Sky Talk

'Can I get your bags?'

Southwest Airlines announced this morning it's offering a new baggage service to cruise-goers in Florida who are using the discount carrier to get back home.

You can now check your airline bags and get a boarding pass at the seaport as you get off the cruise ship. The bags are taken by a company called Bags to Go Enterprises in a secured vehicle that was pre-screened by the TSA.

The service costs $20 per person and will allow for up to three checked bags.

But there are some small restrictions:

• Only good for flights departing after 12 p.m.
• Bags must be presented at least three hours before departure.
• Available only at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport for cruise travelers arriving at the Port of Miami and Port Everglades.

Southwest said it also offers the Bags to Go service in Las Vegas at the Venetian and Luxor hotels, the Las Vegas Convention Center and the airport's rental-car center.

"Off-site check-in is a growing trend in the airline industry," said Laura Adams, the airline's director of central baggage services.

-David

Smokers angered by new cruise ship rules

USA Today reports that smokers aren't happy about increasingly restrictive smoking policies on cruise ships.

-- Scott

Texas cruise industry tops $1 billion in direct spending

The North American cruise industry dumped $1.1 billion in direct spending into the Texas economy in 2006, up 20 percent from the prior year and the first time that figured topped $1 billion, the Cruise Lines International Assocation says in a new study.

The study, Contribution of the North American Cruise Industry to the U.S. Economy, was conducted by Business Research & Economic Advisors in Exton, Pa. The numbers are based on five key sources: spending by cruise passengers and crew, shoreside staffing by cruise lines in U.S. cities, purchases of goods and services by cruise lines, U.S. port services, and boat maintenance and repair.

Other findings:

• The spending generated 19,350 jobs paying $907 million in Texas, the study says. That ranks Texas "third in the nation for economic impact," up from fifth in 2005.

• Last year, more than 670,000 people -- 8 percent of total passengers who began their cruises in the U.S. -- boarded from either Galveston or Houston.

• Since 2002, "Texas has been the highest growth market for cruise embarkations in the industry," the study said. "Galveston ranked fourth in the nation in terms of cruise embarkations with 617,000," behind Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades.

• "Tourism-related businesses'' -- travel agencies, airlines, hotels, restaurants, and ground transportation providers -- were the "main beneficiaries" of the cruise industry's spending, getting $441 million of it.

• An estimated $307 million was spent at food processors, petroleum refiners, ad agencies, insurance carriers, and consulting companies.

• Texas residents who went on a cruise in the United States totalled 729,000 in 2006, 8 percent of all U.S. cruise passengers.

-- Scott