| Cruise industry adopts new safety policy and Travel warning: Violence spreading in Mexico |
| News - Financial News |
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(CNN) -- Cruise lines are now required to conduct passenger safety drills before leaving port, under a rule announced by three cruise industry associations.The new policy is the first to come out of an internal cruise industry review announced last month in response to the Costa Concordia disaster. At least 16 people died and 16 are still missing following the ship's January 13 collision with rocks close to the shore of the Italian island of Giglio.Holding muster drills before leaving port goes beyond the existing legal requirement that passengers participate in the safety drills within 24 hours of embarking."There are various means of delivering passenger safety instructions and abandon ship instructions, but we believe ... the existing international requirement that we provide this instruction within 24 hours can be bettered by doing it immediately upon (passenger) boarding," said Michael Crye, executive vice president of Cruise Lines International Association. [Read the full article] (Budget Travel) -- The old adage about being happier than a kid in a candy store holds true, both at home and on the road.For Pittsburgh's Jon H. Prince, it's a Goldenberg's Peanut Chew that brings him back to childhood. And he knows candy: He's president of McKeesport Candy Company, where you can find 2,800 different types of confections (including many listed below). "Sweets are a unique window into social history," says Prince.In the Pacific Northwest, that history comes in a variation on the Turkish Delight made with apples and apricots from the local harvest. In Wisconsin, it's a candy so beloved that protests were staged when the factory closed. And in the south, it's all about the pralines, as it has been for 300 years.As a bonus for travelers, there's no sweeter way to sample local ingredients (macadamia nuts in Hawaii, maple syrup in Vermont, and um, salt water in New Jersey) than via local sweets. [Read the full article] Keep in mind that cocooning lovers miss out on some of the experiences only a lone, exposed individual invites. (Nope, not a mugging ... more on safety below.)Janice Waugh, 54, has had her share of independent adventures. She traveled solo in her 20s, and she's been traveling alone again since her husband passed away in 2006 and her kids left home. She shares what she's learned through her blog, Solo Traveler, and in her self-published "Solo Traveler's Handbook."Waugh is in the middle of her first trip to India. CNN chatted with her via Skype and e-mail about the benefits of an itinerary built for one.You're the boss. You can spend the day in a caf or check off six major tourist spots in 12 hours. "You aren't dragged places you don't want to go, and you don't feel like you're dragging people places either," Waugh said.Before her trip, Waugh met the owner of an Indian restaurant while dining in her hometown of Toronto. [Read the full article] 
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