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Travel briefs
Friday, April 11, 2008 | No comments posted.
MIAMI (AP) — Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise operator, plans to give $40 million in refunds to customers nationwide who were assessed a fuel surcharge after they booked their trips.
It’s the second cruise company to reach an agreement with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, which received more than 300 complaints about fees added by several cruise operators last fall.
Customers said the charge was tacked on after they made their reservation.
The Carnival settlement, announced March 31, affects more than 1.1 million bookings, but the precise number of people affected was not available.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., another industry leader, announced in November they would start billing passengers to offset rising fuel prices — $5 per person, per day — for voyages beginning Feb. 1.
After the attorney general launched its investigation, Royal Caribbean announced in early March it would refund eligible customers about $21 million.
Newseum opening in Washington
WASHINGTON (AP) — A museum devoted to the history and practice of journalism is scheduled to open Friday in Washington.
The Newseum, located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, is designed to be both fun and educational, with a goal of teaching visitors about the free press and the First Amendment.
One gallery features every photograph that ever won a Pulitzer Prize. Interactive kiosks let visitors try various journalism roles — photographer, editor, reporter or anchor. A theater shows what the museum calls a “4-D” film — a 3-D movie with seats that move and air gusts — that covers news events over more than 150 years.
While Washington has many free attractions, the Newseum is the latest museum to open with a hefty admission fee — $20 for adults, $13 for children 7 to 12, $18 for those 65 and older.
Details at http://www.newseum.org/.
Hanging chads in Montana State exhibit
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — A new Montana State University exhibit on voting includes chads from the 2000 presidential election, historic ballot boxes and a signed speech by President John F.Kennedy.
The American Computer Museum in Bozeman, with help from MSU’s Humanities Institute, organized the “Technology and Democracy” display on the history of voting technologies.
“With political memorabilia from important presidential campaigns in the past and reminders that voting in this country has never been just a given, this exhibit invites us to think hard about both who we vote for and how our votes are counted,” said Robert W. Rydell, MSU history professor and director of the Humanities Institute.
The exhibit contains a voting machine and ballot box used in Lee County, Fla., during the highly contested general election of 2000. Photos show election officials using magnifying glasses to examine punch card ballots and determine if their chads were hanging, swinging or dimpled in favor of George W. Bush or Al Gore.
The exhibit will be on display in WilsonHall through the fall semester and can be seen any time the building is open — usually 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Mount Rushmore audio tour wins award
MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL, S.D. (AP) — The National Park Service is recognizing a self-guided audio tour of Mount Rushmore National Memorial that can be heard in English, Spanish, German or Lakota.
The Black Hills tourist attraction received the Director’s Award for Excellence in Interpretive Media during an Association for Partners for Public Lands awards banquet in Denver.
For $5, visitors can rent an audio wand and embark on the 29-station walking tour, which features narration, music, interviews, sound effects and historic recordings of sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his children.
Details at http://www.nps.gov/moru.
It’s the second cruise company to reach an agreement with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, which received more than 300 complaints about fees added by several cruise operators last fall.
Customers said the charge was tacked on after they made their reservation.
The Carnival settlement, announced March 31, affects more than 1.1 million bookings, but the precise number of people affected was not available.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., another industry leader, announced in November they would start billing passengers to offset rising fuel prices — $5 per person, per day — for voyages beginning Feb. 1.
After the attorney general launched its investigation, Royal Caribbean announced in early March it would refund eligible customers about $21 million.
Newseum opening in Washington
WASHINGTON (AP) — A museum devoted to the history and practice of journalism is scheduled to open Friday in Washington.
The Newseum, located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, is designed to be both fun and educational, with a goal of teaching visitors about the free press and the First Amendment.
One gallery features every photograph that ever won a Pulitzer Prize. Interactive kiosks let visitors try various journalism roles — photographer, editor, reporter or anchor. A theater shows what the museum calls a “4-D” film — a 3-D movie with seats that move and air gusts — that covers news events over more than 150 years.
While Washington has many free attractions, the Newseum is the latest museum to open with a hefty admission fee — $20 for adults, $13 for children 7 to 12, $18 for those 65 and older.
Details at http://www.newseum.org/.
Hanging chads in Montana State exhibit
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — A new Montana State University exhibit on voting includes chads from the 2000 presidential election, historic ballot boxes and a signed speech by President John F.Kennedy.
The American Computer Museum in Bozeman, with help from MSU’s Humanities Institute, organized the “Technology and Democracy” display on the history of voting technologies.
“With political memorabilia from important presidential campaigns in the past and reminders that voting in this country has never been just a given, this exhibit invites us to think hard about both who we vote for and how our votes are counted,” said Robert W. Rydell, MSU history professor and director of the Humanities Institute.
The exhibit contains a voting machine and ballot box used in Lee County, Fla., during the highly contested general election of 2000. Photos show election officials using magnifying glasses to examine punch card ballots and determine if their chads were hanging, swinging or dimpled in favor of George W. Bush or Al Gore.
The exhibit will be on display in WilsonHall through the fall semester and can be seen any time the building is open — usually 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Mount Rushmore audio tour wins award
MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL, S.D. (AP) — The National Park Service is recognizing a self-guided audio tour of Mount Rushmore National Memorial that can be heard in English, Spanish, German or Lakota.
The Black Hills tourist attraction received the Director’s Award for Excellence in Interpretive Media during an Association for Partners for Public Lands awards banquet in Denver.
For $5, visitors can rent an audio wand and embark on the 29-station walking tour, which features narration, music, interviews, sound effects and historic recordings of sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his children.
Details at http://www.nps.gov/moru.
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