Category Archives: Caribbean

"Aruba is a culturally-rich destination, beloved as one of the world's top beach destinations for weddings and honeymoons," said Ronella Tjin Asjoe-Croes, CEO of Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA). "It felt truly special to showcase our island's defining qualities during this unprecedented ceremony while sharing Aruba's love and happiness with loyal and first-time visitors alike."

Among the 320+ participants were travel influencers and celebrity couples including Tamra and Eddie Judge, famously known from Bravo TV's "The Real Housewives of Orange County."

"Aruba is simply beautiful. It meant everything for Eddie and I to be able to 'renew our I Do's' in such a picturesque setting, in the company of our family," said Tamra Judge. "Cheers to a lifetime of love and adventure, from the One happyisland!"

The event's romantic dcor and chic ambiance were inspired by real on-island weddings, and featured elegant white linen with pops of vibrant Caribbean colors. Couples relished in the opportunity to celebrate their love on the world's No. 3 beach while enjoying champagne, hors d'oeuvres, local music and Carnival-like festivities.

Aruba's complimentary vow renewal ceremony occurred Tuesday, Aug. 8, from 5:30-7:30 pm on Eagle Beach. For more details: http://www.aruba.com/arubaido.

About Aruba As one of the most revisited destinations in the Caribbean, Aruba One happy island is an island of contradictions, where pristine turquoise waters collide against the desert-like terrain of the north shore; where peace and relaxation coexist with wild and rugged adventures; where Dutch influence meets American ease and where a diverse history parallels a bright future. Nestled in the southern Caribbean outside the fringes of the hurricane belt, the island is just a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Miami, a four-hour flight from New York City and boasts year-round cooling trade winds with an average 82-degree temperature. Aruba offers beach-lovers, adrenaline junkies, relaxation-seekers and everyone in between a slice of paradise with breathtaking beaches, a booming culinary scene of over 300 restaurants with 25+ located ideally on the water, world-famous festivals and events, exciting land and water activities, art galleries and museums, sumptuous spas, championship golf, exclusive shopping and signature experiences such as cooling off in Conchi, Aruba's natural pool accessible only by foot or off-road vehicle. With all-inclusive options, boutique properties in charming Eagle Beach, high-rise branded resorts in Palm Beach and cosmopolitan city hotels in Oranjestad, the island of contradictions provides the perfect getaway for both first-time guests and loyal visitors.

for more information: the zimmerman agency 850.668.2222 arubapr@zimmerman.com

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aruba-hosts-caribbeans-largest-vow-renewal-300501715.html

SOURCE Aruba Tourism Authority

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Aruba Hosts Caribbean's Largest Vow Renewal - PR Newswire (press release)

Downpours will push westward across the northern islands of the Caribbean Sea, while a second tropical system, dubbed 99L, may develop and approach the United States next week.

Unsettled weather, similar to a tropical depression or a weak tropical storm, will affect areas from Puerto Rico to Hispaniola and the Bahamas into midweek. However, this system is likely to remain poorly organized as it moves westward through Wednesday.

These islands will experience a pulse of drenching showers and locally gusty thunderstorms over a 12- to 36-hour period.

The showers and thunderstorms may postpone some activities such as a day at the beach or boating adventures. However, on a more serious note, some communities may be hit with torrential rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding.

Flooding rainfall and road closures occurred across the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands from late Monday to Monday night. Homes and businesses sustained major damage in some communities.

Torrential rain unleashed dangerous flash flooding on the island of Tortola, British Virgin Islands, on Monday evening, Aug. 7, 2017. (Photo/Mahde Said)

Beyond Wednesday, some of this moisture may feed into the general pattern of showers and thunderstorms and enhance rainfall and gusty storms along the southeastern coast of the United States.

On occasion, features such as this can transform into a potent tropical system. However, this risk is very low at this time.

99L may develop, become a concern for US

A more organized batch of showers and thunderstorms, referred to as 99L, was located hundreds of miles farther east over the Central Atlantic.

When batches of thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean have the potential to become a tropical depression or storm, they are given a number between 90 and 99. The "L" designation refers to a system under investigation in the Atlantic.

"We noticed an uptick in thunderstorms and some spin to the cloud cover on Monday," according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.

RELATED: AccuWeather Hurricane Center Franklin may make second landfall in Mexico as Atlantics first hurricane of 2017 What's the difference between hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones?

"However, 99L will be moving into a zone of dry air and strong wind shear over the next couple of days," Kottlowski said.

Wind shear is the changing of speed and direction of winds at different layers of the atmosphere. Strong wind shear can prevent tropical development or diminish the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes.

While 99L could become a tropical depression at any time, rapid strengthening seems unlikely in the short term as the system became more disorganized again on Tuesday.

It is likely that 99L will take a general path just northeast of the Leeward Islands later this week.

"Should 99L survive the dry air and wind shear, it could strengthen near or just northeast of the Bahamas this weekend," Kottlowski said.

The next name on the list of Atlantic tropical storms is Gert.

An arm of showers and thunderstorms associated with 99L can extend southward in parts of the Leeward Islands later Thursday and Friday.

How extensive the rainfall is will depend on the exact track of the system.

In the long range, if the system develops, then it could be drawn close to the Atlantic coast of the U.S. next week. Interests in the Bahamas and along the U.S. Atlantic coast should monitor the progress of 99L.

Hundreds of miles farther west, Franklin will inundate Mexico with flooding and mudslides over the span of a few days this week. Franklin may become the first hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic season.

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Tropical systems to unleash torrential downpours in northern Caribbean - AccuWeather.com

Caribbean and South American carnivals take place throughout several islands and within heavily caribbean-populated cities all over the world.

The elaborate street festivals celebrate the unique beauty, culture and pride of islands such as Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and more, with Barbadoss own Rihanna shutting down her hometowns festival for several years running now.

This time around, the beautys crop over costume and thicker physique were the talk of the net, with even ex Chris Brown not being able to help himself but drop a few big-eyed emojis on his exs photos.

Check out Riri embracing her Caribbean roots in stunning fashion above.

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Caribbean and South American carnivals take place throughout several islands and within heavily caribbean-populated cities all over the world.

The elaborate street festivals celebrate the unique beauty, culture and pride of islands such as Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and more, with Barbadoss own Rihanna shutting down her hometowns festival for several years running now.

This time around, the beautys crop over costume and thicker physique were the talk of the net, with even ex Chris Brown not being able to help himself but drop a few big-eyed emojis on his exs photos.

Check out Riri embracing her Caribbean roots in stunning fashion above.

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Sak Pase! Rihanna's Thick New Bod Shuts Down Caribbean Carnival - Wetpaint

ORANGE, NJ - Mayor Dwayne D. Warren, Esq. and the City of Orange Township Municipal Council hosted the 18th Caribbean Heritage Day Festival and Parade last Saturday August 5, 2017.

The Festival is a tradition dating back to the Oranges in the 1970s. Today, it is the premiere Caribbean Festival in Essex County, with thousands of people from numerous countries participating every year.The Caribbean Heritage Day Festival creates an environment where people can participate in the creativity of different cultures while celebrating their similarities and diversities, which emulate the history of Carnival and demonstrate the strength of the Caribbean American community in New Jersey.

This years' festivities included the Caribbean Heritage Parade that worked its way down Central Avenue into Monte Irvin - Orange Park.

Mayor Warren remarks, The Festival showcases the energy and diversity of our Caribbean community in Orange and Essex County. Every year, we look forward to the music, the live acts and the fantastic crowds representing all of the island nations. The festival not only showcases thebest of our Caribbean and West-Indian communities, but reminds us because of our immigrant communities that our City thrives."

Excerpt from:

Orange Hosts Grand Caribbean Festival & Parade - TAPinto.net

Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)

Top things to do on a sea day on a Royal Caribbean cruise Royal Caribbean Blog (blog) Part of every Royal Caribbean cruise are days spent at sea, which means you have the entire day to enjoy the vast array of things to do onboard. Sea days provide ample opportunity to see and do many things to do onboard, from dawn to dusk. Sea days on ... AI on the high seas: Royal Caribbean sets a course for 'frictionless and immersive' vacationsZDNet Royal Caribbean Cruises posts stronger second quarter resultsVirgin Islands Daily News These stock's might change the kismet of Investors: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), PDC Energy, Inc. (PDCE)StockNewsJournal Equities.com -StockNewsGazette all 230 news articles »

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Top things to do on a sea day on a Royal Caribbean cruise - Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)

A psychiatric center employee was arrested for allegedly collecting workers compensation for a back injury while he was on vacation, including taking a kayaking trip in the Caribbean, State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott announced on Monday.

Ryan Haley, 30, of Rome, is a security hospital treatment assistant at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy, Oneida County.

He was arrested on charges that he defrauded the workers compensation system and falsified documents to obtain time off and collect benefits. Investigators said Haley, while out of work, visited Puerto Rico and also worked in California with his girlfriend. He also faces unrelated charges of physically abusing a patient at the facility. All the charges are felonies, according to the Inspector Generals office.

An investigation by Leahy Scotts office found that on two occasions in 2016, Haley applied for workers compensation benefits by claiming an inability to work due to an October 2015 work-related back injury.

Haley received $2,286.05 in benefits while in Puerto Rico and $407.80 in benefits while in California, investigators said.

This defendant is accused of a contemptuous fraud in which he feigns being too injured to work while paddling a kayak on a Caribbean retreat, Leahy Scott said. Moreover, with utter disregard for the critical responsibilities of his job, he allegedly attacked one of the very patients for whom he was meant to care. I will continue to dedicate the resources of my office to protect the benefits meant to assist honest, hard-working New Yorkers.

Haley was arraigned on the charges and released by a judge while his cases are pending.

Excerpt from:

State worker faked injuries, went kayaking in Caribbean, IG says ... - Albany Times Union

Yes, travel broadens one's horizons. The broadening in question was a week spent traveling among some of the islands in the Caribbean, including a U.S. unorganized territory and a member of the U.S. Commonwealth.

Yes, the U.S. has territories, one of which is the U.S. Virgin Islands, bought from Denmark in 1916. The same rules that governed the old northwest before our Constitutional Convention governs them today. And yes, we have a modest commonwealth, which includes Puerto Rico, our bankrupt tropical paradise. Both of these, though having slightly different relationships with the United States, are similar enough to each other and to us to be useful in examining the effects of systemic long-term public debt, entitlements and enormous government workforces. We better pay attention, because results we now see there are what we will see here soon if we do not alter the way we think.

Both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands became deeply indebted largely by ignoring deficits and by funneling large sums to nonprofits, social welfare programs and government workers, both current and retired. In his 2017 address on the budget, Virgin Islands governor Kenneth Mapp was forthright in his admission that "this budget is about creating work," troubling in a territory where the largest employer by far is the government. He assured retirees their pensions would not be reduced, and current employees that their recently granted raises would not be rescinded, never mind the government's ability to pay. Hence public debt that now approaches 45.9 percent of GDP and $19,000 per capita the last being the highest of any U.S. state or territory, including Illinois and Puerto Rico.

The latter is no prize either, with a per capita debt of around $12,000 and a debt/GDP ratio of more than 92 percent. Leading the charge over the debt cliff were public corporations and services, inflexibility on government salaries and unfunded pension liabilities. Part of the problem is that Puerto Rico's economic situation has been worsening since 2006, when preferential tax treatments given to U.S. corporations operating in Puerto Rico were rescinded; the commonwealth's GDP has declined dramatically since then, although the government has not curbed spending. In 2016, when it appeared Puerto Rico could no longer meet its obligations, Congress passed the PROMESA act, allowing San Juan to declare bankruptcy to restructure its public debt. That triggered a stampede away from government paper not only there, but elsewhere, including the Virgin Islands pushing both governments further into economic quicksand.

Puerto Rico's bankruptcy has not only impacted the island's economy; a general air of decline and trepidation seems to have infected the capital. Old San Juan, a popular destination for tourists who provide more than 10 percent of the commonwealth's income, has seen a marked rise in shuttered storefronts, tagged mailboxes, broken water meters, collapsed sidewalks, broken windows and gutted buildings. Touts swarm anyone looking vaguely touristic with offers of anything one might imagine at the cheapest price possible. Think Istanbul's Grand Bazaar on a Thursday evening. But high-end shops are closing their doors as rising sales taxes make other Caribbean venues far more attractive. Security personnel are ubiquitous and conspicuous. There is a new down-at-the-heels feeling.

In the cruise port, the former arrival terminal is now only sporadically used more modern ships are too large for the facility, which appears not to have been upgraded since it was built. An awful crunch occurs when a ship terminates or originates there. A much longer open-air pier for day visits by larger vessels has been built, but both our ship and another 4,000-passenger behemoth stirred up a huge amount of slit with thrusters, maneuvering on and off the dock. This area will probably have to be dredged soon, and from the look of things, there's not going to be money to do that. What happens to Puerto Rico's tourism sector when it is struck from cruise lines' Caribbean itinerary is a real and really unpleasant question.

All of this screams from the rafters that debt used to cover ongoing operating expenses will bankrupt a government stupid enough, or vicious enough, to cling to that reed for long. And when that government sinks, it will take much of the economy with it, dealing terrible damage to the people least equipped for it. Want to see our future? Look at the Caribbean. One can go there easily, for a good, long, up-close view.

Tropical rum drinks might help when the nausea of recognition hits. Lots of them.

Morgan Liddick writes a weekly column for the Summit Daily.

Original post:

Liddick: Look to the Caribbean to see America's future (column) - Summit Daily News

The sixth named tropical storm of the season, Franklin, formed early Monday in the western Caribbean Sea. It is now on a definite strengthening trend and could be upgraded to the seasons first hurricane before it makes landfall on the Yucatan peninsula late Monday.

A hurricane watch is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Chetumal to Punta Allen. Tropical storm warnings begin in Belize City in Belize and curve around the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to Campeche on its western side. The popular resort destinations of Cancun and Cozumel are included in the tropical storm warning.

Hardest hit areas could receive 3 to 6 inches of rain, with isolated amounts to 12 inches. These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods, the National Hurricane Center cautions. At least tropical-storm-force winds are likely, and some gusts over hurricane force (74 mph) are possible.

Although predicting the path of tropical storms can sometimes be challenging, there is little doubt that Franklin is on a crash course with the Yucatan. Computer model forecasts of its track are tightly clustered, which gives forecasters high confidence as to where its headed.

The storms intensity forecast is trickier. Although very few models predict it will reach hurricane intensity, that can absolutely not be ruled out. The storm is now in an environment where rapid intensification can occur.

After passing over the Yucatan, it is likely to merge over the Bay of Campeche on Tuesday afternoon. It will then have 36-48 hours over the warm waters there and has a good chance to re-intensify, possibly (re)attaining hurricane strength before its second and final landfall in Mexico (although theres a remote possibility that it could cross over Mexico and reform near the tip of the Baja peninsula, then hit Mexico a third time).

Franklin is the sixth named storm of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Using the entirety of hurricane records dating back to 1851, the average date of the sixth named storm formation is Sept. 20 so Franklin formed a whopping six weeks ahead of an average season. However, no storm this season has lasted more than two days and none have produced peak winds above 57 mph (50 knots), so Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) is just 44 percent of average for this date.

Franklin is strongly reminiscent of another storm that formed in the same area in 2012: Ernesto. Franklin is forecast to make landfall over the Yucatan at almost the exact same location, date and hour as Ernesto.

A long radar loop from Belize will aid in tracking Franklins structure as it approaches the coast (Ernesto, from 2012, is also available for comparison).

The storm name Franklin was first used in 2005, and replaced Floyd, which was retired after its infamous 1999 incarnation.

Another disturbance being monitored

Farther east, we are watching a disturbance make the trek across the deep tropics east of the Lesser Antilles. As some models suggested last week, it has been embedded in a hostile environment and will not be able to develop too much if at all until the Friday/Saturday time frame, when it is near the Leeward Islands. Its presently centered about 1,000 miles east of the Leeward Islands and moving toward the west-northwest at 15 mph.

We will continue to monitor this disturbance.

See the article here:

Tropical Storm Franklin forms in western Caribbean, hurricane watches posted for Mexico - Washington Post

Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)

Royal Caribbean plans beach enhancements at private destination of Labadee Royal Caribbean Blog (blog) Adrenaline Beach will be undergoing a beach enhancement, beginning on August 14, 2017. The footprint and quality of the beach and surrounding areas will be nourished. In addition, reef balls will be added to increase the tranquility of the water and to ...

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Royal Caribbean plans beach enhancements at private destination of Labadee - Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)

8 P.M. UPDATE: The showers and thunderstorms associated with a strong tropical wave over the central Caribbean is showing signs of organization, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Additional development is possible while it moves west-northwest at 10-15 mph, and a tropical depression or tropical storm could form over the northwestern Caribbean before it reaches the Yucatan peninsula late Monday or Tuesday, according to the Hurricane Centers outlook issued at 8 p.m. Theres now a 70 percent chance of formation in the next five days.

Its also possible for a tropical depression or tropical storm to form over the Bay of Campeche during the middle of next week after the system passes over the Yucatan peninsula. An Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate the system tomorrow afternoon, if necessary.

Meanwhile, shower activity associated with an elongated area of low pressure about 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands is becoming slightly more organized. Some additional slow development is possible during the next two to three days before the system encounters less favorable environmental conditions during the middle part of next week.

Forecasters put the chance of development over the next five days at 50 percent as the system moves generally west-northwestward across the tropical Atlantic Ocean at about 15 mph.

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The National Hurricane Center dropped the chance of development for a system in the central Atlantic Ocean, but forecasters say they expect some development as it heads toward the Antilles.

The National Hurricane Center is watching two areas for tropical development.

A large area of disturbed weather more than 1,000 miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, and still more than 2,000 miles from Florida, has been given a 30 percent chance of developing into a tropical cyclone by Monday afternoon and a 50 percent chance by Thursday afternoon, the NHC said in its 2 p.m. advisory. The system is moving west-northwest at about 15 mph.

Check The Palm Beach Post storm tracking map

Forecasters are also closely watching a system in the central Caribbean Sea that they say is starting to show some signs of organization, with data showing a small area of winds just below tropical-storm force. The system is moving west-northwest at 10-15 mph, and forecasters say a tropical depression or storm could form over the Yucatan peninsula Monday or Tuesday.

A hurricane hunter aircraft is scheduled to fly into the system Sunday afternoon at this time.

Updated season forecast: 61 percent chance of Florida landfall

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UPDATE: 2 potential systems brewing in Caribbean, Atlantic - MyPalmBeachPost (blog)