Travel woes ease...Let's talk Beatles cruise (Baby, You Can Drive My Boat!)

By all accounts, things are pretty much back to normal at Pearson, folks.

Peter Fitzpatrick, spokesman for Air Canada, tells me in an email that it's far better today than the last couple days for folks heading to the U.S.

"Not perfect, but really quite good," he wrote. "I don't think people understand what a huge curveball this was for airlines and airports, it is amazing how well we did."

 

A story from Canadian Press quotes a Greater Toronto Airports' Authority official as saying it's virtually situation normal at Pearson today, with only a handful of cancellations. About a dozen flights have cancelled today, said spokesman Scott Armstrong - only about 1 per cent of daily flights. That's apparently normal, and Armstrong says lineups are standard length.

 

There WAS talk earlier this week that the stringent, new regulations on carry-on bags and other security measures wuld be lifted as of today, Dec. 30. But Transport Canada spokeswoman Melanie Quesnel tells CP no decisions have been made as to when or even if restrictions will be lifted.

 

I think that's about enough gloom and doom, so let's have a bit more fun, shall we?

 

I see that Royal Caribbean will have its first Beatles Tribute Cruise starting March 28 out of Fort Lauderdale. Carnival has an Elvis cruise, so now it's the Beatles' turn.

 

Officials say they'll have some of the usual suspects, including former John Lennon lover May Pang and Ringo Starr's former fiancee (Nancy Lee Andrews), plus a couple of folks who've written Beatle books. (Judging by my latest visit to the bookstore, WHO HASN'T WRITTEN A BEATLES BOOK IS WHAT I WANNA KNOW).

 

Anyway, it's a six-day cruise that also will feature a Beatles tribute band called BritBeat, as well as Beatles guitar workshops. Stops will be made in Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.

 

BritBeat will have to play the usual tunes such as Can't Buy Me Love, Help and Hey Jude. Here are a few ideas if they want more of a nautical theme:

 

1. Yellow Submarine (pretty obvious; sorry)

2. Octopus's Garden (ditto)

3. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (they recorded it as the backing band for Tony Sheridan)

4. I Am the Walrus (okay, that's better for an Arctic cruise)

5. Julia ("ocean child, calls me....")

6. Glass Onion ("fixin' a hole in the ocean")

7. All Together Now ("sail the ship")

8. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds ("picture yourself in a boat on a river"; again, better for another type of cruise but it still counts)

9. Come Together ("he got...muddy water"; yes, I know, but maybe the captain will hit the Mississippi by mistake)

10. Red Sails in the Sunset (got you with that one, didn't I? It was on the Live Hamburg album from 1962)

 

Of course, they might've sung "Sea Cruise" at some point. And I didn't count the solo stuff, like Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey  by Paul ("hands across the water"), but at least we managed 10 references. Nor did I cheapen this exercise by throwing in Penny Lane ("fish and finger pie" includes a nautical element but it's really more naughty than nautical if you've ever read an interview with Paul talking about their randy days with young women in Liverpool).

 

Still, I'm sure I've missed some. If you've got anything for me, fire away at jbyers@thestar.ca

 

YET ANOTHER SIGN THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US

 

I got a note today saying they're opening the 30th - 30th!!!! - Ripley's Believe it or Not place. Believe it or Not, they're called "Odditoriums," and, yeah, that's a little clever. The newest one will be in Veracruz, Mexico and apparently a 31st is coming in Surfers' Paradise, Queensland.

 

No offence, but is this really what the world needs?

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Hotels Around the World]

I've seen a couple of Ripley's Believe it or Not places (in Ocean City, MD USA and in Atlantic City NJ, USA) and would say it was a bizarre but fun experience.

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