Space Shuttle Discovery Set to Land Saturday

The space shuttle Discovery’s crew is expected to complete its mission to the International Space Station with a landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:43 p.m. EDT on Saturday, March 28. The return to Earth will conclude a 13-day flight. Nine of those days were spent docked to the station.

During the STS-119 mission, the shuttle and station crews installed and deployed the final set of solar arrays. The arrays provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station’s expanded crew of six in May. The flight also delivered Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, who replaced space station crew member Sandra Magnus. She spent more than four months aboard the station and will return to Earth aboard Discovery.

The entry flight control team in Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy before permitting Discovery to return to Earth. Saturday’s landing opportunities at Kennedy are at 1:43 p.m. and 3:19 p.m. If weather prevents a Kennedy landing Saturday, the secondary landing site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., will be considered, NASA said.

AirTran Airways Adds Orlando to Asheville, Atlantic City

ORLANDO – AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AAI) , announced today that it will expand its service to Orlando International Airport with new nonstop flights from Atlantic City International Airport in Atlantic City, N.J., Asheville Regional Airport in Asheville, N.C., and McGhee-Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn.

New nonstop flights to Asheville, N.C., will begin June 11, 2009, and new nonstop flights to Knoxville, Tenn., and Atlantic City, N.J., will begin June 12, 2009.

Cruise Company Stockholders Get Onboard Credits

DES MOINES - Stocks losing value is rarely good news, but there is a little-known silver lining for cruisers: free onboard credits of $50-$250 are now within easy reach.

The world’s two largest cruise companies have long offered onboard credit-that is, cash to be spent on the ship–to their shareholders. To qualify, you need only own 100 shares of stock in Carnival Corporation or Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. at the time of your cruise. But while Carnival Cruise Lines traded around $45 per share and Royal Caribbean sold for about $36, CCL is now about $22 and RCL and is trading at about $8 per share.

“With RCL at $8,” said Bob Levinstein, CEO of competitive cruise quote site CruiseCompete.com, “anyone traveling on a 14-night Royal, Celebrity, or Azamara sailing can get a $250 onboard credit just for buying $800 worth of stock.”

RCL also offers shareholder credits on shorter cruises: $200 credit for sailings between 10-13 nights; $100 credit for cruises of 6-9 nights; and $50 credit for sailings of five nights or less.
Carnival Corporation, which owns Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Seabourn, Cunard, and Costa offers shareholders onboard credit (per stateroom) of $250 on sailings of 14 days or longer, $100 on sailings of 7 to 13 days, and $50 on sailings of 6 days or less.

Applications to receive these benefits must be made prior to cruise departure date, and certain restrictions apply. Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean provide specific instructions on how to demonstrate your ownership to receive this benefit.

Cristian Castro, Carlos Santana in Miami for Latin Music Awards

MIAMI BEACH – Latin music stars, Banda El Recodo, Cristian Castro and La Quinta Estacion have confirmed their appearances as exclusive performers at the 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards presented by State Farm. Read more

Seascape Resort Renovates Meeting Space

DESTIN – Seascape Golf & Beach Resort is proud to debut a newly renovated Conference Center, featuring over 4,000 square feet of meeting space. Seascape is quickly becoming the Florida resort destination for meetings, groups and events held along the Gulf Coast. The new Destin meeting resort boasts a professional and flexible staff of conference service managers that can assist you with meeting planning, corporate retreats and special events.

Seascape Resort delivers flawless service and affordable meeting packages with impressive corporate retreat facilities, catering to both large and small groups. The resort amenities and services will help make your business gathering productive as well as fun. Enjoy access to beautiful white-sand beaches and a lush golf course. Golf group tournament services and golf group outings are specialties – making Seascape a fantastic choice for blending business with pleasure.

An array of Destin condos and the Emerald Bay Guesthouse offer a relaxed atmosphere that will make your stay feel like home. Large gathering space is available in our grassy dune with lots of room for families to recreate and socialize. For breathtaking views of the Gulf of Mexico and scenic sunsets, bring your party to the beach for dinner and cocktails at Whale’s Tale Beach Bar & Restaurant.

A helpful staff of group directors is available to assist with planning activities of any size, including a forever-memorable Destin beach wedding. Seascape provides an all-inclusive choice with plenty of room for all your guests to share and group coordinators will assist you in creating a wedding of dreams; even with the bachelor/bachelorette party and farewell brunch.

Seascape Golf & Beach Resort offers luxury vacation rental options at an affordable price for groups big and small. The resort encompasses over 300 flourishing acres with spacious villas and condos throughout, including the brand-new Ariel Dunes I and Ariel Dunes II condominiums along with the Majestic Sun – an architectural icon rising high above Destin’s emerald-green waters.

With a new Destin Groups website launched in 2008 that caters to vacation groups; with over $300 a day in resort discounts for your party to enjoy, including golf and beach activities; and with the newly remodeled Conference Center; Seascape invites you to join them in Destin, Florida for your next group event.

See www.seascape-resort.com

Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Holds Gala

PEMBROKE PINES – It was a spectacular evening at the beautiful Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach – the setting for cruise executives from the ten Member Lines of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, who hosted tables for the 15th Annual FCCA Gala Dinner and Entertainment Extravaganza.

The event took place on Thursday, March 19, 2009, beginning with a jovial cocktail reception and silent auction featuring beautiful artwork donated by West End Gallery, Inc., including a personal portrait of the winning bidder by Peter Max. Attendees were welcomed by a Mariachi Band and were treated to a tantalizing array of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres.

Sponsored by the Port of Miami, this premier social event hosted more than 60 of the cruise industry’s top executives as table hosts for the evening. The Gala afforded the opportunity for developing strong cooperative relationships between the cruise industry and our destination partners.

FCCA President, Michele M. Paige stated, “In this time of opportunity, we need to keep our partners close, which is what the Gala enabled us to do.”

Senator Allen Chastanet, Minister of Tourism & Civil Aviation, St. Lucia commented, “The Gala was incredibly indicative of the strength of the industry; to get the quality of people to come out to a new venue shows that the industry is not backing down due to the environment.”

“Fabulous event at a great venue. The service and the food were excellent, and the company was outstanding,” boasted Stephen Nielsen, Vice President, Caribbean & Atlantic Shore Operations, Princess Cruises.

Geoffrey Roach CEO of Bridgetown Cruise Terminals, Inc., Barbados, shared his experience of his first Gala, “It was a very interesting experience to meet a great diverse group of people in the cruise industry. Our tablemates included people as far away as Russia, Turkey and Italy as well as various destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America.”

100% of the proceeds from the Gala will benefit the FCCA Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization created in 1993 to fund humanitarian causes in the Caribbean and Latin America. Numerous worthy projects receive funding each year through the FCCA Foundation, most recently the FCCA Holiday Gift Project brought smiles to the faces of over 7,000 under-privileged children throughout the Caribbean and Latin American Region.

FCCA is a trade association composed of 10 Member Lines: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruise Line, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises (USA) Inc., Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean International. It was created in 1972 by the Member Lines operating more than 100 vessels in Florida, Caribbean and Latin American waters, in order to discuss and exchange views on issues relating to: legislation, tourism development, ports, safety, security and other cruise industry issues.

Cypress Gardens Belles Are Back!

Southern Belles from Cypress Gardens

WINTER HAVEN – Cypress Gardens Adventure Park is open again and has renamed itself Cypress Gardens with an adjacent Splash Island Water Park.

The park closed last fall. It will open again on March 28, with a new leader who knew and worked with the founding Pope family. Bill Sims is a former executive vice president of Cypress Gardens who worked with the Popes from the early 1970s until 1985, when the park was sold for the first time. Read more

Jupiter, Florida Golf Capital

JUPITER – This city north of West Palm Beach, in Palm Beach County, is home to many of the nation’s top golfers. Golfers include Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Camillo Villegas, Luke Donald, Briny Baird, Jesper Parnevik and Mark Calcavecchia.

Courses in the Jupiter, Hobe Sound and Stuart area include:

• Golf Club of Jupiter
• Jupiter Dunes Golf Club
• The Florida Club
• Abacoa Golf Club
• Champions at Summerfield
• Heritage Ridge Golf Club

Casa Casuarina, the Versace Mansion, Opens in Miami Beach

From Photo of Miami Beach’s Casa Casuarina

MIAMI BEACH - The legendary 1930′s Miami Beach landmark Casa Casuarina, better known as the Versace Mansion, is now open to the public.

Owned and operated by entrepreneur Peter Loftin, it is now available as a luxury hotel, restaurant, event venue and membership club. Embellished with Italian marble, mosaic tiles, European art and plush textiles this luxurious property offers a private and unique experience to both diners and guests. Each of the 10 suites showcase rich and vibrant colors signature of the fashion icon, Gianni Versace.

With unique themed decor, each suite captures a different element of the Mansion’s beauty from the carved marble baths, mosaic tiled floors, and lavish stained glass windows. Custom-made ultra king beds, luxury linens, wireless Internet, satellite radio and plasma televisions and Bose sound systems are customary for each luxury suite.

Guests can also experience culinary delicacies from Loftin’s at the Versace Mansion, the property’s New-American inspired restaurant. Offering beautiful first courses and salads, two pound lobsters, hearty prime cuts of beef, rack of lamb and simply prepared, eight ounce portions of fish and prawns, with Loftin’s at the Versace Mansion’s signature dish presented on a 250-million-year-old rare Himalayan sea salt block.With al fresco seating within the front terrace, a central courtyard and stone-encrusted dining room, reservations can also be made to enjoy cocktails within the Tiffany bar, which overlooks the Versace designed Italian mosaic pool. For reservation information, please contact 305-672-6604 or visit www.casacasuarina.com.

Bears in Umatilla

UMATILLA - The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is helping sponsor the Umatilla Black Bear Festival.

The family-oriented festival, now in its 10th year, celebrates the Florida black bear., is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 from 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. at Cadwell Park in Umatilla. It’s free and is a great way for families to spend a few hours together doing something fun and educational at the same time.

This year FWC biologists will focus their presentations on living in bear country. At 10:30 a.m., bear biologist Mike Orlando will give an entertaining program on how to keep bears from making your home their home. At 2 p.m., biologist Tom Shupe will explain what people need to know to live and recreate safely in bear country.

Meanwhile, deep in the Ocala National Forest, FWC bear research biologists Walter McCown and Brian Scheick will lead field trip participants through natural bear habitat and explain a bit of bruin natural history. Field trips begin at 9:30 a.m. and are repeated every hour.

Back at the festival grounds, FWC biologists will be on hand at the Ask the Biologist booth to answer all your bear-related questions. In addition, FWC biologist Andrea Boliek will lay out a buffet of bear cuisine – both the healthy, natural kind, and the problem-causing kind only humans can provide – and she’ll explain the difference. You might be surprised at some of the things bears will consume and how biologists know.

“Our goal is for festival-goers to learn everything they always wanted to know about the Florida black bear – and more,” said Judy Gillan, FWC’s statewide outreach coordinator, and one of the festival’s original organizers. “It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since the festival partners got together and started this event. The best part is that every year the interest and support from Umatilla and the surrounding community continues to grow and that means more and more people learn about the Florida black bear.”

The festival is presented by Defenders of Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, city of Umatilla, the FWC and the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce. For more information about the 10th Annual Umatilla Black Bear Festival, call 352-669-3511 or visit www.umatillachamber.org.

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