TRAVEL LOG

Amtrak ending guarantee plan after two years

Call it the little guarantee that couldn’t.

On Friday, Amtrak will end its “service promise” program that gives vouchers, good toward future trips, to dissatisfied customers.

The program was introduced in July 2000 by former Amtrak President George Warrington, who said it would help counter the railroad’s reputation as “tired, worn-out and complacent.”

But Amtrak never reached its goal of holding reimbursement requests to 1 per 1,000 passengers. Instead the requests were running about 4 per 1,000 in the fiscal year that ended in September, officials said.

“We found that most of the certificates we were issuing resulted from factors outside Amtrak’s control -- things like delays on the freight railroads or weather-related delays,” said spokesman Dan Stessel.

Amtrak owns about 3% of the tracks it uses; the rest are controlled by freight railroads.

Stessel said Amtrak would continue to review complaints on a case-by-case basis.

--From Times staff and wires

Cruise ships pass up Bali after club bombings

Cruise lines are rerouting ships away from Indonesia as the fallout continues from the Oct. 12 bombing that killed scores of tourists, including at least two Americans, in the nightclub district on Bali.

The Regal Princess, which embarks on a 19-day sail from Bangkok, Thailand, to Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 26, will call in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia rather than Bali and Semarang, Indonesia, according to Princess Cruises. Holland America Line is canceling stops in Indonesia on its Volendam and Prinsendam ships through Nov. 6; alternate ports had not been announced as of the Travel section’s press time Tuesday. Qantas, Australia’s national flag carrier, said it would cancel two of its four weekly flights from Sydney to the Balinese capital, Denpasar, wire services reported.

In Jakarta, the U.S. Embassy urged Americans in Indonesia to avoid large gatherings and places that cater to foreign clientele, “including but not limited to resorts, tourist sights, nightclubs, bars, restaurants and places of worship,” Agence France-Presse reported.

Rummaging through hotel rooms of fantasy

“Unrealistic. Speculative. Provocative.”

That’s how curator Donald Albrecht describes an unusual exhibit opening Tuesday at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York.

“Hotels for Global Nomads” muses on the sociology of lodgings. Using photos, videos and room installations, it looks at how hotels “fuel fantasy” and blur the boundary between home and office, public and private, Albrecht says.

Some hotels in the exhibit are real, such as Dubai’s striking, sail-shaped Burj al-Arab and Japan’s bizarre capsule hotels, where guests pile into tiny rooms that resemble enclosed bunk beds.

The room keys to others exist only in the mind. A “Lunatic Hotel” sits on the moon. A “24/7 Hotel Room” for business travelers is a temporary office and home, with private pool. Toland Grinnell’s “Private Dancer” is described as “a travel trunk that opens into a personal discotheque suitable for a hotel room.”

The exhibit ends March 2. Adult admission is $8. The museum, at 2 E. 91st St., is open daily except Mondays and federal holidays; hours vary. (212) 849-8400, www.si.edu/ndm.

DEAL OF THE WEEK: Waikiki Beach at $159 per night

The Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort, across the street from the beach, is offering a $159-per-night “Fall Back in Love With Waikiki” rate until Dec. 25, subject to availability. Regular published rates at the 1,310-room hotel start at $300. (800) 249-4998, www.marriottwaikiki.com.

FREE FOR THE ASKING: Companies that visit Wales

“Wales: Go a Little Further” is a 28-page overview of companies that offer bus, walking, cycling, golf and other tours to the area. It includes tour dates, prices and contact information, plus an events calendar through July and advice on how to get to Wales. (877) 872-1133, www.travelwales.org.