Deciding to concentrate on the more lucrative long haul routes as opposed to the highly competitive domestic market, Delta Air Lines is adding 11 new routes between the United States and Europe and the Middle East. The 11 new routes will include three already announced, linking Atlanta to Tel Aviv, Dusseldorf and Copenhagen, along with eight new ones, from Atlanta to Edinburgh, Athens, Nice and Venice and from New York JFK Airport to Budapest, Dublin, Manchester and Kiev.

Jared Blank, of the Online Travel Review Blog, has this observation.

That said, Delta has actually made this move before, with terrible results.  In 1991, Delta purchased a bunch of European routes from a dying Pan Am and lost $1.5 billion in three years in the process. 

Living near Deltas headquarters and watching the transformation, the key to the whole process will be the fuel prices. Labor cuts and transforming the airline are all good steps, but if fuel does not come down, airfares will need to be raised for Delta and most of the rest of the airlines to be profitable.

The Clipper Cruise Line, the sailing ships that also serve as cruise ships, is offering a deal according to Frommers.  

Soft-adventure operator Clipper Cruise Line (tel. 800/325-0010; www.clippercruise.com) is offering discounts, including deals for single travelers, for a handful of itineraries in 2005 and 2006 in the Caribbean, Antarctica, Artic, Russian Far East, Southeast Asia and other regions. Double occupancy rates are lowered up to $4,000 (per cabin) and singles can save as much as $5,145 on a number of cruises aboard Clipper’s four small globe-trotting ships, the Nantucket Clipper, Yorktown Clipper, Clipper Adventurer, and Clipper Odyssey.(read more here)