Cruise ship changes that allow you to pick the time for dinner -- as well as the cuisine style and a table for two or a few close friends -- are partly responsible for the continuing increase in the popularity of sea vacations. Comfort food, casual dress and anytime eating are among the top draws for new passengers.
Still, true to my sense of adventure, I miss the traditional system that forced passengers to dine every night for a week with a group of strangers, usually at a table for eight or more.
In Oceania Marina's grand dining room, you'll find any size table you want. (Photo by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)
Through the years of renting cars in Florida, I’ve been all over the Internet. My expeditions have yielded dozens of cars from websites and rental companies, with varying degrees of success.
Goal for my latest Florida car rental was hanging out with the pelicans in the Keys (Photo by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)
The cost of a rental car can be a major expense, especially in Miami, where locals add on a brace of taxes and fees that seem to nearly double the original cost. Rent a car in Miami and you know you have contributed to the local economy.
Finding the best deal is getting easier, because of up-to-date Internet
search engines that seek the lowest rates. Sometimes, prices vary
substantially.
After doing 180 miles per hour on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week, I ticked off another item on my lifetime Bucket List. I’m not a great fan of motor racing, but this was an opportunity too cool to pass up.
Squeezing a passenger into a modified racing car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The passenger seat is directly behind the driver.
Second verse, same as the first. I'm heading to Scotland tonight.
Saturday is a cruise on Azamara Journey's voyage of castles, distilleries and pubs, ending in Dublin. Please don't leave without me.
Didn't make it to Scotland last night, as storms from the Ohio Valley to New York delayed my planes and plans, and those of thousands of others, many headed for the 2012 Olympics in London. After about 5 hours at the airport in Cleveland last evening, I headed home, ready to try again the next day.
Hello from Marseille, France, where I’m lucky to be sitting aboard the new Carnival Breeze on the first day of a Mediterranean Sea cruise. Lucky, because I broke one of my basic cruise rules on this trip: Never plan to arrive at the port on getaway day, as you might miss the ship.
Carnival Breeze was to begin a 12-night cruise at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Feeling a significant measure of comeuppance, I watched my flight to Europe take off without me on Thursday night. Due to mechanical difficulties, my connecting plane from Cleveland was 90 minutes late arriving in Philadelphia. The Cleveland plane was still sitting on the tarmac of the Philadelphia airport, waiting for a gate, when my scheduled flight to Barcelona taxied out to the runway.
