In a sentimental exchange, the Queen Mary 2 sounded her horn 3 times in greeting to the Queen Mary as she pulled into the Long Beach harbor. The original Queen Mary responded traditionally and the two ships berthed in the same harbor for the very first time. The original Queen Mary was built in 1934 and was considered the most majestic vessel of her time. Since 1967 she has been a hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.

Now the Queen Mary 2 has the mantle of one of the most glamorous ships on the sea since her launch in 2004. What a glorious spectacle to see the two ships together.

“I love the sound she makes,” said Cynthia Chapman, 69, of Kent, England. “It’s really awe-inspiring.”
The world’s largest ocean liner entered the harbor surrounded by sailboats and yachts. Thousands of people lined the channel walkway and swarmed the decks of the old liner as its 21st century successor arrived.
The QM2 arrived a day earlier at the neighboring Port of Los Angeles. It was to depart later on a cruise to Mexico with about 2,500 guests.
Both Queen Marys were built by the Cunard Line, originally based in Britain but now located in Santa Clarita, Calif., and owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp.  via ABC News

An expected 300,000 students are heading to Panama City for Spring Break over the next few weeks. These students are booking later as the internet allows them to see the deals and opportunities, not to mention where the pack mentality will lead them. Who wants to be at Daytona when the sweet girl from Psych is in Panama City…

One of the interesting things I have seen is the use of Podcasts to reach the students. That is a sign the technology is taking off.

They’ve spent countless hours driving from up north, but now students from Canada and Michigan are here, ready for their week in the Sunshine State, even though the sunshine hasn’t been at its brightest.
Tim McDonald, a student from Canada, says, “I came from Ontario, and it’s like a snowstorm when I left, so I’m pretty happy about the weather.”
Sunny weather or not, these students are enjoying their vacation, and marketers say the numbers are only going to increase from here.
Phillip Colvin, Marketing Director for Paradise Hotels, says, “Trends are showing kids are booking later and later, waiting later and later, so it’s picked up a lot lately and we’re looking forward to a great spring break.”
New methods like podcasting were used this year to reach as many students as possible. The Tourist Development Council says that played a big roll in recruiting spring breakers.
Jana Leach, Director of Marketing in Panama City Beach, says, “You always have to keep up with technology and one of the new elements to the campaign is podcasts promoting PCB. I think that always helps when you can reach students in a different medium.”  via WJHG

If you are looking for more information on Panama City Spring Break 2006, here are some resources for you.

• Spring Break Dot Com
• PCB06.com
• About.com Panama City Spring Break Guide

The Low Cost Carriers are starting to have a huge battle with costs. JetBlue learned it could lose money this quarter, and Southwest is facing a huge, 600 million dollar, fuel cost increase as its hedges are running out. So now the battle  is to increase ticket prices to remain viable companies.

We need a higher average fare for our tickets,” said David Neeleman, chief executive officer at JetBlue, which reported its first quarterly loss this month and is forecasting a loss for all of 2006.
“We need to get another five bucks or 10 bucks if we really want to make some money,” he said.
Laura Wright, chief financial officer at Southwest, said it’s facing $600 million in higher fuel costs this year and will need to cover that expense.
“We’re going to have to see revenue improvement to cover those fuel costs,” she said. via Seattle PI.

It is a very rough time to be an airline. The industry needs to determine a pricing structure that works for themselves and the customers.

Northwest Airlines is hitting crunch time in their pilot and flight attendant contract negotiations. On Friday the bankruptcy judge will have the discretion to void the contract between these labor groups. Progress has been made on many fronts with the pilots so it will be an interesting period.

Chief Executive Doug Steenland told the Star Tribune for a story published Thursday that the deal “addresses the pilots’ concerns over jobs, outsourcing and making sure that the replacement aircraft for the DC-9 gets flown (by Northwest pilots), and that represents significant progress.”The “lions share” of job-protection issues have been resolved, including saving pilot jobs in the event of a merger, the sale of part of Northwest’s business or code-sharing arrangements with other airlines, he said.

Northwest and the Air Line Pilots Association have been negotiating since early January and the pilots are taking a strike authorization vote that concludes Tuesday.If the pilots and flight attendants fail to reach agreements with Northwest by Friday, a bankruptcy judge could void their existing labor contracts and allow the airline to impose new pay rates and work rules. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper also could give the parties a second extension to conclude their talks. via the AP Wire.

This is a flying nation. We fly. And everyone knows airport security is an increasingly sad joke, that TSA itself often appears to have forgotten its mission, if it ever knew it, and taken on a new one–the ritual abuse of passengers. Peggy Noonan, Opinion Journal, February 23, 2006.

Peggy Noonan is a writer you may love or hate, but she is very talented and turns her talents to (on?) the TSA in an editorial on her experience this past week flying from New York to Florida. It is worth the read.

A rough day out at the airports in the last couple of days:

• A woman ran through a security checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Wednesday, prompting authorities to close the terminal and re-screen all the passengers who were in the terminal.
• Two planes came within a few hundred feet of each other last week when a controller at Los Angeles International Airport mistakenly cleared three planes for the same runway, officials said.
• An Alaska Airlines flight returned to Portland International Airport Tuesday morning after the cabin’s oxygen masks dropped 15 minutes into a flight to Denver.

Delta Airlines is continuing their international expansion plans by adding a second flight from it’s Atlanta hub into Bermuda starting at the end of May. Delta has made an effort to change its focus from domestic into international travel as the airline works to reinvent itself and get out of bankruptcy.

Adding to Delta’s increased service out of Atlanta, JetBlue has also announced plans to start service from JFK international in New York. What does this mean for consumers? Lower prices and greater selection for their airfare, but probably a much busier and more expensive island as the additional capacity is felt on the hotel side.

Tourism and Transport Minister Ewart Brown made the announcement at a press conference yesterday, saying the added service would increase the airline’s daily capacity by 64 per cent – the highest it has been since 2000.
“I’m pleased to announce today that Delta Air Lines will be adding a second daily Atlanta-Bermuda flight this summer, beginning on May 26,” he said.
“There will be a 150-seat Boeing 737 arriving at Bermuda International Airport at 8 p.m. and departing Bermuda at 8.30 a.m. for convenient connections in Atlanta. This represents a significant increase in Delta’s Atlanta service, offering both morning and afternoon flights from which to choose.
“It is a 64 per cent increase in daily capacity or airlift. That is to say, instead of one daily Bermuda-Atlanta Boeing 757, we will soon have two daily 737s for an airlift increase from 183 seats to 300 seats.” via the Royal Gazette.

Disney World’s Animal Kingdom is set to open it’s first large scale attraction in 2 1/2 years with the introduction of the roller coaster ride Expedition Everest in early April. The ride is to give the impression of visiting the Himalayas. The ride billed as a family ride does have a 44” height restriction so the little tykes will not be able to ride it.

But it sure sounds like fun and it is nice to see Disney add a fancy ride like this to its Animal Kingdom park. The team that built Expedition Everest has used thousands of props to lend authenticity including the entryway that introduces the riders to a traditional Nepal village.

 Inside lives the biggest, most fierce creature Walt Disney ever built — and a mile-long runaway train ride through the Himalayas that brings visitors face-to-face with a mythological legend. In Nepalese lore, the mysterious yeti is thought to protect the pristine east Asian mountains and forests.

At Walt Disney World’s new Expedition Everest attraction, it’s a howling animatronic beast with more potential thrust power than a 747 airplane — and the center of the theme park giant’s first big-ticket attraction here in 2 ½ years.

Everest, set to open April 7 in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, features a train navigating an 80-foot drop, rumbling over bridges and through valleys backward and forward to escape the monster, which has twisted and broken the tracks.

With no upside-down turns, Everest isn’t as white-knuckling as some new coasters. But it could help Disney draw visitors to the Animal Kingdom, which has long lagged in popularity behind sister parks Epcot, the Magic Kingdom and Disney-MGM Studios. via the Miami Herald

Outside Magazine has a list of resorts that do more than just allow you to sit by the beach and pool. Each offers a different type of experience for you as you get away from it all.

• For Yoga and Spa: Jungle Bay Resort & Spa, Dominica
• For Diving and Snokeling: Mesoamerican Reef, Belize
• For Open Sea Sailing The Arabella, St. BarthĂ©lemy
• For Simplicity: The Beach House, Barbuda
• For Old School Resort with Modern Touches Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinique
• For a Surfing Vacation: Macaw Air, Costa Rica