Here is is a video tour I shot of Holland America’s MS Volendam. I talked more about this particular ship on Episode 113 of the Amateur Traveler - Theme Cruise to Panama (Shakespeare at Sea / MacMania).

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Popularity: 27% [?]

According to the Tampa Bay News Channel 10 (heard via Travelography) there might be something worse than having the airline lose your luggage.

Oldsmar, Florida— Barbara Blewitt loves to travel and purchased a set of high quality Land’s End luggage last year. But on a recent trip to Atlantic City aboard Spirit Airlines she couldn’t believe what she saw when she arrived at baggage claim.

“I looked and there on the floor was my luggage,” says Blewitt who discovered her bag had been mysteriously burned

“I said what does that mean, what happened here? My clothes are burned!”

In fact, the luggage was so badly burned, almost everything inside, worth an estimated $350, was ruined too.

“I had no clothes, no underwear, no cosmetics, nothing but a burned suitcase,” Blewitt said.

Popularity: 48% [?]

This week Motel 6, an economy hotel chain in the United States, announced a its first new prototype property in twelve years. 

“We are excited to have received such positive reactions from our customers about the “Phoenix” design, and are confident that our future guests will also appreciate the fresh, modern design look and welcoming appeal of the new rooms,” said Olivier Poirot, CEO of Motel 6 and Studio 6.

Phoenix prototype include a new building exterior designed by BOKA Powell, a spacious lobby with a new 24-hour food and beverage vending market place, and a modern (Pictures) guestroom design that features bright accent colors. The room includes ambient lighting, wood-effect flooring rather than carpet, and a 32-inch flat-screen TV. The flat screen TV is displayed on the entertainment unit which conceals the door-less wardrobe behind it, thus combining two needs into one unit. Also included on the entertainment unit is a cubby for personal items and a multi-media panel allowing guests to plug in their mp3 players, CD players and laptop computers – this feature allows guests to listen to their favorite tunes or use the flat-screen TV as their computer monitor while enjoying Wi-Fi internet access in their room. The room also features pedestal beds with a new taupe-colored coverlet and pillow-top platform mattress. Guests will also notice the clean style and the upscale touch of the colored bed scarf that matches the accent wall color.

Popularity: 38% [?]

International Listings, which calls itself “the premier listing service for luxury homes worldwide”, published an article the “Top 25 Most Beautiful Castles in the World“. The list does contain some stunningly beautiful castles from around the globe like Windsor Castle which is pictured, old crusader castles, etc. Sadly, despite this being a real estate site, it does not like most of these will be on the market any time soon… but maybe if you made the queen an offer.

Popularity: 11% [?]

In the Spanish town of Bunol (in the Valencia region) they hold what amounts to the largest food fight every year. 30,000 people gather to throw 240,000 pounds of over-ripe tomatoes at each other. ‘The Tomatina‘ started in 1945 in a brawl that started near a vegetable stall.

At around 10 a.m., the first event of the Tomatina begins. Many trucks haul the bounty of tomatoes into the center of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, where they are less expensive. Technically the festival does not begin until one brave soul has climbed to the top of a two-storey high, greased-up wooden pole and reached the coveted ham at the top. In 2007 a number of people attempted this, including a man in a giant banana suit. In practice this process takes a long time and the festival starts despite no one reaching the meaty prize. The signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of water cannons, and the chaos begins. Once it begins, the battle is generally every man for himself. Those who partake in this event are strongly encouraged to wear protective safety goggles and gloves. In addition, they must squish the tomatoes before throwing for safety precautions. Another rule is that no one is allowed to bring into this fight anything that may provoke someone into a more serious brawl, such as a glass bottle. Although it is forbidden to tear someone else’s clothing, the crowd tends to ignore this and invariably will rip the shirt of any clothed person, man or woman. After exactly one hour, the fighting ends when the water cannons are fired once more to signal the end. At this point, no more tomatoes can be thrown. The cleaning process involves the use of fire trucks to spray down the streets, with water provided from a Roman aqueduct. The authorities seem more concerned with cleaning the town than cleaning the visitors, so some people find water at the Buñol River to wash themselves, although some kind residents will hose passers-by down. Once the tomato pulp is flushed, the ground is clean due to the acidic effect of the tomato.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

1. Bigger Cruise Ships - In a surprise move by cruise companies competing to make the largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean will buy the U.S.S. Hornet from the U.S. Navy and refit it as a cruise vessel. The flight deck will be converted into a 9 hole golf course and the catapult will be used to launch parasailers.
2. Flight Delays - An increase in the number of flights stranded on the tarmac of major U.S. airports will give rise to tarmac based hotel chains so that the airline will not have to return the aircraft to the gate and lose credit for an “on-time” departure.
3. Passenger’s Bill of Rights - Public outcry will once again peak calling for a passenger’s bill of rights after the discovery of Flight 304 which had somehow gotten lost in the outdated air traffic control system and had been sitting on the runway in Cleveland for 6 years. There were some reports of cannibalism when the peanuts finally gave out, but what finally gave a face to this tragedy was young Robbie Barnsworth who was born and raised on the airplane. His mother was only 7 months pregnant when she boarded the flight. The testimony of young Barnsworth who learned to read from safety brochures and outdated magazines finally galvanizes congress to take an immediate action. They call for an immediate recess. Ironically 3 of the congressmen will board a flight to Bermuda and will be similarly lost on the Dulles tarmac. No public out cry will ensue.
4. Airport Security - Increasing stringent searches from the TSA will lead to the creation of the first all nudist airline whose passengers will spend much less time in airport security. Surprisingly the airline will be based in Wisconsin and will be called Dairy Air.
5. Adventure Travel - The opening of the Club Med in Kandahar, Iraq gets off to a very rocky start with a series of SNAFUs because of some miscommunication involving red tape. While the resort will prove to be all inclusive, the guests will accidently be issued combat fatigues and weapons. Despite this unexpected direction the resort will prove to be a surprising commercial success with the adventure travel crowd.
6. Gas Prices - The rising price of gasoline will have a dampening effect on domestic travel. Several states will switch their state lottery from offering cash to a tank of gas with great success. Home exchange websites will emerge where instead of swapping homes with a complete stranger you will just exchange pictures of your house for theirs and imagine what it would be like to have enough gas to leave your home town.
7. Global Warming - A new study will reveal surprisingly good news about the cause of global warming. Despite the expectation of many that the U.S. congress was causing global warming with its lack of action it is determined that it is the actual heated debate in congress that is the primary cause of global warming. When congress is hermetically sealed the worldwide trend is nearly completely halted except for an unexplained hot spot located near the Dulles airport.

Popularity: 24% [?]