Captain Kidd’s pirate ship to become underwater museum

by Sean McLachlan on


The submerged wreck of Captain Kidd’s pirate ship will become a “Living Museum of the Sea” reports Science Daily.

The Quedagh Merchant was found a couple of years ago just off the coast of the Dominican Republic. It’s only 70 feet from the shore of Catalina Island and rests in ten feet of water, so it’s a perfect destination for scuba divers or even snorkelers.

Underwater signs will guide divers around the wreck, and like in above-ground museums, there’s a strict “don’t touch the artifacts” policy. Often when shipwrecks are found the discoverers keep the location secret to protect them from looting. Hopefully this bold step of allowing visitors to swim around such an important wreck will help inform the public without any harm being done. One can only hope!

Captain Kidd is one of the most famous and most controversial of pirates. For much of his career he was a privateer, a legal pirate with permission from the King of England to loot enemy ships and hunt down other pirates. Privateers were one of the ways the big empires of the day harassed one another.

Lots of stories of his evil nature have come down to us. He was supposed to have been brutal to his crew and was even reported to have buried his Bible, as is shown in this public domain image courtesy Wikimedia Commons. He’s also supposed to have buried treasure all over the world. How much of this is true and how much is legend is still hotly debated by historians.

The Quedagh Merchant was an Armenian vessel carrying a rich treasure of gold, silver, and fine cloth that Kidd captured in 1698 off the coast of India. Although the ship was Armenian and was under the protection of the French Crown, it was captained by an Englishman. This got Kidd’s status changed from privateer to pirate and from then on he was wanted by the English authorities.

Kidd left the Quedagh Merchant in the Caribbean with a trusted crew as he sailed off on another ship to New York to clear his name, but his “trusted crew” looted the vessel and sunk it. His loss was posterity’s gain.

Kidd shouldn’t have gone to New York. He was lured to Boston by a supposed friend and then arrested and shipped to England to be put on trial for piracy. The judge found him guilty and sentenced him to hang. His body was left hanging over the River Thames in an iron cage called a gibbet as a warning to others. The museum will be dedicated on May 23, the 310th anniversary of Kidd’s execution.

[Image of Captain Kidd rotting in the gibbet courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

Five hot travel sites: Hejorama, We Heart, Beach Tomato, Pinterest, Sunset Travel

by Alex Robertson Textor on

These five travel sites are hot; all five are worth some serious browsing time. And while most are newish kids on the block, sustaining buzz left and right, the final of this batch is a tried-and-true evergreen, offering a sustained focus on a very popular region of the world.

Some are good for general contemplation, while others are good for thinking through potential destinations and ways of organizing future travels. These five include a community site, a lifestyle guide, a bespoke travel agency, an image creation site, and the online component of a print magazine.

1. Hejorama. A group travel community site, Hejorama is cute and spunky, though what sets it apart from others in its class is the high-quality quirk of its content. There are in-flight meal reviews, a journey to Ramallah, and an encounter with a taxi driver in Almaty (see above). Hejorama advances a philosophy of travel that is immediately compelling, quite untidy, and truly social.

2. We Heart. An all-purpose lifestyle guide, We Heart has strong coverage of innovative boutique hotels and other travel-related subjects. As far as travel inspiration is concerned, however, the site’s explicit travel content is just the tip of the iceberg. We Heart’s coverage of designers, branding projects, photographers, and design studios is a broad exercise in lifestyle inspiration that extends effortlessly to travel.

3. Beach Tomato. Those crafty folks behind the gorgeous bespoke travel company Black Tomato and the edgy expedition-led adventure outfit Epic Tomato recently launched Beach Tomato, a site that marries beach style to destination inspiration. Beach reviews, trend alerts, fashion recommendations, and even a post-beach hair care guide give the site a vibe that is distinctly girly.

4. Pinterest. Not a travel site, granted, but a gorgeous place to see beautiful images and find travel inspiration. Currently invitation-only, this image curation site is a seriously pretty procrastination aide. Pinterest’s travel category is great for daydreaming, though it’s by no means the only category of interest for travel obsessives. Browse through Pinterest and find “boards” organized around many subjects that refer to cultural exchange and any number of destinations: architecture, graphic design, even interior design.

5. Sunset Travel. We have enthused about Sunset in the past. One could reasonably spend the bulk of one’s traveling life in the western states of the US and Mexico and western provinces of Canada and never get bored. Sunset’s Travel microsite provides an awesome reminder of the dynamic nature of this exciting mega-region with its archive of very good service articles. With a beat that extends southwest to Hawaii, northeast to Alberta, and due south to Guanajuato, Sunset is a comprehensive Western travel bible.

[Image: Romain from Team Hejorama]

Carnival Magic debuts with familiar new features

by Chris Owen on
Carnival Cruise Lines latest ship, Carnival Magic, debuted Sunday in Venice, Italy. The sold-out inaugural event will visit six Mediterranean ports on its nine-night first sailing. But this story is more than just the latest launch of the latest big floating hotel from the latest cruise line currently in the spotlight. Carnival Magic was built on an evolving foundation of success that will carry her well into the future.

On board to christen the ship was unlikely Godmother Lindsey Wilkerson, cancer-survivor-turned-spokesperson for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Diagnosed, treated, then into remission at an early age, Wilkerson’s inspirational story had been circulated by the cruise line extensively prior to the event. But the story took on profound new meaning when veteran cruise director John Heald had Wilkerson’s family join her on stage at the ship’s christening event.

In a moment that defined Carnival’s clear commitment to family, values and the future of the cruise industry, Wilkerson’s adorable daughter (who might not have been) took the stage, bringing tears to the eyes of many in the audience.

3,690-passenger Carnival Magic also happens to be the 100th ship built by parent Carnival Corporation so opening festivities included a good measure of tradition that is reflected in on board offerings.

New features include Cucina Del Capitano, an Italian eatery celebrating the line’s Italian lineage, the Red Frog Pub, a Caribbean-inspired bar with it’s own micro-brew, and SportSquare, an outdoor recreation area that continues an industry-wide focus on fitness and health.

For fans of cruise vacations, there is nothing quite like sailing on the inaugural voyage of a shiny new ship. Cruise lines introduce the latest features and inaugural events bring global attention. Records are broken, memories are made and the mood is festive. This one looks to be all that. More importantly, onboard programming builds upon Carnival’s clear understanding of its trademark “Fun” element.

Placing even more emphasis on signature features like an expanded adults-only Serenity area and Waterworks aqua park, Carnival proves once again how well they know their customers.

What Carnival does not talk about is their ability to seamlessly integrate all the ingredients they offer in their recipe for a great travel experience. That recipe, when fully embraced, allows guests to leave behind their cares, relax and refresh then move forward, renewed with a clarity difficult to emulate with other travel options.

That’s probably for the best.

A good magician never tells how the trick is done.

Chris is being sponsored by Carnival Cruise Lines on this sailing but free to report on any and all aspects of the experience. Chris is available to answer any questions you may have during the voyage that concludes in Barcelona May 10.

Poll: Cruise vs Air: who has the best customer service?

by Chris Owen on
Not long ago we talked about what airlines could learn from cruise lines and started a bit of a firestorm in comments from readers. I also got a bunch of emails both in support and against cruise lines and airlines. It seems some readers have a horror story to tell, others think one or the other does a good job and a few have inspiring tales of customer service people who really went above and beyond the call of duty.

How about you? Have you had the need to engage customer service people at either an airline or cruise line? If so, how did that go for you? Vote in our poll today and feel free to add a comment, share a story, vent your frustration or applaud great stuff that has happened to you.

Flickr photo by hjl

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Photo of the day: A new cruise ship in town

by Chris Owen on

Carnival Cruise Lines new Carnival Magic is shown in today’s photo arriving in Venice, Italy ahead of its inaugural nine-day voyage departing Sunday. The ship will be officially named in ceremonies presided over by Lindsey Wilkerson, a former patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital who now serves as an employee and an ambassador of the organization.

Sunday’s nine-day cruise from Venice visits Messina, Naples, Rome and Livorno, Italy as well as Monaco, Barcelona and Dubrovnik. Gadling will be along for the ride as the ship positions itself for a summer schedule of seven- to 12-day Mediterranean voyages .

Photo courtesy Carnival Cruise Lines