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Here are this week’s travel news headlines from around the web and interweb I found the most interesting. Take a look:
On the morning of June 22, passengers disembarking the Carnival Conquest after a 3-night Bahamas cruise got into a full-on brawl in the CBP debarkation area at PortMiami. We’re talking punches thrown, hair pulled, people knocked to the ground, suitcases flying, stanchions held over heads. Video on social media makes it look like absolute chaos. Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office responded, but nobody pressed charges, so no arrests were made. Carnival, however, didn’t hesitate. All 16 people involved are now permanently on Carnival’s Do Not Sail list. No appeal process, no expiration date. This is now the second large brawl at a Carnival homeport this year, following a similar incident in Galveston in April where 24 guests were banned. And yes, there is video, and it is every bit as wild as you’d expect.
Joseph Samuel Doria, 28, of Philadelphia, disembarked from Regal Princess at Port Everglades on June 20 and was referred for secondary inspection by CBP. Officers searched his phone and found child sexual abuse material hidden in his “Recently Deleted” folder. Doria reportedly admitted to viewing the material since he was 13 and to distributing it online, and said he had a device at home in Pittsburgh containing a minimum of 100 additional videos and images. He was arrested and is being held on behalf of U.S. Marshals. A federal judge approved a $100,000 bond. CBP searches of electronic devices are up more than 16% compared to 2022, and this is at least the fourth cruise passenger arrested for similar material at a Florida port in the past year.
City documents filed with Atlanta officials this week show Delta is planning a 39,000-square-foot Delta One lounge above Concourse E at Hartsfield-Jackson, situated between gates E14 and E27. The city would reimburse Delta up to $63 million for the shell construction, with a 30-month build window tying it to a January 2029 target completion. The lounge will be accessible only to passengers holding a same-day Delta One or equivalent partner business-class ticket, so this isn’t for general Sky Club members. City council approval is scheduled for July 6. Atlanta is Delta’s biggest hub, so the lack of a Delta One lounge there has always been a conspicuous gap. 2029 feels like a long wait, but at least it’s finally happening.
Los Angeles County Public Health confirmed this week that an infectious traveler passed through Hollywood Burbank Airport on June 17 aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 4245, arriving at Gate A4 between 8:45 and 9:45 a.m. The same person also visited a Thrifty Rental Car location in Burbank on June 17 and 18. Anyone at those locations during those windows should monitor for symptoms through July 8 or 9 depending on the date of exposure. This is LA County’s seventh confirmed measles case of 2026, and there are now over 2,100 cases reported across the United States this year. The county health officer specifically flagged summer travel and World Cup events as raising the risk of exposure. The most effective protection is still the MMR vaccine, and if you haven’t confirmed your immunity status before traveling this summer, now is the time.
COVID can still destroy a vacation, and the best way to avoid ending up in a hospital while traveling is to get vaccinated — which is exactly why this story caught my attention. A study that the CDC blocked from its own Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report back in March has now been published in JAMA Network Open after months of controversy. The study found the 2025-26 COVID vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization by 55% and emergency department or urgent care visits by 50% compared to those who didn’t get the shot. CDC acting director Jay Bhattacharya had raised concerns about the study’s methodology. Multiple independent public health experts pushed back, saying the test-negative design used has been standard practice for years and that blocking the study deprived the public of important information. The findings are consistent with what every previous COVID vaccine study has shown.
Think about how much we all rely on tech when we travel. Boarding passes on our phones, laptops for work on the road, tablets for long flights. Here’s the problem: only three companies in the world make consumer memory chips, and all three are diverting supply to AI data centers. Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal the situation has become “unsustainable” and price increases are unavoidable. Morgan Stanley is forecasting a 15% memory shortfall for computers and 12% for smartphones by 2027. Microsoft’s new Surface Laptops jumped $600 at launch. The iPhone 18 Pro could hit $1,299. Nintendo already bumped the Switch 2 by $50. The PlayStation 5 went up $100. Steam Deck jumped from $549 to $789. Whether you’re planning to upgrade before a big trip or just trying to budget your next device purchase, the window for lower prices is closing fast.
Uriel Kaykov, 36, of Great Neck, New York, switched seats with his cousin specifically to sit next to a 26-year-old woman who was asleep on Delta Flight 2257 from Phoenix to JFK in June 2022. She woke up and felt something wrong, went to the restroom, came back, fell asleep again, and woke up a second time to a hand touching her. She flagged a flight attendant, was moved to another seat, and the crew notified the pilots. Kaykov was indicted in December 2024 and pleaded guilty days before his trial was set to begin. The federal judge said the crime demanded the strongest punishment available and sentenced him to 6 months in federal prison. In her victim impact statement, the woman wrote that for years she has had nightmares reliving the assault and no longer moves through the world with the same sense of safety. Four years from the incident to sentencing. Glad justice was finally served.
A teenager climbed out of the back of a Tiana’s Bayou Adventure log ride at Disneyland — the ride formerly known as Splash Mountain — right before the famous 50-foot drop and tumbled down the waterfall on his own. He was taken to a local hospital as a precaution and released without serious injuries, which is genuinely remarkable given what the video shows. Disneyland says a cast member immediately stopped the ride. California’s occupational safety agency investigated and found no operational issues. The ride was back up and running the next day. Nobody has explained why the boy climbed out. The video TMZ obtained is absolutely wild and watching it will make your stomach drop a little.
Celiac Cruise has partnered with Oceania Cruises for a 12-night sailing aboard the Oceania Vista from May 31 to June 12, 2028, traveling roundtrip from Southampton through England, Ireland, and Scotland. Every single one of the ship’s 11 dining venues will operate 100% gluten-free for the duration of the sailing, meaning no pre-ordering the night before, no negotiating with the maître d’, no worrying about cross-contamination. Founder Maureen Basye started Celiac Cruise after watching her husband and son struggle to travel safely, even on ships that offered gluten-free options. About 1% of Americans have celiac disease, but up to 6% have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. If you or someone you know has been putting off cruising because of dietary concerns, this is genuinely a big deal.
The U.S. State Department is launching a pilot program on July 1 that lets eligible B-1 and B-2 visitor visa applicants pay an extra $750 on top of the standard $185 application fee for a guaranteed interview appointment within 10 business days. No written justification required, no emergency documentation needed. Just $935 total and a faster spot in line. The bottleneck has always been getting the interview appointment, not the interview itself, and wait times in some countries like India, Mexico, and Colombia currently run over a year. The program was partly designed with the FIFA World Cup and the 2028 LA Olympics in mind. One caveat worth noting: the $750 buys you a faster interview date, not a better outcome. It does nothing to change your eligibility or speed up processing after the interview.
Were there any crazy or interesting travel news stories you found interesting that I missed? If so please drop a comment below and include a link to the story! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and and may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
