In-depth experiences, upcoming destinations and uber-luxury

New York — A demand for more in-depth experiences — from learning how to scuba dive to dining in a private home in port — are shaping what's new in the cruise industry this year. Other cruise news: a boom in Alaska trips, a few precious sailings to Cuba and potentially game-changing new technology.

High Seas, High Tech 

Princess Cruises will debut a coin-sized medallion in November aboard the Regal Princess that could dramatically change guest experiences. Passengers will carry or wear the medallion, which will direct them to their cabins, unlock their doors as they approach and alert crew members to their schedules and preferences, whether it's a class they've signed up for or a favorite cocktail.

New experiences on board and ashore 

Royal Caribbean is the only cruise line offering scuba-diving certification through the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Passengers begin the course at home online, continue lessons in a ship pool and finish with four mandatory open-water dives in ports of call.

Carnival Cruise Line is offering longer sailings of nine to 15 days with options for more immersive and adventurous experiences beyond beaches and bars. Passengers might visit a school in Mexico or get a home-cooked meal at a private house in Jamaica. "People are looking for meaningful experiences," said Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz.

MSC Cruises launches a wellness experience in April with personalized health assessments and fitness programs, along with a Weight Watchers cruise from Miami to the Caribbean in May.

Princess is expanding Discovery at Sea offerings for kids with new programming such as MythBusters science activities and destination-themed programs on culture and nature. Princess is also featuring a new show, "Born to Dance," produced with famed composer Stephen Schwartz, paying tribute to Broadway's greatest choreographers and dancers.

Holland America Line's new programs include cooking shows and workshops in partnership with "America's Test Kitchen," plus Rijksmuseum at Sea, with interactive displays about the famed Amsterdam museum as a tie-in to the cruise line's Dutch heritage. HAL has also just rolled out a partnership with BBC Earth, with games, activities and live concerts during screenings showing wildlife and wilderness.

Norwegian Cruise Line has opened a new private destination in southern Belize called Harvest Key with a beach, villas for daily rental, a lagoon for canoeing and kayaking, and "Flighthouse" with a zip line, ropes course and more. The port also makes it easy for guests to explore Belize on shore excursions.

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 this year offers trans-Atlantic cruises themed on space exploration and fashion.

Extreme weather continues as cold front makes landfall

Following a severe heat wave experienced in the Western Cape over the past week, the South African Weather Service says a cold front is due to make landfall from SA's western side on Thursday night and Friday, 24 March. 

The cold front will bring chances of rain, as well as snow in the highest peaks of the Drakensberg Mountains over the weekend. 

This is according to Snow Report SA, saying that a possibility of snow is expected in the southern parts of the Drakensberg on the Lesotho side on Saturday, 25 March. "The snow is likely to be confined to the extreme high peaks like Mafadi, Njusuthi and Thabana Ntlenyana," Snow Report SA said on Thursday, 23 March.

Thandiwe Gumede for the South African Weather Service office in KwaZulu-Natal confirmed the forecast, saying that the snow is unlikely to reach the South African side of the Drakensberg peaks. "The system that's bringing snow will be weakening after Saturday, clearing out completely towards the end of the weekend," Gumede told Traveller24. 

Most important, however, is the 30 to 60% chance of rain expected to accompany the cold front in the Western Cape, where severe drought conditions has left the province's dams with less that 100 days of water usage in them. 

Rainfall

Severe thunderstorms are expected in the southern and eastern parts of the Eastern Cape on Thursday night and Friday morning. 

For Friday, a 60% chance of rain can be expected across the central and eastern parts of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal's central and eastern regions as well as the central and southern parts of Mpumalanga.

A 30% chance of rain is expected over the adjacent areas across the Free State, the eastern parts of the Northern Cape, central and southern parts of the North West province as well as the eastern parts of Limpopo on Friday. 

Temperatures

Conditions will cool down significantly across the country on Friday. The southern parts of the country can expect cool maximum temperatures throughout the day, while the interior will be warm. The northern parts of SA will be hot to very hot in the northernmost parts of Limpopo. 

The hottest part of the country will be Musina and Phalaborwa in Limpopo, reaching a high of 37°C on Friday.

Johannesburg in Gauteng will reach 25°C, while Pretoria will reach 32°C. Bloemfontein in the Free State will peak at 28°C.

US #ElectronicsBan on flights: What travellers need to know

Travelling to the US has become a roller-coaster headache for most travellers - as the latest ban issued requires travellers on flights originating from 10 specific airports to the US to pack electronic devices,  bigger than a smartphone, into their checked-in baggage. 

While cellphones and medical devices are excluded from the ban, no laptops will be allowed in hand luggage - officially as of Wednesday 22 March.

On Monday 20 March, the US government stated it was temporarily barring passengers on certain flights originating in eight countries and 10 airports from bringing laptops, iPads, cameras and most other electronics in carry-on luggage starting on Tuesday.

AFP reports the reason for the device ban was not immediately clear. US security officials would not comment - See News24's coverage here. 

This follows the much-meligned US Travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, which was then suspended by federal judges for being unconstitutional, only for a watered down version to then be put into effect, excluding Irag but still said to discriminate against people on a religious basis.

The latest US Travel-related ban came to light via statements released by Royal Jordanian Airlines and the official news agency of Saudi Arabia, and is said to be indefinite and will come into effect just before Wednesday's meeting of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group in Washington.

"A number of top Arab officials were expected to attend the State Department gathering. It was unclear whether their travel plans were related to any increased worry about security threats." 

#ElectronicsBan makes theft, damage to property a greater risk - ASATA

Cape Town – Passengers travelling to popular destinations and stopovers such as Doha, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Dubai will now be more vulnerable to theft and damage to property as they will be forced to check in valuables like laptops, iPads and cameras. 

This is according to Otto de Vries, CEO of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA), saying that while the association "supports any initiatives to improve the safety and security of travellers and the destinations that they visit, the reasons behind these new rules have not been made clear, other than to say that they have been put in place ‘based on the current threat picture’."

On Wednesday, South African Airways put travellers at ease when they issued a statement saying they have not imposed a general ban on the use or carriage of electronic devices on board its flights as the airline has not received any directive from US Department of Transportation or the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict or ban usage of electronic devices on board its aircraft.

According to SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali, “Customers may continue to use and enjoy their devices in our cabins except for those electronic devices that have specifically been prohibited on board and public/customer notifications to that effect have been made." 

Regardless, ASATA says they are concerned that the recent announcement by the United Kingdom and the United States - banning laptops, tablets, e-readers and several other electronic devices from hand luggage on flights originating from 10 airports - will cost travellers in future. 

Travellers will not be allowed to stow any electronic device larger than 16cm x 9.3cm in their hand luggage in terms of a ban, to come into effect on Friday, 24 March. 

“Traditionally, at check-in, travellers are asked if they have anything valuable in their checked baggage. It would now appear that passengers travelling to the US and UK from affected destinations, even if it is via these destinations, will be forced to include their valuable in their checked baggage risking theft and damage to their property,” De Vries says. 

The big worry, according to ASATA, is who will be responsible if these electronic items are stolen or damaged as travel insurers are clear that this will not be covered in their insurance policies.

De Vries says there are too many grey areas in the new ban. "Will checked bags be screened as thoroughly as hand baggage is? What processes at airports will need to change to accommodate these changes?," he asks. 

“And then, of course, there’s a risk that electronic devices may be stolen, and if the bag has been breached is that not in itself a security threat?” De Vries notes.  

Emirates introduces new laptop handling service for US flights

 The largest gulf carrier Emriates has introduced a new service to enable customers to use their laptops and tablet devices until just before they board their flights to the US.  

It says, "Emirates customers travelling to the US via Dubai will be able to utilise their laptops and tablet devices on the first part of their journeys, and also during transit in Dubai. They must then declare and hand over their laptops, tablets, and other banned electronic devices to security staff at the gate just before boarding their US-bound flight.

"The devices will be carefully packed into boxes, loaded into the aircraft hold, and returned to the customer at their US destination. There will not be any charge for this service. It added that customers should be aware that there will be a detailed search of all hand baggage on non-stop flights to the US from Dubai. They should therefore declare their devices before the search, or ensure their electronic devices are packed into their check-in luggage in the first instance.

SAA US flights unaffected

Cape Town - South African Airways says it has not imposed a general ban on the use or carriage of electronic devices on board its flights as the airline has not received any directive from US Department of Transportation or the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict or ban usage of electronic devices on board its aircraft.

South Africans travelling to the UK and US via Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha and several other cities will no longer be allowed to use their laptops, iPads, tablets, kindles or e-readers in-flight – following the US and UK government ban on electronic devices on flights.

The ban affects flights 10 specific airports, via a direct flight to the US or the UK, and travellers should note they will not be allowed to stow any electronic device larger than 16cm x 9.3cm in their hand luggage.

Flights out of the US to these airports are not subject to the ban, according to US authorities.

“Customers may continue to use and enjoy their devices in our cabins except for those electronic devices that have specifically been prohibited on board and public/customer notifications to that effect have been made,” says SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali.

SEE: #ElectronicsBan: How are SA travellers affected?

 Traveller24 contacted Acsa to determine if any added security measures will be looked at from South Africa, but has yet to receive a response. In June 2016, the US issued a terror alert for South Africa over the weekend, warning of "terror attacks by Islamic militants. The alert saw security measures increased at airports as well as malls across the country.

“Whenever a ban is imposed or restriction is placed on the usage of devices, it is based on specific operational or security considerations. At this stage there is no blanket ban on carrying or using electronic devices on our flights, including those that serve the US destinations we fly to,” says Tlali.

SEE: SACAA 'monitoring security measures' following US terror alert

Airlines affected by the US and UK ban include Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Egypt Air and Turkish Airlines. Affected devices not allowed in hand luggage include all tablets, iPads, Kindles, e-readers, laptops, cameras and lenses, portable DVD players, electronic game devices and travel printers and scanners larger than 16cm x 9.3cm.

The 10 international airports affected by the ban: 

- Cairo in Egypt

- Amman in Jordan

- Kuwait City in Kuwait

- Casablanca in Morocco

- Doha in Qatar

- Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia

- Istanbul in Turkey

- Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. 

Lost productivity

While it's not quite as disruptive as an outright ban on smartphones — remember when the Samsung Galaxy note 7 was banned as it was considered a fire hazard - much less a travel ban based on nationality,  the laptop limitation is a headache for a number of people, especially the business traveller who now has to stow it in their checked baggage. 

'Lithium batteries not be transported in the hold' 

The ban also raises the question around the airline policy that lithium-ion batteries not be transported in the hold - the batteries have been blamed for past aircraft fires.

“The airlines are responsible for enforcing these rules and therefore have the final say. One carrier may have a slightly different interpretation to another so it is vital that passengers contact airlines directly or your travel expert for clarification. Flight Centre Travel Group is also liaising with airlines to get clarity,” says  Michelle Jolley, Spokesperson for Corporate Brand a division of Flight Centre Travel Group.

ORLY ATTACKER A RADICALIZED MUSLIM

A “radicalised Muslim” known to security services has been shot dead after attempting to steal a soldier’s gun at Paris Orly Airport. 

The 39-year-old French citizen, identified as Ziyed Ben Belgacem, shot at police officers manning a checkpoint in northern Paris with an “air pistol” before launching the airport attack, the French interior minister said.

During a visit to the airport, Bruno Le Roux said one officer was shot during the routine check and was undergoing hospital treatment for injuries to his face.

“We can link the [airport attacker’s] identity with a check carried out at Garges-les-Gonesse by a patrol in Stains this morning,” he added.

“The individual’s identity is known to the police and intelligence services.” Belgacem's father and brother, as well as a cousin, have been detained for questioning.

According to French broadcaster BFMTV he had sent them a text reading: “I screwed up, I shot the police.”

A police source described the attacker as “a radicalised Muslim known to intelligence services”.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference on Saturday evening that at the airport, Belgacem yelled he wanted to die in the name of Allah and said “whatever happens, there will be deaths”. 

Mr Molins said the attacker held an air pistol to a soldier’s head and used her as a shield. He apparently wanted to use her weapon to shoot people in the busy airport.

Contrary to earlier reports by French officials, Mr Molins said the attacker did wrench away her powerful military-grade assault rifle.

The soldier’s colleagues fired three bursts – eight rounds in all – when they killed him.

Belgacem had a lengthy criminal history of violence, robbery and drug offences but was not on the “fiche S” list of terror threats, despite being investigated by the DGSI as a potential jihadi after indications of Islamist radicalisation emerged in 2015.

Mr Molins said three people were being held in police custody, and that Belgacem’s choice of target and evidence that he had been radicalised justified launching a terrorism investigation.

Research has shown that more than half of European Isis fighters have a criminal past, with recruiters deliberately targeting violent criminals and gang members looking for redemption and a licence to kill in the name of jihad.

​Like many other Islamists, Belgacem is believed to have been radicalised in prison and was put under surveillance after being freed, although it was unclear when monitoring stopped.

Prosecutors said no evidence of extremism was uncovered in a search of his home, which was among scores raided in the immediate aftermath of the Paris attacks.