From the Off Center Dept

Local TV stations in Miami are reporting that Miami's Carnival Center for the Performing Arts will be renamed the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts following a $30 million donation by Adrienne Arsht, the chairman of TotalBank. The center was originally named after Carnival Corp made a $20 million donation in July of 2006.

The center has had a bumpy ride financially ever since opening. The donation by Arsht will wipe out a $7 million debt the organization has accumulated. In a classy move, Carnival agreed to relinquish the naming rights, which they continued to hold, so the organization could be on solid financial ground and continue to provide entertainment to the South Florida community.

There's more information on the local NBC and CBS websites.

Note: Links are valid at the time of posting.

From the Christmas Surprise Dept.

MSC's Lirica aced its last US Public Health exam with a perfect score of 100. Putting the "surprise" in surprise inspection, it occurred on Christmas Eve in San Juan.

"It’s probably stating the obvious that what happens in the USA is our international standard on every ship, wherever they operate – but it is a fact," said Emilio La Scala, the general manager of MSC's Technical Department, based in Sorrento. "We have standards in some cases that exceed the USPH requirements, and our objectives are to maintain those standards. Part of our mission statement is Absolute Health and Absolute Food safety. It’s what we do, and a result like this one makes us a very proud company," said La Scala.