I am currently sailing on one of the world’s newest cruise ships, Costa Toscana. This new ship was christened two days ago in Barcelona and is offering cruises around the Mediterranean.After spending a couple days onboard the ship, here are my first impressions of Costa Toscana. Note: I am sailing as a guest of Costa Cruises for the ship’s christening and to check out everything that this ship has … [Read more...]

A cruise ship will undergo a renovation and switch cruise lines and enter service with Carnival Cruise Line later this year.Costa Luminoso will be renamed to Carnival Luminoso after a remodel and begin offering Carnival cruises in Australia before heading to Alaska. The cruise ship is a sister ship to the popular Carnival Spirit class. Due to this announcement, the previous plan to move Costa … [Read more...]

A major cruise line has eliminated the vaccination requirement for cruisers who are 17 years and younger on cruises to Europe. Celebrity Cruises will no longer require guests who are under the age of 18 to be vaccinated on cruises in Europe.  They will be required to bring a negative COVID-19 test result with them that was taken within one day of the cruise.  They will also have the … [Read more...]

For the first time in almost a decade, Carnival Cruise Line is homeporting a cruise ship in Dover, England for a series of cruises through the summer. Carnival Pride is sailing from Dover on a nine night cruise visiting the Norwegian Fjords, with stops in Stavanger, Skjolden, Alesund, Molde and Bergen – and including scenic cruising through Nordfjord and Sognefjord. Carnival Pride is scheduled for … [Read more...]

A Carnival cruise ship will return to service tomorrow after repairs have been made to the ship’s funnel. Carnival Freedom was in Grand Turk two weeks ago when a fire broke out in the ship’s funnel.  Three cruises were canceled so the ship could head to dry dock for repairs. Repairs to Carnival Freedom’s funnel have been completed and the cruise ship will return to service tomorrow. A video … [Read more...]

Cruise lines are applauding the latest announcement from the CDC that testing will no longer be required for travelers flying into the U.S. Beginning this Sunday, travelers who are flying back into the U.S. after a cruise (or a trip for any reason) will no longer have to provide a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their international flight home. “This is a tremendous development that allows … [Read more...]

Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, Disney Wish, officially joined the fleet this week when the cruise line took delivery of their 5th cruise ship. Disney Cruise Line President Thomas Mazloum and Meyer Werft Managing Director Jan Meyer signed the official documents transferring ownership of Disney Wish from the shipbuilder to Disney Cruise Line. Disney Cruise Line presented Meyer Werft with an … [Read more...]

Carnival Cruise Line has revealed a new zone that will be on their newest cruise ship that debuts later this year, Carnival Celebration.Carnival Celebration will be the cruise line’s second Excel class ship and will offer cruises to the Caribbean from Miami. The new zone, The Gateway, will have design and décor inspired by grand terminals, transportation stations and departure points around the … [Read more...]

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, a new luxury cruise line from Ritz-Carlton, celebrated the successful completion of sea trials for their first yacht, Evrima. Sea trials are a series of system tests that are carried out when the yacht is sailing on open waters. Evrima’s sea trials were led by Captain Steven MacBeath, in collaboration with a team of senior officers, engineers, contractors, and … [Read more...]

Virgin Voyages has postponed the launched of their new cruise ship, Resilient Lady, that was scheduled to debut in August.The cruise line said that Resilient Lady will now debut in May 2023, nine months later than originally scheduled. Virgin Voyages stated that the reason for the delay is due to global challenges that are still impacting the travel industry. Resilient Lady will be the third … [Read more...]

MSC Cruises’ 19th and final ship, MSC Musica, resumed cruises this week marking the cruise line’s full return to service. The cruise ship set sail for the start of the summer 2022 season on the first of her 23 planned seven-night cruises to Katakolon in Greece, the traditional birthplace of the Olympic Games, along with the Greek islands Crete and Santorini, and Bari in Italy. Rubén A. Rodríguez, … [Read more...]

In a few weeks, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship will be able to visit ports for the first time in two years starting on June 30, 2022. Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas has been offering cruises to nowhere out of Singapore since the vessel restarted service.  Starting at the end of the month, the cruise ship will begin stopping in Malaysia for the first time in two years on three and four … [Read more...]

Carnival Cruise Line is deploying a new Menu Mate food ingredient program on all of their cruise ships that will help accommodate guests with special diets and food allergies. Easily operated on touch-screen tablets at food venues across Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet, the Menu Mate food ingredient program is powered by award-winning CertiStar software to mitigate the risks of allergic reactions. … [Read more...]

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises have made a change to the Future Cruise Credits (FCCs) that went into effect on June 1, 2022. From now on, all Cruise with Confidence Future Cruise Credits with both cruise lines will no longer have an expiration date and will be good for all future cruises. Since their system requires that their be a noted expiration date, Royal Caribbean Group said that … [Read more...]

Royal Caribbean is making a change to their non-refundable deposits on cruises starting tomorrow, June 1, 2022. The cruise line is discontinuing the Future Cruise Credit component and it will no longer apply when canceling under this policy outside of the final payment period. Instead, the deposit amount will be withheld in-full. Guests booked prior to June 1, 2022 are protected under the prior … [Read more...]

Holland America Line christened their newest cruise ship, Rotterdam, on Monday in a ceremony that was held Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Rotterdam was christened by Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands. “Our heritage is rooted here in the Netherlands, and we are deeply honored to have Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet as godmother of her fifth Holland America Line ship,” said … [Read more...]

Carnival Cruise Line has canceled cruises on two different cruise ships after a fire broke out in the funnel on Carnival Freedom this week. Carnival Cruise Line has canceled the next three sailings on Carnival Freedom so the ship can head to a dry dock in the Bahamas for repairs to the ship’s funnel.  All of the cruise ship’s hotel, and guest services, along with safety equipment are … [Read more...]

Azamara became the latest cruise line to have all of their ships back in service when Azamara Journey welcomed guests back on board. “I am beyond thankful to our hard-working team and dedicated crew members for all the incredible work and effort that has brought us to this exciting moment,” says Carol Cabezas, President of Azamara. “Thanks to them, our four-ship fleet are all sailing for the first … [Read more...]

A fire broke out in the funnel of a Carnival cruise ship earlier this morning when the ship was docked in Grand Turk. Twitter member Chester4x4 posted several videos showing black smoke pouring out of the funnel on Carnival Freedom. The videos can be seen below. TURKS AND CAICOS – Carnival Cruise on fire.#CNN pic.twitter.com/8OxFJ3eNch — Chester4x4 (@Chester4x4) May 26, 2022 … [Read more...]

Norwegian Cruise Line has change the point structure for their loyalty levels that not only adds in two new levels, but also makes it easier to move up to a higher status. Norwegian Cruise Line’s previous tier level were as follows: 1 point – Bronze 30 points – Silver 55 points – Gold 80 points – Platinum 175 points – Platinum Plus 700 points+ – Ambassador Norwegian Cruise Line’s new tier … [Read more...]