Cruises to Havana, Cuba, from Miami with Carnival Cruise Lines (800/ 764-7419, www.carnival.com) were approved by the US Department of the Treasury on July 7. The 7-night biweekly sailings will begin in May 2016, and itineraries will meet US regulations for People-to-People travel, which do not allow for free time on the island. Cruise fares were starting at $2,990 per person, double, plus.

Visitors to the Maldives, an archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean, now can get free, 30-day tourist visas upon arrival. To qualify, a visitor must have a valid passport, a return ticket out of the Maldives and proof of financial capacity to cover expenses while in the Maldives (measured at $150 a day) or a hotel reservation.

A visitor can extend his visa to a total of 90 days by filling out a Visa Extension Application Form with the Department of Immigration for an additional fee of...

The Mobile Passport Control App allows US travelers to submit passport and Customs declarations information on their smartphones or tablets before encountering the Customs desk.

On the app (free on iOS and Android), a traveler creates a personal profile with his passport information and submits a Customs declaration in the “New Trip” section. A Customs receipt with a bar code will be downloaded onto the user’s phone or tablet to be presented at Customs along with a passport.

As...