As of November 2012, legally binding weddings may be conducted aboard ships of Royal Caribbean International (866/562-7625) registered in the Bahamas. Among many wedding packages is “Romance at Sea,” from $3,995, with a marriage by the ship’s captain or first officer on deck or in the ship’s chapel, and flowers, a cake, champagne, photography and more.
Fifty miles from San José, Costa Rica, is the Butterfly & Frog Garden, a 2,150-square-foot, open-air garden in the 12,000-acre park Rain Forest Adventures Costa Rica Atlantic (office at SW Third Ave., Ste. 200, Miami, FL 33129; 866/759-8726 or 305/704-3350).
Visitors will find blue morpho butterflies and blue jeans frogs, red-eyed frogs and black-and-green frogs. A bilingual naturalist answers questions. Garden entry costs $10.
Record holder for longest-running play, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” debuted in London’s West End on Nov. 25, 1952. Since 1974, it has been performed at St. Martin’s Theatre (West St., Cambridge Cross, London, WC2H 9NZ, U.K.).
It plays 7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday plus 3 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost from £16.60 (near $26) for Upper Circle 3rd to £63.10 ($99) for Stalls Premium. Go to the box office, phone 08444 99 1515 or visit www.the-mousetrap.co.uk.
In the hotel district of Cancún, Mexico, the Maya Museum (Kukulkan Blvd., phone 01 998 885 3842, [website in Spanish only]) opened Nov. 1, 2012. Its three 4,400-square-foot exhibition halls, with sections of architecture, include more than 350 artifacts (pottery, everyday objects, etc.) plus 14,000-year-old Maya skeletons discovered in underwater caves. Open 10 a.m.- 7p.m. Tues.-Sun.; closes 10 p.m. Thurs. Admission near $5 but in pesos; adults over 60 and children under 13, free.
Next door, the San Miguelito archaeological site also is open.
The Botswana Tourism Organization has created four brochures, each showcasing a region’s attractions. They’re available in print or PDF format or on CD. In addition to maps, photos and articles about sites to visit, the 42- to 46-page guides have info about Customs, border posts, communication and national parks. Visit www.botswanatourism.us and click on “Request Literature.”
Effective Jan.1, 2013, Americans traveling through China to another country via Beijing or Shanghai may stay in their transit city for 72 hours without securing a visa. In Shanghai, transit travelers holding third-country visas and plane tickets can enter the city through two airports: Hongqiao (SHA) or Pudong (PVG). In Beijing, transit passengers can enter only through Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK).
Quito, Ecuador's, new Mariscal Sucre International Airport, in the Tababela district 12 miles east of the city center, was scheduled to begin operating in February. The airport replaces the older, more centrally located Mariscal Sucre International, which, due to its being surrounded by mountains, is unable to be expanded to accommodate increased air traffic or larger aircraft.
The 80th anniversary of Hitler’s rise to power is being commemorated in Berlin in 2013 with events and exhibits, including pillars in public spaces adorned with biographies and photographs of people who left their mark on pre-1930s Berlin. For details, visit www.berlin.de/2013 or contact the Berlin tourism office (phone +49 30 25 00 23 33).
At the slip in Northern Ireland where the Titanic was built, the Titanic Museum (47 Donegall Pl., Belfast, BT1 5AD, Northern Ireland; phone +44 28 9076 6399) offers visitors nine galleries full of interactive exhibits chronicling the building, maiden voyage and 1912 sinking of the ocean liner. Purchase tickets in advance. £13.50 (near $21) adult.
Open 9-7 Mon.-Sat. and 10-7 Sun., April-September, and 10-5 daily, October-March.
Sea City Museum (Havelock Rd., Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 7FY, U.K.; phone 023 8083 3007) has two permanent exhibitions. “Southampton’s Titanic Story” focuses on 500-plus families who lost family members in the tragedy and on the city’s role in the steamship industry. “Gateway to the World” tells of the various peoples who passed through the city, from Roman traders to Victorian industrialists. £8.50 (near $14) adult or £6 senior. Open 10-5 daily.