Things To Do In SW Florida

A Bahamian brass band, colorful costumed parades and an appearance from Shaq were all part of the merriment that welcomed the opening of Carnival Cruise Line’s Celebration Key on Saturday.

The $600 million development on Grand Bahama Island, which encompasses 68 acres exclusive to Carnival guests, saw its first visitors with the morning arrival of the Port Canaveral-based Carnival Vista. Highlights of the oceanfront oasis include the largest freshwater lagoons in the Bahamas or Caribbean, a 10-story sandcastle structure that houses two water slides and the world’s largest swim-up bar.

Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy, Carnival Corp. CEO Josh Weinstein, Chief Fun Officer Shaquille O’Neal and Carnival Vista Captain Paolo Severini turned the key that unlocked the gates of the sandcastle just after 10 a.m., officially opening the private enclave to cruise guests.

“We are finally here at Celebration Key on Grand Bahama with nearly 5,000 guests from Carnival Vista, the first Carnival cruise ship to call on this beautiful destination,” said Duffy, who arrived on the Vista. “This is just the beginning. We will have visits from 20 Carnival cruise ships from 10 different U.S. homeports.” read more

By Christine Benz of Morningstar

If a knowledgeable observer trained his or her sights on my choices, what are the trouble spots they would identify? Here are some of the biggies.

I hold too much employer stock

I understand the tax implications of this, so I might as well sell each lot of restricted stock units as soon as it vests because there’s no tax benefit to hanging on longer. And it’s not like I think I possess some inside knowledge that the shares are likely to outperform the broad market.

Instead, the key culprit here is inertia. There’s a little bit of tax dread mixed in, too, as selling them would trigger a big tax bill. I’ve been in the process of divesting from company stock for the past several years, but the allocation is still high.

I hold too much cash

Even when cash yields are higher, as they are today, inflation still gobbles up most of the interest.

Cash has stacked up in our account following bonuses or other windfalls, or during fallow spending periods like 2020. And it just never feels like an especially great time to move the money into long-term investments. read more

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and NADIA LATHAN

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat who represents a slice of the Rio Grande Valley along the border with Mexico, won his last congressional election by just over 5,000 votes.

That makes him a tempting target for Republicans, who are poised to redraw the state’s congressional maps this coming week and devise five new winnable seats for the GOP that would help the party avoid losing House control in the 2026 elections. Adjusting the lines of Gonzalez’s district to bring in a few thousand more Republican voters, while shifting some Democratic ones out, could flip his seat.

Gonzalez said he is not worried. Those Democratic voters will have to end up in one of the Republican districts that flank Gonzalez’s current one, making those districts more competitive — possibly enough so it could flip the seats to Democrats.

“Get ready for some pickup opportunities,” Gonzalez said, adding that his party is already recruiting challengers to Republicans whose districts they expect to be destabilized by the process. “We’re talking to some veterans, we’re talking to some former law enforcement.” read more

One of the most prolific homebuilders in Central Florida wants to transform a series of vacant parcels in north Apopka into a massive development called Paulucci Acres, which would consist of over 1,000 homes and townhomes.

But developer Pulte’s plans are encountering early resistance from neighbors and some city officials, especially over likely traffic impacts on curvy Ponkan Road, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

Paulucci Acres would span 618 acres across 18 parcels, located south and east of Wolf Lake Middle School on both sides of Ponkan Road. The proposed seven-phase project would include 1,052 lots, ranging in size from 20-foot-wide townhomes to executive-sized lots that are 95 feet wide and 136 feet deep. There would also be a pair of 5-acre commercial outparcels across from the middle school.

About 40 acres are located in unincorporated Orange County and would need to be annexed into the City of Apopka.

Pulte is under contract to purchase the property from St. Petersburg-based Paulucci Acres LLC. Law firm Shutts & Bowen, working on behalf of the homebuilder, is requesting a designation of Residential Low Suburban for all of the residential parcels and zoning of Planned Development (PD) to make way for the development. read more

FORT LAUDERDALE — Princess Cruises’ new ship Star Princess will debut out of Port Everglades later this year, but a spate of new theatrical stage shows are working out the kinks now at nearby Nova Southeastern University.

The cruise line entertainment team put on display some of the performers’ efforts giving students and media a taste of what’s to come on board the sister ship to last year’s Sun Princess, the second in the line’s Sphere class of ships, which at 175,500 gross tons are the largest in its fleet with a 4,300-guest capacity based on double occupancy.

Two original productions will be headed to the main stage, and something the line’s head of global entertainment, Rebecca Thompson-Foley, said will embrace storytelling that really fits the theme of the ship.

“Anybody who’s had a little sneak peek so far from the company has said, ‘We’ve not seen this. It feels fresh. We haven’t seen this on Princess before,” she said.

Princess partnered with British production company Black Skull Creative, which has worked on among other things the 2012 London Olympics ceremonies. Cofounder Dan Shipton was on hand to discuss production of the shows. read more