Things To Do In SW Florida

Port Canaveral will get to keep three Disney Cruise Line ships in late 2025 as the sailing plans for six of what will be eight ships in the fleet were revealed.

That includes Disney Treasure set to debut this winter and 2022’s Disney Wish as well as older ships Disney Magic and Disney Fantasy trading off sailing duties.

The new homeport and sailing plans for Disney Destiny, a sister ship to Wish and Treasure, was not announced, but it’s slated to be delivered to the line at a yet-to-be-revealed date in 2025 and could end up DCL’s new second Florida home in Port Everglades.

Disney Cruise Line names its newest cruise ship

Also debuting in 2025 will be the Asia-bound Disney Adventure, but for now, DCL only revealed sailing plans for its two original ships, Magic and Wonder, its two decade-plus-old ships Dream and Fantasy and its two most recent ships Wish and Treasure.

Port Canaveral will continue to host Wish sailing short three- and four-night Bahamas trips while Treasure will continue with seven-night Caribbean sailings. read more

State-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is apparently in no mood to give its customers any rate-hike breaks.

Despite signs that the private insurance market in Florida is stabilizing, the insurer of last resort is continuing with its strategy to impose the maximum allowable 14% rate hike on its 1.2 million policyholders in 2025.

The 14% rate hike would affect the company’s personal lines business, which consists of single-family homes, private condominium units, mobile homes and rentals. The rate includes multiperil policies with wind coverage and wind-only coverage for those categories.

The company is recommending raising the premium it charges for multiperil coverage of 71,196 single-family homes in Broward County by an average of 13.5% — from an average $5,385 to $6,112.

In Palm Beach County, 61,357 homeowners would see comparable coverage hiked by an average of 13.4% — from $4,904 to $5,561.

The 96,941 single-family homeowners covered by Citizens in Miami-Dade County would also see an average 13.5% increase from $5,113 to $5,804. read more

By HALELUYA HADERO (AP Business Writer)

The Federal Trade Commission has referred a complaint against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to the Department of Justice.

The FTC said in a statement Tuesday that it investigated the two companies and “uncovered reason to believe” they are “violating or are about to violate” the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal law which requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.

The agency also cited potential violations of the FTC Act, the law that outlines its enforcement responsibilities.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment on the substance of the referral from the FTC against TikTok. “Consistent with our normal approach, the Justice Department consulted with FTC in advance of this referral and will continue to do so as we consider the claims. As always, the Department will be guided by the facts and the law as well as our responsibility to protect the American people,” the spokesperson said. read more

By JONEL ALECCIA (AP Health Writer)

Dollar Tree failed to effectively recall lead-tainted applesauce pouches linked to reports of illness in more than 500 children, leaving the products on some stores shelves for two months, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

The FDA sent a warning letter to Dollar Tree this month and placed Negasmart, the Ecuadorian distributor of WanaBana apple cinnamon pouches, under import alerts following the October 2023 recall of the products found to be contaminated with “extremely high” levels of lead and chromium.

Children in 44 states had probable or confirmed cases of elevated blood lead levels after eating the applesauce pouches marketed for toddlers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak was declared over in April.

FDA officials sent a warning letter to Dollar Tree Inc. last week saying the WanaBana apple puree products remained on store shelves in several states through late December, two months after the firm was told about the recall. Officials at the Chesapeake, Virginia-based company had said they disallowed sales of the products at registers, but the FDA said that was “not an effective measure” because at least one child in Washington state ate a recalled fruit pouch in a store before an attempted purchase. read more

We are inching toward grand openings of a couple of major attractions — Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom and Penguin Trek at SeaWorld Orlando. But there several additional limited-time offerings to check out this summer.

Among the options are the preview center for Epic Universe, the Universal Orlando theme park slated to open next year; “Portraits of Courage,” a selection of paintings by George W. Bush at Epcot; and “Ripley’s Movie Magic” display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! attraction on Orlando’s International Drive.

Epic + peek = epique?

What: Universal Epic Universe Preview Center.

Where: Universal CityWalk, main level between Bigfire and Vivo Italian Kitchen restaurants.

What you’ll see: A scale model of the theme park, including rides and the Universal Helios Grand Hotel. It’s more architectural than cartoonish, complete with nondescript show buildings and many trees although not many tiny people.

What pops out: Augmented-reality effects are available through an app, which brings coasters to life and lets users peek inside some of those nondescript show buildings. There also are fiery effects and flying objects looming over AR Epic. read more