Things To Do In SW Florida

What will become the largest cruise ship in the world is set to begin sailing from Port Canaveral in August, but first Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas has to complete a series of sea trials.

The sister ship to current titleholder Icon of the Seas that debuted out of Miami last year ventured out into the waters off the coast of Turku, Finland, where the 248,663-gross-ton vessel has been under construction since February 2023.

With less than 100 days before its Aug. 31 debut from the Orlando-area port, the ship left Monday on an 11-day series of trials to test out the vessel’s navigation, naval architecture and engineering with more than 2,000 watchful eyes on board making sure Star of the Seas is seaworthy.

The open-ocean trials will cover hundreds of miles before it returns to the shipyard for final touches followed by an official handover to Royal Caribbean and transatlantic sailing to Port Canaveral.

The ship is the second of four announced Icon-class vessels that will each be incrementally larger than their sister ships. The class is about 15,000 more than the six existing Oasis-class vessels — five of which had previously held the title for world’s largest cruise ship. read more

Four Central Florida restaurants shut down the week of May 11-17, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange

Dimsum King & Seafood at 4192 Conroy Road, Suite 109 in Orlando shut down on May 12. Inspectors found 21 violations, seven of which were high priorities. Those violations included flying insects, rodent activity and an improperly stored toxic substance. A second inspection occurred on May 13. Inspectors found 21 violations, seven of which were high priorities. Many of the violations were either completely cleaned up or given an extension. The restaurant met inspection standards.

La Maison Du Gout at 4563 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Suites 1&2 in Orlando shut down on May 13. Inspectors found 17 violations, three of which were high priorities. Those violations included flying insects, an expired license and rodent activity. A second inspection occurred on May 14. Inspectors found 16 violations, three of which were high priorities. Inspectors gave time extensions to the violations and the restaurant was allowed to reopen even though it required a follow-up inspection. read more

Orange County commissioners sided with the environment Tuesday by unanimously rejecting the proposed Tuscana development and the thousands of hotel rooms and housing units it would bring to Shingle Creek Basin.

“We got to learn from our mistakes, because the reason property insurance is going up is not a mystery,” Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad said during the meeting. “We have developed in places that it didn’t belong and the water doesn’t know boundaries — it goes where it needs to go.

“The issue is not just about environmentally sensitive lands, this issue is about public safety.”

The project involves building over 1,200 hotel rooms and 4,800 multifamily dwelling units on an area of agricultural-zoned land near Central Florida’s theme parks and close to parts of 20-mile-long Shingle Creek, extending into sensitive wetlands that serve as headwaters to the Everglades and run through Osceola County.

The vote offers a strong pro-environment signal in the first major development issue to confront the board since the November election. In that election, voters rejected commission candidates backed by developers and endorsed two ballot measures limiting growth outside of urban areas. read more

By GISELA SALOMON

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — As a business owner in the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, Wilmer Escaray is stressed and in shock. He is unsure what steps he needs to take after the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants.

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Escaray owns 15 restaurants and three markets, most of them in Doral, a city of 80,000 in the Miami area people known as “Little Venezuela” or “Doralzuela.” At least 70% of Escaray’s 150 employees and many of his customers are Venezuelan immigrants with Temporary Protected Status, also known as TPS. read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

NEW YORK (AP) — Levi Strauss is set to finally part ways with Dockers — inking a deal to sell its brand once credited with propelling the popularity of “Casual Fridays” to Authentic Brands Group.

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In an announcement Tuesday, the denim giant said it had agreed to sell Dockers to Authentic for up to $391 million. The transaction will start at an initial value of $311 million, with the potential of adding another $80 million to the price tag based on business performance under the new ownership.

The sale arrives as San Francisco-based Levi Strauss boosts its focus on the chain’s core Levi’s brand — as well as Beyond Yoga, which the company acquired in 2021, as more and more consumers continue to cozy up to athleisure wear. read more