Travel

LACEY PFALZ | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   The largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, will begin its inaugural season from Fort Lauderdale on March 4, 2022, sailing around the Caribbean before heading to Europe in May. The Oasis Class ship is the largest in the world, showcasing its size with special features like Central Park, eight distinct neighborhoods including the new Suite Class neighborhood, the tallest waterslide at sea, as well as The Vue, a cantilevered pool bar. The Wonder of the Seas will sail on 7-night itineraries throughout the eastern and western Caribbean…

BRIAN MAJOR | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   Led by Jamaica’s plan to offer visitors travel insurance and region-wide efforts to vaccinate residents and tourism workers, Caribbean nations are adapting established health and safety protocols to maintain crucial tourism activity even as several manage local coronavirus spikes. In fact, several regional destinations are posting strong visitor numbers despite the myriad difficulties created by the coronavirus pandemic. Officials are cautiously optimistic as the winter season, traditionally the region’s busiest travel period, approaches. “We are slightly ahead of our [visitor] projections for 2021 and we anticipate that growth will continue through the…

LACEY PFALZ | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   Airbnb is offering one of the sweetest house rentals yet: the Bearbnb, inspired by Disney’s Winnie the Pooh and set within the real-life forest that was the inspiration for A.A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood. The Winnie the Pooh-inspired house is available to book on Airbnb as part of the beloved children’s book character’s 95th birthday and was designed by Kim Raymond, a Disney illustrator who has drawn Winnie the Pooh for more than 30 years. Booking begins on September 20, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. CDT for stays on the 24th and…

DONALD WOOD | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   Boeing announced revised long-term demand forecasts on Tuesday as commercial air travel has made a considerable rebound over the last several months when compared to predictions from last year during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. According to Reuters.com, the United States-based airplane manufacturer is forecasting that 43,610 commercial jets will be delivered over the next 20 years, an increase of 500 units from the 43,110 projected a year ago. The total estimated orders would be worth $7.2 trillion in the current market. From a 10-year perspective, Boeing officials predict 19,330 planes will…

LAURIE BARATTI | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   MMGY Travel Intelligence has just released the results of its ‘Portrait of American Travelers’ survey, 2021 Fall Edition, which was fielded in late July. Its findings suggest that traveler sentiment is still going strong and indicate that the industry can expect a busy holiday season this year. It also showed that the vast majority of both vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers are to get out of town over the coming months, but that the two subsets of travel consumers are planning different types of trips. Among Americans, the intent to vacation…

RICH THOMASELLI | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   While many airlines are reporting a decrease in bookings as the delta variant causes a surge in COVID-19 cases, it appears travelers are getting in a final gasp of summer over this Labor Day holiday weekend. According to screenings reported by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), air travel – which is generally considered to be back to about 70-75 percent of what it was two years ago – drew within 90 percent of 2019 passenger numbers. On Thursday, September 2, 1,896,846 people passed through security – 90 percent compared to…

RICH THOMASELLI | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   Maui Mayor Michael Victorino is implementing a county-wide ‘health pass’ starting September 15 where visitors to restaurants must show proof of vaccination, according to Maui Now. Victorino said the health pass is similar to, but not as restrictive as, the Safe Access Oahu program. The Oahu program is for restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, museums, arcades and other similar establishments. The Maui program is just for restaurants for now, although that could change. “For Maui we have a modified version, where customers would be required to show vaccination–vaccination cards, or some…