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Music and Marches in May and June

May and June are some of the best months of the year to travel to the Caribbean if you love music, with destinations from Ocho Rios to St. Kitts hosting music festivals, while Barbados' Crop Over festival and Vincy Mas in the Grenadines keep the Carnival spirit alive!

More Spring Caribbean Travel Ideas

Caribbean Travel Spotlight10

Miami Rum Renaissance Festival 2011

Saturday April 30, 2011

Rum Renaissance Festival 2011 tasting

The spirit of the Caribbean is quite literally being channeled this weekend in Miami, where the historic Deauville Beach Resort in Miami Beach is hosting the 2011 Rum Renaissance Festival. More than 40 distillers from across the Caribbean and around the world are on hand to show off their finest drams and mixes, as well as competing for top honors handed out by a select panel of international judges. I'm in Miami for the weekend to check out some great rum, learn from the experts, and bring back for you some great rum-drink recipes as well as information on all the great rums you can sample and buy in the Caribbean.

The Deauville is where the Beatles stayed and played a concert during their first visit to the U.S. in 1964. After their famous debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York, the band headed south to Miami for an encore performance on the show on Feb. 16, 1964. (Sullivan had relocated his show to North Beach's Deauville for the occasion.)

Like many other vintage Miami Beach hotels, the Deauville has been preserved and restored and still retains the feel of its glory days in the 50s and 60s. The Napoleon Ballroom, where the Beatles played, is still in use, and the hotel pool area where the band famously frolicked under the February sun, is still recognizable from the old film and photos that are shown on room TVs and monitors around the hotel. You can even request the Beatles suite on the 14th floor, with its views of the ocean and the beach where teens once wrote love notes to the band in the sand.

(Photo © Rum Renaissance Festival)


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Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Ties Carry Filming to ... Hawaii?

Thursday April 28, 2011

The first three Pirates of the Caribbean films -- based loosely on the Disney ride of the same name -- have helped put relatively obscure Caribbean destinations like Dominica and St. Vincent on the tourism map, and I had hoped for more of the same from the unexpected fourth movie in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which opens May 20.

Well, turns out there are plenty of exotic locales featured in the new film -- which sees Capt. Jack Sparrow battling Blackbeard as he searches for the Fountain of Youth -- but most of them are in Hawaii. Don't get me wrong: I love Hawaii; in fact I'm going there in October. But I still think a movie with Caribbean in its title should, you know, be filmed in the Caribbean.

As it turns out, only Puerto Rico makes a cameo in the latest movie; scenes were shot in Old San Juan, and the end of the film was shot on an island off the city of Fajardo. So at least moviegoers' last impression will be of the actual Caribbean. To learn more about where all four of the Pirates of the Caribbean films were shot and how you can visit authentic filming locations in the Caribbean, read my story on Pirates of the Caribbean Tours.

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Party Like a Rock Star at the DR's Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Wednesday April 27, 2011

Hard Rock Hotel Punta CanaCombine the glamour of the Hard Rock name, the glitz of a Las Vegas style casino, and the allure of an all-inclusive resort -- then throw in the sun and beaches of the Dominican Republic -- and you have Punta Cana's Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, one of the newest hotels in the Caribbean. All-inclusives writer gets the lowdown on this rockin' new property in our latest profile:

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Punta Cana

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Should You Use Dollars or Pesos in the Mexican Caribbean?

Tuesday April 26, 2011

Foreign travelers are often advised to skip converting their dollars into local currency in the Caribbean. In many places, this is good advice -- but not in Mexico. Even our taxi driver told us to just use our dollars in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Cancun. But the reality is that while dollars are widely accepted in Mexican Caribbean tourist areas, people who spend pesos consistently get better prices at stores and restaurants.

Of course, the trick is to get a good conversion rate when you exchange your dollars for pesos, which is easier said than done in a tourist destination. The currency exchange at the airport may be a better bet, or an ATM in your destination. Beware of using ATMs in Mexico that dispense U.S. dollars, however -- these seem to offer a lousy exchange rate, and charge high fees.

And of course you want to try to spend all the pesos you buy so you don't have to convert them again at the end of your trip and get whacked by an exchange fee again. For my money, though, spending pesos in Mexico is clearly superior to using dollars or U.S. credit cards, where you also may get hit with high fees.

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