Things To Do In SW Florida

Disney Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Viking Ocean Cruises took the top spots among six categories in the 11th annual U.S. News & World Report Best Cruise Lines rankings.

The publication looks at 18 cruise lines and ranked them as the best for the money, best for families, for couples, best in the Caribbean, in the Mediterranean and best luxury lines.

Celebrity Cruises took the top spot for new category of best cruise line for the money, followed by Virgin Voyages and MSC Cruises.

Not surprisingly, Disney once again took the top spot for family, but also for best in the Caribbean.

Viking Ocean Cruises took the top spot for best line for couples, best line in the Mediterranean and best luxury line.

The publication continues to use what it calls “a comprehensive and transparent methodology that takes into account expert evaluations of ship quality, traveler ratings, health assessment results and other relevant factors,” according to a press release.

Here are the top 3 for each category, with full rankings available at travel.usnews.com/cruises read more

Orlando International Airport expects more than 1.9 million passengers this holiday season, a surge of people for a facility that weathered a higher rate of flight cancellations and delays than almost all other airports nationwide during last year’s winter travel season.

During the 2023 holiday season — from Nov. 17 to 28 and Dec. 14 to Jan 3 — Orlando’s major airport had the second-highest rate of canceled and delayed flights among the United States’ 50 busiest airports, according to the study by travel guide LocalsInsider.

The airport had 4,117 canceled flights and another 58 flights delayed, representing about 25% of total flights at the airport during the holidays. Last Thanksgiving Day alone, 1,340 flights were canceled or delayed.

Four of the top 10 airports with the highest rates of holiday flight cancellations and delays were in Florida.

Weather is a major factor in the cancellation or delays of flights leaving OIA and other Florida airports, said Angela Starke, spokeswoman for the Greater Orlando Airport Authority, which runs the facility. read more

By HALELUYA HADERO

Attorneys for Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX argued in a federal appeals court Monday that the National Labor Relations Board’s structure is unconstitutional, advancing a legal fight that may last into the Trump administration where Musk is expected to oversee bureaucratic cost-cutting.

A panel of three judges at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard separate oral arguments in the SpaceX and Amazon lawsuits, which the two companies initiated after the labor agency filed complaints against them in disputes about workers’ rights and union organizing.

A ruling in favor of the companies could immensely diminish – or paralyze – the nearly century-old agency, which is tasked with enforcing labor laws and settling labor-related complaints workers lodge against their employers. The issue may eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority and has issued rulings curbing the power of government agencies,

The three appellate judges who heard Monday’s arguments questioned the legal maneuvering by Amazon and SpaceX to get their cases to the 5th Circuit, where jurists nominated by Republican presidents dominate the appeals court. read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and DAVID KOENIG

NEW YORK (AP) — Spirit Airlines, the largest budget carrier in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. The airline said customers should not see any disruption to their travel plans while the process unfolds.

The filing followed years of struggles for the Florida-based airline, which is known for its no-frills, low-cost flights. Spirit failed to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, largely due to rising operating expenses and stiffer competition. The airline has lost more than $2.5 billion since the beginning of 2020 while also racking up mounting debt.

The bankruptcy proceedings are aimed at restructuring the company and shoring up its finances. Still, unease around the bankruptcy petition may have some travelers looking elsewhere for flights ahead of the busy holiday travel season.

Here’s what you need to know.

Will the Chapter 11 affect my booking or loyalty points with Spirit?

For now, it’s business as usual. Spirit says it expects to continue operating normally throughout the bankruptcy process, and that travelers can continue making reservations and taking flights without interruptions. read more

By MATTHEW DALY

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fossil fuel executive Chris Wright, Donald Trump’s choice for Energy secretary, is a strong supporter of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of the president-elect’s quest for U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change, and he could give fossil fuels a boost, including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.

CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, he describes himself as “a tech nerd turned entrepreneur” and promotes the idea that more fossil fuel production can lift people out of poverty around the globe.

Here are some things to know about Wright.

He has no experience in government

Wright has been chairman and CEO of Liberty Energy since 2011 and has no experience in government.

Liberty is a major energy industry service provider, with a focus on technology. Wright, who grew up in Colorado, earned an undergraduate degree at MIT and did graduate work in electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and MIT. In 1992, he founded Pinnacle Technologies, which helped launch commercial shale gas production through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. read more