This book offers comprehensive coverage of vessels that cruise the region and what they offer–service, cabin details, amenities, passenger/crew ratio, dining options and itineraries. The guide covers: Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Puerto Rico, St. Martin, Guadeloupe, St. Thomas & Martinique.

The author tells you how to get the most out of your 8-10 hours in each port the ships will be calling on. Information covered includes taxi tours, where to find the best shops, tour operators who are familiar with the ships’ schedules and will get you back to your ship on time. For most ports, suggested walking tours are detailed, and out-of-town attractions are described as well.

List Price: $ 9.99

The Costa Rican government is aiming to develop a quiet stretch of its Caribbean coast into a tourism mecca with the biggest investment of its kind in the countrys history, InternationalLiving.com has revealed.

The province of Limon, a two-and a-half-hour drive east from the capital, San Jose, on the countrys Caribbean coast, has so far been undeveloped as a tourism destination made up of virgin rainforests and white-sand beaches.

The Costa Rican northern Pacific coast has been popular with overseas visitors for decades. Now, the Costa Rican government is introducing a raft of measures to help draw businesses and tourists to the Limon region area in the south. Initiatives include a new free-trade zone in the town of Bufalo and massive investment in the Caribbean port towns of Limon and Moin.

Costa Rica has already signed a $1-billion concession with Dutch company APM to build a new port terminal in Moin the biggest concession contract in the history of Costa Rica. Construction will start in 2013, and should take three years.

The development will increase the ports capacity and turnaround time, and is expected to bring an estimated 2,000 direct and 8,000 indirect jobs to the area. The project will be a massive boost for the provinces namesake capital of Limon, which is located 12 minutes drive from Moin.

Limon started out as a company town, explained real estate expert and writer with InternationalLiving.com, Ronan McMahon. The firm pulled out in the 1960s and since then, Limon has been a quiet affair. Limon may have been forgotten up until now, but the governments initiatives are going to turn its fortunes around.

The revelations were made in an article that appeared in the December issue of International Living magazine.

More Caribbean Jobs Press Releases

Frommer’s Caribbean Guides are completely updated every year and will help you stay on top of changes and additions in the region you’re choosing. Frommer’s Caribbean features gorgeous color photos of the stunning beaches, crystal-clear waters, and colorful coral gardens that await you.
There are dozens of islands and hundreds of accommodations and restaurants to choose from, so our guide compares all the options, helping you plan the tropical getaway that’s right for you. You’ll find in-depth, honest reviews of lavish honeymoon resorts, intimate inns, family-friendly motels and condo complexes, and more, with selections in every price category. We’ll also point you to the loveliest secluded beaches, and send you to the best places for snorkeling, diving, golf, sailing, tennis, deep-sea fishing, and more. You’ll get a complete shopper’s guide and up-to-date coverage of the hottest nightlife in the region, from glittering casinos and sizzling reggae clubs to funky beach bars. You’ll even find an up-to-date cruise planner and tips on finding the best package deals.

Features

• 800 pages of Caribbean information
• Prices, directions, opening hours,and other practical information
• Candid reviews of hotels and restaurants,plus sights, shopping, and nightlife
• Itineraries, walking tours, and trip-planning ideas

Insider tips from local expert authors

List Price: $ 23.99

Exotic Caye Beach Resort, on the island of Ambergis Caye, Belize is contributing 50% of the resorts special offer room rate bookings January 22 thru February 21, 2012 valid until May 2013 to support hands-on environmental education programs. Funds raised will go to Canadian Not For Profit Direct Abundance and US Charity Caribbean S.E.A. (Student Environmental Alliance) to empower and improve the community of San Mateo.

Direct Abundance and Caribbean S.E.A. are partnering together to offer educational programs about coral reef and mangrove conservation, safe water and sewage discharge solutions. The need for these programs is essential for the San Mateo area as their homes are located in a swamp highly contaminated by human waste.

“It is over-whelming to watch this hard-working community grow as it begins to reach its full potential,” says Heather Zwicker, the Co-founder of Direct Abundance. “Exotic Caye Beach Resort has seen first hand the help this community needs and would like to generously give back.”

Travelers wishing to experience adventures in Belize need to look no further then the front desk. The knowledgeable staff at Exotic Caye Beach Resort will be able to assist with a multitude of activities including coral reef diving, exploring Maya ruins, or simply re-laxing on the beaches. It’s a fabulous destination for couples searching for that perfect getaway or the family wanting to create memories to cherish.

This is a unique 30 day offer. Enter the promotional code DA2012 at http://www.belizeisfun.com to receive a certificate that is valid from now until May 31, 2013, however 50% of your room rate goes immediately to Direct Abundance and Caribbean S.E.A.

Direct Abundance is a Canadian not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people in struggling developing world communities through education and poverty reduction. Caribbean S.E.A. works with local partners to empower youth to take care of their water, from the Ridge to the Reef.

For more information on the project go to http://www.directabundance.com

To view photos of the project visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/directabundance/

Make your next trip to the Caribbean unforgettable, start your planning on Fodor’s 2012 Carribean map and guide. Every guide includes hotels, restaurants, sightseeing, golf, diving, beaches, and regional maps of each location. Every Caribbean guide is revised annually and this is the 2012 version, ready for your next Caribbean vacation – or Caribbean job research trip!

Features

• Full-color guide
• Simple planning tools
• Top experiences & attractions
• Practical advice for getting around
• Easy-to-read color regional maps
• Hotels, restaurants, sights, and more
• “Word of Mouth” tips from fellow Fodor’s travelers
• Illustrated features on Golf, Diving, and Pirates
• Best beaches, open-air adventure, and dining options
• Opinions from destination experts
• Activities for Kids and Families

List Price: $ 24.99

Buy online at Amazon

Planning a trip to the Caribbean or researching for a Caribbean job, a map will help you on your way. A Lonely Planet Caribbean map includes much more than just the map itself. It includes photos and write-ups of each location and other planning tools to help make your trip a success. One difference of Lonely Planet maps is that the authors actually visit the places they write about – so they can tell it like they see it.

“With amazing culture, beaches, activities and weather – not to mention the rum – the Caribbean is a joyous riot of islands offering the ultimate escape.” – Ryan Ver Berkmoes, Lonely Planet Writer.

Features

• 65 islands covered
• 13 expert authors
• 500 days (and nights) of research
• 874 gorgeous beaches
• Inspirational photos
• Clear, easy-to-use maps
• Cruising feature
• In-depth background
• Comprehensive planning tools
• Easy-to-read layout

List Price: $ 24.99

Buy it at Amazon

Related Caribbean Map

ZCorum, a provider of managed broadband services and software, was in Puerto Rico for the 2012 meeting of the Caribbean Cable and Telecommunications Association (CCTA). The company showed their TruVizion award-winning software designed to help cable providers improve their ability to troubleshoot subscribers and manage their broadband networks.

“Weve been in conversations with several Caribbean-based companies in the last year, and had the pleasure of meeting with some key staff at the SCTE show in Atlanta back in November”, said Arthur Skinner, Vice President of Sales at ZCorum. “Going to Puerto Rico for their annual meeting was a great opportunity to solidify some of those relationships, as well as be exposed to more Caribbean providers that can benefit from our services”.

ZCorum offers Caribbean broadband providers a full suite of managed services, including modem provisioning, branded email, diagnostic software, network engineering assistance and 24×7 technical support for the end-user. According to Skinner, the Caribbean providers hes spoken with have expressed interest in the full slate of services from his company, and are particularly interested in diagnostics.

One thing in particular providers like is the ability to update maps. There are a lot of places in the Caribbean islands where mapping doesn’t function because the addresses can’t be geo-coded or homes lack addresses altogether. ZCorum has a solution for that. If the provider can provide the longitude and latitude of a subscriber, ZCorum can get them on the map.

Once a subscriber is on the map, modems are displayed as color-coded pins, far better than other solutions on the market. Maps can be filtered by on-line status and specific alert levels. For example, with a single click you can show only modems with downstream receive power levels that are out-of-spec, or you can view only those that are off-line. It makes it much easier to zero in on problems.

ZCorum will be exhibiting in San Diego for the annual NTCA Expo February 14th and 15th, as well as the NCTC Winter Educational Conference February 21st and 22nd in Austin, TX.

Having half its member resorts recently listed among the top 25 hotels in all of Central America by a major travel website shows how cooperation results in customer satisfaction, Rainforest & Reef Resorts of Belize member Lucy Fleming said.

Ms Fleming and her husband Mick own The Lodge at Chaa Creek in Belize, one of the resorts selected by Trip Advisor readers as the Travelers Choice 25 Top Hotels in the Central America region for 2012.

Trip Advisor is a major travel website that posts reviews, opinions and news submitted by a large number of travelers from around the world. According to its website, TripAdvisor’s travel community has written millions of reviews describing their best and worst vacations, so you can decide where to go and what to avoid.

Ms Fleming said that because Trip Advisors content is primarily user-generated, it is highly trusted by travelers, and that the Travelers Choice awards are respected by travelers worldwide and widely recognized and sought after in the global tourism industry.

To have three of our Rainforest & Reef Resorts selected as among 25 of the best hotels in the entire Central America region is a real honor, and goes to show that individual resorts cooperating to ensure customer satisfaction works, even in a highly competitive industry such as ours, she said.

The Lodge at Chaa Creek, Hamanasi Adventure and Dive Resort and the Phoenix Resort of San Pedro are members of Rainforest & Reef Resorts of Belize who made this years list.

Ms Fleming said it was also significant that eleven of the 25 Top trip advisor hotels were Belizean resorts. When you consider that out of all of Central America, encompassing Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rice, Panama and El Salvador, that close to half of the 25 best hotels are Belizean, and take into account Belizes small size, well, that really says something about our tourism industry.

And then to have three of our small group of Rainforest and Reef Resorts included in that list makes us very happy and shows that, as a group, were doing something right.

Ms Fleming explained that Rainforest & Reef Resorts of Belize came together as a means to maximize visitors experience in Belize by making it easy to explore the inland rainforests with their many Maya temples and archaeological sites along with Caribbean Sea attractions in one visit.

At the end of the day its all about customer satisfaction, and by working together to match our guests with the right tour packages, resorts and locations we get a very high level of customer satisfaction. This is one reason why half of our members are in the top 25 resorts in all of Central America, Ms Fleming said, adding that the Trip Advisor recognition is particularly important as world attention focuses on Central Americas rich Maya history and culture during 2012.

Great online word of mouth is invaluable with so many people becoming interested in our unique ability to combine rainforest, Maya and Caribbean beach experiences during 2012, she said.

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