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. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired.
Here are this week’s travel news headlines from around the web and interweb I found the most interesting. Take a look:
The CDC expanded its enhanced Ebola entry screening to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport effective May 22, adding it alongside Washington Dulles and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport as designated screening points for travelers returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan. The current outbreak is tied to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which currently has no approved vaccine. The WHO declared a public health emergency last week. The CDC has also barred non-U.S. citizens who have traveled to those three countries in the past 21 days from entering the country. If you have travel to or from that region on your itinerary, worth keeping a close eye on how this develops.
CNN has a terrific deep dive on the massive tunneling projects currently underway beneath the Alps. Switzerland’s Gotthard Base Tunnel, already the world’s longest at 35 miles, opened in 2016 and lies over 7,500 feet beneath the Alpine peaks. Now Austria and Italy are building the Brenner Base Tunnel, which at 40 miles will beat it when it opens in 2032, cutting the trip between Innsbruck and Bolzano from two hours to 50 minutes. Austria’s Semmering Base Tunnel opens in 2030. France and Italy are working on their own tunnel under the Alps. Denmark is even connecting itself to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The whole goal is to pull travelers off short-haul flights and onto fast trains between major European cities. If you’re planning a European rail trip in the coming years, this is the kind of infrastructure context worth having.
The Trump administration quietly hosted a closed-door Industry Day meeting on May 21 to pitch private companies on a new program called TSA Gold+, which would allow contractors to take over not just airport security staffing but also the screening technology itself at select airports. Right now only 20 of the 430+ U.S. airports use private screeners under the existing Screening Partnership Program. TSA Gold+ would expand that significantly and shift equipment ownership to private contractors too. The push is being driven by budget pressure: TSA screened 906 million passengers in 2025 while equipment maintenance costs have roughly doubled to $600 million, and a 109-day partial government shutdown this fiscal year had screeners working without pay. This one is worth watching closely.
Jorge Luis Alverio Nunez says he suffered second-degree burns after walking barefoot just 20 steps from the pool to his lounge chair on the Lido Deck of Carnival Magic in May 2025. His lawsuit claims the API Syntheteak resin decking material used across Carnival’s fleet can reach temperatures capable of causing severe burns within seconds of contact, and that Carnival knew about it. The suit alleges at least 25 other guests were burned and 42 more complained about the deck temperatures in the six years before his injury, including passengers who spent portions of their cruises in wheelchairs from foot blisters. Carnival has not commented on pending litigation. He’s seeking more than $5 million. Wear your flip flops, people.
Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, has ruled that a five-star hotel in the Dolomites acted completely lawfully when a waiter refused to serve a tourist tap water and offered only €7 bottled mineral water instead. The woman from Rome sued for €2,700 in emotional distress and economic damages, arguing water is a universal human right and that tap water was as basic to a hotel stay as sheets on the bed. Three courts disagreed. The hotel’s lawyer argued there is simply no legal obligation in Italy to provide tap water, and that if she wanted running water she could get it anywhere else in the hotel, just not at the restaurant table. The case had been bouncing through the Italian court system since 2019. Worth noting: licensed venues in England and Wales are legally required to provide free drinking water on request. Italy, apparently, is a different story. Pack a bottle.
Margaritaville at Sea introduced its new Back-2-Back Sailing program, which gives passengers who book two consecutive sailings complimentary laundry service between voyages, an express pass for expedited debarkation at ports, and the option to keep the same stateroom when possible (or a free luggage transfer to a new one). If you’ve never tried a back-to-back cruise, it’s a genuinely great way to extend a vacation without paying twice for flights and hotels.
Virgin Atlantic rolled out free Starlink Wi-Fi across its entire fleet this week and celebrated the launch in the most Virgin Atlantic way possible: by putting the Sugababes on a London to New York flight and having them perform a live-streamed concert from the Upper Class cabin at 35,000 feet. Rolling Stone UK was on the flight and said the vocals on “Push The Button,” “Too Lost In You,” and “About You Now” were genuinely astonishing up close. The whole show ran on seat-back power using only the Starlink connection. Virgin Atlantic joins British Airways in allowing voice and video calls onboard (YUCK!).
Royal Caribbean’s ambitious plans for “Perfect Day Mexico” in Mahahual on Mexico’s southern Caribbean coast are dead, at least for now. Mexico’s environmental agency SEMARNAT denied the permits after a public comment period drew over 14,000 responses and a Greenpeace-fueled petition against the project gathered 4.8 million signatures. President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the rejection, citing threats to the local ecosystem. The planned development would have included over 30 waterslides, the tallest water tower slide in North and South America, the world’s longest lazy river, 12 restaurants, 24 bars, and an adults-only retreat, all spread across 200 acres. Royal Caribbean had projected growing annual visitors to the area from 2 million to 4.1 million by 2030. Local residents and environmental groups argued the region simply couldn’t handle that kind of development. Royal Caribbean hasn’t issued new public statements beyond expressing disappointment, and given the scale of the investment involved, this almost certainly isn’t the last we’ll hear about it.
While Royal Caribbean just had its waterpark dreams for Mexico shut down by the government, Norwegian Cruise Line is full steam ahead on its own. NCL just confirmed the grand opening date for its Great Tides Waterpark at Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas: September 4, 2026. The nearly six-acre park features 19 waterslides including a 170-foot Tidal Tower, the cruise industry’s first cliff jumps, an 800-foot wandering river, a 9,000-square-foot kids’ zone, and two bars inside the park. Day passes are now on sale through NCL.com for sailings on or after September 4. Passengers sailing Norwegian Luna’s August 29 sailing will get first crack at it. Kids three and under get in free. Norwegian has been betting big on attracting families and this is a major card to play.
SpaceX’s May 22 Starship Flight 12 test did not go as planned. The brand new V3 Super Heavy booster separated from the Starship vehicle successfully, but then immediately suffered what appeared to be an engine failure (or multiple failures) when it tried to perform the burn that would bring it back toward the launch site. The booster tumbled into the Gulf of Mexico and most likely exploded on impact. The Starship vehicle itself also lost one of its six Raptor engines. The FAA has now declared it a “mishap” and ordered SpaceX to investigate before any further launches, which also puts a wrench in SpaceX’s anticipated IPO timeline in mid-June. The booster failure is a setback for a program that is central to SpaceX’s entire growth strategy, including its Starlink service.
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.
