Travel news this week got off to a slow start with reports of delays at the Port Everglades cruise terminal due to the sequester cuts. Carnival issued a statement on the incident, saying, “The Customs and Immigration process for debarking guests has taken quite a bit longer than normal. It is our understanding that more than one cruise line at Port Everglades is experiencing similar circumstances. We do not anticipate any impact to the ship's itinerary for the next voyage which will depart later today. We regret the inconvenience our guests have experienced during today's debark and clearance process."
Carnival also suffered another setback this week, as high winds caused the fire-damaged Carnival Triumph to break free from its moorings, causing further damage to the ship. There were no reports of injuries among the 600 crew and 200 contractors who were onboard the vessel. However, two shipyard employees on an adjacent peer fell into the water. One was rescued by the Coast Guard and the search continues for the second.
In air travel news, the week took an odd turn when a story on Samoan Air’s new policy to charge passengers by weight began making the rounds on the Internet. Since the story broke on April 1, many of our readers became convinced it was an April Fool’s prank perpetuated by the Daily Telegraph. The story was no joke, though – Samoa Air’s CEO continued to defend the policy throughout the week, prompting speculation on just how such a policy would work if it spread to other airlines.
In destination news, Travel Agent caught up with Pedro Haces, president of the Acapulco Destination Marketing Office, to find out more about the destination’s ongoing efforts to improve safety and revamp its image. One nice tidbit – Tianguis Turistico will return to Acapulco, the birthplace of the event, in 2015.
Finally, this week saw companies gearing up for the tradeshow season. In addition to CLIA’s announcement of high expectations for this year’s cruise3sixty in Vancouver, Questex Hospitality + Travel announced that the fourth annual Hawaii Travel Exchange would be headed to Kauai this December.
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