The importance of chat rooms when we move to a new city

As you probably know from your own personal experience, when we move to a new district or a new city, we often face some exclusion at the beginning and it is often extremely difficult for us to meet some new friends.

Keeping this in mind, chat rooms tend to play a very important role as they allow us to meet new people in whichever city we want in just a few minutes! In fact, I am planning to move to Melbourne in the next few months in order to expand my growing business and I am already joining the best melbourne chat room available on the Internet! If you live in Melbourne or if you are planning to move to that amazing place, why don’t you also join the free chat room to which I have linked just above?

Discovering the volcanoes all around the globe

When considering your favorite destinations all around the world, you probably don't think about volcanoes and how active they might be but the truth is that it is extremely important that we are aware of the fact that they may "wake up" at any moment and we must be prepared for it! If you would like to know more about these volcanoes, then you should read the msnbc.com article just below:

"

By Jeff Koyen

“Volcanoes form mountains; supervolcanoes erase them. Volcanoes kill plants and animals for miles around; supervolcanoes threaten whole species with extinction by changing the climate across the entire planet ... Is it going to blow again?”

What sounds like an advertisement for Hollywood's latest apocalyptic blockbuster are actually the words of Joel Achenbach, Washington Post reporter and science writer. In the August 2009 issue of National Geographic, he wrote about the Yellowstone Supervolcano that sits beneath our beloved national park. When Yellowstone eventually blows sometime in the next 100,000 years (or so), it will make Mount St. Helens look like a geological indigestion.

Fortunately, supervolcanoes are very rare. Volcanoes, however, are all around us.

“On any given day there are probably 25 volcanoes erupting around the world,” William Rose, a professor of Geological Engineering and Sciences at Michigan Technological University, told Space.com. Rose described volcanoes as an “immediate and constant threat to people around the world.”

To identify the world's deadliest volcanoes, we must sometimes rely on educated guesses and estimates culled from contemporary accounts. As for future deadliness, we can refer to the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI), which has compiled a list of the 16 most dangerous volcanoes in the world. These are called the Decade Volcanoes.

Guatemala's Santa Maria volcano is on the IAVCEI's list. The volcano known locally as “Gagxanul,” in the Sierra Madre range, had sat quietly for more than 500 years. But when she exploded in 1902, her blast was the 20th century's third-most violent eruption — after Alaska's Novarupta in 1912 and Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991.

The explosion is described as “colossal” on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, or VEI, and destroyed 120,000 square miles of countryside and killed 5,000. More died from malaria in the weeks following. In recent decades, Santa Maria herself has been relatively quiet, but a new lava dome formed nearby in 1922. Named Santiaguito, this baby volcano has already destroyed villages, roads and bridges with deadly flows of volcanic material.Central and South America are highly volcanic areas. History has recorded hundreds of eruptions across the region, but none have taken as many lives as the eruption of Colombia's Nevado del Ruiz. Despite warnings of imminent eruption, the residents of Armero, in the Andean region, failed to evacuate their homes. (A number of false alarms had inured them to the danger.)

When the mountain finally exploded on November 11, 1985, a deadly surge of volcanic material engulfed the entire town, killing more than 23,000. Today, memorial sites stand where much of the city and victims remain buried under solidified mud and ash.

When we think of volcanoes, we think about lava. And when we think of lava, we think of heat. That's why Iceland doesn't immediately come to mind when considering deadly volcanoes. But the 40,000-square-mile island was created by — and still sits atop — countless volcanoes that are responsible for the country's famous hot springs. In 1783, the world learned of Iceland's potential for geological catastrophe with the Laki eruption, which released clouds of poisonous hydrofluoric acid and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Three-quarters of Iceland's cattle were killed, resulting in the Haze Famine that took 10,000 lives. Thousands more Europeans may have died in the unusually harsh winter caused by the debris thrown into the atmosphere.

Volcanoes specialize in throwing ash, pumice and other harmful materials into the air. In fact, that's usually how many victims perish. In 79 A.D., Mt. Vesuvius covered Pompeii and its sister city, Herculaneum, beneath 60 feet of ash, killing an estimated 10,000. That's not the last time the world felt the wrath of Italy's sole mainland volcano — in 1631, Vesuvius claimed another 6,000 lives, a 1906 eruption killed 100 and several villages were lost in 1944.

For good reason, Vesuvius is considered the most dangerous volcano in Europe. Volcanologists estimate that in the first 15 minutes of a large-scale eruption, everything within a four-mile radius of the blast could be destroyed. Today, approximately one million people live within that kill zone, with another two million nearby.

Hawaii has the world's most active volcano, Kilauea, but it doesn't rate when we turn to the plural, volcanoes. That honor goes to Indonesia. Thanks to its prime position along the Pacific Ring of Fire, this collection of 17,000 islands claims the most active volcanoes in the world. It can also claim the incident whose name has become synonymous with cataclysm: Krakatau. When this island volcano blew its top in 1883, 36,000 perished.

But even Krakatau isn't the deadliest eruption the world has witnessed. It's not even the deadliest eruption in Indonesia. That honor goes to Mt. Tambora, whose massive 1815 eruption killed 12,000 in the blast and another 80,000 from starvation. That's not the end of the story. Tambora ejected so much ash into the atmosphere that the world experienced an artificial winter.

In fact, 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer — thanks in no small part to Tambora's eruption. Several regions of the U.S., normally warm, saw snow during the months of July and August. Best estimates may put Tambora's death toll at 92,000 — but it's impossible to calculate the global havoc caused by this geological disaster. Like every other volcano on this list, Mt. Tambora remains active.

"

Preparing your own wedding

As a woman who really knows what is important in life, I would personally say that apart from our job and all the leisure activities, family is one of the most important things in life. In fact, as a woman I have dreamed with my wedding until it finally became a fact and this is something that tends to happen with every woman, who normally get extremely excited with the wedding and all the preparations around it!

Keeping this in mind, if you are also planning your wedding and looking for some new great ideas to make it even more special, then I would personally advise you to have a look at these fully customizable wedding invitations and see the wide range of designs that will surely meet your expectations. Moreover, as these wedding invitations are customizable, you can really make them extremely personal and different from each other, allowing your friends and family to feel even more special and important in your life!

Gdansk: history waiting to be discovered

Would you consider yourself a person who loves history and discovering new cities? Would you like to discover some historical European cities such as Gdansk? If that's the case, then you definitely need to read the msnbc.com article just below and discover how incredibly affordable it is to discover on of these important cities that will surely surprise you:

"

By Rick Steves

Tribune Media Services

Standing at the end of Gdansk's long wooden pier, I realize that I can see two of the most important sites in 20th-century history: the spit of land where World War II began, and the shipyard where the Cold War started its long and gradual final act.

Many people imagine this northern-Poland city to be a wasteland of rusted, smoke-belching shipyards. But that's just one view of this multifaceted place. Gdansk boasts an illustrious history and one of the most picturesque old quarters in Eastern Europe.

Gdansk's magnificent Main Town features block after block of red brick churches and colorful, ornately decorated mansions. As one tourist gasped to me, "It's like stepping into a Faberge egg."

A stroll along the main drag, ulica Dluga, allows you to soak in the city's gorgeous architectural cancan. During the Golden Age, these eclectic homes (inspired by a wide range of people, including the Jews, Dutch, Italians and Germans) were taxed based on frontage, so they were built skinny and deep. The widest houses belonged to the super-elite.

War in Europe deestroyed the city
This lovely street wasn't always so lively and carefree. On Sept. 1, 1939 — nearly 70 years ago to this date — Adolf Hitler invaded this once-German city, sparking World War II. By the end of the war, nearly 80 percent of the city had been destroyed, and the main street lay in ruins. Locals stubbornly rebuilt their town with the help of detailed drawings and photographs, mostly using the original brick. Today, excursion boats ferry history buffs through shipyards to Westerplatte point, where the war's first shots were fired.

Right outside the Main Town's Golden Gate, you'll find the Amber Museum, dedicated to the globby yellow stuff that's sold all over the city. Almost 75 percent of the world's amber — a fossilized tree resin — is mined in northern Poland, much of it washing up on beaches following winter storms.

Amber comes in 300 distinct shades, from yellowish-white to yellowish-black, opaque to transparent. I didn't believe it either, until I toured the museum, which shows off amber clocks, amber chandeliers, amber beer steins, a model ship with delicate amber sails — you get the idea. There's even an unfinished altar made entirely of amber at St. Bridget's Church.

If you're interested in visiting a milk bar (bar mleczny), Bar Mleczny Neptun in the Main Town is the city's most popular. Milk bars are government-subsidized cafeterias, a holdover from Poland's communist days, when lowly workers could barely afford to eat out.

Bar Mleczny Neptun has more charm than most milk bars, thanks to its outdoor seating along the most scenic stretch of the main drag. Load your tray with traditional Polish foods, such as borscht or pierogis, pay the cashier, and do a double-take when you realize how little you spent. My bill for a full meal usually comes to about four or five dollars.

Shipyard birthplace of Solidarity movement
Just 15 minutes north of the Main Town, the charms of the old core fade quickly as you come across the Gdansk Shipyard. Here, in the place that Solidarity leader Lech Walesa called the "cradle of freedom," a motley collection of brave shipyard workers took on and ultimately ended the USSR's stranglehold on Eastern Europe.

In August of 1980, a shipyard crane operator and known dissident was fired unceremoniously, sparking a strike. Upon hearing this news, Walesa — an electrician who had been fired for being an agitator — rushed to the shipyard and scaled the wall to get inside and rally the protestors.

Near the shipyard, the excellent "Roads to Freedom" exhibit tells the inspiring story of those workers and re-creates the difficult communist reality they were struggling to change. A typical phone booth is marked Automat Nieczynny — "Out of Order" — as virtually all phone booths were back then. An authentic WC is stocked only with old newspapers (actual toilet paper was cause for celebration).

A replica of a typical 1970s grocery store captures the desperate days when government rationing led to rampant food shortages. You'll see a display case filled with phony wheels of cheese marked "fake," a loaf of bread with a cigarette butt baked into it, and shelves stocked only with vinegar and mustard (about all you could buy during lean times).

Nearly 20 years after the fall of communism, Gdansk is changing. Neighborhoods that were World War II rubble a few years ago are now being remade into posh condos and shopping malls, and a futuristic stadium shaped like a translucent glob of amber is being built to host the 2012 Euro Cup soccer tournament.

Despite modernization, Gdansk will always have a powerful history. Exploring the lanes of this city, I always imagine that around each corner, I might bump into old Lech Walesa — now happily retired — still wandering the time-passed streets.

"

The best videogames website

English Review:

As a businesswoman who doesn’t have much time to chill out and enjoy some relaxing moments thanks to the incessant necessity to work hard, I always do my best in order to save a few hours every week to dedicate to one of my biggest passions: videogames!

In fact, women may not be so deeply related and connected to videogames but the truth is that I and my friends have been playing these videogames ever since the Mega Drive came out many years ago! Keeping this in mind, I can almost say that I saw the videogames industry growing out of nowhere as well as all the concepts, magazines, websites, etc around videogames, each one of them playing an equally important but different role in the development of the videogames industry.

Personally, with so many years of female videogame experience, I must emphasis that Playstation has really revolutionized the industry with outstanding visuals that have really left a mark in the last decade. Moreover, many magazines such as the official Playstation magazine started to inform players about the upcoming games with a whole new level of detail, making sure that we started to live videogames with much more intensity and passion!

In what relates to websites, I still remember when GameSpot first appeared on the Internet and how it used to be a great place for gamers to chill out and share videogame experiences, advice, tips and other important interaction that proved to be benefic for the videogames industry. Still, as my daughter also loves videogames and we are planning to move to Spain for the next 5-6 years because of my expanding business, I did some research around the Internet looking for GameSpot alternatives in the Spanish language so that she could both be having fun on the website discovering new games and learning the essential Spanish language so that she could communicate with their school colleagues. Fortunately, I came across trucoteca.com which is a website that has really surprised me with its user-friendly interface and overall interesting theme of the website that really made me remember how websites videogames websites should all be! Plus, users are given the chance to use a very efficient search engine that immediately shows you the results that you have been looking for, allowing you to get important tips for that particular game, watching some videos, reading reviews, collecting cheats and other important advice, etc.

As a matter of fact, I would say that the design of the website is also extremely well conceptualized as it brings us back memories from games that we used to play in the past with the well chosen colors that add some intensity and passion to all the pages that we browse around the site. Still, I would personally recommend that the old-fashioned buttons on top of the page allowing us to select “PC”, “PS3”, etc should be replaced with more modern ones so that the website can keep up with a more futuristic view, which I would consider to be the current theme of the website. Moreover, I would also recommend the webmasters to give more emphasis to the extremely addicting free games on the main page so that people can be aware of these amazingly interesting free games that many of us have never heard about.

In what relates to the content of the website itself, I would simply say that everything is well organized with different sections with reviews, tricks and all the other important things that any gamer would expect to get in a videogames website. Furthermore, I would personally say that some of the reviews and guides are so well written and explained that it is a good example for many other International and more reputable websites to follow, which means that this website is getting 7 million visitors every month but has far enough quality to get over 50 million visitors every month within the next year or even sooner as the content of the website simply couldn’t be better!

Spanish Review:

Como mujer de negocios que no tiene mucho tiempo para relajarse y disfrutar de unos momentos de relax gracias a la incesante necesidad de trabajar duro, yo siempre lo mejor de mí para salvar a un par de horas cada semana para dedicarlo a uno de mis grandes pasiones: videojuegos.

De hecho, las mujeres no pueden estar tan profundamente relacionados y conectados con los videojuegos, pero la verdad es que yo y mis amigos han estado jugando estos videojuegos desde la Mega Drive salió hace muchos años. Teniendo esto en cuenta, casi puedo decir que vi la industria de los videojuegos cada vez mayor de la nada, así como todos los conceptos, revistas, sitios web de videojuegos, etc alrededor, cada uno de ellos desempeñan una función igualmente importante pero diferente en el desarrollo de la industria de los videojuegos.
Personalmente, con tantos años de experiencia de videojuegos femeninos, debo Playstation énfasis que realmente ha revolucionado la industria con imágenes excepcionales que realmente han dejado huella en la última década. Además, muchas revistas como la revista oficial de PlayStation empezado a informar a los jugadores sobre los próximos juegos con un nuevo nivel de detalle, asegurándose de que empezamos a vivir los videojuegos con mucha más intensidad y pasión.

En lo que se refiere a sitios web, todavía recuerdo cuando GameSpot apareció por primera vez en Internet y la forma en que solía ser un gran lugar para los jugadores para relajarse y compartir las experiencias de los videojuegos, consejos, sugerencias y otras interacciones importantes que resultaron benéficos para los videojuegos de la industria. Sin embargo, como mi hija también le encanta los videojuegos y estamos planeando mudarse a España para los próximos 5-6 años a causa de mi negocio en expansión, hice algunas investigaciones en torno a Internet en busca de alternativas de GameSpot en el idioma español para que pudiera ser ambos divertirse en el sitio web de descubrir nuevos juegos y aprendizaje de la lengua española esencial para que pudiera comunicarse con sus colegas de la escuela.

Afortunadamente, me encontré con trucoteca.com que es un sitio web que contiene realmente me sorprendió con su interfaz de uso fácil y el tema de interés general del sitio web que realmente me hizo recordar como todos los sitios web de videojuegos debe ser! Además, los usuarios tienen la oportunidad de usar un motor de búsqueda muy eficiente, que inmediatamente le muestra los resultados que usted ha estado buscando, lo que le permite obtener consejos importantes para ese juego en particular, ver algunos videos, leer comentarios, recolección de trampas y otras importantes asesoramiento, etc
Como cuestión de hecho, yo diría que el diseño de la página web también está muy bien conceptualizado como nos trae recuerdos de los juegos que jugábamos en el pasado con los colores bien elegidos que agregar algo en intensidad y pasión a todos los páginas que navegar alrededor del sitio. Sin embargo, yo personalmente recomiendo que los botones de la antigua en la parte superior de la página que nos permite seleccionar "PC", "PS3", etc deben ser sustituidos por otros más modernos para que el sitio puede mantenerse con una visión más futurista, que yo considero el tema actual de la web. Por otra parte, también quiero recomendar a los webmasters para dar más énfasis a los extremadamente adictivos juegos gratis en la página principal para que las personas sean conscientes de la existencia de estos juegos increíblemente interesantes que muchos de nosotros nunca han oído hablar.

En lo que se refiere al contenido de la propia página web, me limitaré a decir que todo está bien organizado, con diferentes secciones con comentarios, trucos y todas las otras cosas importantes que cualquier jugador se esperan obtener en un sitio web de videojuegos. Además, yo personalmente diría que algunos de los exámenes y las guías son tan bien escrito y explicó que es un buen ejemplo para otras organizaciones internacionales y muchos más sitios web de confianza para seguir, lo que significa que este sitio web está recibiendo 7 millones de visitantes cada mes, pero ha de calidad lo suficientemente lejos para conseguir más de 50 millones de visitantes cada mes en el próximo año o incluso antes que el contenido de la página web, simplemente no podía ser mejor!

Airlines showing better results in July

Just as you know, the current financial crisis is menacing many companies and airlines are probably some of the most menaced ones. Keeping this in mind, it would be normal to expect that the quality of their work would increase during this difficult period and that is exactly what is happening as you can confirm by reading the msnbc.com article just below:

"

MINNEAPOLIS - Airline passengers got to their destination on time a little more often in July.

The Transportation Department said on Tuesday that 77.6 percent of airline flights arrived on time, up from 75.7 percent during the same month last year. July's showing was also an improvement over the 76.1 percent on-time rate in June.

Airlines have generally been flying less because of the recession, and that seems to be helping them get their remaining flights to their destinations on time.

Among the largest carriers, Southwest Airlines flights were on-schedule 80.7 percent of the time, followed by US Airways at 80.6 percent and United Airlines at 79.6 percent. United's ranking was a big jump from June's on-time performance of 72.6 percent, among the worst of the big carriers.

American Airlines was last-place among major carriers, with 72.2 percent of its flights arriving on time. Delta Air Lines was a little better at 75.5 percent, and its subsidiary Northwest Airlines came in at 76.4 percent.Airlines said the biggest cause of delays was the late arrival of the airplane to be used on the delayed flight. Other big causes included delays from airport operations and heavy traffic, as well as delays the airline could control, such as maintenance or crew. Weather was cited as a factor in less than 1 percent of all flights.

Nineteen Airlines report monthly on-time data and causes of delays to the Department of Transportation. The delays are labeled under categories such as "Extreme Weather" and "National Aviation System Delay" that were created by the airlines, industry groups, travel agents and government officials.

A flight is considered on-time if it arrives within 15 minutes of the schedule shown in the carriers' reservation systems. Canceled and diverted flights are counted as late.

Among all 19 carriers, Hawaiian Airlines topped the list, with 93.6 percent of its flights arriving on-time. Comair, a regional subsidiary of Delta, was last at 63.6 percent.

The airlines lost less luggage in July, too. The rate of lost bags dropped to 3.98 per 1,000 passengers in July, down from 4.87 in July 2008. Baggage fees became more widespread during that year, causing many travelers to cut back on the amount of luggage they haul to the airport. That has helped airlines do a better job with the remaining bags. The total number of baggage reports fell 21.4 percent to 215,276, even though the number of passengers fell only 3.8 percent.

AirTran Airways had the best performance, with 1.78 mishandled bags for every 1,000 passengers. American Eagle, the regional carrier owned by American Airlines parent AMR Corp., was in last place with 7.9 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.

Among the biggest carriers, US Airways had the best performance with 2.75 lost bags per 1,000 passengers, while American was at the bottom with 4.73.

"

Back to School special offer

English Review:

Even considering the fact that I am no longer a student who really has to do everything possible in order to make sure that I have the latest gadgets and school material so that I can achieve my goals as a student, the truth is that I still remember what I used to do and how I used to prepare myself for school every year!

Keeping this in mind, I am experienced enough to assure absolutely everyone that it is vital that we always look for the best back to school offers such as the recent Apple’s Back to School offer to buy Apple, which allows us to save hundreds of Euros when we buy Mac+iPod, making sure that we can both enjoy the best music at school but also that we are given the chance to enjoy the best software experience with the help of a MAC system.

So, wouldn’t you agree with me that it is about time that you also do something in order to prepare you or your children for the upcoming school season? If that’s the case then you definitely need to check out Apple’s offer on the website above and see with your own eyes how incredibly easy it is to save hundreds of Euros, while also getting the latest software, gadgets, etc.

Spanish Review:

Aun considerando el hecho de que ya no soy un estudiante que realmente tiene que hacer todo lo posible para asegurarse de que tengo la última aparatos y material escolar para que pueda alcanzar mis metas como estudiante, la verdad es que aún recuerdo lo que yo solía hacer y cómo lo utiliza para prepararme para la escuela cada año!
Teniendo esto en cuenta, yo tengo experiencia suficiente para asegurar a absolutamente todo el mundo que es vital que siempre buscamos el mejor que el regreso a la escuela ofrece, tales como la oferta Back to School de Apple para comprar apple que nos permite ahorrar cientos de euros al comprar Mac + iPod, asegurándose de que los dos podemos disfrutar de la mejor música en la escuela, sino también que se nos da la oportunidad de disfrutar de la mejor experiencia de software con la ayuda de un sistema MAC.
Por lo tanto, no estaría usted de acuerdo conmigo en que es hora de que usted también hacer algo con el fin de preparar usted o sus hijos para la próxima temporada de la escuela? Si ese es el caso, entonces usted definitivamente necesita para comprobar oferta de Apple en la página web arriba y vea con sus propios ojos lo increíblemente fácil que es ahorrar cientos de euros, mientras que también conseguir el último software, gadgets, etc

US energy consumption in 2008

Even considering the fact that most families are already doing their best in order to help the world save energy, the truth is that we are still very far away from what we should be doing in order to save the planet! Below you may read the latest update on energy consumption in the US as you may originally read at ScienceDaily:

"

Americans used more solar, nuclear, biomass and wind energy in 2008 than they did in 2007, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The nation used less coal and petroleum during the same time frame and only slightly increased its natural gas consumption. Geothermal energy use remained the same.

The estimated U.S. energy use in 2008 equaled 99.2 quadrillion BTUs ("quads"), down from 101.5 quadrillion BTUs in 2007. (A BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy, and is equivalent to about 1.055 kilojoules).

Energy use in the industrial and transportation sectors declined by 1.17 and 0.9 quads respectively, while commercial and residential use slightly climbed. The drop in transportation and industrial use - which are both heavily dependent on petroleum - can be attributed to a spike in oil prices in summer 2008.

Last year saw a significant increase in biomass with the recent push for the development of more biofuels including ethanol.

"This is a good snapshot of what's going on in the country. Some of the year-to year changes in supply and consumption can be traced to factors such as the economy and energy policy," said A.J. Simon, an LLNL energy systems analyst who develops the energy flow charts using data provided by the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration.

Simon said the increase in wind energy can be attributed to large investments in wind turbine technologies over the last few years as well as better use of the existing turbines.

Nuclear energy also saw a slight increase from 8.41 quads in 2007 up to 8.45 quads in 2008. While no new nuclear power plants came online in 2008, the existing plants had less down time. Over the last 20 years, the downtime for maintenance and refueling at nuclear power plants had been decreasing.

"There's an incentive to operate as much as possible," Simon said. "It's a smart thing to do. You can't earn revenue by selling electricity when you're down."

Many years of experience have allowed nuclear operators to optimize plant reliability on short maintenance cycles.

The chart also shows the amount of energy rejected by the United States. Of the 99.2 quads consumed, only 42.15 ended up as energy services. Energy services are "things that make our lives better," Simon said. "That's the energy that makes your car move and that comes out of your light bulb."

The ratio of energy services to the total amount of energy used is a measure of the country's energy efficiency. The remainder, explained Simon, "is simply rejected. For example, some rejected energy shows up as waste heat from power plants."

"I'm really excited about the renewed push for energy efficiency in this country," he said. "Because once that energy is rejected, it's no longer useful. But more efficient power plants, automobiles and even light bulbs really do reject less energy while providing the same energy services."

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has helped to visualize the Energy Information Administration's U.S. energy data since the early 1970s.

"

Buying a new house for our family

When considering all my experience as a businesswoman who tends to play an important role in the company so that the financial stability is always certain, I am acknowledged enough to assure absolutely everyone that when a company is growing, it really allows the employees to feel confident enough to start buying new properties for the family.

Keeping this in mind, for all of you looking for the best oklahoma real estate deals, I would personally advise you to take some time to the website above, which was recommended to me by my friend Tom and has proven to be one of the best places on the Internet to look for a new house for our families.

How should we deal with cruise itinerary changes?

As you probably know, cruises are extremely wanted during the summer by the richest travelers but the truth is that many routes are changed while we are on board! In fact, that was exactly what happened on the msnbc.com article just below, which will give you important tips on how you should deal with these situations and how you can expect to be dealt with:

"

By Anita Dunham-Potter

Travel columnist

Fred and Deborah Marenna were looking forward to celebrating their 25th anniversary on the Carnival Miracle. It was the perfect itinerary for celebrating as it would visit exotic Panama and Costa Rica.

But the day before the Connecticut couple was to fly to Fort Lauderdale, things started to fall apart. Their travel agent called with bad news: The Miracle’s entire itinerary was being altered and the ship would no longer be visiting Panama or Costa Rica. The couple had the option to continue the cruise with the revised itinerary that would include a $50 onboard credit or they could opt to receive a full refund.

Money for nothing
The Marennas were devastated as the entire reason they booked the cruise was to visit Panama and Costa Rica so they opted not to go on the sailing and receive a full refund. But they were angry. They were out $100 on airline cancellation fees and $190 for cruise insurance that proved to be useless since it would not cover any loses because the cruise wasn’t canceled.

Fred Marenna felt he was entitled to more restitution and contacted Carnival with his issue. “We have cruised with Carnival several times before and I am surprised we weren’t given some other options like booking us on another cruise with the same itinerary or some other compensation.”

After several letters to the company and not getting any responses he contacted Consumer Traveler for help.

Miracle whipped
I contacted Carnival to get their side of the story and spoke with Carnival spokesperson, Vance Gulliksen. He stated that the December 15, 2008 sailing onboard the Miracle was changed due to a “technical problem” that affected the vessel’s sailing speed. “This made the vessel unable to operate its scheduled eight-day western Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Panama, Costa Rica and Belize,” said Gulliksen. The ship’s original three-port itinerary was changed to an alternate route that featured four ports of call: Costa Maya, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. Gulliksen noted the technical problem only affected the ship’s sailing speed and that all hotel systems were operating normally.

Upon learning of the situation, Gulliksen said Carnival distributed letters to all guests and travel agents with clients the affected sailing on Dec. 12 advising them of the itinerary change. Guests scheduled to sail on the affected voyage were offered the option of receiving of a full refund of their cruise fare or sailing on the modified itinerary and receiving a $50 shipboard credit.

The Miracle’s propulsion problem was subsequently fixed and the ship is currently in New York operating eight-day Caribbean voyages but will resume its eight-day southern and western Caribbean voyages from Fort Lauderdale in October. “Carnival sincerely apologizes for the disruption to the Marenna’s vacation plans,” said Gulliksen. He adds they would gladly work with the Marennas in applying their refunded cruise fare in re-booking one of these voyages.

Fred Marenna doesn’t agree he just wants to sail on the itinerary he purchased or at least be refunded the $290 he lost.

As the prop turns
Propulsion problems on cruise ships are rare, but they do occur. “Cruise lines are typically quite fair with passengers whose vacations are inconvenienced, canceled or have substantially altered itineraries,” says Stewart Chiron, a cruise industry expert who is nationally recognized as The Cruise Guy.

Chiron notes that these issues are often handled as a group, but also on a case-by-case basis. “Cruise lines are in the service business and care a great deal about their passengers,” he says. So, did Carnival do right by the Marennas? According to Chiron, not really. “Carnival should have refunded or credited the value of the insurance premium paid by the Marennas as a goodwill gesture to encourage their future booking. The couple is on their own with the airline change fee because it wasn’t booked through the cruise line.”

As for Fred Marenna, he is disappointed that Carnival didn’t come through and “do the right thing” to rectify the problem. “We were not treated as valued customers of Carnival,” he says.

"