South Africa's Handy Mandela Vacation App
Posted on 06/20/2015, 6:30 PM
It has been a year and half since Nelson Mandela died at the impressive age of 95, but there's no way his influence will be forgotten anytime soon. People traveling to South Africa still want to walk in his footsteps, and they want to do so for generations to come. South African Tourism, the official government body promoting visitorship to the county, has intelligently thought to cater to this...
Rome's Colosseum Gets Its Lion Elevator Back
Posted on 06/20/2015, 6:15 PM
Two thousand years ago, the famous Colosseum was the biggest gathering place in the seat of the Roman Empire. In fact, it was the world's biggest amphitheatre. Over time, much of the structure has been dismantled by age, neglect, and the systematic pilfering of its stones. But someone is still adding to it. The Colosseum just got one of its original features back: a lion elevator. Originall...
Forget Bringing Your Own Bottles on Carnival
Posted on 06/12/2015, 12:15 PM
In a move touted as a measure to control contraband alcohol, Carnival Cruise Lines is banning bottled beverages of all kinds at the pier. Bringing your own alcohol aboard a major cruise ship hasn't been kosher for years, partly to avert binge drinking and bad behavior, and partly to force passengers to buy their cocktails from the cruise line—it's a principal revenue stream. But Carnival is...
Free Stay in Tahiti If You Go to New Zealand
Posted on 06/03/2015, 10:30 AM
The thing that stops most people from going to French Polynesia is the cost. It can cost as much to fly midway across the South Pacific to Tahiti as it can to go all the way across the ocean to New Zealand or Australia. Air Tahiti Nui has announced a great deal that makes it easier: a free three-night stopover, hotel included, for passengers who book round-trip tickets from Los Angeles to Auckl...
LGA Tries to Fix Lousy Transfers with App
Posted on 05/20/2015, 7:15 PM
Largely for political reasons, New York City has failed to link one of its three airports to the city by rail. The airport that processed some 111.6 million passengers in 2013 is widely considered such an embarrassment that even Vice President Joe Biden has slammed it for being "like some third world country"—an opinion that a well-traveled person is hard-pressed to emphatically refute. Rathe...
New Free Trolley Rolling in Palm Springs
Posted on 05/12/2015, 2:30 PM
Palm Springs has launched a free trolley service, Palm Springs Buzz, enabling visitors to more easily visit without a car—or after more sangrias. Buzz runs Thursday through Sunday every 15 minutes from 11am to 1am the next morning. Essentially, it goes down Palm Canyon to Smoketree, and up Indian and Palm Canyons to Via Escuela—that's a big L shape that covers 10.5 miles of most of the major...
Unrest Makes Puerto Vallarta a No-Go
Posted on 05/12/2015, 2:00 PM
Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line, and Celebrity have all cancelled port visits to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, following a wave of crime in the tourist city and the surrounding Jalisco state. Gunmen associated with a major drug cartel have been setting fire to vehicles, banks, and gasoline stations in response to crackdowns on them. Cruise lines are replacing their Puerto Vallarta visits wit...
Navigating "Sale Season" in Paris
Posted on 05/12/2015, 1:30 PM
Thanks to the strenght of the dollar against the Euro this may be the first time in years that Americans will be able to go to Paris and actually buy something. For the real shoppers out there, those who plan their trips around their potential purchases, timing travels to sales times is key. But Frommer's EasyGuide to Paris 2015 author Margie Rynn is warning that the strategies that have always...
Royal Caribbean Limits Last-Minute Deals
Posted on 04/21/2015, 8:30 AM
Royal Caribbean has been enjoying a lot of publicity for the christening of its latest megaship, Anthem of the Seas, which is bound for service out of New York Harbor next year, but buried in the breathless coverage was this little tidbit from its Chairman, Richard Fain: The cruise line is stopping last-minute discounts. Why on earth would a cruise company that keeps pumping out brand new shi...
When Airbnb Goes Wrong
Posted on 04/15/2015, 6:45 PM
We love Airbnb. We do. It has the power to transform the way travelers interact with local culture and make expensive destinations affordable. It also strips the power out of the hands of overpriced hotels. We love it. But, yes, sometimes it goes wrong. For those situations, PBS Digital Studios' Everything But the News created this short, funny spoof video. Because just because it's not th...
