You know the cruising season has begun when the hurricanes and tropical storms lay into the Caribbean; it's just a hazard of the peak season. Still, this week we've been watching the progress of Hurricane Ida, which began way down in Central America and worked its way due north, eroding beaches in Cozumel and Grand Cayman before just not being downgraded back to Tropical Storm in advance of landfall in Mississippi.

Most affected by the storm were two inaugural sailings of Carnival ships, the Fantasy and Triumph from new home ports of Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, respectively. According to CruiseCritic, each voyage is now delayed by a day, turning a 6-nighter into 5 and Triumph's 4-nighter into 3 with no port calls; it's now a "cruise to nowhere." ]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-10T08:44:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/19/91323/687

If there is something we know about traveling during the late summer thru early fall, it's to buy trip insurance. We're sure some cruisers and Baja vacationers will be finding out the importance of such policies as Hurricane Rick hits Baja Mexico and diverts ships away from holiday ports in order to avoid the 100 mph winds.

Although Rick has already crested in strength and now it peters down to a category 3 hurricane, let us remember that having a category anything storm crash your beach holiday is never positive. Judging the infographic above, Rick is zeroing in on Mexico like a frat boy with fantasies of cheap Patron. With the storm due off the coast from late today through early tomorrow, cruise ships are skipping visits to Mazatlan and possibly even Cabo San Lucas, adding insult to injury for the city that counts on these near-daily cruise ship calls. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-19T09:38:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/9/21756/9432

For oenophiles in search of a good grape escape, you have options other than Napa. Top Chef Master Rick Bayless suggests heading to Baja California, specifically Adobe Guadalupe, a winery in the Guadalupe Valley near Ensenada. Bayless tweeted that it was one of the best of the 50 wineries in the region.

Adobe Guadalupe's 60-yard vineyard produces varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Tempranillo, Nebbiolo, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Merlot and Viognier. The winery, which makes 5,000 cases of vino each year, names its blends after archangels, such as Gabriel, Serafiel and Uriel. ]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-10-09T08:57:15-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/6/154255/227

The Mexican government has a creative new idea for getting tourists to stop overwhelming and destroying the coral reefs around Cancun: distract them with something shiny. So they're building the world's largest underwater museum and filling it with art work, hoping that the new attraction will take some pressure off the regional ecosystem.

There's little environmental risk to the area as the concrete will be PH-neutral. Exactly the opposite in fact: the new rocks will allow algae and small invertebrates to flourish, adding rather than subtracting from the local ecosystem. The construction of the museum itself will probably take a bite out of the local environment, but we assume it'll be done in a minimalist way. Can you imagine the headache if it came out that their Green Tourism museum was, well, not?]]> Omri 2009-10-06T17:58:55-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/13/95243/5448

Smells like Carlos & Charlies? Cancun-based cosmetics retailer Ultrafemme is putting out a new line of high-end "Cancun perfumes," designed explicitly to make the workaday woman smell like a girl living it up in Cancun. There's an argument to be made that this is a curious branding decision, given that Cancun was put on this earth to make Key West look classy. Nevertheless, they've got five distinct scents that they're selling in stores throughout the Mexican Caribbean and Los Cabos.

If you can't get down to Cancun, but still want that fresh overcrowded resort tourist trap scent, they've set up a retailer so you can purchase the scents online. All fragrances come in specially-shaped 1.7oz bottles, and each of the five is its own unique treasure.]]> Omri 2009-09-14T08:58:52-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/30/225033/845

At this point in the Swine Flu game, you have to worry more about the situation in your destination than the flu itself; some countries are still quarantining travelers showing flu-like symptoms. These include Singapore, India, Egypt and China, which detained 1,800 Americans this summer although only 200 of whom were sick. Cancel your Mecca pilgrimage plans as well since Saudi Arabia is on the verge of requiring certificate proof of flu shot, and Iran has banned all trips to Mecca.

The Ottawa Citizen makes a valid point in favor of giving up on worrying about Swine Flu:

Another reason not to avoid travel: The virus has spread into practically every part of the world already (though not Antarctica.) You can't avoid it by staying home, and you won't contaminate a foreign country by going there.

]]> JetSetCD 2009-08-31T08:43:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/3/64458/54759

Is this the recession or what? Guess not: Discovery Communications is teaming up with travel provider G.A.P Adventures to launch dozens of luxury trips based on Discovery Channel programming. With prices starting at $2,000 per person for trips ranging from 3 to 24 days, these are not for the faint of wallet.

Locations range from common tourist destinations like the USA and Mexico to places like Botswana, where you'll probably always need a guide. All of the packages come with their share of intriguingly esoteric Discovery Channel twists; one of the USA tours revolves around historic parks in the Southwest. What travelers will see on the 12 day tour, though, ranges from rock formations to deserts to dwellings abandoned thousands of years ago.

The other USA destination is even more nature-oriented, taking travelers all the way up north to Alaska. Adventurers spend 10 days observing wildlife in their habitat, which can be both mindblowingly fascinating and straightforward deadly.]]> Omri 2009-08-04T13:09:29-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/