Imagine being able to fetch water when you need it mid-flight? Or grab a snack between meals? As I found recently, you get a bit more freedom within the confines of the walls of the largest commercial aircraft.

My first flight aboard the gigantic Airbus 380 was approached with hesitance and fear of spending the next half-day in a middle seat. That's a fear, I'm sure, we've all had at least once in the past. My fear tempered when I spotted a window-seat behind my assigned row. The last row, but a window in the last is much better than a middle in the second-to-last!

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) reports Q3 earnings results Tuesday, hence I'll await those results before re-evaluating the stock, but today we'll take a moment to highlight a high-profile addition to its fleet: the Oasis of the Seas -- the world's largest oceanliner.

Five times larger than the SS Titanic -- 225,282 gross tons and 1,181 feet in length versus Titanic's 46,328 gross tons and 830 feet in length -- the $1.5 billion Oasis will perhaps represent the world's largest and elaborate floating city, in terms of creature comforts (U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carriers can carry more people, but no, the U.S. Navy does not offer as lavish accommodations nor as much per-person space for military personnel).

American Airlines had yet another difficult quarter, not unexpected in what has become an incredibly deep travel slump. The carrier's parent company, AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), reported a third quarter loss of $359 million, largely because there aren't as many business travelers taking to the skies. Corporate travel budgets in all industries are having an effect on all airlines, including AMR.

Revenue plunged 20.2% year-over-year for the third quarter for the nation's second airline. The loss comes after a $31 million gain last year. This quarter's losses would have been slightly better if write-downs for sold or grounded aircraft were excluded -- the loss would have been $265 million (93 cents a share) on revenue of $5.09 billion. With the write-downs, revenue clocked in at $5.13 billion. Cheaper fuel made the quarter a little easier for AMR to bear, as well, with this expense down 47% year-over-year.

There is that old international economics joke that goes, 'And in the end, there will be 3 banks.'

Actually, up ahead there may only be just 3 U.S. airlines, and AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), parent of American Airlines, will likely be one, which is why I'm reiterating my Buy rating for AMR, first recommended on June 25, 2009 at a price of $4.28. If you bought AMR then, you're up an impressive 79%.

McNews is being squeezed by two market downturns. So, if you think most newspapers have it bad, realize that it could be much worse.

Gannett's (NYSE: GCI) major national paper, USA Today, is getting ready to report a 17% drop in circulation – the largest it has ever sustained. The popular daily is fighting a battle on two fronts. It has to deal with a media slump and a travel recession. It's hard to pick two tougher industries in this economic climate.

Late Monday, Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) announced it raised $600 million in cash and refinanced $1.5 billion in debt in order to help strengthen its liquidity position in 2010. DAL now believes its unrestricted cash balance will be $5.6 billion at the end of the quarter, adding that its refinancing has now addressed more than 40% of next year's loan maturities. The airliner stated that its refinancing has now addressed more than 40% of next year's loan maturities.

Strengthening liquidity is a smart move as it can help the airline conquer some of its technical hurdles. DAL is enjoying a bit of a rally thus far in the calendar year (after starting 2009 with a sharp drop), but I am a bit concerned about its current battle with the $10 level. This round-number level has acted as resistance during the past two weeks, and it could continue in this role. The shares could overcome this resistance with some help from its 10-week and 10-day moving averages.

Shares of cruise ship operator Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) are soaring today after the company posted better than expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter.

As we noted Monday in our earnings preview, analysts had been expecting the company to show earnings of $1.18 per share for the quarter, but Carnival easily beat out those estimates with a reported $1.33 per share.

You can't win them all. The May 14, 2009 Shorts of both Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), at $25.56 and Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), at $14.45 were Stopped Out.

Each is a major cruise line that's battling domestic and international macroeconomic headwinds, overcapacity, stagnant-to-lower U.S. disposable income for many U.S. employment segments, and the sector's latest concern: the H1N1 virus that has discouraged some citizens from taking vacations in large-gathering, contained surroundings.

One of the benefits of vacations is that you get to sample economic conditions in different regions of the United States, and the world, if one travels abroad.

A recent vacation visit to the seashore community of Mystic, Connecticut, which borders Long Island Sound, provided more data points on the current economic state-of-things and perhaps the U.S. economy-to-come.

The Air Transport Association announced that passenger revenue plunged 21% in July relative to the same month last year. This was the ninth month in a row that the industry has had to contend with what has been a brutal market for a perpetually beleaguered business.

The number of passengers hopping on flights fell 4% from July 2008 to July 2009, and the revenue situation wasn't helped by a decline of 18% in the average price a passenger paid to fly one mile.

Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN), a web-based booking business that fights it out with Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), was red-hot during yesterday's session. Shares closed higher by 14%. Volume rocked. The Q2 numbers were strong, and the market rewarded the results without hesitation.

Revenues increased 17%. According to TheStreet.com, adjusted profit of $2.02 per share walloped estimates. Wall Street was only booked for $1.79 per share. The analysts really missed this one. It's understandable, though. Whether we're close to the end of a recession or not is debatable, and I'm sure they wanted to be conservative with the models.

Word that Boeing's next-generation plane, the 787 Dreamliner, may not fly until 2010, according to The Seattle Times, is bad news not just for the company, it's a negative data point for the U.S. economy.

The 787's engineers must correct a wing flaw that extends to inside the plane: 17 long stiffening rods, called "stringers," on each wing's upper skin, sustained damage that occurred just beyond the aircraft's "limit load," which is the maximum load the wing is expected to bear in service, The Times said. In other words, the wing damage occurred when the wing was well below the load the wings must bear to be federally certified to carry passengers.

Despite a net increase of 1.6% in U.S. exports in May 2009, services exports fell 0.4% with travel and tourism exports off a whopping 3% month-over-month. According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, spending related to travel from other countries to the United States fell to $9.5 billion for the month – down 22% year-over-year.

The global travel market continues to feel the squeeze from an ongoing recession, as travel discounts and cheaper fares have been insufficient to counteract sluggish consumer spending. Recreational travel just isn't a priority these days, and businesses are curtailing travel budgets as they try to shore up their resources and spend prudently.

Oil prices headed lower today following a bearish inventory report from the Energy Information Administration.

Over the past week oil prices have been moving higher, spurred by strong corporate earnings. Better than expected earnings by several big name companies has led investors to anticipate the economy has been improving.

Earlier this week we were looking at oil prices, and wondering if we would see the precious crude break through the psychological $70 barrier, and that is exactly what we saw today.

For the first time since last November, oil prices were briefly above $70 today, moving up as high as $70.32 before profit taking pushed oil prices down on the day. We finished up the week at $68.44, down 37 cents.