Multicultural Travel News

Multicultural dining and entertainment choices, including The Taste Bar complimentary appetizer program and the Punchliner Comedy Club and Comedy Brunch presented by George Lopez, debut on the Carnival Miracle which launched the line’s first year-round schedule from New York on April 12, 2012.Carnival’s newest casual dining option, The Taste Bar, is being introduced on Carnival Miracle with fleet wide implementation expected to be completed by summer 2013. The Taste Bar sample offerings include roasted pork tacos with green chili salsa and aged cotija cheese and chicken, avocado, and lime tortilla soup; fried malanga (sweet potatoes) filled with ginger-scented pork and lime aioli, and pepper pot soup with cilantro sour cream; short rib croquettes with chipotle aioli and guava and tomato relish, served with pumpkin bisque with sour cream. For the Punchliner Comedy Brunch, many items are inspired by Lopez’s Mexican heritage, including Carne y Huevos – filet mignon topped with two eggs and béarnaise sauce; Hen Alla Diavola, grilled chicken with lemon and pepper; and Mexican-style churros. Two special “George’s Recipes” dishes created by the comedian himself – his own take on Huevos Rancheros which features a chicken quesadilla topped with fried eggs and manchego cheese, and a breakfast burrito filled with scrambled eggs, beans and chorizo – are also offered. As Carnival’s “curator of comedy,” Lopez will act as a consultant on the vetting and hiring of comedic talent in one of the line’s most popular nighttime entertainment options, and advise on décor, lighting, music and more to enhance the overall comedy club experience. The Punchliner Comedy Club will offer five side-splitting 35-minute shows on multiple nights during each voyage, with at least two comedians performing each night. Two early-evening shows offer family fun while the later performances feature R-rated adults-only comedy. Lopez has recorded a number of fun, light-hearted greetings that will be shown on Carnival Miracle’s in-cabin televisions and played during introductions of comedy club performances. Itineraries offered: Eastern Caribbean departures to San Juan, St. Thomas and Grand Turk; Bahamas sailings featuring stops at the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk and Nassau, and Bahamas/Florida cruises with port calls to Port Canaveral (Orlando), Nassau and Freeport. For more information, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit www.carnival.com    Read more >>

Discover your Ulster ancestors with activity holidays in 2012 from the Ulster Historical Foundation, an educational, non-profit charitable organisation based in Belfast, Ireland. For more than 50 years, they have been researching people's Irish family histories. This year, they will be hosting three activity holidays – Ulster History and Genealogy Summer School, June 20-26 in association with the University of Ulster; Belfast History and Genealogy Summer School, August 26 – September 1 in association with Stranmillis University College; Ulster Genealogy and Migration Studies Autumn School, October 7-13 in association with the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies. These activity holidays are ideally suited to anyone with an interest in the history of the province of Ulster and a yearning to learn more about their Ulster ancestors. The Ulster Historical Foundation is a long-established, highly reputable research and publishing agency. It offers extensive knowledge on the sources available for tracing Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors. For more information, visit www.ancestryireland.com  Read more >>

Every day throughout the month of May there will be jazz performances in parks, restaurants, clubs and venues around Atlanta as part of this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival.   Activities will include live jazz in Underground Atlanta, Martinis & IMAX at Fernbank Museum, Jazz Under the Stars at Clark Atlanta University, Friday Jazz at the High Museum and Fiesta Atlanta in Centennial Olympic Park. This year’s performance schedule includes jazz greats Roy Ayers, Cyrus Chestnut, Kathleen Bertrand, Russell Gunn, Edy Martinez, Ojeda Penn and Johnny O’Neal.   Newcomers to the festival include the rhythmic Tito Puente Jr. Orchestra, soulful singer and saxophonist Grace Kelly, and the R&B and hip-hop influenced Robert Glasper Experiment.  This year there will be three concerts at the Loews Atlanta Hotel in the heart of Midtown: Ojeda Penn, Johnny O’ Neal and AJF Late Night Jazz Jam with Friends.  “We are reaching an important milestone as the Atlanta Jazz Festival celebrates 35 years,” states Camille Russell Love, Director of the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs.  “We take our stewardship of the festival seriously and salute the leaders whose vision and hard work created this preeminent cultural event, featuring well-known jazz legends and exciting new artists.”   The 35th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival is presented by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs. For a complete listing of events for “31 Days of Jazz” and the full performance schedule in Piedmont Park, visit www.atlantafestivals.com.    Read more >>

Dominica is home to the Caribbean's only remaining population of indigenous people. Known as the Kalinago, approximately 3,000 Carib Indians inhabit a 3,700-acre territory on the eastern coast of the island. Visitors to the island now have the opportunity to experience the rich and unique heritage of Dominica's first settlers firsthand by participating in the island's Kalinago Territory Home Stay Program. Participants are provided simple accommodations for a modest fee in private, owner-occupied residences.   Read more >>