Carnival Cruise Lines´ 2,642-passenger “Fun Ship” Carnival Destiny recently completed a 21-day dry dock stop that included an expansive new teen club, a renovated Lido restaurant and children´s pool, a redesigned casino, and updated suite accommodations. Following the multi-million-dollar renovation, which took place in Freeport, Bahamas, the 101,353-ton Carnival Destiny resumed its regular schedule of 7/24 southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan. On this route, Carnival Destiny departs every Sunday on weeklong voyages to St. Thomas/St. John, Dominica, Barbados and Aruba.

The Mexico Travel Agency Association reported this week that as many as 210,000 tourists have either called off their bookings or shifted to a new travel destination other than devastated Cancun. According to a brief press release read on CNN Travel Plan, many tourists have opted to change their trips out of Cancun and have been moved to nearby destinations like Cuba´s Varadero and Holguin.

The Federation of St Kitts & Nevis achieved a major milestone for Caribbean integration yesterday when it began issuing its new CARICOM passport to its citizens. Astona Browne, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Immigration, Justice and Labor, said St Kitts was eager to take the lead in the integration process. She acknowledged however, that the real significance of the document was that it shows the commitment of the country to CARICOM and it was serious about integration.

Old Bahama Bay on Grand Bahama Island suffered moderate damage from Hurricane Wilma and a reopening is expected within the next 30 days. The deepwater port at Freeport was affected by the storm surge, but has since reopened following complete damage assessments and Carnival Cruise Lines resumed port calls on October 26.

In an effort to transform Yahoo! Travel into a comprehensive online travel guide, Yahoo! Inc. has introduced a suite of new products. The company´s www.travel.yahoo.com has launched a new Trip Planner Beta, which enables users to create, tag, share and print customized trip itineraries, drawing upon content from Yahoo! Travel or from anywhere on the Web.

Fiery lava flows have attracted hundreds of tourists to the largest of the Galapagos Islands less than a week after a volcano began erupting there. The mile-high Sierra Negra volcano began erupting on October 22, but the island´s unique flora and fauna, including the famed Galapagos tortoises for which the archipelago is named, were unharmed.