Things To Do In SW Florida

Carnival Cruise Line’s parent company inked a deal for three new ships powered by liquefied natural gas that will be the largest ever built for the fleet.

Carnival Corp. signed an agreement with Italian shipyard Fincantieri for the three LNG-powered ships that will be delivered in 2029, 2031 and 2023. The deal is contingent on financing, which the company expects to complete by next year.

Their addition would build on a fleet of 13 LNG ships already sailing among Carnival and its sister brands including the new Sun Princess from Princess Cruises that is set to sail from Port Everglades later this year. LNG is a cleaner burning fuel the cruise industry has been trying out on its ships in an effort to reduce carbon emissions.

Cruise leaders tackle carbon conundrum on board Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas

The first LNG-powered cruise ship in North America was Carnival’s Mardi Gras, which debuted out of Port Canaveral in 2021. It was followed in 2022 by the Disney Wish at the port, which also just welcomed its third homeported LNG-powered ship with the debut of Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas last week. read more

Seminole voters will decide in November if it should be tougher for developers to remove property from the county’s protected rural area and whether to strengthen protections for its natural lands.

“If they pass, they will continue to enhance the natural lands and conservation areas in the county and preserve the rural area that so many residents support,” resident Marilyn Crotty said to county commissioners Tuesday in support of the ballot questions.

Moments later, commissioners voted unanimously and without comment to place the charter referendums on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The first one asks if it should require a supermajority of four votes from the commission to take land out of the rural area — such as for a high-density development. The second asks if it also should require a supermajority vote to remove or change protections on any of Seminole’s designated natural lands.

It currently requires three votes from the five-member board to take land out of Seminole’s rural boundary — which covers nearly a third of the county — or to remove conservation protections from any part of the 7,300 acres of natural lands. read more