Alaska Cruises Are Back! Congress Saves the 2021 Season and Trips Are Already on Sale
Posted on 05/24/2021, 7:00 AM
Vacationers had written off the 2021 cruise season in Alaska as another casualty of Covid-19. Canada, seeking to protect the health of its population, banned big cruise ships from Canadian waters until February 2022. That decision effectively killed all Alaska cruises, because a quirk in U.S. maritime law called the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) requires foreign-flagged ships that call on A...
Travel Prices Will Rise Sharply in the Coming Weeks, Warns a New Report
Posted on 05/17/2021, 8:00 PM
I've always said that one of my main jobs as a travel writer is to make really stupid mistakes so I can warn my readers about what not to do. Glory be, I made one such mistake in early April—and it turned out to be a bigger error than I knew at the time. On April 1, I researched a round-trip flight from New York City to Michigan, went to the airline website to buy, and then missed the final step: ...
Royal Caribbean Yanks Newest Ship from Haifa, but Will Politics Ruin a Florida Homecoming?
Posted on 05/17/2021, 9:00 AM
Americans who had hoped to spend some quality summer time aboard Royal Caribbean's newest megaship, Odyssey of the Seas, might now get their shot. In late winter, the cruise line announced plans to move the inauguration of the custom-made vessel out of Florida to a series of sailings from Haifa on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. But the crumbling political and humanitarian situation b...
Masks Are Coming Off but Not on Public Transportation—with One Exception
Posted on 05/14/2021, 7:00 AM
Science has spoken! Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that Covid-19 vaccines have been so effective that fully vaccinated Americans can return to unmasked life, both indoors and out. "Today, CDC is updating our guidance for fully vaccinated people," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House COVID-19 briefing. "Anyone who is fully vaccinated can...
U.S. Now Accepts Home Covid Tests from International Travelers and Returning Americans
Posted on 05/11/2021, 4:00 AM
Travelers entering the United States may now use at-home tests to prove they're negative for Covid-19, according to rules updated last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since January, anyone coming into the country—including citizens returning from vacations abroad—must present proof of negative Covid-19 test results obtained no more than three days before travel (or s...
With the Return of Travel Comes the Return of Robocall Travel Scams
Posted on 05/10/2021, 2:00 PM
If the pandemic had one silver lining, it was that, from March through August, the number of robocalls of all sorts dropped precipitously. Like everyone else, the employees of the call centers where many phone scams originate were unable to go into work, which meant blessed peace for the rest of us—for a while. But as you've likely noticed, the annoying spam calls are back—and many are travel sc...
Australia Will Stay Closed to Travel Until 2022
Posted on 05/06/2021, 7:00 AM
In a surprise move, Australia Finance Minister Simon Birmingham told The Australian today that the country would likely not reopen its borders until well into 2022. The previous target date for reopening had been June 17. Birmingham cited the emergence of dangerous new variants in India and elsewhere, plus delays in vaccine rollouts, as some of the reasons for keeping Australia closed longer than ...
Will a Gasoline Shortage Kill Summer Road Trips? Advice From An Expert
Posted on 05/05/2021, 5:00 AM
Toilet paper shortages? That's so 2020. This year, sources have been warning about an issue that chills the blood quickly: not enough fuel at gas stations. "It's been a bit of a perfect storm," Jeanette McGee, spokesperson for the American Automobile Association (AAA) told me. "When the pandemic hit, demand [for gasoline] fell drastically. So there were less deliveries, and a number of drivers too...
The European Union’s Plans to Reopen to Vaccinated Travelers by Summer
Posted on 05/03/2021, 12:00 PM
Just in time for summer travel, the European Union plans to reopen borders to fully vaccinated foreign visitors, no matter where in the world they are from. According to news reports, that could happen as early as June. Currently, only visitors from countries with low Covid-19 infection rates, like New Zealand and South Korea, are being admitted. The EU's executive branch, the European Commissio...
Masks Will Be Required on Planes, Trains, and Buses Into September
Posted on 05/03/2021, 4:00 AM
Masks aren't going away anytime soon, at least not on public transportation in the United States. The Transportation Security Administration has extended its mask mandate through September 13. The rule, which was put into place on Pres. Joe Biden's first day in office, had been set to expire May 11. Passengers in the U.S. must continue to mask up at airports, onboard commercial aircraft, on buses...
