Magazine gives tips on offseason traveling

Magazine gives tipson offseason traveling
NEW YORK -- Airfare and hotels are most expensive during whatever time of year is considered peak for a given destination, whether it's spring break in Fort Lauderdale or ski season in Lake Placid.
Prices are lowest in the offseason, but that can mean bad weather -- for example, the risk of hurricanes in late summer and fall in the Caribbean, spring mud season in New England or cold in northern cities in January.
But if you aren't limited to traditional vacation times like summer and spring break, you can take advantage of so-called shoulder seasons, when prices are low, crowds are down and the weather is not unpleasant. The May issue of Travel + Leisure is running a guide to help you figure out what the shoulder season is in various parts of the world.
You'll find bargains at ski resorts in the U.S. Rockies in early April and the Canadian Rockies in late April. Alaskan cruises are cheapest in early May and early September, while Hawaii is beautiful in September as the summer crowds depart, the magazine says.
November is shoulder season for Arizona golf resorts, according to Travel + Leisure, while June and October are good months to check out Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Airfare to Australia is lowest in May and early June, when "the weather is great" in the northern part of the continent, the magazine says. For Costa Rica and Belize, try booking May.
Blogs give tips on deals
Dallas-Hong Kong round trip, $398? New York for $126? Those air deals have been available in the last month. A new blog, newyorkairfares.blogspot.com, monitors the shifting world of fares. Sometimes they're gone in hours. Check the site and click on "The National Report," or sign up for a free newsletter.
Hotel package offerschance to catch shark
Meet a shark as part of the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota predator package.
Guests take an excursion with the Mote Marine Laboratory to catch, tag and release a shark. The shark isn't harmed by the experience, and the satellite tag helps gather data on the shark population. Once home, participants track "their" shark when the scientists receive the electronic data and e-mail it on to them.
The $9,920 experience is partially tax-deductible. It includes three nights of Club Level Suite accommodations, a behind-the-scenes tour with a Mote scientist, a spa experience for two, a gourmet dinner on the beach and membership in Mote Marine Laboratory.
The package is available from June through September.
For more information, call (941) 309-2000.
Luxury ships to bringclass to Coney Island
NEW YORK -- The dining rooms will probably be serving champagne instead of hot dogs from Coney Island, but several luxury ships will soon be making regular visits to Brooklyn.
Carnival Corp. will move the berths of four ships to a huge pier the city is redeveloping in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, city and company officials said.
The pier will accommodate the 1,132-foot Queen Mary 2 -- the world's largest passenger ship -- plus the 963-foot Queen Elizabeth 2, the Star Princess and the Crown Princess, which makes its debut next year.
The city hopes the shift from Manhattan to Brooklyn will create thousands of jobs, spur retail and tourist-industry development and breathe new life into what was once a bleak warehouse district.
Abandoning the crowded terminal on the west side of Manhattan will give the ships the ability to dock more frequently in New York. The change is also expected to bring 250,000 more passengers to New York each year on top of the current 900,000.
Combined dispatches