Carnival cruise refunds, Newseum opens in D.C., more news

By The Associated Press
05:52 PM PDT, April 08, 2008

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Carnival refunds

Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, plans to give $40 million in refunds to customers nationwide who were assessed a fuel surcharge after they booked their trips.

It's the second cruise company to reach an agreement with the Florida Attorney General's Office, which received more than 300 complaints about fees added by several cruise operators last fall.

Customers said the charge was tacked on after they made their reservation.

The Carnival settlement, announced March 31, affects more than 1.1 million bookings, but the precise number of people affected was not available.

Carnival is the parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn

Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., another industry leader, announced in November they would start billing passengers to offset rising fuel prices -- $5 per person, per day -- for voyages beginning Feb. 1.

After the attorney general launched its investigation, Royal Caribbean announced in early March it would refund eligible customers about $21 million.

Carnival said it will contact customers who booked trips before the fuel surcharge was announced on Nov. 7. People who traveled on or before April 4 will receive a refund in whatever payment form they used for the booking. Those on trips departing April 5 to June 23 are to receive an on-board credit. For trips after that, customers' bookings will be adjusted to remove the surcharge.

In March, Carnival reported a 17 percent drop in first-quarter profits due to rising fuel costs, a drag on operations that also led the company to lower full-year profit guidance. Carnival said the settlement will not affect these numbers because the company did not recognize the fuel supplement revenue while the attorney general's office was conducting its review.

Both cruise lines also agreed to clearly disclose the charges in the future in advertisements and while reservations are being made.

Newseum opening

A museum devoted to the history and practice of journalism is scheduled to open April 11 in Washington.

The Newseum, located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, is designed to be both fun and educational, with a goal of teaching visitors about the free press and the First Amendment.

One gallery features every photograph that ever won a Pulitzer Prize. Interactive kiosks let visitors try various journalism roles -- photographer, editor, reporter or anchor. A theater shows what the museum calls a "4-D" film - a 3-D movie with seats that move and air gusts - that covers news events over more than 150 years. A memorial gallery is dedicated to journalists who died covering the news.

Facilities include a restaurant by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, a conference center and two broadcast studios, one of which is a new home for ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."

While Washington has many free attractions, the Newseum is the latest museum to open with a hefty admission fee -- $20 for adults, $13 for children 7 to 12, $18 for those 65 and older. The International Spy Museum charges $18 and the Washington location of Madame Tussauds wax museum charges $21.

The Newseum cost $450 million to build, much of which was donated by private media companies, including Knight-Ridder, The New York Times, and News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal, Fox News Channel and the New York Post.

The previous incarnation of the Newseum, which was in Arlington, Va., and closed in 2002, was free. Officials at its parent organization, the Freedom Forum, decided to build a larger center closer to the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.

Details at newseum.org.

Currier Museum reopens

The Currier Museum of Art has reopened in Manchester, N.H., after a $21 million expansion and renovation.

Changes include a new spacious, glass-enclosed entryway, a soaring three-story lobby, a winter garden and five new galleries, along with moving doorways to allow a clearer view through the galleries.

The expansion allows the museum to exhibit 50 percent more of its collection, which amounts to about 11,000 objects.

Museum director Susan Strickler told The Telegraph newspaper of Nashua that she expects the new museum will attract double its usual 50,000 visitors a year.

The museum plans to encourage family outings with a new guide that includes suggestions for "intergenerational" conversations about the art. Seven other guide brochures lead visitors to artwork based on themes such as "New England Vacation" and "Ultimate Hair" tours, which director viewers to some of the most intriguing hairstyles in the collection.

Details at currier.org.

Pet travel awards

A magazine for animal lovers is honoring New York, Continental Airlines, a hotel in Austin, Texas, and a resort in Arizona with pet travel awards.

The Big Apple was selected as the pet-friendliest destination of 2008 by Animal Fair, a lifestyle magazine for pet owners. It's one of the seven winners of this year's Cesar Five Dog Bone Awards, voted on by readers.

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