Free Republic

Movies such as “Dirty Dancing” offered everlasting memories of the once-affluent getaway spot. Now, the last of the iconic Catskills resorts has been sold to a company that plans to turn the property into a healthy living resort.

The cruise-line industry is a rough business. Every time a passenger ship leaves port with a guest cabin unoccupied, that's money the cruise operators are never going to see. Last week Micky Arison, the longtime chief executive of Carnival Corp., announced that he will be stepping down; revenues at the world's largest cruise-ship line have been falling. Arison will remain as chairman of the firm, but a new CEO will step in. Cruise companies have always had to contend with uncertainties in the economy, which sometimes make travelers cautious about planning leisure trips, and Carnival has faced widespread unpleasant publicity...

Delta Airlines says that ObamaCare will cost the company $38 million directly over the next year, and nearly $100 million when all additional costs are factored in. A June letter signed by Robert Knight, Delta's senior vice president for government affairs, said that the company will absorb some of those costs but will also end up sharing some of them with employees. Ultimately, Knight wrote, ObamaCare "will result in increasing costs, for both companies and our employees, and will also reduce the benefits provided." The bulk of the letter, which was obtained and published by Erick Erickson at RedState.com, details...

TSA Pre✓™ is a pre-screening initiative that makes risk assessments on passengers who voluntarily participate prior to their arrival at the airport checkpoint. TSA Pre✓™ includes U.S. Citizens who are select frequent travelers of participating airlines or members of existing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler programs including Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI programs. Canadian citizens who are members of NEXUS are also qualified to participate in TSA Pre✓™. In addition, passengers 12 and younger are allowed through TSA Pre✓™ lanes when traveling with an eligible parent or guardian.

Where’s Hollywood star Samuel L. Jackson when you need him? EasyJet passengers were left sitting more uncomfortably than usual after a snake was discovered on board a flight heading to England from Israel. A wacky traveller sneaked the slithering reptile past airport security in Tel Aviv in a ‘small takeaway box’ before the alarm was raised mid-flight. He was then arrested upon the plane landing at Luton airport. ‘No Samuel L, but an actual snake on a plane. Police about to meet @easyjet arriving from Tel Aviv to Luton,’ wrote one passenger on Twitter. ‘My plane is being met by...

North Korea's national carrier Air Koryo, which has the lowest airline rating on Skytrax, has discovered the Internet. The state-owned company -- regarded by some as the "world's worst airline" -- recently launched a bilingual website (www.airkoryo.com.kp) to provide travelers with "easier, quicker, reliable booking and ticketing services," according to Air Koryo. Air Koryo's new ticket booking system reinforces the company's less-than-brilliant reputation. After multiple trials to book a one-way ticket from Shengyang to Pyongyang, we failed to secure any reservation. Instead, we ended up with this message day after day: “We cannot find any flights for your flight schedule....

Budget-conscious travelers heading to New York City in the coming months could feel a chill in the air — and it’s not just the weather. With a legal battle brewing between state officials and the popular short-term rental site Airbnb, the issue could prompt some of the site’s local users to rethink their roles as part-time landlords. “There are lots of people who are hesitant about posting on Airbnb because of the lack of clarity about what’s legal and what’s not; this will only add to that,” said Arun Sundararajan, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business. “It may...

Imagine you have a brother and he’s an alcoholic. He has his moments, but you keep your distance from him. You don’t mind him for the occasional family gathering or holiday. You still love him. But you don’t want to be around him. This is how I lovingly describe my current relationship with the United States. The United States is my alcoholic brother. And although I will always love him, I don’t want to be near him at the moment. I know that’s harsh, but I really feel my home country is not in a good place these days. That’s...

"At this point we're around half way through the first phase," Franco Porcellacchia, leader of Costa Cruise's technical team, told reporters. "It's all happening very slowly but very carefully and safely."

The high cost of medical care in the US plus the rationing of medical care in other nations has spurred the growth of medical tourism. As I mentioned in a previous post, outstanding doctors, nurses, and hospital facilities can be found in countries such as Costa Rica, Thailand, India, the Philippines, etc. offering care at costs significantly lower than in the US and without the rationing and waiting times of other countries. One problem with traveling from the US to another nation for medical care is the cost and inconvenience of travel. Additionally, each nation will have its own tort...

Americans who dream of a retirement filled with sandy beaches, temperate weather and colorful local life may have another thing coming. That's because a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security finds that 45 percent of working-age households have no retirement savings at all. The average figure for funds set aside by households nearing the end of their working lives was a meager $12,000. That's not enough to cover a single year. If there is no change in their savings rate, many Americans may wind up living on monthly Social Security benefits alone. Monthly benefits now average just...

(CNSNews.com) - While President Barack Obama is now asking Congress to authorize him to use military force against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad because that regime used chemical weapons on its own people, the State Department is maintaining a travel warning advising Americans not to travel to Syria because the al-Nusrah Front, the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria--which is particiapting in the rebellion seeking to overthrow Assad--has carried out about 600 attacks in the country since November 2011. These al Qaeda terrorist attacks, according to the State Department, have killed many Syrian civilians. "There is also a threat from...

I want to go to the Lake Country in Northern Italy. Anyone been there?

Attorney General Eric Holder has racked up more than $4.2 million in travel expenses over four years, including $697,525 in taxpayer-provided personal trips to resort areas like Martha´s Vineyard and Atlantic City, according to documents provided to the watchdog group Judicial Watch. The records from Justice and provided to Secrets show that Holder, who is required to travel on government aircraft because of security, submitted bills of $16,452.50 to speak at Al Sharpton´s National Action Network on New York in April 2011, $38,108.18 in expenses to address the pro-immigration reform group LULAC

Obama wants all Americans to now report voluntarily to the government regarding any foreign travel. The program is currently voluntary, but the word on the Hill is there are those who are suggesting this should be mandatory to protect Americans of course. The program is called STEP “Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.” Today, most Americans are willfully blind. They refuse to connect the dots and think the government would never do anything really to harm the people. This is not about harming or protecting anyone. Look at Benghazi. They asked for help and it was not sent in for political reasons....

Watch the 7 minute 17 second video Beauty Beneath the Dirt: Thru-Hiking 101. It's brief description : Everything you need to know about thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 7 minutes. For the story beneath the surface... check out: http://beautybeneaththedirt.com.

The Rude Man of Cerne, better known as the Cerne Abbas Giant, is a giant figure of a naked man with an inappropriately erect phallus, wielding a primitive club in his right hand, made on a hill near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, England. The Cerne Abbas Giant was created by carving through the turf of the hillside to a depth of approximately 30cm to reveal the underlying chalk common in this region. Measuring 55 meters in length and 50.5 meters wide, if measured from hand to hand, it is one of the largest and the most popular...

World-renowned chef, author and Emmy winning television personality Anthony Bourdain visits Libya in the next episode of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," airing Sunday, May 19, at 9 p.m. ET. Follow the show on Twitter and Facebook (CNN) -- Following Libya's revolution, oil production has been restored and the country has slipped from the front pages. Once more, Libya has become North African rather than southern Mediterranean, and news dispatches surface only when Western government's worst fears appear close to being realized. As most Libyans admit that after four-plus decades of Moammar Gadhafi, it will take time to build a mature...

Passenger satisfaction on airlines has risen to its highest level since 2006, before baggage fees became widespread, according to the J.D. Power & Associates 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study released Wednesday. O'Hare's main airlines, United and American, continued to score poorly though. Southwest Airlines, the main carrier out of Midway airport, continued its streak of high rankings. Baggage fees continue to be a source of passenger dissatisfaction but the impact is less pronounced than in the past, as passengers gradually become more accepting of the fees, the study said.

The Mail On Sunday today exposes the massive international security risk posed by a gun that can be easily made with new 3D printers. We built the weapon, which is capable of firing a live round, from blueprints available on the internet – then smuggled it on to a packed Eurostar train. Two reporters passed completely unchallenged through strict airport-style security to carry the gun on to a London to Paris service in the weekend rush-hour, alongside hundreds of unsuspecting travellers. The pistol, capable of firing a deadly 0.38-calibre bullet, was produced in under 36 hours using a revolutionary £1,700...