WAV Travel News - Tuesday Edition
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Adventures by Disney to offer river cruising
Adventures by Disney, Walt Disney Company’s tour operator brand, on Monday said that it is getting into the river cruise game through a partnership with AmaWaterways.
Starting in 2016, Adventures by Disney will offer four sailings along the Danube River during the summer months, and one holiday-themed sailing in December 2016. The itineraries travel through Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary.
Adventures by Disney will charter the 170-passenger AmaViola, a ship that is launching in 2016 and is being custom-built to cater to families. Family-friendly features on the AmaViola will be six sets of connecting staterooms, as well as some rooms and suites that can accommodate families of three or four people. Shipboard spaces are being reimagined to allow for activities geared towards passengers of all ages.
Bookings on the five cruises open Tuesday to past Adventures by Disney guests and members of the Disney Vacation Club. Bookings to the general public open Wednesday.
At an event in New York to introduce the cruises, executives from Adventures by Disney and Ama Waterways said the partnership had been two years in the making.
"We're constantly on the lookout for ... new destinations and new formats," said Ken Potrock, senior vice president and general manager for Adventures by Disney. Two trends they identified, he said, were multigenerational travel and river cruising.
For Ama's part, the line has already been accommodating families, particularly on its Christmas markets cruises, Schreiner said.
On the Adventures by Disney sailings there will be wine tastings, fine dining, music, dancing and an onboard fitness center geared toward adults, and movies, karaoke, relay games, chess lessons on an oversized board, video games and themed nights for children and teens.
There will be eight Adventures by Disney guides on each sailing in addition to the existing AmaWaterways crew.
Unlike the oceangoing Disney Cruise Line, however, the river product will not carry a complement of Disney characters, and there will not be character- or movie-themed excursions. "We bring the stories of Europe to life," but not the stories of Disney, Potrock told the audience.
The Adventures by Disney sailings will take place July 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2016, and will include a nighttime illuminations cruise through Budapest; a horse show at the Lazar Equestrian Park in Hungary; a visit to the Devin Castle in Bratislava, Slovakia; a private marionette performance and strudel making demonstration at the Schonbrunn Palace in Austria; a falconry show at the Hohenwerfen castle in Austria; an Oktoberfest event at a German brewery; and biking in every port.
The holiday-themed sailing, departing Dec. 22, 2016, will include visits to the Christmas markets in Budapest and Vienna, and a boys choir Christmas performance at the Hofburg Palace Chapel in Vienna.
Potrock said the company would gauge interest with the first five cruises but said it was "in a position to very quickly expand."
Passengers can add a three-day pre- or post-cruise extension in Prague.
Adventures by Disney, which launched in 2005, offers 30 guided vacations on six continents.
U.S. government reviewing complaint against Middle East airlines
Three federal agencies are reviewing a report in which major U.S. carriers allege that three Middle Eastern airlines — Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways — are violating Open Skies agreements by benefiting from billions of dollars of state subsidies.
The U.S. Departments of Commerce, State and Transportation said in a joint press release last Friday that the “U.S. government takes seriously the concerns raised in the report.”
American Airlines, Delta and United commissioned a 55-page report that said the three Middle Eastern carries had received $42 billion in subsidies and other benefits from their respective governments since 2004. These subsidies from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar included interest-free loans with no deadlines and lower airport fees, according to the report.
The government has established an open forum in which industry stakeholders can submit information and their views on the issue.
The U.S. Travel Association and the Business Travel Coalition have disputed U.S. airlines’ claim and countered by releasing a Congressional Research Service report that said U.S. carriers themselves received $155 billion in federal subsidies between 1918 and 1998.
The Partnership for Open and Fair Skies, a coalition that includes American, Delta and United and several of the carriers’ unions, criticized that report, saying that it was a 16-year-old, unpublished paper that said the government had “spent” $155 billion. “Federal expenditures are not the same thing as airline subsidies,” the group said in a blog post on its website.
The group praised Friday’s announcement.
“We are pleased that the U.S. government is taking the next step to further examine the issue of massive subsidies that Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates receive from their governments,” said Jill Zuckman, chief spokesperson for the Partnership.
Annual Report Spells Bad News for Airline Customer Satisfaction
The annual Airline Quality Rating Report is out, and while domestic carriers had a banner financial year in 2014, they did not sustain that across the board when it came to service.
According to the Associated Press, the report found that the airlines are down in all the wrong places, and up in all the wrong places, and that never amounts to satisfaction.
DOWN – On-time arrivals fell from 81.8 percent in 2012 to 78.4 percent in 2013 to 76.2 percent last year.
UP – The rate of lost, stolen or delayed bags rose 13 percent last year, according to the report.
UP – Overbooking. That went up three percent from the previous year for the number of passengers who were bumped from flights.
UP – Passenger complaints rose a whopping 22 percent year-over-year.
The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method for assessing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. It is a joint project between Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
This current report, the Airline Quality Rating 2015, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for calendar year 2014. AQR scores for 2015 are based on 15 elements in four major areas that focus on airline performance aspects important to air travel consumers over the calendar year of 2014.
The AP noted that a lot of the averages are slightly skewed by the fact that the Airline Quality Rating report covers airlines as big as American, as small as Hawaiian and also includes that of regional airlines.
For instance, on average, airlines lost one bag for every 275 passengers. Not a great mark considering that’s about one for every flight/flight-and-a-half. But the worst airline for that was regional carrier Envoy, which lost one bag for every 110 passengers.
Still, as the AP said, the on-time performance fell and complaint rates rose at American, United, Delta and Southwest – the nation’s four largest carriers.
Overall, Virgin America led the rankings for the third consecutive year followed by Delta and Hawaiian.
Two Cruise Ships Report Gastrointestinal Outbreaks
About 220 passengers on two cruise ships were exhibiting symptoms of gastrointestinal distress as they returned to San Diego.
Royal Caribbean International’s Legend of the Seas reported that 114 passengers (6.53 percent of the 1,763 onboard) and two crew members reported suffering from vomiting and diarrhea during the March 30-April 14 voyage, according to the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cause of the outbreak was listed as unknown, although the symptoms are often indicative of norovirus.
Meanwhile, Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Infinity returned to port on April 13 after 106 passengers, 5 percent of the 2,117 onboard, and six crew members reported gastrointestinal symptoms.
The CDC indicated the cause was norovirus, a very contagious virus that people often call “food poisoning” or “stomach flu.” Norovirus is spread by contact with an infected person, from contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. Each year, it causes 19 million to 21 million illnesses predominately on land as well as at sea, the CDC said. Cruise ships must report outbreaks when 2 percent or more of the passengers or crew report gastrointestinal illness.
“Those affected by the short-lived illness responded well to over-the-counter medication being administered onboard the ship,” Celebrity said in a statement.
During the sailing, Celebrity implemented enhanced cleaning procedures and protocols using products and disinfectants proven to kill norovirus. Upon arrival in San Diego, the ship underwent an “extensive and thorough sanitizing onboard the ship and within the cruise terminal, to help prevent any illness from affecting the subsequent sailing.” Additionally, a VSP environmental health officer and one epidemiologist boarded the ship to conduct an environmental health assessment. Specimens tested by the CDC determined the causative agent was norovirus.
When Legend of the Seas arrives on April 14, the CDC will conduct a similar evaluation. It also was undergoing stringent sanitizing procedures.
Celebrity said guests boarding the next cruise were asked if they experienced gastrointestinal symptoms within the last three days. Also, if they were uncomfortable about boarding the ship, Celebrity said its staff would help them reschedule their cruise.
Last week, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl also experienced an outbreak on the Miami-based ship. It reported that 107 of 2,472 passengers (4.37 percent) reported vomiting and diarrhea along with seven crew members on the March 26-April 6 cruise. Two CDC environmental health officers boarded the ship and conducted tests to determine the cause.
Crocodile bites golfer at Australian resort
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A golfer has been bitten on the leg by a crocodile while playing at an Australian tourist resort.
The man, aged in his 70s, had two puncture wounds in his left calf after he was bitten by the 4-foot saltwater crocodile on Monday at the Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course in the tourist town of Port Douglas on Queensland state's Great Barrier Reef, Police Senior Sergeant James Coate told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The man, whose name has not been released, was taken to the Mossman Hospital in a stable condition, he said. Crocodile bites often become infected.
The croc had been lurking in a waterway on the 11th hole, he said.
"He landed his ball near the water and as he's done that he disturbed a ... crocodile," Coate told ABC.
"When he went up to the crocodile, it bit him," Coate said.
The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection will attempt to catch the crocodile, which is a protected species under Australian law, so it can be relocated to a zoo or crocodile farm where crocs are grown for their meat and hides.
Crocs are a common sight on golf courses in Australia's tropics and signs warn golfers of the dangers.
The department told the ABC it was unusual behavior for a small crocodile to interact with people.
The resort's owner, mining magnate and federal lawmaker Clive Palmer, wished the man a speedy recovery.
"Crocodile has been removed from all menus at Palmer properties following today's incident," Palmer joked in a tweet on Monday.
Crocodiles can grow up to 6 meters (20 feet) long and have become abundant across Australia's tropical north since they became protected in 1971.
Norwegian Cruise Line drops cover charge for Asian eateries
Passengers on Norwegian Cruise Line ships can now enjoy Asian dining for free, the Miami-based cruise line announced Monday.
Those eateries include Shanghai's Noodle Bar aboard Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Epic; Jasmine Garden aboard Norwegian Jade; and Chin Chin on Norwegian Jewel.
The cruise line said it's eliminating the cover charge and a la carte pricing for those restaurants as part of its Norwegian NEXT program, an attempt to enhance customers' dining choices.
Norwegian said its Teppanyaki restaurants, however, will continue to require a cover charge. And Sushi venues across the fleet will retain à la carte pricing menus.
Gas prices expected to hit six-year lows this summer
Gasoline prices are expected to dip this summer to their lowest level in six years, new forecasts show.
On Monday, the price of regular gas in Broward County averaged $2.53 per gallon, down 1 cent from a week earlier and off $1.29 from a year ago, according to travel club AAA. The price in Palm Beach County averaged $2.58 per gallon, flat from a week earlier and off $1.28 from a year ago.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration last week forecast a national average of $2.45 per gallon for April through September, compared with $3.59 a year ago. The last time motorists enjoyed summer prices that low was in 2009, the EIA said.
Gas prices in South Florida tend to be higher than the U.S average because of higher taxes. Still, savings topping $1 per gallon are saving the average household more than $100 per month, AAA estimates.
"The glut in global petroleum supplies has come at the perfect time as people hit the road," said AAA spokesman Michael Green. "Even if demand rises, there's more than enough petroleum to supply motorists this summer."
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, is expected to average $59 a barrel this year, down from $99 in 2014, the EIA said. Prices crashed as booming production in the U.S. helped global supply outpace demand by 800,000 barrels a day last year, according to the International Energy Agency.
"Lower crude oil costs are the main reason U.S. drivers will pay the lowest summer gasoline prices since 2009," EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said in an e-mailed statement.
U.S. gasoline prices will be $2.50 a gallon in April before declining to $2.43 in September, the EIA said. Refiners and blenders may increase production by 100,000 barrels a day from last summer.
U.S. drivers logged 237.3 billion miles in January, the most for that month in government data going back to 1970. January driving grew by 4.9 percent over the previous year, the biggest increase in 15 years.
The U.S. economy added 591,000 jobs in the first three months of this year, after adding 3.1 million in 2014, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show.
That will provide a double-barreled boost to driving this summer, as more people drive to work and more households can afford to drive their families to the beach, Green said.
"The current economic recovery has two good things going for it: low gas prices and more jobs," Carl Larry, director of oil and gas for Frost & Sullivan LP in Houston, said by phone. "That plays right into high demand as more people will be on driving vacations to keep things on a budget."
Nik Wallenda to attempt stunt atop Orlando Eye
Famed daredevil Nik Wallenda will attempt a high-altitude stunt atop the Orlando Eye observation wheel later this month, it was announced Monday.
On the morning of April 29, Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the Flying Wallendas acrobatic team, will try to walk on top of the 400-foot observation wheel -- while it is moving -- without using a tether or a wire.
"When I heard about the Eye, I just had this vision of how cool it could be to tackle it and on top of that it's just really an amazing structure to behold," Wallenda, 36, said during a news conference in New York. "There are so many [actual] moving parts to this walk that I think people are going to enjoy watching it as much as I'm going to enjoy taking part in it."
Wallenda, a Sarasota native, has earned the nickname "king of the high-wire." Previous stunts have involved the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and a contraption known as "The Wheel of Death." Last year, a telecast of his blindfolded high-wire walk between two Chicago skyscrapers attracted 6.7 million viewers on the Discovery Channel.
Less than a week after Wallenda's attempt, the Orlando Eye will open to the public in the new I-Drive 360 complex on International Drive. Its grand opening is set for May 4.
Flight Returns to Seattle after Worker Trapped in Cargo Hold
A Los Angeles-bound Alaska Airlines flight had to return to Seattle on Monday after a worker reportedly fell asleep and found himself trapped in the plane's cargo hold.
Flight 448 had just taken off Monday afternoon when the pilot heard banging from down below, the airline said in a news release. The captain immediately returned to Seattle-Tacoma International and declared an emergency for priority landing.
After the plane landed a ramp agent came out from the front cargo hold, which Alaska says is pressurized and temperature-controlled.
"Upon exiting, he told authorities he had fallen asleep," the airline said.
The worker, an employee of Menzies Aviation, walked off the plane and appeared OK, but was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
Alaska said it is still investigating the incident. The plane was airborne for 14 minutes.
The flight departed again at 3:52 p.m. and was expected to arrive in Los Angeles at 6:27, about 80 minutes late, according to the airline's website.
(WAV: I guess it is now clear as to how Tsarnaev became radicalized!)
US 'Will Pay': Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Mother Makes Angry Threats
The mother of Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said the U.S. "will pay for my sons and the sons of Islam, permanently!!!" in angry, threatening messages after Tsarnaev was found guilty of the Boston Marathon bombing last week.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva sent messages to Vocativ on Wednesday, soon after the verdict against her son was announced. Full of capitalized sentences, emoticons, and exclamation points, the messages threaten revenge for how her son is being treated.
“MY SONS ARE INNOCENT, AS INNOCENT AS ALL THOSE WHO ARE BEING KILLED BY YOUR COUNTRY,” Vocativ quoted one message. “TODAY THEY ARE KILLING MUSLIMS, AND TOMORROW WILL COME YOUR TURN AND HE, WHO DOUBTS THIS IS DEEPLY MISTAKEN!!!!!”
Tsarnaeva, who lived in Massachusetts before being sent to Russia after being arrested for shoplifting in 2012, sent the messages in Russian, Vocativ said. The website put the entire text, translated, on its site.
Judge Jeanine Pirro, of the Fox News show “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” said she hopes Tsarnaev gets life in prison, just to spite the bomber’s mother, whom she called a “jihadi mom.”
“Well, if you do want him to die, then I want him to live. I want him to live the rest of his life in solitary confinement,” Pirro said, directing her comments to Tsarnaeva. “I want him to know the world is passing him by, to know that he can never be a part of the human race again. Now, I believe in an eye for an eye. I believe he should die because of what he did to so many ... but because you [Zubeidat Tsarnaeva] want him to die and be a martyr, I want him to live.”
Plans to cram more seats in airliners won't sit well with fliers
Airlines increasingly are missing scheduled takeoffs and landings, losing travelers' bags and overbooking flights, according to a report released Monday.
And the bad news: Things will probably get worse.
Even as the latest performance stats showed that major carriers are having trouble with the most basic functions — i.e. getting you and your luggage from Point A to Point B — the outlook for future travel all but guarantees even less-friendly skies.
Boeing is planning to bring its new short-haul 737 MAX aircraft into service in 2017. It will have 189 seats, compared with the approximately 160 seats that now fill the cabin of the 737-800. Budget carrier Ryanair's version of the new jet will have 200 seats.
For its part, Europe's Airbus will unveil its A320neo next year. It was originally intended to have 180 seats, but the company received permission from the European Aviation Safety Agency last month to cram in 15 more seats, bringing total passenger capacity to 195.
What this means for travelers, at least those flying coach, is the likelihood of narrower seat cushions and the near certainty of less legroom.
Inches count when it comes to what's known as seat pitch — the distance between your seat and the seat in front of you. The loss of a single inch can mean the difference between a halfway comfortable flight and an exercise in contortion.
The industry standard for seat pitch in coach used to be about 33 inches. These days, it's closer to 31 or 30 inches.
In the new Boeing and Airbus jets, seat pitch could be as low as 27 to 29 inches, which means that if the person in front of you reclined his or her chair, it would practically hit you in the face.
Eric Gonzales, an assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who specializes in transportation issues, said the trend has been clear for a while: More seats in coach, and to hell with passenger comfort.
"When it comes to passenger comfort, the airlines are saying that this isn't something that's very important to them," he said. "These changes are intended solely to improve the bottom line."
Not that airlines are hurting. Profits are near record highs, thanks to industry consolidation, dwindling competition and low oil prices.
Worldwide, the airline industry is expected to pocket $25 billion in profits this year after posting nearly $20 billion in profits last year, according to the International Air Transport Assn. Carriers in North America are expected to rake in $13.2 billion in profits this year.
Yet ticket prices, which soared as fuel costs rose in past years, aren't coming down. Airlines say they're pumping much of their massive profit into better aircraft.
Gonzales said one thing they're spending their money on is lighter, cheaper seats with less padding, enabling the addition of whole new rows to coach sections.
"The easiest way for them to improve their margins even more is to fit more people into the aircraft," he said.
Monday's Airline Quality Ratings report from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Wichita State University showed that carriers fell down on the job last year on a number of key performance measures.
Researchers found that more flights ran late, more bags were lost — one bag went missing for every 275 passengers — more flights were overbooked, more passengers were bumped and consumer complaints to federal regulators jumped 22%.
This followed four years of improvement for the industry, suggesting that with most flights now 80% full and many oversold, airlines have reached a tipping point in meeting passengers' expectations.
Melanie Hinton, a spokeswoman for the industry group Airlines for America, formerly the less-cheerful-sounding Air Transport Assn. of America, said the latest Airline Quality Ratings don't tell the whole story.
She said carriers performed well "amid severe winter weather in the first quarter" and "a stormy spring and summer."
Recent airline mergers, Hinton said, "have allowed airlines to focus on renewing fleets, improving the product at all stages of travel." She said carriers are only adding more seats to aircraft to meet growing demand for air travel.
Jami Counter, who oversees the airline industry on behalf of the travel website TripAdvisor, responded that carriers are making it sound like passengers themselves are to blame for cattle-car conditions.
"In the past, airlines added more flights to meet more demand," he said. "Adding seats is an easy way for them to add capacity on the cheap, without adding more flights."
Budget-minded air travelers have made clear that they're prepared to tolerate all manner of indignities for lower fares, and airlines have had no problem making the experience of flying as uncomfortable and demeaning as possible.
As a result, we've seen a number of cases of air rage in recent months as flights have made emergency landings to deal with angry passengers fighting over reclined seats.
The question at this point is how much worse things can get. All-plastic, unpadded seats? Seats that don't recline? Standing-room-only sections?
It's time that the Federal Aviation Administration set minimum standards for passenger comfort. Seat pitch in coach should be at least 30 inches, and preferably 31 or 32 inches. Cushions should be at least 18 inches wide to prevent people from fighting for armrest space or spilling over into the adjacent seat.
It's unlikely that flying coach will ever again be pleasant. But it doesn't have to be a soul-crushing experience.
Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts to be connected by gondola
The consolidation of ski operations in Lake Tahoe continues with news Monday that plans are underway to install a gondola to connect Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts.
The resorts, both owned by Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, reached an agreement with Troy Caldwell, the owner of the property between the base of the resorts, to build a gondola that will run about two miles.
No completion date has been announced for the gondola, but resort officials say they hope to submit a plan for the project to local and federal authorities by this summer. Skiers can already buy ski passes for the two resorts, such as a two-day pass for both mountains for $169.
"The base-to-base gondola will offer our guests the ability to easily explore and experience the unique attributes of these two mountains via a brand new aerial connection, while simultaneously reducing vehicle traffic between them." said Andy Wirth, president and chief executive of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings.
Details of the deal with Caldwell were not offered, but resort officials say they have been discussing a way to connect the two facilities for years.
The two resorts combined in 2011 under the parent company KSL Capital Partners LLC and the management company Squaw Valley Ski Holdings. It was part of a wave of consolidations in the ski industry in Lake Tahoe and the U.S.
Colorado-based Vail Resorts Inc., which operates Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, purchased Northstar California in 2010 and acquired nearby Kirkwood Mountain Resort in 2012.
It's hot: Chernobyl now a tourist zone
(CNN)Nearly 30 years after the nuclear disaster there, the name Chernobyl still inspires dread.
When an explosion tore through Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl power plant on April 26, 1986, it was the worst nuclear accident the world had ever seen.
Clouds of highly radioactive particles were released into the air during an attempted routine shutdown of the power plant north of Kiev in the former Soviet Union (now Ukraine).
Today, the number of tourists seeking to head deep into Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone, a 30-kilometer radius of contaminated land around the power plant, supports several tour firms.
Even though recent instability in eastern Ukraine has pushed the country off most travelers' radars (budget carrier WizzAir recently announced the closure of its Ukraine subsidiary, severing some links), Chernobyl still looms large in the global consciousness.
Fears regularly circulating about the fallout zone, most recently over contamination via forest fires, seem to stoke just as much fascination, drawing a steady stream of tourists.
There are even hotels inside the Exclusion Zone.
Visits are governed by security checks and by strictly guided tours.
Visitors travel to the site, a two-hour drive north of Ukrainian capital Kiev, by tour bus.
Once there, they sign a disclaimer warning against touching any objects or vegetation, or even sitting on the ground.
Leaving the site is also highly regulated.
Body scanners test for high levels of radiation. If the scanner alarm sounds, guards sweep the individual for radioactive dust before they're allowed to leave.
Frozen in time
The payoff is access to a city frozen in time.
The empty city of Pripyat, evacuated after the accident, is a snapshot of Eastern Europe before the fall of the Iron Curtain.
The zone's post-apocalyptic atmosphere exerts a strong pull.
Rusting boats list in the River Pripyat.
A Ferris wheel stands motionless among steadily encroaching trees.
Traces of life in the former USSR are scattered everywhere, from children's school books to Soviet propaganda posters.
The Chernobyl accident is ranked level 7, the highest on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
The severity of its widespread environmental and human cost has only been equaled by 2011's disaster at Fukushima in Japan.
Contaminated rain and wind depositing radioactive dust were recorded as far afield as Sweden and Wales.
Research continues to examine the complex effects of increased exposure to radiation on ecosystems.
Chernobyl church still active
Memories of the human toll remain vivid, though precise numbers are disputed.
Official records give a death toll less than 50, many of them firefighters sent to tackle the blaze at the power plant.
But birth defects and thyroid cancer in Ukraine, as well as neighboring Belarus and parts of Russia, have been attributed to the accident.
Some studies link as many as 1,800 childhood cases of thyroid cancer to the Chernobyl accident.
The effects of the disaster on mental health in Ukraine and beyond are also coming to light.
Stigmatization of local people and relocation of communities is blamed for widespread depression and social problems.
But visitors who expect to find a charred, uninhabited wasteland are surprised when they enter the Exclusion Zone.
Far from being empty, power plant workers still commute into the zone.
A place of worship, the turquoise and white St. Elijah Church continues to welcome devotees.
Approximately 200 people still live inside the Exclusion Zone, despite government orders to leave.
Ghost town a "scattered snapshot" of old USSR
Peaceful meadows inside the zone suggest nothing out of the ordinary.
But tour guides hover Geiger counters over rusted debris littering the grass.
Background radiation around the Exclusion Zone can be up to 10 times the normal level.
Slow-growing vegetation, especially prone to absorbing radioactive particles, tests even higher.
The most intriguing part of the Exclusion Zone is the ghost town of Pripyat.
Founded two kilometers from the power plant in 1970, the city soon swelled to nearly 50,000.
Its entire population was evacuated after the disaster.
Now abandoned and overgrown, Pripyat still resembles a shattered snapshot of the typical Soviet city it once was.
Visitors crunch through broken glass and sidestep bushes sprouting through corners of apartment blocks.
Textbooks are strewn in empty classrooms and a chipped swimming pool lies empty beneath rotting wooden beams.
Traces of the former USSR are everywhere.
Vivid Soviet murals dance on walls.
Faded gas masks in children's sizes lie in their dozens, a reminder of an era when fear of attack hung thick in the air.
"It is the preservation of Communist artifacts and atmosphere that people find so fascinating as well as the sad story behind it," says Dominik Orfanus,
Orfanus is a former tour guide of the fallout zone and now CEO of CHERNOBYLwel.come, a company arranging excursions to Chernobyl since 2008.
Photographer favorite
Such is the allure of Chernobyl to photographers that in 2012 a specific line of tours (chernobylphoto.com) was launched to meet the demand.
"The untouched scenery, wilderness, the contrast of the past and now, make Chernobyl really interesting for photographers," says Orfanus.
Pripyat's amusement park is its most photographed area.
The park's official opening had been planned for May 1, 1986, but the city was evacuated just days before.
Bumper cars, their yellow paint peeling, are at a standstill on cracked concrete.
The rusty funfair wheel has become almost iconic.
Barely used, the wheel has become a symbol of a once lively city silenced by disaster.
Though told the evacuation was temporary, Pripyat's citizens never returned.
In the months afterward, some people returned to loot the site.
Chairs were torn out of a cinema and anything of value was hurried away.
The passing decades have seen nature encroaching into these once peopled spaces.
Drifters still turn up in Pripyat -- their calling cards are occasional beer bottles and cigarette stubs around the city.
Haunting graffiti, glimmers of meaning
More haunting is the graffiti that now punctuates the atmosphere in this quiet place.
Silhouettes of dancing figures are daubed on the walls of Pripyat's buildings, perhaps an attempt to bring human life back.
In the months following the accident, a sarcophagus was built to cover Reactor 4 and contain the radioactive material.
Its other three reactors were still operational, but the last one shut down in 2000.
Efforts to contain the spread of radioactive particles continue to the present day.
A New Safe Confinement barrier is being built to replace the sarcophagus.
The final phase of construction is nearly underway, though reports suggest further funding needs to be secured.
The NSC is designed to contain radioactive waste and prevent further environmental contamination.
But curiously, increasing numbers of visitors to the area describe Chernobyl as a wildlife haven.
At first sight, Chernobyl's untended greenery gives the impression of a place reclaimed by nature.
Shrubs burst through the floors and plants strangle window frames.
Much was made of a brown bear sighting in the fallout zone at the end of 2014.
Could nature be thriving in Chernobyl?
"There are severely depressed populations of most species in the contaminated areas," says Anders Pape Moller who has been researching Chernobyl since 1991.
Moller, a senior scientist at French national research organization CNRS, has observed that while cleaner areas within the zone aren't impacted to the same degree, reduction in wildlife in contaminated areas is noticeable.
"You can hear it in spring because there are fewer birds singing. Like Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring,'" he adds, referring to the classic 1962 environmental science book.
The effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident on wildlife -- including higher rates of tumors and albinism in the local bird population -- continue to be recorded.
But the idea that natural forces can repair the damage wrought by humankind is powerful.
Many tourists to Chernobyl's quiet meadows are seeking a glimmer of meaning.
But with statistics relating to Chernobyl hotly debated and the incident's long-term effects still being measured, answers are hard to come by.