If you're not lucky enough to fly on one of the few domestic carriers with seat–back entertainment (I'm looking at you, JetBlue!), in–flight entertainment can be a bummer.

Look for a Digiboo kiosk in an airport near you.

You've probably heard of Redbox, the service that allows you to rent DVDs from a kiosk and pay by the day. The system has become a hit among savvy travelers for its rent -- and -- return anywhere policy: simply rent a DVD from one location, watch the movie on the plane, and return it to any kiosk wherever you land with no additional fee. But what if you forget to stop by a Redbox on the way to the airport? Or what if your destination has no kiosks? Or what if you forget your DVD in the bottom of your carry–on and accumulate $100 in late fees? (Hey, it could happen!)

Digiboo, which launched in March, has come up with a solution: what if you didn't have to worry about disks at all? Instead, the service allows you to download a film file to a USB flash drive at airport kiosks and then put it directly on your laptop's hard drive.

The touchscreen kiosks are currently available in three domestic airports (Minneapolis–St. Paul, Portland and Seattle–Tacoma) with plans to expand. Digiboo features 700 titles, which you can rent for $3.99 for 48 hours (after that, the file no longer works) or buy for $14.99. And unlike iTunes movie downloads, which can often take surprisingly long to finish, especially on slow airport Wi-Fi, the download speed should be manageable for even the most in–a–rush traveler — 30 seconds for newer flash drives and up to five minutes on older ones.

The service is not without its kinks. Currently, the downloads are not compatible with Apple products, and videos are not HD. In addition, USB devices must be registered on their website before you can use them. But the company has stated there will be many updates in the coming months.

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Viator

Cruise lovers who hate being stuck with the expensive shore excursions offered by their cruise line can now find better value alternatives, thanks to a website launching today: Viator Shore Excursions.

The site, run by activity booking engine Viator, pledges discounts of up to 60 percent off the price of more than 500 comparable ship-arranged excursions.

Until now, cruise lines have had a near monopoly on the sale of shore excursions, which make up about 25 percent of a typical cruise line's profits. Viator's service amps up the price competition. There are other sources for deals out there worth trying, too, especially ShoreTrips.com and ShoreExcursionsGroup.com.

Searching for a shore excursion is straightforward. Enter your cruise ship name and sailing dates, and check the types of activities you prefer, such as jungle safari, privately led shopping tour, or a photography class. The site then shows you tours that sync up with your ship's itinerary. It works at more than 80 ports for all of the major cruise lines, such as Carnival, Holland America,Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), Princess, and Royal Caribbean.

For instance, the site is touting a Hilo, Hawaii, shore excursion to Volcanoes National Park to see active volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea as well as the gorgeous Rainbow Falls, from $59 a person. The comparable tour on NCL is currently $89 a person.

Viator's new site guarantees an on-time return to your ship or else it will pay the full costs of transporting you to the next port in time to catch up with your ship. In another perk, the company pledges that if you find a lower price for the tour elsewhere, it will refund the difference.

Tours are typically available to book up to a day in advance of arrival in port. In many cases there are no penalties if an excursion is canceled days ahead, though travelers should read the fine print on any offer before booking. In comparison, most cruise-arranged excursions can be canceled for a refund up to 36 hours in advance. Through April 30, 2012, bookings on Viator Shore Excursions that use the code SHOREX10 receive a 10 percent discount.

We hope the launch of the new site leads to a price war on shore excursions, which would be good news for anyone who likes to cruise affordably.

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Slideshow: National Cherry Blossom Festival's 100th anniversary

Karen Bleier / AFP - Getty Images

This year marks 100 years since the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki to Washington, D.C.

Launch slideshow

It doesn't get much more beautiful than blossom season, and while cherry trees tend to get all the love this time of year, there are plenty of other arboreal displays to admire. The problem — for those of us who aren't particularly savvy about these things — is figuring out exactly what kind of tree you're appreciating at any given time.

Turns out, an app we featured last fall in our roundup of leaf–peeping–season gear is just as useful for shedding a light on spring's spellbinding displays as it is for illuminating fall's most colorful foliage.

The Leafsnap app, which works with iPhones and iPads (and is free), is a continually–updated electronic field guide that puts 2,500 high–res photos of native American trees' leaves, bark, fruit and flowers in the palm of your hand. Flip through the images in the database for fun, or snap a photo with your device and upload it to the app to find the match.

And if you just feel like doing some armchair blossom–spotting, check out the Field Guide to Flowering Trees of the World Flickr group; it's got more than 11,000 photos of some 1,300 different species of tree, all labeled with their scientific names.

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Don't look like a tourist in Chile by eating french fries with your fingers. Use a fork instead. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

You have good manners, right? After all, you (usually) keep your elbows off the table and say "Please pass the salt," right? But when you head abroad, things get a little more complicated. Case in point: Rest your chopsticks the wrong way, and you might remind a Japanese friend of their grandmother's funeral (Rule 2). But knowing what the etiquette rules are won't just save you from some awkward situations, says Dean Allen, author of the "Global Etiquette Guide" series. It can also help you make friends. "It's really a statement of your openness and awareness of the fact that the people you're with ... may in fact see the world differently," he says. "It's simply going to get you out of the tourist bubble." Sound good? Then here are 15 rules to keep in mind.

In Thailand, don't put food in your mouth with a fork.

Instead, when eating a dish with cooked rice, use your fork only to push food onto your spoon. A few exceptions: Some northern and northeastern Thai dishes are typically eaten with the hands — you'll know you've encountered such a dish if the rice used is glutinous or "sticky." Also, stand-alone items that are not part of a rice-based meal may be eaten with a fork. But, says Leela Punyaratabandhu, a food writer who blogs at SheSimmers.com, the worst thing to do at a traditional, rice-based meal would be to use chopsticks. "That is awkward and inconvenient at best and tacky at worst," she says.

In Japan, never stick your chopsticks upright in your rice.

Between bites, your chopsticks should be placed together right in front of you, parallel to the edge of the table — and nowhere else, says Mineko Takane Moreno, Japanese cooking instructor and co-author of "Sushi for Dummies." (If there is a chopsticks rest, you use it, putting the tips you've been eating with on the rest.) But sticking them upright in a bowl of rice is even worse: During funerals in Japan, the rice bowl of the deceased is placed before their coffin ... with their chopsticks upright in the rice. So what would she rather see: Someone doing that at a meal, or asking for a fork? Mineko doesn't hesitate. "Asking for a fork," she says.

In the Middle East, India and parts of Africa, don't eat with your left hand.

In South India, you shouldn't even touch the plate with your left hand while eating. That's largely because the left hand is associated with, um, bodily functions, so it's considered to be dirty. In fact, says Allen, don't even pass important documents with your left hand. A lefty? Then it's okay to use your left hand — as long as you take your right hand out of the game.

At a traditional feast in Georgia, it's rude to sip your wine.

At what Georgians call a supra (traditional feast), wine is drunk only at toasts. So wait for those ... and then down the whole glass at once. On the upside, says Georgia-based photographer and videographer Paul Stephens, the glasses tend to be on the small side.

In Mexico, never eat tacos with a fork and knife.

Worried about spilling refried beans and salsa all over your front? Tough. Mexicans think that eating tacos with a fork and knife looks silly and, worse, snobby — kind of like eating a burger with silverware. So be polite: Eat with your hands.

In Italy, drink a cappuccino only before noon.

Some Italians say that a late-day cappuccino upsets your stomach, others that it's a replacement for a meal (it's common to have just a cappuccino, or a cappuccino and a croissant, for breakfast). Either way, you won't see Italians ordering one in a café at 3 p.m. — and certainly not after a big dinner. Do so, and you'll be instantly branded a tourist. If you need that coffee fix, though, an espresso is fine.

In Britain, always pass the port to the left — and remember the Bishop of Norwich.

It's unclear why passing port on the left is so important; some say it has to do with naval tradition (the port side of a boat is on your left if you're facing the helm). Regardless, passing the decanter to the right is a big gaffe. So is not passing it at all. If you're at a meal and the decanter stalls, then ask the person with it, "Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?" If they say they don't know him, reply, "He's a very good chap, but he always forgets to pass the port." It sounds weird, but it's true. This is such a nationwide tradition, the Telegraph newspaper wrote an article on it.

In France, don't eat your bread as an appetizer before the meal.

Instead, eat it as an accompaniment to your food or, especially, to the cheese course at the end of the meal. That said, one thing that would be a faux pas anywhere else — placing bread directly on the table and not on a plate — is perfectly acceptable in France. In fact, it's preferred.

In China, don't flip the fish.

Although you might be used to flipping over a whole fish once you've finished one side, don't — at least not when you're in China, especially southern China and Hong Kong. That's because flipping the fish is dao yue in Chinese, a phrase similar to "bad luck." Plus, says Allen, "to flip the fish over is like saying that the fisherman's boat is going to capsize." The most superstitious will leave the bottom part untouched, while others will pull off the bone itself to get to the bottom.

In Italy, don't ask for parmesan for your pizza — or any other time it's not explicitly offered.

Putting parmigiano on pizza is seen as a sin, like putting Jell-O on a fine chocolate mousse. And many pasta dishes in Italy aren't meant for parmesan: In Rome, for example, the traditional cheese is pecorino, and that's what goes on many classic pastas like bucatini all'amatriciana, not parmesan. A rule of thumb: If they don't offer it to you, don't ask for it.

Don't eat anything, even fries, with your hands at a meal in Chile.

Manners here are a little more formal than many other South American countries. So while it might be the most practical to just pick up those fries with your fingers, don't do it. "The greater need is to identify with European culture, so food is [eaten] with a knife and a fork," Allen says.

In Korea, if an older person offers you a drink, lift your glass to receive it with both hands.

Doing so is a sign of respect for elders, an important tenet of Korean culture. After receiving the pour with both hands, you should turn your head away and take a discreet sip, says Stephen Cha-Kim, a Korean-born worker's rights advocate who regularly visits family in Korea. "To this day, if anybody hands me anything, both hands shoot out instinctively," Cha-Kim says. Similarly, don't start eating until the eldest male has done so (and don't leave the table until that person is finished).

Never mix — or turn down — vodka in Russia.

The beverage is always drunk neat — and no, not even with ice. Adding anything is seen as polluting the drink's purity (unless the mixer is beer, which produces a formidable beverage known as yorsh). But there's another faux pas that's even worse, says Allen: when you're offered the drink and you turn it down. Since offering someone a drink is a sign of trust and friendship, it's a good idea to take it. Even if it is 9 a.m.

When drinking coffee with Bedouins in the Middle East, shake the cup at the end.

Typically, anyone Bedouin — or Bedouin-related — will continue to pour you more coffee once you've finished unless you shake the cup, meaning tilting the cup two or three times, when you hand it back. It's such an important tip, says Middle East-based freelance correspondent Haley Sweetland Edwards, that last year, Bedouins she was eating with in Qatar made her practice it until she got it right.

In Brazil, play your tokens wisely.

At a churrascaria, or a Brazilian steakhouse, servers circle with cuts of meat and diners use tokens to place an order. If a server comes out with something you want, make sure your token, which you'll have at your table, has the green side up. If you don't want any more, flip it with the red side up. Since the meat can be never-ending, it's important to strategize — if you leave that token green side up you could end up ordering a lot more than you intended. 

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Illustration by Erin McLaughlin

If you book hotels online, it's time to face facts: Your favorite travel website probably isn't cutting it. In the past decade, some of the best-known travel sites have lost their fastball. They're not as smart and nimble as the new kids on the Web that now have tools for smarter comparison shopping, searches for smaller B&Bs and niche neighborhoods, and access to blocks of rooms reserved for its members.

Before you try these, one word of caution: No single site is the be-all-and-end-of-all of hotel booking. We recommend using at least two search tools, such as your current favorite online travel agency and one of the hotel shopping engines we've named here, to max out your chances of nabbing the perfect room or upgrade. Happy shopping!

BackBid

Best for: Travelers who like the idea of hotel owners competing for their business.

What it does: Hoteliers often hold back a handful of rooms to sell to last-minute guests, but they don't always fill them. You can book one of these rooms as they're released by logging on to BackBid, which enables hotels to sell rooms to travelers who already have confirmed bookings at rival properties.

How it works: Book a refundable reservation at a hotel through your favorite website, and then create a free account at BackBid. Forward the email with your confirmed hotel reservation to the site, and it will shoot your reservation details — minus your credit card information — to dozens of hotels at your destination. BackBid will then share with you any counter-offers rival hotels may make, such as a comparable room at a lower rate.

Recent steal: In a test, an editor forwarded to BackBid a confirmation email for his $199 a night reservation at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Seattle. A day later, bids poured in from 17 Seattle hotels, which included a pitch from the Hilton Seattle, only 1.5 miles away and with better amenities, for a comparable room with a king size bed for $179 a night rate. All things considered, it's a reasonable inconvenience for a 10 percent or better savings.

Snags: Launched in November 2011, the site remains limited to a few hundred properties in 20 major U.S. cities.

DealBase

Best for: Travelers who want an independent source to vouch for the honesty of vacation package prices.

What it does: Many hotels tout packages that include perks, such as valet parking and a spa treatment, claiming that the package prices represent deep discounts over buying the components separately. DealBase vets each package for its true value.

How it works: Use DealBase to pick a hotel package at your destination, then click on the listing for a breakdown of the estimated costs of the package's components. (The site even publishes a list of the "worst" hotel deals.)

Recent steal: In California, the Ventura Beach Marriott recently showcased a "Ventura Shopping Package" that came with a $50 Visa gift card, breakfast for two at the property's restaurant, valet parking and a welcome gift, bookable any day of the week through 2012. DealBase highlighted the package, which it discovered on the hotel's site, and calculated that travelers could save a third off by booking the package instead of its parts one by one. DealBase showed how it did its math, noting the costs of the valet parking ($15), the breakfast ($60), and the welcome gift (containing a city map, some gourmet candy, and bottles of water) at $30. The site said the overall package represented a 36 percent discount off it's à la carte value.

Snags: DealBase includes sponsored listings and identifies them as such. Readers have to take on faith that the site reviews all packages impartially, including ones it has been paid to mention.

HotelSweep

Best for: Travelers who prefer staying at independently owned properties.

What it does: Founded this year, HotelSweep lists more than 50,000 U.S. hotels, motels, B&Bs and guesthouses, scraping listings off countless websites. (A British version, hotelsweep.co.uk, does the same thing for lodging in the United Kingdom.) One of the perks of the site is that it lists mom-and-pop properties — places that generally aim to attract budget-conscious travelers, but are too small to afford the costs of being listed with multinational travel agencies.

How it works: Punch your destination into HotelSweep's "direct hotel search" tool, and the site will fetch a quick list of properties, which you can sort by nightly rate or distance from a particular location. A Google Street View image of the property is provided, but it's up to you to take the next step and contact the managers and book a room. If that is too much work, HotelSweep also has a "live price comparison" tool, which is a standard booking engine powered by HotelsCombined.com, an Australian rival to Kayak, though it doesn't include all of the mom-and-pop listings that turn up in the "direct hotel search" tool.

Recent steal: In a hunt for New York City lodging, HotelSweep's "direct hotel search" tool dug up more than a thousand properties. The cheapest listing was Hostelling International, a property with rates from $29 a night per person. Surprisingly, the hostel has earned decent user ratings and reviews with TripAdvisor and a review from Lonely Planet, even though Expedia hadn't heard of it.

Snags: HotelSweep isn't vetting properties. It simply lists any place that has a Web presence. So, it puts you in hardcore "buyer beware" territory. Also, the live comparison tool doesn't include all the properties in the hotel search tool, so you might have to work harder to make a booking.

Hipmunk

Best for: Culture vultures and nightlife fans who want to stay in the buzziest neighborhoods.

What it does: Previously a metasearch site for airfare, Hipmunk last year added hotels to its repertoire. One of its signature tricks is to allow a traveler to name his or her favorite interest, such as nightlife, shopping and museum-hopping, and the site will filter its listings to only display hotels in neighborhoods with an especially high number of relevant venues, such as bars, boutiques and museums.

How it works: Run a search for a hotel like you would on any travel site, and Hipmunk retrieves real-time rates from booking sites, such as Orbitz, Getaroom, Hotels.com, HotelsCombined and vacation rental platform Airbnb. Hipmunk also assigns an "ecstasy" rating to each hotel, based on an evaluation of the property's rates, amenities and user reviews on TripAdvisor.

Recent steal: A recent search for hotels in L.A. turned up dozens of hotels that Hipmunk gave high "ecstasy" scores. A click on a button labeled "nightlife" revealed a map with a downtown district near Pershing Square that has a dense concentration of clubs and bars. Clicking on the neighborhood on the map revealed a few properties with a high "ecstasy" rating, including the Miyako Hotel for $116 a night.

Snags: The site is primarily map-driven, and people who find maps confusing might find Hipmunk equally off-putting.

Momondo

Best for: Travelers booking hotels overseas who have been disappointed by the selection on U.S.-based travel agencies.

What it does: In 2010, Momondo, moved beyond being a flight metasearch engine and now lists hotels from major overseas hotel booking sites, such as Escapio and Hotelopia, which tend to be overlooked by U.S.-based travel sites like Expedia. It also includes an option to search for hostels.

How it works: Like Kayak, you enter your search query, and the site draws up a list of rates from various online travel agencies and hotel sites.

Recent steal: In a search this winter for hotels in Zurich, Momondo uncovered 185 hotels (and about 330 other types of lodging, such as hostels), compared with 133 hotels on Booking.com and 125 on Orbitz. Momondo put at the top of its search results properties with the most central locations, highest star ratings, lowest prices and best user reviews. Its top pick: Hotel Rothaus, on Langstrasse in the city's entertainment district, with room rates from $104. Booking.com had the hotel buried in its search results for $140 a night on the same dates, and Orbitz had it for $139.

Snags: Compared with American giants, such as Hotels.com and Priceline.com, Momondo wasn't great at finding hotels in the United States.

Room 77

Best for: Travelers whose priority is a room with the most amenities.

What it does: Room 77 is unique in researching room-by-room amenities and floor plans for hundreds of three- to five-star hotels in about 30 North American, European and Asian cities. It then facilitates booking a particular type of room.

How it works: Room 77 works like a typical hotel search engine, only it goes into much greater detail about the amenities available in individual rooms at hotels, such as what the view might be from any given window. Guests who book directly through Room 77 can take advantage of its free "room concierge" feature, in which it contacts hotel managers on a guest's behalf to request a room matching his or her preferences, such as "connecting rooms" and "distance from elevators." There are no guarantees, but the site claims that its customers have a high satisfaction rate with its concierge service.

Recent steal: A recent search on Room 77 for a hotel stay in Seattle turned up a list of properties, matched with their rates. One listing was for Courtyard Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square, and Room 77 included specific booking tips, such as the fact that rooms with numbers ending in 3 (i.e., 1003) above the tenth floor are among the most spacious and have some of the prettiest views. Room 77 also reveals blueprints of rooms, overlaid on a Google map. Clicking on the silhouette of room 1105 at the Courtyard Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square, for instance, reveals that it is 28 feet from the elevator, has 300 square feet of space and a view of Puget Sound. Room 77 lists current rates through multiple websites, such as Expedia and Booking.com, including taxes and fees.

Snags: The site only lists specific details for about 5,000 properties, most of which are from major U.S. chains. Room 77's room descriptions are also fairly generic and positive. For truly warts-and-all insights like "room smells of blow dryer and dead mouse," turn to TripAdvisor user-reviews.

Room Key

Best for: Travelers who prefer the consistency and quality control of U.S.-owned chain hotels, and don't want to be distracted with information about other places.

What it does: Seven hotel chains — Best Western, Choice Hotels (Comfort Inn, Quality Inn), Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo), Marriott and Wyndham (Howard Johnson, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8) — are listing their rooms together in a new search engine. Unlike major online travel agencies like Expedia and Priceline, Room Key limits its selection to chains, eliminating most of the uncertainty about what kind of hotel you might end up with.

How it works: Punch in your destination and travel dates and the site brings up a list of relevant hotels, which you can winnow using the standard tools, such as distance, price and star rating. When you decide to book, you're sent directly to a hotel-owned website, where you'll need to enter your credit card number to book the room. Booking directly with the hotel cuts out the middleman and earns you customer loyalty points.

Recent steal: In a recent search, the Hilton Atlanta turned up for $179 a night on Room Key, compared with $219 on Expedia, for the same dates and type of room.

Snags: Only about 27,000 hotels — with limited international choices — are currently listed, compared with the more than 100,000 posted on the major online travel agencies.

YourRoomKey

Best for: Travelers looking mostly for American business-type hotels.

What it does: Finds the cheapest rooms at major-brand hotels located at America's largest airports and financial districts — and nearly nowhere else.

How it works: This consolidator has access to rooms at a volume discount with major brands like Hyatt and Marriott at most major U.S. airports (especially Chicago, Denver, L.A., Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.). By only allowing members to see deals, the site is able to offer rates much lower than major chains and websites with lowest-price guarantees offered to the general public.

Recent steal: A recent search on YourRoomKey for a room near Chicago's O'Hare Airport on less than a week's notice turned up a room at the Holiday Inn with a queen-size bed, free Internet and a free airport shuttle ride, for $52 a night. A comparable room at the same hotel on the same date went for $97 on Kayak and $109 on Travelocity.

Snags: You have to create an account with the site to be able to see any of its listings. Membership is free, but it can take a day or so to activate. 

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The offer of a larger rental car at the same rate used to be a happy surprise. But now a free upgrade is bad news, given that a bigger car usually means a giant gasoline bill.

Consumer requests for fuel-efficient cars have spiked this winter, according to spokespeople for Hertz, Budget, and Thrifty rental car chains. In the past two months, fuel prices have jumped 50 cents a gallon, to a national average of $3.77. At and near major airports, it’s often difficult to fill up even a compact car for under $50.

So what to do?

1. Search online for an economy- or compact-car that's fuel-efficient. Budget, for instance, has a page that lists its most fuel efficient cars. Other rental chains do, too. Thrifty recommends its Chevrolet Aveo sedan, which delivers an impressive EPA estimated 25 miles per gallon for city driving, and 34 for highway. Hertz has about 35,000 cars nationwide that are rated at 28 miles-per-gallon or better, though its rates tend to be higher than the national average, unless sometimes when booked in advance.

2. Don't obsess about renting a hybrid. Gas-electric hybrids consist of fewer than 1 in 1,500 cars in the U.S. fleets of the largest chains, which means they aren't widespread enough to rely on routinely. For instance, I tried to book a hybrid vehicle in Chicago through five agencies. For a three-day rental three days in advance, only Alamo, Hertz, and National had hybrids. Chains also tend to charge higher rates for hybrids, which savings at the pump may not offset. Most hybrids tend to be at airport locations, too, where taxes and fees tend to be significantly higher than off-airport rentals. Unless you live in a hybrid-heavy location, such as San Francisco, you may actually save money by renting a fuel-efficient traditional car.

3. Consider pre-paying if you plan to return the car on empty. We know it goes against the standard advice, but at some airports, rental car agencies are pledging that their pre-pay fuel rates are about 20 cents cheaper than the average rate in the airport area. By some estimates, about a third of the time it makes better financial sense to accept the prepaid offer than going to an off-airport gas station. Remember, there's no refund for leftover fuel, so plan ahead.

4. When on the road, seek out cheap gas. Drive a block or two in from the highway for generally cheaper prices. Look for warehouse clubs like BJ's and Costco, which typically sell gas really cheaply and don’t require you to be a member to fuel up. Use gas-station price-monitoring free apps like Cheap Gas and websites like Gasbuddy to check out local rates near your rental car location. AAA's TripTik planner includes a map of your route with relevant gas stations and their rates. Google and Mapquest maps also often have an option you can check to show a layer with gas station locations on maps you print out.

5. Ease off the pedal. Autos are at optimal fuel efficiency when driven at about 55 miles per hour. Go up to 65 mph for any length of time and you'll pay roughly 20 cents a gallon more at the pump at current rates.

This story originally appeared on Budget Travel.

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Courtesy of Princess Cruises

It's easy to get lost amid the amenities on a cruise ship. Knowing a few tips can make the journey even more enjoyable.

1. Choose your cabin wisely

Choosing a cabin is all about location, location, location. Check the ship's layout online before booking, and opt for a room with passenger floors above and below you. You don't want to try to sleep right under the disco, the casino or the running track.

2. Pack smartly

Most cruise lines offer certain drinks for free — juice, lemonade, iced tea, coffee, milk, tea — but you'll have to pay for soda. If you're a caffeine addict, pack a bottle or two. Unlike on a plane, you won't have to worry about paying for the added weight.

3. Plan our schedule

For fire-safety reasons, cabins don't have their own irons. Don't wait until the last minute to tackle your evening wardrobe. You can find shared irons down the hall in the laundry room, but lines often form before mealtimes. Opt for off-hours (like mornings).

4. Wake up early

It's easy to lose track of time in a windowless interior cabin. Before going to sleep, tune into the ship's bridge-camera channel for real-time videos of the front (or bow) of the boat. The screen will act like a virtual porthole, and you'll rise and shine with the sunrise.

5. Get your email without paying roaming charges

Internet phone services like Vonage can be programmed to send transcribed voice mails to your email in-box. That way, you can check your home answering machine quickly at an Internet cafe without paying insane roaming fees on your cell. The transcriptions won't always be perfect, but you'll get the gist.

6. Keep an eye on your towels

Don't assume you can save a spot at the pool with your towel. Cruise lines give you one pool towel at the start of the cruise. If you don't have it (or a cleaned trade-in) at the end, you'll get charged. If you let it out of your sight, you run the risk of losing it or having it stolen by a fellow cruiser.

7. Know when to prepare for rough seas

If your tablecloth is wet at dinner, you should prepare for rough seas. Restaurant staffers have been known to slightly dampen the tablecloth to keep plates and glasses from sliding.

8. Find lost bags

If the porters haven't delivered your luggage to your door by the first night of the cruise, check what our experts call the "naughty room." Security will store any bags containing contraband (like candles, alcohol or coffeemakers) in this centralized location until you come claim it. You'll be able to pick up your bag on the first night, but banned items will not be returned until the end of the trip.

9. Fix up your room

Make your cabin homier by packing a small collapsible vase and a bouquet of flowers.

10. Take better pictures

If you go directly from the air-conditioned ship out onto the open-air deck (which is usually warmer and more humid in most cruise destinations), your camera's lens is likely to fog up. Warm the camera with your cabin's hairdryer on a low setting or briefly leave it out on your balcony so it can acclimate to the weather.

11. Ccommunicate with your cabin mates

If you even manage to get a cell signal while at sea, your roaming charges will be outrageous. To communicate with your cabinmates, leave Post-it Notes on your door detailing where you'll be throughout the day.

12. Find your way on any ship

If you get lost on a ship, remember that most share a common layout. The lido-deck buffet restaurant, for example, will almost always be in the back to accommodate comfortable outdoor seating in the least windy part of the ship, while the lounge/theater will be in the front because wind is not a factor (there are no windows). 

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Weddings, reunions, graduations, new babies, business trips — are you taking fewer leisure vacations because of the time and money you devote to obligation travel?

According to a recent survey commissioned by Hotwire.com, 41 percent of traveling U.S. adults spend the majority of their vacation budget on obligation travel. And 89 percent of respondents said they would take more leisure trips if they had the time and the money to do so.

For its American Travel Behavior Survey, Hotwire commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct an online survey of 2,127 U.S. adults from July 27-29, 2011.

According to the survey, 94 percent of respondents said that they would take one more trip than they already had planned if they could afford it.

The solution, suggests Hotwire, is combining the obligation travel with leisure time. Work sending you to a conference in Orlando? Bring the spouse and kids so they can enjoy some time at the local theme parks.

Family reunion back home? Try to tack on a weekend getaway for some time away from everything — and everyone. 

But there are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. If it's a personal trip, a family event or gathering, travelers still have to find the time and money to get there, and any extra time spent away is just that, more time and money.

That said, if you're already paying for a flight somewhere, it might be more economical to just add on some extra time rather than book an entirely separate flight and vacation elsewhere.

If there is a business trip element, there are potential savings to be had on at least one person's transportation costs and possibly the accommodations, depending on the business trip. But then, the person working might be unavailable for part or all of the trip.

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Luggage makers always strive to respond to the growing demand from travelers for lighter and tougher suitcases. Their latest solution is baggage made of an ultra-lightweight yet highly durable material: polycarbonate resin.

The big surprise is that hard-sided cases have suddenly become popular again, now that they're as light as soft-sided bags. A 22-inch carry-on made of polycarbonate weighs a mere four-and-a-half pounds, the same as a traditional soft-sided piece made of nylon, and much lighter than traditional ABS hard-sided material. How light is four-and-a-half pounds? That’s light enough to hold a bag with your forefinger, when the bag is empty. Yet the plastic is still tough enough to avoid getting dented.

The glossy material isn’t new: Polycarbonate has successfully been used in motorcycle helmets, bulletproof glass and riot-police shields for a couple of decades now. In 2000, German luggage maker Rimowa introduced the material into luggage. Ironically, travelers were unnerved by how lightweight the luggage felt, worrying that it would prove to be flimsy, and the product didn’t catch on right away.

Yet sales of polycarbonate luggage recently began to take off in a big way, according to the Travel Goods Association. These suitcases are replacing old-fashioned cases at higher prices. Even Zero Halliburton, a luggage maker that’s famous for selling aluminum cases, says it is experiencing its strongest sales for its line of polycarbonate suitcases, such as the 19-inch Z-TEX (about $325).

Here are a few reasons to explain the current sales boom: Enough manufacturers have designs made of polycarbonate resin now that competition is bringing prices down from $800 a decade ago to as low as $140 now. Additionally, airlines have ramped up their fees for oversize and overweight luggage, so fitting everything into a single compact bag has become increasingly crucial.

Changing fashion is another factor. The polycarbonate material is eye-catching, because it can easily be dyed in brilliant colors, such as shiny tomato red, cobalt blue, and gleaming silver. Travelers seem to have become more willing to explore bold colours in their baggage. Black, which was the near uniform color choice of a decade ago, is today mixed with a wider array of hues and patterns, probably for the practical reason of speeding up identification of a bag in a pile at an airport carousel.

Budget Travel found a few types of the new luggage that are stylish, lightweight, sturdy and affordable:

Samsonite, the world’s largest branded luggage maker, showcases the Gravtec line of polycarbonate suitcases, imprinted with a raised-edge pattern. A 24-inch size model runs was recently for sale at $180 from ebags.com.

Britain’s Antler brand creates the Liquis 4 Wheeled Super Lightweight 22-inch carry-on, with a shiny and grooved polycarbonate outer shell in blue, red, or silver, with four multi-directional wheels at its base, recently from $299 at ebags.

Rimowa developed the technology to make polycarbonate luggage and today makes some of the chicest models, such as its Salsa 22-inch Globetrotter ($450 recently at Zappos). A zipper joins the two luggage halves in an improbable design, with four multi-directional wheels at the base.

All this news reminds me of the movie "The Graduate." Today, adults might tell kids that the future will be in polycarbonates.

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'Tis the season for traveling like Santa and his elves, with tons of gifts and packages in tow.

The Transportation Security Administration has several reminders for travelers bringing their holiday gifts onto a flight.

First off, remember that any liquid, aerosol or gel items are subject to the 3.4-ounce limit for carry-ons.

That includes these popular holiday foods, treats and gifts: cranberry sauce; cologne; creamy dips and spreads (including cheeses and peanut butter); gift baskets with food items such as salsa, jams and salad dressings; gravy; jams; jellies; lotions; maple syrup; oils and vinegars; perfume; salad dressing; salsa; sauces; snow globes; soups; wine, liquor and beer.

Pies and cakes can be brought through security, but are subject to additional screening (whatever that means! A TSA taste test maybe?).

Fliers are permitted to travel with wrapped gifts, but if the gifts set off the security alarm or there are any red flags, security officers may have to peel away your pretty paper take a closer look inside.

“We recommend passengers wrap gifts after their flight or ship them ahead of time, to avoid the possibility of having to open them during the screening process,” TSA advises.

So, really think about what’s in those packages, as it’s easy to forget about the contents once they’re wrapped.

Case and point, I was flying with gifts for my brother and his family one year, when airport security pulled me aside to tell me there was a foot-long knife in my carry-on. I couldn’t believe what they were telling me, and turned bright red and flustered. As it turned out, I had packed an at-home, sushi-making set for my brother that, indeed, included a foot-long sushi knife. But because it had been a couple weeks since I had wrapped it, I forgot about the knife. They confiscated the blade and I had to gift the sushi set minus one of its main ingredients.

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Today a U.S. citizen received a prison sentence of two and a half years for breaking Thailand's "never bad-mouth the King" laws, reports the LA Times.

This case shows that foreign visitors to Thailand are not exempt from the country's laws against defaming the monarchy.

In this particular case, Thai-born Joe Gordon, a 55-year-old used-car salesman, wrote a blog posting several years ago — while he was living in Colorado — that included a Web link to a site featuring an unflattering biography of the king. Gordon then made the mistake last May of visiting Thailand for its famously affordable medical clinics.

Yes, he was jailed today for something he wrote in the US several years ago.

To be sure, Gordon's case is extreme, and the average American traveler's chances of being arrested abroad are only .006 percent.

But Gordon's case does underline an important point that affects all travelers: A few laws may be so unexpected that they can catch even culturally sensitive Americans off guard. In the case of Thailand, travelers may discover that police are obliged to investigate every complaint that someone has defamed the monarchy, and prison terms can last up to 15 years.

Here are four other surprising foreign laws to watch out for while vacationing abroad, based on reporting by journalist Katherine Spiers.

• Over-the-counter medicines in the U.S. are sometimes illegal in Japan, and that includes some Vicks and Sudafed products and anything else containing pseudoephedrine. If authorities at customs catch you with such products, they may detain you.
• Singapore puts a great deal of effort into keeping its public toilets (along with many other things) pristine. And visitors are expected to help keep them gleaming. Failure to flush may result in fines.
• Traveling by scooter in many major cities of the Philippines has its challenges: You can get ticketed for driving in sandals or bare feet.
• In Finland, taxi drivers playing music in their cars are required to pay a copyright fee. The idea is that the music is being presented to the "public" — the cabs' paying customers. So your cabbie might keep things quiet to save a few euros.

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