A new Disney cruise ship was launched with an elaborate christening ceremony on Tuesday. The intricate musical number, a 16-foot champagne bottle and fireworks were typical of Disney.

The Disney Dream, which can accommodate 4,000 passengers, definitely has fascinating features like the 765-foot “water coaster.” It has clear tubes that wind and twist above the highest decks.

The ship has classic and art deco touches. The massive chandelier located at the atrium, as well as the plush theater are certainly a grand display.

According to Disney CEO Bob Iger on his interview with The Associated Press, their goal was to create an experience for all generations. That includes people who come with their grandparents and great-grandparents and people who come without children.

Still, the Disney brand is evident on the cruise ship. Items like bath towels, blankets and bedside light fixtures carry the figure of Mickey Mouse. Staterooms installed with virtual portholes provide live views outside the ship, with occasional appearances of Disney characters.

The cruise ship has a technology-filled children’s area named the Oceaneer club that assures to keep kids stimulated while their parents stay relaxed on a quiet pool or bar stool in its adults-only area named The District.

It also has an assigned-seat dinner restaurant called Animator’s palate. It has huge video screens with the “Nemo” characters wandering over the diners in their “human tank.”

Technology is considered as the enabler on the entire ship. It brings the ship to life in several ways, the Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz said.

The ship also has additional entertainment for ‘tweens and teens, said Carolyn Spencer Brown, the editor-in-chief of CruiseCritic.com.

The Disney Dream is sailing three to five night cruises going to Bahamas and Disney’s private island. It can carry 40 percent more passengers than the other two existing ships.

Super Bowl spectators will have a fun-filled tour this February 6 because of the big event that will happen at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Visitors will have a lot of choices for both indoor and outdoor activities. However, they must pack their shirts and overcoats since the place may have a chill of winter weather.

For first-time travelers, top on the list is the place where assassination of John F. Kennedy took place. Without any cost, visitors can stroll around the sides of Elm Street, where Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963.

Admission fee will be asked from the fans if they visit the Sixth Floor Museum located at Dealey Plaza inside the building popularly known as Texas School Book Depository. This is the place where Lee Oswald put up his perch at the corner window.

Shopping is the number one indoor sport in Dallas. Hence, Super Bowl travelers can also go to the upscale retail store Neiman Marcus. This originally came from downtown, and is now one of the centerpieces of the classy North Park Center. AL MVP Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers was recently spotted browsing there.

A year ago, Dallas Cowboys Stadium was used for NBA’s all-star weekend as a test run for Super Bowl. Before the big game happened, about 108,713 people swarmed the Galleria Mall in north Dallas, bringing the largest number of people to ever watch a basketball game.

It was often thought that fans go to stadium tours a day before the Cowboys or college football games. This is also anticipated of Super Bowl spectators. The stadium pledges to be more than just football games. It will surely deliver other exciting events and tours.

Specks of white seen down the remote shoreline roused the excitement on a cruise ship sailing Kentucky Lake in the guests’ desire to find bald eagles. This is a famous wintertime venture done by many spectators in this magnificent sanctuary.

During winter, bald eagles flock to the lakes district of southwestern Kentucky where the magnificent birds feed on fish and seek shelter along the winding stretches of isolated shoreline. Those are the same reasons that draw many travelers to the area during temperate weather for boating and fishing.

Eagle-watching has become a popular event every January and February down Kentucky Lake, inviting both local and international tourists to three famous neighboring landmarks that offer restaurants and lodging. These include Lake Barkley, Kentucky Dam Village and Kenlake state resort parks.

The lake has been a famous spot for visitors who are attracted to Land between the Lakes, a national amusement area that covers 170,000 acres located in northern Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky.

The three-hour eagle-watching escapades are being offered through yachts or vans. The visitors are guided by state fish, wildlife biologists, and state park naturalists. The yacht is usually enclosed, allowing guests to relax in heated comfort while they search for eagles.

Around 40-50 eagles live all year round in the Land between the Lakes, however their numbers increase up to 150 or more during wintry weather when eagles journey south from the Great Lakes and southern Canada, where their fishing areas freeze, said Mary Schmidt, a park naturalist and program supervisor at Lake Barkley state park.

California is at risk of an enormous “superstorm” that could flood more than half of the state and cause billions in damages, scientists and experts said in a new report.

The researchers stressed the potential scale of damage that this storm could bring, which is about four or five times the amount of destruction from a massive earthquake.

Along with U.S Geological Survey, scientists warned federal and state emergency officials that geological history of California shows such “superstorms” have occurred in the past and it should be included in the long list of natural calamities they have to worry about.

The threat of a catastrophic California storm has been suppressed for the past 150 years. A 300-mile range of the Central Valley was submerged from 1861 to 1862 and the flood was so severe that the state capital has to be moved to San Francisco, Geological Survey director Marcia K. McNutt informed the New York Times.

According to geological evidence, even massive storms have happened in the past centuries over the dates 212, 440, 603, 1029, 1418 and 1605.

The risk is increasing now because of the elevating temperatures of the atmosphere, the scientists said. This has made weather patterns more unstable.

The scientists created a model that portrayed a storm that might last for more than 40 days and leave 10 feet of water on the state. It is said to move water as much as 50 Mississippis releasing water into the Gulf of Mexico. The report also noted that winds could reach 125 miles per hour while landslides could increase the damage.

Geological Survey scientist Lucy Jones told in a press released that they believe such superstorm happens once every 100 or 200 years.

Last week, federal and state emergency management officials assembled a conference regarding emergency preparations for possible superstorms.

About 16 million people are anticipated to travel on cruises this year, thats an increase of 6.6 percent over 2010’s total cruise passengers.  Europe, the Caribbean and Alaska as among the top destinations.

Bob Sharak of the Cruise Line Industry Association informed a press conference that they are very optimistic about 2011. The cruise industry has been trying to recover very quickly, most especially during the recent economic downfall.

According to CLIA, which is the largest cruise industry group in North America, almost three-quarters of the cruise passengers in the previous year came from the United States and Canada and 26 percent were from international areas.

The CLIA’s prediction is based on its previous number of passengers, as well as current bookings for 2011.

Sharak acknowledged exhilarating new ships, rising global passengers, new destinations, as well as the cruises’ positive outlook for 2011.

While CILA released its report on Thursday, the Cunard Line’s new cruise liner named Queen Elizabeth set off to its maiden call in New York. It was set to meet with its sister ships, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria, for a fireworks display in New York Harbor.

Walt Disney Co’s new 900 million dollar cruise liner with 4,000 passenger capacity rolled out last week in Florida. It is set to have its maiden Caribbean cruise on January 26.

The largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas was launched in 2009. The ship can carry more than 6,000 passengers.

Sharak said that although North Americans and Europeans make up most of the cruise passengers, only small percentage of the residents of those areas took cruises in 2010. However, he added that they have lots of room to grow as the cruise lines are looking up to get new markets in China, Brazil, and Russia, including new destinations in Asia, Mediterranean and the Greek Islands.

While Beijing and Shanghai are the default destinations of first-time visitors to China, the Yellow Mountain and Tiger Leaping Gorge stand out in China as the two natural landmarks often visited by tourists who like to integrate city travel with outdoor adventure.

The two natural landmarks are considered as the country’s most famous and remarkable attractions similar to the Grand Canyon of United States.

Yellow Mountain, also known as Huangshan, have been an iconic presentation in Chinese culture for several years. Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is about 240 miles from the Tibetan border, is one of the world’s deepest canyons.

On top of China’s Yellow Mountain, travelers can reach for the silvery wisps of clouds in front of them. While clouds drift, it reveals a canyon with a sea of peaks. Yellow Mountain, whose original name Huangshan suggests a single mountain, actually consists of a whole mountain range covering 58 square miles in southern Anhui province.

The whole mountain might take 2 days for a visit. It has two routes to get up the mountain, which includes the eastern step and the western step.

Tiger Leaping Gorge is also called Hu Tiao Xia by native name. It is named for a tiger for it is told to have escaped humans by jumping across fierce waters where the canyon narrows. It can be easily reached through the city of Lijiang.

The weather within the gorge is mild all year-round. Thus, it is possible to visit their any time of the year.

Hiking on Tiger Leaping Gorge is an exciting and pleasant for most visitors. However, extreme caution is warranted as the dirt trails can give way after heavy summer rainfalls.

A dead man’s body was uncovered last week in the rubble left of a Port-au-Prince restaurant one year after the destructive earthquake occurred.

Human bodies still being discovered in the ruins are a sign of how far Haiti must go through to recover from the catastrophe that left the capital city of Haiti in despair. More than 230,000 people were estimated to have been killed by the January 12 earthquake.

Days after the disaster, hundreds of volunteers and aid groups went to offer food, water and first aid treatment and had saved numerous lives. However, the effort to rebuild the nation has been stunted by the evident need and lack of leadership, both in the country and internationally.

Days after the quake, Haiti President Rene Preval did not speak publicly. Several observers criticized him for not making firm policy decisions and leading the clear efforts to reconstruct the country. Yet, advocacy groups blame the country’s weakness on maintaining an international community that will keep their pledge of support.

Preval along with his wife and other officials laid flowers at the symbolic black crosses that marked a mass grave where hundreds of thousands of quake’s victims were killed, outside the capital on Tuesday.

From the desolate side of the country, the destruction that the quake caused is still visible. Millions of people remain homeless and not more than 5 percent of the ruins have been cleared. A cholera epidemic also occurred that killed thousands of people after the Quake.

Overall, reconstruction efforts were held back by the failure to deliver the billions of dollars in promised aid.

Prime Minister Jean-Maz Bellerive, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti said that while everyone is talking about Haiti’s resilience, the efforts to rebuild the future will depend on the basics, and that is what they should do right now.

Rapper Tinie Tempah led the BRIT music awards on Thursday with four nominations that included Male Solo Artist and Album of the Year. He was only one point ahead of singer and songwriter Plan B, folk rock act Mumford & Sons, as well as London’s the XX.

From 2010’s female-dominated nominations, male acts appear to be the superiors for 2011 as their ascendancy will begin on the biggest night of the year for the British pop music.

The winners will be announced on February 15 and the ceremony will be held at O2 Arena in London for the first time. Tempah will perform during the ceremony along with Rihanna, Take That and Plan B.

Robert Plant joined the relatively new front-runners as he received his first BRIT nomination in the category of best British male solo artist at the age of 62. He was the former Led Zeppelin lead singer who has established a successful solo career.

The artists who had two nominations each include Arcade Fire, Cheryl Cole, Cee Lo Green, Ellie Goulding, Eminem, Katty Perry, Kings of Leon, Rumer and Take That.

Tempah is nominated for the categories British breakthrough act, British male solo artist, British single for “Pass Out” and the popular Mastercard British album of the year with “Disc-Overy.”

In the Mastercard British album of the year, Tempah’s opponent includes Mumford & Sons for “Sigh No More,” Plan B for “The Defamation of Strickland Banks,” Take That for “Progress” and The XX for “XX.”

Jessi J was already announced as the winter of the Critic’s Choice award while comedian James Corden was identified on Thursday as the host of this year’s event.

Residents of Brisbane Wednesday faced massive flooding when the Brisbane River overflowed its bank as a result of rain and runoff.  This forced the release of huge amounts of water from the Wivenhoe Dam which was designed to shield the city from storms.

The overflowing Brisbane River was expected to affect at least 40,000 properties as the water released from the dam rushed down the city at a rate of 7,000 cubic meters per second. The dam that was built late 1970s was overwhelmed by the surging water from the northern hinterlands. The water was let out to avoid its collapse.

Authorities still could not predict how high the water would rise in the capital city of Queensland. But, they are expecting the peak to go beyond the records as of Thursday mid-afternooon.

A flash flood that surged through the central shopping area in the town of Toowoomba last Monday caused the official death toll to increase to 14. Unofficial reports say the number were as high as 30. Ninety people were still missing in the community.

Almost 6 inches of rain fell in 30 minutes in the town of Toowoomba on Monday that caused the Lockyer Creek to overflow its banks. A wave of water rushed through the town that swept away cars, trees, buildings and dozens of people.

A man told ABC Television that it was like a wall of water that smashed about seven or eight cars. The last thing he saw was it was rushing down the creek with waves going up and down.

While weather conditions remain uncertain, 75 percent of the eastern state of Australia has been declared as a disaster area and fears continue to increase.

Weather conditions were perfect this week in Harbin, northeast of China where the country’s giant buddhas and skyscrapers have been rendered in ice even if the recent chilly weather caused major havoc in the rest of the northern hemisphere.

Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province is the major attraction for hundreds of thousands of residents, as well as visitors from different parts of the world as they celebrated the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, which officially started last January 5, Wednesday.

The Harbin Ice and Snow Festival is one of the world’s largest ice-carving festivals. It features a wide range of activities in ice such as ice swimming, ice sculpture competitions, and different winter sports. It also includes hot air ballooning.

The building and ice sculptures were made from blocks of ice that are cut from the frozen surface of the Songhua River located near the city. The carvings were illuminated with fairy lights, which are enclosed in the translucent ice.

The festival is anticipated to generate millions of visitors this year. The construction costs around 6 million RMB or $909,000, and it occupies a 600,000-square meter ground.

The sculptures are created by different teams from around the world. This time, about 2,000 ice sculptures have already been constructed from an estimated 30,000 cubic meters of ice.

The event is also celebrated together with a trade fair, and this year there are about 1,500 exhibition booths included. That is, twice the number of participants compared to last year’s festival.

Harbin is considered as one of the coldest cities in China where the temperature in January usually drops to minus 20 degrees centigrade.