Travel briefs

By Times wires and staff reports

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 3, 2000

Citrus County inns to hold open house

INVERNESS -- Four Citrus County bed and breakfast inns will participate in an open house holiday tour from 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 10. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the inns. Tickets are $15, with proceeds benefiting the Make a Wish Foundation's Citrus County Council.

Participating inns are all in Inverness. They are Inverness Place, 811 Zephyr St., (352) 637-3104; the Lake House, 8604 E Gospel Island Road, (352) 344-3586; Magnolia Glen, 7701 E Allen Drive, (800) 881-4366; and Running Deer Lodge, 11043 S Running Deer Point, (800) 830-7012.

Tickets are available by calling any of the lodgings.

New luxury ship

Cunard Line, which runs the world's best-known cruise ship, Queen Elizabeth 2, is building a super-luxurious vessel that will be the biggest afloat. In homage to the 1936-vintage Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach, Calif., as a tourist attraction, the new ship will be called the Queen Mary 2. It is expected to sail in late 2003.

At 150,000 tons, the $780-million ocean liner will be larger than the current biggest ship, Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas (142,000 tons). But Queen Mary 2 will carry fewer passengers (2,620 vs. 3,114).

Bucking the trend of huge "floating hotels" on which every inch is crammed with distractions, the Queen Mary 2 will offer a nostalgic wraparound Promenade Deck with steamer chairs; a three-deck-high dining room with a sweeping central staircase; and accommodations that include five two-level duplex apartments, each more than 1,650 square feet, with fitness room and butler.

The fee for all this luxury hasn't been set, Cunard said. The ship is expected to ply the transatlantic route in summer; the winter schedule isn't set.

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