Gadling

There are two very happy people out there tonight: Austin and Kelly.

The two had booked their honeymoon cruise on Holland America Lines and were set to sail on a long Mediterranean cruise May 29, seven days after their wedding. But there was a problem: Kelly is only 20, and Austin is 25.

The couple fell victim to HAL's rule that passengers under 21 must be accompanied by an adult older than 25. While a lot of other cruise lines make an exception for married couples, HAL does not. The cruise line initially contacted the couple and told them that they could not board the cruise. To add insult to injury, it also appeared that the couple was going to lose most of what they paid for the trip, since HAL was not going to wave cancellation fees in this case.

What happened? It appears Austin and Kelly managed to get the company to change its mind, given their marriage status. A plucky travel agent liaised with HAL, and the company has agreed to allow Austin and Kelly to sail.

The question is whether this reversal is a one time exception from HAL or a permanent change in the cruise line's policy about allowing passengers under 21 sail if they are married, regardless of the age of their spouse.

It is now illegal to feed the pigeons in Venice's St. Mark's Square, or anywhere else in the city for that matter.

Venice's avian crackdown, which went into effect on Wednesday, joins the likes of London's and New York's, where it's been against the law to feed pigeons for some time now. But it's difficult to name a city that has a closer connection with the "winged rat" than Venice: Who hasn't imagined walking across St. Mark's early in the morning with no one around ("Yeah right!" you say of Venice) and scattering pigeons, which take flight in a rush of wings that do not quite drone out the chimes from a nearby bell tower.

Of course, you can still scatter the pigeons, I guess -- there are an estimated 40,000 living in Venice. But feeding them is going to cost you a 50 euro fine (around $75)

Naturally, the dozen or so vendors in St. Mark's Square who made their living selling breadcrumbs to tourists who wanted pigeon-laden snapshots are angry at the city's mayor for imposing the crackdown, saying they've been catering to this particular niche in Venice's tourist market for more than a century.

What do you think? Is banning pigeon feeding silly or practical? Do places like St. Mark's and Trafalgar Square in London lose something by such laws?

Scared that the Summer Olympics in Beijing will be disrupted by protestors, the Chinese government is finally admitting that it is implementing tougher visa rules, making it more difficult to obtain one for those heading to the Games in August.

According to the Associated Press, Chinese authorities say that an invitation letter, proof of accommodation and round-trip air tickets are required for some travelers applying for a visa.

I didn't mistype: Authorities are only saying some travelers will be affected, and are being maddeningly vague as to the specifics of the new visa rules. All a foreign ministry flack would tell the AP is, "We have made some arrangements according to the practice of the past Olympics and usual international practice. That is, in the approval process we are more strict and more serious with the procedure,"

Also, the Chinese have suspended multiple entry visas for business travelers through October, which is disrupting the business community in Hong Kong that is used to obtaining such visas easily.

The Chinese government is urging travelers to apply for visas in their home countries rather than the more common practice of applying for one in Hong Kong.

All this is in response to fears that the Games will be disrupted by human rights activists upset about China's crackdown in Tibet this spring. The Olympic torch's journey to Beijing has been marred by protests, and some groups are pledging to take more action at the Games themselves.

Still, it's only now that Chinese authorities are admitting that there will be tougher visa rules. During weeks of media speculation, the Chinese have been denying anything is different.

In another effort to cut costs, Delta Airlines says it is closing down nearly a dozen of its exclusive airport lounges worldwide.

These are places that you, loyal Delta travelers, pay as much as $600 a year to have access to. And it seems that some significant hubs will be affected: Delta says lounges in Boston, Phoenix, London, Denver, Kansas City and Seattle will close in the next few weeks, according to the Boston Globe.

An airline spokesman says that Delta intends to focus more on reciprocal lounge privileges available through agreements with Continental and Northwest, the latter being the airline Delta merged with last month.

No word on how much money Delta hopes to save by doing this.

Delta has a total of 42 lounges in airports worldwide.

If there is anyone out there in the Washington, D.C. area just dying to shell out money to see a bunch of wax statues, you may be heartened to learn that Madame Tussauds D.C. is lowering its admission price from $21.15 to $18, in response to the current "economic downturn."

That's right, Madame Tussauds, easily the silliest, most overrated and overpriced tourist attraction in the world, has just gotten a little more reasonable for folks in the Beltway. Now you can check out the "museum's" exhibits of life-like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush statues, not to mention the requisite Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Angelina Jolie offerings that I think are simply massed produced for the whole Tussauds chain. You might even encounter Joan Rivers, though in fairness she looks like wax anytime you see her.

Is there anyone out there who would actually spend $18 to see this stuff? Probably - there wouldn't be a D.C. branch of the chain if there wasn't some kind of demand.

I guess I shouldn't harp too much on the price. I mean, Madame Tussauds D.C. is a positive steal compared to the flagship museum in London, which charges $50 for adult entrance.

Now, folks, I'll give you $18. But if there is anyone out there spending $50 on this stuff, we need to have a talk...

American Airlines yesterday released an internal memo in which they comment on a April 20 incident that involved an AA flight that took off from Dallas, promptly lost a "large panel" on the underside of the plane during its initial ascent, and proceeded all the way to Paris, despite both the captain and crew confirming that they knew something was amiss.

Just what was wrong the crew didn't seem to know until touching down in Paris. And it doesn't seem that passengers were aware that anything was unusual. Several crew members managed to snap photos of the missing panel after landing, and circulated the shots in e-mails. The photos were attached to the internal member that CNN managed to obtain.

The company issued the statement after receiving upset e-mails from passengers, who stumbled upon pictures of the missing panel on the Internet.

All AA is saying is that it is investigating the matter.

What strange things have been found on planes?

Click the image to read the bizarre story...

Well, it might be time to put a nail in the coffin of the Passengers' Bill of Rights.

The bill, which is meant to give consumers some redress if, among other things, their flights are significantly delayed,
died by means of Senate filibuster yesterday, and now looks like it won't surface again until a new administration comes to Washington, if then.

For those unfamiliar with Congressional terms, a filibuster is an endless debate put on by one party that essentially wears down the rest of the chamber until it gives up and goes home without voting. Politicians have been known to read the Washington D.C. phone book out loud in an effort to keep the continual "debate" going, and it's happened before that a filibuster lasts long enough that cots need to be brought into the congressional chambers.

This filibuster was lead by Republicans, and it had the effect of essentially shelving the entire issue of the Passenger's Bill of Rights. Advocacy groups are crying foul because it looked not only as if the bill could pass, but that it would actually have some teeth to it, including setting firm deadlines for which national airline carriers would have to submit their plans of compliance to the Secretary of Transportation.

Some highlights of the bill would have forced airlines to provide adequate food and water if a flight is delayed significantly, and would have given passengers the right to deplane if their flight is delayed more than three hours after the cabin doors are shut.

The government has been fighting the measure for months, arguing that the national Airline Deregulation Act trumps individual state law, the level at which people looking to establish a Passenger's Bill of Rights have been spending most of their time.

Calls for a Passenger's Bill of Rights picked up steam a year ago, following the now-famous Jet Blue debacle, when more than 1,000 people flying the airline sat hostage on the tarmac for hours – one flight for more than 11 hours – during a New York snow storm.

Well yesterday, D-Day for a host of new baggage fees to hit the books at six major U.S. airlines, came and went. I'm curious if anyone out there ran into problems at the airport.

Most travelers know by now that United, Delta, U.S. Airways and others implemented an additional $25 fee for that second checked bag of yours starting yesterday. Did you pay the fee? Make changes in your packing? Did it appear that check-in counters were on top of this on Day 1?

At any rate, the baggage fees are here to stay. American Airlines, the lone hold out among major carriers, is implementing one next week, and smaller airlines like Alaska Airlines are weighing the same for sometime in the next coming months.

But just it case you're only thinking about baggage fees, MSNBC.com lists a few smaller fees (i.e. things that used to be free, but now cost you) that have gone into effect in recent days. Among them are $3 snacks on Frontier Airlines, an extra $5-$30 fee to get a window or aisle seat up in the front of coach on U.S. Airways (they'll go into effect tomorrow) and a $25-$35 fee for "special customer service" at Air Canada.

Happy spending everybody!

Americans are not the only ones getting hit hard with vacation surcharges that are being driven, largely, by the increasing costs of fuel. The Times of London reports that 18 vacation package companies in Britain have begun contacting customers to tell them they'll need to shell out a little bit more for that anticipated getaway than they thought when they initially booked, to cover not only fuel costs but the growing strength of the euro.

Of course, maybe you've booked through a British packager. If so, this affects you.

Eighteen British packagers are scrambling right now, among them:

• Bales Worldwide
• Solmar
• Noble Caledonia
• Discover the World

If you've booked with any of these guys for upcoming trips, expect your phone to ring soon. They're giving customers a pretty clear choice: pay more money or forfeit your deposit.

The Times says that the law only requires packagers to cover cost increases of up to 2 percent. Above that, they are legally allowed to demand 10 percent more money from you without giving you the option of a refund on the vacation.

One example of extra fees: Customers who have booked Egypt and Nile river cruise vacations through Bales Worldwide are being asked for an additional $110-$140 to cover "currency fluctuations."

Vacations that are most affected are those booked for travel in the euro monetary zone. If you've booked with a British or European packager for a trip this summer, Gadling suggests you call your packager and find out where it stands on surcharges, so that you're not taken by surprise at the last minute.

It's an all England battle for the Champions League title this year. Know what that means?

English soccer hooligans, arguably the world's worst sports fans, will be descending en masse on Moscow on May 21. Some estimates put the total number of English fans at 40,000. While it's not fair to say all English fans are hooligans, that's still a big enough number to have me on the first train to Vladivostok.

But will they really make it?

For European soccer fans, the Champions League playoffs -- which annually pit the best teams across Europe against one another -- is bested only by the European Championship and World Cup in terms of importance. This year, perennial powerhouses Chelsea and Manchester United are facing off in the Cup final.

This year could pose a unique challenge for British fans. Brits in general will travel just about anywhere to support their teams, but they often like to do so on the cheap, renting huge raucous buses or forming decked out caravans kilometers long that take European highways by storm, rather like Parrotheads on their way to a Jimmy Buffett concert on the Cape. But with the final being held this year at essentially the eastern edge of Europe, in the world's most expensive city, the budget options are few, if any. Flights are going for close to $2,000 round-trip, the train ride from London is 40+ hours, and good hotel rooms are running around $200-$300 a night. This is to say nothing of the fact that visas are harder to come by since there is some lingering bad blood between the British and the Russians over the whole Alexander Litvinenko affair (he's the ex-KGB spy whacked in London in November 2006).

Right now, it looks like a daunting trip for the budget conscious, some kind of combination of low-cost flight and overland bus or train, hopping Ryan Air or easyJet to Riga or Villnius and then going on from there.

To be sure, hooliganism is a serious subject. During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, organizers took the extraordinary measure of flying in British police to patrol airports and cities in which the British National Team was scheduled to play. Some 3,500 "known hooligans" were barred from entering Germany. And in one day in Stuttgart, police arrested 200 British fans (and took another 400 into custody), largely for "preventative" purposes. Local authorities estimated that the average fan either drank or threw 4 gallons of beer.

How do you stop a British hooligan? Andy Nicholls, a former hooligan from Everton, tells the BBC, "How to stop hooligans? Take every man aged from 14 to 40, cut their arms and legs off. That'll stop it."

Russians, take note.