Scrambling for Refunds After Canceled Cruises

Customers of American Classic Voyages Inc. were left to seek refunds through credit card companies, travel insurers or federal bankruptcy court after the company canceled most of its voyages and filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Oct. 19. It was the second major cruise company in a month to file under Chapter 11, after Renaissance Cruises.

The U.S.-flag company said its bookings declined by half after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon--a drop that Chief Executive Officer Phil Calian called “a devastating blow to our business.” Before Oct. 19 several travel insurers had stopped writing policies for the cruise line, citing its debt risk.

American Classic Voyages had operated the Patriot and the Independence in Hawaii, under two subsidiary companies; four riverboats under its Delta Queen Steamboat Co. that ply rivers in the Midwest, South and Northwest; and one ship, the Cape May Light, under its Delta Queen Coastal Voyages line, which began operating along the eastern coast of the U.S. and Canada in May. It said it would lay off more than 2,000 people and would continue to operate only the Delta Queen steamboat.

Although some credit-card and insurance companies may cover customers booked on the canceled cruises, those not covered, including those who paid cash, must file claims with the Clerk of the Court for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the cruise company said. Such procedures can take months, if not years. A company spokeswoman said she did not know how many passengers are affected.

For more information, see https://www.amcv.com. (The company’s customer hotline, [800] 856-9904, simply referred callers to the Web site last week.) Some cruise lines, including Holland America and Windstar, are offering American Classic customers discounted rates for cruises.

The withdrawal of the two Hawaii ships, which brought nearly 2,200 passengers a week to the islands in the peak summer season, will leave Norwegian Cruise Line as the only year-round cruise operator in Hawaii. (Other ships visit seasonally.) On Dec. 16, NCL’s 2,002-passenger Norwegian Sky will begin a 10-day itinerary there.

Pitching a Tent in Luxury Near a Tiger Reserve

Love the outdoors and exotic locations but hate to rough it? India’s upscale Oberoi Group may have just the place for you: a tent with air-conditioning, marble bathrooms, teak floors and private decks.

Next month the company, which runs more than 30 lodgings in Asia, Australia, the Mideast and Mauritius, plans to open Vanyavilas, which it calls a “luxury jungle camp,” in Sawai Madhopur, next to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in the southeastern region of Rajasthan state. Besides Bengal tigers, the reserve is home to leopards, monkeys and hundreds of bird species.

The 20-acre camp will consist of 25 tents, a restaurant and bar, conference facilities, an outdoor swimming pool and “private therapy suites” for massages. Guests, who will pay about $500 per night per room, will be whisked to the resort by limousine from the Jaipur airport, about 110 miles away, or the Sawai Madhopur rail station.

Vanyavilas will be the third Indian resort opened this year by Oberoi Group. This summer, Wildflower Hall, an 87-room spa-hotel on the property of the onetime home of Horatio Herbert Kitchener (1850-1916), former commander in chief of British forces in India, began accepting guests. It is near the hill town of Simla in Himachal Pradesh state.

In February the 106-room Amarvilas opened near the Taj Mahal in Agra. It includes a restaurant, bar and spa.

For reservations and information on all three sites, call (800) 562-3764 or visit https://www.oberoihotels.com.

Some Sites Reopen in U.S. Capital, New York

Some tourist sites and tours in Washington, D.C., and New York remained off-limits last week after the Sept. 11 attacks and later anthrax incidents; a couple had reopened. The situation as of the Travel section’s deadline Tuesday:

* Washington, D.C: Tours of the White House, the Capitol and the Bureau of Engraving & Printing were still suspended, and the Library of Congress remained closed. All major monuments were open except the Washington Monument, which is closed for renovations. For updates, see the Washington, D.C., Convention and Tourism Corp. Web site, https://www.washington.org, or call the U.S. Capitol Guide Service information line, (202) 225-6827.

* New York City: The Empire State Building’s observation deck is open 9:30 a.m. to midnight on weekends and 6 p.m to midnight on weekdays. Castle Clinton National Monument, a former fort and immigration depot in Battery Park, which had been occupied by National Guard troops after the terrorist attacks, reopened last week. Federal Hall National Memorial, 26 Wall St., which was damaged in the attacks, has also reopened.

Still closed were Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The National Park Service was continuing to “review security issues” at those sites, said spokesman Brian Feeney. For updates, visit https://www.nps.gov, and click on “News”; contact the city’s traveler’s assistance hotline, (888) 805-4040; or visit https://www.nycvisit.com.

The Road to Las Vegas Gets More Crowded

LAS VEGAS--Does the road to Vegas seem busier than usual? Traffic on Interstate 15 at the California-Nevada border in September was up nearly 16% from September last year, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation.

The cause, most observers agree, is fairly obvious. “It means people don’t want to fly,” said Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage, the largest hotel-casino operator on the Strip. “It’s the reason our occupancy is anywhere close to normal.”

Numbers provided by McCarran International Airport reinforce that theory. In September McCarran reported that 2.12 million passengers went through the airport, down 28% from September 2000.

Associated Press

Traveler’s Note ...

US Airways and Delta Air Lines have joined American, TWA and America West in cutting back on food service after the Sept. 11 attacks. Citing lowered demand for air travel, Delta indicated it would begin eliminating food service Thursday in economy class on U.S. flights shorter than 1,750 miles and in first class for flights of less than 700 miles.

-Compiled by Jane Engle