Las Vegas starts opening lavish new CityCenter

CityCenter hotels, shops open in Vegas

The first new hotels and shops have opened at the massive CityCenter development in Las Vegas, including the nearly 1,500-room Vdara hotel. The $8.5 billion upscale CityCenter, with six towers on the Strip, has been years in the making but is opening amid a severe slump in Vegas tourism.

Also open are the Crystals shopping mall and the 392-room Mandarin Oriental hotel. The centerpiece Aria hotel-casino will open Dec. 16 with about 4,000 rooms.

CityCenter has been built by MGM Mirage and financially struggling Dubai World (but officials say funding of CityCenter is not at risk.) www.citycenter.com

Airline rankings — and travelers' gripes

The annual Zagat airline survey taps the opinions of thousands of frequent fliers and travel agents to rank the nation's biggest carriers.

The survey awards top honors for categories including best large domestic premium-class airline (Continental Airlines), best large domestic economy-class carrier (JetBlue Airways), and top in-flight entertainment system (JetBlue domestically and Virgin Atlantic internationally) among other rankings.

But the most entertaining section of the survey are the quotes by dissatisfied airline passengers. This year's top quotes about unnamed airlines include:

"Cabin staff has been on duty since Sherman sacked Atlanta."

"I expected a coin slot for the toilet."

"At least you don't have to pay extra to have your luggage delayed."

"If there was any less leg room, I'd have to check my legs."

London museum opens new wing

London's Victoria & Albert museum has opened a new $49 million wing displaying the art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The 1,800 objects tell the story of European art and design from the decline of the Roman Empire through the Renaissance.

The new wing of the central London museum contains 10 galleries. One of the treasures of the collection is five notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci that contain his right-to-left "mirror writing."

Cruise-ship pollution attacked

The environmental group Friends of the Earth has released a report criticizing cruise-industry pollution.

The report, Getting a Grip on Cruise Ship Pollution, examines environmental impacts, from sewage to air pollution. See www.foe.org/getting-grip-cruise-ship-pollution

Tips for traveling families

For families traveling over the holidays, here are some ways to get information.

The Transportation Security Administration has tips about air travel with children at www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children.

Single Parent Travel has details on documentation required for traveling abroad; organized tours; a monthly newsletter and more. www.singleparenttravel.net

Seattle Times staff and news services