Ferry to connect Florida and Bahamas

Ferry to connectFlorida and Bahamas
GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND, Bahamas -- If you're traveling to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area this winter, you may want to pack your passport so you can hop the new two-hour ferry to the Bahamas.
The service launches Nov. 1, with a daily departure from Port Everglades in Florida at 4 p.m., and a return trip from the Caribbean each morning at 9:30.
Called the "Cat," the high-speed vessel operated by Bahamas Florida Express is a catamaran, 320 feet long, that travels at 42 knots and carries 900 passengers.
The round-trip fare for adults, through Dec. 21, will be $129 to $189, depending on the day of travel, plus $31 in port charges and taxes. Tickets for children ages 3 to 17 are $70 plus the $31 in fees. Discounts for senior citizens are planned. There's also a premier class with a $179 price, along with discounts for booking online and for traveling on certain days.
Several hotels are offering package deals for Cat passengers: Holiday Inn SunSpree at Royal Oasis Golf Resort & amp; Casino, Crowne Plaza at Royal Oasis Golf Resort & amp; Casino, and Pelican Bay at Lucaya.
The boat offers a casino, duty-free gift shop, a TV-movie lounge and a cafe and bar.
If the Cat sounds familiar to folks who vacation in Maine and Nova Scotia, that's because the Cat is also the name of a popular ferry that travels between Bar Harbor and Yarmouth. The Bahamian vessel is chartered from the same company that operates the Maine-to-Canada route.
For more information, visit www.ferrybahamas.com or call (866) 31FERRY.
Guide for spendingcollege time abroad
NEW YORK -- Studying abroad has become a rite of passage for many college students.
Now there's a new guide for American students interested in spending a semester, a year, or even their entire college experience in another country.
"Study Away: The Independent Guide to College Abroad" (Anchor Books, $13.95) includes information on which schools offer English-speaking classes, which universities are friendly to Americans and which aren't, and how you can get an American-style liberal arts education for less money overseas than at a private college in the United States.
The book's co-authors have firsthand knowledge of their subject. Mariah Balaban participated in educational programs back in high school that took her to France, England and the Caribbean. Although she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, she spent her senior year in Paris. Jennifer Shields graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and previously spent two summers in Russia at Moscow State University.
Area in Florida moves upas a driving destination
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. -- The Panhandle's Fort Walton Beach-Destin area, famous for its sugar-white beaches, has become the state's second most popular destination for tourists who drive to Florida, a new survey shows.
"Being officially ranked the No. 2 drive destination in Florida is an incredible distinction for a destination which was practically unknown 10 years ago," said Rick Deckert, chairman of the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council.
Orange County, which includes Orlando, retained its top ranking, but Okaloosa surpassed Miami-Dade, Pinellas, Volusia, Duval and neighboring Bay counties.
The study by Visit Florida, the state's official tourism marketing corporation, and D.K. Shifflet & amp; Associates, a market research company based in Falls Church, Va., shows 7.1 percent of all auto traffic to Florida travels to the coastal area of Okaloosa County.
Tourism officials credit an aggressive marketing campaign that began in 1991 to raise the profile of the area, also known as the Emerald Coast because of the blue-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The campaign targeted Southeastern markets, young couples, families, multigenerational groups and reunion markets.
The exposure helped Fort Walton Beach-Destin win the titles of "Best Beach in the South" and "Favorite Family Destination" from readers of Southern Living magazine eight years in a row.
Across Brooklyn Bridge
NEW YORK -- It's one of the greatest urban strolls in all the world -- the walk over the storied Brooklyn Bridge.
And now there's a scenic park on the Brooklyn side to give visitors a reason to stay awhile. What used to be a parking lot on an industrial waterfront has just opened as a landscaped park with views of Manhattan, a bluestone plaza and a children's play area.
The new park, which is next to another waterfront recreation area called Fulton Ferry State Park, has a maritime theme, with a nautical flag pole and a 50-foot ship's hull in the play area.
Draw on memories
NEW YORK -- Instead of taking photos, how about drawing your vacation memories?
Orient-Express Hotels is offering art classes for guests at its facilities in Virginia, Italy, Australia, Botswana, South Africa and Italy.
The courses, all scheduled for 2004, include botanical painting and landscape and wildlife sketching.
They range in price from $304 for a three-day nonresidential course to $3,275 for a five-day course that includes lodging.
For more information, visit www.orient-express.com or call (212) 302-5055.
A Magazine readersrate the top spas
NEW YORK -- Spas in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Mexico, New Mexico and St. Lucia have won top honors in a new survey by Travel+Leisure magazine.
Readers of the magazine rated spas on treatments, value, service, ambiance and accommodations.
Miraval, in Catalina, Ariz., was named top spa worldwide. Next on the list was the Golden Door, in Escondido, Calif., followed by Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Ariz.; Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass.; Oaks at Ojai, Calif.; Mii Amo in Sedona, Ariz.; Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico; Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, N.M.; BodyHoliday in St. Lucia and Palms at Palm Springs, Calif.
Top hotel spas in the United States also included the Hualalai Sports Club in Hawaii and the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Complete results are available in the magazine's October issue.
Source: Associated Press