We grew up in an era when smoking was considered cool. As soon as we were teens, most of us were already hooked. Why not? Shills gave out free cigarettes on campuses. Ads proudly showed cowboys and movie stars puffing away. Even The Hit Parade, the favorite teen TV show that hyped our pop music, was sponsored by Lucky Strikes. 

Then we suddenly realized cigarette smoke kills the longtime puffer and anyone else unlucky enough to have to breathe the smoke. Although cigarettes are now banned from many areas, we never thought cruise ships would join the campaign. After all, that’s why people sign up for a sea voyage, to relax and indulge in any doggone pleasure they want. Food, booze, sunning and puffing away.

Now, the major cruise lines, Princess, Carnival and Holland America will ban smoking in cabins on all the ships of all three lines by the end of the year. Princess will also include cabin balconies in the clean-air clean-up.

Dining areas on the ships will be smoke-free, but bars, dance areas and casinos will still be smoke-’em-if-you-got-’em areas. Other cruise lines already have some smoking restrictions in effect.

The rules on the three major cruise lines also come with punishment for offenders. Hey, smokers, if you’re caught sneaking a puff in smoke-free areas, they’ll tack a $250 cleaning fee to your bill. Sort of like being sent to the principal’s office after being nabbed smoking on the fire escape.

Great article about visiting Amman and Petra in Jordan.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8112289/visiting_the_modern_city_of_amman_and.html?cat=16

According to USAToday, Orlando has surpassed New York City as America’s top tourist destination. The Florida city reports 51.5 million visitors last year, while poor little old New York had only 48.7 million.

Of course, both cities are equally great for all kinds of vacations in the coming season, whether for just a weekend or longer stay.

Maybe it’s the all-you-can-eat buffets aboard, but according to the U.S. Coast Guard, cruise passengers today weigh an average of 185 pounds. That’s 25 pounds heavier than those who sailed in the late 1980s.

This may seem to be just a problem for the passengers’ health, but the USCG report says it has more consequences. Larger ships with thousands of passengers may sail with 100,000 pounds of extra weight, affecting fuel costs.

Additionally, there are legal limits to the weight ships can carry, which cuts the number of paying passengers allowed on each cruise. To meet expenses and profit expectations, booking charges have to be increased.

So, if your bathroom scales show an extra 25 pounds or more, and you want to go to sea, consider knocking off the extra weight. Then maybe you can proudly call yourself a biggest cruiser loser.