MAUI B&Bs: Maui’s long-established bed-and-breakfast industry has faltered since county officials cracked down on illegal vacation rentals, leaving the island with fewer accommodations for its many visitors, according to a recent Honolulu Star-Bulletin story.
Maui County officials told more than 50 operators of vacation rentals in July that they couldn’t continue operating without permits.
Those with pending permits were allowed to honor reservations until the end of the year. Others were ordered to cease operations immediately.
Maui planners decided this year it was necessary to enforce permit requirements because the bed-and-breakfast operations can bring noise and heavy traffic into neighborhoods.
NEW QUEENS: Luxury cruise provider Cunard Line is launching a ship named Queen Victoria in December and has also just announced plans to build a new ship named Queen Elizabeth, expected to be delivered in 2010.
The Queen Victoria is scheduled to depart Southampton, England, on Dec. 11 for its maiden voyage around Northern Europe.
On Jan. 13, the Queen Victoria will sail across the Atlantic with the QE2 and meet the Queen Mary 2 in New York.
It will be the first time in history that three Cunard Queens are in service simultaneously.
The 90,000-ton Queen Victoria will carry 1,980 passengers. Its first year of service includes sailings to the Canary Islands, the Norwegian fiords and the Mediterranean.
In June, Cunard announced the sale of the QE2 to Dubai World for delivery in November 2008.
The ship will be transformed into a hotel and museum.
Her last voyage leaves Southampton on Nov. 11 for the voyage to Dubai, arriving on Nov. 27.
Details at www.cunard.com.
BOARDING PASS PHASEOUT: Major airlines have agreed on a standard that will allow travelers to check in using a bar code sent to their cell phones, the International Air Transport Association said at a recent meeting in Geneva.
Passengers will register their cell phone number when buying a ticket and receive a bar code by text message, the group representing most commercial carriers said.
Check-in staff will scan the bar code directly from cell phones, doing away with the need for a boarding pass.
Alternatively, passengers can also receive the code by e-mail and print it out. IATA said the move will help the industry phase out paper tickets by 2010 and save over $500 million annually.
