Cruise Line Still Trying to Repay Trip Deposits

Society Expeditions cruises is trying to arrange financing to repay an estimated $200,000 in deposits received from customers who had signed up for 1991-92 cruises to the Antarctic aboard the Society Adventurer. The ship was scheduled to begin sailing to the Antarctic earlier this year but did not because Society’s parent company refused delivery of the ship--due to a contractural dispute--in June, just 10 days before she was to have been finished at the Rauma Yards in Finland.

Negotiations for financing to fund the deposits are continuing with banks in Germany, home of Society’s parent company, Discoverer Reederei. Those who signed up for the canceled cruises have been offered either full refunds, similar Antarctic cruises aboard other Society ships--the World Discoverer and the Society Explorer--or discounts on other Society cruises. Many of those who opted for the refund still have yet to receive it.

Travel Quiz: What is the deepest chasm in North America?

Best Bet for Poland: Atlantic City or Las Vegas it’s not. But Poland is emerging as a gambling mecca--at least for Eastern Europe. Warsaw is now home to two hotel casinos--one at the Marriott and the other at the Victoria. Krakow opened a major casino at the Pod Roza Hotel, and Poznan and Wroclaw each have one major casino, as do Gdansk and Szczecin. Far more numerous are smaller casinos that have been opening throughout Poland. They are generally free and offer American roulette, slot machines, blackjack and poker. All are open daily.

Quick Fact: Top five domestic destinations, in order of preference, for travelers departing LAX in 1990: New York/Newark, San Francisco, Phoenix, Honolulu, Chicago. (Source: Los Angeles Department of Airports.)

Rio Response: In reaction to a recent State Department travel notice advising tourists to exercise caution to avoid crime in Rio de Janeiro, the government-sponsored Rio Tourism Authority has announced the following programs to protect tourists:

--In addition to the usual complement of uniformed police, the government has hired 2,000 “deputies” who have been dispatched throughout the city on bicycle as an auxiliary anti-crime patrol.

--Special beach patrols have been hired, consisting of 40 guards each, for Copacabana and Ipanema.

--Taxi drivers have been given special training in speaking English and in assisting tourists.

A spokeswoman for the Rio Tourism Center in New York added that, if tourists exercise reasonable care, as they would for example in New York City, “there is no reason why Rio should be more dangerous than New York, Washington or Miami.”

Bad for Business: Business trips taken this year are expected to decrease 6.8% by comparison with 1990, according to the U.S. Travel Data Center. Although the economy is certainly a factor, this is the second year of declining business travel, with 1990’s business trip volume dropping 8.3% from an all-time high in 1989. While overall numbers are dropping, however, the percentage of business travelers who are women increased 8.5% in 1990, the first such increase in three years.

Making Time: September marked the best on-time arrivals for U.S. airlines since the Department of Transportation began collecting data four years ago. Best of the bunch were Southwest (on time 93.5%), Alaska and Northwest (both 91.1%) and America West (90.8%). At the bottom of the heap was Delta (85.7%).

Open in Estonia: Tourist business is blooming in Estonia. First, ITS Tours & Travel, a tour operator in College Station, Tex. (800-533-8688), opened its own office in Tallinn last month--the first American tour company to do so. Operating under the name Mirus, Ltd., the advantage to travelers is that the cost of a middle man is cut out, thus trimming the price of tours.

And last week, American Express began services in Estonia--through Estonian Tours--the first international travel and financial services company to establish a representative office in Tallinn, the capital of the newly sovereign Baltic republic. “We think that Estonia has great potential to develop as a tourist destination and we want to be ready,” an American Express spokesman said.

Estonian Tours, located at Roosikrantsi 4b (local telephone 7-0142-442034), is offering travel and financial services, including hotel reservations, car rentals and flight bookings, as well as traveler’s check sales. The office also replaces lost or stolen traveler’s checks and American Express cards. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (winter, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Comparatively Speaking: Cruise ship sanitation scores for ships inspected in October (a score of 87 or higher indicates acceptable sanitation): Britanis, 83. Costa Riviera, 83. Fantasy, 97. Regent Star, 74. Sagafjord, 89. Seabourn Spirit, 97. Sky Princess, 89. Skyward, 80. Song of America, 95. Sun Viking, 86. Sunward II, 94. Tropicale, 97. Westward, 72. Yorktown Clipper, 90. Regent Sea, 87. Wind Spirit, 91.

Fair Warning: Seventy-five boats decorated with holiday lights will take part in the sixth annual Santa Barbara Yuletide Boat Parade at 6 p.m. next Sunday, Dec. 15. The boats will gather just outside the harbor entrance and travel along the coast in a 1 1/2-hour procession, passing Stern’s Wharf before returning to the harbor to dock. Stores and restaurants, serving hot cider and clam chowder, will stay open until the parade is over, and carolers will perform. For more information, call (805) 564-5529.

Quiz Answer: Hells Canyon on the Idaho-Oregon border is 7,900 feet deep. (The Grand Canyon is only about one mile from rim to bottom.)