The three-masted Thor Heyerdahl

1 November 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  5 minutes

Thor Heyerdahl in Kiel © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-2.5

Thor Heyerdahl in Kiel © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-2.5

Thor Heyerdahl , originally named Tinka, later Marga Henning, Silke, and Minnow, was built as a freight carrying motor ship with auxiliary sails at the shipyard Smit & Zoon in Westerbroek, Netherlands, in 1930. Her original homeport being Hamburg, she was used for the next 50 years as a freighter.   read more…

The Mein Schiff 1

18 February 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  7 minutes

Mein Schiff 1 at St. Georges, Grenada © Caribbeanyachtbroker

Mein Schiff 1 at St. Georges, Grenada © Caribbeanyachtbroker

Mein Schiff 1 is a Century class cruise ship owned and operated by TUI Cruises. She was built in 1996 at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg as Galaxy for Celebrity Cruises, and renamed Celebrity Galaxy in 2008. In May 2009 she transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between Celebrity Cruises’ owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and TUI AG. The ship was renamed Mein Schiff (English: my ship) on 15 May 2009. In November 2010, she was renamed to Mein Schiff 1. In May 2011, the Celebrity Mercury has been restarted as Mein Schiff 2 for TUI Cruises. Her home port is Valletta on Malta.   read more…

The Disney Wonder

11 February 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  7 minutes

Disney Wonder at Castaway Cay with Flying Dutchman © EmbraerSkyPilot

Disney Wonder at Castaway Cay with Flying Dutchman © EmbraerSkyPilot

Disney Wonder is a cruise ship operated by Disney Cruise Line. The second ship to join the Disney fleet, it entered service in 1999. It is nearly identical in construction to its sister ship, Disney Magic. Both ships have 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,400 passengers in 875 staterooms, and have a crew of approximately 950. The Disney Wonder was built in the year following completion of the Disney Magic. As of 2012, the Wonder is based out of Los Angeles until December 9th. Her “godmother” is Tinkerbell.   read more…

Haiti in the Greater Antilles

9 November 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

The National Palace in 2009 © flickr.com - DrGulas

The National Palace in 2009 © flickr.com – DrGulas

Haiti is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti (land of high mountains) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island. The country’s highest point is Pic la Selle, at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) and its capital is Port-au-Prince. Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.   read more…

Theme Week Havana on Cuba

20 October 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Havana Collage © Vitalia

Havana Collage © Vitalia

Havana (La Habana, officially Villa San Cristóbal de La Habana) is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 728.26 km2 (281.18 sq mi) – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Atarés. The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. The current mayor is Marta Hernández from the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). In 2009, the city/province had the 3rd highest income in the country. The city attracts over a million tourists annually, the Official Census for Havana reports that in 2010 the city was visited by 1,176,627 international tourists, a +20.0% increase from 2005. The historic centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Moreover, the city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and monuments.   read more…

The Disney Magic

23 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  6 minutes

Disney Magic at Cozumel, Yucatan © Altairisfar

Disney Magic at Cozumel, Yucatan © Altairisfar

Disney Magic is a cruise ship operated by the Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Disney Magic is over 80 feet longer than the RMS Titanic. Scattered throughout the ship, there are Mickey Impressions, known as “Hidden Mickeys”. People like to search for them.   read more…

The port city of Cartagena in Colombia

25 June 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Colonial street © Cbrough

Colonial street © Cbrough

Cartagena de Indias is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department. The city had a population of 892,545 as of the 2005 census, making it the fifth-largest city in Colombia and giving the Cartagena urban area the status of fifth-largest urban area in Colombia. Cartagena is a centre of economic activity in the Caribbean, as well a popular tourist destination. Activity and development of the Cartagena region is dated back to 4000 B.C. around Cartagena Bay by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. The Spanish colonial city was founded on June 1, 1533 and named after Cartagena, Spain. Cartagena served a key role in the development of the region during the Spanish eras; it was a center of political and economic activity due to the presence of royalty and wealthy viceroys. In 1984, Cartagena’s colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   read more…

The Caribbean island of Jamaica

3 February 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Kingston Harbour Sailing Race © Gwyneth Davidson

Kingston Harbour Sailing Race © Gwyneth Davidson

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length, up to 80 kilometres (50 mi) in width and 10,990 square kilometres (4,243 sq mi) in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the “Land of Wood and Water”, or the “Land of Springs”.   read more…

The island of St. Lucia

13 January 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Marigold Bay - Soufrière © Amertner

Marigold Bay – Soufrière © Amertner

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 (238.23 sq mi) and has an population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries. The island nation has been the home of two Nobel laureates, Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott. It is the nation with the second most such honorees per capita after the Faroe Islands.   read more…

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