Murray On Travel

Cruise bookings on the Orient Lines ship Marco Polo II, formerly the Maxim Gorkiy, have been canceled and refunded. Last weeks announcement cancelled what was to be the inaugural season of the new Orient Lines cruise ship operation. The cruise line has laidoff ten full-time workers along with most of it's sales force.

Maxim Gorkiy berthed at Aloha Tower in Honolulu Harbor. Photo By Murray

From their website: "Orient Lines has announced that due to the current world economic climate, it shall delay the launch of its cruises currently scheduled to commence in April 2009." UPDATE - Reports are that the ship may be scrapped or saved, details can be found here. See more ship photos here.

New York's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Take note that a new rule from the Department of Transportation means you might get more money back if an airline has lost your luggage. Effective Dec. 22 the DOT will raise the airlines luggage liability from $3,000 to $3,300. Note that this is a maximum coverage based on what is in your bag.

And don't forget the new $3,300 maximum figure relates only to domestic travel. Int'l travel is covered under different rules, currently that maximum amount is around $1,500us. They have also raised the maximum penalty for most violations of the aviation economic regulations and statutes, such as failure to make required refunds, from $25,000 to $27,500. You can find more information about the new rate at the DOT website.