Captions aren't just for the opera anymore.

London theater is becoming more welcoming to foreign visitors by offering AirScript -- a hand-held device that gives live translations in eight languages. The captions scroll throughout the performance -- about seven lines at a time -- in orange letters on a black background to cut the glare factor. Theater-goers can pick from English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese.

The first theater in London to offer the device is the Shaftesbury Theatre for its current show, Hairspray. The price to the patron? £6. 200 AirScripts can run at one time in a single theater.

Because it's important that lines sync with the action on the stage, a manual operator cues the translations -- the job can't be automated.

If it's your dream to go to Rio de Janeiro, and walk Copacabana Beach while drinking from a coconut, here's a reality check for you: you have to nix the coconut.

Starting December 1st, coconuts will be banned from being sold by beach vendors in an effort to clean up Rio's beaches in time for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Officials make a good argument. Who knew that 30 tons of husks have to be picked up daily? And if they're not collected, they attract rats.

But critics point out that husks are natural and biodegradable. And coconut water will still be available for sale, but only in bottles and cans -- personally, I'd rather get it from the source and not have the man-made waste. Maybe there's a way to step-up the beach cleaning, while still making the coconuts available?

Let's see if Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes changes his mind. He's offered to rethink the ban if beach-goers do a better job at picking up after themselves (although obviously it won't be coconuts that they're picking up, because they'll have already been banned.)

The fliers are having their say, and Zagat is there to record it.

It's time for Zagat's annual Airline Survey, tracking travelers' experiences with 16 U.S. airlines and 73 foreign airlines, and 30 U.S. airports. Each airline was rated on its comfort, service, food, and website.

These are the airlines to come in first this year:

Large Domestic (Premium class): Continental Airlines
Large Domestic (Economy class): JetBlue Airways
Midsize Domestic (Both Premium and Economy): Virgin America
International (Both Premium and Economy): Singapore Airlines

Any guesses on the top-ranked airport? Portland, Oregon. And the worst? LaGuardia, New York.

The full survey goes on to list everything from best luggage policy, to best in-flight entertainment, to quips from the 'write in' portions, such as "Treats occasional fliers like dirt, and treats frequent fliers like a better class of dirt."

In total, the survey gathers the collective consensus of 5,895 frequent fliers and travel agents, who took 97,600 flights altogether in the past year.

Disneyland all to yourself -- a kid's dream. (A parent's dream, too, I think.)

Disney is making the inevitable crowds a bit more manageable. They've just announced Mobile Magic, the mobile app that announces wait times for rides and the nearest location for a character hug. It can be used at Disneyland and Walt Disney World theme parks.

No, it's not the first app for wait times at Disneyland, but it's the first official one from Disney Parks.

And likewise, it's not exactly flawless -- it only works on Verizon Wireless phones. It's not available on BlackBerrys or the new Motorola Droid.

You can give it a spin for $9.99 for a 180-day subscription.

[Thanks, NYTimes.com]

The Wild West is going farther west. So far west that it's the far east.

The newest roller coaster announced for Hong Kong Disneyland is Big Grizzly Mountain. Set to open in 2012, it will be the main attraction in Grizzly Trail -- Hong Kong's version of the original park's Frontierland.

The ride follows a runaway mine train through the mining town of Grizzly Gulch, which comes decked out with a stagecoach, a jailhouse, and the world's largest nugget of gold -- plus the ubiquitous audio-animatronic bears, of course. Disney legend has it that Grizzly Gulch was founded by gold prospectors on August 8, 1888 -- all of the eights make it the luckiest day, month, and year in Chinese culture.

Big Grizzly Mountain will be part roller coaster, part water ride -- with geysers, leaking buildings, and a splashdown finale.

These are big days at the theme park. This ride is just part of a $500 million expansion that will add on three new theme lands -- Grizzly Trail, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land -- to increase the size of the park by 23%.


[Thanks, LATimes.com]

Sure, I think it's great that Frontier is introducing Stretch -- a new premium economy section in the first four rows of coach that adds more legroom.

But what I don't like is that they're not taking out any rows in back. Instead, they're squeezing the space between the other rows to make up for the extra room.

Sounds as though you're either moving up to riches, or being pushed back to rags.

Originally, seats were 33 inches in pitch -- meaning the space from a spot on your chair to the same spot of the chair in front of you. The Stretch section now gets 36 inches. The other seats behind are scrunched to 31 inches -- or even 30 inches.

Because of Frontier's tier class system, the only way that you can get a Stretch seat at the time of booking is if you're a Classic Plus member. For you, it's free. For everyone else, you get your chance at check-in. Those in the Classic class can get an upgrade for $15 per flight segment. Those in the Economy class pay $25 per flight segment.

You can currently find Stretch in the airline's Embraer 190s. A320s, A318s, and A319s will follow suit in the next few months. The new seating class just started earlier this month.

Superstitious or not, if you're thinking about booking a hotel, you might want to wait until Friday the 13th to book.

(Is that like intentionally waiting for a black cat to cross your path?)

What can we say? That's the day that Hotels.com is discounting a lot of its properties by 50% in a Friday the 13th Sale.

Pick from about 200 properties, including locations in Mexico, Argentina, and the Caribbean. The Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago is going for $89/night (instead of $199), and so is the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco (instead of $170).

The sale is valid when you book a reservation on Friday, November 13th, and complete your stay by November 27th.

Pull up a chair and start placing your bets -- it's about to get ugly.

No, really, the elephant seals will be gathering soon at Año Nuevo State Park in California for their breeding season. (And have you seen one before?) All nose and gut, the males vie for alpha male status, bellowing their complaints and battling it out by throwing their chests against each other.

They make the Central California coast their home from December to March, and visitors can take a guided tour to see the breeding colony up close -- from the first arrival of the males to the final departure of the pups.

Año Nuevo is the world's largest mainland breeding colony of the northern elephant seal. But back in 1892, fewer than 100 elephant seals existed anywhere because of hunting. Now, thanks to legislation first implemented in Mexico and then the US, they are more protected. Their numbers have increased to about 150,000 -- many of them come to Año Nuevo annually.

Advance reservations are recommended for the 2.5-hour walking tours, which run December 15-March 31. First, read the FAQs about the walks, then book your reservation either by phone (650-879-2033) or online. The admission price is $7.00 per person (free for children 3 and younger).

Año Nuevo is located along Highway 1, just 20 miles north of Santa Cruz. Another elephant seal spot is farther south on Highway 1 at Piedras Blancas (7 miles south of San Simeon), which is home to about 15,000 elephant seals. No admission fee or reservation is required there.

Grenada is so off the radar for a lot of Americans that it leaves a lot to be learned about the country. (For one, how it's pronounced. Answer: "Gren-ay-da.")

But here are some of the more practical tidbits that I learned while in the island country that might also serve you well on your visit:

Keep your swimsuits to the beach. An indecent exposure law forbids it elsewhere. Cover up, even if it's just a little bit.

Don't wear camouflage. It's illegal to wear it in any color or format.

Ask before taking that photo of someone. It's good tact in any situation (although goodbye to spontaneity), but I especially felt the need to in Grenada. In fact, a few people called me on it when I didn't. My instinct was to snap photos left and right at the market, but I intentionally stopped to talk about and buy produce first.

US money. Yes, you can use it and businesses accept it.

Go SCUBA diving. Grenada has the most wreck dives (sunken boats) in the Caribbean.

Gallery: Tropical Flora in Grenada

It's official -- the cruise season in Grenada has begun. Actually, the first day of the season fell on a day when I was there recently. I might've missed the influx because I was across the island during most of their 12-hour stay, but I saw the big boat sail in during my breakfast, and sail away during my dinner.

Ideally, you'd want several days on the island where you could see waterfalls in the inland mountains, leatherback turtles off the northern beaches, and French and British influences in the capital town of St. George's. But if you plan it right, you can see some amazing things in the short amount of time.

Get out on the water:
I know. You might be thinking that the last thing you want after being on a cruise ship is to get on another boat. But a Grenada Seafaris boat isn't just any boat. When it powers at full-speed, it's a fun wind-in-your-face ride. And it stops for snorkeling at the underwater sculpture park, designed by Jason de Caires Taylor. The 2.5-hour tour also includes off-coast stops up the west coast and discussions about conservation and local marine life.