Travel Roundup: Cruise Lines Skip Mexico, Companies Halt Mexico Travel, Union Pacific Settles with Utah and More

(MoneyWatch)  Cruise lines halt stops in Mexico-- Five cruise lines have halted all stops to Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line Corp. and Holland America Line Inc. have all joined in the boycott. Princess Cruises, a division of Carnival, also stopped cruises to Mexico. The cruise lines said they would instead travel to alternate spots like San Diego or Catalina Island. [Source: Los Angeles Times]

Companies restrict employee travel to Mexico -- Companies like Xerox, Microsoft, Google, Samsung and Honda are restricting travel to and from Mexico by its employees to avoid the swine flu epidemic. Businesses are also taking the pandemic seriously -- one unconfirmed case at accounting firm Ernst & Young led to the closure of part of its New York City office. [Source: Reuters]

Union Pacific settles with Utah for environmental complaints -- Union Pacific will pay $228,000 in penalties to settle environmental complaints in Utah without admitting liability. The civil case stems from the 2005 removal of railroad-owned huts. The Environmental Protection Agency, along with a U.S. attorney and Utah's attorney general, claimed that the railroad company failed to provide notification about possible hazardous air pollutants before removing the huts. Union Pacific agreed to pay $150,000 to Utah's Department of Environmental Quality and $50,000 to the U.S. Treasury to resolve the issue. It will also pay the Utah attorney general's office $28,202 to cover investigative costs. [Source: Journal of Commerce]

Virgin America starts Orange County service -- Virgin America begins its five daily round-trip flights from San Francisco International Airport and John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. today. A surf band and red carpet will also accompany the inaugural flight. [Source: Virgin America]