travel insurance sydney

MiamiHerald.com: Travel

• Changing lanes
  <p/>Hip bowling alleys cater to cosmo travelers with cocktails, sushi and lounge sounds.
• Miami's smart new hotels
  <p/>So what'll it be? The place with the six infinity-edge swimming pools or the one with the bathroom chandelier that doubles as a shower head? You've gotta hand it to Miami. What other city would double down on conspicuous consumption in these perilous times?
• What's new aboard all those new ships
  <p/>The economy may be sailing slowly these days, but that hasn't stopped South Florida's cruise lines, which are introducing a half-dozen new ships here this fall.
• Travel Troubleshooter
  <p/>Advocate Christopher Elliott reviews problems, reveals solutions
• Share...
  <p/><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/382/story/49381.html">Travel tales</a>, <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/382/story/49354.html">Photos</a> and <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/382/story/49368.html">Student stories</a><br/>
• Postcards From the U.S.A.
  <p/>Marjie Lambert visits California
• South Florida flyers' guide
  <p/>Direct flights make escapes a breeze
• For Writers
  <p/>If you want to be a travel writer, here's where to start.
• For PR Pros
  <p/>Contact us with your travel news
• Tourism Offices
  <p/>Going somewhere? Get tourist information for your destination.
• Online Booking Guide
  <p/>How to book online -- and get the best savings!
• Travel Tools
  <p/>Handy links for traveler information.
• Packing Light
  <p/>With airline fees going sky-high, packing light pays.
• Changing Lanes: Hip bowling alleys cater to cosmo travelers with cocktails, sushi and lounge sounds
  <p/>AUDRA D.S. BURCH The world of boutique bowling unfolds here in the midst of an in-town hipster district, wedged between a noveau Northern Italian restaurant and a big-box chain store.
• Iconic Sydney pie van celebrates 70 years
  <p/>Where to go for lunch on a sunny spring day in Sydney? Why, the same place you'd go on a cloudy day, or your birthday, or even after late-night clubbing.
• Before you go on vacation, take a trip to the doctor
  <p/>Borneo or Mount Sinai Hospital? An unfortunate choice -- but an easy decision. So instead of spending a recent Monday morning as I'd planned, stuffing my suitcase with zip-off hiking pants and leech socks, I snoozed restlessly on a sofa in Mount Sinai's Abess Waiting Room. Soon, a surgeon I'd never met -- The Husband had made the choice -- would deliver the news that would determine much about our future.
• Apalachicola
  <p/>Apalachicola is a place to linger. Linger on a porch swing at the turn-of-the-century Gibson Inn, reading a book or chatting with friends. Linger on the deck of Verandas Bistro -- recipient of Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence for the past three years -- eating a dish brimming with local seafood as a saxophonist plays. Linger at the Orman House while park Ranger Mike Kinnett rattles off the history of Apalachicola like a native, telling tales of its heyday as a booming cotton port in the mid-1800s...
• Europe's Untours now offers New York experience
  <p/>For 33 years, the company known as Untours has sent thoughtful, spirited Americans to enjoy vacations in Europe that involve the use of apartment accommodations. For two weeks or more, you live like a European, enjoying your flat, shopping at the local groceries and preparing your own meals -- all in close contact with European neighbors -- and thus you enjoy the opposite of a tour, an ''untour.'' Although an Untours representative resides nearby and is available to help you out of scrapes, you otherwise...
• 2009 will be the year of the travel deal
  <p/>The value of the U.S. dollar is surging, gas prices are at their lowest levels in four years, and hotel rates are softening. If you can afford a vacation, 2009 will be ''the year of travel deals,'' predicts Genevieve Shaw Brown, senior editor of Travelocity.
• 'Bama bests: What not to miss on the Gulf Coast
  <p/>If you want to experience the South in all its drawl-y, deep-fried glory, go north to Alabama. Proudly honky-tonk but increasingly sleek thanks to posh new condo developments, Alabama's Gulf Coast is the place to go for a hit of Southern Exposure.
• Travel Troubleshooter: Ski vacation was all downhill
  <p/>Q: I have an issue I'm hoping you can help me with. I made a reservation at Snowbird Resort in Utah last year for a five-night stay over Christmas break. Unfortunately, we missed our flight, so I rescheduled for the first week in March.
• More eco-friendly travel can be child's play
  <p/>I hate to be a nag, especially on vacation. The kids hate when I nag them about getting up early or posing for next year's holiday card. But now I've got new motivation to nag, and I don't think my environmentally conscious gang will complain about -- traveling greener.
• Destinations
  <p/>FLORIDA: BACK FROM THE DEPTHS Three years ago, storms toppled the 153-year-old Cape St. George Lighthouse. Now it has been rebuilt and reopened to the public, marking the end of a rescue mission that was improbable at best and thought crazy by most. Volunteers spent thousands of hours cleaning the old bricks from the heap of rubble where it fell, the St. George Lighthouse Association raised money, and state lawmakers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency came through with grants. The lighthouse...
• Carnival fourth-quarter profit rises 4 percent
  <p/>Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator, reported a better-than-expected 4 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings Thursday, but lowered its 2009 outlook as consumers put off booking vacations for next year.
• What's new aboard all those new ships
  <p/>The economy may be sailing slowly these days, but that hasn't stopped South Florida's cruise lines, which are introducing a half-dozen new ships here this fall.
• No tux? No problem
  <p/>Casual-dress men, take heart: When you sail the seven seas, you can now leave that tux at home. Instead of a ''formal'' night, Carnival Cruise Lines now offers a ''cruise elegant'' evening. Other lines offer casual-dining alternatives for those who don't want to change out of their shorts. Still other lines have tossed the dress-up concept into the ocean.
• Simply elegant aboard line's next big star
  <p/>Celebrity's new ship, Solstice, is as simple, and as sophisticated, as walking barefoot in the park. Literally. One of the hallmarks of the first in Celebrity's new series of ships is a broad carpet of genuine grass, developed over a half-dozen years to withstand the salt and wind that go with sea voyages. And while it may seem like a gimmick -- will vacationers able to pay premium prices this year really hang out in the grass? -- the Lawn Club, as it's been dubbed, is a tangible symbol of the kind...
• Fun ship atmosphere has passengers tickled pink
  <p/>Marie Gabl