Monthly Archives: July 2022

Following his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp has been lining up new projects, seemingly indicating that his career is picking up again after his legal troubles. One role that his fans would more than likely love to see him reprise is Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Theres been much speculation regarding whether Depp could return to the billion-dollar Disney franchise, and further alleged details on his relationship with the studio were mentioned during his recent trial. This includes the amount of money he was reportedly going to be paid for a sixth installment before Heards allegations came into play.

It would seem that Johnny Depp was set to take in a massive payday for Pirates of the Caribbean 6. During the defamation trial, his talent manager, Jack Whigham, said that the actor had verbally agreed to a $22.5 million deal to appear in the movie, per Insider. Such a figure does sound feasible, considering the success of the franchise and Depps status in it. Its much more realistic than the rumor that he was being paid $301 million to return for a single film, a notion that Depps rep quickly shut down.

Next to nothing is known about the specifics of the movie, aside from the fact that it wouldve likely been the final outing for the character of Jack Sparrow. The actor behind the famous pirate claimed during the trial that he had his own ideas for ending the Pirates franchise. At this point, it would seem that any concepts he had in mind wont see the light of day, because the star also confirmed that he has no interest in returning to the film series. That doesnt mean the franchise itself is dead, though.

In June 2020, it was reported that a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie is in the works, with Margot Robbie attached as the lead. Robbie responded to the Pirates rumors months later, only saying that it was still early days on the project. Earlier this year, veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that Disney has two PotC screenplays in its possession, one that stars Robbie and one that doesnt. When Bruckheimer was asked if Johnny Depp could return for the latter, he said not at this point and that the future had yet to be determined.

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People had plenty of thoughts on Margot Robbies Pirates movie, and many were vocal about their desire to have Johnny Depp back in the main role. A petition to get Depp into the sixth movie has circulated online for quite a while now and even saw new life, thanks to the trial. Still, theres the debate revolving around whether he should be allowed to return to the series after everything thats transpired.

His former Pirates co-star, Greg Ellis, defended him amidst the lawsuits, saying that the Jack Sparrow actor had been mischaracterized. Kevin McNally also spoke out on whether the star should be allowed to return. McNally doesnt see any impediment for him coming back and said that hed never seen a hint of any dark side to his colleague. In addition, an ex-Disney exec believes the star could return at some point down the line.

As one of Walt Disney Studios most profitable franchises, its likely that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will return in one form or another. But even amid Johnny Depps legal troubles and assertion that hes done with the series, some are sure to continue speculating on whether hell return and get paid handsomely for it.

All five Pirates of the Caribbean movies are available to stream with a Disney+ subscription.

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How Much Johnny Depp Was Reportedly Going To Be Paid For Pirates Of The Caribbean 6 Before Amber Heard Allegations Came Down - CinemaBlend

With COVID-19 restrictions largely lifted across the Caribbean, the summer Carnival season with all of its costumes, music and dancing has returned.

Hopes are high across the region for what is typically the biggest money-making event of the year, after many countries have seen declines in tourism due to the ongoing pandemic.

Among those hosting carnival festivities this summer with events scattered from June through August are Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados.

A celebration of Caribbean culture, festival-goers can expect large street parades and parties, with electrifying music, colourful costumes and dancing, and events centred around local food and drink.

While Carnival in Jamaica is typically held in the spring, it was staged later this year due to the pandemic and just wrapped on Saturday.

Carnival is being held a little later this year in many countries. Traditionally, they've been held in the days before Lent on the Christian calendar, but now many have moved them to the summer.This year, Trinidad, considered by many to be the birthplace of Carnival, went ahead with holding festivities at the end of February, before the start of Lent.

Carnival, and the tourism it brings, is vital to the local economy in Jamaica, with an estimated economic impact of $4.6 billion each year.

"Carnival in Jamaica is the largest economic impact event in Jamaica. So it's No. 1 in terms of what we have for the economy," said Kamal Bankay, the co-chair of the Carnival in Jamaica National Stakeholders Committee.

Jamaica reported more than 1.5 million visitors in 2021 a number that is expected to be higher this year, with the return of Carnival.

"Flights, hotels, ground transportation, food and beverage, events and when you sound them all up and what people are spending in Jamaica during the Carnival season, it's No. 1. Bigger than anything else," Bankay said.

Meanwhile, in Barbados, the summer festival known as Crop Over a celebration of harvest and emancipation held in late July and early August attracts thousands of visitors to the small island, with the final party, Grand Kadooment, attracting approximately 15,000 revellers alone.

Carnival brings in an estimated $150 million to that country each year, according to Anthony Layne, president of the Barbados Association of Masqueraders.

"This is the only sector that pulls in that money in such a short space of time," he said.

And in Grenada, preparations are well underway for Spicemas 2022, held from Aug. 3-10. Known as the Isle of Spice, Grenada's carnival is also a celebration of emancipation and the annual festival brings together costume design, food, rum and pageantry.

The go-ahead by the government to hold the event this year marks a new dawn, according to Kelvin Jacob, CEO of Grenada's Spicemas Corporation.

"The past two years were our downtime, and we used that time to re-evaluate our product," Jacob explained.

"Carnival is very important to our tourism. It's one of our biggest sellers and brings the largest set of people into the island."

Jacob, who has worked in carnival planning for more than 32 years, says that a lot of visitors to the island only visit Grenada because of Spicemas.

Also looking forward to a strong rebound in Carnival tourism this year is Ricardo Adams, chair of the Carnival Development Corporation for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

However, he said he wished organizers knew the festival known as Vincy Mas was happening sooner.

"We only knew we were having a full Vincy Mas around March of this year. And so in terms of the time allowed for us to prepare, it posed a bit of a challenge," said Adams.

Despite the hype surrounding Caribbean carnivals, COVID-19 is still spreading on the islands.

And in most Caribbean territories, there has been low vaccine uptake, with Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines having less than half of their populations fully vaccinated.

"There is a general concern about spikes in numbers, because entertainment events and carnivals are no different," said Bankay, of Jamaica. "[But] all the large events that are happening now are even bigger than Carnival events."

"We are living in a COVID-19 environment and life must go on," said Layne, from Barbados.

"You still have to be careful and you will still be concerned. We would still want all persons to take the necessary precautions and to do what is necessary to keep themselves safe."

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which oversees the Caribbean, COVID-19 cases in the region decreased by 5.2 per cent in the first week of July. But PAHO also cautioned that the Omicron subvariants BA.4and BA.5 were "driving new infections across the Americas."

Lynda Williams, president of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners, says particular caution must be taken with mass partying.

"COVID-19 hasn't gone anywhere. And although we think when we see numbers fall that the pandemic is over, that is not the case ... There are some new variants in BA.4 and BA.5 that are causing numbers to rise," she said.

"We just have to be very, very cautious."

Go here to read the rest:

Summer carnival season returns to the Caribbean after 2-year pandemic pause - CBC.ca

Were in the mountainous rainforest of St. Kittsalmost 10,000 acres of protected land, designated the Central Forest Reserve National Park in 2006when a couple of mangos plunge down from the sky, narrowly missing our noggins. Im convinced were being attacked by the islands most notorious residents.

Monkeys! I conclude, pointing at the fallen fruit. Specifically, the black-faced, hazel-eyed green vervet monkeys indigenous to Africa that for 300 years have roamed freely around the Eastern Caribbean island and its sister isle, Nevis. But my guide, O'Neil Mulraine, says no, the mangos have simply dropped off the tree. Any monkeys would have disappeared as soon as we thundered up in our safari Jeep.

Still, the monkey evidence is strong. Below us, the muddy ground is littered with juicy yellow mangosthe kind that would go for a pretty penny back home in the Statesmany displaying a single, delicate monkey-sized chomp. Mulraine concedes this one. The monkey is a very wasteful animal, he says. They behave like they have rich people taste.

Drive around St. Kitts and the mangos are plentiful: hanging low on branches, raining down in over 40 species throughout the summer. Theyre so revered that every July, Nevis holds a mango festival, an ode to the versatile varieties, with mango eating competitions, cocktails, tastings, and cooking demos.

But while the fruit is indigenous to the island, the 80,000 or so green vervet monkeys that snack on themalmost double the number of St. Kitts human populationare a product of colonial whims. There are a couple of stories explaining how these furry guys made their way here from West Africa back in the 17th century. Some say they were brought by the French as pets while transporting the enslaved. Others say the French brought them to terrorize the British after the two countrieswho initially agreed to share the islandwent to war. Either way, when the French were defeated and eventually took off, the monkeys stayed.

Today, the primates are both a help and a hindrance for St. Kittians. They get drunk on stolen cocktails and frustratingly swipe and feast on farmers crops (some citizens dine on monkey stew as a means of retaliation and population control). But theyre also so darn cute. Tourists flock to St. Kitts just for the photo opps,the green vervets wrangled by reliable handlersor monkey menat bars or down by Port Zante, where cruise ships dock in the capital city of Basseterre.

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For better or worse, the island is so intertwined with the little guys that you can hike up to the town of Monkey Hill, have a drink on the beach at Monkey Bar, or dive at Monkey Shoals Reef off Nevis. Monkeys stare you down from postage stamps and promotional materials advertising the islands as a tourist destination. Theres even a children book starring two vervet monkeys, Lia and Wally.

Later, I spotted a monkey in the wild at the imposing Brimstone Hill FortressNational Park, the second national park in St. Kitts. The animals light tan fur was almost camouflaged by the trees and surprisingly, it took a few beats between noticing us and disappearing. Here, they dont mind the humanstheyre even encouraged. On our way up to the fortress, we see a sign: No Dogs Allowed. Were told its because they frighten away the monkeys.

Explore a rainforest that defies the odds

A lesson from the monkey and mango-laden St. Kitts rainforest: Sometimes it pays to be difficult. The tropical rainforest were touring with Mulraine escaped sugarcane cultivationthe major industry in St. Kitts from the time of its European settlement in the 1600s up until 2005thanks to its challenging access and nutrient-deficient soil, at least for agricultural purposes. Now, its looked at as a model of conservation. Taking over a swath of thickly vegetated, contoured land in the middle of the island, the Central Forest Reserve National Park was designated a national park for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. And because of the re-envelopment of land formerly used for sugarcane, its an example of a rainforest thats actually growing.

It sustains itself in myriad ways, not only the domain of monkeys and other wild creatures like mongoose, but also ecotourismgroups like ours that hike its steep trails to the dormant Mount Luigima volcano some 3,972 feet up, or climb aboard Jeeps for educational safari tours. Here, rainfall serves as a major freshwater source for the national water supply. And as we travel, Mulraine points out naturally occuring produce like breadfruit and mamey sapote plus plants his family has used for medicinal remedies for generations: lemongrass for fever, silver trumpet for hypertension, and so on. He presses the bottom of a silver fern against our skin to make a white tattoo. That ones just for fun.

Tour a scenic landscape once only seen by sugarcane

These days you might spot green vervets in residential neighborhoods and on beaches, but there was a time they kept primarily to the mountains. Because that was where the sugarcane was (see: the main photo of this story). By 1775, there were 200 sugar estates on the island, rendering it the wealthiest of all the British colonies. But the introduction of the sugar beet undercut cane prices and kicked off a steady downfall, and while St Kitts was one of the last holdouts of the sugar industry, it finally shut down in 2005. When the cane went away, monkeys started making their way down the hills looking for other sources of food.

Around the island youll still find remnants of the sugar industrys past, ruins of factories and windmills used for grinding the stalks. And a train. From 1912 to 1926, a railway transported sugarcane from estates 30 miles around the island to a central factory in Basseterre. In 2003, it was converted to the St. Kitts Scenic Railway, a three-hour sightseeing and informational tour taking riders through villages and around the outskirts of the island and treating them to spectacular views once only witnessed by the crops. It also carries the distinction as the Last Railway in the West Indies.

Some of the original estates also remain intact, like Romney Manor, dating back to the mid-1600s. It was the first estate on the island to free the enslaved, and was once owned by Sam Jefferson II, ancestor of Thomas Jefferson. Outside the building sits lush botanical gardens, including a 400-year-old Saman tree. Inside is Caribelle Batik, which, since the 1970s, has been producing popular Indonesian-inspired batik textiles right there on property. (If you cant make it to the estate to pick one up, theres also a retail outpost on Port Zante.)

Adjacent to the Manor is Wingfield Estate, where youll find Amerindian petroglyphs as well as the office of Sky Safari zipline tours, and, perhaps most exciting, remains of the oldest rum distillery in the Caribbean. When youre done dreaming about the booze of yore, head to the Rainforest Bar at Romney Manor for a taste of the modern iteration in the form of St. Kitts own Old Road Rum.

Explore the weight of the islands colonial past

Monkeys and plantation relics arent the only visible remnants of the islands colonial history. But the most significant has to be the massive Brimstone Hill FortressNational Park.Though St. Kitts was first named by Christopher Columbus after he spotted it in 1493, the island wasnt actually settled by Europeans until the British set up shop in 1623, followed shortly after by the French. It thus became the first Caribbean island to be colonized, sporting a fortress designed by British architects to protect its coastline against multiple attacks (the fort was abandoned by 1854, while St. Kitts & Nevis remained under British control until independence in 1983).

Today the fortress is a remarkably preserved feat of 17th and 18th century military engineering, built over several levels over 100 years and complete with freshwater drainage and sturdy arches. Its perched high up on an 800-foot-tall volcanic hill, with multiple canons pointing toward views of pristine blue waters, sandy beaches, and islands miles away on a clear day.

Knowing this hulking structure was built on the backs of the enslaved makes a visit at once impressive and unsettling. Alongside examples of weaponry, uniforms, re-created living and sleeping quarters, and life-sized mannequins in the museum the fortress now houses, the building process is detailed in a set of three images illustrating the carving of the stone, carrying the stone up the hill, and using the stones together to build a wall. Theres also an explanation of the role of the enslaved in the French siege of Brimstone Hill in 1782, put to work fighting guerrilla warfare on behalf of the British, and capturing French officials.

And, of course, a display showcasing the origins of the one and only green vervet monkey.

When to visit St. Kitts

With gorgeous weather year-round and plenty of uncrowded sandy beaches and bays to soak up sun (and seafood), theres never a bad time to visit St. Kitts. But there are times when the island feels particularly alive. Every last weekend in June features the St. Kitts Music Festival, running since 1996 and now one of the most star-studded and eclectic events on the Caribbeans music calendar. But its not just names like Sean Paul, Ashanti, Kelly Rowland, Destra, Popcaan, and, yup, Kenny Rogers (in 2005) that draw the crowds. Youll also get up-and-coming local players like the soulful Dejour, and dancehall artists Hi-Light and Shaneil Muir. You can say you saw them when.

In St. Kitts, theres no such thing as a downtime lull between Christmas and New Years Day. Their Carnival, also known as Sugar Mas, starts mid-November and goes hard for six weeks until January 2. There are pageants, concerts, parties, parades, Jouvert, calypso and colorful bacchanalia blending Caribbean and African traditions, sprinkled with a heavy dose of holiday cheer. Just bring a costume, hit the streets, and prepare to party.

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Mingle with Monkeys in this Caribbean Island's National Parks - Thrillist

After receiving the new Wonder of the Seas in 2022, the Royal Caribbean International fleet is set to grow further over the next years.

In addition to an extra LNG-powered Oasis-class vessel in 2024, the company will get a new three-ship class starting in 2023.

Heres the complete list of ships currently on order for Royal Caribbean International:

Ship:Icon of the Seas Debut Date: Fall 2023Capacity:5,600 guestsTonnage:200,000Status: Under construction in Finland

As the first vessel in a brand-new class, the Icon of the Seas is currently under construction at the Meyer Turk shipyard in Finland. Set to become one of the biggest of the fleet, the 5,600-guest cruise ship will debut in late 2023.

While further details about the LNG-powered cruise ship and its deployment are yet to be announced, Royal Caribbean revealed in April that the Icon is poised to debut in the Caribbean.

Ship:Utopia of the SeasDebut Date: Q2 2024Capacity:5,714 guestsTonnage:231,000Status: Under construction in France

Currently being built at the Chantiers de lAtlantique shipyard in France, the Utopia of the Seas is set to enter service in 2024.

Following the Wonder of the Seas, the 5,714-guest vessel will become the sixth in a series of ships known as the Oasis Class. Powered by LNG, the Utopia is also expected to assume the title of worlds largest cruise ship.

Ship:Icon Class IIDebut Date: Q2 2025Capacity:5,600Tonnage:200,000Status: Planned

Royal Caribbeans orderbook also includes a sister to the Icon of the Seas. To be built at the Meyer Turku shipyard, the LNG-powered vessel is poised to enter service in Q2 2025.

Ship:Icon Class IIIDebut Date: Spring 2026Capacity:5,600Tonnage:200,000Status: Planned

In 2019, Royal Caribbean firmed an order for a third vessel in the Icon series. Also being built at the Meyer Turku shipyard, the 5,600-guest ship will welcome its first guests during 2026s spring.

Original post:

Complete List: All The Ships Joining the Royal Caribbean Fleet Through 2026 - Cruise Industry News

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH. By Monique Roffey. Knopf. 240 pages. $26.

David is a fisherman and Aycayia is a mermaid. Its pretty obvious where the story goes from here: David falls for Aycayia. But author Monique Roffey isnt giving us an endearing tale of love this is a story of duality and curses.

The Mermaid of Black Conch is a uniquely Caribbean novel with all the hallmarks of the genre presented in different manners. Roffey moves between a general narrator, Davids thickly Caribbean journal entries and broken stanzas of Aycayias free-form poetry.

Insidiously, David and Aycayias first meeting in 1976 is in Murder Bay. David is smitten by her strange beauty and Aycayia by his music.

David ceases fishing for fear of her entanglement in his nets, but his efforts backfire when Aycayia follows the sound of his motor out to a fishing competition and is ensnared by two Yankee men, intent on a stunning victory, which, it turns out, is the mermaid.

Upon learning of her capture, David plans to rescue Aycayia and return her to the sea. But his scheme falls apart when she begins to change back into a woman, the curse put on her by other jealous women from her Taino tribe apparently lifting after some 1,000 years.

When Aycayia is inadvertently introduced to Reggie, the only deaf person on the island, they form a deep, fast bond on the basis of their otherness in Black Conch society. The mermaid metaphor is applied to gender, disability and oppression throughout the book. Theyre filed under curse, described as loneliness.

Sexual tension is constant throughout a story that, perversely, loses steam as it nears its climax. Roffey, however, makes up for a lackluster ending with the strong storytelling up to that point.

Vivid imagery, discussion-worthy themes, Creole verbiage and a melding of history and magic make The Mermaid of the Black Conch come to life. Its a confluence of lore in which subtle details change depending on who is telling the story. Each has their own idea of what it is to be a man, a woman, the oppressor, the oppressed, or something in between worlds.

In representing so many so roundly, Roffey maintains a fine balancing act portraying identities that are not her own while connecting them to ones that are by their shared relationship: the push and pull that Aycayia comes to learn transcends the ocean, the bedroom and the human race to encapsulate nature as a whole.

The novel itself exhibits the same in-betweenness as its characters and author who was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, but lives in London though The Mermaid of the Black Conch is far from cursed for it. Having won the Costa Book of the Year and the Costa Novel Award 2020, it seems Roffey has hit her stride with her fifth book, being re-released with its new accolades to adorn it.

Link:

Review: 'Mermaid of Black Conch' a novel of the Caribbean that melds history and magic - Charleston Post Courier

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line came to the idyllic dual-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago with the intent of finding workers for its ships.

Did it ever.

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Following a successful recruitment drive, RCCL hired 602 workers from the island, according to CrewCenter.com.

Royal Caribbean told the website that it received more than 6,000 applications from recruitment drives held in the cities of Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and Scarborough last month.

A RCCL group of 20 executives performed screening and ended up interviewing 822 applicants. "These exercises have generated (had) an overwhelming response," the cruise line said in a statement.

Positions available included bar/utility workers, bar servers, chefs, housekeeping, restaurant staff, guest services and catering and doctors.

The remaining applicants will still have a chance to be interviewed.

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Link:

Royal Caribbean's Recruitment Drive in Trinidad and Tobago Proves Successful - TravelPulse

Countries around the world are lifting COVID restrictions, schools and workplaces are opening, and mask-wearing and COVID-testing are no longer necessary for many international flights.

However, the pandemic is not yet over. Countries are still experiencing new waves of infection. Overall, there is uncertainty about what the end of the COVID-19 pandemic will look like.

Vaccination remains one of our main tools to manage the shift from pandemic to endemic. However, in the Caribbean, governments are struggling to vaccinate much of their population.

COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in the Caribbean had a slow start. Immunization picked up, but most countries are falling short of the World Health Organization (WHO) 70 % vaccination target. Eight of 20 countries in the Caribbean are below a 50 % vaccination rate - Dominica, Suriname, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Bahamas. Only Aruba, Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands met the WHO target all which are high-income countries.

For Caribbean countries, high vaccination rates are essential because of the vulnerability profile of their population and their dependency on tourism. Caribbean countries have among the fastest aging populations in the developing world, according to PAHO, and one of the highest levels of global inequities in health outcomes, putting much of the population at higher risk of severe COVID-19.

Whereas limited vaccine supply was initially a reason for low vaccination rates, this is no longer the case. Now, vaccine acceptance and uptake represent the main roadblock in the Caribbean vaccination journey. According to recent High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) administered by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Caribbean countries stand out in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region for having the highest shares of unvaccinated people who are unsure about vaccination or do not plan to vaccinate (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Share of population that are unsure about or do not plan to be vaccinated against COVID-19 (among the unvaccinated population) (Nov Dec 2021)

Why are people concerned about being vaccinated against COVID-19?

The HFPS data tell us more about the reasons for the comparatively low COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake in the Caribbean. The main reasons were concerns around the risks of vaccines with few perceived benefits and issues related to trust. Specifically, many people did not feel they were at risk for COVID. Others were worried about side effects and/or limited vaccine effectiveness and felt they lacked information. People without internet access were more worried, which might suggest that vaccination concerns may be more common in households isolated from easy access to information.

Figure 2: Main reasons for being unsure or unwilling to take a COVID-19 vaccine

The data also show positive developments between mid- (wave 1) and end-2021 (wave 2). Vaccine acceptance and vaccination rates improved among the unvaccinated across all ages. The largest improvement in vaccine acceptance and uptake occurred among older adults (55-64 age group). Knowledge of how to get vaccinated also increased.

How to increase vaccine acceptance and uptake in the Caribbean?

Without progress on vaccination, COVID-19 could continue to plague the Caribbean and its tourist-dependent economic recovery. What communication strategies can encourage acceptance and uptake?

A first step is combating the infodemic by providing accurate information on the risks and benefits of vaccination to address the concerns of unvaccinated people. Accurate, transparent information must be communicated through various mediums to reach different populations, including those without internet. Relatedly, it is extremely important to counter false narratives in the region to mitigate the impacts of misinformation on vaccine decisions and to increase trust in the vaccine approval processes and in health systems.

But combating the info-demic is not enough. We need to know more about country-specific socio-behavioral motivations and constraints to vaccination.

In an effort to gain insights into peoples perceptions of COVID vaccines, the World Banks Mind, Behavior and Development Unit (eMBeD) launched social media surveys in Belize, Haiti and Jamaica. Behavioral insights from these surveys can further inform the crafting of tailored communication messages.

Caribbean governments have taken up the challenge. Ministries of Health and their dedicated communication teams developed and implemented a multitude of targeted communication and outreach efforts to increase vaccine acceptance and uptake. For example, Belize deployed various interventions that contributed to high vaccination rates, such as: sending of mobile units to provide door-to-door educational sessions in remote villages prior to the arrival of vaccination teams, information-sharing via social media, and using radio to reach those without internet.

However, these efforts are often limited by the human and financial constraints of overburdened health systems, and by the lack of knowledge of what interventions worked.

Existing efforts can be further refined and targeted using the increasing evidence and lessons learned on the ground from countries. However, two key gaps need to be filled to take the challenge to the next step.

First, there is need to complement online surveys with in-depth qualitative research to identify sub-populations and their specific vaccine concerns. Second, the global health community can work together to build evidence on what works in convincing those who are unsure or unwilling to actually get shots.

These will be critical steps towards developing effective local and multi-pronged demand-promotion strategies to target barriers to acceptancemoving the needle where progress has stalled and to get shots into arms.

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A shot in the arm: How to increase COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake in the Caribbean? - World Bank Group

You probably are aware of the four main kinds of cruise ship cabins, but on some ships, you'll find a few variations that stand out from the pack.

While most balcony rooms look pretty much the same, and inside cabins as well, over the years, there's been a few cabin designs that had to vary somewhat in order to conform to the ship design.

These unique layouts have become popular with people that cruise a lot because they may offer more space, perks, or another benefit that usually doesn't come with that sort of room.

Not only are these cruise cabins unlike other rooms, they often sell out sooner. It's kind of like a "secret menu" at a restaurant that insiders know about.

Whether you want to book these rooms for yourself, or are simply curious about what they offer, here's a look at a few rare cruise ship cabins that are not only different from the rest, they will be booked quickly.

When Royal Caribbean built the Freedom Class cruise ships, they added a Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor to the Royal Promenade, but the design of the shop blocked the view of one Promenade View stateroom on each ship.

Cabin 6305 on Freedom, Independence, and Liberty of the Seas has two cows from the store sign in the way of the bay window.

As a result, Royal Caribbean wanted to give anyone that booked this room an added benefit to make up for the ruined view.

Known as the"Ben & Jerry's Sweet," this room is designed with a black and white cow motif, and includesvouchers for a complimentary ice cream at Ben & Jerry's as well as access to the suite lounge.

On some Royal Caribbean cruise ships, there are a few staterooms meant for someone traveling by themselves.

These studio staterooms are smaller than a traditional cabin, but they have just enough space for one person. Best yet, they do not get charged the single supplement fee.

The single supplement fee is traditionally charged to someone booking a cruise alone, because cabin pricing is based on double occupancy,

When Royal Caribbean added these rooms, they designed them to be respective of the ship's business model and this means solo cruisers do not have to pay double the cost of what the cruise should be.

Depending on the ship, there could be as few as two studio rooms, or as much as a dozen.

You can view a list of which ships have studio cabins and if you want one, book it early.

Most balcony cabins across the fleet look the same, but you might be able to get a larger balcony if your room is positioned perfectly.

The so-called "hump" balcony cabins are the rooms on the outwards part of the curvy outline of the ship. If you look at a deck plan, you'll notice around mid-ship, the hull design jets outward.

On many ships, balcony cabins in these areas are significantly larger than other balcony cabins. And usually the price is the same.

You'll find hump balcony rooms with massive balconies on Radiance Class, Voyager, Freedom, Oasis or Quantum, but look closely at the deck plan to see which balconies are larger.

Similar to the aforementioned hump balcony rooms, some ships have rather large balcony rooms on the back of the ship.

There are aft balcony rooms on every Royal Caribbean ship, but some of the rear-facing cabins on Vision Class, Radiance Class, and Freedom Class cruise ships have very large balcony space.

This means you not only get an interesting vantage point to enjoy, but much more living space outdoors.

People that cruise a lot will book up the aft balcony cabins on an Alaska cruise for the viewing opportunities.

Ever since I learned about the handful of Central Park balcony rooms on Oasis Class ships, I always look to book these first.

There are two Central Park balcony rooms on each deck that have almost double width balconies for the same cost as other Central Park balcony staterooms.

The cabin numbers are on decks 10, 11 and 12:

Why do these rooms have extra space? There's no actual cabin next door because the area is used by Royal Caribbean for something else.

Having that extra balcony space is a very nice benefit during your sailing.

If you have two or three kids with you, it could be a great idea to try out one of the family oceanview and family inside cabins available on select ships.

While these cabins don't have a balcony, they do offer a ton of living space.

First and foremost, these cabins offer a bedroom for the parents, and either an additional bedroom for the kids, or a nook with bunk beds for the kids.

There's also two bathrooms, which can be a godsend for parents sailing with older kids.

These cabins are typically locatedat the very front or very rear of the ship and offer a ton of living space, meant to be shared by families of 4 or more guests.

Family rooms are cheaper than a suite and in many cases offers more space.

Read the rest here:

The rare cruise ship cabins that get booked very quickly - Royal Caribbean Blog