Popular Orlando Water Park to Close Forever
Posted on 06/29/2015, 1:00 PM
A few weeks ago, when Universal Orlando announced it was building a lavish new water slide park, Volcano Bay, for a 2017 opening, it was all over for Wet 'N Wild. The seminal water slide park opened in 1977 and was the first of its kind in the world, essentially inventing the water park genre that now has far surpassed its tiny acreage and simple ethic. There's no lavish theme, just lots of ...
Teachers Get 25% off B&Bs This Summer
Posted on 06/24/2015, 4:15 PM
BedandBreakfast.com, an established one-stop booking site for family-run B&Bs, has launched its annual discount program for teachers on summer break. The site has collected some 300 bed and breakfasts in 44 U.S. states and 23 other countries, all of which have promised to grant discounts of 25% or more to teachers. Conveniently, the deals are posted on a single page, which can be found ...
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...