Daily Archives: May 6, 2017

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The line will offer seven-night voyages to The Bahamas and Mexico starting in 2019.

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Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas.(Photo: Royal Caribbean International)

New Orleans is back on the map for Royal Caribbean.

The Miami-based line says the 2,050-passenger Vision of the Seas will operate seven-night sailings out of the city over the winter of 2018-19.

Featuring calls in The Bahamas and Mexico, the voyages will be the line's first out of New Orleans in three years.

Vision of the Seas will be repositioningto New Orleans from Miami.As part of the move, the ship will operate two 16-night sailings through the Panama Canal. The first of the trips, departing on Dec. 15, 2018, will go from Miami to Los Angeles. It'll be followed by a voyage from Los Angeles to New Orleans.

New Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas cruise ship will be the world's largest

The Panama Canal trips also will be Royal Caribbean's first in three years.

Christened in 1998, Vision of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean's four Vision Class vessels, which are among the line's smallest ships.

The new trips from New Orleans opened for booking on Friday.

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Royal Caribbean to resume cruises from New Orleans - USA TODAY

With direct nonstop flights from Miami to Grand Cayman clocking in at just over an hour, the Cayman Islands make foran effortless getaway from South Florida.

Occupying about 100-square-miles south of Cuba, the island group consists of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. While the upscale getaway is famous worldwide for itsoffshore banking industry, attracting a diverse cross section ofex-pats, the sublime western-facing Seven Mile Beach is what youre coming for.

The November 2016 opening of the Kimpton Seafire Grand Cayman marked the islands first new resort in a decade, creating the perfect excuse toexplore the Western Caribbean island group.

Create yourperfect itinerary bytacking on a couple of extra nightson Cayman Brac, the relatively undeveloped island 90 miles northeast of Grand Cayman. Let the world slip away at Le Soleil dOr, a Mediterranean-inspired seaside villa set on an organic farm.

The Kimpton Seafire is so beautifully conceived that mustering the strengthto rise from your fire engine red lounge chair positioned on a strip ofastroturfbetween the Caribbean Sea andthe resorts lagoon-style swimming pool (how can you choose between the two?) will present a serious challenge.

It will also prove difficult to tear yourself away from yourcomfy roomwithits punchy palette of fuchsia, black and white with floor-to-ceiling windows leading to the oversized oceanfront balcony and a sexy bathroomwith a frosted glass rainfall shower that peeksinto the room.

So dont fight it. Settle in. Relax. This place hasgot you covered.

A hallmark of the Kimpton brand is contemporary and playful design. At the Seafire, everything fromnautical motif chairs upholstered ininternational flags toa traditional wooden Cayman catboat and prints from local pop artist Dready are found beneath the lobbys 20-foot ceiling, grounded bynatural materials, likeweathered wood and polished coral stone.

Dining is a delight here and there are plenty of restaurantsto choose frombefore you run out of options. Ave and Avecita function as a restaurant within a restaurant, the former serving coastal Mediterranean fare while the latter dishes up experimental tapas and cocktails in a chic communal setting with a chefs counter for a special tasting menu.

Between the beachfront taco shack Coccoloba and a separate poolside bar and grill, dont skip the fish tacos, lobster roll or the creamy pia colada.

Make sunset gazing on the soft white sands of Seven Mile Beach a nightly ritual.

Rates from $399 in summer low season, $499 in winter high. 888-226-4412

Grand Cayman is so built upwith stylish seaside resorts, you may forget youre not actually in Miami. On the other end of the spectrum, with its rugged coral bluffs and sparse development,Cayman Brac offers an off-the-grid counterpoint.

After a 40-minutepuddle jumper from Grand Cayman aboard a twin prop plane(or a direct flight from Miami on Saturdays), Le Soleil dOr is a 10-minute drive from the airporton the islands southern shore.

The four-room boutique hotel issetinside a Mediterranean-inspired villa with private cottages spread acrossthe 20 acre property. Situated across the street from a rocky, rugged stretch of shore,the hotel maintains an impressive blufftop organic farm, which supplies the hotels restaurant.

With so few rooms, its entirely possible to feel like youve got the entireplace to yourself. The common areas include a small swimming pool, a living room with an adjacent kitchen stocked with fresh fruit, yogurt, cookies and coffee and a beach clubdown the road accessible by shuttle.

The only thing you need to put on your itinerary is a tour of the island with local guide Keno Dailey to explore limestone caves and cliffs and witness the native brown booby in its natural habitat. Its also a prime destination for fishing and diving.

Otherwise, enjoy your own private paradise at Le Soleil dOr where the service is personalized, catering to your every whim. Meals are an enjoyable affair with an attentive staff and special three-course menus that change daily based on whats fresh and available.

Expect dishes featuring local fish and lobster, as well as steak and chicken prepared creatively with produce from the garden, includingokra, eggplant, heirloom peppers and tomatoes.

Rates from $350 in summer low season; $450 in winter high. 844-861-2443.

Pro Tip:Schedulea deep tissue massage (or any spa treatment) at BOTH resorts. Their therapists know what theyre doing with an arsenal of tension-meltingtechniques from reflexology to craniosacral. The Kimptons spa is a luxurious, Moroccan bath-inspired sanctuary, while Le Soleil dOrs is a simple beachside bungalow.

If You Go

Daily direct nonstop flights from MIA to Grand Caymans Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) aboard Cayman Air and American Airlines, currently from about $267. 1 hour, 30 minute flight.

Direct nonstop flightson Saturdays from MIA to Cayman Brac (CYB) aboard Cayman Airways, currently from about $325. 1 hour, 30 minute flight.

Flights between the Cayman Islandsaboard Cayman Airways, currently from about $129. 40-minute flights.

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Why the Cayman Islands should be your next Caribbean escape - Miami.com

May 5, 2017 9:00 AM

Perry, the founder ofNew York Street Food, brings you his latest review onNew York City street food.

When non-Caribbean people think of Caribbean food, they usually expect jerk or curried food, but theres more to Caribbean cuisine than those stereotypical dishes. In fact, Caribbean cuisine itself is a bit of an oversimplification, as there are regional differences throughout the Caribbean based on history, geography and a host of other factors.

One thing you may not realize is that nearly every Caribbean food truck weve been to makes great fried chicken, something we usually associate with Southern US cuisine. Caribbean King makes a very good fried chicken lunch platter, but the one place where they really stand out is the sheer amount of food provided for $10. Two people with normal appetites could probably split this lunch and be satisfied.

The other reason to get fried chicken here is because its made to order. After we ordered and were waiting for lunch, three other people came up behind us, ordered jerk chicken, and were served right away while we were still waiting. Not because anything was wrong, but because the jerk was already cooked and sitting in the sauce, while the fried chicken still had to be fried.

(credit: Perry R.)

There were two huge, thick chicken breasts in the order. They were not heavily breaded or overly crispy, but there was enough lightly crispy breading to enjoy. The chicken itself was good, not overcooked, which it likely would have been if not cooked to order.

In addition to the abundance of fried chicken, lunch came with either rice and beans or white rice, a cabbage salad, and french fries, too! To top it off, they even gave us a nice piece of sweet fried plantain for dessert.

(credit: Perry R.)

The cabbage salad was laced with carrots and broccoli, and the fries were nice and crispy, just how we like them.

Oh, we almost forgot. They also gave us three dipping sauces that went with lunch. One was bbq sauce, one was a spicy mayo and one was jerk aioli sauce. They all went well on the chicken, and were good for dipping the fries into as well.

(credit: Perry R.)

After lunch our first thought was: wow, were stuffed! We would have been just as happy with one chicken cutlet in the lunch for $7 instead of two large chicken breasts for $10, but it wasnt an option. Maybe if the owners read this, they will offer a small siz,.but all-in-all, there are worse things in the world than too much fried chicken.

You can find the Caribbean King food truck on Twitter here and on Instagram here. We cannot locate a Facebook page or a website, but the truck is not hard to find. They hit most of the usual food truck spots in midtown and downtown during the week for lunch.

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NYC Food Truck Lunch: Fried Chicken Platter From Caribbean King - CBS New York

President Donald Trump is looking for a millionaire to buy his luxurious French St. Martin beachfront estate, which he has used primarily as a rental property since purchasing it in 2013.

Le Chteau des Palmiers, a walled compound on the northwestern tip of the Caribbean island on the Rue de la Falaise, recently hit the market with Sothebys Realty International. Sothebys lists the price as upon request, but another listingsaggregator in St. Martin, 7th Heaven Properties, says the asking price is $28 million.

More:Read About the Investor who Flipped Donald Trumps Childhood Home for 50% Profit

Mr. Trump has marketed the tropical refuge and claimed the asset in financial disclosures filed in July 2015 before his presidential bid.

Greetings from Donald J. Trump. Escape to a place no other, reads a brochure for the property.

The sprawling 4.8-acre estate on St. Martins Plum Bay encompasses two villas, one five-bedroom and another four-bedroom and a number of other red-tile-roofed structures, from pool cabanas to a house for the estate manager, according to the listing with Lesley Reed, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

In total, the compound contains 11 bedrooms and 12 full bathrooms. The larger villa has a two-story master bedroom with a Jacuzzi bath tub and two private balconies. The smaller villa has a number of themed bedrooms, including the Jungle Room with a king-size bed.

The whole property is enclosed by an eight-foot boundary wall, according to the listing.

Rental packages for the presidents tropical refuge start at $6,000 per night in the low season for the smaller of two villas and top off at $28,000 during the winter holidays, according to Sothebys St. Martin office.

More:Trumps Trust Wants $35 Million for Park Avenue Condo

Disclosures sent to the federal Office of Government Ethics indicate that Mr. Trump owns the St. Martin property under two limited liability companies, Excel Venture I LLC and Excel Venture Corp II, for which he owns a 100% share.

Hes collected between $100,000 and $1 million annually through rental income, according to the 2o15 disclosure, which values the asset between $5 million and $25 million.

Mr. Trump has owned the rental since 2013, when he bought Le Chteau des Palmiers for an undisclosed amount. It was reportedly listed at the time for $19.7 million, meaning the U.S. president is looking to turn around a 40% profit on the sale after only four years of ownership.

The White House press office and a publicist for the Trump Organization did not immediately return requests for comment.

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Trump Looking to Unload Caribbean Beach Estate - Mansion Global