Category: Travel

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Pride Journey: Indianapolis

Pride Journey: Indianapolis explores the LGBTQ side of the Circle City
The city of Indianapolis (photo: Josh Hild via Unsplash)
Guest post by Joey Amato Pride Journey: Indianapolis – The last time I wrote an article about Indianapolis was back before I was living here. Sometimes you view a city differently as a tourist, so I decided to become a tourist again to explore my beautiful city. Continue reading “Pride Journey: Indianapolis”

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Royal Caribbean Postpones Cruises After 8 Crew Test Positive For COVID

(image via Instagram)
Royal Caribbean has been forced to postpone the inaugural sailing of new ship Odyssey of the Seas after eight vaccinated crew members test positive. From USA Today:

The Odyssey of the Seas’ initial sailings, which the cruise line had laid out as six- and eight-night Southern and Western Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from July 3 to July 31, are being canceled as a precaution, Royal Caribbean spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro told USA TODAY. The launch will be postponed until July 31, when the first sailing with paying passengers is now scheduled to depart. Four sailings were scrapped in total.

All 1,400 crew members on Odyssey were vaccinated on June 4, but the positive cases were found before the vaccines would be considered fully effective June 18. Of the eight crew members who tested positive, six are asymptomatic and two have mild symptoms.

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American Airlines Suspends Alcohol Service Due To Unruly Behavior

An American Airlines plane on the tarmac

An American Airlines plane on the tarmac
(photo: Quintin Gellar/Pexels)
After a recent incident on a Southwest Airlines flight ended with a flight attendant losing two front teeth thanks to a drunk passenger, Southwest announced it would suspend serving alcohol during flights. American Airlines has announced it will now follow suit. From CNN:

“Flight attendants are on the front lines every day not only ensuring our customers’ safety, but are also calming fears, answering questions, and enforcing policies like federally-required face masks,” said Brady Byrnes, managing director of flight service at American, in a memo to flight attendants obtained by CNN.

“Over the past week we’ve seen some of these stressors create deeply disturbing situations on board aircraft,” the memo said. “Let me be clear: American Airlines will not tolerate assault or mistreatment of our crews.”

American had suspended alcohol service in March 2020 to reduce interactions with passengers during the pandemic. Beverage services were resumed on May 1. But now, American Airlines says serving alcohol will remain suspended for coach passengers through September 13. That’s when the Transportation Security Administration’s mask mandate for all planes is scheduled to expire. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, “Since Jan. 1, 2021, the FAA has received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, including about 1,900 reports of passengers refusing to comply with the federal facemask mandate.”

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Seeing The Sights Of Sydney, Australia

A brief video celebrating the men of Australia

A brief video seeing the sights of Sydney, Australia I was reminded of this travelogue video I shot 9 years ago seeing the sights during my first visit to Australia. I start out trying my best to inform folks about the ins and outs of Sydney as I really enjoyed the scenery and ‘local flavor’ of the city. But, things go a bit awry along the way 😉 You’ll see what I mean. Hit the play button below. In addition to time spent in Sydney, Michael and I got to spend some time at Olivia Newton-John’s gorgeous Gaia Retreat & Spa near Australia’s Gold Coast.

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Beach Club Fined After Guests Get Busy In See-Through Pool

Mantamar Beach Club, which is my favorite place to spend my days when visiting Puerto Vallarta, was fined after a video clip of two men getting busy in an elevated see-through pool went viral. The adults-only resort, which is predominantly a gay destination but very straight-friendly, had to pay a fine of 22,179.60 pesos — the equivalent of just over a thousand US dollars, according to the Mazatlan Post. Local ordinances prohibit sexual activity in private places that are visible to the public.

I’ve been there many, many times and never seen out-and-out sex in the pool but there’s always a first. I’m of a mind that the beach club shouldn’t have been fined for guests poor behavior. The guests should have been the ones to suffer the consequences. If you’ve seen headlines about this incident, don’t let it dissuade you from going. It’s the best beach club in PV – great food, great views, great service.

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Spain Will End Tourist Quarantine July 1

Tourists in Sitges, Spain during summer 2019
Spain will end its current quarantining of international tourists at the end of June allowing the country to take advantage of some of the summer tourism season. From the Washington Post:

The move comes after Italy and Greece — which vie for Mediterranean tourism — announced they will welcome foreign travelers starting June 1.

Spain is the second most visited country in the world, behind France. In 2019, some 83.7 million international tourists spent over $100.54 billion. Tourism accounts for nearly 13 percent of Spain’s gross domestic product and an estimated 12.7 percent of the country’s jobs.

Spain has moved to relax one of Europe’s strictest nationwide lockdowns, slowly easing measures by region. The daily dose of new infections has slowed to 0.1 percent, with 235,772 confirmed coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with 28,752 deaths.