Things To Do In SW Florida

Carnival Cruise Line has revamped its Carnival Glory cruise ship with new features before it heads to its new home at Port Canaveral.

The 110,000-gross-ton ship is taking on three- and four-night Bahamas sailings from the port, joining three other Carnival ships. Built in 2003, the ship has a 2,980-guest passenger capacity based on double occupancy.

It recently came out of a 21-day dry dock at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, receiving some enhancements found on other Carnival ships.

Changes include a new casino layout, including a nonsmoking area, and a Heroes Tribute Bar & Lounge that pays deference to military veterans and active-duty service members, taking over the SkyBox Sports Bar. Also added were a Dreams Photography Studio and upgrades within the spa.

When it debuted more than 20 years ago, Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, was named its godmother. Its space-themed pedigree extends to enhancements added to the youth area Camp Ocean, which now has a large video wall for its Space Cruisers program. Its curriculum was developed in partnership with Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Also updated is the video arcade and redubbed The Warehouse. read more

South Florida’s housing market, like many others across the United States, is plagued by persistently high home costs, so much so that renting may be slightly advantageous.

But based on data in new market reports, real estate experts expect the housing market may experience a correction, which is when home prices may experience a decline, typically after a period of growth.

“The correction could literally be just the appreciation rate will slow significantly,” said Ken H. Johnson, a real estate economist at FAU’s College of Business.

He added: “I absolutely think we’re going to see prices’ appreciation slow down, maybe even go a little negative for a year or two.”

Appreciation is essentially how much the average home price increased from the previous year’s average price to the following year’s average price.

In March, the average home price of a home in the Miami-metropolitan area, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, was $486,817, which is nearly 35% more than where the price should be, at $316,307, according to new data in the FAU Top 100 Housing Markets. read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (AP Business Writer)

NEW YORK (AP) — The “miners” who chisel bitcoins out of complex mathematics are taking a 50% pay cut — effectively reducing new production of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, again.

Bitcoin’s latest “halving” appeared to occur Friday night. Soon after the highly anticipated event, the price of bitcoin held steady at about $63,907.

By Kimberly Palmer | NerdWallet

For college students, sending money to friends has never been easier thanks to peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App. But that convenience poses risks, including vulnerability to errors, fraud and the tendency to overspend.

As a result, payment apps can contribute to financial stress at a time when young people are learning how to manage their finances on their own. “Peer-to-peer payment apps are cash on steroids because they’re a straw stuck into your bank account,” says Anne Lester, author of “Your Best Financial Life.”

Not only does that make spending easier and more “frictionless,” Lester explains, but it also means “if you trust the wrong person, then you’re in big trouble,” because it can be difficult or impossible to get the money back.

To keep young people safe while using payment apps, money experts suggest taking these extra steps to guard against scams and overspending.

Triple-check the recipient

One risk with peer-to-peer payment apps is sending the money to the wrong person by accident. “If you send money, make sure you are 100% certain you are sending it to the right person, because it’s very hard to get the money back,” says Nilton Porto, associate professor of consumer finance at the University of Rhode Island. read more