Cruise Line Threatens $70 Fines Over Common Buffet Habit
Cruise Line Threatens $70 Fines Over Common Buffet Habit
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https://www.fodors.com/news/cruises/cruise-line-threatens-70-fines-over-common-buffet-habit
Costa Cruises is warning passengers they could face fines for taking food from buffets and restaurants to cabins, pool decks, and other public areas onboard.
At least one cruise line will fine passengers for taking away food from the ship’s restaurants and buffets.
In a letter circulated on social media, Costa Cruises advised passengers that passengers would be forbidden to take food from the ship’s food service areas: “For reasons of health and hygiene, we wish to inform you that it is strictly forbidden to take food from the buffet areas and restaurants for consumption in the public areas of the ship, the pool zones, in cabins, or in other interior areas.”
In the letter, Costa adds that those found in violation will be charged €60 ($70) for each violation, and adds that only room service staff are trained in delivering food to cabins in accordance with the line’s sanitation and hygiene procedures.
In a statement to The Independent, Costa noted that the letter did not represent a fleet-wide policy change. “On a limited number of specific sailings, an onboard communication was shared as a preventive and deterrent measure, in line with our existing policies, to encourage guests to behave responsibly.”
The cruise news site Cruise Hive notes that leaving food and dishes in staterooms, lounges, pools, or other public areas outside of dining facilities has been a longtime complaint among veteran cruisers. However, no other cruise line appears to have implemented a similar policy, either on select voyages or across all ships and sailings.
Several news outlets and message boards reported that cruisers were mixed in sentiment about the rule. Some pointed out they preferred the convenience of taking food back to their cabins, particularly when buffet seating was tight or they noticed a number of other passengers coughing or engaging in unruly behavior. Others pointed out that Costa’s buffets weren’t open 24 hours, but room service—which carries an additional charge for passengers in standard staterooms—was available at any time. Other commenters express appreciation for the policy, complaining that dirty dishes and leftover food in all parts of the ship had marred their own experiences onboard.
Cruise lines have rolled out other rules and guidelines recently, which have put limits on some passenger habits. Royal Caribbean recently clarified that they had issued guidelines for decorating cabin doors (such as not putting decorations over peepholes or using decorations with lithium-powered lights), but had not issued a prohibition. Carnival Cruises has also put out statements on door decoration, requesting guests to keep to a similar set of guidelines for safety reasons. Carnival also banned upside-down pineapples on doors to “prevent misunderstandings” (an upside-down pineapple has sometimes been recognized as coded symbology for swingers).
Costa is a Genoa-based cruise line that is a subsidiary of Carnival Cruises Corp, and primarily operates cruises in the Mediterranean, Africa, and the Caribbean. The company’s ships are Italian-flagged and branded as providing a distinctly Italian onboard experience. Costa’s website does not include any information about restrictions on removing food from the ship’s food service areas. The company’s passage contract only mentions food in two places—the first indicating that “ordinary ship’s food” is included in the passage fare, and the second indicating that food bought onshore cannot be consumed onboard—it must be surrendered to staff for safekeeping until the end of the voyage.
Costa currently has nine ships in operation, although Costa Fortuna is slated to leave the fleet in September.
A Hotel Pool Assault Lawsuit Is Raising New Concerns About Resort Security
Clark Tai/Unsplash
https://www.fodors.com/news/hotels/hotel-pool-assault-lawsuit-is-raising-new-concerns-about-resort-security
A Swedish family is suing the Radisson Resort Miami Beach after their 11-year-old daughter was allegedly assaulted at the hotel pool, raising concerns about hotel security and guest safety responsibilities.
A Swedish couple is suing the Radisson Resort Miami Beach hotel for damages stemming from the assault of their teenage daughter at the hotel’s pool last October.
The civil suit, filed in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court, recounts how the girl, then 11 years old, was swimming at an outdoor pool at the resort when she was sexually assaulted by an older man who was not a guest of the hotel. The girl called out to her sister and parents nearby, and the man fled but was apprehended by the police on Collins Avenue shortly thereafter.
The man has pleaded not guilty to charges of lewd and lascivious battery on a child and burglary with assault for entering a property without permission; the case is still pending in criminal court. In their civil complaint, the family is suing the hotel for failing to provide adequate security.
Justin B. Shapiro of the law firm Leesfield & Partners is handling the case. “We have no indication that they had visible presence of security anywhere on that hotel’s grounds,” Shapiro said in a statement attached to a release announcing the suit. “Which is, I say, grossly inadequate because that is highly unusual in Miami Beach. Even hotels with subpar security have some showing of security around the premises.”
In Florida, hotels have a duty of care to provide safe premises for their guests, including protection from foreseeable crimes committed by third parties. This includes ensuring that the property itself remains secure from trespass, but also that the property is sufficiently monitored by security personnel to prevent crimes against its guests. Many South Florida hotels employ a wristband system so that registered guests can be quickly identified by security staff monitoring the premises around the clock using high-definition CCTV camera feeds, paying close attention to entry points. Visitors without wristbands—particularly in guest-only areas like pool decks—would be closely monitored and asked to leave if found loitering.
Miami Beach’s rates of property and violent crime are significantly higher than the rest of Florida, and many hotels and resorts in the city maintain significant security staffing. Another guest at the hotel had recently posted a complaint that they had been robbed on the same pool deck.
Shapiro told The New York Times that many South Florida hotels have recently cut their security budgets to invest more in landscaping and amenities to draw in more visitors, because they’re more important to travel shoppers than security services when searching for accommodations.
The girl’s family told The New York Times that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following the incident. They also said they filed the suit and spoke to the newspaper to draw attention to the incident and urge other hotels in the area to increase their security efforts to ensure further assaults do not occur.
The City of Miami Beach maintains a crime dashboard that reports that, through the 12-month period ending May 27, the overall crime rate is down 21% vs. the prior year, with similar decreases in both violent and property crimes. The overwhelmingly most common crime was theft, followed by fraud and burglary.
Shapiro’s firm has won lawsuits against other Florida hotels for failing to provide adequate security, including a situation where a hotel worker was assaulted by a trespasser who wasn’t challenged by security, and another couple who were battered by an assailant while hotel security personnel stood by without intervening.
Trial attorney Evan Robinson said in a statement that the goal of the suit is to hold the hotel accountable for negligence. “A hotel cannot invite families onto its property, profit from their trust, and then ignore basic safety measures that would protect children from harm,” he said.
A Love Story Is Hidden Inside One of Egypt’s Most Ancient Tombs
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https://www.fodors.com/world/africa-and-middle-east/egypt/experiences/news/ancient-egyptian-tomb-may-reveal-historys-first-lgbtq-couple
Could this be history’s first recorded LGBTQ+ couple?
Just 20 miles south of Cairo, in the vast necropolis of Saqqara, the desert opens into one of Egypt’s most extraordinary archaeological landscapes. Saqqara stretches across miles of sand and stone, home to pyramids, temples, and tombs that chart the evolution of ancient Egyptian civilization. Most visitors come for its monumental highlights, particularly the Step Pyramid of Djoser, widely considered the world’s earliest large-scale stone pyramid.
But tucked among these grand structures is a far more intimate story, one that unfolds not on the skyline but within the walls of a single tomb. It belongs to two men.
Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum lived during Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty, around 2400 BC, at a time when the Old Kingdom was at its height. Both held the title often translated as “Overseer of the Manicurists of the Palace,” a role that placed them within the royal household and in close proximity to the king. In ancient Egypt, such access signaled a high degree of trust, as those permitted to physically attend to the pharaoh occupied a privileged and carefully controlled position.
Their shared tomb was discovered in 1964 by Egyptian archaeologist Ahmed Moussa. Today, it is recognized as one of the larger and more elaborately decorated non-royal tombs at Saqqara. At first glance, it appears consistent with others in the necropolis. Its walls are filled with scenes of daily life: banquets, offerings, agricultural work, and family gatherings, all intended to sustain the deceased in the afterlife.
In the Old Kingdom, tomb decoration followed a highly structured visual language in which scale, placement, and gesture were carefully controlled. Figures were not arranged randomly; they were composed to reflect hierarchy, identity, and relationships. The tomb owner typically appears larger than the surrounding figures, reinforcing status, while family members are positioned to signal lineage and closeness. Within this system, repeated proximity carries meaning. When two figures appear consistently side by side, sharing central space across multiple scenes, it reflects a deliberate choice about how they were to be remembered. This makes the pairing of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum particularly striking. Not only because they appear together, but because they do so with a visual emphasis that suggests parity and connection.
But as you move through the space, something becomes clear. Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum are consistently depicted together. They appear side by side in scene after scene, their bodies aligned, their gestures closely mirrored. In one of the most striking reliefs, the two men stand nose to nose, their faces nearly touching. In another, they are shown embracing. In the visual language of ancient Egyptian art, such poses are widely understood to signal intimacy and closeness, and are frequently seen in depictions of spouses. It is this imagery that has made the tomb particularly compelling as well as the subject of ongoing debate.
Sara Sioufi
Some scholars have interpreted Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum as a romantic couple, sometimes described as one of the earliest possible same-sex pairings represented in the historical record. Others urge caution, suggesting they may have been brothers, perhaps even twins, or that their closeness reflects a different kind of familial or social bond, shaped by cultural conventions not fully understood today. No definitive explanation has been universally accepted.
The tomb itself adds to this ambiguity. Shared burials in ancient Egypt were not uncommon, but they were often associated with family groups or married couples. For two men of comparable status to share a tomb in this way remains unusual, and it suggests that their relationship, whatever its nature, was considered significant.
Additional details in the artwork have also prompted discussion. Both men are shown with wives and children in certain scenes, in keeping with elite Old Kingdom tomb conventions. However, in some reliefs, Niankhkhnum’s wife appears less prominently than might be expected, while Khnumhotep is positioned in ways that some scholars have noted resemble spousal placement. These elements are open to interpretation, but they reinforce the centrality of the relationship between the two men within the tomb’s visual program.
Sara Sioufi
For visitors, these subtleties are part of what makes the tomb so memorable. Unlike the towering pyramids nearby, this space invites close attention. The carvings are detailed and deliberate, and their meaning unfolds gradually. As your eyes adjust to the dim light, figures emerge from the limestone: servants at work, musicians at banquets, family members gathered in carefully structured scenes. And throughout, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum remain at the center.
Saqqara can feel vast, especially under the midday sun. But stepping into this tomb creates a sense of enclosure and stillness. The scale narrows from monumental to human. The desert quiet settles, and the focus turns inward. In that quiet, the tomb feels less like a display of status and more like a record of connection.
It also reflects the ways in which history is interpreted over time. Since its discovery, the tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum has been interpreted in different ways, sometimes emphasizing familial explanations, at other times acknowledging the possibility of a more intimate bond. These shifts often mirror broader cultural attitudes toward how relationships in the ancient world are understood and discussed.
Egyptologists today tend to approach the tomb with measured caution. Ancient Egyptian society operated within its own frameworks of identity, kinship, and representation, and modern categories do not always map neatly onto the past. As a result, many scholars emphasize the importance of acknowledging uncertainty while still engaging with the visual and archaeological evidence. For travelers, this ambiguity is part of the experience.
Rather than presenting a fixed narrative, the tomb invites closer looking and personal interpretation. It encourages visitors to consider not only what is depicted but also how and why it was chosen for preservation. Visiting Saqqara is often framed as a journey through the origins of monumental architecture and religious belief. But encounters like this shift that perspective. They bring attention back to individuals, to relationships, and to the quieter aspects of life that rarely dominate historical narratives.
Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum were not kings, yet the tomb they share is remarkably sophisticated, reflecting both their status and the approval required to construct such a monument. Its scale and decoration suggest that their lives—and their connection—were considered worthy of lasting commemoration.
For travelers, Saqqara is typically visited as a half-day trip from central Cairo, often combined with nearby sites such as Dahshur or Memphis. The necropolis is expansive, and hiring a guide can make a significant difference in navigating its lesser-known tombs, including that of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, which is not always included on standard itineraries. Early morning or late afternoon visits offer more manageable temperatures, especially in the summer months, and allow more time to explore the site at a slower pace.
For those exploring Saqqara today, the tomb offers something distinct from the site’s more famous landmarks. It provides a more personal point of entry into the ancient world, one grounded not in grandeur, but in human connection. Whatever the precise nature of their relationship, it was clearly meaningful.
Texas billionaire Fertitta to buy Caesars Entertainment
Deal includes $5.7 billion in cash, $11.9 billion in debt assumption
Caesars Entertainment, a casino-entertainment company with locations across the U.S., including the iconic Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, is expected to be acquired by Fertitta Entertainment. (CoStar)
https://www.costar.com/article/1105223534/texas-billionaire-to-acquire-caesars-entertainment-in-17-6-billion-deal?
Fertitta Entertainment is expected to acquire Caesars Entertainment for $5.7 billion. The transaction would include approximately $11.9 billion of Caesars’ outstanding debt, for a total deal value of $17.6 billion.
Caesars Entertainment's board of directors has already approved the transaction, according to a company news release, and Caesars shareholders should receive $31 in cash for each outstanding Caesars share. Once the deal is completed, shares of Caesars Entertainment common stock will no longer be listed on NASDAQ.
Caesars Entertainment has over 50 resorts in North America, operating mostly under the Caesars, Harrah’s, Horseshoe and Eldorado brand names.
"The Board, after detailed consideration with the assistance of its outside financial and legal advisors, determined that the immediate cash premium offered by this transaction is compelling for Caesars shareholders, and its approval of this transaction underscores its commitment to drive and deliver value for shareholders," the release said.
The executives at Caesars — including CEO Tom Reeg, Chief Financial Officer Bret Yunker, President and Chief Operating Officer Anthony Carano and others — are expected to remain in their roles to continue to lead operations at the combined company.
Houston-based Fertitta Entertainment Inc. is Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta's holding company for assets including casino hotel concept Golden Nugget, restaurant company Landry’s, and other investments, including the NBA’s Houston Rockets.
Over recent years, the casino hotel space has seen a handful of transactions. In 2022, Vici Properties entered into a deal to become the full owner of the MGM Grand Las Vegas and Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino real estate, acquiring the remaining interest in the properties from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust. Blackstone also offloaded The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas in a $4 billion deal in 2022.
In the years immediately following the pandemic, Las Vegas Sands Corp. sold off its Las Vegas assets in order to focus on growth in the Asian markets, CoStar News reported at the time.
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