Cruise vessel MV Polar Star with 115 people on board was temporarily grounded Monday morning off the Antarctica peninsula but managed to free itself with no injuries reported and no fuel leaks according to the Argentine Navy.

Costa Cruises cancelled all cruise calls to Egypt and Tunisia due to unrest in both countries. The U.S. Department of State recommends that U.S. citizens avoid travel to Egypt due to ongoing political and social unrest and also issued a travel alert about now-sporadic unrest in Tunisia.

Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) chairman George Nicholas last week issued an apology to Guyanese passengers who encounter difficulties while in transit in this country after meeting with Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo last Friday. In a press release issued on Saturday, CAL said Nicholas spoke with members of the media at a press conference held in Guyana subsequent to a meeting between Nicholas and Jagdeo on Friday at State House, Georgetown.

The Bahamas’ Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort named Steven R. Johnson account executive, with responsibility for the resort’s promotional efforts aimed at increasing visitor arrivals from Canada. Johnson is a native of Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, and served as director, convention and event sales for Tourism Saskatoon immediately prior to joining Our Lucaya.

Bermuda is expecting to see an 11 per cent increase in the number of cruise ship passengers visiting its shores this year.  Transport Minister Terry Lister announced today that a total of 385,200 passengers are projected to come here, compared to the 347,931 who visited last year.

The forecast is bright for St. Maarten as the island changed its status in October 2010 from an island territory of the Netherlands Antilles to an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With this change, the Honorable Franklin Meyers was named the new Minster of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Transportation and Telecommunications.