While women have been traveling the world on their own for decades (centuries, really), a 2024 report from Booking.com reveals that solo travel is surging this year, in particular.The booking engine says 54 percent of women are embracing solo journeys.A separate report from Road Scholar, which offers educational travel for older adults, says up to 85 percent of the company’s tour participants that travel solo are women. These reports underscore what plenty of female travelers have long known: Solo women travelers are a force to be reckoned with. Write us off at your own peril.Within the travel industry itself, there are a number of high-profile solo female travelers who are constantly serving up an inspiring look at what it’s like to be a woman exploring the world boldly - doing so with comfort, ease, and a level sheer joy that’s contagious.So, rather than publish another staid round-up of destinations that might be worth considering if you’re a woman traveling alone, we asked a handful of these fearless, globetrotting women what their favorite destinations are to explore solo and why.Consider this your insider’s destination guide, curated by a handful of women who, collectively, have visited nearly every corner of the globe and have done so with abandon.
These are the 10 dirtiest cruise ships, according to the CDC — including an ultra-luxury vessel
14.10.2024 - 21:53 / insider.com / Royal Caribbean / Crystal Serenity
On most exams, a "B" is considered a passing grade.
For cruise ships, scoring an 85 out of 100 on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program review is considered a failure.
The CDC has reported 10 bacterial and viral outbreaks on cruise ships since the start of 2024. Most cases have been norovirus, as these often-packed floating hotels can quickly propagate the highly contagious bug through contaminated water, food, surfaces, and people.
If you're one of its unlucky victims, it could quickly ruin your vacation — the four predominant symptoms of norovirus, also known as the stomach flu, are vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain.
To mitigate these outbreaks, the CDC randomly conducts sanitary inspections on cruises without prior notice to the vessel. The public health agency then scores the ship from zero to 100, with outcomes of 85 or lower considered inadequate.
The review includes checking common spaces like kitchens, hot tubs, and children's activity centers.
Obvious issues, like vermin and improperly stored foods, will dock points. So will less apparent details, such as buffet handwashing stations with light sources less than 110 lux and the infrequency with which the swimming pool's hair and lint strainer is disinfected.
The CDC has inspected 119 cruise ships so far in 2024. The majority scored about 95, while 19 achieved perfect marks.
However, 11 vessels did not break into the 90s range, including two that failed to pass:
The CDC inspected 181 cruise ships in 2023. Only one, MSC Seaside, scored below 85, but it was reinspected three months later and bumped to 92.
According to the public health agency's cruise review database, 75 ships have failed to exceed 85 since 1991. Hanseatic Inspiration is tied with Rederij Clipper Stad Amsterdam's Stad Amsterdam for the sixth-lowest score ever, although the latter most recently received 91 in 2019.
The CDC's review of Hapag-Lloyd's vessel noted violations such as a maggot-infested decomposing bird under the outdoor grill and dead insects in areas with food.
A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd told BI that the score does not reflect the company's standards. Following the inspection, the cruise line conducted an internal investigation and "intensive training sessions with external and internal trainers."
It plans to submit its corrective report to the CDC on time (the Vessel Sanitation Program manual states companies must submit their "corrective-action statements" within two weeks of receiving the CDC's final report).
A Crystal spokesperson told BI that most of Crystal Serenity's violations were "operational items" that have since been addressed and corrected "through harmonization of procedures and additional training
CDC Reveals the Cleanest Cruise Ships in 2024
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Grupo Vidanta's 22 hotels are dotted across the beaches of Mexico, from Los Cabos to the Riviera Maya.
United Just Announced Its Biggest International Expansion Ever. Here Are the New Routes
In a move that has aviation circles buzzing, United Airlines announced its biggest international expansion ever, with eight new international cities added for 2025. The new routes span multiple continents and include destinations that are especially difficult to access, such as Senegal, Greenland, Taiwan, and Mongolia.
I spent $2 million restoring a cruise ship I bought on Craigslist. The project took over my life, but I don't regret it.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Christopher Willson, a 52-year-old retired engineer who spent more than 15 years renovating a cruise ship he named Aurora . The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm an American who has visited Scotland around a dozen times. Here are the 3 biggest mistakes I see tourists make.
This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Helene Sula, an American travel blogger and author of "Two O'Clock on a Tuesday at Trevi Fountain: A Search for an Unconventional Life Abroad." It has been edited for length and clarity.
These are the cleanest cruise ships this year, according to the CDC — including 19 with perfect scores
Cruise ships don't always have a squeaky-clean reputation for being ultra-clean. After all, there's a reason they've been infamously dubbed "floating Petri dishes."
I was a 'cart girl' on a golf course for 2 years. These are the 3 biggest mistakes I saw customers make.
Not long ago, I started working as a "cart girl" at my local golf course.
US Coast Guard in Hawaii Rescues Two Men From Princess Cruises Ship
Photograph from the U.S. Coast Guard Crown Princess Rescue. (Photo Credit: The United States Coast Guard - Hawaii Pacific)
Norwegian Cruise Line Is Now The Official Cruise Line of the NHL
Norwegian Cruise Line is now the official cruise line of the National Hockey League.
ChatGPT Advanced Voice: The Future of Travel Booking or the Death of OTAs?
If you haven’t experienced ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode yet, you’re missing out on a glimpse of the future of travel booking.
What Are the Seven Wonders of the World?
The Seven Wonders of the World: it’s a group as iconic as The Beatles, as ancient as history itself, and as lore-heavy as a Hinge date from Bushwick who really found themselves in Bali. And while seven may seem like a compact number—as with any great classic—there’s been a slew of reboots and sequels since the original list from the ancient world dropped nearly 2,000 years ago. We compiled our own list earlier this year, and have coined some sites ‘Eighth Wonders’ (including in this fun piece about New Zealand’s pink and white terraces from Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings). Even the so-called original list is likely a remix too, as the oft-cited first version from ancient Greek historian Herodotus exists only in reference, having been long lost since its days on the Museum of Alexandria’s shelves.