Multicultural dining and entertainment choices, including The Taste Bar complimentary appetizer program and the Punchliner Comedy Club and Comedy Brunch presented by George Lopez, debut on the Carnival Miracle which launched the line’s first year-round schedule from New York on April 12, 2012. Carnival’s newest casual dining option, The Taste Bar, is being introduced on Carnival Miracle with fleet wide implementation expected to be completed by summer 2013. The Taste Bar sample offerings include roasted pork tacos with green chili salsa and aged cotija cheese and chicken, avocado, and lime tortilla soup; fried malanga (sweet potatoes) filled with ginger-scented pork and lime aioli, and pepper pot soup with cilantro sour cream; short rib croquettes with chipotle aioli and guava and tomato relish, served with pumpkin bisque with sour cream. For the Punchliner Comedy Brunch, many items are inspired by Lopez’s Mexican heritage, including Carne y Huevos – filet mignon topped with two eggs and béarnaise sauce; Hen Alla Diavola, grilled chicken with lemon and pepper; and Mexican-style churros. Two special “George’s Recipes” dishes created by the comedian himself – his own take on Huevos Rancheros which features a chicken quesadilla topped with fried eggs and manchego cheese, and a breakfast burrito filled with scrambled eggs, beans and chorizo – are also offered. As Carnival’s “curator of comedy,” Lopez will act as a consultant on the vetting and hiring of comedic talent in one of the line’s most popular nighttime entertainment options, and advise on décor, lighting, music and more to enhance the overall comedy club experience. The Punchliner Comedy Club will offer five side-splitting 35-minute shows on multiple nights during each voyage, with at least two comedians performing each night. Two early-evening shows offer family fun while the later performances feature R-rated adults-only comedy. Lopez has recorded a number of fun, light-hearted greetings that will be shown on Carnival Miracle’s in-cabin televisions and played during introductions of comedy club performances. Itineraries offered: Eastern Caribbean departures to San Juan, St. Thomas and Grand Turk; Bahamas sailings featuring stops at the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk and Nassau, and Bahamas/Florida cruises with port calls to Port Canaveral (Orlando), Nassau and Freeport. For more information, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit www.carnival.com
FEATURE ARTICLE: TURNING STONE RESORT AND CASINO: A MULTICULTURAL DESTINATION
Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York balances the traditions and cultural heritage of the Oneida Indian Nation with modern amenities, exposing visitors to the Indian nation’s culture and values in addition to providing a fun, relaxing experience. The Oneida, or the People of the Standing Stone, complete with their unique past, language and culture, have an extensive history and interaction with the land, maintaining a long tradition of valuing harmony with nature and in preserving both their land and culture. The Oneida commitment to wellness and nature can be seen in the architecture, landscapes and especially in the all natural organic treatments featured in the Skaná Spa.
Continue readingFEATURE ARTICLE: MULTICULTURAL JAMAICA IN 2012: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN LYNCH, DIRECTOR OF TOURISM FOR JAMAICAN TOURIST BOARD
In 2012, the world’s attention will be on Jamaica with the concurrence of three significant happenings: the country will celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence; its athletes, some the world’s fastest runners, will be showcased in the upcoming Summer Olympics and Jamaica tourism will reach out to the Jamaican diaspora inviting them to “come home” to visit. Recently, Multicultural Travel News attended the 21st Annual Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) convention and had the opportunity to interview the Jamaican Tourist Board’s (JTB) Director of Tourism, John Lynch, to learn more about these upcoming events and initiatives.
Continue readingMULTICULTURAL JAMAICA
With its diverse history and celebrated arts, Jamaica offers a great multicultural experience for visitors. The capital and largest city, Kingston, is home to the Bob Marley Museum, African Heritage Museum, the National Gallery and Institute of Jamaica. The city also has tours of many authentic Reggae studios where well-known hits were created.
Continue readingFEATURE ARTICLE: VISIT AND LEARN: THE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT HARDY, VA
The first African American family has been living in the White House for a couple of years now. So it may be a bit hard to believe that there’s been a 107-year gap between the time the Obamas took up residence in the White House and the year – 1901– when the first African American was formally invited (by then-president Theodore Roosevelt) to simply visit the place. That guest was Booker T. Washington – born a slave, fathered by a white man he never knew, a child who hungered for knowledge more than he hungered for anything else in life. His drive to become educated, and to foster education for other African Americans, led to his founding the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 in Alabama, which he built into an internationally-respected center of learning. The author of Up from Slavery went on to advise three US presidents, win an honorary degree from Harvard and become recognized as the country’s foremost black educator.
Continue readingFEATURE ARTICLE: MULTICULTURAL TRAVEL NEWS, MARCH 2011 – LEARNING SPANISH IN GUATEMALA
If you work in Hispanic marketing, either your job depends on your ability to speak Spanish or you don’t really need to speak Spanish to do your job.
Continue readingTHE MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE BALLROOM DANCE WEEKEND DECEMBER 2010
If you’ve packed your bag for the weekend with ballroom dance shoes, a tuxedo, a ball gown, and a blaze orange hunter’s safety vest, you’re probably on your way to Mohonk Mountain House’s Ballroom Dance Weekend, held every December. I’ve been wanting to go for years and finally this past December John and I were able to get there for their 21st annual dance weekend.
Continue readingFEATURE ARTICLE: MOUNT AIRY CASINO RESORT BEGINS OUTREACH TO ASIAN AMERICANS
Along with the completely brand new hotel, Mount Airy Casino Resort, which was built on the grounds of the Mount Airy Lodge, that quintessential Pocono Mountain hotel known from its heyday in the 50s and 60s, comes a 21st century marketing outlook: targeting Asian Americans.
Mention Mount Airy to any boomer-aged New Yorker and you might get a spontaneous rendition of their ubiquitous TV commercial jingle, “All you need to bring, is your love of everything. Come to beautiful Mount Airy Lodge.”
Continue readingFeature Article: Multicultural Arizona
Discovering what’s multicultural about Arizona is a relaxing, delicious and educational experience. First stop, the Spa at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix for an 80 minute Native American inspired Deam Catcher aromatherapy massage. The dream catcher, a small hoop with a net, feathers and beads, used by the Woodland Indians, is placed in the room, “to catch the guest’s stresses or any negative energy,” explained Laura Geis, spa sales manager. Then warm basalt stones from Arizona river beds, used by Native Americans as a healing art, she said, are placed on your back. “The energy from the full moon recharges the stones and we incorporate them into the massage, placing them along the spine,” Laura said. Then, essential oils are dripped along the spine. Thus, “Raindrop” therapy, she explained, brings energy from the sun, and this La-Kota practice is incorporated into the massage. The eight Chakra oils used include lavendar for self empowerment, bergamot for vision, patchouli for wealth eucalyptus for communication and lotus for wholeness. Can a centuries old practice work on modern day stresses? By the end of the massage, my blackberry weary fingers felt better, and at the same time that I was completely relaxed, I had also thought up a great idea for my company’s Multicultural Speakers Showcase.
Continue readingFEATURE ARTICLE: PROMOTING PUERTO RICO AS A MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS DESTINATION – NEWLY RENOVATED CONVENTION CENTER IS FOCUS OF CAMPAIGN
The First Annual Puerto Rico Tourism Investment Conference
In December, over 350 delegates were in attendance at the newly renovated Puerto Rico Convention Center for the First Annual Puerto Rico Tourism Investment Conference, hosted by The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) and the Department of Economic Development and Commerce. The Convention Center, a $415 million endeavor, is the newest, largest and most technologically advanced meeting facility in the Caribbean.
Multicultural Travel News 