By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

Windstar Cruises is homeporting one of its ships St. Maarten.

Beginning Dec. 1, the cruise line will homeport its Wind Surf cruise ship for seven-day cruises out of St Maarten.

Besides having the Wind Surf homeport on the Island weekly, Port St Maarten Management said they were also looking at accommodating the line’s Star Pride and Star Breeze vessels.

“We welcome this news especially catering to the homeporting segment of the cruise business,” Port St. Maarten Management said in a statement. “The spin off effect for the national economy will be great and we are happy to make this positive news announcement. It is the intention of the vessel to provision certain commodities on Island which is another benefit for attracting this type of business to St. Maarten.”

“Windstar Cruises offers high-end clientele and service along with an intimate experience. This is a niche market for destination St. Maarten,” said St Maarten Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson.

“Destination St Maarten has homeporting experience,” he said. “We have the return of cruise ships, and now we must move forward in bringing back the homeporting business that we had before.”

“The Port is on the right track as they strategically move to a pre-Irma homeporting status,” he said. “This is another positive development for the country on the economic front and for the business community.”

The post Windstar to Homeport in St Maarten appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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All-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean have changed to such a degree that many of them now defy categorization. While the term “all-inclusive” used to have an overarching, unified definition, there is now a dramatically diverse range of offerings in the Caribbean.

That means where you would once simply choose by destination, now you can choose by experience: do you want to stay in a boutique resort or a large one? A wellness-focused property or one for old-school beach vacations?

The point is, travelers have more choices than ever before. That’s why our new look at the top all-inclusive resorts to visit emphasizes this diversity — we’ve included resorts from all over the Caribbean, not just traditional all-inclusive hubs like Punta Cana; we’ve included all-inclusive resorts of all shapes and sizes — and we’ve gathered resorts offering all kinds of experiences, from castaway fantasies to family getaways.

Here are the top all-inclusive resorts to visit right now. The choice is yours.

Palm Island, St Vincent and the Grenadines No all-inclusive matches the sheer fantasy and romance of this private-island outpost in the heart of the Grenadines. It’s boutique, it’s beautiful and it’s a true-bucket list destination. It’s the ultimate all-inclusive experience in the Caribbean — bar none.

The post The Top 25 All-Inclusive Resorts to Visit Right Now appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Trinidad and Tobago’s national culinary team took home the top honors in the latest edition of the Taste of the Caribbean competition in Miami last week.

The team beat out 11 other national culinary teams from around the Caribbean in the annual event run by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.

Taking home gold medals were the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos, while silver medalists included Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Curacao, Jamaica and Saint Lucia.

Suriname won a bronze medal.

The Bahamas’ Jamall Small won the award in the Caribbean Chef competition, while Trinidad and Tobago’s Shana Rajahram won the Caribbean Bartender Competition.

The Bahamas’ Hazen Rolle won the Caribbean Junior Chef Competition, while Turks and Caicos’ Vadivel Raju won the Caribbean Pastry Chef competition.

The post Trinidad and Tobago Wins Caribbean’s Top Culinary Competition appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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