BREAKING NEWS
JAXPORT, Carnival reach agreement extending cruise service to The Bahamas into 2026
Read full article: JAXPORT, Carnival reach agreement extending cruise service to The Bahamas into 2026The Jacksonville Port Authority and Carnival Cruise Line reached an agreement to continue the cruise service from Jacksonville to The Bahamas into 2026, according to JAXPORT.
Brazil's health agents scour junkyards and roofs for mosquitos to fight dengue epidemic
Read full article: Brazil's health agents scour junkyards and roofs for mosquitos to fight dengue epidemicLocal public health officials in Rio de Janeiro have been scouring the city's neighborhoods and even its junkyards for signs of standing water where mosquitoes can lay their eggs.
Never mind the mess, Carnival kicks off in Rio de Janeiro with coronation of King Momo
Read full article: Never mind the mess, Carnival kicks off in Rio de Janeiro with coronation of King MomoTo thunderous applause, Rio de Janeiro’s mayor coronated King Momo, marking the beginning of the symbolic Carnival monarch’s five-day reign over the revelry.
Mardi Gras 2024: What to know as Carnival season nears its rollicking end in New Orleans
Read full article: Mardi Gras 2024: What to know as Carnival season nears its rollicking end in New OrleansCarnival season 2024 is entering its final days in New Orleans with big parades on the city's main thoroughfares and smaller, offbeat walking clubs strolling the old French Quarter.
Rio de Janeiro declares a dengue health emergency days ahead of Carnival
Read full article: Rio de Janeiro declares a dengue health emergency days ahead of CarnivalRio de Janeiro city authorities have declared a public health emergency in the city because of an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever.
As Mardi Gras nears, a beefed-up police presence and a rain-scrambled parade schedule in New Orleans
Read full article: As Mardi Gras nears, a beefed-up police presence and a rain-scrambled parade schedule in New OrleansNew Orleans’ annual Carnival celebration has entered its high-intensity home stretch with a beefed-up police presence and a weather-scrambled parade schedule.
Fat Tuesday means big business for New Orleans bakers under exploding demand for king cakes
Read full article: Fat Tuesday means big business for New Orleans bakers under exploding demand for king cakesIt’s Carnival season in New Orleans and that means the morning lines outside popular bakeries are long and the pace inside is brisk to meet customer demand for king cake.
New Orleans thief steals 7 king cakes from bakery in a very Mardi Gras way
Read full article: New Orleans thief steals 7 king cakes from bakery in a very Mardi Gras wayWith their purple, gold and green colors and toy babies hidden inside, king cakes are staples of Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans.
Carnival ruled negligent over cruise where 662 passengers got COVID-19 early in pandemic
Read full article: Carnival ruled negligent over cruise where 662 passengers got COVID-19 early in pandemicA cruise operator that failed to cancel a voyage from Sydney that led to a COVID-19 outbreak has been ruled negligent in an Australian class-action case.
‘Miracle’: Missing cruise ship passenger found OK in water
Read full article: ‘Miracle’: Missing cruise ship passenger found OK in waterThe U.S. Coast Guard says a passenger who went overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico was rescued on Thanksgiving after likely being in the water for hours.
Coast Guard responds to report of ill cruise ship passengers
Read full article: Coast Guard responds to report of ill cruise ship passengersThe U.S. Coast Guard sent a crew to a cruise ship docked in Virginia on Thursday to investigate reports of a foul odor and passengers feeling ill, a spokesman said.
Carnival Spirit is 1st major cruise ship to depart from JaxPort in nearly 2 years
Read full article: Carnival Spirit is 1st major cruise ship to depart from JaxPort in nearly 2 yearsThe Carnival Spirit set sail on Monday, making it the first major cruise ship to depart from JaxPort in nearly two years.
Cruises will set sail from JaxPort again starting Monday
Read full article: Cruises will set sail from JaxPort again starting MondayThe cruise line industry is working to rebuild its strength after two years of lockdown from due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Jacksonville is about to get in on the action.
'I love Mardi Gras': Carnival spirit takes over New Orleans
Read full article: 'I love Mardi Gras': Carnival spirit takes over New OrleansParty-minded people dressed in traditional purple, green and gold filled New Orleans' streets for the city's first full-dress Mardi Gras since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Carnival returns to French Riviera, as virus fears recede
Read full article: Carnival returns to French Riviera, as virus fears recedeArtists, florists, actors, technicians and drivers are putting the final touches on their costumes, lavish flower arrangements and giant floats for the Carnival in the French Riviera city of Nice.
Germany ekes some fun out of a quiet Carnival
Read full article: Germany ekes some fun out of a quiet CarnivalA reveller stands in front of a political carnival float depicting Russia's President Vladimir Putin fighting with opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the streets of Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. Because of the coronavirus pandemic the traditional 'Rosenmontag' carnival parade are canceled but eight floats are pulled through the empty streets in Duesseldorf, where normally hundreds of thousands of people would celebrate the street carnival. But organizers in Duesseldorf, one of the German Rhineland's main Carnival strongholds, didn't want to let Rose Monday in 2021 go completely without the traditional caricatures of current events. “It's a small signal that we're alive,” float builder Jacques Tilly told the German news agency dpa. Another depicted the brain flying out of the head of an activist against coronavirus restrictions.
Brazil Carnival goes online with street parties banned
Read full article: Brazil Carnival goes online with street parties bannedA woman dressed as a superhero and wearing a mask to curb the spread of the new coronavirus performs in the "Desliga da Justica" street band in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. Their performance was broadcast live on social media for those who were unable to participate in the carnival due to COVID restrictions after the city's government officially suspended Carnival and banned street parades or clandestine parties. “When everyone is immunized, we are going to have the biggest Carnival that Brazil has ever seen. One of the biggest street party associations, Blocos da Sebastiana, this year organized workshops on Carnival makeup and instruments and offered playlists of their music. “We would like to be partying on the street but we can’t.” said Rita Fernandes, president of Blocos da Sebastian.
A subdued year for Germany's Carnival, thanks to the virus
Read full article: A subdued year for Germany's Carnival, thanks to the virusA carnival reveler is watched by public order guards at the "Alter Markt" where normally tens of thousands of revelers dressed in carnival costumes would celebrate the start of the street carnival in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. This year all carnival celebrations are banned due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)BERLIN – Germany’s renowned Carnival celebrations got underway Thursday but without any of their usual raucous revelry. One of Germany’s first superspreader events stemmed from a Carnival celebration in a town west of Cologne last February where many people came in contact with an infected man. Cologne festival committee President Christoph Kuckelkorn told Germany’s dpa news agency that Carnival could emerge from this year purified, returning closer to its roots from the increasingly commercial, excessive celebration it had become.
With Carnival scrapped, Rio’s Sambadrome hosts vaccinations
Read full article: With Carnival scrapped, Rio’s Sambadrome hosts vaccinationsIn a normal year, Rios Sambadrome would be preparing for its great moment of the year: the worlds most famous Carnival parade. But a week before what should be the start of Carnival, the pandemic has replaced pageantry. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)RIO DE JANEIRO – In a normal year, Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome would be preparing for its great moment of the year: the world’s most famous Carnival parade. Rio’s hotel occupancy rate normally reaches about 80% in the hot summer months and 100% during Carnival. It's now at roughly 50-60%, according to Alfredo Lopes, the president of Rio’s Hospitality Workers Union.
Pandemic-era Mardi Gras: No big crowds, but plenty of cake
Read full article: Pandemic-era Mardi Gras: No big crowds, but plenty of cakeFILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, file photo, Mondo Kayo parades down Chartres Street during Mardi Gras, in New Orleans. The Mardi Gras season always starts on Jan. 6 and ends on Fat Tuesday, which this year falls on Feb. 16. The Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc is a club that annually pays homage to the fallen French hero with a parade through the French Quarter on the official start of the Carnival season. In Mobile, Alabama, dozens of parades, balls and other events also have been canceled. The city on the Gulf of Mexico calls itself the birthplace of Mardi Gras since celebrations began there a few years earlier than in New Orleans.
S&P 500 ends at another record high as tumultuous 2020 ends
Read full article: S&P 500 ends at another record high as tumultuous 2020 endsThe benchmark S&P 500 index finished with a gain of 16.3% for the year, or a total return of about 18.4%, including dividends. And the S&P 500 rose or fell by at least 1% on twice as many days in 2020 than it did, on average, since 1950. The electric car maker jumped 743.4% in 2020 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. All told, the S&P 500 set 33 record highs in 2020. The S&P 500 rose 24.03 points, or 0.6%, to 3,756.07, an all-time high.
Virus delays Rio's Carnival for first time in a century
Read full article: Virus delays Rio's Carnival for first time in a centuryA "quadra" or court, which this time of year is usually filled with Carnival performers practicing their dance moves, sits empty in the Unidos de Padre Miguel samba school, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, Sept. 24, said it has delayed its annual Carnival parade, saying the global spectacle cannot go ahead in February because of Brazils continued vulnerability to the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Virus delays Rio's Carnival for first time in a century
Read full article: Virus delays Rio's Carnival for first time in a centuryThe samba schools are community institutions, and the parades are just one detail of all that,” Luiz Antonio Simas, a historian who specializes in Rio’s Carnival, said in an interview. As the number of infections grew, the samba schools that participate in the glitzy annual parade halted preparations for the 2021 event. Nearly all of Rio’s samba schools are closely linked to working class communities. “Carnival is our life.”The last year Rio’s Carnival was suspended was 1912, following the death of the foreign relations minister. A statement from the agency Thursday provided no further clarity on the fate of the Carnival street parties.
Cruise ship responds to call for help from Jacksonville-bound boat
Read full article: Cruise ship responds to call for help from Jacksonville-bound boatA Carnival cruise ship came to the rescue of a Jacksonville-bound boat this week, according to Carnival Cruise Line. Carnival Legend was off the coast of the Bahamas on Tuesday when its crew responded to a call for help from a catamaran that had run out of fuel. The cruise ship delivered 25 gallons of diesel to the boat so it could make its way back to Jacksonville.
3 cruise ships carrying 100-plus sick people headed to Florida
Read full article: 3 cruise ships carrying 100-plus sick people headed to FloridaThree cruise ships carrying more than 100 people with flu-like symptoms are heading to Florida, the cruise lines said. Two Costa ships are headed toward Miami with about 30 crew members on board with influenza-like symptoms, Roger Frizzell, a spokesman for parent company Carnival cruises said Thursday. In total, more than 1,000 crew members are on board the ships, but no passengers. All ports along the Zaandam's route are closed to cruise ships. There are 586 crew members on board.
Man on cruise ship goes overboard
Read full article: Man on cruise ship goes overboardThe Carnival Dream departed Galveston, Texas, Thursday on a four-day cruise when a guest went overboard. GALVESTON, Texas - The Coast Guard is searching for a 26-year-old man who was reported overboard from a Carnival cruise ship Thursday evening. The Carnival Dream departed Galveston, Texas, Thursday on a four-day cruise when the guest went overboard, Carnival said in a statement to CNN. A 22-year-old man with autism was on a cruise to Mexico with a nonprofit organization that works with disabled adults when he climbed over a deck rail and went missing, according to the cruise line. Days earlier, a 26-year-old man went overboard from a ship 35 miles south of the Florida Keys, sparking search and rescue efforts.