Kick off the new decade with one of these cruises - austin360

Posted: 31 Dec 2019 01:39 PM PST

The Caribbean still reigns supreme when it comes to cruising, but there's a whole new world to explore. Classic ports such as the Bahamas are recovering, new itineraries are opening up in Japan for the 2020 Summer Olympics, and luxury options abound in the Seychelles. Here are eight places to prioritize in 2020.

1. Japan

Remember when Olympic organizers in Rio de Janeiro slept on cruise ships and called them "floating hotels"? Tokyo will do the same for its turn in the spotlight. From July 24 to Aug. 9, the city is chartering at least one large ship to serve as a floating hotel in response to a shortage of rooms on dry land. But you'd be better off going a more traditional route: Two of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s Shanghai-based ships, Spectrum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas, will offer itineraries that overnight at Tokyo's new terminal. Passengers with tickets can easily get to events and then sail on to other, less frenetic parts of the country.

Windstar Cruises LLC is betting that the summer's television coverage will drum up tourism interest for Japan in general, so it's skipping the marquee games and sending its 312-passenger, all-suite Star Breeze to the country for a series of temple- and garden-centric sailings this fall. But the most peaceful way to sail might be a three-night trip on Gunt�, a 38-passenger design ship that's like a floating ryokan on the Seto Inland Sea, complete with traditional open-air onsen baths in some of its suites.

The trip we're most likely to book: Star Breeze 10-night sailing, from $3,599 per person.

2. The Bahamas

Typically cruise lines have relied heavily on the Bahamas. Not only is Nassau, the capital, a frequent port of call, but several companies have organized sailings throughout the commonwealth around islands that they own. In the last year, however, the roles have changed. After Hurricane Dorian devastated Grand Bahama (also a cruise port) and the less-visited Abaco islands, cruise companies helped deliver recovery supplies and made major donations. In the storm's aftermath, they're helping revitalize the entire Bahamian tourism economy.

Royal Caribbean is opening the second phase of its $250 million Perfect Day at CocoCay island in January. The Coco Beach Club includes the first overwater floating cabanas in the region. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has boosted the offerings at its Great Stirrup Cay, a chic, South Beach-style beach oasis where you can shell out as much as $1,100 a day for a private, air-conditioned villa conveniently located near a Moet & Chandon bar. MSC Cruises' recently opened, 95-acre Ocean Cay offers a more tranquil experience that focuses on spa treatments and underwater activities in its protected marine reserve. And when adults-only Virgin Voyages debuts its first ship in March, every sailing will stop at a swanky private resort ⁠— think Ibiza or St-Tropez⁠ — developed by Resorts World Bimini.

RELATED: Magical Matagorda: How a Texas coast camping trip rejuvenated a family's love of travel

The trip we're most likely to book: A four-night itinerary on Virgin's Scarlet Lady, from $2,750.

3. Kinsale, Ireland

Cruise lines are jumping on the DNA tourism trend, and harbor towns in West Cork, including the historic fishing town of Kinsale, are trying to get a piece of the pie. Promotional efforts have focused on attracting small expedition and boutique ships, and they're paying off. Last year, French line Ponant sent one ship; this year it's sending four. Ultraluxury line Seabourn has been sniffing around, too. Nearby attractions include a 3.7-mile trail around the ocean cliffs of the Old Head of Kinsale, where the Lusitania was sunk just offshore by a German U-boat in 1915. There's also a star-shaped fort built by Charles II. And if you find through an ancestry search that you're related to the notorious 18th-century pirate Captain Anne Bonny, Kinsale is said to be where she's from.

The trip we're most likely to book: A seven-night sailing from London to Portsmouth, from $3,830.

4. The Douro River, Portugal

Lisbon is a popular port, but attention has also shifted north to the quieter Portuguese city of Porto, famous for its sweet red fortified wine. It's also becoming a popular starting point for cruises on the Douro River. Hillsides covered in terraced vineyards and historic quintas reflect 2,000 years of winemaking in the valley, with itineraries that include stops for tastings and time to cross the border toward the medieval city of Salamanca in northwestern Spain. Luxury tour operator Tauck Inc. and luxury brand Uniworld River Cruises are each debuting ships in the spring: Uniworld's 100-passenger S.S. S�o Gabriel has butler-serviced suites, Douro-influenced decor, and locally sourced cuisine; Tauck's 84-passenger MS Andorinha features an infinity-style pool, outdoor dining, and Balinese daybeds on the sun deck. Dinner at a family-owned wine estate near the sleepy village of Pinh�o is included.

The trip we're most likely to book: One-week Tauck Villages and Vintages itinerary, from $4,190.

5. Raja Ampat Islands

Far from the fancy resorts in Bali⁠ — in miles, scenery and style⁠ — this Indonesian archipelago occupies an enviable position in the center of the Coral Triangle. Cruises here lead to fascinating cultural encounters, but the big attraction is the warm sea, home to about 75 percent of known coral species and about half of all the world's marine tropical fish. Typically the best way to see it all has been on small dive boats, but upscale expedition cruise ships from Ponant and Australian line Coral Expeditions have recently moved in. Joining them is Aqua Expeditions, best known for its top-notch Amazon River sailings. It transformed a naval vessel into its first ocean ship, the 15-suite yacht Aqua Blu, on which it offers a culinary program designed by Aussie superstar chef Benjamin Cross and sailings that stretch through the winter.

The trip we're most likely to book: One week on Aqua Blu, from $7,525.

6. Subantarctic Islands

These islands in the Southern Ocean, which are on the way to Antarctica from Australia and New Zealand, are protected nature preserves, where only researchers live among birds and marine mammals. On Macquarie Island, beaches may be covered with royal penguins and fur seals. The island also has a weird geologic feature: Some of its shores are piled up with exposed green rocks from the Earth's mantle that look eerily like they're covered in snakeskin. And the Snares, one of several chains of New Zealand islands, feature crested penguins endemic to the islands. Cruise passengers visit on zodiacs that hug the shoreline or make a landing for guided walks, all in places where the number of visitors is tightly controlled. Get here on expedition ships from Silversea Cruise Holding Ltd. or Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, which have new itineraries traversing the region.

The trip we're most likely to book: A two-week cruise round trip from Dunedin (on New Zealand's South Island) on Silver Explorer, from $13,950.

7. The Seychelles

Luxurious options abound in this Indian Ocean paradise off of East Africa. Crystal Cruises' 62-passenger superyacht, Crystal Esprit, has suites with butler service and a private submarine. Ponant's 184-passenger Le Bougainville has a snazzy, underwater Blue Eye Lounge, somewhat like a submarine with a panoramic view and where you can get a martini. But the real beauty of sailing here is taking tiny zodiacs to islands with uninhabited beaches, where you may snorkel among coral reefs or wander past tortoises in lush forests. Keep an eye out for the Seychelles warbler and other native birds, as well as Vall�e de Mai, a rare palm forest little changed since prehistoric times.

The trip we're most likely to book: A seven-night trip on Crystal Esprit, from $5,599.

8. Nile River

In January, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises launches the new 84-passenger, all-suite S.S. Sphinx, and because it will only sail in Egypt, its look will have an authentic sense of place. (Think Egyptian fabrics and artworks.) Similarly, Viking River Cruises in September adds the 82-passenger Viking Osiris, done up in Scandinavian design despite her Nubian name. Standard 12-day sailings on both ships start and end in Aswan, usually after a hotel stay in Cairo and a flight to Luxor. For DIY types, there are also four-night sailings to Aswan on Sanctuary Retreats' elegant, recently upgraded, 64-passenger Sanctuary Nile Adventurer. Its shorter sailings aren't packaged with pre- and post-cruise land experiences and are a little more flexible. This year, especially, a must-do is drinks on the terrace of Aswan's Old Cataract Hotel, where Agatha Christie wrote parts of her 1937 novel Death on the Nile. Kenneth Branagh's film based on the book will debut in theaters in the fall.

The trip we're most likely to book: Four nights on the Sanctuary Nile Adventurer, from $1,410.

Climate Crisis Threatens a Third of Plant Species, Endangering Food Supply - Truthout

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 12:00 AM PST

War & Peace

Congress Failed to Act to Prevent Iran War. Now Trump Has Put Millions at Risk.

Reproductive Rights

The War on Reproductive Care Is Preventing Patients From Seeking Help

War & Peace

Trump Celebrates New Decade by Trying to Start World War III

War & Peace

Hawks Rejoice at Trump Decision to Assassinate Iranian Military Leader

War & Peace

Bernie Sanders Condemns Trump for Putting US on Path to "Another Disastrous War"

Politics & Elections

Trump Judicial Adviser's Dark Money Network Hides Supreme Court Spending

Botanists have made a new census of terrestrial plants — only to find that with nearly 40% of them rare, or extremely rare, this may put food at risk.

And a second team of researchers, in a separate study, has established that some of these rare or vanishing species could include the wild relatives of some of the planet's most popular vegetables.

The two studies matter. The first underlines yet another reason for new and determined conservation strategies to preserve the extraordinary natural variety and richness of life — the shorthand word that scientists use is biodiversity — already under pressure from the explosion in human numbers, the destruction of natural habitats and the looming catastrophe of climate change driven by rapidly rising global temperatures.

The stories you care about, right at your fingertips

Get Truthout's daily edition delivered to your inbox.

And the second study is simply a matter of the next lunch or dinner: many rare plants are survivors with the resources to adapt to change. In a fast-changing world, crop breeders may need to go back to the wild relatives to look for the genes that will keep the commercial carrots, courgettes, pumpkins and chili peppers on the grocery shelves.

US scientists and international colleagues report in the journal Science Advances that they worked for 10 years and compiled 20 million observational records to establish a simple plant census: the forests, grasslands, scrublands, tundra and swamps of the wild world are home to about 435,000 unique plant species.

"The wild relatives of crops are one of the key tools used to breed crops adapted to difficult conditions. Some of them are sure to disappear from their natural habitats without urgent action"

And of this huge number, a surprising 36.5% are "exceedingly rare." By this, researchers mean that these species have been observed and recorded no more than five times in the last 300 years of systematic botanical research.

"According to ecological and evolutionary theory, we'd expect many species to be rare, but the actual observed number we found was pretty startling," said Brian Enquist of the University of Arizona, who led the consortium. "There are many more rare species than we expected."

The rare species were most likely to be clustered in what ecologists call hotspots: the northern Andes in South America, Costa Rica, South Africa, Madagascar and south-east Asia.

What these places have in common is that, over millions of years, they have maintained stable climates, and as the glaciers retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, these tropical mountains and valleys provided refuge for life's variety.

But these survivors may not enjoy a stable future, as ever higher levels of greenhouse gases are spilled into the atmosphere from human use of fossil fuels, and global temperatures continue to rise, and as human communities expand into what was once wilderness.

Significant Loss Ahead

"In many of these regions, there's increasing human activity such as agriculture, cities and towns, land use and clearing," said Professor Enquist.

"So that's not exactly the best of news. If nothing is done, this all indicates that there will be a significant reduction in biodiversity — mainly in rare species — because their low numbers makes them more prone to extinction."

Humans depend on the natural world for survival: biodiversity — plants, fungi, mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and so on — provides all human nourishment, most of the medicines, fuels, fabrics and textiles that warm and shelter 7.7bn people, and at the same time maintains supplies of water, air, crop pollinators and so on.

But new research in the journal Plants, People, Planet confirms once again that many of the wild ancestors and cousins of the crops that nourish billions could be at risk.

And these wild relatives — which have survived climate shifts over millions of years — represent a vital resource for plant breeders anxious to cope with rapid global heating.

Unpreserved

The latest study confirms that 65% of wild pumpkins and more than 95% of wild chilli peppers are not formally preserved in any gene banks protected by conservation scientists.

"The wild relatives of crops are one of the key tools used to breed crops adapted to hotter, colder, drier, wetter, saltier and other difficult conditions," said Colin Khoury of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture.

"But they are impacted by habitat destruction, over-harvesting, climate change, pollution, invasive species and more. Some of them are sure to disappear from their natural habitats without urgent action."

Dr Khoury and his colleagues have prepared a series of detailed maps of the range and distribution of the wild relatives of a range of important food species: the aim is to focus on the most effective kinds of protection for what, literally, could become tomorrow's lunch in a world of rapid change.

"If they disappear, they are gone," said Dr Khoury. "Extinction is forever, which is a loss not only in terms of their evolution and persistence on the planet, but also a loss to the future of our food."

The stakes have never been higher

As attacks on women's rights, health care, the environment and democracy intensify, we're going to need truth-telling journalists more than ever.

At Truthout, unlike most media, our journalism is free from government and corporate influence and censorship. But this is only sustainable if we have your support. If you like what you're reading or just value what we do, will you take a few seconds to contribute to our work?

Donate Now

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Search This Blog

Acuarium