TRAVOLTA'S GETAWAY PLANS HIT THE ROCKS

Hollywood star John Travolta's plans to ease the grief he is still suffering over the tragic death of his son temporarily hit the rocks.
Travolta, who is still so sad over 16-year-old Jett's death that he has been unable to promote his new movie, decided to get away from it all on a relaxing short Caribbean cruise.
But Travolta, who stars as the evil mastermind of a train hijacking in the remake of the 1974 thriller The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three, found himself a hostage when the luxury liner he was holidaying on was sealed off by authorities.
Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, were stuck on a cruise ship with more than 2,000 other passengers after the Belize government decided to quarantine the boat amid fears someone might have swine flu.
The Pulp Fiction star Travolta was scheduled to leave the boat when it arrived in Belize to board a private jet to fly home to Florida.
“John was very disappointed that his break was disrupted,” said a friend. “To say the very lease his life hasn't exactly been smooth sailing of late and so it was very frustrating for him when part of his plans for the getaway break were scuppered and his return home was delayed.”
Belize, despite sharing a border with Mexico, is one of the few countries in the world that has no confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus and they want to keep it that way.
The Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Enchantment of the Sea liner left Miami on June 8 and reached its Belize port Thursday morning.
Many passengers were supposed to leave the ship to tour the city but instead were held on the boat – along with Travolta - for around four hours while health officials checked out members of the crew who began showing flu-like symptoms on the voyage.
“Even John's star power could not persuade officials to allow him to deboard early,” said the friend.
At least six of the ship's crew had shown flu-like signs and as a result the liner was quarantined when it docked in the port.
The passengers just had to sit on board while the health checks were carried out.
Belize health officials finally gave the okay for the passengers to leave the liner at around midday but by that time many of the holidaymakers' touring plans had been wrecked.
But at that time Travolta was able to rearrange his travel plans and fly home.
A Royal Caribbean Cruise liner official said: “While most had missed their excursions to inland destinations because of the delay – they were all taking it in stride. In fact it was news to most that there was a H1N1 scare.”
Travolta, whose autistic son died suddenly of a seizure in January while the family were taking a New Year's break in the Bahamas, last week thanked his co-stars for helping deal with the death of his son.
The star was spared the promotional tour for his new movie by the "unselfish efforts" of his fellow actors.
As a result, Travolta posted a letter on his website which read: "Director Tony Scott, Denzel Washington, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, James Gandolfini and Sony Pictures stepped up without hesitation to help promote this wonderful film, and their unselfish efforts have allowed my family the additional time to reconcile our loss.
"I am very proud of the efforts we have all made in making this movie, and I want each and every one of you to enjoy it. I promise you, you won't be disappointed."
The 55-year-old actor also said he was delighted with the "freedom" he was given in the movie.
"I was allowed to define, and then become, the ultimate evil mastermind," he wrote.
"This role as an actor gave me the chance to dispense with all moral and ethical limitations and explore just how bad this character could really be."
Two-time, Oscar-winner Washington, 54, said in an interview that Travolta and his wife were beginning to come to terms with their grief.
He said: "It's a process. He is trying to work it out, it's a tough situation. He is a wonderful actor and an even better human being. We talked a couple weeks ago for a long time and he is doing as well as can be expected."