Traveler’s Notes . . .

Several New York City attractions, including the Bronx Zoo, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Jewish Museum, are adding a special tour, called the Insider’s Hour, through Labor Day. Most of the tours are free with admission. For information, send an SASE to Insider’s Hour, NYCVB, 810 7th Ave., 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10019 or visit https://www.nycvisit.com. . . . Delta Air Lines, which earlier this year ended advance boarding passes on international flights, will end them for domestic flights on Sept. 1. Although travelers are issued boarding passes only at the airport, advance seat selection is available up to 331 days before travel. Most other major airlines discontinued advance boarding passes earlier this summer. . . . How hot is the cruise business? Well, Carnival Corp. has just ordered a third and a fourth ship modeled after its 102,000-ton Carnival Destiny, for $450 million each, to be launched in 2002 and 2003. Two more clones of the 1996 ship are already being built in Italy, for delivery in 1999 and 2000. . . . New this season, wheelchair-accessible houseboats, including ramps and accessible bathrooms, can be rented at Lake Powell in Arizona and Utah. Call Lake Powell Reservations, tel. (800) 528-6154. . . . The world of one-card-does-it-all is getting closer. By the end of September, Hilton plans to finish installing electronic locks at its 2,041-room Hilton New York & Towers that will let guests use corporate credit cards as their room key card. Hilton claims it will be the first in the nation with the new technology.