New Club Med Openings: Sicily, the Great Wall, and More
Posted on 03/13/2018, 2:30 PM
Club Med has embarked on an ambitious expansion project. The pioneer in all-inclusive resorts plans to add 15 new properties to its worldwide roster by the end of 2020, opening five resorts per year between now and then. Though you might associate Club Med with sunny spots in the Caribbean, major focuses of the company's latest efforts are Asia and the mountains of Europe. Openings scheduled fo...
For Tourists, This Is the Last Straw!
Posted on 03/09/2018, 12:00 AM
Last call! More and more, you're going to have to go without drinking straws. Single-use plastic straws are distinctly unkind to wildlife. Fresh straws choke animals. Then each straw is said to take longer than 200 years to break down, and all the while, it disintegrates into ever-smaller and smaller bits that are eaten by small animals, fish, and even plankton. The plastic bits eventually make it...
Carnival Announces New Cruises to Cuba
Posted on 02/28/2018, 10:30 PM
Carnival Cruise Line is significantly increasing its sailings to Cuba. In 2019, the company will schedule 17 new cruises to the island aboard the recently renovated Carnival Sensation. The five-day voyages will be the line's first round-trip cruises to Cuba from Miami. They'll feature a day-long call in Havana as well as stops in Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, Nassau, and the private destinations o...
Huge New Atlantis Resort Opens in China
Posted on 02/26/2018, 10:30 PM
The world now has three Atlantis resorts to overwhelm visitors with an ocean's worth of watery amenities and maximalist architecture. Joining sister properties in the Bahamas and Dubai (another is in the works in Hawaii), the just-opened Atlantis Sanya occupies more than 130 coastal acres on China's Hainan island, a tropical spot southwest of Hong Kong in the South China Sea that's becoming incre...
Famous Thai Beach Closing to Tourists This Summer
Posted on 02/14/2018, 10:15 PM
Thailand's Maya Bay is so pretty it played the paradise sought by Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the 2000 movie The Beach. But tourists will have to stream that film—fair warning: it's terrible—to lay eyes on Maya Bay this summer. Authorities are closing the beach to visitors from June to September in an effort to combat environmental damage caused by over-tourism. The fame that has resulted...
How Bermuda's Same-Sex Marriage Repeal Affects Cruise Weddings Worldwide
Posted on 02/08/2018, 12:00 AM
This week, the governor of Bermuda, John Rankin, signed a legislature-approved bill that reinstates the British island territory's ban on same-sex marriage, reversing a decision to legalize those unions made less than a year ago by the Atlantic Ocean archipelago's supreme court. But the ramifications of the revived marriage ban go way beyond Bermuda. This is the world's first such instance of ...
Arthur Frommer: My Choices for the 10 Most Memorable Destinations
Posted on 02/05/2018, 3:30 PM
As a professional travel writer, I was required to travel to far more destinations than the average American does. In my youthful years, I literally lived on an airplane, in constant motion, often traveling to several countries each week. And I loved every bit of that life—especially these 10 particular destinations. Here, based on that experience, are my choices of the world’s 10 most mem...
French Polynesia’s Best-Kept Secret: Tahaa
Want to get away from it all in the South Pacific? Crowds are small at this Tahitian island—it doesn't even have an airport—but the snorkeling, sunsets, and French Polynesian culture are richly rewarding.
To Visit This Island Paradise You Have to Pledge to Protect the Environment
Posted on 01/04/2018, 8:45 PM
In order to enter the island nation of Palau in the western Pacific Ocean, visitors must now sign a "passport pledge" to protect the environment. The mandatory vow was enacted to counter the negative effects of tourism on the country's 200 islands and their coral reefs, volcanic hills, rich biodiversity, and cultural sites. The move makes Palau the world's first nation to change immigration law...
Days When You Can Visit U.S. National Parks for Free in 2018
Posted on 01/04/2018, 9:00 AM
Each year, the National Park system throws open its gates for a few days and spreads the good word by admitting everyone without charging entry fees. It's a great way for low-income families, students, and seniors to experience the parks, and hundreds of thousands of Americans take advantage of the invitation annually. The Department of the Interior has announced the free days for 2018—and they'v...
The Cruise Industry Goes All Out to Claim Caribbean Ports Have Recovered
Posted on 10/20/2017, 5:15 PM
When did you last see an ad for land-based resorts in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands? You probably haven’t. The damage to beaches and roads leading to some of those properties seems too significant to overcome concerns about them. While such major Caribbean islands as Jamaica, Aruba, Curacao, St. Lucia, and others have suffered no damage at all from the recent hurricanes, Puerto R...
If You Crave a Caribbean Vacation, Many Areas Escaped Storm Damage: A List
Posted on 10/10/2017, 4:45 PM
This coming winter, many thousands of Americans will agonize over whether they can enjoy tropical vacations in the Caribbean of the sort they once knew. Should they even bother to apply for reservations in an area broadly damaged by hurricanes? Fortunately, a majority of these famed islands was either unaffected by storms or else so moderately damaged that they can be restored and repaired...
