Daily Archives: July 21, 2017

Johnny Depp returns to the big screen as the iconic, swashbuckling anti-hero Jack Sparrow in the all-new "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales." The rip-roaring adventure finds down-on-his-luck Captain Jack feeling the winds of ill-fortune blowing strongly his way when deadly ghost sailors, led by the terrifying Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil's Triangle bent on killing every pirate at sea-notably Jack. Jack's only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), a brilliant and beautiful astronomer, and Henry (Brenton Thwaites), a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy. At the helm of the Dying Gull, his pitifully small and shabby ship, Captain Jack seeks not only to reverse his recent spate of ill fortune, but to save his very life from the most formidable and malicious foe he has ever faced.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017 ...

Sandals Resorts International is looking to Wall Street to help finance as many as a dozen new Caribbean hotels as the luxury resort manager ditches its conservative strategy ofbuilding just one project per year and keeping debt right down.

CEO Adam Stewart, who runs Sandals with his father, Gordon Butch Stewart, said the closely-held company is not for sale and has no immediate plans to go public, contrary to rumors. Instead, its looking beyond the regional Caribbean banks it has traditionally used, to fund the biggest expansion in its history.

Were open to taking on more debt to build more than on hotel at a time. We want to build three or four hotels a year, Stewart said in a telephone interview. We are trying to look for bigger capital to grow. We know exactly what to do and how to do it. But up until now weve been restricted by the balance sheet of regional banks.

The company, which owns and operates 23 resorts across seven Caribbean islands, is in talks with Deutsche Bank and others to raise money as it weighs the new projects, including four hotels it plans to build next year, Stewart said. While he declined to say how much he is seeking to borrow, the company next year is spending about $375 million to build a 580-room Barbados hotel and around $500 million to construct a resort on the island of Tobago in the southern Caribbean.

Were not looking at $200 million any more, he said.

With its expansion, Sandals is aiming to capitalize on a Caribbean tourism boom. A record 29.3 million tourists visited the islands last year, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization. And 41,000 new rooms are under construction or being planned in the region, said STR, which tracks the industry, up more than 40 percent from a year earlier.

The increase was led by several major projects, such as a 2,000-room casino hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and a 934-room beach resort in Varadero, Cuba, STR said.

Tourism is the biggest source of foreign currency earnings for many countries in the region. Stewart said growth in the Caribbean tourism has attracted interest from private equity and some of the hotel industrys biggest names.

While the company does not disclose revenues, Stewart said the company is very sound, with a ratio of debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of less than one.

The Marriotts, the Hiltons, the Hyatts, institutional capital and private equity, theyre all looking to get a piece of the action in the Caribbean, he said. Its at an inflection point. I expect to see a massive boom in the 2-star or 3-star level of hotels.

Sandals, the biggest private employer in Jamaica, targets the luxury vacation market. The average daily rate across its portfolio of 6,000 rooms is around $550, according to Stewart. Its opening over-the-water suites in Jamaica and St. Lucia, which come with a dedicated butler and around-the-clock service, for as much as $3,000 a night.

Were easily among the most expensive and were proud of it, Stewart said.

With assistance from Oscar Medina

2017 Bloomberg L.P. This article was written by Ezra Fieser from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [emailprotected].

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Photo Credit: The Pink Gin Beach at Sandals LaSource Grenada, St. George's, Grenada. Sandals Resorts is hoping to expand throughout the Caribbean. Sandals Resorts International

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Sandals Is Looking to Wall Street to Expand in the Caribbean - Skift

Norma G's food truck is the only in the city rolling out Caribbean cuisine and Trinidadian comfort foods, and for that, it has quickly established itself as a favorite.

But owner Lester Gouvia says there's a lot more he can do with his native cuisine when he opens a casual fine dining restaurant in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood.

"A lot of the dishes I want to offer are hard to do in the food truck, or do in a takeout container," he says. "This is really about being able to provide food in more of a comfortable setting. A lot of dishes I do that don't translate well on the food truck, we'll do here."

Construction is underway and Gouvia says he's targeting a fall opening at 14700 E. Jefferson Ave., but he stresses that there's no firm date in place.

When Norma G's does open, expect traditional Caribbean and Trinidadian dishes - Gouvia was born in Trinidad - like coo coo with stew fish, callaloo, or codfishballs. The latter is made with dried codfish that's sauted with herbs, vegetables, other seasoning, and mashed potatoes. It's blended together into a ball, fried, and served with a garlic or chipotle mayo.

Gouvia says Norma's menu will be vegan friendly, and notes that the flavors of Trinidad are influenced by a range of cuisines from the island's colonizers like the French, Spanish, Dutch, and English. Even Chinese populations made their way through the Caribbean and left their prints on some of the recipes.

Though Gouvia says most Detroiters aren't familiar with plates like coo coo or codfish, he suspects that they'll warm up to the flavors.

"There are

all these flavors and influences from all over the world ... Codfish is a Spanish thing. It's not a dish that's strange to the world, but it's a dish that's strange to people here. But

my son eats it, so if he does, believe me other people will like it," Gouvia jokes.

"I'm not knocking that, but when I think about Caribbean - it's about the food, atmosphere meeting other people, and I want to make the restaurant comfortable. Colorful and casual, but not tacky," he says. "There will be nice

furnishing going in and colors will be key. Hopefully I can deliver an atmosphere where people want to hang out."

A job in the financial industry led Gouvia to metro Detroit. He only intended to stay a few years, but never left. Jefferson-Chalmers appealed to him more than downtown, Midtown, or other neighborhoods because he feels that Norma's will have a greater impact there.

"I didn't see myself having a big impact Midtown or downtown, and financially it doesn't make sense because the price points are too high," he says.

"I'm in business, I've got to generate revenue, and pay people well, but I ... want to help generate traffic and be a part of the change, and I think this is still one of neighborhoods that has potential for that."

Gouvia worked with SWOT City to pull together funding for the roughly $450,000 project from a variety of sources, including a $60,000 Motor City Match Grant. He's leasing the building from the Jefferson Inc. Stay tuned for more details.

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Norma G's Caribbean restaurant starts construction in Jefferson Chalmers - Detroit Metro Times

Some familiar spaces are coming into focus on board what will become the worlds largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas.

New construction photos show progress on the 230,000-ton, 1,188-foot-long ship being built at the STX France shipyard in St. Nazaire, France.

Those photos show the signature Boardwalk area at the aft of the ship as well the Royal Promenade on Deck 5 in the ships interior.

Particularly recognizable is the development of the AquaTheater, which is home to the lines productions that combine music, high diving and acrobatics.

Also shown are the two 40-foot-tall rock climbing walls as well as the stateroom balconies that rise up from Deck 6 of where the open-air Boardwalk neighborhood will be.

Whats not show yet is the ships version of the Ultimate Abyss dry slide, the 10-deck twin twisting slide that debuted on sister ship Harmony of the Seas. While the line has promised it will be on this ship as well, it also has promised it will have a new twist, but details on what that twist will be have yet to be revealed. Also not in place are any of the signature features that make up the Boardwalk, such as the carousel.

On the ships interior, the shells that will become restaurants, bars and shops of the Royal Promenade are continuing to get attention.

On Harmony of the Seas, the Royal Promenade is where you find the ships signature centerpiece sculpture, the twisting giant metallic human head. Its also where the line parks the vintage cars that can be found on Voyager, Freedom and Oasis-class ships.

As far as venues go, Harmonys Royal Promenade is home to the Bionic Bar, which is promised for Symphony as well. Its also a stop for the Rising Tide bar, which moves up and down multiple decks. Also on Harmony in the Royal Promenade are Sorrento's, Bolero's, the English pub Boot and Bonnet, On Air karaoke club, guest services, shore excursions and more.

Symphony of the Seas' gross registered tons will be more than Harmony of the Seas, which comes in at 226,963 tons, but they will be the same length. Harmony of the Seas currently holds the title for world's largest cruise ship, slightly larger than the original ships, 2009's Oasis of the Seas and 2010's Allure of the Seas.

Symphony will feature 28 more staterooms than Harmony of the Seas with a Royal Suite class, neighborhood balconies overlooking Central Park, virtual balconies on inside staterooms, and the highest number of ocean-view cabins at sea.

Other notable previously announced features include the Perfect Storm water park, FlowRider surf simulator, ice skating rink, Vitality at Sea spa, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's Italian dining venue, Mexican offering Sabor, Japanese cuisine at Izumi, the Chops Grill steakhouse, Vintages wine bar and Solarium bistro. More than 20 dining options are promised, but details on any new venues have not been released yet. Also not revealed yet is one other adventure offering with no details other than "A new scale of daring. Adventure hits a high note with a whole new challenge.

The ship is set to debut April 21, 2018 with an inaugural sailing from Barcelona as it spends its first season of cruising in the Mediterranean. It then repositions to PortMiami on a 12-night transatlantic voyage that departs Oct. 28 and begins Caribbean sailings on Nov. 9.

More details can be found on http://www.royalcaribbean.com/symphony-of-the-seas or by calling 1-800-769-2522.

rtribou@orlandosentinel.com, 407-420-5134

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Familiar spaces take shape on Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas - Orlando Sentinel

Travel Agent recently caught up with David Hu, president of Classic Vacations, to find out the hottest trends and news in the Caribbean.

Here's what we learned.

While all the focus on new, hot Caribbean Islands has mostly been given to Cuba, Hu tells us that interest hasnt necessarily equated into dollars.

For many new emerging islands, we see a disconnect between interest and actual demand, Hu tells Travel Agent. Take Cuba for example, we see a lot of people researching the destination, but actual volume has not materialized.That can be said for many of the other possible islands."

In fact, Hu says Cuba may be getting most of the attention, but it's the core Caribbean Islands that are getting the business for Classic.

Were actually seeing more inquiries about the core islands that we sell in the Caribbean, such as Anguilla, Aruba, etc, says Hu. As the Zika scare tapers, we hopefully will start seeing some of that volume materialize.

Hu says the Zika scare that kept many romance-focused clients from visiting couples resorts in the Caribbean has since subsided, and the lack of media coverage has a little something to do with it.

The Zika impact tended to be greater for properties catering to the honeymoon and romance market, more-so than being destination specific, says Hu. A few islands with a larger share of the high-end romance market paced behind the Caribbean overall.

But after the Rio Olympics concluded, Hu says the media coverage dropped off. And now with all of the political headlines floating around, Zika is barely even mentioned.

However, since the end of the Rio Olympics, Zika has been fairly quiet on the media front, and the continuing onslaught of political headlines has helped Zika fade into the background, says Hu. We see this reflected in our 2017 booking trends, with solid year-over-yeargrowth in our primary honeymoon markets like St.Lucia, and Anguilla.

As far as the islands that performed the best for Classic in 2016, Hu says the company saw some impressive growth Jamaica, St. Barths, Bermuda and Barbados.

And so far this year?

This year we are seeing Anguilla, Aruba, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico and St.Lucia really take off, says Hu.

Classic Vacations, like most operator who specialize in the Caribbean, has been exploring the idea of selling the once forbidden destination. But since President Trumps announcement on May 30 declaring he would reverse many of former President Barack Obamas policies toward Cuba, many operators are now taking an even longer wait-and-see approach.

Cuba has been the hot destination for some time now, and we are sure [the recent]announcement will come as a huge disappointment to the many Americans that were excited to finally experience the beautiful island-nation, says Hu. We have been monitoring Cuba closely for a while, taking a careful and conservative approach to ensure that we can guarantee the same excellence in service levels in Cuba that we provide to all destinations in our global portfolio. While Trumps reversal on Cuba will undoubtedly dampen our Caribbean expansions plans, we will continue to focus our efforts to support our partners in existing Caribbean destinations until we hear anything different on the political front.

When it comes to luxury getaways, Hu says Turks and Caicos tops the list and recommends COMO Parrot Cay and Amanyara for couples while the Grace Bay Club and the newly-opened TheShore Club Turks and Caicos are both excellent options for families looking to be pampered.

Turks and Caicos, with its combination of world-class beaches and excellent five star properties, is one of our strongest destinations, says Hu. With direct flights from a wide range of U.S. gateways, and luxury properties that cater to practically any type of traveler, its truly a wonderfully multi-faceted island.

The Caribbean has no shortage of hot niche markets from girls and guys getaways to romance to action and adventure, but the one that is all the rage currently is wellness, says Hue.

Wellness has been a trending theme in the luxury segment, and properties built around wellness, such as The BodyHoliday have thrived this year, he says. We have seen more and more properties move in that direction, like Blue Waters Antigua, with their Living Retreats program designed to refresh the mind and body, incorporating specialized testing, along with meals, and activities to realign and rebalance guests physically and mentally.

Visit http://www.classicvacations.comand keep visitingwww.travelagentcentral.comfor all your latest travel news. Be sure to followTravel AgentsJoe PikeonTwitter@TravelPikeandInstagram@pike5260.

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The Hottest Caribbean Trends, According to Classic Vacations' President - Travel Agent

COCO CAY, BAHAMASIn the latest clash between rivals that have long vied for control of highly prized cruise routes, a barrage of cannon fire from Royal Caribbeans M.S. Allure of the Seas sank a Carnival Cruise Line ship that crossed into disputed waters off the coast of the Bahamas, sources said Thursday.

The Allure, an Oasis-class recreational vessel with a standing crew of around 2,300, opened fire on Carnivals M.S. Magic after it allegedly ignored repeated warnings not to approach Coco Cay, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. After sustaining several direct hits, the enemy ships hull reportedly ruptured, immediately flooding its bingo hall and spa with seawater, collapsing several theme restaurants, and ultimately killing all 3,675 guests on board.

By approaching within three nautical miles of Coco Cay, the M.S. Magic was in direct violation of the terms of the 2011 Caribbean Nights cease-fire agreement, said Captain David Beeman of the Allure, stating that the attack was necessary to safeguard the recreational interests of the customers he is sworn to serve. Per standard procedure, our limbo emcee first alerted the Magic that it had entered our territorial waters by issuing a verbal warning and blasting conga music over our PA system. When the ship refused to change course, we proceeded to launch a broadside from our starboard cannons, delivering a direct hit to their most crucial facilities, including the engine room, water slide, and Red Frog rum bar.

We suffered just one casualty ourselves, losing a tango instructor to friendly fire, he added.

Pulling up alongside the smaller enemy vessel, the 1,187-foot Allure reportedly extended its powerful battery of guns from the portholes of a lower-deck theater currently staging Mamma Mia! Witnesses said Magic patrons standing in line for the 24-hour seafood buffet had little time to take cover before the Allure opened fire, scattering body parts and shrimp scampi all over the ships pool deck and mini-golf course.

When the first shells hit, you could see blasted sections of the hull, bloody scraps of cargo shorts, and flaming flip-flops raining down into the ocean all around, said Allure passenger Nicole Rice, adding that a few Magic guests tried to run for safety behind overturned massage tables, but were set upon by a Royal Caribbean boarding party that had crossed over with the assistance of their ships zip-line and ropes-course operators. Once the second round of fire took out the piano bar and Guy Fieris Burger Joint, it was pretty much all over. The Magic had just dropped anchor for the Dune Buggy Heritage Adventure Tour, so it really had no chance of escape.

Maritime historians are calling the attack upon the Magic the deadliest encounter between rival ocean liners since the so-called Cruise Wars of the 1990s, when the wrecks of sunken pleasure vessels littered the waters from Fort Lauderdale to St. Kitts. During that era, the upstart Disney Cruise Line came to rule the waves, and marauders dressed as Pinocchio, Goofy, Tinker Bell, and other company-owned mascots were known to slit the throats of their competitors guests and plunder everything from bar supplies to blackjack tables to karaoke equipment.

Despite official explanations, Thursdays attack is actually believed to be in retaliation for a 2013 incident in which a Royal Caribbean vessel on a nine-day Best of the Bahamas cruise was captured off the coast of Paradise Island. According to deck logs, its entire passenger list was impressed into service as caterers aboard Carnivals Breeze flagship.

Ill never forget the sight of the Magics crew and guests desperately trying to bail out the Club O2 teen zone as the ship started to tilt, causing all the deck furniture, the ice cream sundae station, and those seniors on their church group trip to go sliding off into the sea, Allure passenger Jason Heidt said. Then I guess they lost power, because suddenly all the party lights shut off and everyone in the Punchliner comedy club went silent as the ship capsized.

Everyone except Joe Rogan, Heidt continued. He kept on telling jokes until he was completely underwater.

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Shelling From Royal Caribbean's MS 'Allure' Sinks Carnival Cruise Vessel That Crossed Into Disputed Waters - The Onion (satire)

Miami Herald

Miami Herald's Mimi Whitefield wins award for Latin American and Caribbean reporting Miami Herald Mimi Whitefield of the Miami Herald was honored Friday for her reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean with the prestigious Maria Moors Cabot Prize, which acknowledges excellence in coverage of the region. Columbia University's Graduate School of ...

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Miami Herald's Mimi Whitefield wins award for Latin American and Caribbean reporting - Miami Herald

Why get off the ship when theres great jazz music on board? Grammy Award-winning musician and composer Arturo Sandoval and guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli will each headline Seabourn cruises that sail in November.

The two will perform live to intimate crowds on the luxury line known for its all-suite ships, which feature no more than 300 staterooms.

Sandoval, who plays trumpet and piano, will appear on a 24-day journey from Miami to Buenos Aires. The cruise stops in many Caribbean ports, including the British Virgin Isles, Saint Barthelemy and Barbados before heading to ports in Brazil and Uruguay. It sails Nov. 5. Prices start at $5,499, based on double occupancy. It excludes $604 in port fees and taxes.

Leszek Szymanski / EPA

American guitarist John Pizzarelli, shown here performing in Poland earlier in July, will appear on Seabourn's Panama Canal cruise in November.

American guitarist John Pizzarelli, shown here performing in Poland earlier in July, will appear on Seabourn's Panama Canal cruise in November. (Leszek Szymanski / EPA)

Pizzarelli, known for performing tunes from the Great American Songbook, will appear on an 18-day journey that starts in Los Angeles and travels through the Panama Canal and ends in Miami. Stops include Huatulco and Puerto Chiapas in Mexico as well as ports in Guatemala and Costa Rica before crossing west to east in through the canal. Prices start at $5,499, based on double occupancy. It excludes $900 in port fees and taxes.

Info: Seabourn, (866) 755-5619, or contact a travel agent

ALSO

Eat, pray, sail? Windstar pairs James Beard chefs with upcoming cruises

Cunard rockets its way to top of 2017 Travel + Leisure readers' cruise ship awards

Tired of waiting in long lines on the ship? How to skip them and enjoy the cruise

You can pay for extra pleasures by booking the 'ship within the ship' on many cruise lines

travel@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimestravel

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Jazz man Arturo Sandoval to play aboard Caribbean-South American cruise - Los Angeles Times