Mexico Dramatically Raises Cruise Ship Passenger Fees

And more of today's top travel news stories.Today in travel, we have several stories that may have flown under your radar. Among them: Mexico is doubling cruise ship passenger fees; a top Alaska tourism spot is at risk of flooding; the CDC has extended entry restrictions for some countries due to Ebola; and archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a necropolis. Dive into these and more as we examine the latest in travel news. Some or all of this article was crafted with help from AI. An editor reviewed and vetted this article before publishing. 1 OF 5 U.S. Extends Ebola-Related Entry Restrictions for Travelers Recently in DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan The United States has extended for another 30 days a public-health order restricting entry by certain travelers who have recently been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan.The CDC renewed the order on August 12, applying it to covered non-U.S. citizens who have departed from or otherwise been present in any of the three countries within the previous 21 days. The restriction may apply to lawful permanent residents, although U.S. citizens and nationals, certain military and government personnel, and travelers who receive approved exceptions are not subject to the order.Federal health officials say the measure is intended to reduce the risk of importing Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus. The outbreak remains active and has expanded substantially in the DRC. Uganda declared its outbreak over on July 28 after detecting no further domestic transmission, but officials say continued cross-border travel from the DRC poses a risk of additional imported cases. South Sudan has not reported any confirmed cases but is considered vulnerable because of its proximity to affected areas and cross-border movement.Read more at the CDC. 2 OF 5 Active-Duty Military and Families Can Get Priority TSA PreCheck Access at Austin Airport Active-duty service members and their families traveling through Austin-Bergstrom International Airport can use an expedited entrance at TSA PreCheck lanes, the Transportation Security Administration is reminding travelers.Eligible passengers should look for signage directing active-duty service members to the designated entrance. Uniforms are not required; TSA says travelers can present a valid military or veteran ID to the lane monitor for priority access.Austin is one of a growing number of airports offering dedicated military access at security checkpoints. TSA also provides other PreCheck benefits to members of the military community, including no-cost eligibility for uniformed service members and qualifying military survivor families, as well as free enrollment for certain severely disabled veterans.Read the TSA bulletin. 3 OF 5 Glacial Outburst Flood Forces Closures Around Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier A glacial lake outburst from Suicide Basin is sending rapidly rising water into Mendenhall Lake and the Mendenhall River in Juneau, prompting evacuations and widespread closures around one of Alaska’s most popular visitor areas.As of 7:30 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service measured the Mendenhall River at 12.41 feet and rising at roughly 0.4 feet per hour. Forecasters expected the river to reach major flood stage and crest between 16.1 and 16.6 feet between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.—potentially approaching the record 16.65-foot crest reached exactly one year earlier.Access to the Mendenhall Lake Campground and the western side of the lake has been closed, while the Back Loop Bridge is shut to traffic and pedestrian access beneath Brotherhood Bridge has also been suspended. Flooding is expected to make portions of the West Glacier Trail impassable, and officials are warning people to stay away from the river because of swift water, erosion, unstable banks, and debris.Read more at the National Weather Service. 4 OF 5 Mexico Doubles Cruise Passenger Fee, With More Increases to Come Cruise passengers visiting Mexico are now paying twice as much under a tourism fee that will continue rising over the next two years.As of August 1, the charge for foreign passengers arriving aboard cruise ships increased from $5 to $10 per person. The fee applies at Mexican cruise destinations including Cozumel, Costa Maya, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta, though passengers generally won’t have to make a separate payment themselves because cruise lines and shipping agents handle collection.The $10 charge is only an intermediate step. Mexico’s current schedule raises it to $15 in July 2027 and $21 in August 2028. Those amounts are still well below the $42 levy initially proposed by the government, which was scaled back after objections from the cruise industry. The reduced fee debuted at $5, with collection beginning in July 2025.Read more at TravelPulse. 5 OF 5 Archaeologists Discover Egyptian Necropolis Used Across Thousands of Years An archaeological site in Egypt’s eastern Nile Delta is revealing how people lived and buried their dead across several thousand years of Egyptian history.Excavations at Kom El-Khelgan in Dakahliya have uncovered burials stretching from the Predynastic era into the Ptolemaic period. The oldest, dating to the fourth millennium B.C.E., are simple oval graves dug into sand, where archaeologists found human remains alongside pottery and shells.Centuries later, the site supported a settlement during Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period, roughly 1640 to 1540 B.C.E. Archaeologists found evidence of mudbrick structures along with grain-storage silos, ovens, hearths, and curved walls enclosing residential and burial areas.People continued burying their dead there into the Ptolemaic era, including one child whose remains were placed inside an amphora. Egyptian antiquities officials say the long chronology of the site is helping researchers trace changes in settlement patterns and funerary customs in the Nile Delta over time.Read more at Archaeology Magazine.