Sure, the holiday season is supposed to be all about crackling fires and cuddly family gatherings around homecooked meals. We all aim for this ideal, gathering ornaments to hang and chestnuts to roast, but despite our best efforts, the result is often a few points short of that glowing classical standard.

Hollywood has made a bundle playing off of the typical chaos that generally reigns in the household under the stress of preparing mountains of food and the perfect environment for family gathering. The fall/winter holiday season has almost become synonymous with high-tension squabbles and weeks upon weeks of preparation for a day or two of payoff.

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Florida is experiencing a massive decline in passengers for cruises around the Caribbean. Have the “Pirates of the Caribbean” scared off summer families wanting to visitor the murky Atlantic? Maybe so.

Port officials say the fall-off could be traced to a decline in the day-cruise business, competition from gambling venues on land such as Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and consumers preferring to visit European ports of call, not Caribbean.

The Caribbean in the last 12 months has not been as attractive as it has been in the past,” said Carlos Buqueras, Port Everglades director of business development.

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