There are some cases, especially in smaller plans, where the luggage compartments are pressurized the same as the cabin itself. In these smaller planes, there’s no separate luggage area and so luggage is stored in another part of the airplane. The smaller the plane, the more likely this will be the case.

When it doubt, check with the airline to see if the compartment is pressurized or temperature controlled. It will depend on the model of your aircraft and only your airline will know the specific details.

(Photo: smaedli)

One deck name that I see repeated is the Lido Deck. To those from the UK, Lido refers to a “public outdoor swimming pool and surrounding facilities,” which is fitting as the Lido deck is typically where the pool is. The origin of the word comes from Lido di Venezia, a beach that encloses the Lagoon of Venice.

So the next time you see a cruise ship with a Lido deck, you’ll know where that word comes from!

What are they?

• Airlines are required to provide passengers with food, potable water, comfortable cabin temperatures and ventiation, and adequate restrooms while a plane is delayed on the ground for over two hours.
• Airlines are required to offer the option for passengers to deplane if they’ve been on the ground for more than three hours after the door has closed. This option would be offered every three hours if it continues to sit on the ground. Violations will be penalized, up to $27,500 per passenger.
• Airports and airlines would be required to develop contingency plans for delayed flights. These plans would have to be reviewed and approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT can fine airlines and airports that don’t submit plans.
• The DOT will create a consumer complaint hotline so passengers can call the agency about delays.

The only exception to the three hour rule is if the pilot believes there would be a risk to passenger safety or security. Also, the pilot can delay deplaning for up to 30 minutes past the three hour period if they believe the flight will depart within 30 minutes.

The Early Show has a segment on the subject:

Airline executives call it a declaration of war… really? I don’t know about that.

How do I know? I listened to the pronunciation about thirty times and I still can’t repeat it!

If you want to give it a try, here is a recording from Wikipedia.

Good luck!

So how can you prepare yourself? First, norovirus isn’t a distinctly cruise related sickness, it has just gotten a lot of press lately because of outbreaks and because the CDC has to track outbreaks on ships (but not hotels, vacation resorts, etc). The difficult thing about a cruise ship is that you have a lot of people (1800 passengers and 850 crew on the Mercury) in an enclosed area for a long period of time.

How do you get it? On cruise ships, it’s usually physical contact but you can also get it through contaminated food and water. Usually on a cruise ship it’s physical contact like shaking hands or sharing food.

How do you avoid it? Proper sanitation! Wash your hands with hot water and soap before and after eating, touching your face, using the restroom, or whenever you think your hands are dirty. Let’s be honest, these are good practices to have anyway since you could always get a cold from someone on the ship!

Fortunately, our cruise is only three days long so we hope to be fairly safe!

Southwest, our favorite airline because of cheap fares and many options out of our home airport of BWI, doesn’t charge for the first two bags and no charge for snacks. And their flight attendants are cool to boot!