Chris Owen
Orlando - http://www.chriscruises.net/
Chris Owen is a travel writer from Orlando Florida charged with sharing frank, inside information on cruise vacations with travelers.
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Orlando - http://www.chriscruises.net/
Chris Owen is a travel writer from Orlando Florida charged with sharing frank, inside information on cruise vacations with travelers.

Considering a trip to see the Northern Lights? This year may very well be the best time to go. 2013 is the height of the 11-year solar cycle. September and October offer peak activity. They can be seen in Alaska, Norway, Finland and Canada on a clear night. Better yet, try viewing on a ship at sea.
Government cutbacks have affected travel in a number of ways. Passport applications and renewals are taking longer, as is the process for requesting a visa. Traveling abroad, less security at U.S. facilities means less protection for Americans. National parks have closed some facilities and delayed opening of others. Now, even the Smithsonian Institution in Washington is feeling the impact of budget cuts.
Norwegian Cruise Lines new Norwegian Breakaway is due to arrive in New York City to be christened in the city by Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes on May 8. This week, the 146,600-ton ship was previewed by UK travel professionals and members of the press in Southampton on a two-night preview sailing prior to its inaugural transatlantic sailing. Sailing year-round from New York, Norwegian is betting heavy on the success of the ship's New York City theme with everything from the city skyline painted on the ship's hull to Sabrett hot dog carts positioned around the ship. But how did the ship play out in real life? Gadling asked travel professionals on the UK sailing for their opinion.
It came across as a simple tweet of information by Airfarewatchdog: "Frontier charging for carry-on bags if fare not bought on their site. Calls it an 'enhancement.'" The airfare experts at the site were noting a new policy from Frontier Airlines that goes into effect this summer.
Travelers have become accustomed to paying more for flights as airline fees soar, tapping them for billions. Between baggage fees, service fees and in-flight fees, it is getting harder to find cheap fares and no one knows that better than NASA.
They were on their final approach to Scotland's Glasgow airport when an unidentified object passed within 300 feet of the Airbus A320 passenger jet. "Er yeah we just had something pass underneath us quite close [1255:30] and nothing on TCAS have you got anything on in our area" said the pilot to Glasgow tower, reports the BBC.
Like them or hate them, travelers have heard of cruise lines that travel around the world on city-like ships, ply the rivers of Europe or sail from convenient home ports around North America. Some have ships designed to be destinations in and of themselves, while others have purpose-built vessels with a shore-side focus, stopping at world class destinations. Between the brands of Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Corporation alone, millions of travelers take to the sea each year. A comparative handful of cruise travelers choose small, boutique lines that sail just a few ships to many of the same places with their own signature travel experience.
When we review travel apps that actually do something, they often tap crowd-sourced information that is as rich (or not) as the number of users who have contributed their opinions or reviews. GPS-based travel apps take existing technology and manipulate it in one way or another to bring every thing from finding a friend on the road to creating a virtual journal of our travels, step by step. In the world of cruise travel, the number of apps available is limited compared to other modes of transportation but they are often highly specific, producing information not available elsewhere.
Taking another step toward space travel for all, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo lit its engine Monday, breaking the sound barrier high above California's Mojave Air and Space port with billionaire Richard Branson on hand for the event.
"Today was the most significant day in the program," Branson told NBC News. "I think that for those people who have been good enough to stick with us for the last eight years, who signed up early on, their time to become astronauts is very soon now ... We'll soon be able to make their dreams come true."
Branson reportedly has 500 would-be space travelers signed up for the $200,000, two-hour flight that will include six minutes of weightlessness.
Confirming the flight and milestone accomplishment, Branson blogged:
"This is a momentous day and the single most important flight test to date for our Virgin Galactic program. What a feeling to be on the ground with all the team in Mojave to witness Virgin Galactic go faster than the speed of sound. It marks the moment when we put together two key elements of our spaceflight system - the spacecraft and its rocket motor, which have both been tested extensively by themselves over several years - and start the phase of testing that will demonstrate our vehicle's ability to go to space (hopefully later this year)."
On board the first flight with paying passengers will be Virgin frequent fliers, allowed to trade miles for a ride in space.
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