Time 2 Cruise

The Tonto Natural Bridge is located off of Highway 87 near Payson Arizona. It costs about $3 per person to get into the park for adults and is free for children 14 and under. Its a short 1/2 mile hike down to the underside of the bridge. and then another 1/2 mile out. Pictures do not do the views justice. We did the trip in the morning before it got to hot. Being about an hour and a half north of Phoenix Arizona, its a little cooler than the 115 degrees it was in the valley, but was still a pretty warm day with temperatures hitting the mid 90s. For those that may be near this natural wonder, this is a short side trip that is well worth it.

An article on USA Today's Cruise Log is about a 26 week pregnant woman not being allowed to board the ship. Rules when she booked her cruise had a cut off dated of 27 weeks but it was updated to 24 weeks after she had booked. To me this is a situation that is similar to the fuel charges when they were adapted over the winter. Carnival is this case has every right to change their rules regarding the cutoff date but should have lived up to their rules that were in place when the ticket was purchased. If the cruise line has a serious concern on this mater, a press release should have been made and every effort to notify anyone that may be in jeopardy of violating the new rule should have been notified. I am not sure if Carnival requires pregnancy to be disclosed when booking a cruise but would think that it is not. This is a case of a mistake made by the cruise line in how they handled the situation and the passenger has every right to be upset and the onus should be on Carniva...

It was just announced that American Airlines is going to be testing out wifi services in flight. As an avid computer and internet junkie this is something that could make me want to part with my money. Yes, you guessed it. As with everything else, internet on the flights will not be free which is understandable as it will be a third party that maintains the system. If it works well and gets a lot of interest, look for the other airlines to not be far behind in adopting in flight wifi . There is only one thing that could make wifi a painful experience. People playing streaming video and audio. I just hope that people realize that they need to bring their headphones along with them. While I don't see it being a major issue, there are always people that have no regard for others around them. They usually happen to be on the same flight I am.

We have been to Los Angeles in June in the past but this time it was different. We did not get to escape the heat of Phoenix this past weekend like we were hoping. Temperatures ranged from mid 90s near the water to triple digits inland. This did not stop us from enjoying our weekend away from home. On Saturday we were early enough to be able to rent bicycles to ride down the beach in Redondo . We took a twelve plus mile cruise up the "strand" to Marina Del Mar, where we enjoyed some well deserved Margaritas while overlooking the marina. The heat did not keep others from enjoying the day as well. After the ride back down the beach. The five hours that we had the bikes only hit us up for $21 per bike. If you live near the beach, you can take your own bike, but the beach cruisers we rented seemed very fitting for the leisurely pace that we kept. Even at that pace we got a good workout as we peddled along. On Sunday, we headed out to Dodger Stadium to take in a day ...

When flying, the standard procedure for carry on luggage is one carry on and one personal item. If following the rules, the carry on item should not exceed 45 inches in linear length. That means that the width+height+depth should not add up to more than 45 inches. Now we have all seen how people have been breaking this rule for years whether its a piece of luggage that is over sized or carrying more than one carry on where one is not a "personal item" such as a purse or lap top computer. Well now, with airlines charging for checked luggage, it is safe to assume that many people have already been thinking about how to carry on most if not all their luggage. With this, look for the airlines to pay closer attention to the number of bags you have and the size. When it comes to carry on luggage, my wife and I have been in the practice of only having carry on luggage for short trips for years. It took a little tweaking after the new security measures were enacted , but we ...

A decade ago this would not have been even considered as probable, but now some people see it as not only probable, but possible. In the late 60s the passenger train service was in trouble because the airlines had began taking business away. In 1971, the US government combined all passenger train service to create AMTRAK. So with all the threats of bankruptcy, there has been talk of a possible airline consolidation in the future. So the question is, could this really happen to the Airline industry? And if yes, then what would that mean to the average passenger? The changes that the airlines have been making may be an example of what we could be in store for if this was to happen. There has been talk of something closed to pre deregulation (mostly in prices). Or it could be totally different in some way that we have yet to imagine. The one thing that we can tell right now is that no matter what, the future of the airline industry is not going to be anything like we have been used to o...

We knew it was just a matter of time, and that time is now. Soda and Coffee is now going to cost you when flying on U.S. Airways. For people that like to have a cocktail while flying, keeping a few singles on hand may be second nature, but its now going to be suggested for the rest of us to have exact change as well. But at $2 a can for soda, hitting the fast food stands near the gate may look like a better deal. We can't take liquids thru security, but it doesn't mean we can't buy that super sized cup from the Starbucks or McDonald's before boarding the plane. As with everything else, watch for the other big players to follow U.S. Airways. As they have just followed American is charging $15 for the first checked bag for passengers. Its estimated that a family of four going on vacation is going to pay an extra $100-$150 in added costs before they exit the plane with the new baggage costs alone. That's for the family that can afford to go on vacation with the...

Just last week many of the major airlines raised prices an average of $20 in hopes of recouping some of the rising fuel costs. By today the prices have dropped back to the pre hike levels. What this means is that the airlines have yet to figure out what they need to do to fix their problems. At the current rate (some pun intended here) we could easily see one of the major airlines fold before things get better. Worse case is that there is no better in site. Many experts have been for telling of a return to 1980 type pricing where a round trip cross country coach fair could average close to if not over $1000. Planes will fly a lot emptier but with business travel the airlines would hope that the increase in cost would way offset the decrease in occupancy. Personally, I see a major problem with this. With an airline like Southwest, that continues to do well, the other airlines can't raise fairs to much in areas that are serviced by Southwest. The funniest thing of all that...

Baltimore is a new market for Carnival for repetitive cruises. With fuel costs going up and it not looking like its coming back down any time soon, new ports may become the norm as cruise lines bring the ships to the people rather than wait for the people to come to the ships. It will not be surprising if in the next year we see other ports that have large populations within a few hours drive gaining cruise ships not only from Carnival but many other cruise lines even if only on a short term basis. Ports like Baltimore could bring new customers while at the same time get past passengers to come back for something different especially for those that can get to the ships without having to fly. It will be fun to see where this all goes and hopefully its new home ports and new destinations.