Poster advertising 1912 saling of the RMS Titanic

Everyone is all excited about the maiden cruise of the new Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, the largest ever built, and touted to be the most luxurious in history.

However, another cruise liner that advertised itself as the most luxurious in history left England in April 1912 on its maiden voyage to America. As the history books and a dozen movies tell us, within just a few days at sea, the ship hit an iceberg and sank. Is that the end of the sad story of the voyage of the RMS Titanic? Well, not quite.

Conducting a memorial sailing to honor the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, another cruise ship will follow the same sea route of the Titanic. The voyage will be by the Balmoral, a cruise ship owned by the Olsen Cruise Lines, descendant of the company that built the Titanic, Harland and Wolff.

Las Vegas nights and days offer bargain adventures for women

There are an almost unlimited number of attractive destinations throughout the world where mature women can seek out inexpensive vacations. An informed and frugal visitor can find bargains even at the most luxurious of them. It’s just a matter of taking advantage of the opportunities to enjoy it all without paying high prices. Here are some examples:

1. Las Vegas: Glittering and glamorous Sin City can be one of the most expensive vacation destinations of the world if you do what you’re expected to do. That’s gamble your life savings away in the casinos. However, a savvy woman can enjoy everything Vegas has to offer ... luxury rooms, gourmet dining, Broadway entertainment and great night clubs ... at bargain prices. For example, The Rio All-Suite Resort’s Sunday Champagne Brunch costs $30, and includes all-you-can-eat custom cooking of dishes from ten ethnic sources, dozens of desserts and endless champagne. Luxury two-room suites that would cost from $500 and up in New York, London or Paris go for as low as $45 a night. www.riolasvegas.com.

Sometimes you just need a nice, quiet place to relax

USAToday recently ran an article naming the ten best airports in the world to be stuck in for long layovers. First of all, when your flight is cancelled or delayed for ten hours, no airport could be any kind of fun to be sitting and fuming for those hours and hours. Anger and frustration blot out everything else.

However, in our travels, we did agree with some of the USAToday choices, while others we didn’t. Most U.S. airports, unless you belong to the exclusive club for rich travelers, offer only hard benches and harder floors, overpriced fast food joints and tired gift shops. If you have to be stranded, here are our opinions about some not-so-lousy airports:

1. Narita Airport, Tokyo: Some time ago, the old Tokyo Haneda Airport offered little Pullman-like sleeping bunks to travelers for about $10 for eight hours. They were very convenient for privacy, and to stretch out and snooze for those who had long waits for flights. The new, super-modern Narita has all kinds of great restaurants, a duty-free store and lots of upscale shopping, but no in-airport sleep facilities.

It does offer day rooms with shower cubicles available to departing passengers who’ve completed passport control formalities. The day rooms have lots of conveniences, except that most needed one, a chance to stretch out and sleep undisturbed. There are benches in the waiting areas available when the airport isn’t crowded, but security is so tight, they wake up sleepers just about every hour for passport checks. For more information, go to narita-airport.jp

British tradition: bearskin hats and scarlet coats