Sunday, June 22, 2003
Relax, kickyour shoes off
Next time you're heading toward the airport security checkpoint, you might as well go ahead and remove your shoes.
The Transportation Security Administration began requiring last month that passengers put their shoes through the carry-on scanning machine.
The new policy, implemented around Memorial Day, comes after the TSA turned up the sensitivity of the walk-through metal detectors.
Shoes that used to go through the detector without setting off the alarm are more likely to cause a stir now.
TSA spokesman Brian Turmail declined to comment on how long the policy would be in effect.
In the meantime, he said, lines won't be as long as they have been and travelers should be able to pass through checkpoints fairly quickly since fewer passengers will slow things down with shoes that jangle the alarms.
Norway ship to berepaired and used
It looked like the end of the sealanes for the venerable cruise ship Norway -- formerly the ocean liner France -- after a boiler-room explosion in Miami May 25 killed six crew members.
But Norwegian Cruise Line plans to repair the 41-year-old steamship and return it to service.
Work will begin after the National Transportation Safety Board completes its on-site investigation to determine the cause of the explosion.
No passengers were injured in the accident, which occurred after the ship returned from a seven-day Caribbean cruise.
Three scheduled seven-day cruises have been canceled.
The Norway began life in 1962 as the flagship of the French line in the trans-Atlantic trade. Laid up due to competition from jumbo jets, the ship was acquired and refurbished by Norwegian Cruise Line.
It was launched in the U.S. cruise market in 1980.
Norwegian Cruise Line has demonstrated a penchant for restoring old ships with sentimental followings.
The line recently acquired two American-flag retirees of the same vintage, the SS United States and SS Independence.
Poll finds manywill take vacations
In an optimistic travel survey, 84 percent of 1,000 active travelers who have Internet access said they'll take a vacation this summer.
The largest number, 45 percent, intend to visit friends or relatives; 23 percent will be heading for beaches or lakes; while 14 percent will go to theme parks, according to the national poll by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & amp; Russell, a Florida-based marketing firm.
Florida was the chosen destination of 18 percent of those queried, California ranked next with 16 percent, while New York can expect to get 10 percent.
Orbitz, the online air travel engine, also reported bookings for Independence Day are up over last year, with Chicago, New York and Las Vegas the top destinations.
Next best thingto being there
Can a "virtual campus tour" compare with an actual campus visit? "Nothing beats an in-person tour," says Cliff Kramon, co-producer of Collegiate Choice Walking Tours Videos, which, he says, are the next best thing, especially for the parents of a student who wants to visit Harvard, Duke, Dartmouth, Stanford, Rice, Case Western, George Washington, Harvey Mudd, Georgia Tech and a few more.
The videos, taped student-guided campus tours of 350 colleges in the United States and abroad, are "a respectable way for the entire family to get a feel for a school to decide if the chemistry there is right for that child," says Kramon, a New Jersey-based guidance counselor. Made without background music, mood shots or edited script, the videos are "an average one hour per college of reality footage." They're $15 each.
For more information, call (201) 871-0098, or visit www.collegiatechoice.com on the Web.
Combined dispatches