This is not a new idea. One of my college roommates was a polymer chemist and polymer chemists have been playing this joke on each other for at least 25 years.

Dissolving Bikini is the Ultimate Revenge Gift

The sexy swimsuit disappears by dissolving in water, leaving a woman completely nude and embarrassed. The sexy black swimsuit looks like a real bikini, feels like a real bikini and fits like a real bikini. The only difference is it’s made from a material that completely melts away after a few seconds in water.

And unlike the above gift, Maui is trying to see fewer butts. You have to like the campaign title, it made me look.

Keep your “butts off the beach”

Maui, rated as “Best Island in the World” by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler for 13 years, is working to keep its beaches beautiful, through a “Butts off the Beach” awareness campaign to prevent cigarette butt litter.

Sadly, even a vacation won’t fix some marital problems.

Carnival Cruise Passenger Killed Wife “With Bare Hands”

Robert McGill, 55, a teacher from the San Fernando Valley, made his first court appearance on Friday after being charged with killing his wife, Shirley McGill, 55, on Tuesday on Carnival Cruise Lines’ 70,367-ton, 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation. The ship was sailing from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to San Diego, where their five-night cruise was scheduled to end. The AP is reporting that Tueday was Robert McGill’s birthday.

Be aware of this if you go to Thailand. Print a copy of the article and put in your luggage to hand to them. Do you think that would work?

Tourist scams at Bangkok airport

New allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.

A cruise ship is a big city in a small space. This story is inevitable.

Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas hit by widespread illness

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship pulled into a French port today with dozens of crew members and passengers ill in what local officials feared was a massive H1N1 swine flu outbreak.

But while the Associated Press quotes French officials today as saying about 60 crew members on the ship, the Voyager of the Seas, already have been diagnosed with swine flu, a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean says that’s not the case and the illness is not swine flu.

The best hotel campaign I have heard this year. What a great idea!

Give A Day, Get A Night

Give 8 hours of community service and Get a complimentary night stay or 50% discount on hotel rooms at all 53 Sage hotels across the country. Offer ends December 20, 2009

Also cool if not quite as altruistic:

Hotel offers guests a free camcorder for the weekend

Through the Omni Flips for Summer campaign, which runs through Sept. 6, families staying at any of the chain’s hotels and resorts in North America can borrow a pocket-sized video camcorder for free and use it to record their most memorable moments. The camcorder provided is the new Flip Ultra video camcorder, launched this spring by Pure Digital, and it’s available to guests who purchase any “Omni Flips for Summer” weekend package.

Some other stories that caught my eye:

• Thirsty New Yorkers invited to refill their water bottles at cafés
• Vending machines sell bathing suits at hotel pools
• Worst Part of a Trip May Be Booking It on the Web
• Mini Helicopter Allows Solo Air Travel
• The End of an Era for SouthWest and the Airline Industry