JUST BAD PRESS

22 MAY 2013:  Carnival Corp who has not had a good time of it over the past year, has lowered its profit forecast for the second half of 2013.  The cruise line, which has had a number of high profile problems since the start of the year, blames the impact of negative publicity which has caused it to lower prices in order to drive demand. Isn't this interesting.  The company blames - not the problems - but the fact that those problems were negatively reported. Read more...

ON THE BEACH

22 MAY 2013:  As many readers know I'm a frequent visitor to Florida, and while in recent years I've spent more time in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, more recently the St. Petersburg area has been my 'hang out.'  Recently, I stayed for a few days at the Dolphin Beach Resort  on St. Pete Beach and realized why both the area in general, and this resort in particular, have been Canadian favourites for longer than I can remember. Read more...

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING

22 MAY 2013:  Given that the fund was hit $85,115, the sentencing for Panorama Travel and  Tours Ltd., Beata Kucharski and Zbigniew Kucharski who have been convicted on two counts each of failing to maintain trust accounts contrary to the Ontario Travel Industry Act, 2002 is just a little curious. Read more...

BLACKOUT

22 MAY 2013: A massive power failure has affected more than eight million people in Thailand's 14 southern provinces, including popular tourist areas such as Koh Samui and Phuket, in one of the country's biggest blackouts in recent memory. Read more...

FUN COMES AT A COST

22 MAY 2013: Universal Orlando has raised the price of a one-day, single-park ticket to US$92. The price increase, up from $89, went into effect this past weekend. Read more...

BALLOONS COLLIDE

22 MAY 2013:  A hot air balloon collided with another balloon mid-air during a sightseeing tour of volcanic rock formations in Turkey and crashed to the ground on Monday, killing two Brazilian tourists and injuring 23 other people on board. Read more...

LOVING CUBA

22 MAY 2013: Charles and Theresa Vezina live just outside of Montreal, but they consider Cuba their second home. “ We’ve been 108 times “says Theresa “and always stay at a Melia. We fly first class with Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations, AND use the same travel agents. Cathy and Andrea at Carlson Wagonlit in St- Bruno Quebec are very good.” Read more...

BIOMETRIC TRACKING

21 MAY 2013:  Foreigners leaving the US through any of the countries 30 busiest airports would undergo mandatory fingerprinting under an amendment added Monday to a sweeping new  immigration bill. Read more...

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

21 MAY 2013: Things I can’t live without – Hollywood movies, sun, sand and more Hollywood movies. California’s proven itself in the past on all three but can it pass the smell test these days? Is it still all that dreamy? Read more...

BACK TO THE FUTURE

21 MAY 2013: Currently known more for its river cruises, Viking Cruises announced last week  that it was launching a new cruise line for ocean-going trips beginning with the Viking Star.  The first voyages in 2015 will be to Scandinavia, the Baltic region and the Mediterranean. Read more...

NOT EVEN ONE

21 MAY 2013:  Australians are ticked off and I would venture to say they have every reason to be. Despite over 40,000 entries from Australian residents, not one has been selected as a finalist for the six top jobs in the 'Best Jobs in the World' competition Read more...

BURN

21 MAY 2013:  According to a consumer watchdog group new sunscreen labels on store shelves that are designed to make the products more effective and easier to use, continue to carry SPF ratings that some experts consider misleading and potentially dangerous. Read more...

TIP THE SCALES

21 MAY 2013: We like knowing that airlines have strict regulations to adhere to. Glad to know someone is measuring aircraft weight and centres of gravity. As long as folks are following a formula to determine the weight of a plane, its fuel and cargo, it’s all good to us.  But when an airline puts a weigh scale in front of a passenger? Well, all of a sudden our weight becomes personal. Read more...

PARADES OF FOOD

21 MAY 2013: In many parts of the world, people think a rodizio refers to a Brazilian style steakhouse. Not in Brazil. In that country a rodizio is a style of eatery. Perhaps more accurately an excess style of eating. Read more...