Cruise News: Changes at Carnival

Inter-city bus travel has risen 13 percent in the past couple of years, says a study by DePaul University. Our nation is witnessing its first increase in inter-city and inter-state bus travel since the 1960s. Plusher seats, cleaner bathrooms, free WiFi service, and more consistent schedules are all helping to improve the tarnished image of bus travel. In previous blog posts, our readers have applauded this trend. Leading the low-fare bus revolution has been Megabus, a sister company of Gray Line New York Sightseeing. At the end of May, Megabus launched service between New York and Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo, Atlantic City, and Toronto. It uses double-decker buses on some of its routes. NeOn, a new twice-daily bus service operated by Greyhound between New York and Toronto, recently launched with fares as low as $1 each way. BoltBus, a new discount express service operated by Greyhound, recently launched with fares as low as $1 each way between New York City and D.C. (We tested the service and liked it.) Even Greyhound's traditional service is seeing a rise in ridership after a couple of years of declines. Greyhound now lets passengers pay $5 each way for priority seating on bus rides departing from more than 30 cities. LUXURY BUSES: NOT A CONTRADICTION For more of a splurge (while still saving money on alternate transportation options), try LimoLiner between Boston and New York City. We recently blogged about our test drive of the service.

Every travel organization seems to release an annual list of up-and-coming destinations. But the survey by the World Travel & Tourism Council, an association of top travel executives, may be the most authoritative because it answers the all-important question: Where’s the money going? Each year, the association ranks the spots with the fastest growing travel and tourism earnings, factoring in various economic trends from immediate visitor spending to government investment. This year, WTTC researchers have their money on Macau—a Chinese territory west of Hong Kong. Tourism to this small peninsula could jump by 22 percent this year, thanks largely to its gambling industry. Here's the full list of up-and-comers: 1. Macau 2. Angola 3. Montenegro 4. Seychelles 5. Libya 6. China 7. Azerbaijan 8. Romania 9. United Arab Emirates 10. Chile The researchers say you should keep your eye on a slightly different set of countries for sustained tourism growth predicts between now and 2018 (in order of the most promising growth prospects for tourism): India China Libya Vietnam Montenegro Romania Macau Namibia Croatia Czech Republic EARLIER Americans will visit China and India in record numbers this year

Amy Graff is a thirty-something mother undertaking a quintessential American adventure: the long road trip. Graff hit the road with her husband and two kids for a 2,400 mile drive, and she's been writing about it on her blog OnTheGoWithAmy.com. So far, she seems to have found it was difficult to stick to her planned budget of $250 a day. When she went over budget, she made up for it by cost-cutting for the next couple days. On the few occasions that she was under budget, she carried the money over to help her out later. Highlights of her trip have included cruising the historic Route 66, tooling around Flagstaff, Ariz., and attempting to teach her daughter about art at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Given that the hotel chain Best Western is sponsoring her trip, Amy naturally visited one of the oldest Best Western properties in Springfield, Mo. and had good things to say about them. She'll soon be reaching her destination in Chicago. Here are a few of Amy's tips for road-tripping with kids: 1) Don’t have a fuel-efficient ride? Rent one. 2) Stop every two hours when you are road tripping with kids to keep them from getting bored (and from driving you crazy). Bring a hula-hoop or a jump rope so they’ll have something to do once they’re out of the car. 3) Start up an easy-to-play game like I-Spy, 20 Questions, or Name that Tune. (Find info on these games at special pages on Parents.com and Edmunds.com. You can also borrow Books on Tape from your public library. EARLIER Is the great American road trip in danger? (more than 40 comments) See BT's list of Family Travel tips and tricks