Kayaker paddles near enormous rare shark

by Chris Owen on

In this video we see a kayaker off the coast of Panama City, Florida caught on video paddling near an enormous basking shark. Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the world, second only to the whale shark and can grow to 33 feet long and weigh up to four tons.

Kayaker/Adventurer Josh Reeves works for a shark tour guide company, so when he saw a rare “basking shark” off the Panama City Coast, “he couldn’t believe it” reports KTLA.com.

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Where are all the travel guide apps for Android?

by Meg Nesterov on

Nearly two years ago, I bought my first smartphone: the T-Mobile Android MyTouch*. I’m only occasionally jealous of my iPhone-carrying friends, as I find few travel guide apps for Android. Even after a move to Istanbul, I still use and rely upon it daily; Android‘s interface is fast and easy-to-use, and seamless use of Google applications like Gmail and Google Maps is part of the reason I bought it in the first place. Living in a foreign country means English-language books and magazines are expensive and hard-to-find, and like many travelers, I don’t want to carry bulky books around when I’m on the road. This leaves a perfect opportunity for mobile developers to provide real travel guide content and not just travel-booking apps, especially apps produced by reliable media sources with professional editorial. These days, every guidebook and travel magazine publisher is coming out with apps for the iPhone and now iPad, supplying users with content and directions on the go, but there are hardly any for Android.

So what’s available for mobile travelers from the top travel book and print sources? Better hope you’re running Apple OS…Guidebooks:

  • Fodor’s: Happy 75th Birthday Mr. Fodor, but we wish you had more than just five city guides for purchase (in London, New York, Paris, Rome, and San Francisco) and only for Apple.
  • Frommer’s: iPhone guides are available for ten major cities in the US, Europe and Asia, but nada for Android.
  • Lonely Planet: iPhone users are spoiled for choice: dozens of city guides, language phrasebooks, audio walking tours, and eBooks optimized for the iPad. Android users in 32 countries including the US are in luck: there’s a free Trippy app to organize itinerary items, as well as 25 “augmented reality” Compass city guides and 14 phrasebooks. NOTE: This article originally mentioned that the Compass guides were unavailable in the Android Market store, but they should work for most US users. I happen to be in a country where paid apps are not available and not shown in the Market.
  • LUXE City Guides: 20 cheeky city guides work for a variety of mobile phones, including iPhone and Blackberry, but none are compatible with my Android. Bonus: the apps come with free regular updates and maps that the paper guides don’t have.
  • Rick Steves: If you are headed to Europe, you can get audio guides for many big attractions and historic walks for iPhone, plus maps for the iPad. You can also download the audio files free for your computer, and props to Rick for mentioning that Android apps are at least in development.
  • Rough Guides: Here’s a new one: the Rough Guides app works for many phones but NOT the iPhone OR Android! It’s not as slick as some of the other guides (it’s a Java app) and you will use data to use it on the road, but it provides lots of info for many cities in Europe. You can also find a Rough Guides photo app on iTunes to view pictures from around the world with Google Maps and captions from Rough Guides.
  • Time Out: City travelers and residents might want to look at the apps from Time Out for 5 European cities and Buenos Aires, with Manchester and New York on the way. More cities are available for free on iTunes, search for Time Out on iTunes to see what’s available. iPhone only.
  • Wallpaper* City Guides: 10 of the design mag’s 80 city guides are for sale for iPhone for Europe, Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles.

Print media:

  • Conde Nast Traveler: It makes sense for magazines to embrace the iPad, and CNT has free Apple apps specifically for Italy, cruises, and their annual Gold List of hotels and resorts. Blackberry users can download an etiquette guide, but Android users are snubbed.
  • National Geographic: As befitting any explorer, Nat Geo has a world atlas, national parks maps, and games featuring their amazing photography, all for iPhone. A special interactive edition of National Geographic Traveler is for sale on the iPad; you can also read it on your computer. Androids can download a quiz game and various wallpapers; and all mobile users can access a mobile-friendly version of their website at natgeomobile.com.
  • Outside: Adventure travelers can purchase and read full issues on the iPad, but no subscription option yet.
  • Travel + Leisure: The other big travel glossy also has an iPad app for special issues. Four issues have been released so far with one available now on iTunes (romantic getaways) but future editions will follow to be read on the app. Just in time for spring break and summer, they’ve also released a Travel + Leisure Family app with advice and articles specifically geared towards travel and families. The apps are both free but you’ll need an iPad – these are designed for tablets, not phones. You can also read full issues of T+L and their foodie cousin Food & Wine on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Color ereader; you can save per issue if you subscribe to the e-reader version.
  • USA Today Travel: Most major newspapers have mobile readers for all types of phones, but USA Today is the only one with their own travel-specific app. AutoPilot combines an array of cool travel booking capabilities and information with articles and blog post from the newspaper. Only iPhone users can enjoy free.

Two of our favorite magazines, Budget Travel and Afar, have no mobile apps yet but great online communities to tap into their extensive knowledge.

All in all, other than Lonely Planet’s Compass guides, a pretty weak showing for Android travelers. While iPhone has been around longer as a mobile platform that Android, they’ve lost the market share of users to the little green robot. As Android is available on a variety of phone manufacturers and providers, expect that number to continue to grow, along with the variety and depth of content for mobile and tablet users. Will the developers ever catch up or will travelers have to choose?

*Android has not endorsed this or paid me anything to write about them. But to show I’m not biased – Apple, feel free to send me a sample phone and I’ll test out the apps!

Photo courtesy Flickr user closari. Special thanks to Sean O’Neill, who blogs on Budget Travel and the new BBC Travel blog.

Ten cruise packing list items your friends want you to bring

by Chris Owen on
There are some things you can do without, some you might call must-have items and some that just belong on any list. These are those items. You could sail without them and have a good time but sailing with them will get almost guarantee a great time for you and a whole lot of other people on the ship. These are ten cruise packing list items your friends want you to bring. They will thank you for it later.
  1. Manners– Leave the trailer-trash person in you at home. You give cruise passengers a bad name. We don’t all live in trailers with horse poo in the front yard and three weeks of garbage in the kitchen because everyone is too lazy to take it outside where the shower is that they never visit either.
  2. Clothes that fit- Let’s get real ladies. Just because you can squeeze into a size 8 does not mean you look good in one. If size 14 is what you really need to wear, do that. Yes, you will never see these people on the ship again but no need to give them nightmares that will last for years. Men, you’re not off the hook either. If you are even thinking of competing in the belly-flop contest (see above) you are overweight and need to get to the gym pronto.
  3. A great big pile of money– Let’s face it; hardly anything of any importance is included in the price of your cruise. Yes you can eat at the buffet until you explode but all the best food you will pay extra for. Casino? Pay. Spa Treatments? Pay. Shore Excursions? Pay. Drugs ashore? Pay. (except on Royal Caribbean- they deliver)
  4. Your A-game- Whatever side of you it is that is icky, leave it at home. Go get a pedicure, manicure, haircut, clean socks, a bathing suit that fits (see #10) or a generously sized cover-up. Everyone will be looking at YOU and YOU alone.
  5. A good attitude– Check your sour “I hate to stand in lines” attitude at the door. There will be lines. You will stand in them. You will live to tell about it. Get over it before boarding please.
  6. A gourmet palate– Leave your “belly up to the buffet” demeanor at home. Feed your gaping maw at Golden Corral and bring along an appetite for the good stuff. Cruise lines employ Chef’s from all over the world to make fine cuisine for you. Eat it.
  7. Your brain or the brain of someone else– Bring a brain along. At least one per traveling party will keep you safe, secure and happy. It does not have to be yours, someone else’s brain will do. That old line: “It’s a no-brainer” is a sneaky one. No, standing on the guard rail is not a good idea no matter how cool you think it makes you look. Take up smoking instead, at least you can quit that later. Death from falling into the ocean? Not so much.
  8. A calendar/sticky notes- This is just so you can remember that you are on this cruise. No one cares how many cruises you have been on, that you are a Superior Diamond Deluxe member of the past-guest club with bonus Rubies and Gemstones or that you know the captain personally. We. Are. Not. Impressed.
  9. Handcuffs– They’re just fun to have around. There is always a joke or two when you bring out the handcuffs at dinner. Great ice-breaker.
  10. Anti-Hormone Venom for your teens– I don’t know what it is about being on a cruise but teen sex urges go into overdrive at sea. That “look” dads know to beware of on teen boys that come sniffing around for their daughters gets muddled by alcohol too so either don’t drink or don’t buy those kids booze to be “cool”.
Flickr photo by lotopspin

Carnival Magic completes sea trials on way to May 1 launch

by Chris Owen on

On track to debut in Venice, Italy May 1st, new Carnival Magic has completed sea trials in the Adriatic Sea.

Currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, the 3,690-passenger vessel had a full contingent of officers, technicians and engineers on board who thoroughly tested the Carnival Magic’s sophisticated navigation and mechanical systems.

A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred as a “shakedown cruise” by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.

Following sea trials, Carnival Magic returned to Monfalcone, where it is undergoing final interior outfitting prior to its delivery late next month.

Carnival Magic will introduce a number of new features, including the Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub with its own micro-brewed draft beer, Thirsty Frog Red, and a menu that includes conch salad, spicy chicken wings and other bar food favorites; Cucina del Capitano, a family-style Italian restaurant that taps Carnival’s Italian heritage to the table; and SportSquare, a top-deck recreation area featuring cruising’s first ropes course and outdoor fitness area.

Carnival Magic is set to debut in Europe with a series of seven- to 12-day Mediterranean cruises operating May 1 – Oct. 16, 2011. Following a 16-day trans-Atlantic crossing, Carnival Magic will launch seven-day Caribbean service from Galveston, Texas, Nov. 14, 2011, becoming the port’s largest year-round cruise ship.

Photo courtesy Carnival Cruise Lines

New Jamaica port open for business

by Chris Owen on
It’s been a long time in the works, plagued by construction delays and setbacks, but the new cruise port in Falmouth Jamaica is finally open for business.

To celebrate the much-anticipated event, area schools were closed, local dignitaries and cruise line executives were on hand, Reggae star Shaggy performed and a marching band ended the day giving cruise passengers a royal send-off. The star of the show though was Royal Caribbean’s giant new ship, Oasis of the Seas, making its first call at the new port.

“I was here for the inaugural cruise ship visit by Voyager of the Seas one month ago and (Jamaicans) were amazed at the size of Voyager” said cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron CEO of CruiseGuy.com adding “but they were blown away by the larger size and unique design of Oasis of the Seas.”

On hand too was Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding noting “Today is truly a remarkable day, the realization of a dream.” reports Seatrade Insider.

The new $180 million Falmouth port project is a joint effort between the Port Authority of Jamaica and Royal Caribbean International that is already making an impact on tourism, providing local jobs and much-needed tourist spending to the island.

The two-berth Historic Falmouth Cruise Port development sits about half-way between existing ports of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay and hopes to bring cruise ship passenger numbers back up to over 1 million after dropping to 910,000 last year.

Photo courtesy Seatrade Insider

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