December Update: Here Are the Latest Five Cruise Ship Moves

Table Of Content

• Royal Caribbean Announces Cancellation of All Cruise Stops to Private Island
• Exploring Pet Care Options for Your Next Cruise Vacation
• MENU: Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse on Carnival’s Mardi Gras
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Orders 8 New Ships for 3 Brands from Fincantieri
• Harmony of the Seas 2024 Review + Cruise News [PODCAST]

Cruise Radio prioritizes well-balanced cruise news coverage and accurate reporting, paired with ship reviews and tips. Carnival Corporation announced on January 30, 2024 that it would re-route 12 individual cruise ships across its family of brands in order to avoid the Red Sea and conflict in the Middle East. In its statement, Virgin Voyages said that passengers on the former legs of the original repositioning voyage will have guaranteed spots on the new sailings at no additional cost and a price protection commitment in place.

Royal Caribbean Announces Cancellation of All Cruise Stops to Private Island

Affected departures include Celestyal's "Three Continents" voyages sailing aboard Celestyal Journey on October 21, 28; November 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2023. Royal Caribbean has canceled the entire Middle East season aboard its Rhapsody of the Seas, which is now being used for humanitarian aid in the region since it was previously operating sailings out of Haifa. To welcome the ship, Norwegian Cruise Line hosted executives, media (including Cruise Critic), partners and travel agents on a short preview sailing in celebration of the newest ship in the fleet. (December 5, 2023) -- Norwegian Viva made its U.S. debut last week, sailing its first itinerary from Miami before it repositions seasonally to homeport out of Puerto Rico.

Exploring Pet Care Options for Your Next Cruise Vacation

In this week’s cruise news update, we’ve got coverage from Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Some passengers booked on itineraries in the region, however, are making alternate plans. Viking notes its river cruise departures along the Nile in Egypt are still proceeding as planned, with the cancellation of select overland extensions to Jerusalem. Replacement voyages for MSC Orchestra and MSC Sinfonia have not yet been announced.

MENU: Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse on Carnival’s Mardi Gras

The 11-night itinerary visits seven ports in the region – including Tangier in Morocco – before it arrives in Barcelona, Spain. The vessel – set to enter service in 2022 – will offer 10 different dining experiences. Other features on the ship include spa treatments and a marina-style platform with sundecks ensuring direct access to water.

Royal Caribbean opened for sale a slew of 2025 and 2026 cruises to the Caribbean and Canada/New England from a wide choice of ports. Bookings for voyages onboard seven ships opened to Crown & Anchor Society members on February 14, 2024 and to the general public a day later. In what's been a busy week of cruise news, we're got all the major stories, including new ship orders from cruise giants, cancellations and angry guests.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Orders 8 New Ships for 3 Brands from Fincantieri

Posting videos on TikTok using the name “ruinedvacation,” the woman’s complaints have attracted more than 3 million views. Sun Princess was to launch on February 8, 2024, sailing from Barcelona to Rome, but that voyage was cancelled on January 24, 2024. A new inaugural cruise was scheduled for February 18, 2024, and now that has been cancelled as well. For the second time, Princess Cruises has cancelled the inaugural cruise of its new ship, Sun Princess, due to the need for additional technical work to be completed. The 175,000-gross-ton vessel was officially delivered to the line by the Fincantieri shipyard on February 14, 2024. Fleet cruise directors are not assigned to a specific ship; rather, they are based shoreside and travel to various ships to train, mentor, and evaluate cruise directors, develop programming, and handle other tasks.

Queen Mary 2 will maintain its existing itinerary until after its call in Colombo, Sri Lanka. At that point, the ship's itinerary will sail south along the east coast of Africa before rounding the horn and coming up the western coast of the continent. The cruise line also shared that it is currently reassessing other geographically similar repositioning voyages and will provide an update in the coming weeks on further changes. Once in the Mediterranean, the ship will stop in Barcelona, Malta's Valletta, and Santorini before arriving in Athens (Piraeus). The SH Vega will follow the Minerva, entering service next April, while a third – yet unnamed – vessel will debut in the fourth quarter of 2022. Swan Hellenic is returning to the market after a four-year hiatus with new management at the helm.

Norwegian Cruise Line cancels more than a dozen upcoming cruises - WGN TV Chicago

Norwegian Cruise Line cancels more than a dozen upcoming cruises.

Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:54:13 GMT [source]

Currently sailing as the Grand Classica, the 1991-built vessel is expected to undergo an extensive refit at Grand Bahama before entering service for the new brand. Norwegian Gem will arrive at JaxPort in November 2025, marking the first time an NCL ship homeports in the northeast Florida port. The 2,394-passenger vessel will be based in Jacksonville from November to April every year until 2028. (February 6, 2024) -- Starting next year, Norwegian Cruise Line will add one more Floridian city to its list of embarkation ports by sailing out of Jacksonville's cruise port (JaxPort). Following its debut on Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva, Nama Sushi and Sashimi introduces a new color palette of lime green and black, and will boast accents inspired by Manga art.

Harmony of the Seas 2024 Review + Cruise News [PODCAST]

The disgruntled passenger, whose name is unknown, complained to guest services staff and said the cruise line did not notify guests about the change. However, it appears that an email was sent to guests and a notice was posted at the luggage check-in area on embarkation day. Guests booked on the cancelled cruise are receiving a full refund of their cruise fare and all pre-paid services. The line also is offering a 50% future cruise credit for any future Princess Cruises sailing booked by November 30, 2024 and sailed by December 31, 2025. The cruise line has not revealed what kind of technical work must still be completed before the ship can operate her first voyage.

Cruisers also have the option to receive a future cruise credit based on their paid balance or a full refund. After the refit, the Ambiance is set to debut on Apr. 6, with an inaugural short-break cruise to Hamburg, before embarking on a mixed itinerary program with sailings to the Norwegian Fjords and the British Isles planned throughout spring. While the major corporations continue to dominate the cruise market, there are several new brands entering service over the next few years. With their new products and ships, they’re adding a fresh perspective to the business.

Port calls include destinations in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Shetland Islands, and Falkland Islands The itinerary also originally included scenic cruising in Paradise Bay, a well-known cove off Antarctica’s mainland. Like the existing Excel-class ships, the new vessel will be powered by liquified natural gas, which cuts its carbon footprint by reducing emissions. The ships in this class are larger than others in the fleet, and able to offer more restaurants, bars, and activities.

The new cruise line is about to launch service in Antarctica and will be operating in the expedition cruising niche. We laughed hard -- real tears came out -- at some of the raunchy, fourth-wall breaking humor and fully appreciated the jokes about cruise drinks packages and guests in NCL's The Haven suite complex. Norwegian Cruise Line has a long history of bringing Broadway and the West End to its ships, and Beetlejuice is the latest on a list that includes Kinky Boots and Grease, among others. Ship christenings or naming ceremonies are a maritime tradition thought to bring luck to those onboard. While godmothers are the tradition, NCL broke the mold in 2015 when it named megastar Pitbull the godfather of Norwegian Escape.

Norwegian Cruise Line will join Carnival as the second mainstream cruise line to sail out of Jacksonville, as Carnival Elation homeports year-round from JaxPort. The new Prima Plus-class will also see the return of familiar venues, such as the main dining room Hudson's; the French restaurant Le Bistro; Mexican eatery Los Lobos and the Italian restaurant Onda by Scarpetta. For a full accounting of cruise ship transactions, see the Secondhand Market Report by Cruise Industry News. Additionally, guests who have already traveled to Europe for the maiden voyage will receive reimbursement of their roundtrip airfare plus money toward hotels, meals, and other costs incurred while making travel plans to return home. Cruise directors are crucial to the operation of every cruise, and at Carnival Cruise Line they are tasked with making sure guests enjoy the line’s Fun Ship vibe.

With the conflict continuing to escalate – and the increased possibility it could spread beyond the borders of Israel and the Gaza Strip – cruisers are starting to wonder what may become of their cruises to the region in the coming months. “We were on tour of Galilee region at Jordan River when we were all recalled to the ship,” writes CNSJ on Cruise Critic’s Holland America Line message boards. Three days in Holy Land has become three hours…obviously this is beyond HALs control. "The ship was originally scheduled to sail in the Middle East. We’ve postponed our launch in that region to begin in November 2024,” said Windstar Cruises President Christopher Prelog. “Instead, they will sail around the west coast of Africa with no ports of call on their journeys to their respective European homeports for the summer 2024 season. “The safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit is always our top priority.

All passengers booked on the three repositioning cruises have been, or are in the process of being, contacted directly or through their travel agent and can transfer their booking to a future Grand Voyage of a similar duration for free. Each brand is offering affected cruisers a variety of compensation options, depending on the circumstances and whether their voyages are already underway. Cunard Line informed guests it will re-route its World Cruise aboard Queen Mary 2, changing a full month of the planned voyage itinerary in order to bypass the Red Sea and Suez Canal in favor of transiting around the horn of Africa. Ongoing unrest in the Middle East has led to a series of changes and cancellations to cruise line itineraries, with more lines opting to re-route their Red Sea itineraries, including World Cruises, away from the conflict.

Our Global Security teams continue to monitor the evolving situation in the Red Sea. In an abundance of caution, we have adjusted select itineraries of Silver Moon, Silver Spirit, and Silver Whisper. We are notifying guests and travel advisors of changes directly,” the cruise line said in a statement shared with Cruise Critic.