Archives for August 2021

Russia’s Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant has laid the keel for a new river cruise ship ordered by local operator State Transport Leasing Company.The vessel will be named Viktor Astafyev in honour of a celebrated Russian writer and playwright. It will be the second of two Project A45-90.2 cruise ships to be built for the same customer.Once completed, the vessel will have an LOA of 99 metres, a … [Read more...]

About one-third of Americans have a valid passport. Travel outside of the United States, whether by land, sea, or air, requires a valid passport book or passport card.  But you are going on a cruise, so how do you know whether you need a passport book or a passport card?  We know that topics like this can be overwhelming and we don’t want it to prevent you from taking … [Read more...]

Last month, a 77-year-old woman made a fatal decision: She boarded a Carnival cruise in Galveston, Texas, set for sunny Belize.The cruise required vaccination, and approximately 96% of all 4,336 passengers and crew were reportedly vaccinated, but nobody was required to present a negative Covid test before boarding. After four days on the water, the ship reported a 27-person Covid outbreak … [Read more...]

Welcome to this week's edition of the Royal Caribbean post round-up, where we summarize all of the Royal Caribbean news and information from this week into one handy-dandy post! There is plenty of great content to enjoy, so sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's round-up!This week, Royal Caribbean extended its popular Cruise with Confidence program by an extra month.Cruise with Confidence is now … [Read more...]

Italian food is considered to be the best in the world, so what better place to enjoy the flavours of this vibrant country than on board an Oceania Cruises’ luxury ship? Oceania Cruises is rightly known as the world’s leading culinary and destination line, and the great news is that from late August, it will be resuming its cruise operations in Europe. Leading the way in its six-fold fleet, … [Read more...]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has made several changes to its technical instructions under the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO). The updates made on August 27, 2021, cover face masks, change language reflecting that the CSO is just a recommendation in Florida, revised testing requirements, and a new color status. CDC Updates for Cruise Ships CDC’s Conditional Sailing … [Read more...]

After the longest test cruise that any Royal Caribbean cruise ship has performed so far, Oasis of the Seas has made her return to the Cape Liberty cruise port in Bayonne, New Jersey. The first-ever Oasis-class vessel to operate from the New York City and New Jersey harbor area set sail on her test cruise on August 22. She has been cruising towards the Bahamas and called only at A Perfect Day at … [Read more...]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted a new update to its cruise ship operations manual asking cruise lines to take another look at some of the onboard rules related to mask use.With the increased transmissibility of some Covid-19 variants, the CDC has made another update for cruise ships operating under its Framework for Conditional Sailing Order … [Read more...]

Wonder of the Seas Construction Update: Sea Trials Four days, 1,550 nautical miles, 500 workers and the world’s largest cruise ship – Royal Caribbean’s new ship Wonder of the Seas is one step closer to completion. Here’s an exclusive look at the fifth ship in the cruise line’s iconic Oasis Class successfully carrying out its first set of sea trials to ensure it’s in ship shape. A key milestone … [Read more...]

Citing the ongoing impact of COVID-19, combined with related challenges created for construction operations in Europe, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has announced it will reschedule its inaugural voyage. The Evrima will now set sail on May 6, 2022 from Lisbon, Portugal. “While we are eager to welcome guests on board Evrima, we have had to reevaluate the timing of our first voyage given the … [Read more...]

P&O Cruises Australia, which has been sailing from Australia for nearly 90 years as the nation’s home-grown cruise line, today (27/08/2021) announced its plan to re-start operations with voyages for vaccinated guests and crew. President of P&O Cruises Australia Sture Myrmell said governments were linking society returning to normal to sufficient numbers of Australians being vaccinated for … [Read more...]

What has happened? Well, there’s been a lot of important cruise news updates with protocol changes, not a good restart for one Carnival cruise ship, and a mistake from one major cruise line. Cruise News Update Here we go with another busy cruise news update as cruise lines continue to move forward on resuming cruise operations and adapting to the fluid situation to make sure guests and crew remain … [Read more...]

There is a lot to love about dining on Celebrity Cruises. Cruisers can choose from a number of different specialty and complimentary dining spots on ships across the fleet. There are a variety of casual venues included in the cruise fare. There are also signature specialty restaurants that serve up mouthwatering meals, not to mention the three course feasts in the main dining room. In this … [Read more...]

In a video that was posted to Royal Caribbean’s Loyal to you Always YouTube channel, the official channel for Royal Caribbean International’s trade loyalty program, Richard D. Fain, Royal Caribbean Group’s President, and CEO, spoke about the battle the company is facing with its fight against the Delta variant and COVID-19 in general. Mr. Fain remains confident that the fight can only be won … [Read more...]

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Norwegian Jade will cruise from Dubai again in 2022, with two cruises in February and December to Athens and Cape Town. Norwegian Jade’s 2022 cruises from Dubai come after her 2021 cruise from the city to Cape Town in December for her January, 2022 South African cruise season. <img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10643" data-attachment-id="10643" … [Read more...]

Hapag-Lloyd’s luxury cruise ship Europa 2 has been confirmed for the Cape Town 2022 cruise line-up, with a scheduled 13-night voyage to Mauritius. Europa 2, one of the top cruise ships in the world, will depart Cape Town at the end of October, 2022 and bounce down the South African ‘Wild Coast’ visiting several SA cruise ports before heading out into the Indian Ocean bound for Port Louis. <img … [Read more...]

The Indian start-up cruise line Cordelia Cruises has sent its cruise ship Empress into Dubai Drydocks for a refit and renovation ahead of her maiden cruise from Dubai in September. The ship entered Dubai Drydocks on August 23rd for conversion from Empress of the Seas into Empress for the Indian cruise line. <img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-15762" … [Read more...]

Undoubtedly, all avid cruise fans heard that the next world’s largest cruise ship recently underwent its sea trials. Royal Caribbean has now released a new video covering the major milestone and what took place. Wonder of the Seas Sea Trials Video On August 20, the next world’s largest cruise ship, Wonder of the Seas, departed the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, to … [Read more...]

Started in 2010, Royal Caribbean Blog offers daily coverage of news and information related to the Royal Caribbean cruise line along with other relevant topics of cruising, such as entertainment, news, photo updates and more.Our goal has been to provide our readers with expansive coverage of all aspects of the Royal Caribbean experience.Whether you cruise multiple times per year or you're new to … [Read more...]