiting access to the wheel and its terminal building. A stage is set at the base of the wheel and electronics were wrapped in plastic as a steady rain fell.
Stine said those barriers will remain in place Wednesday as Wallenda walks the rim of the wheel without a harness or tether.
He said there are no designated areas for spectators to watch Wallenda. There are, however, several parcels of undeveloped land around the complex. That's where he expects people will opt to stand.
"We're not encouraging it," he said. "People will come and be at their own risk."
Wednesday's forecast calls for a range of 40-55 percent chance of rain during the show's hours. No inclement-weather plans have been released.
Parking Wednesday morning could be somewhat of an issue, too, said Stine.
While I-Drive 360 does have a free parking garage, it will be closed Wednesday, he said. That means anyone who comes down will be parking wherever they find a spot.
"I would anticipate it will be very busy," said Stine.
He said there are no plans to close International Drive or Universal Boulevard, which runs behind the wheel.
The complex's security guards will be on hand, said Stine, and Orange County Sheriff's Office has been notified of the event.
Orange County Fire Rescue will be there Wednesday. An engine truck, with three firefighters staffed, will be there in case there's an emergency on the wheel or with Wallenda. Additional fire rescue personnel have been hired to conduct bike patrol around the complex, said a spokeswoman for the rescue department. Services from the rescue department are being paid for by Merlin Entertainments Group, the operator of the Orlando Eye.
Survivor Pulled From Nepal Rubble After 80 Hours
AID FINALLY REACHING HARDEST-HIT AREAS
(NEWSER) – These are desperate times in Nepal, where officials say the death toll from Saturday's earthquake has now passed 5,000, but stories of hope are still emerging from the devastation. In Kathmandu, a French rescue team helped pull a survivor from the ruins of a building yesterday after he had spent more than 80 hours surrounded by dead bodies, Reuters reports. The 27-year-old, who was on the second floor of the seven-story building when it collapsed, "survived by sheer willpower," a doctor says. The United Nations says international teams have pulled 14 survivors from the rubble so far, the BBC reports. But for many of the 8 million people the UN says were affected by the quake, food and water is growing scarce, and aid has yet to reach some hard-hit areas.
In a hard-to-reach district near the epicenter of the magnitude-7.8 earthquake, aid arrived for the first time today, the AP reports. A villager in Paslang, which has been almost completely destroyed, tells the AP that his pregnant wife's final act was to push their 5-year-old daughter to safety. "When I got home, there was nothing," soldier Bhoj Kumar Thapa says. "Everything was broken. My wife—she was dead." He says that without even tents, villagers are sleeping in the mud and surviving on food they can find in the ruins—and at least three have died in the quake's aftermath. (Experts warn that aftershocks could continue for months.)
For Vegas hotels and casinos, Mayweather-Pacquiao fight packs a punch
The clash Saturday between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is pushing ticket and hotel prices in Las Vegas to record heights.
Rooms for fight weekend have jumped as much as $750 over their average daily rates, according to data compiled by Vegas.com. The MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, the fight site, has been selling standard rooms at $1,600, compared with the typical $270 a night.
That's a pittance compared with the cost of fight tickets — more than $100,000 for a ringside seat, or a mere $4,600 for seats in the nosebleed section.
"We've never seen anything like this before," said Vanessa Doleshal, business development manager for the Nevada travel site Vegas.com, which offers booking at 113 of Las Vegas' largest hotels.
The cost of premium live sports and entertainment events has risen sharply even in an era of Internet streaming.
For instance, the face value of tickets to the Super Bowl has jumped about 1,000% in the last 10 years, said Tony Knopp, chief executive of Ticket Manager Inc., a Calabasas firm that manages and tracks ticket sales.
But the frenzy surrounding the Mayweather-Pacquiao match is extreme.
Anticipation has built for several years for a fight between Mayweather — an undefeated champion of five weight categories — and Pacquiao, a popular champion of eight weight classes. Several previous attempts to schedule the fight have fallen through.
Among the primary reasons for the higher prices for tickets to major sporting events are the involvement of deep-pocketed corporations booking seats for their executives, the growth of secondary ticket sellers such as Stubhub.com, and the shrinking size of venues for many sporting events, said David Carter, a USC professor of sports business.
"Three words are at play here: supply and demand," he said.
Tickets to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight are particularly costly because the bout falls under the heading of a once-in-a-lifetime event.
"For many people this is a bucket list kind of thing," Carter said. "People are willing to dip into their savings on something like that."
Fight promoters and sports franchises have caught on that wealthy fans are willing to pay exorbitant prices for marquee events, said George Hatcher Sr., who worked as an advisor for several years to Joel De La Hoya, father of boxing champ Oscar De La Hoya.
A decade ago, tickets to Oscar De La Hoya's bouts sold for about a fifth of the price of this weekend's showdown, Hatcher said.
"Somebody is paying for those tickets, so how can you be critical?" he asked, referring to the sky-high prices for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
Less wealthy fans seem willing to pay a good bit just to watch the fight on TV. Pay-per-view carriers are charging about $90, or about $100 for the HD version.
For many people this is a bucket list kind of thing. People are willing to dip into their savings on something like that.
The match is expected to bring record pay-per-view sales at more than 3 million households. That will help boost the overall purse to well above $300 million, which Mayweather and Pacquiao will split 60%-40%.
The previous record was 2.48 million households when Mayweather defeated De La Hoya in 2007.
Indian casinos in Southern California are charging as much as $95 to attend viewing parties where guests will watch the fight on giant television screens while munching on nachos and tacos.
"It ranks right up there with the excitement we get for a Super Bowl," said Phil Cooper, executive director of marketing at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, where $75 gets you a spot at a viewing party in a ballroom that seats about 700. He expects the party to sell out.
Many boxing enthusiasts are taking the astronomical rates in stride, saying they reflect the supercharged excitement for the match.
"If I had the money, I would be in a first-row seat," said Anthony Sands, owner of L.A. Sands Boxing Gym in downtown Los Angeles. He plans to watch pay-per-view instead.
"I really don't think it's sinister," he said. "It's the nature of the beast."
Victor Deveze, a boxing fan and aerospace engineering student at San Diego State University, said he would have to save his money for a year to afford a ticket to the fight.
Instead, Deveze plans to reserve his savings for college tuition and watch the fight on pay-per-view, splitting the cost with friends.
"There's no way a true average-Joe fan can enjoy the fight without spending a small fortune," he said.
Demand for lodging also is high in part because thousands of gamblers and conventioneers will be in Las Vegas this weekend to bet on the Kentucky Derby and to take part in a trade show for the vaping and electronic-cigarette industry at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Unlike Super Bowls or popular conventions, which are set well in advance, fight fans had short notice of the Mayweather-Pacquiao matchup, which sparked a run on rooms before the best hotels sold out. The fight date was announced Feb. 20.
On Vegas.com, searches for hotel rooms jumped about 1,000% on the day the fight was announced. "It's a free-for-all," Doleshal said.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena has a capacity of about 16,800, but the resort put only 500 tickets for sale to the public. A portion of the remaining tickets have been offered to the hotel's top gamblers or included in high-priced hotel packages, said Marco Benvenuti, co-founder of Duetto, a hotel and casino strategy and revenue firm in San Francisco.
For example, the Bellagio, an MGM Resorts International property, has offered two tickets to the fight plus a two-night stay at the hotel for about $18,000. The same room rents for $240 to $450 on a typical Saturday night.
"People out there are willing to pay those prices," Benvenuti said.
Most major Las Vegas hotels have already sold out or are close to filling every room, Doleshal said.
"I think people want to be part of the energy," she said.
In Southern California, Indian casinos are also tapping into the fight-night rush. Most are advertising their plans to show the pay-per-view broadcast.
The Morongo Casino's $75 viewing party includes food, drinks and a souvenir T-shirt. The resort's hotel rooms are sold out for Friday and Saturday.
Inside the resort, a Mexican restaurant called Tacos & Tequila is also hosting a viewing party, charging $95 per person to see the fight on TV screens and partake in nachos, taquitos, enchiladas and carne asada. Drinks aren't included in the price.
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
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Investigators: Alps crash co-pilot tried a dry run
The co-pilot of a Germanwings plane that slammed into the Alps apparently undertook a dry run of the ill-fated flight by setting automatic controls to dangerously low altitudes during a morning trip on the day of the crash, French air accident investigators confirmed Wednesday.
The German newspaper Bild first reported that French investigators gleaned the actions of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz by reading flight data.
The Airbus 320, en route to Duesseldorf from Barcelona, crashed into the French Alps March 24, killing all 150 people aboard.
In a report Wednesday, the BEA investigation agency said Lubitz set the plane into a descent several times during the flight into Barcelona from Duesseldorf that morning.
"Several altitude selections towards 100 ft were recorded during descent on the flight that preceded the accident flight, while the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit," the preliminary report said.
According to the report, the resetting of automatic flight controls occurred during a four-minute period that begins after sounds picked up on the voice recorder indicate that the pilot had left the cockpit.
Over the next four minutes, Lubitz fiddled with the controls, setting them first to bring the plane down to 100 feet, simulating what happened on the ill-fated crash. This time, however, the plane did not drop that low because three seconds later Lubitz changed the controls again, plugging in a maximum altitude of 49,000 feet, then stabilizing at 35,000 feet. But 90 seconds later, he went through the ominous routine again, setting the altitude for 100 feet.
Because the plane was already on descent into Barcelona the setting of 100 feet minimum would not be noticeable to air traffic control or others on the plane. Lubitz kept the plane on this trajectory for about a minute and a half, leveling off at 25,000 feet shortly before the voice recorder notes the return of the pilot.
On the flight that crashed into the Alps, only hours later, French and German prosecutors say Lubitz locked the pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately steered the plane into a ravine.
Helmut Tolksdorf, a spokesman for Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, told the AP that the airline had not had time to analyze the new details and planned no immediate comment.
Obama administration approves first ferry service to Cuba
The Obama administration approved the first ferry service in decades between the United States and Cuba on Tuesday, potentially opening a new path for the hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars in goods that travel between Florida and Havana each year.
Baja Ferries, which operates passenger service in Mexico, said it received a license from the U.S. Treasury Department. Robert Muse, a lawyer for Baja Ferries, said he believed other ferry service petitions had also been approved. The Treasury Department said it could not immediately confirm that, but the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Florida said approvals also were received by Havana Ferry Partners of Fort Lauderdale, United Caribbean Lines Florida in the Orlando area and Airline Brokers Co. of Miami.
Muse said Baja had yet to request approval from Cuba, but added that he was optimistic the service would allow a significant increase in trade and travel between the two countries.
The Cuban government made no immediate comment on the news and it is far from clear that it is willing or able to allow a major new channel for the movement of goods and people between the two countries.
"I think it's a further indication of the seriousness of the Obama administration in normalizing relations with Cuba," said Muse, an expert on U.S. law on Cuba. "We're now going from the theoretical to the very specific."
Before Cuba's 1959 revolution, ferries ran daily between Florida and Cuba, bringing American tourists to Havana's hotels and casinos and allowing Cubans to take overnight shopping trips to the United States.
That ended with the revolution, and the more than 600,000 people who travel between the U.S. and Cuba each year depend on expensive charter flights. About 80 percent of U.S .travelers to Cuba are Cuban-Americans visiting relatives, and a large number travel with huge amounts of consumer goods unavailable in communist Cuba, from baby clothes to flat-screen TV sets. That cargo has become increasingly expensive and difficult to bring in recent years due to the high prices charged by charters and tightened Cuban customs rules.
Muse said he believed ferries would allow lower-priced passenger and cargo service and provide a potential conduit for new forms of trade allowed by Obama when he announced a series of loopholes in the trade embargo on Cuba late last year. Among other measures, Obama allowed the import of some goods produced by Cuba's new private sector and allowed the virtually unlimited export of products to entrepreneurs.
Ferries also provide a new route for U.S. travelers to Cuba, who also depend on the charter services. Travel from the U.S. has been rising since Obama's Dec. 17 announcement, and new pressure groups are pushing for Congress to end all travel restrictions and allow pure tourism, currently prohibited by law.
Australia and Europe tackle cruise ship sulfur emissions
Challenges related to air pollution from cruise ship engines are cropping up elsewhere in the world, even as they’ve been overcome for now in waters around North America.
In Australia, a newly elected government ran in part on a pledge to reduce the amount of sulfur coming from cruise ship smoke stacks to the same low level as in the U.S. and Canada.
Meanwhile in Europe, some regulators are asking whether a popular solution to reducing sulfur emissions — exhaust gas scrubbers — might contribute to water pollution in some areas.
The issues are percolating because of a worldwide effort to cut pollution from ship engines, which rely on oil particularly high in sulfur.
Since Jan. 1, all ships, including cruise vessels, have had to meet a much-reduced standard for sulfur in North America and certain other regions such as the Baltic Sea.
The standard, which remains 3.5% of fuel volume in much of the world, was reduced to 0.1% in so-called Emission Control Areas (ECAs). The change will prevent 14,000 early deaths annually by 2020, according to estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Now Australia is seeking parity with the U.S. In late March, voters retained the New South Wales state government led by premier Mike Baird, who campaigned on a pledge to reduce the sulfur content of fuel for cruise ships in Sydney to 0.1% by July 2016.
Such quick action could disrupt Australia’s cruise sector, which has been growing by leaps and bounds.
Bud Darr, senior vice president of technical and regulatory affairs at CLIA, said the industry is “directly and actively engaged” with New South Wales authorities and the Australian EPA on air pollution issues.
“We are exploring a range of possibilities with those authorities,” Darr said in a statement. “We encourage those officials to take into account operational considerations and the results of a science-based study they have commissioned before taking any unilateral actions locally or nationally.”
Globally, the framework for air pollution control is set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Sulfur standards are scheduled to drop to 0.5% worldwide in 2020.
Countries can act earlier by setting up ECAs, such as the one formed jointly by the U.S. and Canada. The CLIA statement noted that so far Australia has chosen not to create an ECA.
Because of the expense and time involved in the installation of scrubbers — Carnival Corp. is currently installing scrubbers on 70 of its ships in a three-year project that will cost $400 million — the cruise industry has focused on installing scrubbers for ships with ECA itineraries, not those sailing in non-ECA areas such as Australia.
Darr said that the sulfur content of fuel has been on the decline and in most cases is below 3.5%. He said in Australia, which imports all of its marine fuel, indications are that the content is about 2.5%.
In the past, ships were powered with “residual” fuel left over from distillation of refined products such as gasoline, leaving behind oil with particularly high sulfur levels.
In addition to using more refined fuel, ship owners have turned to exhaust gas scrubbers. Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. are among the companies that have won permission from the EPA to meet lower sulfur standards by scrubbing it from engine exhaust.
The scrubbers generally fit in a ship’s smokestack and use either seawater or fresh water augmented with alkaline to create a chemical reaction that transfers the sulfur from air to water.
The water is then treated and discharged. It can also be recirculated with a smaller discharge amount. The treated water is generally more acidic than seawater, although tests have mostly shown it to fall within parameters set by the EPA.
But some worry that the water, if discharged in certain vulnerable areas such as ports, estuaries and coastal waters, could harm marine life and otherwise disrupt the environment.
Regulators in some European countries have questioned whether discharging scrubber washwater can be reconciled with the European Union’s “Water Framework Directive,” which gives local jurisdictions say over water matters in their areas.
A group of ship owners last year petitioned the EU for clarity, saying the uncertainty over enforcement jeopardizes their investment in scrubbers as a solution to lowering sulfur emissions.
In its statement, CLIA said about one-third of ships operated by its members have either installed scrubbers or committed to do so.
In January, many EU states submitted a plan to the IMO to create an alternate standard for verifying the acidity of washwater. CLIA said it endorsed the proposal, which is set to go before the IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee in May.
CLIA added that the IMO global standards should be the ones used by individual governments to fully encourage development of the new technology.
JetBlue to launch JFK-Havana charter service in July
JetBlue will operate a weekly roundtrip charter flight from New York Kennedy to Havana beginning July 3 in partnership with Cuba Travel Services, an authorized carrier service provider.
The A320 flights, seating 150 passengers, will depart Kennedy at noon on Fridays with a 3:30 p.m. Havana arrival. The return flight will depart Havana at 4:30 p.m. and arrive in New York at 8 p.m.
The expanded charter service comes on the heels of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's recent trade mission to Cuba on which he was joined by JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes and other New York business leaders.
The carrier currently offer two weekly charter flights to Havana from Tampa and one to Santa Clara in central Cuba, operated in partnership with ABC Charters. A flight from Fort Lauderdale to Havana is operated with Xael Charters.
Avis Budget Q1 revenue nearly flat
Avis Budget's first-quarter revenue was little-changed at $1.85 billion as higher rental volume in the U.S. was offset by the effect of currency changes overseas.
Avis Budget's revenue in the Americas region rose 3.4% from a year earlier as a 5% increase in U.S. rental volume more than made up for nearly flat domestic pricing.
Overseas, revenue fell 11% from a year earlier because of the negative impact of currency changes.
Overall, Avis Budget took a $9 million first-quarter loss, compared to year-earlier net income of $4 million, as transaction-related costs jumped on acquisition of Avis and Budget's licensing rights in Scandinavian countries.
(WAV: What could possibly go wrong with this?)
Keynote speaker from Texas ‘Draw Muhammad’ contest to speak in Boca
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, a prominent critic of Islam who spoke at the “Draw Muhammad” cartoon contest in Texas where two gunmen opened fire and were killed Sunday, is coming to Palm Beach County this summer as a guest of the local GOP.
Wilders, leader of the right-wing Party For Freedom in the Dutch parliament, is scheduled to speak at the Palm Beach County Republican Party’s annual Lobsterfest fundraising dinner Aug. 15 in Boca Raton.
County GOP Chairman Michael Barnett said Wilders travels with his own security detail and the GOP was planning, even before the Texas incident, on extra security for the event at Boca West Country Club.
In his Sunday speech in Garland, Texas, Wilders said he is “on death lists of Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban and terrorists from ISIS because I tell people the truth about Islam. Islam has declared war on us, on our Judeo-Christian civilization. Islam wants to rob us of the freedoms and liberties. Islam and freedom are totally incompatible.”
The event invited artists to compete for a $10,000 prize by drawing cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. Physical depictions of Muhammad are considered blasphemous to many Muslims and were cited by Islamic terrorists as justification for killing 12 people in January at the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
“All of you are not only talented but also very brave. For Islam has put a death sentence on depicting Muhammad,” Wilders said in a transcript of his speech on his blog. “But this has not frightened you. And even if it did, it has not stopped you. Because you believe in freedom of speech.”
Not long after Wilders spoke, two gunmen wearing body armor and brandishing automatic weapons showed up outside the event. One shot a security guard in the leg before police returned fire and killed both men. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the thwarted attack. One of the gunmen, Elton Simpson, had been the target of a federal terror investigation and posted “May Allah accept us as mujahideen” on his Twitter account shortly before the attack.
Barnett said he invited Wilders to speak at the Palm Beach County GOP event after hearing him a few years ago in Boca Raton.
“I’ve heard him speak before and with everything in the world going on with regards to radical Islamic terrorism, I thought it would be good to hear his perspective,” Barnett said.
“We’re having a politician come to speak on the reality of the world situation with regard to terrorism,” Barnett said. “We’re not provoking anything. From what I understand there was a Muhammad drawing competition (in Texas). We’re not doing anything like that.”
Democratic U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Andre Carson of Indiana, both of whom are Muslim, asked the State Department to deny Wilders’ entry into the U.S. last month because of his “participation in inciting anti-Muslim aggression and violence.”
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the county GOP inviting Wilders is a sign that “Republicans have embraced Islamophobia.”
Florida’s Republican National Committeeman, attorney Peter Feaman of Boynton Beach, dismissed the criticism.
“My take is, Republicans embrace free speech,” Feaman said. “He’ll be a voice of reason.”
About 80 residents pack Jupiter council, oppose All Aboard Florida
JUPITER — About 80 people, wearing white and red T-shirts reading “Stop the Trains,” created a standing-room-only crowd at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting to oppose the proposed Miami-to-Orlando rail service known as All Aboard Florida.
“We want the council to oppose to block the issuance of $1.75 billion in tax-exempt bonds needed to finish the rail line through to Orlando,” said Tom Hewitt, a resident of Admiral’s Cove in Jupiter.
The Jupiter gathering came a few hours after a group of northern Palm Beach County residents urged Palm Beach County commissioners to block All Aboard Florida’s plan to launch an express passenger rail service. Like those at the Jupiter meeting, they said the project was unsafe and harmful to their quality of life.
Bob Pesci, a member of the Jonathan’s Landing property owners association, presented the county commission with a petition signed by 500 residents calling for the county to fight the rail project.
AAF officials have countered that the project will create jobs, boost tax revenue to local communities and reduce traffic on Florida roadways.
All Aboard Florida plans 32 passenger trains a day between Miami and Orlando on the FEC tracks, with stops in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The Miami-to-West Palm Beach service is expected to begin in late 2016, with the Orlando leg starting in 2017.
Opponents to AAF said the Loxahatchee River bridge is unsafe for more trains. They also said emergency vehicles would be delayed and that the train would create noise and hurt the boating industry.
“Even if AAF has strong ridership, AAF could not pay off the debt service,” said Jupiter resident Rick Goldenberg.
“We live in a county and state that supports AAF, but here in north county, it will hurt our quality of life,” said Councilman Todd Wodraska.
The council directed Town Manager Andy Lukasik draft a letter to oppose AAF before the next council meeting.
Council member Ilan Kaufer was absent from the meeting.
Report: JetBlue partners with Amazon Prime for video on flights
JetBlue and Amazon announced Tuesday they are partnering to bring Prime Video to flights, at no extra cost to Amazon Prime members.
Those who aren't Amazon Prime members will be able to rent or buy movies and TV shows, JetBlue said in a news release.
JetBlue will use its free high-speed broadband Internet service, Fly-Fi, to stream the content to users' devices.
"Just like at home, customers will be able to access movies and TV shows from Amazon from 35,000 feet in the sky over our super fast and free Fly-Fi," Jamie Perry, JetBlue vice president of brand and product development, said in the company's news release.
The service launches this year on JetBlue's Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, and next year on the company's Embraer E190 aircraft.
"Working with JetBlue to provide high-speed Internet access that can support instant streaming, at no cost, is a great advantage to travelers," Michael Paull, Amazon vice president of digital video, told USA Today.
Love bourbon? This cruise is for you
The American Queen Steamboat Company is targeting bourbon lovers this summer with a special eight-night themed voyage through the heart of bourbon country.
Kicking off in St. Louis on July 4, the Insider's Bourbon Trail sailing on the 436-passenger American Queen will feature a route up the Ohio River to the rolling bluegrass hills region of Kentucky where 95% of the world's bourbon is made.
The highlight of the trip will be tours of the distilleries that make Jim Beam, Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve bourbons (click through the photo carousel above for an inside look at what passengers will see). There also will be on-board tastings and lectures led by Buffalo Trace representative Don Flinn and Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage author Michael Veach.
In addition, the trip will feature bourbon-enhanced menu items daily and bourbon-themed gifts nightly including a signed copy of Veach's book.
Three onboard seminars with Veach will explore:
-- The origin of bourbon in the 19th century (with tastings of Old Crow, Old Forester and Old Taylor bourbons).
-- Bourbon in the 20th century through Prohibition (with tastings of Old Grand Dad Bottled-in-Bond, Four Roses Yellow Label and Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond bourbons).
-- Post-Prohibition bourbon (with tastings of Blanton's Single Barrel, Wild Turkey KY Spirit Single Barrel and Woodford Reserve bourbons).
Among special touches of the voyage will be an appearance by Troy Beam during a visit to the Jim Beam distillery.
Fares for the sailing start at $2,699 per person, based on double occupancy, including a one-night pre-voyage hotel stay in St. Louis, shore tours in all ports, and wine and beer with dinner.
Luxury line plans epic, $55,000 cruise around Pacific
Looking for an upscale way to explore the Pacific Rim? Luxury line Seabourn has announced plans for an epic (and epically pricey) voyage across the region in 2017 that will include more than three dozen stops from Thailand to Alaska.
Kicking off in Singapore on March 4, 2017, the 89-night sailing on the 450-passenger Seabourn Sojourn will include visits to Sihanoukville, Cambodia; Laem Chabang and Ko Kood, Thailand; Da Nang, Halong Bay and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Coron, Boracay, Manila and Hundred Islands, Philippines; Incheon and Busan, South Korea; and Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien, Taiwan.
The trip also includes more than half a dozen calls in China including Xiamen, Hong Kong, Zhujiajian, Shanghai, Qingdao and Xinggang. Even more calls are planned in Japan, with Naha, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Kochi, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Miyako, Kushiro, Aomori, Hakodate and Shimizu on the schedule.
Following a northern route across the Pacific, the Sojourn also will stop in Kodiak, Skagway and Juneau, Alaska as well as Victoria, British Columbia. The voyage ends May 31, 2017 in Seattle.
Seabourn has announced plans for an epic, 89-day cruise across the Pacific Rim in 2017.
The sailing starts at $54,999 per person for the smallest ocean view cabins. Top suites for the sailing will cost more than $100,000 per person. The fares are based on double occupancy and don't include taxes, fees and port expenses of $2,215.43.
Smaller segments of the trip also are available for booking.
The unusual itinerary is one of 28 the line just announced for the fall of 2016 and winter of 2017. The trips include stops at 38 ports that are either maiden calls for Seabourn or places it hasn't visited for years.
The new itinerary comes as Seabourn gears up for the arrival of a new, bigger ship in late 2016, the Seabourn Encore
More Toilet Trouble With Another Flight
They say it takes three times to make a trend, but in this instance we’re hoping the third time is NOT the charm.
For the second time in as many days comes the story of an airplane flight departing without a 100 percent operational restroom. This time? Westchester County, N.Y., to Chicago, more than two-and-a-half hours.
The Chicago Tribune first reported the story of an American Eagle flight that left Westchester on April 25 carrying 44 passengers on a regional jet, without a functioning lavatory. Fortunately, an announcement was made before boarding and passengers were advised that if they had to use the facilities, do so before getting on the plane.
The Tribune, which was alerted by a passenger on the flight, noted that the Federal Aviation Administration leaves decisions on whether to fly with no working toilets or cancel the flight, up to the airlines.
An American Airlines spokeswoman told the paper that the plane “did fly with the lavatory inoperative. A part was broken, and that part was not available in Westchester. The choice was to either cancel the flight and ferry the aircraft (with no passengers) to O'Hare or operate with the inoperative lavatory. This is clearly not how we like to operate, but we believe in this case, with clear communication to the customers before the flight and the alternative of canceling, that the right decision was made.”
Also last week, a three-hour flight from Murcia, Spain to London on Ryanair took off and completed its journey without toilet paper stocked in the restrooms, and without milk as a beverage option.
London’s Daily Mail first reported the shortages on the flight.
Flight crew told passengers of the dilemma after the plane had pulled back from the gate during safety instructions.
A Ryanair spokesperson told MailOnline Travel: “This very rare and regrettable stock shortage (on the last flight last Sunday evening) was caused by the failure of our handling agents in Murcia to deliver toilet rolls and milk sachets that had been ordered on the turnaround in Murcia. Our crew explained to passengers that we wished to prioritise an on time departure for London Stansted rather than wait for these items to be delivered and cause a significant ATC delay for all our customers. Our passengers were very understanding and we apologised sincerely to them for any inconvenience caused.”
Less room at the inn: Hotels in US raise rates as travel picks up
REUTERS: Guests checking into a hotel run by one of the top chains in the United States can expect to pay 5 percent more this year than last as a brighter economy pushes occupancy to record highs.
Hyatt Hotels Corp on Tuesday joined Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc , Marriott International Inc and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc in forecasting that group bookings would drive growth this year.
"Groups are booking more in advance now because they feel they have a better line of light at the future economic outlook," said Lauro Ferroni, head of hotels and hospitality research at property consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
Occupancy rates at more expensive hotels are expected to hit 65.1 percent in 2015 - their highest ever - as travel spending in the United States grows 5.2 percent, according to statistics firm Statista. (http://bit.ly/1GYEjb6)
"If you know you are going to sell out and you are waiting to sell those last two rooms you know you can charge almost anything for those rooms," said David Loeb, an analyst at brokerage Robert W. Baird.
Room rates are expected to rise by an average 5.3 percent this year, compared with 4.5 percent last year, according to PKF Hospitality Research.
Marriott, whose room rate averaged US$143.27 in North America last year, expects an increase of nearly 5 percent in 2015, spokeswoman Laura Paugh told Reuters.
Hilton, Hyatt and Starwood did not respond to emails seeking comment on their rate expectations for the year.
Room rates are expected to account for nearly three-quarters of the growth in revenue-per-available-room (RevPAR) this year, up from 55 percent from last year, said Mark Woodworth, senior managing director at PKF.
RevPAR is calculated by multiplying a hotel's average daily room rate by its occupancy rate.
The question for the industry is whether higher prices will hurt occupancy rates in the longer term. Woodworth expects a 1.2 percent decline in occupancy between 2016 and 2017.
But for now, hotels have room to raise prices.
"We continue to grow average daily rates as demand from both group and transient guests continues to be strong," Hyatt Chief Executive Mark Hoplamazian said on an earnings call on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones U.S. Hotels Index has risen 5.5 percent so far this year, outperforming the S&P 500 index, which has risen 2.7 percent .
Resorts World breaks ground in Vegas
Just a day after the historic Riviera Casino and Hotel cashed in its chips for the last time, a new breed of casino resort was born on the Las Vegas Strip.
The groundbreaking of the highly anticipated $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas project took place accompanied by traditional Chinese thunder drummers and lion dancers.
Just across the street from the now shuttered Riviera, the Chinese themed Resorts World will have more than 3,000 guest rooms, and will feature a 175,000-square-foot casino, a 4,000-seat theater, an aquarium, a live panda exhibit and an indoor water park.
There are even plans to build a replica of the Great Wall of China.
The resort is being developed by Malaysia-based Genting Group, which operates casinos and resorts worldwide and plans to open by mid-2018.
It will take shape on the site of the old Stardust Hotel, creating about 30,000 construction jobs and direct and indirect work for up to 13,000 when it eventually opens.
"Genting Group looks forward to being a part of the city's continued growth by creating a huge national and international draw with this Chinese themed world-class resort," said KT Lim, chief executive of Genting Group.
"It's going to put people back to work. It's going to be one of those iconic resorts that people can only see in Las Vegas," said Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Gains Across the Disney Empire Lift Earnings 10%
LOS ANGELES — It was supposed to be a rare quarter of weakness for Disney, with analysts fretting about higher programming costs at ESPN and a comedown from last year’s “Frozen”-fueled highs.
Whoops.
Reflecting the vastness of its entertainment empire, the Walt Disney Company on Tuesday reported a 10 percent increase in profit, beating analyst expectations by a wide margin. The expected declines in movie and cable network income were offset by substantial quarterly growth in theme parks, a cruise line, television production, the ABC television network, consumer products and digital media.
“Disney does have the virtue of being the most diversified Big Media company,” Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen & Company, wrote in a research note on Tuesday.
Disney reported net income for its second fiscal quarter of $2.11 billion, or $1.23 a share, an increase from $1.92 billion, or $1.08 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Analysts had expected $1.10 a share in the most recent quarter.
Revenue totaled $12.46 billion, a 7 percent increase from $11.65 billion.
Operating income at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts rose 24 percent, to $566 million, reflecting higher theme park and cruise line ticket prices. Occupancy was a robust 89 percent at the roughly two dozen Disney hotels in North America. On the downside, attendance fell at parks in California and Hong Kong. Disney also had higher construction costs at Shanghai Disneyland, which is scheduled to open next spring.
Broadcasting delivered a 90 percent increase in operating income, to $302 million. The sale of “Daredevil” to Netflix was a big contributor, along with higher advertising sales and carriage fees at ABC.
Speaking on a Tuesday conference call with analysts, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, noted that ABC ratings were up this season. He called ABC’s development of new shows for the fall “quite strong.”
“Frozen,” the 2013 film about two Nordic princesses, continues to be a toy and clothing juggernaut, with sales of related merchandise providing a 32 percent lift in operating income at Disney Consumer Products, to $362 million. “Avengers”-themed products also sold well, Disney said.
Lower overall costs and the success of a mobile game called Tsum Tsum delivered an 86 percent increase in operating income at Disney Interactive, to $26 million.
Disney Interactive on Tuesday separately said that a long-expected “Star Wars” version of Infinity, a combination video game and collectible toy line, would arrive in stores in the fall. (Sales of Infinity fell in the most recent quarter, Disney said in its quarterly filing.)
A decline at Walt Disney Studios was not a surprise — “Big Hero 6” sold fewer tickets and DVDs than “Frozen” did a year earlier — but most analysts had expected a much sharper drop. Instead, operating income fell by 10 percent, to $427 million.
Costs rose at ESPN, dragging down operating income at Disney’s cable networks division by 9 percent, to $1.8 billion. Programming and production cost increases were related to college football, the start of the SEC Network and the addition of a National Football League wild card playoff game, Disney said.
“We expect this to be the last quarter of elevated costs,” Michael Nathanson, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, wrote in a research note.
Advertising sales at ESPN climbed 18 percent in the quarter, Disney said. So far in the current quarter, ad sales at ESPN are “down a bit,” James A. Rasulo, Disney’s chief financial officer, told analysts on Tuesday, reminding them that ESPN benefited from World Cup programming a year ago.
During the conference call, analysts asked Mr. Iger to comment on a dispute with Verizon over a new, slimmer FiOS cable offering that Disney and other media companies believe violates carriage agreements. “We are simply asking them to adhere to the contract,” Mr. Iger said.
As for why Disney decided not to participate in a new web-based television service offered by Sony, Mr. Iger said, “Simply put, it wasn’t to our advantage financially.”
In contrast, Disney did team up with Sling TV, an upstart streaming service from Dish Network, the satellite provider, because it is aimed at consumers without cable or satellite service, Mr. Iger said.
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
Train cars torn apart in fatal Amtrak derailment
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An Amtrak passenger train headed to New York City derailed and tipped over in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, tearing the cars apart and killing at least five people. Scores of passengers were injured, and some climbed out of windows to get away.
Mayor Michael Nutter, who confirmed the deaths, said the scene was horrific and not all the more than 240 people on the train had been accounted for.
"It is an absolute disastrous mess," he said. "I've never seen anything like this in my life."
He said all seven train cars, including the engine, were in "various stages of disarray." He said there were cars that were "completely overturned, on their side, ripped apart."
"It is a devastating scene down there," he said. "We walked the entire length of the train area, and the engine completely separated from the rest of the train, and one of the cars is perpendicular to the rest of the cars. It's unbelievable."
More than 140 people were hospitalized, and six were critically injured.
The cause of the derailment, which shut down service on the busy Northeast Corridor, was unknown.
Amtrak said it was investigating and was trucking in lights to illuminate the wreckage overnight as workers examined it. The mayor, citing the mangled train tracks and downed wires, said, "There's no circumstance under which there would be any Amtrak service this week through Philadelphia."
Train 188, a Northeast Regional, had left Washington, D.C. The front of the train was going into a turn when it started to shake before coming to a sudden stop.
An Associated Press manager, Paul Cheung, was on the train and said he was watching Netflix when "the train started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake."
"Then suddenly you could see everything starting to shake," he said. "You could see people's stuff flying over me."
Cheung said another passenger urged him to escape from the back of his car, which he did. He said he saw passengers trying to escape through the windows of cars tipped on their sides.
"The front of the train is really mangled," he said. "It's a complete wreck. The whole thing is like a pile of metal."
Another passenger, Daniel Wetrin, was among more than a dozen people taken to a nearby elementary school afterward.
"I think the fact that I walked off [the train] kind of made it even more surreal because a lot of people didn't walk off," he said. "I walked off as if, like, I was in a movie. There were people standing around, people with bloody faces. There were people, chairs, tables mangled about in the compartment ... power cables all buckled down as you stepped off the train."
The area where the derailment occurred is known as Frankford Junction and has a big curve. It's not far from where one of the deadliest U.S. train accidents occurred: the 1943 derailment of the Congressional Limited, from Washington to New York, which killed 79 people.
Police swarming around Tuesday's derailment site, in Port Richmond, a working-class area, told people to get back, away from the train. They pleaded with curious onlookers: "Do NOT go to scene of derailment. Please allow first responders room to work."
Roads all around the crash site were blocked off. Waves of firefighters surrounded the train cars, taking people out.
Several injured people, including one man complaining of neck pain, were rolled away on stretchers. Others wobbled while walking away or were put on city buses. An elderly woman was given oxygen.
Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy was on the train and said he helped people. He tweeted photos of firefighters helping other people in the wreckage.
"Pray for those injured," he said.
Amtrak said the train was carrying 238 passengers and five crew members. It said rail service on the busy Northeast Corridor between New York and Philadelphia had been stopped. The mayor, citing the mangled train tracks and downed wires, said, "There's no circumstance under which there would be any Amtrak service this week through Philadelphia."
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information about the derailment. It said it was launching an investigative team, which would arrive at the site Wednesday morning. The Federal Railroad Administration said it was dispatching at least eight investigators to the scene.
Port Richmond is one of five neighborhoods in what's known as Philadelphia's River Wards, dense row house neighborhoods located off the Delaware River. Area resident David Hernandez, whose home is close to the tracks, heard the derailment.
"It sounded like a bunch of shopping carts crashing into each other," he said.
The crashing sound lasted a few seconds, he said, and then there was chaos and screaming.
Temple University doctor: Victim from train derailment in Philly has died; death toll at 6
Report: Baha Mar resort ‘unlikely’ to open this year
Baha Mar executives and the mega-resort’s contractor, China Construction America, are trying to reach a deal to finish Baha Mar before the end of the year, but they are unlikely to meet that deadline, a source in the administration of Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie told the Bahamas Tribune.
The source also told the newspaper that Baha Mar does “not have the cash to finish the project or pay the contractor.”
The Tribune asked Robert “Sandy” Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice president of external and governmental affairs, about a report that said Christie had negotiated a deal for the Genting Group to purchase 51% of Baha Mar, and Sands “categorically” denied it.
Last week, Travel Weekly reported that Baha Mar pushed back its opening for at least another four months.
Baha Mar is slated to include the 1,000-room Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, the 707-room Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar, the 300-room SLS Lux at Baha Mar and the 200-room Rosewood at Baha Mar. The project’s fifth hotel and lone pre-existing property, the Melia Nassau Beach, remains open as it completes its renovations and conversion to the Melia at Baha Mar early next year.
A Baha Mar representative declined to respond to a request for comment from Travel Weekly on Tuesday afternoon, while representatives with Hyatt and SLS parent SBE Entertainment declined to comment. A Rosewood representative referred all questions to Baha Mar representatives.
Dad claims Delta charged him $88 to sit next to 4-year-old daughter
RALEIGH, N.C. — Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is under fire after a man claimed that the carrier charged him an $88 fee to sit next to his 4-year-old daughter, "Fox and Friends" reports.
Frank Strong recently wrote on his blog that he bought the tickets for the flight from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Montgomery, Alabama, on the airline's website. Although he was prompted to provide his daughter's age, the airline assigned Strong and his daughter seats that were 11 rows apart, Strong said.
At the airport, he asked a ticket agent whether he could switch seats for free but was told he'd have to pay an additional $88, Strong said.
"Faced with a dilemma of handing over ransom money to Delta in exchange for certainty, or taking a risk that an agent might fix the problem at the gate, I opted to pay," Strong wrote in his blog entry.
Delta is investigating the report, according to "Fox and Friends."
Cuba-Bound Flight Delayed After 'Suspicious Item' Discovered Onboard
A Cuba-bound flight was significantly delayed on Monday at Miami International Airport after a suspicious item was discovered, according to airport spokesman Greg Chin via Peter Burke of Miami's Local 10 News.
The item was described as a flashlight wrapped in wires.
Airport officials and authorities responded by removing the 142 passengers from the aircraft and evacuating several nearby gates. A bomb squad and K-9 unit were called to the scene to investigate and ultimately neutralize the item.
Sun Country Airlines Flight 8870 was scheduled to depart for Santa Monica, Cuba, at 2 p.m. ET but remained grounded on the tarmac several hours later.
It remains unknown whether the suspicious item was transported on the plane from its previous departure in Havana or had been brought on by a boarding passenger in Miami. However, another airport spokesman, Marc Henderson, told Local 10 News "there should not have been any prohibitive items in the possession of any passengers at that point in the boarding process."
Monday's scare in South Florida comes amid serious doubts about the airline's future.
According to ch-aviation.com, the Sun Country's board of directors has informed its pilot union that it's on the path to "its ultimate shut down" after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a revised collective labor agreement.
"...our management team has begun the process of downsizing the airline, for what will need to be its ultimate shut down," wrote board chairman and owner Marty Davis in a recent letter to the pilot union.
The Minnesota-based airline has been in operation since 1983 and offers scheduled and charter flights throughout North America and the Caribbean, including Cuba.
Travel is Thriving, So Why Are Car Rental Companies Idle?
Whether you travel for business or pleasure, renting a vehicle is something many Americans do each year, but the car rental industry is struggling right now compared to other businesses in the travel sector.
According to Phil LeBeau of CNBC.com, two of the car rental industry’s biggest publically-traded companies, Hertz and Avis, are struggling right now due to a lack of upgrades on the technology side of booking, too many cars on the lots and the lack of pricing power.
While Avis is up four percent on the stock market, Hertz is down more than 25 percent in the last year.
On the technology side, the airline and cruise industries have made major upgrades to how customers book their flights and trips, but car rental companies are just now making the necessary upgrades. For many travelers, it’s too little too late.
Another major problem is the number of rental cars in the United States. According to LeBeau, there are more than two million rental cars in America today. The average rental car spends 21 to 22 days being used by customers per month, leaving eight or nine days of inactivity. That’s far too much downtime for any company.
One major problem that spawns from the number of cars in the field is the lack of pricing power the companies have over customers. With the car rental industry desperate to get customers in vehicles, the consumer has all the negotiating power, resulting in better deals for those who book last minute.
Despite all of the struggles in the car rental industry, other industries in the travel sector are thriving. The airline, cruise, online booking and hotel industries are improving right now (with airlines up an astounding 66 percent last year,) but car rental companies are still failing to take advantage of the favorable market.
Barclays rental car industry analyst, Brian Johnson, told CNBC.com, “We look at [the rental car industry] and say, 'Why can't this become more like airlines when you went from maybe eight hub airlines to four?' We have gone from six rental car industry companies to three, yet we haven't seen the same type of benefits to investors from consolidation that we have with airlines.”
All hope is not lost for the car rental industry, though, as vast improvements to fleets have kept customers coming back to enjoy the newest cars on the market. Add in the fact that car-sharing services like Uber have not hurt the business as much as expected, and the industry can once again thrive with some smart choices moving forward.
For the customers, renting at the last minute could help save you money. Enjoy the benefit for now before the industry finally wises up.
Delta Sets $6 Billion of Buybacks, Dividends on Fuel Savings
Delta Air Lines Inc. approved a $5 billion stock-repurchase plan, more than double last year’s program, and boosted its dividend by 50 percent, as a windfall of savings on fuel enables it to steer more cash back to investors.
The buyback will run through December 2017, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The dividend will rise to 13.5 cents a share from 9 cents currently, the company said. The shares rose 2.7 percent to $47.35 in early trading.
After a $58 billion run of losses last decade, airlines in the past three years have once again started returning money to shareholders. The major U.S. carriers reported record profits in 2014, as they benefited from jet fuel prices that have fallen 37 percent since their peak in September. Delta has projected it will save $2.2 billion on fuel this year.
“We’re not just handing it back to shareholders,” Delta President Ed Bastian said on Bloomberg TV Wednesday. “This year we expect to generate almost $8 billion of operating cash flow. We continue to pay down debt and reduce the leverage on the balance sheet, and we’re also investing actively in our product and our services and our employees.”
Delta said it plans to cut adjusted net debt to $4 billion by the end of 2017 from $7.4 billion at the end of March. The reduced debt level will result in an annual net interest expense of about $200 million, $1.1 billion less than in 2009.
Delta has led the way in handing back cash and its announcement may spur other airlines to follow suit.
Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines Group Inc. are also projected to raise their dividends, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Delta said the dividend increase would take effect in the third quarter, without specifying a date. The boost outstripped the 12-cent average estimate based on data compiled by Bloomberg.
The carrier resumed its shareholder return program in May 2013 with a $1-billion buyback and dividend plan, after about a 10-year stretch during which it went through bankruptcy after it bought Northwest Airlines. Last year, Atlanta-based Delta boosted its program by announcing a $2.75-billion mix of share repurchases and dividends through 2016.
Delta’s announcement sweetens returns to shareholders in a year when the stock has slumped 6.3 percent, after having risen more than 300 percent from 2012-2014.
United Continental Holdings Inc. announced in July a $1-billion buyback plan to be completed over three years, while American currently has a $2 billion share repurchase program and Southwest is finishing up $1 billion in stock repurchases.
Delta said it’s on track to complete the remaining $725 million of its prior $2 billion share repurchase authorization by June 30.
Toyota, Nissan add 6.5 million cars to air bag recall
Toyota and Nissan launched massive global expansions Wednesday of their recalls of potentially deadly vehicle air bags made by Japan's Takata.
The twin automakers' actions add more than 6.5 million vehicles to the recalls that already encompassed millions of vehicles from multiple automakers in the U.S. -- and around the world.
Toyota's and Nissan's moves show how the troubles of Japanese auto supplier Takata, which has also drawn intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators, continue to deepen. It also indicates that Honda, which has borne the brunt of trouble from air bags because of its dependence on Takata, isn't alone.
Six fatal accidents involving Takata air bags have occurred in Hondas -- five in the U.S. and one in Malaysia. The accidents are caused when a Takata inflator spews plastic and metal debris on passengers after accidents.
Nissan plans to recall 1.5 million more vehicles, Bloomberg News reported. Toyota will recall 5 million. The recalls are in addition to the more than 17 million vehicles subject to earlier recalls.
In an email to reporters, Toyota said the recall involves three distinct actions in the U.S. One is a new recall. The other two are expansions of previous ones.
The new recall involves air bags on about 160,000 RAV4 SUVs in the U.S. from the 2004 and 2005 model years.
In the next action, Toyota is expanding an April, 2013, recall to add 177,000 Tundra pickups from the 2003 and 2004 model years and 2004 Sequoia SUVs in the U.S.
It is also including another 300,000 vehicles to past recalls of cars driven in mostly southern states with high humidity, which is believed to be a key factor in what has been causing Takata air bags to spew shrapnel when they deploy.
The expansion of the recall brings in 2005 to 2007 Toyota Corollas, Matrixes, and Sequoias; 2005 and 2006 Tundras; and 2005 to 2007 Lexus SCs. But it only applies to those cars whose owners have them in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Hawaii and some American territories.
General Motors recalls 523,000 Malibus, pickups
General Motors is launching two recalls involving seats or seat belts, including one of its largest of the year.
The big one is the recall of nearly 470,000 Chevrolet Malibu from the 2011 and 2012 model years. In those, GM says the steel cables linked to the front-seat seat belts can weaken, the Associated Press reports.
In the second, GM is recalling about 53,000 2015 Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks. In those, the seat frame hooks may not have been properly installed when the car was made.
In both recalls, GM says it is not aware of any crashes. It did report one minor injury on the seat-belt issue and 36 warranty claims.
The seat-belt issue can be fixed with a mounting bracket and inspection of the cable. The seat frame issue in the pickups involves an inspection and if the hooks are installed correctly, a free repair.
Missing U.S. helicopter reportedly spotted in Nepal
A U.S. military helicopter missing during an aid mission in Nepal reportedly has been spotted north of the capital, authorities said. But it will take time to reach the site where it has been located in the Tamakoshi region north of the capital of Kathmandu.
The Huey helicopter was carrying six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers when it disappeared Tuesday during a mission in a remote mountainous region in Nepal, a defense official said.
The utility helicopter from Marine Light Attack Helicopter squadron 469 based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was last seen after another helicopter in the area "picked up some (radio) chatter about a fuel problem," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
"Right now we are hopeful that there was no crash. There has been no (emergency) beacon, no other signs — no flames, no smoke, no hole in the ground — to indicate that there was a crash," Warren said.
"That said of course it's very rugged and difficult terrain," he added.
There are currently about 300 U.S. military personnel in Nepal providing humanitarian support and disaster relief supplies after the massive earthquake that hit the mountainous country April 25.
The helicopter was flying in the vicinity of Charikot, Nepal. The six Marines, along with two Nepalese army soldiers on board, had dropped off some relief supplies, including tarps and rice, at one location and then took off on route to a second drop spot when they lost contact, Warren said.
The Nepalese Air Brigade reported the helicopter's last known airborne location and three MV-22B Ospreys searched that area for 90 minutes, but were unable to find the aircraft. The air search was halted after dark and Nepalese soldiers were heading to the area on foot, Warren said.
U.S. and Nepalese aircraft were to resume aerial search procedures at daybreak, according to a news release.
Marine Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy, the forward commander of Joint Task Force 505, is leading the personnel rescue effort, Warren said.
A U.S. Air Force pararescue team "has rehearsed and is ready to execute if needed," Warren said.
The mountainous terrain makes the search very difficult.
The report of radio chatter about a fuel problem came from an Indian helicopter that was flying in the area at the time, Warren said.
"Right now we are hopeful. We have reason to believe this is simply the case of a helicopter that has landed and is out of communication."
Alaska Air, JetBlue take top spots in JD Power airline survey
JetBlue and Alaska Airlines continued their stranglehold atop the annual J.D. Power customer service satisfaction survey of North American carriers. Those airlines also had the highest customer satisfaction ratings for their frequent-flier programs, according to the 2015 J.D. Power survey released Wednesday.
Overall, passengers' happiness with service on U.S. and Canadian airlines continued to rise, according to the J.D. Power survey. The industry's satisfaction score climbed to an average of 717 on a 1,000-point scale — a 5-point jump from the record-high in 2014. (Scroll down for a full list of the airline ratings)
The uptick in the average score was driven mostly by gains in fliers' satisfaction with airline flight crews and with in-flight services.
"Many airlines realize that they are not in a commodity business and that hospitality and service go a long way in differentiating them from the other airlines," Rick Garlick, global travel and hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power, says in a statement accompanying the 2015 survey results. "Hospitality and service impact loyalty and return on investment with a high percentage of loyal passengers who are better advocates for the airline."
Passengers also reported higher satisfaction with airline "costs and fees," likely indicating the customers have become desensitized to paying more for perks that used to be free.
The survey also found that passengers who picked an airline based on customer-service reputation rather than price reported a higher satisfaction score. Those passengers also were more forgiving of their carrier for late flights and other operational disruptions.
"When the airline provides good service, passengers are generally less critical when there is a departure delay or a late arrival," Garlick says.
Results of the new J.D. Power survey -- conducted between April 2014 and March 2015 -- are tabulated from the responses of 11,354 passengers who flew on a major North American airline between March 2014 and March 2015.
Satisfaction scores are drawn from airlines' performances in seven categories (in order of importance to the survey): cost and fees; in-flight services; boarding, deplaning and baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservations.
The J.D. Power ratings come after another annual airline rating found that airline service declined slightly in 2014 from a year earlier. That study -- the Airline Quality Rating (AQR) report that's a joint project of Wichita State and the Arizona campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University -- tabbed Virgin America as the top U.S. carrier for a third year in a row.
In the J.D. Power survey's individual airline ratings, JetBlue earned the top overall mark with 801 points on the 1,000-point scale. That gave JetBlue the top score both in its "Low-Cost Carrier" category and among all carriers surveyed. JetBlue's finish in 2015 marks the 11th-consecutive year that it has earned the top overall score in the J.D. Power North American Satisfaction Study.
Southwest had the second-highest score among low-cost carriers, earning 781 points on the 1,000-point score. With 659 points, Frontier Airlines finished last out of the five low-cost carriers in the survey.
TSA Warns Traveling Gun Owners Amid Rising Firearm Seizures
With more and more firearms turning up at airports across the U.S., including Chicago Midway International Airport, the Transportation Security Administration feels the need to remind air travelers of the proper protocol.
In addition to hefty fines, in some cases, improper possession carries the threat of felony prosecution.
Nonetheless, according to CBS Chicago, security officials have already confiscated seven guns at Chicago Midway just over four months into the year, including three loaded firearms this past month. Those numbers are shocking considering that just six firearms were recovered at the airport all of last year.
Nearby Chicago O'Hare International Airport has already seen eight confiscated guns pass through in 2015, slightly ahead of the pace it was on last year when 20 firearms were seized by airport officials.
"Probably the most common excuse is, 'I didn’t know it was there,'" said Kevin McCarthy of the TSA via CBS Chicago. "I think there's a personal responsibility for any gun owner, that they ought to be aware of the rules, where they can and can't take it."
Although it requires a bit of common sense and paperwork, traveling with a firearm clearly isn't rocket science.
Travelers can find and review the rules on the TSA's website and should remember to pack the unloaded gun in a hard, lockable case inside checked luggage. If traveling with ammunition, it must be packed away in a separate container from the gun.
Beyond that, the traveling gun owner must declare the weapon at the counter and fill out a form to confirm it's unloaded and therefore safe to fly.
Briton missing after holiday sky-diving tragedy
A British holidaymaker London is feared dead after she was involved in a plane crash while skydiving in Mexico.
Varsha Maisuria, 42, from London, has been missing since the accident off Las Glorias Beach, in the resort of Puerto Vallarta, last Thursday.
She was on board a small Cessna plane with four other people when it crashed into the sea in front of tourists.
The pilot and two passengers were rescued but Ms Maisuria and her American skydiving instructor, who were strapped together for a tandem jump, are still missing.
A spokesperson for the FCO confirmed that Ms Maisuria had been missing since 7 May.
She added: "We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time and working with local authorities in Mexico."
US Airways to disappear by the fall
The very last US Airways flight could happen as early as this fall, after American Airlines Group announced a 90-day process to combine reservation systems.
The process may begin in July, American said, which would effectively see the end of the US Airways name by October.
US Airways flights will gradually be replaced by American Airlines flights in a single reservations system in what is expected to be one of the most complex parts of the integration process.
"It's absolutely critical because it's really the core system for almost every customer-facing transaction that happens at the airline," said Maya Leibman, chief information officer for American Airlines Group.
While US Airways' flights will disappear from American's single reservations system at the end of the transition period, US Airways' colors will still be seen in the air for some time as planes are still be repainted in American's livery.
A letter sent to travel agents detailed the gradual process and phasing out of US Airways' reservations designed to 'ensure a smooth transition.'
The company plans intensive training for thousands of US Airways airport and reservations agents to adjust to American's new system.
"It's a complex and kind of hairy process to make it all work seamlessly and that's why we spent so much time preparing for this event," Leibman said.
The two carriers merged in December 2013 and have already integrated many operations including frequent flier programs, but continue to operate separately.
Airbnb crackdown: Santa Monica leads short-term rental backlash
Santa Monica's City Council voted quickly and unanimously Tuesday night to enact some of the nation's strictest regulations on the booming short-term rental industry.
The measure, targeting Airbnb and other tourist rental websites, explicitly bars renting units for fewer than 30 days. The measure legalizes home-sharing – the rental of a couch or spare bedroom, for instance – as long as the host registers with the city and pays taxes.
The vote was preceded by a rally of more than 100 short-term rental hosts and supporters outside Santa Monica City Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
At the event, several Santa Monica residents said short-term rental sites have helped them afford to continue living in the pricey beach city by renting out their house when they travel.
“It’s such a blessing for us,” said Arlene Rosenblatt, a retired teacher who frequently rents her apartment while visiting her children and grandchildren. “We need to have these regulations changed.”
The protests had little effect on council members, who approved the measure in less than a minute, unanimously and with no debate.
Two weeks ago, several members said they wanted to make room for “true” home-sharing, while preventing landlords from taking apartments off the regular housing market to rent them full-time to tourists.
Those tourist units account for about 1,400 of 1,700 short-term rentals advertised on three major websites, according to a city report.
While short-term rentals have long been technically illegal in most of Santa Monica, those rules have been lightly enforced. Now the city plans to establish strict penalties. The ordinance takes effect in 30 days.
Supporters of the bill – a coalition of housing advocates, neighborhood groups and hotel workers – came out in force for the public hearing two weeks ago but were sparse Tuesday night. A spokeswoman for a hotel workers union, Unite Here Local 11, had no immediate comment on the vote.
Other Southland cities, including Malibu and West Hollywood, have also recently tightened rules on short-term rentals in reaction to the rapid growth of online sites such as Airbnb, which connects hosts with renters.
Los Angeles officials are considering new regulations as well, and short-term rental advocates fear that Santa Monica's action may lead to a broader crackdown.
“That is one of our tremendous fears,” said Robert St. Genis, spokesman for the Los Angeles Short-Term Rental Alliance, a network of vacation-rental property managers. “We don’t want to see this end up in Pasadena, Manhattan Beach, you name it.”
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
Norwegian Cruise Line ship refloated after running aground on Bermuda reef
Firm says all 2,675 passengers and more than 1,000 crew on board are safe after ship ran aground before being floated off reef at high tide
A Norwegian Cruise Line ship ran aground on a reef on Tuesday after leaving Bermuda but no one was injured and the vessel was later floated off at high tide, the company said.
The Norwegian Dawn was on a week-long Boston to Bermuda cruise with 2,443 passengers and 1,059 crew, the world’s third-largest cruise operator said in a statement.
“All guests and crew are safe and there were absolutely no injuries,” Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line said.
It said its ship was leaving King’s Wharf, Bermuda, about 5pm when the vessel had a “temporary malfunction of its steering system” which caused it to sail “slightly off course”.
The company said the ship’s officers, engineers and an independent dive team have confirmed its structural integrity, and that the vessel will also be thoroughly inspected in Bermuda by DNVGL, the ship’s classification society, before returning to Boston.
“The ship is fully operational with the full complement of onboard services available to guests,” the company said, adding it would remain at anchor nearby overnight.
Photos posted on Twitter by people onboard showed passengers, some with drinks in hand, strolling on deck and peering over the rail into the bright blue sea.
Small boats checking for damage could be seen, as well as two tug boats and a Bermuda police boat, and scuba divers in wetsuits preparing to investigate below the waterline.
Rachel Hansen, a student at Coastal Carolina university in Conway, South Carolina, said the ship had shuddered for 10 to 15 seconds as it ground to a halt. There was no sudden jolt that might have panicked passengers, and the captain of the vessel had moved swiftly to assuage fears by assuring people over the intercom that there had been no visible damage.
“He told us they had lost control of the steering and that’s why the ship was grounded on the coral reef. They sent divers down under the ship,” said Hansen, who is on board the Norwegian Dawn on a five-day vacation with her family.
Passengers have now been told that the cruise-liner will definitely not be moving until Thursday at the earliest. “The captain’s told us to sit and wait for more information.”
In the meantime, the holiday-goers were trying to act as though it was business as normal. “Shows are still going on, food and drinks are still being served. It’s definitely a bit stressful, but people are trying to keep happy,” Hansen said.
An official with Bermuda’s Rescue Coordination Center told the Associated Press the ship hit the reef near Bermuda’s North Channel.
The official said there were 2,675 passengers and 1,062 crew members aboard the ship, adding that it was in a stable position.
Norwegian Cruise Line said in a brief statement that the ship temporarily lost power and its propulsion was affected.
“The ship’s propulsion was affected and, at which time, the vessel made contact with the channel bed,” the statement said.
The US Coast Guard declined to comment and referred calls to authorities in Bermuda.
The Norwegian Dawn offers a seven-day, round-trip cruise to Bermuda, where it spends three days in port. It was on its way to Boston when the accident happened.
CDC Warns Travelers of Hepatitis A Outbreak in Mexico
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is cautioning travelers visiting Mexico in the wake of a recent hepatitis A outbreak.
According to the CDC, as of May 1, more than two dozen cases of hepatitis A have been reported by U.S. travelers who visited Tulum, Mexico, a popular tourist destination, between Feb. 15 and March 20 of this year. As a result, the CDC is recommending that travelers headed south of the border get vaccinated for hepatitis A.
The organization also advises travelers to eat and drink safe foods and beverages as well as to practice good hygiene and cleanliness.
The CDC defines hepatitis A as "a liver disease that results from infection with the Hepatitis A virus" and states that "it can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months."
"Hepatitis A is usually spread when a person ingests fecal matter — even in microscopic amounts — from contact with objects, food, or drinks contaminated by the feces or stool of an infected person," states the CDC.
Currently, the CDC has only issued a Level 1 Watch for travel to Tulum, which means travelers should practice usual precautions. Level 2 would be an Alert, in which travelers would be advised to practice enhanced precautions.
The highest Level 3 Warning would recommend travelers avoid nonessential travel to the affected area.
For now, though, travelers eyeing a trip to Tulum or nearby destinations should look into getting vaccinated if they haven't been already and engage in other common sense practices when it comes to activities like eating and drinking.
A resort city located south of Cancun and Playa del Carmen along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Tulum is renowned for its Mayan ruin sites.
Southwest Workers Arrested For Smuggling Marijuana
Fourteen people, including three baggage handlers for Southwest Airlines, have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.
According to the Contra Costa Times, Southwest baggage handlers at Oakland International Airport Kenneth Wayne Fleming, 32, Keith Ramon Mayfield, 34, and Michael Herb Videau, 28, used their airport security badges to circumvent security, federal prosecutors allege.
The trio would take duffel bags filled with marijuana and bypass security, entering a Southwest terminal at the Oakland airport well past the checkpoint. They would then hand off the bags to co-conspirators who had already legitimately bought tickets from Oakland to another city and had already cleared security. The bags were then transported on the flights for distribution across the country.
One of the three baggage handlers was also accused of putting the bags right on the plane and shipping drugs as cargo.
In a statement, Southwest said “We do not tolerate any behavior or activity that could jeopardize the safety and security of our operation. We will continue to work with law enforcement, airport authorities, and our security partners to perform due diligence in upholding high security standards."
Prosecutors allege the conspiracy has been going on since July of 2012. Of the 14 arrested, three were fugitives and two have since been serving state prison terms.
Takata doubling U.S. recall for defective air bags to 34 mln vehicles
WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - Japanese air bag manufacturer Takata Corp (7312.T) is doubling a recall of potentially deadly air bags to nearly 34 million vehicles, making it the largest automotive recall in American history, U.S. safety regulators said on Tuesday.
The recall involves passenger- and driver-side air bag inflators in vehicles made by 11 automakers, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Takata said. It expands on the 16.6 million vehicles called back for repairs for the same issue in previous regional and national recalls, and boosts the number of vehicles affected globally since 2008 to more than 53 million.
Regulators linked six deaths worldwide to defective Takata air bags which exploded too violently and shot shrapnel into the vehicles.
Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said in a statement: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with NHTSA, which represents a clear path forward." The company declined to say whether markets outside the United States would be affected.
It was only under pressure from U.S. regulators that Takata agreed to the expanded recall. It had previously resisted expanding the recalls, saying the defect cited by automakers was not "officially recognized."
Toyota Motor Corp , Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co had expanded their Takata recalls over the past week.
The automakers have said they decided to proceed with their recalls after finding some Takata air bag inflators were not sealed properly, allowing moisture to seep in to the propellant casing. Moisture damages the propellant and can lead to an inflator exploding with too much force.
The six deaths linked to the defective air bags have all been in cars made by Honda, Takata's biggest customer, which has borne the brunt of the recalls to date.
Takata shares slid 10 percent on Wednesday to their lowest in more than a month, and are down 46 percent since the recall crisis worsened in late September. Honda shares ended flat.
Japanese carmakers and Takata said it will take them two months to work through the data and decide how Takata's U.S. action might affect recalls worldwide. It is not immediately clear how many vehicles are potentially involved in the recalls, as cars with two air bags under recall could be double-counted.
NHTSA also cautioned that the U.S. numbers were preliminary and subject to change.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said NHTSA also issued a consent order to Takata, requiring the supplier to cooperate in the safety agency's probe as well as any oversight.
NHTSA also said it will "organize and prioritize the replacement of defective Takata inflators" under its legal authority. This is the first time the agency has used this power since 2000, when Congress granted it under the TREAD Act.
"We will not stop our work until every air bag is replaced," Foxx said.
'OWNING UP TO THE CRISIS'
Foxx and NHTSA's new administrator, Mark Rosekind, have been aggressive in tackling auto safety issues. On Monday, NHTSA escalated a regulatory battle with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI), saying it could impose "multiple penalties" on the automaker and order a public hearing to examine the automaker's handling of 20 recalls affecting more than 10 million vehicles.
NHTSA had slapped Takata in February with a $14,000 per-day fine for failing to fully cooperate with a probe, but Rosekind said that was now suspended.
Takata's recall will cost the supplier and its automaker customers an estimated $4-$5 billion, said Scott Upham, president of Valient Market Research, which tracks the air bag industry.
Takata has said it expects to return to profit this financial year, but its chief financial officer told analysts last week it would not set aside more cash to pay for the expanding recalls.
Last November, sources told Reuters that bankers with relationships with Takata were brainstorming financing proposals, although not directly with the supplier. Raising new capital could threaten the control of the Takada family, but potentially boost governance and oversight.
The Takada family holds about 59 percent of the world's second-largest air bag inflator maker.
"TAKEN FAR TOO LONG"
A Honda spokesman had no immediate comment on how the replacement air bag inflators will be produced for such a large number of vehicles. Industry officials have turned to Takata's rivals for help in obtaining replacement parts.
Takada, whose family founded the supplier, said analysis of the problem "was not within the scope of testing specifications" set by its automaker customers.
"While it's taken far too long, Takata finally seems to be owning up to the air bag crisis that has plagued vehicles of all shapes and sizes," said Kelley Blue Book analyst Akshay Anand. "A recall of this size is unprecedented in any industry."
U.S. lawmakers, who had pushed for a broader recall, welcomed the news.
"Folks shouldn’t have to drive around wondering if their air bag is going to explode in their face," Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson said. "Let’s hope Takata’s admissions today tell us the whole story."
Takata faces multiple class actions in the United States and Canada as well as a U.S. criminal investigation and a regulatory probe. Tuesday’s announcement will "tremendously bolster our claims," said Peter Prieto of law firm Podhurst Orseck, who leads the group of plaintiffs’ lawyers appointed to oversee the U.S. cases. Those cases have been consolidated in federal court in Miami.
Struggling start-up airline turns to crowdfunding for cash
A start-up airline that has failed multiple times to get off the ground since the 1990s is now turning to crowdfunding in its latest attempt to begin service.
In making its pitch for your cash, Avatar Airlines claims it's "poised to revolutionize the airline industry as 'the ultra-low fare' leader with no baggage fees (up to two) and fares as low as $19" on 581-seat Boeing 747-400 aircraft. Avatar began the crowdfunding campaign earlier this month, but stepped up effort Monday with a media push.
The would-be carrier's current crowdfunding campaign is live at www.HelpAvatarFly.com, though that comes after Avatar apparently was booted off established crowdfunding site Indiegogo earlier this month. Avatar says it will take donations of between $5 and $9,750, with a campaign goal of $5 million.
Among the giving options, folks hoping to help Avatar earn its wings can donate $5,000 to get a guaranteed interview for one of the airline's captain's jobs. Of course, Avatar notes that the $5,000 gets you only an interview – and not necessarily anything more. "Employment is not guaranteed," Avatar says, adding that all prospective pilots "must meet minimum requirements for job position."
So, what's the carrier's business plan? In its pitch, Avatar says it will "operate ultra-low fare, non-stop flights to and from high-density markets within the Continental U.S. and Hawaii exclusively utilizing the Boeing 747-400 aircraft." Avatar promises fares as low as $79 each way for cross-country flights between New York and Los Angeles.
If that plan sounds familiar, it should. The outfit behind the effort has made numerous attempts to get off the ground, starting back in the 1990s under the Family Airways name. Airways News details a number of the failed attempts by Avatar/Family to win approval from U.S. regulators.
Cranky Flier author Brett Snyder also takes a look at Avatar, noting the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected Family Airlines' request for passenger service certification in 2009. The DOT said it was "concerned about (Family Air's) fitness in every area: managerial competence, finances, and compliance disposition."
Could this effort be any different? Snyder doesn't think so.
"The basic premise is hugely flawed," Snyder writes about Avatar's latest business plan via his Cranky Flier blog. "Avatar's model hasn't changed, and it goes against pretty much everything going on in the industry today."
Snyder also suggests that by selling perks like a Founders Club membership ($3,000), Avatar may be violating rules governing advertising by airlines not yet approved for passenger service. In May of 2012, for example, now-defunct PEOPLExpress was fined $10,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation for running afoul of those restrictions.
"Sounds like Avatar is walking quite the fine line here," Snyder writes.
WOW Air CEO bullish on U.S. market
WOW Air founder and CEO Skuli Mogensen is betting that U.S. customers will fly his carrier, attracted by low trans-Atlantic fares. The Icelandic low-cost carrier launched service from Baltimore-Washington International on May 8 and from Boston on March 27 using Airbus A321 aircraft.
Mogensen started the carrier in November 2011, saying his goal is to cater to price-savvy travelers.
"Businesses and the general public today are much more aware of the aftereffects of the financial meltdown, especially in Iceland," he says to Today in the Sky. "So people prefer to spend more money at their destinations instead of paying very high air fares if they don't have to."
Fares out of Baltimore range from $159 to $351 one way. Travelers pay fees for items including checked bags, heavier carry-on bags, seat selection and seats with extra legroom.
The carrier is seeing a higher proportion of business traffic than it originally expected, Mogensen says.
"But we're seeing people from all demographics aboard our flights," he adds. "Having said that, it's also true that when we enter a new city, we broaden the market significantly because we make it more affordable for people to fly."
Boston and Baltimore were ideal for WOW to launch in because Iceland has already been well marketed in both cities, says Mogensen. Icelandair, long the the top carrier in Iceland, currently flies out of Boston and had previously served Baltimore before shifting its flights in that region to Washington Dulles.
"So since Iceland is already a well-known destination, it makes our job easier. Both cities and their greater surrounding areas are also attractive destinations for Iceland," Mogensen says. "I extended my time in Baltimore for two days after the inaugural flight because there were such great places to visit."
Airports fire latest shot in passenger fee wars
Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) has unveiled a new "Upgrade My Airport" web campaign, part of its ongoing effort to raise the cap on the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC). The PFC is a fee of up to $4.50 currently paid by travelers flying out of U.S. public commercial airports, and ACI-NA wants the PFC cap raised to $8.50 to fund FAA-approved projects or to boost air carrier competition.
ACI-NA's campaign targets travelers who use the nation's commercial airports.
"It's really a campaign educate passengers, getting them to understand what upgrading their airports really means for them," says ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin Burke. The website offers information comparing PFCs to airline fees and asks users to sign a petition letting Congress know they support the modernization of the charge.
Burke says the campaign was launched after a conversation with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.).
"He asked us to do a few things. He wanted us to explain why we needed a PFC increase and the importance of doing it," Burke says. "And it needed to be explained by those who actually use the airports. It was a good idea, and a great way to connect with passengers."
ACI-NA created this platform for passengers so they can talk about the importance of their airports. "We are taking that information and making sure that it gets back to Congress as it continues its work on FAA reauthorization," Burke says.
Burke says ACI-NA is getting help with its Upgrade My Airport campaign from an outside firm.
"It is doing very complicated logarithms to target people whose congressional districts are in the ones represented on the House Transportation Committee, along with the House and Senate leadership," he says. "We will then relay the results to members of Congress, and they will also hear from their constituents."
The website features series of videos -- which have had about 500,000 views -- about the airlines' opposition to raising the PFC cap.
"The airlines are saying that they will lose passengers with a $4 increase in the PFC cap, but they're making money via the ancillary fees, that's led to a tremendous amount of profit for them," Burke says.
The website currently has more than 14,000 petition signatures, with Burke saying that "the website will stay up for as long as we need it to. The more information we get out there, the better off we'll be."
Disney Joins the No Selfie Stick Revolution
In March, museums across the country started to ban selfie sticks. You know, those annoying two- to four-foot long sticks that hold your phone or GoPro away from you for a better selfie shot?
Soon after, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Wimbledon, and Churchill Downs all banned the sticks as well, citing safety issues, delcaring them a nuisance, or both, and therefore not welcome at their attractions.
Now, the House of Mouse has joined the club. Disney announced last Friday by placing signs outside the Magic Kingdom's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain in Orlando, Florida's Disney World and in front of the the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Anaheim, California's Disneyland.
Unofficially, selfie sticks had been banned on rides for some time, in deference to what should be obvious safety reasons. Enforcement was limited to a reminders to guests from cast members, but after several incidents in which rides needed to be stopped due to selfie sticks, Disney felt a stronger approach was warranted. Hence the signs.
Disney said in an email that the signs are, "just a continuation of our communication efforts at a few key attractions."
Delta playing hardball with online travel sites
A group of major online travel sites is accusing Delta Air Lines of shutting them out, by removing its data as it looks to wrest control from OTAs and meta search sites.
Delta has removed its flight schedule and fares from several travel sites, including TripAdvisor, Hipmunk and CheapOair, the Wall St Journal reports .
Delta says it never authorized the use of the data to these sites.
The airline said it "reserves the right to determine who it does business with, and where and how its information is displayed."
It vowed to "continue partnering with a limited, but responsive and adaptable group of online retailers."
It follows a report by trade group the Travel Technology Association, which represents some of the biggest players in online travel.
Economics professor Fiona Scott Morton, who authored the report for the TTA, says airlines are trying hard to prevent the ability to compare fares online in order to bag more direct customers and upsell added services from their own websites.
"The motivation behind the change isn't that 'I want low-cost distribution,' it is that 'I want to restrict the ability of the consumer to do price comparisons,' " said Morton.
"We probably need a rule that says everybody can look at all the fares in an efficient way."
Morton suggests in the report that without the option to compare the biggest carriers' fares together, customers will pay an average 11% more or a combined $6.7 billion extra in airfares a year.
The trade group also notes American Airlines and United Airlines have also limited where and how data can be seen.
"Delta has been the most egregious, but this is about the large carriers leveraging their market dominance to restrict and selectively choose the winners and losers—and the losers are the American public," said Bryan Saltzburg, head of flight search at TripAdvisor.
Air Canada tagging all carry-on bags
Canadian flyers beware - Air Canada's carry-on police will be on the prowl at Toronto Pearson Airport from next week.
Air Canada said it will start tagging all cabin luggage starting Monday May 25 and will have staff stationed at check-in and security checkpoints to ensure all carry-ons conform to size and weight limits.
Bags that meet size dimensions will be given an 'approved' tag.
Air Canada said it will expand the coverage to other airports during the month of June.
"This will make it easier and safer to stow your personal items on board, may help reduce wait times at security, and will help avoid flight delays caused by larger bags being checked at the gate," the airline said in a statement.
Last year Air Canada started charging a $25 checked bag fee which has now become an industry standard with rival Canadian carriers WestJet and Porter Airlines adopting a similar policy.
Bare bodies banned at Angkor Wat
A new code of conduct for tourists visiting the ancient temples of Angkor Wat will be drafted next month, aimed at halting incidents of tourists behaving badly at the world famous UNESCO Heritage site.
A number of incidents have hit the headlines in recent months of foreign tourists stripping off for naked photo shoots in the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap.
This year two American sisters and a group of French tourists have separately been deported for exposing too much flesh at the temple complex.
Last year a New Zealand tourist admitted vandelizing a 12th century statue after illegally staying overnight in a temple.
The new rules have been two years in the making, the Apsara Authority said and will be distributed in several languages to local tour companies and hotels.
"Revealing clothes such as shorts and skirts above the knees and showing bare shoulders are prohibited in sacred places," the new guidelines say.
Visitors will be banned from touching ancient structures and to also avoid giving money to children begging as it 'encourages them not to attend school, but to beg'.
Chinese tourists to become NZ's biggest spenders
China is set to overtake Australia as New Zealand's biggest spending source market within the next six years.
The ministry of business, innovation and employment predict spending by Chinese tourists will jump to NZ$2.32 billion ($1.7 billion) by 2021 from NZ$1.28 billion this year.
The average trip duration will be 27 days and each Chinese visitor will spend about NZ$238 each day by 2021, the government report says.
It said 265,000 Chinese tourists visited New Zealand last year and that would more than double by 2021 to 571,000.
"When the Australian dollar declines against the New Zealand currency, as it did in early 2015, Australians reduce spending," said Chris Roberts, CEO of Tourism Industry Association New Zealand.
"It certainly does have an impact. We have to work really hard to get our Australian visitors to open their wallets or extend their credit card limits when they are here."
Long-awaited Margaritaville taking reservations
Get ready to pack your bags, Parrotheads. The new Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort is taking reservations.
Rates at the 349-room resort on the Broadwalk begin at $259 a night, a hotel spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The resort includes 151 king rooms, 154 queen rooms and 44 suites, along with the Jimmy Buffett Suite and the Coral Reefer Suite, which will occupy the penthouse level of the 17-story resort.
The $147 million Margaritaville, at Johnson Street and State Road A1A, will include eight restaurants and bars, oceanside pools, a FlowRider wave ride, spa and fitness center and 30,000 square feet of convention space.
“We look forward to welcoming our first guests,” General Manager Cate Farmer said in a news release Tuesday.
Reservations are being accepted for stays starting Oct. 1, but the date will be adjusted when a firm opening date is set, the spokewoman said.
So far, the Margaritaville has said only that it will open in “summer 2015.” Hotel developer Lon Tabatchnick told city commissioners in April that Margaritaville could open after mid-July and before Labor Day, if all goes as planned.
Pinellas commissioners put off decision on tourist tax spending
CLEARWATER — The Pinellas County Commission on Tuesday decided to put off a decision on how much of the county's tourist tax dollars should be spent on capital projects such as sports stadiums and museums.
Commissioners unanimously agreed to wait until the Tourist Development Council comes up with a recommendation on whether to raise the tax on hotel rooms stays from 5 percent to 6 percent.
"To me, it changes the equation all the way across," Commissioner Janet Long said.
The so-called bed tax brought in about $35 million last year. The tourist council had recommended a plan that capped capital spending at 40 percent of that sum — 15 percent for pro stadiums and convention centers, 15 percent for museums, aquariums and nonprofessional sports attractions, and 10 percent for beach renourishment.
Some TDC members, including St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos, urged the commission to approve a second option that capped the two bricks-and-mortar categories at 20 percent each. Beach renourishment would have remained unchanged. The higher cap, they argued, would give the commission more flexibility to approve worthy projects that give tourists and residents alike something to do.
But hoteliers, restaurateurs and other business owners worried that a higher cap would hamstring the tourism bureau's efforts to expand its marketing reach. Several commissioners said they shared those concerns.
Commissioner Karen Seel, a former tourist council chairwoman, pointed out that even with the lower cap, Visit St. Pete Clearwater's share of the pie — currently about $25 million — could shrink to $21 million and would drop to about $17.5 million with the higher cap.
"I can't even begin to think of what kind of advertising and marketing cuts we would see," Seel said.
Tacking on an extra percent, at the current collection rate, would bring in $7 million more, expanding the entire pie.
While there are no caps on types of spending, the county historically has dedicated about 36 percent of the bed tax to fund capital projects, including beach renourishment.
"I think we need to look at all 6 cents together," said Commissioner Ken Welch, another former TDC chairman.
Disney guest crashed through golf-cart windshield, jumped into Bay Lake, report says
Deputies arrested a 27-year-old Ohio man early Monday after an apparent drunken night at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort.
Andrew Hall, of Mentor, Ohio, was arrested after being rescued by a Walt Disney World marine unit, which found him struggling to stay afloat in the middle of Bay Lake, according to an Orange County Sheriff's Office arrest report.
Before that, deputies said Hall was drinking at the resort's restaurant and attempted to leave on a bicycle, according to the report.
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A manager at the restaurant said Hall had trouble staying balanced and fell numerous times, so the manager drove a golf cart to catch up and help.
When the manager got to Hall, he ran toward the cart, jumping and crashing through the plastic windshield, the report states.
Hall then got in the driver's seat and headed for Bay Lake, where he crashed into a pier, the manager told deputies. There, he jumped into the water and swam away until he started struggling, according to the report.
A Walt Disney World marine unit came to help, however, deputies said Hall yelled racial slurs and refused to get in the boat, the report states.
He then "dove below the surface beyond sight," the report states. When he came back up, Hall was going in and out of consciousness, gasping for breath, according to the report.
Deputies said someone from the marine unit jumped in, swam to him and pulled him into the boat.
Emergency medical crews met them on shore and took Hall to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.
He was then booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of disturbing the peace at a public lodging establishment, grand theft and criminal mischief, according to the report.
Deputies said the damage to the golf cart and pier cost about $5,000.
Hall is being held on $2,500 bail.
Tourism board OKs funding requests
DAYTONA BEACH — The Halifax Area Advertising Authority board approved a funding request Tuesday to pay for the filming of the National Lifeguard Championships in Daytona Beach Aug. 5-8. The camera footage could then be used by national television stations.
The board also agreed to pay for a full-page ad for the event on the back of American Lifeguard Magazine. The total funding request was for $15,750.
Mid-Florida Marketing & Research was also authorized to survey people who have visited the area from New York City, Charlotte, Tampa, Houston and Texas on why they chose to come here. In addition, the board approved more than $38,000 to advertise next year’s Bike Week. The ad authority oversees the budget for the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Its funding comes from tourism bed taxes collected by Volusia County from hotels, campgrounds and vacation rental properties.
US Has 300 Outlaw Biker Gangs
'THESE GUYS HAVE NEVER GONE AWAY'
(NEWSER) – Outlaw motorcycle gangs are in the spotlight after Sunday's slaughter in Waco, though law enforcement officials say they've been thriving for many years out of the public eye. "These guys have never gone away. I'm shocked that people are shocked that this happened," the ATF's Los Angeles chief tells the Wall Street Journal. He was part of a team that infiltrated the Hells Angels more than a decade ago. The Hells Angels, along with the Bandidos, are among the biggest outlaw groups in the US, but the Justice Department says there are more than 300 active ones, the Journal reports. The Waco shootout is believed to have stemmed from a Bandidos-Cossacks feud over the latter club's wearing of a "Texas" patch.