The 10 Best Places In The World To Retire
Some spots in the new Live and Invest Overseas ranking are practically unheard of.
Some spots in the new Live and Invest Overseas ranking are practically unheard of.
Incentives are not enough for filmmakers, says Mexican studio
Star Wars has gone the way of 11 other films in the past four years: to other countries that offer filmmakers more attractive financial incentives.
The manager of Baja Film Studios in Baja California says producers of the newest Star Wars episode had considered shooting 20% of the film in Mexico, which would have represented an economic gain of some US $20 million.
But they changed their minds because Mexico won’t offer more than 7.5% of the total spent on construction of sets and other services, according to Kurt Ignacio Honold Morales, whose Rosarito studio was used to film the James Cameron film, Titanic.
“Hollywood producers always look for the cheapest places to film,” he told Forbes México. And Mexico is not cheap by international standards in terms of incentives. He said Australia will return 20% of the filmmaker’s investment while some locations in the United States will go as high as 25%.
And there is a lot of other competition: 70 locations worldwide offer incentives for film production.
Honold Morales said the dozen films that went elsewhere took some $500 million with them.
But losing Star Wars was less about the money than what it could have meant in terms of attracting other producers in future, he said.
In Baja California they still haven’t forgotten Titanic for its economic impact, which even created new millionaires among some suppliers.
Mexico has not lost out completely in filmmaking. Films and TV series such as Deep Blue Sea, Tomorrow Never Dies, Pearl Harbor, Little Boy, All is Lost, Again the Sun and Fear the Walking Dead were all made in Mexico over the past 19 years.
The good tourist results in Puerto Vallarta are not only of perception, the specialized agencies of the federal government statistics show them.
Puerto Vallarta received in the first semester of the year (January-April) 277 thousand tourists to locate between them four main destinations of beach of the country, and with this is located in the Group of cities more visited of Mexico, in accordance with figures of the system Datatur of the Secretariat of tourism federal (Sectur).
In the context of the taking of protest of Lourdes Berho Corona as the new Director of the Tourism Board of Mexico (CPTM), that body, Sectur, reported that tourism in Mexico grew at nearly twice the rate in the world, to achieve an increase of 9.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016.
News of the good tourist national results is encouraging, said the director of the Fidetur, Agustín Álvarez Valdivia, and is motivating to follow online the strategic promotion well planned, consistent and effective for reaching the most important this target markets, which until now has given very good results.
This year, said is have made travel promotional and caravans both of way individual as doing dumbbell with the Riviera Nayarit for enhance those results; you have visited cities of the northern border, the Bajío, Guadalajara, city of Mexico and Monterrey, and it has had a presence in the most important tourism fairs in the country.
The owner of the Fidetur said that according to Datatur figures, domestic tourism had a positive behavior that it has also been established in Puerto Vallarta, which has enjoyed the preference of national travelers that will be coming in the next six weeks.
The system Datatur reported that in them 70 destinations more important of the country-between them this destination-the average of quarters occupied grew 4.0 percent in the four first months of this year in comparison with the same period of 2015, while the occupation hotel is placed in 61.7 percent, what means an increase of 1.1 percent.
The cities most visited by tourists, with a greater increase by air between January to April 2016, are Guadalajara with an increase of 11.1 percent; City of Mexico, with 16.2; Lion, with 11.9, and Monterrey with 10.7 percent.
The Riviera Nayarit as a tourism destination is committed to conserving the environment: on July 11, 2016, several sectors will unite to help reforest Punta de Mita, both as part of the EarthCheck Nuevo Vallarta Committee activities and to celebrate Mexico’s Arbor Day.
The activities begin at 5 p.m. at the Punta Mita Sports Complex. The goal is to plant 250 trees, mainly primaveras. The invitation to help with the work is open to the public.
The Bahía de Banderas City Council, the Punta de Mita Foundation, Conanp, Peacecorps, Entre Amigos, the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau, regional hotels and tourism service providers are behind this particular effort.
This reforestation project began last year to take advantage of the rainy season and it reached its goal of planting over 2,000 trees in different areas of the Riviera Nayarit.
26th BCN ready to go
The 26th Riviera Nayarit Beach Cleanup Network effort will take place on July 9th. This activity has been ongoing for the past two years and will continue to clean beaches, rivers and ravines to keep the least amount of trash from reaching the ocean, especially now the rainy season has begun.
Fonatur planted trees in Litibú
Francisco Méndez Vargas, regional delegate in Nayarit for the National Tourism Trust (Fonatur, by its acronym in Spanish), announced a family reforestation activity took place this past July 1st. Fonatur personnel and their children planted some 50 trees in the median on the entrance from Litibú to Higuera Blanca
From August 2014 until November 2015, the San Pancho Bird Observatory in collaboration with community centers and multiple partner organizations delivered a program oriented to build capacities for bird conservation and community development at different villages of the southern Nayarit coast.
The Rotary Foundation and Rotary District 5110 of Oregon and northern California awarded a Humanitarian Grant of $12,000 to fund an international capacity building project that was successfully completed in partnership with San Pancho Bird Observatory in Nayarit Mexico and the Klamath Bird Observatory based in Ashland (Oregon, USA). The Rotary Club of Ashland, collaborating with the Jaltemba Bay Rotary Club of Mexico and supported by Shasta Valley, Bend High Desert, and Cottage Grove Rotary Clubs of District 5110, initially promoted this project and provided the funding required to receive matching awards from Rotary District 5110 and The Rotary Foundation.
This grant allowed the implementation of a project focused on bird conservation and sustainable community development that reached over 100 participants (ages 12-47) at the community centers of seven coastal communities of the southern Nayarit coast: PEACE at Punta de Mita, La Casa Clu at San Ignacio, Entreamigos at San Pancho, Casa de los Niños at Lo de Marcos, Valor para Soñar at Villa Morelos, Amigos de Jaltemba at La Peñita and Cambiando Vidas at Chacala, Nayarit.
The San Pancho Bird Observatory used grant funds to build local capacity for careers in science and ecotourism that benefit communities, maintain social structure, and protect natural resources of global significance. This project applied principles of sustainability and recognized the links between ecosystem conservation, social equity and economic development. During the workshops participants also experienced and understood the importance of conservation of tropical forests in the context of a rapid global climate change scenario.
The project meets an international bird conservation priority by building science capacity for Mexican conservation leaders, and also meets economic and community development goals of The Rotary Foundation. Dr. John Alexander, Klamath Bird Observatory’s Executive Director, calls the awarding of this grant “a significant event with regard to sustainability and the links between ecological well-being, economic well-being, and human well-being.”
Marine Biologist Luis Morales, Director of the local partnering organization San Pancho Bird Observatory explained that …”the main goal was to ensure that workshop participants developed bird identification, nature guiding and bird monitoring skills that allow them to aspire for jobs or career opportunities in ecotourism and sustainable management of natural resources which will empower local appreciation and interest in protecting, conserving and restoring natural ecosystems in the region, which by the way hosts a great diversity of birds with more than 300 species of birds and is emerging as one of the most attractive bird-watching destinations in our continent.“
I tend to follow food and food follows me and it has always been that way ever since I first put foot on foreign soil. In other words, travel and food are close siblings in my world, not distant relatives.
On a recent trip to Puerto Vallarta , I had an opportunity to taste a variety of dishes from local food trucks and local restaurants. Let’s start with my favorite presentation:
Cevicheria El Guero
They do a great job with basic but delicious tacos, chicken, fish and jalapenos of course, but what they’re most well known for is their Ceviche, most notably the Mahi-Mahi ceviche. They cure many of their ceviche dishes in lime and in this case, also carrot, green pepper and green chili.
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Local Taco Stands
Two taco street stands worth call outs include TACOS ROBLES, which is a Birria Taco Stand on Constitucion Emiliano Zapata. This was by far my favorite spot for standard classic tacos — it is a family run taco stand, has been around since 1986 and is still popular today.
There’s the ever so authentic TACOS EL CUNADO on Francisco Rodriguez which first opened in 1968.
Cesar’s Coconut Stand
This corner stand on Aquacate 271 has also been around since 1968 through three generations. It is still a family run business and the coconut milk is oh so fresh.
Tortilleria La Gloria
Here, you’ll discover how tortillas are made at the local tortilla factory right in the center of town on 5 de Febrero.
Gaby’s
One of my favorite spots for both atmosphere and food is Gaby’s, a popular Mexican restaurant in town on Mina #252. Attention to detail is one of the things you’ll notice first about this quaint romantic spot where you can dine both inside and out on their beautifully decorated patio.
We did a fun tequila pairing here with their Green and Dark Mole, which is a popular dish in Mexico. Mole Verde is also common in Mexico, which is also known as “Pipian” or “Pipian Verde” in some places of Mexico, and it can be made with chicken or pork, and you can also add vegetables like green beans, chayotes, nopales, zucchini, and sometimes, even sweet peas. Many cooks add a small amount of corn masa to thicken the sauce. Below, Gaby’s version of both green and dark mole prepared by chef Julio Cesar Castillón Pérez.
Some of the dishes they offer include Stuffed Avocado with shrimp,mix lettuce and creamy avocado dressing, Tortilla Soup with fresh cotija cheese, Aguachile Shrimp which is cooked in a spicy cucumber-chili lime sauce, Ceviche Vallarta which they serve with a pico de gallo sauce, Mussels Dona Concha, which is prepared menier sauce in a creamy chile chipotle sauce with rice and veggies,and Veracruz Style Plantain Empanadas, which they fill with black beans, sour cream and topped with both gouda and cotija cheese.
El Arrayan
Located in the center of town, this Mexican restaurant makes delicious salads, tamale, meat and fish dishes. Their fish ceviche was scrumptious, made with orange juice, guajillo chili and cilantro mayonnaise. Their Chayote Salad is made with Mexican oregano-lime dressing and a crumbly cotija cheese, which is very popular in this part of Mexico.
For mains, we tried the Pork Tamale in a banana leaf wrapper with black beans and tomatillo zucchini, the Oaxacan Wedding Beef Stew with sweet fruit mole and steamed veggies and the Achiote Boneless fish filet with rice and stewed beans.
Xoco Divas Chocolates
This well known Artisan chocolate shop along Basillio Badillio has been around for years, but the owners (2 women from Victoria Canada) are retiring soon, so their store location will sadly no longer be around. News on the street has it that she will be showcasing their chocolates at markets periodically however. There are no fillers, it’s all organic and they use 70% Cacao!
Outdoor Dining & Tequila Tasting at the
The Puerto Vallarta Marriott offers outdoor patio dining in their Herb Garden. On a beautiful summer night, it’s such a lovely thing to do.
We tasted a variety of things while we were there, but on our last night, we had a pre-fix menu which included Roasted Beet, field greens, orange segments, goat cheese and caramelized Macadamia Nuts, with a Citrus y Balsamic Vinaigrette to start, followed by a Roasted corn cream Caviar Cuilacoche (cake), followed by a Crab cake with mango sauce, red onions and a chilli sauce, with our main entree being a Filet Mignon with Marrow crushed caramelized onions, foam goat cheese in a demi glace.
They do tequila tasting at La Cava as well, starting with the Casa Magna Tequila Joven which was a young one year old tequila, which we paired with a mozzarella salad. Then came a seafood and avocado dish which we paired with the Casa Magna Tequila Reposado, which had been aged around 9 months in oak. We finished off with the Casa Magna Anejo (aged) tequila, which had been aged in an oak barrel for 4-5 years.
The Blue Shrimp
The Blue Shrimp gets their shrimp, lobster, fish and oysters delivered daily from local fishermen. The restaurant is located on the most popular beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Los Muertos. They offer shrimp served over 30 different ways and the menu also includes authentic Mexican specialties, steaks, salads, soups and more.
The Blue Shrimp was one of the first restaurants in Banderas Bay targeted toward families. It has a fun interior design and also a very mean coconut shrimp which they offered outside at a little food stand.
Aside from the designated stops you make, there are plenty of fun things to take in along the way — food is everywhere on Puerto Vallarta streets, so foodies, beware!!!
Photos: Renee Blodgett
From cuttlefish learning to recognise prey before they hatch, to birds memorising "passwords" in the egg to form a bond with their parents, it is clear that schooling begins before birth
While pregnant with my first child, I heard unsolicited advice typical of that showered upon expectant mothers.
"Don't eat spicy food," and, "Avoid garlic, especially when you're breast-feeding." But as a spicy food-lover I was sceptical, and reluctant to take heed. Human cuisines vary all over the world. Surely babies born to mothers in some of the world's spice capitals must learn to get used to breast milk with more flavoursome notes?
It was pure speculation on my part, but my personal experiment – played out with an unscientific sample size of just one – offered some support. My tiny experimental subject expressed his prenatally-learned love for Thai curry and garlic-spiced breast milk by way of contented guzzling, then guzzling some more.
Some more rigorous scientific research also supports the idea that babies learn taste preferences before they are born. In fact, prenatal learning is not limited to taste. Nor is it limited to humans. What is emerging from the experiments is evidence that all sorts of animal species great and small learn about the world before entering it by paying attention to the tastes, smells, sounds – and even sights – available pre-birth.
So can a zest for garlic be learned prenatally? Peter Hepper of the University of Belfast decided to find out. He and colleagues tested children born of mothers that often versus never consumed garlic during late pregnancy.
His study involved just 33 children, but his results hint that a learned prenatal preference for garlic was maintained even years later, as seen in a willingness of kids born to garlic-consuming mothers to eat garlic-flavoured potatoes when they were aged eight or nine.
How do human babies taste food in the uterus? There are several possible routes to flavoured womb service.
One idea, explains Hepper, is that flavours pass into the amniotic fluid, so when the foetus starts to swallow – which it does from about the tenth week of development – "it will experience the flavours as they come through".
Flavours might also bypass the mouth and pass directly into the foetus's blood through its mother's blood. This might be particularly true of garlic, which can linger in our systems for hours after a meal – explaining why people close by can smell the stuff on us even the next day.
It is not just strong flavours like garlic that can influence foetal tastes. The same may be true for subtle flavours too.
In an experiment at Pennsylvania's Monell Chemical Senses Center (and sponsored by a baby food company), researchers gauged babies' reaction to plain versus carrot-flavoured cereal. Some of the babies' mothers had spent the last trimester of pregnancy and first months of breast-feeding drinking carrot juice and water, while other mothers had stuck to water alone.
Based on the extent to which the five- to six-month-old babies grimaced at their plain versus carrot-flavoured cereal, the researchers concluded that a keenness for carrots can be learned prenatally from their carrot-infused amniotic fluid, or postnatally from the carrot-flavoured milk they drink.
This might all seem a bit trivial, but it is really not. In mammals in general, taste and smell seem to be important triggers that babies look for before initiating suckling.
"When the baby is put to the breast, it experiences the same flavour that it's been sucking for the last 30-odd weeks before birth, so it's quite accepting of milk," says Hepper. "If it's a different flavour, it's perhaps more problematic."
Unsurprisingly, then, prenatal flavour learning is widespread across mammals. It is seen in rabbits, rats, dogs and cats, for instance.
It may have evolved because it is important in steering us towards safe foods, and in offspring recognition of their mother. "It makes sense," says Hepper, "to be programmed to respond to our primary caregiver, the one who is programmed to care for us."
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - On July 4, millions of overseas citizens, Service members and their families will celebrate U.S. Independence Day — all over the world. Among the many freedoms citizens enjoy is the right to vote from wherever they are.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.- Students and chaperones from West Leyden High School did service work in three different orphanages during a recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There were 45 people in the group, which made the trip from May 31 to June 7.
It was the third year in which a group from West Leyden made such a trip.
"We got so many students to go that we split into two groups every day," said Jason Cummins, the school's assistant principal and a chaperone.
The orphanages the students attended included Casa Hogar and Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza, or RISE. The third orphanage, Pasitos De Luz, is for children who are physically and mentally disabled.
"At the orphanages, we helped the students with their homework," Cummins said. "We spent about four hours at each place during the weekdays. They helped them with English, math, science and reading. They did arts and crafts with the kids."
West Leyden senior Jose Sanchez has been visiting the orphanages with the school for the past three years.
"Instead of being a tourist, I thought it would be better to serve a little bit and get involved," he said.
Sanchez said that enough kids attend the service trip that participants are able to focus on one or two kids at the orphanage. He said they get really attached to the kids that they are working with.
"You just give them as much attention as you can," he said. "You have a good time and make a connection to them."
Sanchez said it is an eye-opening experience. Upon reflection, he said any problems he has close to home seem arbitrary compared to what many of these kids are struggling with every day.
"It's sad to see what they have to deal with," he said.
Senior Cynthia Diaz agreed. She said she learned to appreciate more of the little things in life, such as spending time with her family.
"I really like to help people, so I saw this opportunity to try something new," she said.
After realizing how much she enjoyed helping young children, Diaz said she plans on becoming a physical therapist for kids with disabilities.
"Our biggest message to them is that we wanted them to have the experience of giving back," Cummins said. "It was great to have some insight of how students of poverty live."
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.- Strong, exotic and enigmatic describe the solid and hollow ceramic figures from West Mexico. “West Mexico: Ritual and Identity” presents an innovative archaeology exhibition that also includes perspectives from contemporary art, art history, anthropology and various materials testing sciences.
The exhibition, which opened June 26 at Gilcrease Museum, sheds new light on one of Mexico’s sophisticated ancient cultures. Organized by Gilcrease Museum, the exhibition features a spectacular selection of ceramic figures and vessels from the Gilcrease collection, augmented by items from public and private collections.
Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo saw these and other prehistoric figures as symbols of the rich ancient cultures that provided the foundation of modern Mexico. As artists, they appreciated the strong features and ingenious forms used, and they incorporated these images in their own works.
Cultures such as the Olmec, Aztec, Maya and Toltec are widely known. They too have distinctive styles that depict the kings and gods of their own worlds. Perhaps because of their monumental stone architecture of the earlier cultures or direct contact with the Aztecs by Spanish conquistadors and chroniclers, these cultures are more familiar to today’s audiences.
The western region of Mexico, including Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and portions of Michoacán and Sinaloa, is less familiar. Yet, this region was also the home of important and innovative ancient cultures. About 1300 BCE, people began living in large towns as well as small farming hamlets. While the cultures of the central Valley of Mexico built square platform pyramids and temples, in western Mexico, towns and villages were designed on a circular plan. Circular pyramids were surrounded with a circular plaza, which was encircled by houses and temples on raised platforms. Long, narrow, stone-lined ball courts indicate that the inhabitants played a version of the Mesoamerican ballgame that was both sport and ritual.
For centuries, people thrived on the ecologically rich and diverse resources in the region. These cultures were already ancient and the sites were long abandoned by the time the Spanish soldiers, adventurers and priests came to the western lands.
In the last century and a half, local Mexican farmers found that ruins also included large and sometimes deep shaft and tomb complexes. As is true in many parts of the world, the dead sometimes were accompanied by many kinds of finely-made objects. Because of the elaborate tombs and the enigmatic ceramic figures found within, the cultures of western Mexico were called the Shaft Tomb Culture by 20th century archaeologists; a name that these ancients would not have used to describe themselves.
Ceramic human figures adorned with brightly colored clothing, tattoos and body paint provide an intimate look at men and women of the culture, along with a variety of animals, birds, fish and reptiles. In the 1940s and ‘50s, Thomas Gilcrease amassed a collection of more than 500 ceramic figures and vessels from West Mexico, including two significant human figures, each more than 30 inches in height, and among the finest figures from the region.
Recently, archaeologists from many countries, including Mexico and the United States, have begun to take another look at the people, sites and material cultures of this region. Archaeologists and other researchers are looking beyond the surface and asking questions about what these figures mean, and what they can tell us about these ancient societies.
Research in museum collections and from science labs – along with contextual data from archaeological excavations – provides new insights, yet there is still much that we don’t understand about how these people lived or why these cultures seemed to disappear.
As is true with virtually all archaeological research and exhibitions, there are ethical, legal and authenticity issues involved. This exhibition explores these sensitive issues and discusses how research, exhibitions and museum practices are impacted.
“West Mexico: Ritual and Identity” opens a new chapter in archaeological exhibitions. It incorporates multiple new research perspectives and techniques in the analysis of the artifacts in an attempt to shed light on the meaning and use of these extraordinary objects. The exhibition acknowledges the problems of working with objects that have been taken from their context and the difficulties thus created. It also acknowledges that in addition to complete and genuine objects, many archaeological objects, particularly ceramic figures, have been repaired, modified, altered or forged over the years. Yet, instead of dismissing these objects, these issues are seen as part of the exciting challenge of working with museum collections.
The third part of the exhibition highlights the ongoing link between antiquities and modern artists who are still awed and inspired to use the imagery, themes and forms from ancient times in their own works. This idea may have been new in Rivera’s and Kahlo’s time, but it is no less important today.
Highlighting the artistry, incorporating new research and connecting the past with the present are the ways that “West Mexico: Ritual and Identity” helps humanize the ancients and reveals the research behind the exhibition.
Title sponsor of the Gilcrease Museum 2016 exhibition season is the Sherman E. Smith Family Charitable Foundation. Generous support is also provided by: Mervin Bovaird Foundation, C.W. Titus Foundation and M.V. Mayo Charitable Foundation.
An exhibition lecture will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. on July 16 in the Tom Gilcrease Jr. Auditorium. Robert Pickering, Ph.D., and exhibition curator, will discuss “West Mexico: Ritual and Identity.” A book signing will follow in the museum store. A series of symposia is also planned during the run of the exhibition. For a complete list of events, visit gilcrease.org.
Few things reveal the nature of a place and character of a people quite like food, & the only way to get a true taste is by eating like the locals. It can be difficult to know what’s best, though, so here’s a brief list of our favorite spots in PV.
When paddling daily over long periods of time, athletes face many hurdles and body reactions that we constantly have to overcome and nurse. It could be something little like how you start to sweat so bad that it affects your vision and you have to shake like a wet dog in order to clear your eyes. Another thing is not monitoring your water consumption well enough and running out of liquid to quickly- then battling thirst and dizziness while paddling without water. A bad one for me is my lips- when I paddle my lips dry out and I get a really nasty thick film around my mouth (due to thirst and exertion) that almost seals my lips together…. An obvious hurdle is the sun and learning how to dress appropriately in order to not completely dehydrate and overheat from the hot sun and water reflection. Problems can get larger and more worrisome when doing longer distances or more intense intervals because one can start to feel their body reaching its absolute limits and learning how to recognize when you can keep going and persevere, and when to listen to your body and pain and say “enough for today” in order to not injure the body and its vital functions. Pride gets in my way sometimes in this aspect, and I tend to push even though my body is screaming STOP and end up injured, like my past pectoral tear and 2 month healing period.
Though these annoying and sometime painful reactions present themselves differently in every athlete in intensity and frequency, one thing I think all paddlers can relate to and wish there was a way to avoid- are blisters! Damn bloody blisters seem to ruin everything! Blisters are common on the thumbs and pads of the fingers where the paddle rubs against the skin. Water softens hands, and sand gets caught in these areas making the friction worse. Most commonly these are bad when you haven’t paddled for a while and your callus has weakened, then you start back training again and have to rebuild hand toughness! They are terrible and inevitable. I even get them when I re-wax my paddle shaft or switch paddles as my hands are having to readjust. Blisters are so detrimental because the one thing you need in every aspect of paddle boarding, your main tool, are your hands!
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: Carnival Cruise Lines was featured on the Science Channel during the series of "How to Build...Everything" as it unveiled the Carnival Miracle cruise ship during a "do-it-yourself guide for building humanity's greatest inventions" episode.
The Science Channel series debuted on Wednesday, June 22, as a new educational TV show that features what actually goes into constructing a modern-day cruise ship with educated views along the way. Science and engineer experts explain the concepts of buoyancy and water displacement with fun and easy to grasp concepts, and this episode just happened to be about a Carnival cruise.
According to the official "How to Build ... Everything" press release, the show features a cast of clever personalities from a comedian to an astronaut. The show offers brilliant commentators that take the audience through each project.
"We continue to explore the ingenuity behind engineering and manufacturing while introducing a new group of this generation's science vanguards," Marc Etkind, general manager of Science Channel, said in the original press release. "It's a great time for Science Channel as we fuel the brand with mind-blowing content."
Structured in the spirit of a home installation guide, each half hour episode of "HOW TO BUILD... EVERYTHING" breaks down the step-by-step process behind some of the world's most complex apparatuses in a way that armchair engineers and curious minds can follow. From an Apache helicopter to a hovercraft, a cruise ship or a satellite, each episode features three machines as part of a tongue-in-cheek instruction manual.
As for the Carnival Miracle, the segment highlighted the 2,124 passenger ship’s bridge, engine room, restaurants, bars, lounges, and other below-deck spaces. It also reveals some cruise ship secrets from behind the scenes on this Spirit-class vessel. The segment is actually remarkable as the Science Channel describes everything in layman terms for the audience.
The Carnival Miracle made its first maiden voyage on February 27, 2004 to the Bahamas. The Spirit-class cruise ship has a gross tonnage of 88,500 GT, a length of 963 ft (294 m), and has 12 decks.
On this ship, Carnival is currently offering 2 different 7-night sailings out of Long Beach (Los Angeles). One itinerary goes to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas and the other travels to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas.