Travel Briefs

The Singapore Flyer, a state-of-the-art, luxury Ferris wheel, will open in March 2008. Rising 541 feet (42 stories), it will provide panoramic views of Marina Bay and the Singapore financial district skyline.

Running 8:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. daily, rides will last about 37 minutes, and each of the 28 fully air-conditioned capsules will hold up to 30 people. Rides will cost S$29.50 (US$20) adult, S$23.60 senior and S$20.65 child.

For info or to prebook a ride, visit www.singaporeflyer.com.sg.

The website www.TVTrips.com offers video tours of many hotels in Europe. On city maps, visitors to the site can click on a numbered hotel and a video pops up showing the surrounding area, the hotel’s public areas and each class of room. Sample prices are listed.

Disney Destinations is offering a 9-night, family-based, guided tour, “Discovery Down Under Australia,” that includes Sydney, Ayers Rock, a Great Barrier Reef catamaran, Aboriginal cultural centers, a Mossman Gorge hike and the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.

Tours run June 2008 to April 2009. Land-only prices are US$3,999-$4,499 per adult and $3,559-$4,049, child under 12.

Contact a travel agent or a tour operator such as Affordable Tours (800/935-2620, www.affordabletours.com) or Tour Vacations to Go (800/680-2858, www.tourvacationstogo.com).

Several companies are quickly selling trips for the July 22, 2009, total solar eclipse, which will be visible for nearly five minutes on a path through China and the Pacific Islands.

TravelQuest International (Prescott, AZ; 800/830-1998, www.travelquestinternational.com) offers two China itineraries, with the eclipse to be viewed from a beach near Shanghai: a 9-day trip at $2,840 (plus $800 single supplement) and a 6-day, $2,230 (plus $600). 

The precarious financial status of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises (www.windjammer.com) forced it to cancel certain sailings in November and December 2007, and more sailings may be canceled.

Rumors and conflicting statements abound as to whether the company will formally enter bankruptcy or struggle on with a ship or two. Passengers holding tickets for future cruises should contact their travel agents.

The M/S Explorer, the famous Little Red Ship, struck ice in the waters off Antarctica, near the South Shetland Islands, on Nov. 23, 2007, and subsequently sank. The 154 passengers and crew were safely evacuated to lifeboats and picked up within five hours by the cruise ship MS Nordnorge. GAP Adventures was running the cruise and arranged for passengers’ flights home. 

Zambia has waived visa fees for travelers visiting on package tours. The government hopes to grow the country’s tourism industry.

In 2008, subways that serve Seoul, South Korea, will include cars for women only. The move is an effort to tackle subway crime, nearly half of which is sexual in nature.

In Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, women-only cars have been used on subway lines during rush hour.

In Venice, Italy, every bar, restaurant, café and hotel is required by law to post a price list, but many do not, and some charge tourists more than locals, adding small surcharges to the bill. The Guardia di Finanza has investigated hundreds of complaints. According to The London Sunday Times, one couple was charged $720 for lunch in St. Mark’s Square.

Those who feel they have been overcharged should request a copy of the bill or a printed receipt (say, “Mi proti il conto”), which provides evidence to submit with a complaint.

With half a million new residents each year, New Delhi, India, is sprawling into the natural habitats of Rhesus macaques, and now the monkeys are moving into neighborhoods and wreaking havoc.

They have ransacked apartments and even the office of the Ministry of Defense, scattering secret files outside. In the Shastri Park neighborhood, monkeys have bitten several people. They have even attacked patients being rolled into the hospital, taking IV bottles to drink the fluids.