We reported a few weeks ago on the arrival of several Carnival Cruise line ships into California. The World Cruise Center in Los Angeles is expecting more than two dozen cruise ship calls through early February. These calls will be technical stops for provisions, bunkering, and crew changes, while no passengers will be onboard any of the vessels. While the no-passengers might be disappointing, it … [Read more...]

Royal Caribbean has a track record of building the largest cruise ships in the world. In 2009, it was Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. In 2015, it was Allure’s sister ship, Harmony of the Seas. Now, it’s the Symphony of the Seas cruise ship, built in 2018. Symphony of the Seas Stats Gross Tonnage: 228,081Passenger Capacity: 5,518Passenger Decks: 16Crew … [Read more...]

One of the oldest cruise-ships in the world has been designated to be scrapped. A storied history of more than 55 years sailing the world’s oceans comes to a sad end as the former Cruise and Maritime Voyages liner MS Marco Polo sets a course to the shipbreaking yard in Alang, India. A fan favorite, Cruise and Maritime Voyages catered mostly for the UK market, focusing on an older, mature crowd … [Read more...]

There’s a special term within the cruise line industry that conjures up all kinds of images. What do you imagine when you consider wave season out on the high seas?  In truth, it’s the exact opposite of choppy waters and tumultuous waters. Rather, wave season is a special time of year when package deals drop so low. They practically plummet to the floor.  Why do cruise liners do this? … [Read more...]

Carnival cruise line’s newest addition, Mardi Gras, has arrived in Barcelona this morning at 08:00 AM CET. This will be the last stop for the most anticipated ship of 2021 before she arrives in the United States. Mardi Gras will likely stay in Barcelona until tomorrow, after which she sets sail towards Port Canaveral. Second Technical Stop For Mardi Gras After the Meyer-Turku shipyard delivered … [Read more...]

The Conquest-class cruise ship Carnival Glory was first floated out in 2003, with its iconic nightclubs, pools, water slides and shopping options, but the ship most recently got some upgrades in 2012, when Carnival updated the ship to its Fun Ship 2.0 standard (adding the Guy’s Burger Joint eatery, along with some other new eateries and bars), and then later in 2017. Carnival Glory Stats Gross … [Read more...]

2021 has arrived and that means another year full of cruise news but first, let’s take a look back at the past week and beyond with a mixture of some good and bad news. Cruise News Update Firstly, Happy New Year to you all! We head into 2021 with new optimism, in the coming months, we’ll start to see the cruise industry make a return. Vaccines are rolling out and this will be the year that travel … [Read more...]

The new year did not start well for former Carnival cruise line ship Ocean Dream, formerly known as Tropicale. After a long life sailing the world’s oceans for multiple cruise lines since 1982, she was beached at the shipbreakers in Alang, India, on January 1, 2021. The Ocean Dream is the latest in an ever-increasing list of ships that have been beached in India and Turkey over the last year. … [Read more...]

While the focus has very much been on what Carnival Cruise Line is doing to resume cruises, there is one ship that’s about to go through a massive transformation. Things are starting to happen with the Carnival Victory and we’ve got some exclusive photos to show you. Work Begins on Carnival Victory Carnival Victory is currently in a rusty state at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz Spain. However, she … [Read more...]

The year 2020 will be a year that many will want to erase from memory as soon as possible. The forecasts for 2021 look good with a vaccine approved in many countries and vaccination programs underway. But what about the cruise industry? Is there reason to be hopeful for the year to come, or are there still many pitfalls the cruise lines will need to avoid? We look at what challenges 2021 will … [Read more...]

The winners have been revealed in the 2020 Cruise Ship Awards. Cruise Hive readers have been voting since mid-September on their favorite cruise ships, cruise lines, and ports. Finally, we come to announce which ones have come out on top. In this year’s annual awards, we scaled back due to the global pandemic. With most of the cruise industry on pause since March 2020, it would not be right to … [Read more...]

The year 2020 started great, with cruise lines predicting record bookings at the start of the year and passenger numbers projected to jump up by several million compared to 2019. How different things became in February and March. With COVID-19 outbreaks on several vessels, ships detained in ports worldwide, crew members stuck on board for many months, and the cruise industry under immense scrutiny … [Read more...]

Norwegian Cruise Line released a new update on Tuesday morning regarding the remaining three vessels that were to sail in March 2021. The cruises that were set to take place in March are now cancelled which means all operations will remain suspended until April at the very earliest. Norwegian Cruise Line Delays Restart Norwegian Cruise Line was still planning to resume sailings with three ships in … [Read more...]

Carnival Cruise Line’s new cruise ship has come out on top in Cruise Hive’s annual Cruise Ship Awards. Mardi Gras is the most anticipated new cruise ship for 2021 according to readers of the website. Mardi Gras Comes Out On Top It doesn’t really come as a surprise that Carnival’s new Mardi Gras has become the most anticipated new cruise ship for 2021, according to Cruise Hive readers. The ship has … [Read more...]

Carnival-owned Aida Cruises is suffering from major IT issues and does seem to be a possible cyberattack. This could now be the third major cyberattack against a cruise line this year and shows a worrying trend on keeping systems secure. Aida Cruises IT Issues, What We Know So Far The cruise line has already stated on its Facebook page that it’s currently being affected by IT issues but has not … [Read more...]

It was recently reported that the former Carnival cruise ship named Carnival Fascination will become a floating hotel in Asia. This came after the ship’s new name was seen on the aft. It’s lead us to some exclusive photos showing the Fantasy-class cruise ship in Gibraltar during December 2020 and some right before Christmas. When the vessel was still operated by Carnival Cruise Line, she had been … [Read more...]

Jurgen Bailom, the President and CEO of brand new cruise line Cordelia Cruises, recently announced the purchase of former Royal Caribbean cruise ship Empress of the Seas. Cordelia Cruises, a continuation of the recently shut down Jalesh Cruises, will be operating the vessel in the Indian Luxury market. Last month, Jalesh Cruises suspended all of its operations and sold their vessel MV Karnika for … [Read more...]

Voyages on board MSC Magnifica, which were supposed to start sailing on January 7, 2021, to Greece and the Greek islands, have been postponed once more. The vessel will now operate starting February 14, 2021. Greek Government’s Local Lockdown Measures Already on December 7, 2020, Greece announced it would be going into a full lockdown to curtail the effects of the second wave of infections. While … [Read more...]

The Former Fantasy-class vessel Carnival Fascination is set to become a floating hotel in Asia after being sold to Chinese cruise operator Century Cruises under the new name of Century Harmony. The ship is reportedly going to be operating in the Chinese market as a hotel ship and the new owner has already been recruiting. At the beginning of 2020, Carnival announced that Carnival Fascination would … [Read more...]

Ketchikan, Alaska is an exciting, inviting, memorable, and beautiful destination that gives visitors the opportunity to see and experience so much of what the Last Frontier State has to offer.  A vast number of cruise ships stop in Ketchikan every day during the high season and the population of this tiny and remote little town expands greatly from its usual 8,200 whenever … [Read more...]