US airlines’ on-time rating drops again in May

Summer travelers should pack plenty of patience: More flights are running late this year than in 2012.

Cruising

Regent Seven Seas orders new luxury ship

The newest ship to join the South Florida-based cruise fleet will be a luxury vessel for Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The line announced Wednesday that it has contracted with the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy to build an all-suite, all-balcony ship that will be delivered in summer 2016.

Space shuttle Enterprise reopens to NYC visitors

The space shuttle Enterprise has reopened to visitors after an eight-month hiatus caused by damage from Superstorm Sandy.

Park service to light Washington Monument during restoration

While the Washington Monument is closed for earthquake damage repairs over the next year, 488 lamps will restore the marble tower’s glow each night on the National Mall.

France: Lichtenstein exhibit at Centre Pomidou

Pop into Paris

New York: Queens carousel wins landmark status

Going around in circles

Gear + Gadgets

In the bag

Tarpaulin has a long pedigree as a humble but indispensable ground cover and wet-weather shelter for campers. Hideo Wakamatsu has upgraded the material to a decidedly more glamorous use — as luggage. Taking advantage of tarp’s water resistance, durability, light weight and flexibility, the travel ware designer has introduced a big roomy 25-inch wheeled tarpaulin bag in shiny red, white, blue or black. There’s no metal frame to weigh the bag down or take up precious space, and built-in straps let you cinch down the sides when you need less storage. What you get is kind of a cross between a duffel bag and a traditional trolley bag, with a snazzy rusticity. Interior straps and pockets aid organizing. An electric blue lining adds a touch of class, and makes finding items easier. The bag also is available in a wheeled carry-on model in the same choice of colors.

New Hamshire: Appalachian Mountain Club promotes hut system

Hut havens

Travel briefs

A humorous complaint letter to the Caribbean airline LIAT has gotten wide exposure since Virgin Group chief Sir Richard Branson tweeted about it last month.

On view in Georgia: ‘Pearl Earring’ and the best of Dutch painting

Atlanta’s High Museum of Art is giving visitors a chance to experience the engaging over-the-shoulder glance of Johannes Vermeer’s famous Girl with a Pearl Earring. Along with 34 other works from the Dutch Golden Age, including four by Rembrandt van Rijn, the 17th century masterpiece is part of the exhibition Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis, which runs through Sept. 29. Like Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, to which it is often compared, Girl with a Pearl Earring is a relatively small painting, only about 18 by 15 inches, and occupies its own gallery at the end of the High exhibition.

New York: Lady Liberty will receive visitors beginning July 4

Just a day after a newly renovated Statue of Liberty reopened to the public last fall, Superstorm Sandy blew through, submerging 75 percent of Liberty Island. The statue itself wasn’t damaged, but the docks, a brick promenade, railings and other facilities were, and access to the statue was shut off again. Eight months later, Lady Liberty will reopen on the Fourth of July. Tickets are now on sale, including a limited number of tickets for the climb to the crown.

Carnival Cruise Lines leaving some northern ports

Carnival Cruise Lines is saying bon voyage to Norfolk and Baltimore.

France: A walk on the Left Bank

Paris has given back a stretch of its riverbank to pedestrians — and just in time for summer. The city has turned a 1.4 mile stretch of busy roadway into a walkway with athletic activities, restaurants, a floating garden, a picnic spot and a children’s area. The path is along the Seine River between the Royal and Alma bridges on the Left Bank.

Travel briefs

Fliers are slightly more satisfied with the service offered by U.S. airlines than they were last year.

Gear + Gadgets

Secret connections

Talk about undercover work! Scottevest, makers of technology enabled clothing for discreetly carrying and charging everything from little digital cameras and cellphones to full-size tablet computers, has created a super cool — and blessedly lightweight — water-resistant jacket that should be particularly attractive to travelers. At first glance, the Scottevest Tropiformer Jacket looks like just a sturdy well-tailored zippered windbreaker. But investigate further and you’ll find 22 integrated pockets and pouches inside and out, some with hidden pockets inside the pockets. Internal icon labels and color-coded zippers identify places for pens, cameras, cellphones, your wallet, passport and other valuables. The cellphone pouch alongside the bottom of the front zipper is accessible from the jacket’s outside or inside (where the transparent, touch-conducive material lets you see and control your touch-screen phone through the fabric — and even make Face Time calls. There’s a stowable hood, hand-warmer pockets, and dedicated places for coins, multiple pairs of eyeglasses and styluses. My favorite feature for travelers: removable sleeves that attach to the jacket via strategically placed magnets. (Do alert the security personnel at checkpoints). Some pockets are interconnected so battery packs, chargers and headphones can discreetly connect. Fully loaded, you could be pretty weighed down, inconspicuous or not.

Universal Orlando

‘Cabin in the Woods’ finds its way to Halloween Horror Nights

It’s already time to plan for Halloween? How could that be? But apparently it is, because Universal Orlando is announcing today that the blood-soaked horror-comedy The Cabin in the Woods will be the theme of the newest haunted house at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights.

Delta fined for mishandling bumped passengers

The government is fining Delta Air Lines Inc. $750,000 for bumping some passengers involuntarily, without offering compensation or seeking volunteers first.

Paris

Eiffel Tower reopens after 2-day strike

France’s Eiffel Tower has reopened after a rare two-day workers’ strike.

Legoland adds last piece to new World of Chima attraction

Just in time for the grand opening next week, Legoland crews on Thursday topped off the new World of Chima, hoisting a 7,500-pound “floating mountain” atop the attraction.