Smart travel advisors know which questions to ask, and who to ask them to. But even smarter ones, it seems, attend the kinds of events that teach you answers to questions you didn’t even know you should be asking.

That’s just the kind of conference that Nexion Travel Network hosted this month in New Orleans. It’s possible that the hurricane winds outside brought people closer together but, honestly, I think it’s just the Nexion ethos that had so many smart travel advisors offering so many great tips at CoNexion 2024. Read the rest of this entry »

New York – Take a deep breath, travel advisors. There’s no escaping a future that includes AI and NDCs—so prepare to embrace it. You’ll be glad you did.

That was the message—or at least the focus of the news—at Global Travel Collection’s Elevate conference in Manhattan last week. In a year when sales are booming, time is short, and good assistants are impossible to find, GTC says it has the answer: A unique AI system it is building in partnership with Microsoft. And on the airline front, both American and Delta promise NDC will make booking air easy and profitable.

“AI is going to support you, it’s not going to take your job,” said GTC product management director Casey Soto—and he should know. He’s spent the past eight months working with Microsoft on his passion project, to develop an artificial intelligence product designed to meet the specific needs of travel advisors, “something that is AI and makes sense for you to use,” he told the crowd on a panel about AI.

To that end, Soto has been “going to every corner of our business looking for information on everything from contracts to contacts,” adding more than 340,000 data points “so you can ask it a question and it will answer in natural language.”

Already, AI systems for travel advisors can take information and generate the next step, such as answering simple questions in a client email, sending out an RFP for a group contract, generating sample white-glove itineraries or sorting through the travel insurance options to highlight the ones that make the most sense. On the corporate side, clients are using AI to ensure travelers are booking in accordance with corporate policies and using preferred suppliers. The goal is always to find efficiencies for the advisor and give you back more time to make human connections with clients.

GTC is rolling out a redesigned travel advisor portal that will include a free six-month trial of atlas.internova.com, “a knowledge base of everything in travel.” You can ask it anything,” from “Who, should I call for IT support?” to “How can I book air without a GDS?”

NDC is coming, “you have no choice”

Addressing the airlines’ new distribution capability (NDC), Delta’s NY managing director Scott Jordan said NDC “is the vehicle that transforms how we sell and service. It’s broader than how we connect, it’s how we evolve the ecosystem.”

Delta is not looking to disrupt the GDSs, “but we need to display a better product so you see it more clearly,” he said. By the end of the year, it will offer an NDC product “not to force people but to offer a choice.” its development is being overseen by Delta’s head of sales support, who is focused on “things to make your job easier.”

NDC “is the future; you have no choice” Peter Vlitas, EVP of Partner Relations at GTC parent Internova Travel Group, said. “We’re going to have to go down this path.” But it will be worth the effort, allowing travel advisors to rebook customers quickly and easily when something goes wrong—and equally important, allowing the airlines to offer unique fares to their top-tier customers, such as Internova.

Princess Cruises has taken a step back—or a step forward, depending on how you look at it – when it comes to the price of water bottles onboard. Last week, with no warning, it tripled the price of a 12-pack of water from $7.09 to $24 (10 CAD to 32.40 CAD for Canadian guests).

On social media some lamented the big jump, calling it corporate greed, but others applauded the efforts of Princess and other travel suppliers to cut down on the use of plastics in the industry.

“I hope they are wearing masks because that’s daylight robbery,” said one member of the Prince Cruises Passenger Forum.

“I’m guessing they are trying to make up for some of the waste they are seeing as more and more people get packages that include unlimited water. I see half-finished and almost full bottles. Everywhere on cruise ships now,” explained another.

“They should raise it to $80 a case,” suggested a third.

There are other options for potable water, of course. Water in the cabin – on which Princess now has installed taps – is safe to drink, and guests can bring their own water bottles and fill them. It’s also permissible to bring up to 12 sealed, unopened 12-ounce cans or cartons of water or soda per passenger in your hand luggage.

Still, many guests have appreciated the convenience of pre-ordering water and having it delivered to their stateroom.

Kiss that option goodbye – or pay up for the privilege of polluting the planet and having someone else recycle all those bottles.

(Note: Princess Cruises did not reply to our request for a comment on this story.)

“A travel advisor who doesn’t travel is like a chef who doesn’t eat,” they say—and the same goes for a travel writer. So despite a family of nervous moms and four kids, every August we schlep our kids and grandkids on a family vacation. We love to have the whole clan together, and it’s always revealing to see things through the perspective of first-timers.

Record floods from Storm Boris, which have killed at least 21 people and flooded Vast swaths of Eastern Europe, now are impacting tour groups and river cruises on Europe’s second-largest river, the Danube River. Wildfires are spreading across Portugal. And Boris is headed for Italy.

Avalon Waterways has made changes to two cruise itineraries on the Danube and canceled two future cruises as a result of flooding. Travel advisor Gwen Kozlowski, president of Exeter International, tells TRO that her clients, scheduled to depart Budapest on Viking Jarl, instead were bussed to Vienna.

Intrepid Travel, on its website, reports that “very heavy rainfall across Central Europe since 14th September has resulted in flooding in a number of areas causing road closures and further transport disruption” in Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and southeast Germany. Trips in Austria have been rerouted and minor changes have been made to itineraries in Czechia, Slovenia, and southeast Germany.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), meanwhile, has issued a travel warning to UK travelers headed to Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic, and particularly to Vienna.

Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia are hunkering down for record rains starting today and continuing for the next few days; in Italy, the National Civil Protection Service has issued yellow alerts for nearly 50 regions, warning of the risk of storms, landslides and floods as two months’ worth of rainfall falls in the next three days.

The Danube continues to rise in Slovakia and Hungary, where the capital cities of Bratislava and Budapest are preparing for possible flooding. Austria has closed parts of the Danube for shipping traffic, and Croatia’s Meteorological and Hydrological Service, warning of an “extremely rare” rise, is prepared to put out flood barriers if necessary.

Got your paper passport and your Real ID-enhanced driver’s license in hand? It turns out you may not need them at all. Google Wallet soon will store a digital version of your passport in your phone, it said in a blog post late last week (New Google Wallet features for travelers and commuters (blog.google)), just as the TSA pushed back its Real ID requirement to 2027.

TSA PreCheck and CLEAR, along with new digital ID systems from Delta and United, seem to be proving that technology really does work as well as paper in identifying travelers.

“People are increasingly looking for ways to digitize everyday items — with one of the top requests being a digital ID. Last year we began rolling out the ability to save select state-issued digital IDs to Wallet. Starting soon, we’ll begin beta testing a new type of digital ID in Google Wallet, giving more people in more places a way to create and store a digital ID, now with a U.S. passport. This new ID pass works at select TSA checkpoints, saving you time and stress at the airport when you’re traveling domestically,” Google said.

The Google Wallet app is available for Android devices or online at wallet.google.com. (Apple has not yet announced an option for storing passports.)

To create a passport ID, users select the Google Wallet prompt, “Create an ID pass with your U.S. passport,” and then scan the security chip on the back of their passport and upload a selfie video to verify their identity. The digital ID then can be accessed using a fingerprint or passcode.

Meanwhile—and perhaps as a result—TSA proposed delaying Real ID enforcement from May 7, 2025, until 2027 (Federal Register :: Minimum Standards for Driver’s Licenses and Identification Cards Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes; Phased Approach for Card-Based Enforcement). The Real ID Act of 2005 required US residents over 18 to present a passport or alternative government-issued ID, such as a Real ID-enhanced driver’s license, to board an airplane, even for a domestic flight.

The new proposal encourages travelers to have Real IDs by 2025, but will allow them to board without it until May 5, 2027.

The goal is to ensure that federal agencies “have appropriate flexibility to implement the card-based enforcement provisions of the REAL ID regulations after the May 7, 2025, enforcement deadline by explicitly permitting agencies to implement card-based enforcement in phases,” according to the proposal’s summary. “This rulemaking proposes that agencies may implement the card-based enforcement provisions through a phased enforcement plan if they determine it is appropriate upon consideration of relevant factors including security, operational feasibility, and public impact.”

In addition to Real ID-enhanced driver’s licenses, 11 US states issue digital IDs that are accepted at TSA security checkpoints in more than two dozen airports (see photo or go to Digital ID Map | Transportation Security Administration (tsa.gov)

Google Wallet already also can save transit tickets for many cities; it recently added Hamburg, Germany, and soon will include Taiwan and Hong Kong.

A story on Forbes.com has travel advisors abuzz over an old rule in Mexico travel that many never knew existed: Inbound travelers may bring in one electronic device—but pay a heavy tax if they are caught bringing in two. So if you need a MacBook Pro for work, forget the iPad for watching movies. You could end up coughing up 3,690 Mexican pesos, or about US$190.

Mexico allows tourists to bring in “two cameras or camcorders and camera gear; three cellphones or other wireless devices; one GPS; one electronic organizer; one laptop, notebook, omnibook, or other portable computing device; one portable copier or printer; one CD burner and one portable overhead projector and its accessories duty-free (What objects can I bring in my luggage to Mexico? (sre.gob.mx), but visitors must declare—and pay tax—on items above the limit. Read the rest of this entry »

With a weekend strike looming, Air Canada has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene in its contract negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association.

Talks with more than 5,000 pilots have failed to find common ground over the past 15 months. The government now can ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to force arbitration, as it did last month, when Canada’s two largest railways locked out their employees.

According to the airline, the parties remain “far apart.” Unless an agreement is reached, either party may issue a 72-hour strike or lockout notice beginning on 12:01 a.m. ET Sunday, which would trigger the carrier’s three-day wind down plan, and a strike beginning on Thursday.

In an update issued Wednesday, Sept. 11, Air Canada said flights are operating normally and it would notify passengers of any impact to their flights ahead of their travel. Passengers can change their flights for free if they’re scheduled to travel during a potential strike.

At a news conference on Thursday, business leaders pressed the government to intervene, saying, “We cannot allow for even a single day of a strike given the consequences on our already very fragile economy.”

There’s a new airport, a new archeological site, and a new director of tourism for the Mexican Caribbean—and, for the first time in recent years, a PR agency to help them spread the word about why travelers should visit—and how travel advisors can help them get there.

“We’re launching a new marketing campaign around our new era of the Mexican Caribbean,” says Andres Martinez, the new director of the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo, on a Zoom with TRO. “And to me, the travel advisor channel is the best way to get knowledge about this nation to the end customer. As big and successful as we are, we also are complex, and we have a lot to say. And the best way to communicate is through travel advisors who have lived the destination.”

Topping the list of new things is the Ichkabal Archaeological Zone, an ancient Mayan city larger than Chichén Itzá’s Temple of Kukulcan, opening to the public this month. But there also are a host of culinary experiences, aquatic adventures, golf, and theme parks—not to mention two cruise ports that bring 7 million customers a year to the area.

The Tourism Council and its new agency, PTG Consulting, will be managing trade relations and arranging FAM trips. “It’s the first time we used an agency but we understand we have to reach travel advisors,” Martinez said. “I know it works, and I know it’s effective.”

Also new are non-stop flight routes from major US hubs to the new Tulum airport on American Airlines, JetBlue, Delta, United, and more; new hotels including  SHA Mexico, Costa Mujeres; Marriott Cancun, An All-Inclusive Resort; The Riviera Maya EDITION; Hotel Mousai Cancun; and Almare, a Luxury Collection Adult All-Inclusive Resort, Isla Mujeres

For more on the “new era” of tourism for the US market, see their recently launched experiential campaign (here on Instagram), and our TRO article, Mexico Takes the High Road, with Focus on Upscale Travelers and Their Travel Advisors | Travel Research Online.

Third in a series about how travel advisors are planning for the future. For more, see A Tale of Three Succession Plans | Travel Research Online and Succession Planning Has Agency Owners Dreaming of a Different Kind of Life | Travel Research Online

Even after 32 years in the business, Vickie Everhart is not yet ready to retire. But after her father succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease and her mom had a stroke, she got to thinking about what would happen to her business—and her customers—if she should fall ill.

Visit Florida’s decision to remove dozens of pages highlighting its LGBTQ-friendliness—including a landing page calling Florida beaches “a draw for people of all orientations, but especially appealing to a gay community looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance”—has stirred up Florida residents, the LGBTQ community and the media. And last week the attention forced its CEO to respond.

“It’s fairly simple,” said Dana Young at the annual Governors Conference on Tourism in Tampa last week. “Visit Florida is a taxpayer-funded organization and, as such, our marketing strategy, our materials and our content must align with the state.”

Visit Florida is a public-private partnership between the state of Florida and the state’s tourism industry, to which the state contributes about $50 million a year. But other states—and indeed, even parts of Florida—were happy to roll out their welcome mats to the LGBTQ community.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the United States, added this post to social media amid the controversy:

Hello gay tourists! Since Florida doesn’t want you, come on over to explore what Colorado has to offer! Though I tried the link just now and it doesn’t work).
In Colorado, we really don’t care about who you date we just appreciate you supporting our economy and spending money in our great stores and restaurants. And you’ll have a gay old time!”

Illinois posted (Your Official Guide to Illinois Travel | Enjoy Illinois):

Lack of love in the Sunshine State?
Come to Illinois
Plan your LGBTQIA adventure. Take notes, Florida.”

Even within Florida itself, FloridaKeys.com still has its LGBTQ-friendly section highlighted on the landing page The Florida Keys LGBTQ Vacations & Gay Key West (fla-keys.com, noting that Key West “is internationally known as a gay mecca, attracting more than 250,000 visitors to this top LGBTQ vacation spot that celebrates openness and pride — the entire destination is renowned for its welcoming and accepting attitude. ‘One Human Family’ became Key West’s official philosophy in 2000 — and was soon adopted by Monroe County, which encompasses the entire Florida Keys island chain.”

But many are put off by the state’s politics. Last year, several civil rights groups issued a travel advisory for Florida, calling its lawmakers “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”

“Why harm the businesses that help your communities? The state is controlling who they want to come to the state by eliminating information of which the destinations were proud,” meetings consultant Joan Eisenstodt told TRO, noting that an estimated 1.4 million LGBTQI+ business owners contribute $1.7 trillion to the US economy annually, and the LGBTQI+ community spends more than $917 billion every year (https://www.forbes.com/…/lgbtqi-businesses-contribute…/) – about $9 billion of it in Miami-Dade.

Asia is a hot ticket these days in the luxury travel market—and Viking is meeting the demand in 2025 with six new itineraries in Japan, China, and Tibet.

The new itineraries are for 15 to 22 voyages from September to November 2025 on the Viking Yi Dun—formerly the Viking Sun. They will stop at such iconic destinations as Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi’an in China; Lhasa in Tibet (Xizang); and Osaka in Japan. The itineraries will continue to highlight rarely-seen destinations and ports in China to which only Viking has access.

“For centuries, these phenomenal destinations in Asia have inspired travelers with ancient history and rich culture,” said Viking chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen, “and we look forward to introducing more of Asia to them in 2025.”

(And indeed, Virtuoso this month reported sales of China itineraries by its luxury travel advisors are up 146%, and Japan sales are 108%.)

New Asia Voyages in 2025 are:

• Jewels of Japan & China (15 days; Beijing to Tokyo) — Including Qingdao, Shanghai, Jeju, South Korea, Miyazaki, and Mt. Fuji, with overnights in Hiroshima and Osaka.
• Classic China Discovery (20 days; Hong Kong to Beijing) — Includes the Great Wall of China; Xi’an’s Terra; and overnights in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Qingdao, Xi’an and Beijing.
• Pearls of Japan & China (22 days; Tokyo to Beijing) — Includes Mt. Fuji; overnights in Osaka and Hiroshima; Miyazaki, Jeju, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Beijing.
• Gems of China & Japan (22 days; Beijing roundtrip) — Includes Qingdao, Shanghai, Jeju, Miyazaki, and Mt. Fuji. Included land package to Beijing and Xi’an.
• 2025 Wonders of China  (22 days; Beijing roundtrip) — Includes Shanghai, Tibet (Xizang), the Potala Palace (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Beijing, and the Great Wall of China.
• 2025 Best of China (22 days; Hong Kong to Beijing) —Sail China’s eastern coast to view iconic giant pandas and journey into the Himalayas, Tibet (Xizang), the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.

Viking also is offering a variety of pre and post-land extensions in Beijing, Hong Kong, Guilin, Mongolia, and Tokyo.

The Viking Yi Dun is an identical sister ship to the others in Viking’s ocean fleet. Viking’s ocean ships have 465 staterooms hosting 930 guests, all with verandas; Scandinavian design; light-filled public spaces; and al fresco dining options.

Everyone loves a winner—and apparently Icon of the Seas is just that. In last month’s analyst call, Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley reported that Icon’s load factor is running around 132%, meaning every cabin is full, often with three or four guests.

So it’s no surprise that in a bigger-is-better world, Royal Caribbean would be doubling—or even tripling—down on its ace in the hole. Today it did just that, announcing an agreement with Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku for a fourth Icon Class ship, due for delivery in 2027, plus options to build two more.

RCCL’s largest ship ever, Icon of the Seas launched in January 2024. A second Icon-class ship, Star of the Seas, already is on sale, scheduled to debut in August 2025, and an as-yet-unnamed third sister will join the fleet in 2026. (Also this year RCCL welcomed Utopia of the Seas, Silversea’s Silver Ray and TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 7, and announced a seventh Oasis Class ship for 2028.)

“Icon of the Seas is unlike anything the world has seen before, and we’re just getting started,” Bayley said in today’s announcement. “We are leading the vacation industry in developing new experiences for our guests to create lifelong memories, and we continue dreaming and evolving to deliver more ways to chill and thrill.”

Even as some pooh-pooh the trend toward larger and larger ships (Icon carries 5,610 passengers, about 200 more than Oasis class), Icon and Star have been selling faster than any other ships in Royal Caribbean’s 50-year history.

Icon-class ships feature eight distinct neighborhoods; over 40 restaurants; 28 cabin types, including a three-story Ultimate Family Townhouse; and the biggest water park, the tallest drop slide, and the biggest swimming pool at sea. They also have the Royal Promenade and Central Park familiar from the Oasis-class ships, as well as new elements like the family-oriented Surfside neighborhood, plus two new top-deck recreation areas, Chill Island and Thrill Island. The aqua shows have moved to an AquaDome, a huge glass-enclosed space with a 50-foot waterfall, while the Royal Promenade adds the Pearl, a multi-sensory walkway. There is a dedicated suites-only neighborhood—and you can have your own private butler. (For more on the joys of butlers, see Finding Peace and Quiet – and a Great Butler – at Breathless Montego Bay.

Revelry travel and legacy travel. Silver bullet wellness and mood boarding. XZ beta travel, F-It Lists and Coolcations.

Are you keeping up with the new vocabulary of travel? The voice of luxury is awash in new buzzwords, it seems. And they all are pointing to the same good news. Luxury travel advisors are having a moment; luxury sales are soaring; and the most well-known global luxury consortia, Virtuoso, is feeling the love.

Luxury is having a day, and Hilton is celebrating the travel advisors who sell that niche with a new, and better, preferred partner program.

Hilton on Tuesday launched Hilton for Luxury, an invitation-only program for travel advisors who sell the 100 properties in its luxury brands: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts, Signia by Hilton, and Hilton’s newest luxury brand NoMad Hotels.

Members of the program will have their own dedicated concierge desk, improved connectivity through a private website, value-added benefits from the hotels and direct contact with on-property hotel team members. And each hotel will have a team of Hilton for Luxury ambassadors whose job is to ensure that program features and benefits are fulfilled.

Clients of participating travel advisors will receive a variety of benefits, including the best available rates, double Hilton Honors Points, complimentary breakfast for up to two guests, next-category upgrades and, wherever possible, early check-in or late check-out.

In addition, the program soon will offer rewards to participating travel advisors; details will be announced soon.

Good to know: Hilton Luxury Brands comprises 100 hotels and resorts around the world. Most recently, Hilton welcomed the NoMad Hotels brand into its portfolio.

For more information, visit www.hilton.com/hilton-for-luxury.

(Second in a three-part series on smart succession plans. For part one, see A Tale of Three Succession Plans | Travel Research Online. Stay tuned for Part 3.)

When you’ve been in the travel business all your life and you’re getting tired of the 60-hour weeks, it’s tempting to just throw up your hands, sell your client list to a friend and say “enough.” But many travel advisors are hoping to do more than that—to keep some cash flow coming in, to leave a legacy for their children Read the rest of this entry »

All aboard, Mickey fans. Disney Cruise Lines’ fleet will be almost tripling over the next seven years, from the current 5 to 13.

Disney Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro closed the “D23 Ultimate Fan Event” in Anaheim, CA, with a promise of four more new cruise ships, in addition to the four that already are under construction (Disney Cruise Line Announces Fleet Expansion to Continue Period of Unprecedented Growth – The Walt Disney Company).

Disney already had announced four new ships: Disney Treasure, launching in December; Disney Adventure and Disney Destiny, coming next year; and a new Disney Wish sister ship being built in partnership with Tokyo Disney Resort owner Oriental Land Company. But the D23 announcement promises four more, to launch between 2027 and 2031.

The Disney Treasure, the newest ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, will set sail in December 2024.© Rendering courtesy of Disney Cruise Line

Disney recently revealed that Disney Destiny will feature a “The Lion King”-themed restaurant with windows that transition from sunrise to sunset, live musicians and storytellers, and songs like the “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata.” Disney Treasure, meanwhile, will have a new onboard stage production all about “Moana,” featuring a 15-foot-tall puppet version of the fiery Te Kā.

The parks, too, will get a sprinkling of fairy dust. Magic Kingdom will add a new Villains land (Villains Cast a Spell Over Magic Kingdom with New Land – Disney Parks Blog) with two major attractions, shopping and dining areas; Hollywood Studios will add the first Montsters Inc. land in any Disney park; a section of Frontierland will add a Cars Land with two attractions; a new nighttime parade called Disney Starlight will debut next summer.

D’Amaro said occupancy across the five ships currently sailing reached 97% in the second quarter of this year.

“At Disney Experiences, Imagineers dream, create, design and build these stories into real places… Everything we’re going to share with you is in active development,” D’Amaro said in a statement. “Plans are drawn. Dirt is moving.”

In addition to the newly announced ships, Disney currently operates five ships and is planning on adding four more in the near future, including the Disney Destiny, which the company plans to launch in 2025. That ship will feature a heroes and villains theme along with recently-announced new restaurants like a “The Lion King”-themed spot complete with windows that transition from sunrise to sunset as you eat, tiered risers made to look like African drums, live musicians and storytellers, and favorite songs like the “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata.” At D23, D’Amaro also detailed a new “Moana” show for Disney Treasure.

At its earnings call last week, Disney reported that revenue is up 4% overall and 3% at US parks and experiences. It announced four core objectives: reinvigorating the film studios, making streaming profitable, growing the ESPN business, and “turbocharging” its experiences business. CFO Hugh Johnston said, “we wouldn’t be making capital investments in an accelerated way if we didn’t expect to accelerate growth out of those businesses. And that’s true of the cruise ships as well.”

Sixteen months into dealing with Manhattan Probate Court about an inheritance without the proper paperwork, I am somewhat obsessed on the subject of succession planning—and so of course I’ve been talking to travel advisors about it.  Read the rest of this entry »

Travel advisors now can book shore excursions and lounge facilities for clients booked on the 600 Carnival cruises that will stop at the Pearl Cove Beach Club.

When it opens in July 2025, the new adults-only area on Carnival Cruise Line’s (CCL) first private island will feature an 11,000-square-foot infinity pool lined with shaded daybeds and loungers, a swim-up bar and a spacious sun shelf, as well as a beach and a full-service restaurant.

Passengers and travel advisors now can book:

Daybeds and Water Daybeds (in Starfish Lagoon and Calypso Lagoon): Daybeds and water daybeds for two have canopies, pillows, and privacy curtains.

Cabanas (at the freshwater lagoons): Cabanas hold up to four guests and include armchairs, a sofa, two sun loungers, a cooler with chilled water, privacy curtains, a lockable cabinet, snacks, and fresh fruit.

Over-the-Lagoon Cabanas (near the Starfish and Calypso Lagoons): Cabanas that also have a ceiling fan and sunshelf.

Large Cabanas (near the Starfish and Calypso Lagoons): Large cabanas hold up to six, and include four sun loungers, stocked mini refrigerators, a lockable cabinet, a sofa, a dining table, a ceiling fan, privacy curtains, snacks, fruits and lunch.

AquaBanas (at the Starfish Lagoon): AquaBanas, which allow guests to keep their feet in the water, seat eight people under a shaded canopy.

Over-the-Lagoon Supervillas (at the Starfish Lagoon) and Beach Supervillas (at the beaches): Supervillas hold up to 10 guests with plenty of shaded seating options and extra amenities, including hammocks, lunch delivery, and stocked mini-refrigerators.

Also now bookable are kayaking, snorkeling, glass bottom boat tours, and land tours.

Unlike other private islands, admission to Pearl Cove is not included in the cost of a Carnival cruise. Prices for the least expensive package, at $99.99 per person, include club access and a welcome drink. Adding an open bar that offers up to 10 drinks—draft domestic beer, house red or white wine, well drinks, or rum punch—increases the price to $139.99 per person, and adding food from the Pearl Cove restaurant costs $179.99 per person.

There’s more to Mexico than Cancun—and our neighbor to the south is counting on travel advisors to spread the word about its abundant luxury, adventure, cultural, and family travel opportunities. To help them along, 200 or so travel advisors showed up for CCRA’s PowerSolutions conference in Jersey City last week to hear about new options, like the jaw-dropping Copper Canyon (25,000 square miles, four times the size of the Grand Canyon) and the new lines on the Mayan Railroad, many of which are aimed at high-end travelers. Read the rest of this entry »

With tensions in the volatile Middle East rising once again, Delta and United Airlines have canceled all flights to Tel Aviv effective today, and some European carriers are halting flights to the region as well. But despite earlier reports to the contrary, British Airways has said it will continue to fly, as will Israel’s flag carrier, El Al.

Delta in a statement said it is pausing flights between New York-JFK and Tel Aviv through Friday, Aug. 2, and suspending sales of flights for DL234 on Jul. 31 and Aug. 1, and DL235 on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2.

Delta.com notes that “our hearts are with all who are impacted as we work to find safe alternatives for customers trying to travel to/from Tel Aviv,” and offers a waiver to any customers currently booked through Sept. 6, 2024, who want to change flights.

United, which has been operating 14 flights a week to Tel Aviv, says that while its service to Tel Aviv is “currently suspended,” it still flies to Amman, Athens, and Dubai, where travelers can transfer to other carriers.

Cancellations are affecting European carriers heading to the Middle East as well. Lufthansa Group on Monday said three of its airlines — Lufthansa, Swiss, and Eurowings — have suspended flights to and from Beirut “up to and including” August 5, and Lufthansa on Wednesday night canceled a flight from Cyprus to Tel Aviv after Iran announced it was temporarily closing its airspace. Air France also suspended some of its flights, while other airlines changed their flight schedules.

Meanwhile, an ad in The Jerusalem Post notes that under EU regulations, travelers whose flights are canceled may be entitled to up to €600 compensation.