Royal Caribbean International has canceled its 2007 cruises out of Boston so its Jewel of the Seas ship can undergo routine maintenance, but the Miami company vows to resume the schedule in 2008. “We´re very happy doing business with Massport, and it wasn´t a case of wanting to pull out of Boston,” spokeswoman Tracy Quan said. “Our Jewel of the Seas had a dry dock planned and, because of the dry docks schedule, we had to shuffle some of our itineraries.”

The Caribbean Forum for African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (CARIFORUM) has secured a grant of €3.4 million from the European Commission to support the Region´s disaster preparedness program. The project will be executed by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA). CARIFORUM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington and Ambassador Per Eklund, head of the European Commission Delegation to Guyana, signed last week a financing agreement for the project at the headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.

Chukka Caribbean Adventures, the land-based nature tour operator based in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, will launch a booking engine on December 15 at www.chukkacaribbean.com. The firm, which began in 1983 with a horseback ride and swim tour in Ocho Rios, now offers 32 programs in Jamaica, Belize, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos and has forecast 250,000 bookings this year.

An Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur took off last week on a Russian rocket bound for the international space station, achieving her dream of becoming the world´s first paying female space tourist. Anousheh Ansari was accompanied by a U.S.-Russian crew on the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule, which entered orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff from the Russian cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Radisson Hotels and Resorts International Latin America (RHILA) has appointed Denise Estefan Litten to the position of president. In her new role, Mrs. Litten will be responsible for leading the strategy, management and key functional support areas of the company. In addition, she will provide the overall strategic direction for the development of the Radisson brand in Central and South America through managed and franchised opportunities.

After $29 million in renovations and upgrades, the 329-room Club Med La Caravelle in Guadeloupe will reopen December 16 following a nine-month closure. Three days earlier, Delta Airlines will launch twice-weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays from Atlanta to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe.