Fun Family Travel Vacation

It has been on the headlines repeatedly about how an Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, hit rocks off the coast of Italian and resulted 14 death.   The ship is now partially submerged and clean-up is expected to last at least 10 month.    Survivors of the incident are now being offered $14,000 in compensation plus the cost of the loss of their possessions.   Most, if not all, have refused the payout.   Several passengers and crew members have filed lawsuits against Costa Crociere , Italian company that sailed Costa Concordia, and Carnival Cruise Lines, which is based in the United States.

Carnival is already reporting that it net income for the 2012 fiscal year will drop from $175 million to $155 million.

Source:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577193113977266528.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-27/world/world_europe_italy-cruise-ship_1_cruise-ship-damages-costa-cruises/2?_s=PM:EUROPE

The United states State Department has issued a travel alert for US citizens. The State Department is cautioning all US citizens that there may be some backlash from the planned burning of the Quran by a church in Gainesville, Florida. The burning has been cancelled, but the State Department says that Americans should still be on alert.

A killer whale savagely shook at trainer at Sea World in Orlando. The trainer was introducing the show when the whale surfaced and locked its jaws around the female trainer’s waist. This horrible event was seen by an audience of children and adults. According to the Associated Press, the park’s guests were evacuated and Sea World was closed for the day. Sadly, emergency officials on the scene were not able to revive the trainer.

After blowing a tire during takeoff, a US Airway jet had to circle the the San Antonio Airport for an hour. The jet had to circle the airport so that it could lose some fuel before landing. It was originally scheduled to fly to Phoenix, Arizona, but after blowing the tire it was determined that it be safer to try to land as safely as possible. None of the 87 people on board the plane were injured.

Source: Associated Press

An American Airlines plane overshot the runway while landing at the Norman Manley Airport in Kingston, Jamaica on Tuesday night. 40 people were injured and taken to the Kingston Public Hospital. Flight AA331, a Boeing 737 originated from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington D.C. and made a stop at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida before heading to Kingston. At the time of the landing there was heavy rain.

According to a press release by American Airlines:

“The care of our passengers and crew members remains our highest priority, and we are grateful for the professionalism of our crew members who safely evacuated the aircraft,” said Gerard Arpey, Chairman and CEO of American Airlines.

Anyone who believes they have family members or friends aboard Flight 331 may contact American Airlines at the following toll-free numbers: (800) 245-0999 for calls originating in the United States; for calls originating in Jamaica, use (800) 872-2881. Family members from other locations outside the U.S. may contact American through the AT&T Direct Access system. Callers should dial the local AT&T Access telephone number, which can be found at www.usa.att.com/traveler for the country from which they are calling. Once in the AT&T system, callers can then dial American toll-free at (800) 245-0999. Family members in Canada, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin islands can call the (800) 245-0999 number directly. Non-family members are asked not to call those numbers so the lines can be kept available for those who truly need them.

Source:Jamaican Observer