Cruise news and updates on cruise lines, cruise ships and even their private islands. Find cruise news about the progress on new ships and refurbishments, too.
Hurtigruten, the world’s largest expedition cruise company, has signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of their third hybrid powered expedition cruise ship. The yet un-named new ship will be built with the same advanced technology found on Hurtigruten’s first two next-generation ships. The MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen are currently under […] Read more…
A major milestone was reached earlier this week when Viking Ocean Cruises took delivery of its new Viking Jupiter, the sixth ocean ship for Viking Oceans. The ceremony took place at Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. The traditional maritime event culminated when the ship builder symbolically handed the keys for the vessel over to the ship’s owner. […] Read more…
Late last week, Royal Caribbean held a traditional steel cutting ceremony for their new Quantum Ultra-Class ship, named Odyssey of the Seas. With over 5,600 passengers, the Quantum Ultra Class is slightly largest than the original Quantum Class. The event took place at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Odyssey of the Seas is […] Read more…
Oprah fans…in case you missed it, there was a big deal happening at Port Everglades last weekend. Holland America held the christening for their newest ship, the 2,666 passenger Nieuw Statendam, and Oprah was the godmother. The much-anticipated event was held on February 2, 2019 at 2 PM. Unlike some christenings where invited guests sit […] Read more…
Virgin Voyages announced last week that onboard gratuities will be included in the cruise fare. This means that guests (called Sailors) won’t be charged the usual daily service fee. Plus, all of the 20+ specialty restaurants are complimentary. The cruise fare includes dining in all the restaurants. The ever-changing daily service fee charged by almost […] Read more…
There’s a variety of itineraries for Scarlet Lady Like just about everything else from Virgin Voyages, Scarlet Lady’s itineraries are totally different from the rest of the pack. To begin with, departures from the ship’s home port in Miami will be at 7 pm, not the usual 4 pm or 5 pm. Considering Virgin is […] Read more…
Oceania Cruises has announced that they will discontinue the use of plastic water bottles on all of their ships. The cruise line, in partnership with Vero Water, will eliminate nearly three million plastic bottles per year. This new sustainability effort begins in April 2019. Oceania Cruises is the first cruise line to eliminate plastic water […] Read more…
Tune in and watch Holland America’s live-streamed dedication Mark your calendar. The date for the Nieuw Statendam dedication is February 2, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Holland America Line is live-streaming this event. Fans can watch as the ship’s godmother, Oprah Winfrey, welcomes Holland America Line’s newest ship to the fleet. Live-streaming is available at HollandAmerica.com/dedication or […] Read more…
More Scarlet Lady Updates For those of us excited about the debut of adults-only Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady next year, there’s more great news. The new cruise line announced yesterday that all of their cruise ships will be gratuity-free. No automatic service fee (i.e. tips) will be added to your onboard account. Gratuities will be rolled into […] Read more…
Big news this week from Quark Expeditions, a leader in polar expedition cruises. It was the time-honored steel-cutting ceremony for their new ship, destined for polar exploration beginning in 2020. Celebrating a ship’s steel-cutting is a long-standing maritime tradition. Steeped in superstition and folklore, a celebration is called for to mark the very beginning of building […] Read more…
Carnival just released a nugget of cruise news. Mardi Gras, their newest ship under construction, will have six separately themed areas, called zones. There will also be 20 decks and 20 stateroom categories. The new ship, scheduled to launch in 2020, will be the first cruise ship in North America to be powered by LNG. […] Read more…
Scarlet Lady cruise ship suites are as eclectic as Richard Branson Virgin Voyages has released the first peek of their first ship’s incredible suites. Scarlet Lady will have 78 RockStar suites and 15 of those are called Mega RockStar suites. Sporting names like Massive, Fab, Posh, Brilliant, Cheeky and Gorgeous Suites, they’ll all be located […] Read more…