Here’s a cool new offering from Lonely Planet: Pick & Mix downloads that allow customers to buy individual chapters from Lonely Planet guidebooks and download them as PDFs. The Caribbean Islands, Latin America and South America are the first regions available through this buy-by-chapter download program. It’s a great option if you plan to visit, say, the Guatemala highlands and the Pacific Slope, but could care less about Guatemala City or Central and Eastern Guatemala. Just throw down for the chapters you need. And at $2 a pop, it’s totally affordable.

Looking for last-minute late summer cruise deals to the Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico? Check out this round-up from Market Watch:

Sail Away with Last-Minute Cruise Deals

The Washington Post’s Gary Lee has a good blog post up on Caribbean travel during the hurricane season (which is predicted to be worse this year than last….):

The Hurricane Season: Too Risky for Caribbean Travel?

In a nutshell, Lee’s answer to the question is no, but you can guard against vacation disappointment by following the basic guidelines/tips in his post.

By January 2008, 18 of Royal Caribbean’s 21 ships will go smoke-free in all staterooms. Additionally, at least one lounge on these ships will offer a completely smoke-free environment. The remaining three ships (Legend of the Seas, Rhapsody of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas) will follow suit by next summer. Under the current policy, smoking is prohibited in guest hallways and corridors, entertainment venues and most of the enclosed interior spaces on the ships. The new rules beef the policy up a bit, but without completely banning smoking across the board.

The Barbados Tourism Authority has launched the Best of Barbados 2007 vacation package promotion, available through American Express Vacations or Liberty Travel. The packages, which start at $499/person and require a seven-day minimum stay, are available at 30 participating hotels (like the Bougainvillea Beach Resort pictured here) and 15 Barbados attractions from museums to snorkeling adventures. Travelers can choose their accommodations and on-island activities and though the price can go up considerably for those who choose luxury hotels, the tourist authority estimates that the packages save travelers an average of $800 per couple. Included in each package:

- One night free overnight accommodations at participating hotels

- Free full breakfast each morning

- 25 percent discount on island activities

- Round trip airfare on American Airlines, Delta Airlines or US Airways

- $200 credit per person for airfare

Packages must be booked by August 31 for travel between Sept. 1 and Nov. 15, 2007.

For a sampling of the available hotels and resorts, check out the Barbados Tourism Authority accommodations page.

Here’s a cute way to make your child’s first flight a little more fun: USA3000’s First Flight Certificate. The discount carrier offers them to children on its flights upon request. The airline flies to Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean from 15 U.S. cities (St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Hartford, Philadelphia, Newark, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers and Ft. Lauderdale).

For bookings made by September 15, 2007, Holland America is offering Early Advantage discounts on 2008 cruises and cruise packages. Some of the deals include:

- 7-day Caribbean cruise starting at $1049 for verandah rooms.

- 15-day Circle Hawaii cruise starting at $1,799 for an outside stateroom

- 10-day Yukon CruiseTour starting at $1,489 for an outside stateroom.

- 16-day South America cruise starting at $2,099 for an inside stateroom

Rarely have I seen so many practical ways to save a few bucks at an all-inclusive resort, but Puerto Rico’s Las Casitas Village is offering not one, not two, but five different mini-deals for guests to take advantage of.

- Returning guests get 20 percent off stays of 3 or more nights

- Pay for your stay with an American Express card, and the resort will give you a $100 certificate for use at any LuxuryResort property

- AARP members receive special discounted room rates

- AAA members receive special discounted room rates

- Guests receive a $100 resort credit with 3-night stays, $200 on 4- and 5-night stays and $300 on stays of 6+ nights

If you’re interested in any of these deals, make sure to book through the hotel directly and mention the promotion at time of booking.

In response to angry travelers awaiting passports to comply with the new passport rules that went into effect earlier this year, the Bush administration has announced that U.S. citizens flying to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda can bypass the passport rule until through the end of September 2007 - as long as they have government-issued identification (e.g. a drivers license) receipt showing they applied for a passport.

Passport Rules to be Eased Temporarily

I usually don’t blog about properties that haven’t opened (you never know when projects will get delayed, abandoned, etc.) but this one was too good to pass up. The company that owns men’s magazine Maxim is branding luxury Maxim Bungalows in two Dominican Republic locations. Slated to open in October 2007 and early 2008 in Cofresi Beach (north coast, Puerto Plata region) and Juan Dolio (south coast, near Santo Domingo), respectively, the resorts will offer one- and two-bedroom accommodations capped with amenities like wi-fi and plasma TVs. When they arrive, guests will be picked up at the airport in luxury SUVs. They will also have access to a 54-foot resort yacht during their visit.

But what I’m sure we all really want to know is this: are hot chicks and dude humor included with the room rate?