Today's TravelBlog will be primarily an update for two major travel-related stories. First up, the swine flu outbreak and its effect on the travel industry. This story is something we've all heard quite a bit about lately. Second, the upcoming changes to U.S. Passport requirements. Although stories about the latter are hardly found through the major media, we (Makarma Travel) will help keep you informed.
Mexico cruise itinerary changes continue, with the latest news being that the revised itineraries will remain in-effect through mid-June 2009 for both Carnival and Royal Caribbean.
The seven-night Los Angeles departures for the Mariner of the Seas currently include port calls in San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.
The seven-night Long Beach departures for Carnival Splendor include port calls in Astoria (Oregon), Victoria (British Columbia) and Vancouver.
Four-night sailings for Long Beach-based Carnival Paradise and San Diego-based Carnival Elation will have their Ensenada stops replaced by an additional day at sea. (The sailings will continue to call at Catalina Island.) Three-night sailings of those ships will see their Ensenada stops replaced with Catalina Island port calls.
There are some amazing cruise fares available to those interested in sailing the above itineraries.
Now, onto Passports...the pending change we recently discussed is still scheduled to take effect in a few short weeks. This means that, as of now, U. S. citizens traveling to any foreign country by land or sea will need a United States Passport, effective June 1. (Those traveling by air already need a Passport.)
We'll continue to keep you updated regarding the above via our website, the TravelBlog and Twitter. In our experience, folks are still booking travel, but they're making changes to their plans as needed.
Please have a terrific week, and contact us with your travel-related questions. If things settle down a bit, we plan to get really silly next time in TravelBlog by Makarma.
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