Travel in city Seattle, state Alaska

Over the weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded flights on all Boeing 737-9 Max planes following a harrowing incident on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 in which a plug door near the rear of the plane blew out at 16,000 feet, six minutes into a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, causing the cabin to lose pressure. Oxygen masks were deployed, and passengers described a rough ride as the plane quickly returned to the Portland airport; no one was seriously hurt, but several of the 177 people aboard were treated for minor injuries. The incident prompted a sweeping grounding of most of the 215 Boeing 737-9 Max planes that were flying worldwide.

Megaship fans are about to have a major new option for an Alaska cruise.

Even though the summer travel season is in full swing, Alaska Airlines is already planning for what's shaping up to be a busy winter.

Fall is shoulder season for Alaska, Mexico, and the Caribbean—and for fall cruises, that means emptier ships which allow booking windows to stay open longer. In other words, now is a great time to snag a last-minute sailing.

As much as I love cruises for various reasons like convenience and ease, eating really well while sailing the high seas is sadly the exception, not the norm. So as someone who routinely travels with good food in mind, I made it my mission to figure out how to make the most of the dining outlets aboard my latest adventure, a Royal Princess Cruise Ship traversing from Seattle to Alaska and back on the 7-Day Inside Passage (with Glacier Bay National Park).

Ever since Delta began ramping up operations in Seattle, Alaska Airlines’ hometown and main flight hub, the relationship between the two airlines has been disintegrating. And there was plenty to disintegrate. The carriers were long-time partners in each other’s frequent-flyer programs, and they code-shared on a host of flights. They were, in the industry vernacular, preferred marketing partners.

Alaska Airlines is planning ahead for warm-weather winter getaways with new routes from the West Coast to the Bahamas and Mexico.