This past long weekend my husband took me on a surprise holiday cruise to the Bahamas on Cunard's giant ocean liner "Queen Mary 2", sailing from New York. Although I only learned of the cruise a day before departure, the real surprise was still to come. We had one of the six Penthouse suites on the Queen's Grill deck, with a butler, and a lot of floor space, and a spa tub, and champagne and special treats.
Upon bording we were met by our butler Lily who escorted us to our cabin (9067), and settled us in for the four day voyage. Saturday was a sea-day with lots of relaxing and meeting people we knew from previous voyages. Sunday we spent on the beach and snorkeling the reef on Eluethera Island in the Bahamas. Hopefully the underwater camera worked and we have pictures of fish. The beach was part of the so-called private island set up by Princess cruises and infrequently used by Cunard. Sunday night we held a dinner party in our suite for the ship's doctor and his wife who we met on last year's world cruise.
Monday was another relaxing day at sea and superb dining in the Queen's Grill. They even made special scones for me at tea time. The show that night was the fantastic song and dance "Appassionata" which we had not seen for four year, and was very well received.
Tuesday morning we arrived, sadly, on time in New York. But as our flight was not until late in the afternoon, we went to Ellis Island to see the immigration centre and museum. Seeing the Statue of Liberty up close is far more impressive than expected. Of course the flight was delayed: New York is anything but user-friendly!
So I fully recommend getting your husband to buy you a surprise present holiday cruise in a penthouse on the QM2. Four days was not enough, but it will have to do.
Tough days ahead as US tightens border against Europe
at 10:22 PM
The Bush White House has told the European Union and its 27 member states each will have to agree to allowing armed paramilitary members on all trans-Atlantic US airline flights from Europe to the USA.
Each state will also have to provide Washington with a full range of personal information about air travelers, even if the aircraft is not actually landing in the USA, but only overflying any US territory. This new data will include facts about family member who are not traveling. EU states already provide Washington with 19 bits of personal data about each traveler under a previous agreement. This goes a lot further, and the Europeans are speaking out. The previous Passenger Name Record (pnr) deal allows all sorts of data to be transferred, and airlines were threatened with loss of landing rights if they did not comply.
By this upcoming summer the US Department of Homeland Security will set up an electronic E-visa system for all Europeans traveling to the USA. All EU citizens will have to apply for the electronic permit to enter prior to getting an air ticket. At the moment this process is expected to take severeal days, and the cost remains unknown. A roughly similar system in Australia takes a few minutes. Once this is implemented by Washington against Europeans, it is probably only a matter of time before it is applied to Canadians.
The price for European states to not agree: their citizens will lose their visa-free status and be forced to apply for US visas the long hard slow way. The carrot here is Washington offering a visa-free status to newer EU members whose citizens do not now enjoy visa-free treatment, such as Czech Republic and Greece. In the end it will slow air traffic and lessen the number of travelers from Europe to the USA. Any retaliation, such as requiring visas from US citizens, would cut off an important segment of tourist traffic. No one wins, and the added checks do nothing to protect legitimate travelers from any hypothetical terrorist threat.
Each state will also have to provide Washington with a full range of personal information about air travelers, even if the aircraft is not actually landing in the USA, but only overflying any US territory. This new data will include facts about family member who are not traveling. EU states already provide Washington with 19 bits of personal data about each traveler under a previous agreement. This goes a lot further, and the Europeans are speaking out. The previous Passenger Name Record (pnr) deal allows all sorts of data to be transferred, and airlines were threatened with loss of landing rights if they did not comply.
By this upcoming summer the US Department of Homeland Security will set up an electronic E-visa system for all Europeans traveling to the USA. All EU citizens will have to apply for the electronic permit to enter prior to getting an air ticket. At the moment this process is expected to take severeal days, and the cost remains unknown. A roughly similar system in Australia takes a few minutes. Once this is implemented by Washington against Europeans, it is probably only a matter of time before it is applied to Canadians.
The price for European states to not agree: their citizens will lose their visa-free status and be forced to apply for US visas the long hard slow way. The carrot here is Washington offering a visa-free status to newer EU members whose citizens do not now enjoy visa-free treatment, such as Czech Republic and Greece. In the end it will slow air traffic and lessen the number of travelers from Europe to the USA. Any retaliation, such as requiring visas from US citizens, would cut off an important segment of tourist traffic. No one wins, and the added checks do nothing to protect legitimate travelers from any hypothetical terrorist threat.
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