New Cruise Ship Adds Old Ship Feature

by Chris Owen on

Recently, major cruise lines have been taking popular features of new ships and adding them to older vessels, giving them a new life as a relevant travel option. Onboard dining and entertainment features on today’s newest ships are a big hit on older ships, at one time the latest and greatest of all passenger vessels. One cruise line though, is going a different direction and looking back in time to the 1880s for a feature that should prove popular with today’s cruise traveler.

Honoring its river-going past, American Cruise Lines acquired a 132-year-old Nichol steam calliope to be placed aboard its new 150-guest paddlewheeler, Queen of the Mississippi.

“The instrument perfectly suits our new paddlewheeler,” said Timothy Beebe, Vice President, American Cruise Lines, in a statement. “Blending both old and new, Queen of the Mississippi provides a truly authentic and nostalgic cruise experience, while offering the best and most comfortable accommodations ever available on the Mississippi River. Guests will be truly delighted with the addition of this impressive piece of history.”

When ships go through dry-dock maintenance, clever cruise line operators add new dining venues and onboard programming options like state-of-the-art communications with the outside world, destination-specific lectures and enrichment programs and more.The vintage 1880 calliope, built in Wheeling, West Virginia, will serve as a reminder of the golden era of steam boating. Dismantled in 1938, American Cruise Line will rebuild and use the fully functioning steam-powered instrument to play familiar songs as Queen of the Mississippi makes her way up and down the Mississippi River.

Once owned by St. Louis-based Streekfus Line, the purchase of the calliope includes its original brass whistles and valves, keyboard, recordings and books. Unique to this steam calliope only, is one elevated whistle, which sits above the rest, an uncommon feature not known to be on any other existing calliope.

Not sure what a steam calliope is? Check this video:


[Photo credit -Flickr user w rollins]

Russian Forest Now Features 170-Foot-Long Trampoline (VIDEO)

by Libby Zay on
At Archstoyanie, an annual festival held in the forests of Nikola-Lenivets, Russia, architects from Estonian design firm Salto created a 170-foot-long trampoline. Dubbed “Fast Track,” the elongated trampoline acts similar to a people mover at an airport. Except in this case, instead of helping you get from one place to another in haste, Fast Track was designed to allow users to experience their environment in a new way. Here’s what the architects have to say about it:
‘Fast track’ is a integral part of park infrastructure, it is a road and an installation at the same time. It challenges the concept of infrastructure that only focuses on technical and functional aspects and tends to be ignorant to its surroundings. ‘Fast track’ is an attempt to create intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context. It gives the user a different experience of moving and perceiving the environment.
For the past seven years, architects and designers have been installing work in this remote region of Russia, which is about four hours from Moscow, as part of the Archstoyanie festival. Today, the creators of the festival say the park acts as a laboratory for experiments in art, architecture and socio-cultural practices.

Look through more pictures and watch a video of people bouncing along on the massive trampoline – which, according to Colossal, where we first caught glimpse of the project, is actually nearly as long as a city block – after the jump.

Watch people bounce along on the giant trampoline below in the video below:

[Photo credit: Nikita Šohov & Karli Luik (Courtesy of Salto)]

Photo Of The Day: Lost Lake Dock

by Chris Owen on

This Photo of the Day is titled “Lost Lake Dock” and comes from Gadling Flickr pool member James Wheeler. The image was taken in Canada’s Whistler, British Columbia, using a Nikon D5000.

James captions the image: “in the summer this dock would be great for swimming but when I took this photo in November it was pretty deserted.”

To get the image we see here, James used a Tokina 12-24mm f/4 lens with a Nikon Polarizing Filter, along with a Sirui T-2005X Tripod with K-10x Tripod Head, then processed the image with Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop and Topaz Adjust.

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as a Photo of the Day.

Tips for getting featured: include the camera you used along with any other equipment or processing software that might help other photographers know more about your image.

[Photo Credit: Gadling Flickr pool member James Wheeler]

Holiday Travel Stress Reduced With New Recommendation Site

by Chris Owen on

Holiday travel takes us to familiar places for celebration with friends and family but often that trip goes through airports that we could use some help navigating. NerdWallet is a personal finance website with financial product recommendations and advice like “The Best Credit Cards for Holiday Shopping.” Founders Tim and Jake believe in creating resources that consumers can trust. Launched today, they have a new recommendation site that promises to help travelers better handle variables that add up to the stress associated with holiday travel.

Available online or via smartphone app, TravelNerd has recommendations for parking, transportation, amenities, navigating through airport terminals and more.

“TravelNerd was created in response to an overwhelming need for a guide that helps travelers navigate the hectic nature of airports. As frequent travelers ourselves, we understand that air travel is more than just the flight,” said Alicia Jao VP of Travel Media at NerdWallet in a statement.
Using the TravelNerd system, holiday travelers can weigh transportation options by time and cost, compare airport parking prices on and off site and get discount coupons, view terminal maps with details that include restrooms, restaurants and more.

“Getting to and from the airport and navigating the terminal can be time-consuming and expensive. With these challenges in mind, we created an easily-accessible resource to help consumers make informed travel decisions,” added Jao.

Unlike other online options, TravelNerd is unique in that they offer social features like taxi sharing, directions to the parking lot and click-to-call transportation options.


[Photo credit – Flickr user hnix]

5 Quick Ways To Save On Travel, Since You Did Not Win The Lottery

by Chris Owen on

Those who gamble were dreaming of a win that would have rendered a desire to save on travel useless. Sure, it would have been nice to win a half-billion in Wednesday’s Powerball lottery drawing. Instead, we’re left with worthless lottery tickets, unfulfilled lotto-dreams and a life that must go on as normal. No doubt, travel will be part of that life, albeit without the gold Rolls Royce for each of our friends. Here then are five quick ways to save on travel.

Airline Tickets- Sign up for every airline’s email notifications of sales, discounts or values. Use a price-watching service like AirfareWatchdog. Sign up for frequent-flier programs and try to be loyal to a favorite airline or airline alliance group. Bump up miles by using an airline credit card for all purchases. Better yet: drive rather than fly if the numbers work out in favor of a road trip vs. an airline ticket.

Cruise Vacations- As long as they are still in the game, use a travel agent who will have access to the best values and can be your advocate for savings throughout the life of your booking. Time is running out as cruise lines try to push consumers to book direct, without representation.Hotel Reservations- Like airlines, sign up for major hotel email notifications, newsletters and past-guest loyalty programs. If possible, book far in advance but check pricing on a regular basis all the way up to the date of stay. Prices can and do change frequently and being on top of it can make a huge difference. Also, avoid discount online sites that charge a cancelation penalty.

Car Rentals- First, check with your personal auto insurance carrier to see if you are covered for rental cars. If so, skip the car company insurance. Next, check the gas mileage possible with different classes of automobiles if not exact makes and models. At the rental counter, that free upgrade to a full-size SUV might cost a whole lot more in fuel than it is worth on a long haul.

Bring Your Own Entertainment- Hotel movie rentals and last-minute, full-price admissions to amusement parks and attractions can be expensive. Bring CDs, DVDs, books on tablets and other small items that will not take up space/weight in luggage if flying. Road trip? Board games to play at destinations work too.

Surely there are many more ways to save on travel but this short list will hopefully chase away the post-lotto depression. Don’t feel too bad though. Often called a tax on the poor or mathematically challenged, the odds of winning the lottery were staggeringly against us anyway.


[Image Credit- Flickr user Peter Gerdes]