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* Check airlines' Web sites - Start your airfare shopping with a travel search engine such as Kayak or at a large travel-agency site such as Expedia, Orbitz, or Travelocity. But always check the carriers' own sites as well, because they often offer fares found only there. In fact, some tickets for low-fare airlines such as Southwest and JetBlue are not available at the major travel sites. Buying directly from the airline also eliminates the transaction fees charged by third-party sites, which can range from $5 to $12. Even here is a bonus tip on this, you can even purchase discounted gift card for some of the best sites and save even more. Their promotion and discount rates will still be apply.

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Box office update: 'The Hunger Games' scores best opening day ever for non-sequel with $68.3 mil

When Katniss woke up, the other side of the bed was cold covered with money. The dystopian action film The Hunger Games posted the fifth-best opening day ever with a staggering $68.3 million (including $19.7 million from midnight showings).
That’s by far the best opening day ever for a non-sequel. In fact, the next non-sequel in the opening-day record book sits all the way down in 18th place — 2010's Alice in Wonderland with $40.8 million. The Hunger Games has started off stronger than such blockbusters as The Dark Knight, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1. However, the four films it fell short of are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 ($91.1 million) and the three Twilight sequels.

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The PG-13 film, starring Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) and directed by Gary Ross (Pleasantville), scored a solid “A” rating from CinemaScore audiences. The movie was evenly split between those under age 25 (who gave the film an “A+” grade) and those 25 years old and up (who were slightly less enthusiastic with an “A-” grade

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Cruise Safety Precautions

It's been a month since the Costa Concordia struck a reef and tipped over near Italy's Giglio Island, causing the deadliest cruise ship tragedy in modern times and prompting the industry to enact new safety rules.
The cruise industry last week announced a key change in how ships conduct safety drills. Passengers now will be informed of safety protocols and emergency evacuation procedures, known as "mandatory musters," before ships leave port. (Here's the Passenger Muster Policy.)
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Great cruise deals for Alaska this week

Two cruise lines well-known for their Alaska presence - Princess Cruises and NCL - have put Alaska cruises on sale with upgrades and discounts. With Princess, the Sizzling Summer Sale offers savings of up to $1,400 (all prices U.S.) per couple, with lead-in fares from $799 per person for the seven-day Alaska Voyage of the Glaciers. Bookings must be made by Feb. 28 (for savings on Alaska sailings as well as cruises in Europe). See http://ping.fm/YYBKw and use the cruise finder on top of the page.

Meanwhile, NCL’s ‘Norwegians Take it to the Next Level’ promotion comes with free stateroom upgrades on new Alaska reservations. Bookings made by Feb. 19 qualify for the free upgrades, plus reduced booking deposits. See http://ping.fm/PdgWf

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How The Biggest Solar Storm Since 2005 Is Going to Affect You

There's a solar Coronal Mass Ejection travelling towards us at 1,400 miles per second, the largest solar storm since 2005. It will hit Earth around 9am Eastern Time, causing fluctuations on the power grid and disruptions to the Global Positioning System.

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There's something else, a strong proton storm—ranking S3 on a 5-level scale—which is in full rage now and gradually increasing. While CMEs are normal—about 2,000 every 11-year solar cycle—proton storms are very rare. Only a couple of dozen happen per solar cycle. And this one can be dangerous.

The storm has already affected aircraft traffic and may affect satellites' computers. On a telephone interview, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center physicist Doug Biesecker told me that, fortunately, there are measures to avoid most dangers.

"Many airliners have been avoiding the North Pole routes because they are more exposed to the proton storm, which disrupts High Frequency radio communications," he said on a telephone interview. HF datalinks are crucial to modern airflight, as they keep aircraft connected to Air Traffic Control. Due to the structure of the magnetic field that surrounds Earth, the polar cusps have very little protection against outbursts of solar radiation, so any airplane crossing that area could be exposed to this mayhem.
We're experiencing technical difficulties.......

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Wikipedia Blackout Begins - Let's support this

New York: Wikipedia, on Wednesday, blacked out the English language version of its website to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in Congress, the foundation behind the popular community-based online encyclopaedia said in a statement Monday night.

The Wikipedia homepage now displays a link which leads the visitors to a page with information on Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).

The website will remain dark for 24 hours in an unprecedented move that brings added muscle to a growing base of critics of the legislation. Wikipedia is considered one of the Internet's most popular websites, with millions of visitors daily.

"If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States," the Wikimedia foundation said.

The Stop Online Piracy Act in the US House of Representatives and the Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in the Senate are designed to crack down on sales of pirated US products overseas.

Supporters include the film and music industry, which often sees its products sold illegally. They say the legislation is needed to protect intellectual property and jobs.

Critics say the legislation could hurt the technology industry and infringe on free-speech rights. Among their concerns are provisions that would weaken cyber-security for companies and hinder domain access rights.

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The most controversial provision is in the House bill, which would have enabled federal authorities to "blacklist" sites that are alleged to distribute pirated content. That would essentially cut off portions of the Internet to all US users. But congressional leaders appear to be backing off this provision.

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Golden Globes 2012: Winners And Losers

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The winners of the 2012 Golden Globes have already been tabulated by the briefcase-toting folks at Ernst & Young and announced to the world.

But wins by the likes of "The Artist" and "The Descendants" only tell us part of the story. Who truly came out on top Sunday evening? Who didn't get a chance to take the stage and thank every single person they've ever known and many who they've never met? Let's take a look at true winners and losers at the ceremony.
Winner:
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervaismade a triumphant return to the Globes' stage after last year's controversy, winning over Hollywood frenemies and delivering a very funny opening monologue.

Loser:
Ricky Gervais
The comedian might have talked a big game heading into the show, but Gervais' performance was a restrained one after last year's hullabaloo. What's great about the comedian is how he coats a witty mean-spiritedness with kindly, winking,
you-know-I-still-love-you sugar. When your biggest dig is a fish-in-the-barrel attack on "The Tourist," you know you've caved to the worrywarts in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

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Loser:
"The Tourist"
Two years running, the show's laughingstock. Not even its star, Johnny Depp, felt compelled to rescue this dud from Gervais' verbal assault.

Winner:
The dog from "The Artist"
Not only did his tricks onstage make for the night's most-adorable acceptance-speech moment, but he was the only winner whose backstage urination was socially acceptable, rather than drunken and embarrassing.

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PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy ? As shaken survivors spoke of a mad crush to flee a sinking cruise ship off the Tuscan coast of Italy on Saturday, raising questions about the crew?s preparedness, Italian authorities arrested the ship?s captain amid concerns that the megaship had steered dangerously off course.

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy — As shaken survivors spoke of a mad crush to flee a sinking cruise ship off the Tuscan coast of Italy on Saturday, raising questions about the crew’s preparedness, Italian authorities arrested the ship’s captain amid concerns that the megaship had steered dangerously off course.


At least three people were killed in the accident, and divers combed the ship’s underwater cabins all day for those still missing, up to 41 people. Early Sunday, rescuers found three survivors still inside the ship, raising hopes that others might still be alive.


The Costa Concordia, carrying 4,200 passengers and crew on a weeklong Mediterranean cruise, slammed into an undetermined object near the island of Giglio on Friday night as passengers for the late seating had just started dinner, tucking into appetizers of grilled mushrooms and scallops.

“In a moment, everything was up in the air,” said Alessandra Grasso, 24, a passenger from Sicily. “People, chairs, glasses, food.”

Anxious survivors, many comparing the experience to the movie “Titanic,” recounted a chaotic and terrifying scene in which some crawled through hallways to escape down perilous ladders to lifeboats, while others leapt overboard into the wintry Tyrrhenian Sea.

Ulrike Schweda, 63, from Germany, was caught in a crowd of people pushing toward a lifeboat, and slipped on the deck. “The most terrible thing was seeing children trying to get down this ladder they had put on the side of the boat,” she said.

Two French citizens and a Peruvian crew member were reported dead, according to a hospital official in Grosseto, Tuscany.

Divers searched until nightfall for the missing, perilously probing the 2,000 cabins for survivors while the Leviathan ship lay on its side in the water, a boulder poking through a 160-foot gash in its hull. The Italian Coast Guard said 41 people were still unaccounted for.

Early Sunday, an Italian fire brigade found a honeymooning couple from Korea still alive inside a cabin. Luca Cari, a brigade spokesman, said the couple had been taken to a local hospital to be examined. Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro, a spokesman for the coast guard, said rescuers had also made contact with an Italian man trapped inside the ship.

The coast guard is also monitoring the environmental impact of the accident, but as of Sunday morning, no oil had seeped into the ocean from the ship. “We are optimistic and hope that the ship is not going to slide further down,” Commander Nicastro told reporters. “But the weather conditions are slowly worsening, and that is a cause of concern.”There were conflicting reports about whether the ship was off course in reef-filled waters just miles from the shore or whether an electrical failure had caused the crew to lose control. Passengers spoke of faulty evacuation procedures and unprepared staff who told them nothing was wrong — until the ship began tipping over.

After questioning him for several hours, the Italian police detained the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, and the first officer, for questioning on charges of manslaughter, failure to offer assistance and abandonment of ship, the police said.

Before his detention, Captain Schettino told Italian television that the ship had hit a reef that was not on its navigation charts.

Gianni Onorato, the president of the Costa cruise company, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise lines, said the ship had been sailing its “regularly scheduled itinerary” from Civitavecchia to Savona, Italy, when it struck “a submerged rock.”

He said Captain Schettino “immediately understood the severity of the situation” and “performed a maneuver intended to protect both guests and crew.”

The Italian coast guard said the captain had tried to turn the ship toward port in Giglio to make an evacuation easier, but it began to tip over as it reached the port.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/world/europe/italian-cruise-ship-accident-raises-questions-about-crew-and-captain.html

Royal Caribbean offers first cruises to St. Vincent

Royal Caribbean today began selling cruises to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent -- a first for the 42-year-old company.

The line's 2,000-passenger Vision of the Seas will visit the destination as part of new 11-night Southern Caribbean voyages out of Fort Lauderdale scheduled for Dec. 3, Dec. 24 and Feb. 4, 2013.

The trips are among 19 new Caribbean and Panama Canal sailings the line has announced for the ship for the coming winter of 2012-13. Also announced: A series of 10-night Eastern Caribbean voyages that include the line's first calls in Martinique in nearly four years; several other 11-night Southern Caribbean sailings that don't include a stop in St. Vincent; and four Panama Canal sailings that last 14 to 15 nights.

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In addition to Martinique, the new Eastern Caribbean cruises include stops in Tortola, St. Maarten, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Croix. The Panama Canal sailings will be one-way between Fort Lauderdale and San Diego.

Based in Europe for the summer, Vision of the Seas will sail to Fort Lauderdale from Southampton, England on Sept. 21 in a 14-night, trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise that includes calls at Gijon and Vigo, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Ponta Delgada, Azores. It'll return to Europe in April, 2013 with a 13-night, trans-Atlantic cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton that includes calls at Lisbon; Vigo, Spain; and Le Havre, France.

You can find more details and cruise related news, stories, articles at CruiseOffers.net

Please feel free to share your thoughts below.

Norwegian Cruise Line to revamp kids program

Norwegian Cruise Line is planning a major overhaul of its kid's program that includes adding more activities and more counselors.

The line today announced that its 13-year-old Norwegian's Kid's Crew program will be renamed and reorganized around five age groups: three- to five years; six to eight years; nine to 12 years; 13 to 14 years; and 15 to 17 years. There also will be programming for babies and toddlers ages six months to two years.

Norwegian's program currently is built around four age groups: two to five years; six to nine years; 10 to 12 years; and 13 to 17 years.

A spokesperson for the line tells USA TODAY the revamped program will be more curriculum driven than in the past and use more areas of the line's ships. The company also is increasing the ratio of staff to children in the program and establishing new criteria for the hiring of counselors, including the requirement of a college degree in recreation or child care (or the equivalent experience).

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Produced in conjunction with The King's Foundation and Camps, a United Kingdom-based organization, the new curriculum will place more focus on sporting activities, arts and crafts, theater and technology, the line says. Activities will change every 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the age group, and will be set within blocks of programming time in the morning, afternoon and evening.

The new curriculum will include circus workshops organized by Cirque Du Jour, a New York-based company that specializes in teaching children circus skills such as scarf juggling, ball juggling, plate spinning, clowning and acrobatics. New locations for activities will include ship sports courts, rock walls, theaters and lounges.

The overhaul comes as Norwegian continues to roll out more family-friendly Nickelodeon programming on ships. In mid-February the Norwegian Gem will become the third Norwegian vessel with Nickelodeon-themed pool games, character breakfast, dance parties and character meet-and-greets, joining the Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Epic.

The new kids programs will debut in mid-February on the Norwegian Gem at the same time the new Nickelodeon programming debuts and expand to other ships later.

Cruise Loggers, share your thoughts below.

Norwegian Cruise Line to revamp kids program

Norwegian Cruise Line is planning a major overhaul of its kid's program that includes adding more activities and more counselors.

The line today announced that its 13-year-old Norwegian's Kid's Crew program will be renamed and reorganized around five age groups: three- to five years; six to eight years; nine to 12 years; 13 to 14 years; and 15 to 17 years. There also will be programming for babies and toddlers ages six months to two years.

Norwegian's program currently is built around four age groups: two to five years; six to nine years; 10 to 12 years; and 13 to 17 years.


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A spokesperson for the line tells USA TODAY the revamped program will be more curriculum driven than in the past and use more areas of the line's ships. The company also is increasing the ratio of staff to children in the program and establishing new criteria for the hiring of counselors, including the requirement of a college degree in recreation or child care (or the equivalent experience).


Produced in conjunction with The King's Foundation and Camps, a United Kingdom-based organization, the new curriculum will place more focus on sporting activities, arts and crafts, theater and technology, the line says. Activities will change every 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the age group, and will be set within blocks of programming time in the morning, afternoon and evening.
The new curriculum will include circus workshops organized by Cirque Du Jour, a New York-based company that specializes in teaching children circus skills such as scarf juggling, ball juggling, plate spinning, clowning and acrobatics. New locations for activities will include ship sports courts, rock walls, theaters and lounges.
The overhaul comes as Norwegian continues to roll out more family-friendly Nickelodeon programming on ships. In mid-February the Norwegian Gem will become the third Norwegian vessel with Nickelodeon-themed pool games, character breakfast, dance parties and character meet-and-greets, joining the Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Epic.
The new kids programs will debut in mid-February on the Norwegian Gem at the same time the new Nickelodeon programming debuts and expand to other ships later.

Cruise Loggers, share your thoughts below.

Deal watch: Princess Cruises puts Europe, Alaska on sale

Add Princess Cruises to the list of lines offering up deals for "Wave" season, the busy booking period between January and March.
Princess' Balcony Bonus Sale, unveiled Wednesday, brings savings of up to $1,000 per couple on upcoming sailings in Europe and Alaska as well as a free balcony upgrade.
The promotion will continue through Jan. 31 and includes Europe and Alaska cruisetours -- trips that combine a cruise with a land tour.
Examples of sale fares include:
Princess Cruise Line starting at $599
7 Night W. Caribbean Cruise on the Ryndam from $599.
3 Night Bahamas Cruise on the Majesty of the Seas from $179.
7 Night W. Caribbean Cruise on the Norwegian Pearl from $479.
The fares listed are per person, based on double occupancy. Under terms of the promotion, they're available to residents of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Additional details can be found on cruiseoffers.net.

Other lines offering Wave season promotions include Norwegian Cruise Line, which launched in December that continues through March 31.

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