LIVES OF THE LINERS: CRUISING & CRUISE SHIPS – AUGUST 26, 2021 

Above:  Cruising in Hawaii on the Independence (Jul 1980)

From Bill Miller

Update:  August 2021

Sun Aug 15^th Return!   Some 160 cruise ships were back in service by August – operating with new onboard protocols and reduced capacities and masked staff & crew.  Most voyages are reportedly full.

Mon Aug 16^th Raising the anchor!  With more cruise vessels sailing again, premium cruise brands are quickly resuming operations around the world.

MSC Cruises marked a full year of resumed cruising today.

Tue Aug 17^th Norwegian Cruise Lines has resumed cruising from Miami & from their brand new, state-of-the-art terminal.

Carnival China:   In a huge shipyard near Shanghai, work is progressing on the first of Carnival China’s new mega-cruise liners.  The unnamed ship will be approximately 100,000 tons, carrying 2,500-plus passengers and is due late next year.

UK Cruising:   David Hutchings reports: The first was on Saturday, August 7th, and the second on Saturday, August 14th, after the UK welcomed the return of the cruise industry.  ABP would like to thank all teams who helped make these weekends such a success and who continue to support operations as we gear up to for the return to international cruise over the coming months. 

• Eight cruise liners head to Southampton port in one weekend 

The ships in port on August 7 and their terminals were as follows: Anthem of the Seas at City Cruise Terminal; Marella Explorer at QEII Cruise Terminal; Regal Princess at Mayflower Cruise Terminal; and MSC Virtuosa at the new Horizon Cruise Terminal; with Iona returning from her maiden voyage at Ocean Cruise Terminal. 

• P&O Cruises Iona leaves Southampton on maiden voyage 

Marella Explorer, MSC Virtuosa, Iona and Regal Princess all returned to the Port of Southampton on Saturday, August 14, when they were joined by Celebrity Silhouette. 

Ultra ultra Luxury!  There are few experiences as singularly luxurious as eating caviar in bed. Or returning to your suite to find your butler has cleaned your sunglasses, untangled your charging chords and drawn a post-massage bath. There are far worse ways to spend a vacation.

On Silversea’s new Silver Moon, which was completed in October of 2020, but sat unused until this June due to the coronavirus pandemic, travelers can expect this type of timeless luxury. At the French restaurant La Dame, for example, Dover sole is filleted tableside. All guests have access to a butler, and there are live orchids in the suites and fresh flowers at every turn.

Wed Aug 18^th Carnival Cruise Line is temporarily moving to an every-other-day bacon schedule at its Lido Buffet fleetwide.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ new flagship, the Bolette, set sail from Dover, England on Aug 16th. According to a press release, the Bolette is offering a three-day sailing of the Isles of Scilly’s 140 islets, where guests will be able to explore rock formations, long, sandy beaches, and the coastlines of the Channel Islands.  The Bolette is the former Amsterdam of Holland-America.

Fri Aug 20^th Royal Caribbean:  There’s a milestone moment coming this weekend in the cruise world — one that has been mostly overlooked amidst the flurry of cruising restarts in recent weeks: New York City finally will become home to one of the world’s largest cruise ships.  Royal Caribbean‘s famously giant Oasis of the Seas — the groundbreaking vessel that ushered in the current era of 5,000-plus-passenger megaships — will begin, on Sun Aug. 22nd,  sailings out of the New York City area’s Cape Liberty Cruise Port. Measuring 226,838 tons, the soaring Oasis of the Seas will be by far the largest cruise vessel ever to sail out of the region.  (Photo below from Captain Justin Zizes)

Commissioned in 2009, the Oasis of the Seas is an icon in the world of megaships. At the time of its debut, it was nearly 50% bigger than the next biggest cruise ship, and it was chock full of then-unprecedented features (three separate deck-top pool zones; a boardwalk-like amusement area that mimicked the Jersey Shore; and a tree-lined “Central Park” to name a few — all part of seven distinct “neighborhoods”).

Even today, the Oasis of the Seas remains one of the world’s three biggest and most-amenity-filled passenger vessels. It’s only surpassed in size by two sister ships that have rolled out since 2016, and only by a tad. It can hold up to 6,699 passengers with every berth filled.

PS:   Just in case you wanted to know, the ship’s funnels had to be clipped by a few week so as to squeeze under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.  The Queen Mary 2 just makes it with 14 feet clearance.

Pricing!   There are some amazing deals out there – like $54 per person per day on a Royal Caribbean trip and $42 per person   on MSC Cruises.

Sat Aug 21^st Regent Seven Seas Cruises has achieved the largest booking day in the company’s 29-year history with the launch of its 2023-2024 Voyage Collection when sales opened at 8:30am on Aug. 18th.  Reservations surpassed Regent’s previous largest booking day – which was set on Oct. 21st 2020, with the launch of its 2022-2023 Voyage Collection – by 15 percent.

Regent said that travel trends identified from the booking day include a desire for “longer, more exclusive experiences in bucket-list destinations, as illustrated by a significant rise in bookings of the $11,000-a-night Regent Suite and more unfamiliar and exotic regions being reserved.”

Sun Aug 22^nd Royal Caribbean International’s new Wonder of the Seas has departed on sea trials from the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard at St Nazaire, France and where she is under construction. The 230,000-ton Oasis-class ship will now spend a few days at sea, testing systems and performance with teams from the shipyard, vendors, class society and other stakeholders aboard. Originally set to debut this year, the Wonder will now enter the cruise market in 2022 and become the biggest cruise ship in the world, and the fifth Oasis-class ship in service after the Oasis, Allure, Harmony & Symphony of the Seas.   The new ship can carry up to 6,800 passengers, has a crew of 2,400 and measures 1,188 feet in length.  

Docking the Oriana at Reykjavik in Aug 201

Carnival Cruise Line returned to the West Coast on Saturday, as the Carnival Panorama resumed service in California. Based in Long Beach, the 2019-built vessel departed on a seven-night cruise to the Mexican Riviera. The sailing marks the return of the brand to the region after a 17-month operational pause.

Tampa, Florida:   Our good friend Tom Cassidy reports: “Earlier this week the Port of Tampa Authority announced that cruising will begin again. RCI will resume sailing from the port in Oct with the Serenade of the Seas. Celebrity and Carnival will follow in Nov and NCL in Dec.  

Mon Aug 23^rd Re-start:  As half of the world’s cruise fleet returns to revenue sailings in August, 58 cruise lines are currently in service globally.

Fred. Olsen has announced that it has become the first cruise line to complete an international voyage since the resumption of cruising, as their Borealis returned to the UK from Iceland this morning.   The 68,000-ton Borealis set sail for the rugged landscapes of Iceland on Aug 14th with some 800 guests onboard. It was the first international voyage to set sail from British waters since all UK cruise operators paused their operations in March 2020.   The cruise called into Reykjavík, Ísafjörður, Eyjafjörður and Seyðisfjörður, and guests were able to leave the ship and explore ashore in organised shore excursions.   The Borealis is the former Rotterdam of 1998.

AIDA has sold their Aidacara to Russian buyers, who reportedly will operate the ship as Astoria Grande.  The 38,500-ton ship dates from 1996.

Norway  is marking the official opening of the Hurtigruten Museum. The opening ceremony takes place on Aug 28^th.  The Museum highlights the famed Norwegian Coastal Express of passenger ships and includes the preserved coastal vessel Finnmarken.

Out of the old shoebox:   

Below:  A Sat afternoon in Sep 1973 at New York – the Sea Venture outbound for Bermuda

Thank you to all our readers, correspondents, those “agents” in faraway places! 

CRUISING, CRUISE SHIPS & THE CORONA VIRUS – AUGUST 15, 2021

WEEKLY NEWS & UPDATES

from Bill Miller

August  2021

Mon Aug 9th  Baltic Cruising:  In case you’re thinking of a Baltic cruise in future, Finland has been voted as the “happiest” country on the planet.  And in the top five, there’s also Iceland, Denmark & the Netherlands. 

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has announced today that a Florida judge ruled in its favor granting a preliminary injunction which paves the way for the company’s three brands to require documentation confirming a guest’s vaccination status prior to boarding for cruises departing from Florida.

China Merchants Viking Cruises won’t be cruising in August and has delayed its start up until further notice.    The company had previously gotten the green light to sail a series of 8-day cruises from Shenzhen to Hainan Province with the former Viking Sun, now the Zhao Shang Yi Dun and sailing under the Chinese flag. The company cited the evolving pandemic situation in China as the reason for the delay and said it was “the right decision to postpone all voyages.” Another locally-flagged operator, Astro Ocean Cruises with their Piano Land (ex-Oriana) , was expected to start up in August as well. That program is also said to be delayed.  

American Queen Steamboat Company announced that the American Queen welcomes her first revenue guests in 18 months today, becoming the fourth vessel to return to service for the U.S. flagged cruise line.  

Tue Aug 10th Norwegian Cruise Line and luxury sister brands Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises will be allowed to require passengers to show proof of vaccination in order to sail, following a preliminary injunction granted by a judge on Sunday. Since cruise lines announced they’d be resuming sailings from the U.S., Norwegian Cruise Line has been the only brand to commit to a 100% vaccination rate for both crew and passengers. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made that more difficult to achieve when he issued an executive order in early May that prohibits Florida businesses from requiring customers to show proof of vaccination in order to enter the premises.  

Cunard:  The final touches are being made to the 92,000-ton Queen Elizabeth as the  cruise line prepares to return to sailing on Friday, August 13th after a 17 month break.

MSC Cruises:  Maiden voyage!  Passengers boarded at Barcelona, Marseille and Genoa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, as part of the ship’s inaugural seven-night western Mediterranean itinerary. The 1,112-ft long MSC Seashore (below) will next call Messina in Sicily and Valletta in Malta, then head back to Barcelona, Marseille and Genoa. Following her summer season in the western Mediterranean, the 5,900-passenger MSC Seashore will complete an 18-night trans-Atlantic crossing to PortMiami for seven-night Caribbean cruises this winter.

Viking Ocean: Viking’s entire ocean fleet is expected to be in service by August as the Viking Jupiter, Viking Star and others are added to the active lineup.  Since restarting service in May, Viking has been offering cruises in the United Kingdom, Iceland, Bermuda and the Mediterranean.   Below:   Three of Viking’s 940-passenger ships laid-up at Belfast.

Cash Burn!  Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are still burning through cash as some ships emerge from lay up back into operations.  Cash burn numbers may be up in the third quarter with added costs to reactivate ships, needed maintenance, potential drydocks, procurement, getting crew back and more. Only one out of the three big cruise companies provided estimates on third quarter cash burn, indicating it would be up close to 45 percent.    Below:   Carnival’s P&O Cruises division.  

Wed Aug 11th Disappointment!  A young Italian couple planned a special honeymoon – taking a Mediterranean cruise, but especially standing on their shipboard terrace & watching the iconic sights of  beautiful Venice.   But cruise ships have been banned from the historic port and instead their MSC cruise ship berthed several miles away,  at nearby Monfalcone.  So, instead their honeymoon view was a shipyard, containers & a power plant.  

Thu Aug 12th Malta:  With at least three cruise ships now running cruises from Valletta, special charter flights are being offered from Newark NJ.  Maltese nostalgia:   The cruise ship Island Breeze (the former Transvaal Castle/S A Vaal/Festivale) is shown below.

Thu Aug 12th Celebrity:  Friends from Florida wrote today:  “Just returned from our Cruise on Celebrity Summit.  In and out of St. Maarten with stops in Barbados and Grenada. Next stops were Curaçao, and then Aruba.  Great weeklong getaway.  All passengers had to be vaccinated and proof of negative COVID tests coming and upon disembarking from the ship.  Only 300 passengers on board. They redid the ship and it’s a really nice upgrade.  We were in the Retreat section and in a suite.”

Somnio:   A ultra-luxurious residential yacht!  Tillberg Design of Sweden  has been appointed lead architect for master planning and interior concepts for Somnio, which features 39 onboard apartments with amenities.   The name Somnio derives from Latin, meaning “to dream”..

Shipyards are facing an almost overwhelming demand for slots as many cruise ships need refits & refurbishing before returning to service in the months ahead.

Norwegian Cruise Lines:  The innovative Norwegian Prima was recently floated out at a Fincantieri shipyard in Italy.   

The 142,500-ton Norwegian Prima is a very interesting looking  mega-ship.  She is the first of 6 Leonardo Class liners for NCL – and with options for 2 more.   The 965-ft long ship can carry 3,215 passengers and is designed for both North American & European cruising.

Sat Aug 14th Carnival:  Twenty-six crew members and one passenger have tested positive for Covid 19 aboard a Carnival cruise ship that departed this week from Galveston, Texas. The Carnival Vista  was carrying 2,895 passengers and 1,441 crew members, the Belize Tourism Board announced on Wednesday ahead of the cruiseship’s arrival.  All of the 27 people who contracted Covid 19 were vaccinated but had breakthrough cases that were either “​​asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms.  

Below:  From my old shoe box – Carnival Cruise Lines’ first ship, the Mardi Gras, in 1972;   she was the former Empress of Canada

Finest thanks to friends, readers, reporters & those faraway “maritime secret agents”

LIVES OF THE LINERS: CRUISING & CRUISE SHIPS – AUGUST 9, 2021

Above:  Cruising in Alaska’s Glacier Bay on the Fairsea of Sitmar Cruises (Jul 1976)

From Bill Miller

Update:  August 2021

Sun Aug 1^st Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas had 6 positive cases of Covid on their recent roundtrip cruise from Nassau.  In the same cruise area, the Crystal Serenity reported 2 cases.

Portugal:  The Portuguese government has announced a staged plan to lift restrictions, with all current limits being removed by Oct 2021.

Greece:  Andreas Potamianos, one of Greece’s most prominent shipowners, passed away on Friday at the age of 88.   His family owned the Epirotiki Lines, a popular Greek isles & Eastern Mediterranean cruise line, and later Royal Olympic Cruises (from a merger with the Sun Line).    Epirotiki itself is said to have run the very first Greek isles cruise from Piraeus back in 1954.  Among the Company’s earliest ships was the “cuising yacht” Argonaut (below), a ship also well known for her charter cruises to the Smithsonian Museum.

Tue Aug 3^rd The cruise industry’s accelerated restart is continuing in August as 190 cruise ships representing 65 different brands will operate with guests aboard,  The 190 ships represent over 275,000 berths at full occupancy. The ships are an average size of approximately 1,500 guests each. It was a positive end to the month of July, with Norwegian Cruise Line relaunching operation, Carnival’s new Mardi Gras sailing, and the Allure of the Seas (below) completing a test cruise for Royal Caribbean International, while Dream Cruises and Genting relaunched service in Hong Kong.

MSC Cruises:  The MSC Meraviglia (below right) has become the latest MSC cruise ship to welcome guests onboard again after the pandemic when she sailed last night out of PortMiami, Florida.  MSC Cruises said that this is a key milestone as part of the line’s global plan to have more than half of its fleet back at sea by the end of this summer, following the line’s initial restart in the Mediterranean in August 2020 and over the past several months the return at sea of more of its ships across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, the UK, the Red Sea and now in the Caribbean out of the U.S.

Lindblad:  After resuming ship operations in June, by end-July Lindblad Expeditions had eight of nine vessels in service. Bookings for 2022 are 36% ahead of the bookings for 2021 a year prior.

Princess: The Majestic Princess returned to Seattle last weekend, concluding its sailing to Alaska and marking the first successful United States voyage for Princess Cruises following the extended pause in operations.

Farewell Sydney

Carnival:    The $1 ½ billion Mardi Gras arrived in San Juan on her first visit today.   The Company announced:  “As part of Carnival Cruise Line’s highly anticipated return to guest operations, the line’s newest and most innovative ship Mardi Gras [below] arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, today, marking the ship’s first port of call on its maiden voyage. The Mardi Gras is also the first cruise ship to stop in San Juan in 16 months.”

Thu Aug 5^th More from Carnival saying that bookings for future cruises soared in March, April & May – jumping by 45%.   Carnival also revealed that nearly 50% of its canceled cruise passengers opted for credit rather than a refund.

Royal Caribbean revealed that all of its Jul & Aug cruises were fully booked – if at reduced Covid capacities, of course.

Fri Aug 6^th Carnival, Royal Caribbean & Norwegian Cruise – the three largest cruise operators – were losing a combined $900 million per month during the pandemic.   Analysts suggest that it will probably take until 2023 for the three major players to start substantially reducing their debt.

Fri Aug 6^th Yet More from Carnival Cruise Line:  Yesterday, Carnival  changed its face covering and testing policies.  From Aug 7th, all guests will be required to wear face masks indoors. This includes elevators, shops, casinos, restaurant halls and queuing areas.  A spokesperson added, “In any (indoor) area where many people are gathered and when you’re not eating or drinking, we are going to require you to wear a face mask, and this is for all guests, not just those who are unvaccinated.”

Additionally, from Aug 14th, all cruises will require all guests to test negative for coronavirus within three days before the sailing.

Norwegian Cruise reported:  “Last week we reached a historic milestone in our Great Cruise Comeback with the successful commencement of our re-launch with the first ship in our fleet, the Norwegian Jade, sailing the Greek Isles. Tomorrow (Sat Aug 7^th)  will mark our first cruise in the United States in over 500 days as the Norwegian Encore sets sail from Seattle to Alaska.  The company expects to have approximately 40% of its fleet capacity operating by the end of the third quarter 2021 and approximately 75% by year-end 2021 with the full fleet expected to be back in operation by April 1, 2022.

Royal Caribbean:  What occupancy does Royal Caribbean Group need on its ships to be at a break even point for cashflow?  The answer:  Somewhere between 35 and 50 percent, depending on the ship.

Out of the old shoebox:   

Below:  A Sat morning in Aug 1969 at New York – the Michelangelo (left) departs with the Nieuw Amsterdam soon to follow

Thank you to all our readers, correspondents, those “agents” in faraway places! 

LIVES OF THE LINERS: CRUISING & CRUISE SHIPS – JULY 16, 2021 

From Bill Miller

July 17^th 2021

Mon Jul 12^th Norwegian Cruise Lines plans to resume cruises from New York in October.

Tue Jul 13^th Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) filed a lawsuit today against the surgeon general for the State of Florida.  The lawsuit challenges the state’s action of fining businesses that require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations ahead of Norwegian’s previously announced August 15^th  restart from Florida, where the line has promised 100 percent vaccinated sailings.

Royal Caribbean plans “test cruises” from Cape Liberty at Bayonne in August.

Wed Jul 14^th Crystal has scrubbed its program of summer & fall 10-night cruises from Antigua and instead reassigned the Crystal Symphony to 7-day Bermuda cruising from Boston and then from New York.

Cunard has axed its long winter world cruises and the Queen Mary 2 will now make winter voyages from New York – crossings as well as cruises – before resuming her original schedule in April.

Fri Jul 16^th Fred Olsen: Teething problems!  A technical issue has rendered Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Borealis unable to operate its five-night ‘Scenic Orkney & Faroes’ cruise set to depart from Liverpool on July 17^th.   The 68,000-ton Borealis is the HAL Rotterdam of 1998.

Canada is lifting its cruise ship ban effective Nov 1^st. 

Viking Ocean:  Our good friend and world class cruise expert Anne Kalosh tells us:  “Fincantieri’s Ancona yard today floated out Viking Mars, the eighth ship in a series for Viking Cruises and due for early 2022 delivery.  The Viking Mars will be named by godmother Lady Fiona Carnarvon, the eighth countess of Carnarvon, and spend its maiden season sailing in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe before embarking on voyages in Asia and Australia. Since 2013, Viking has offered travelers a variety of ways to experience life at Highclere Castle, home of the earl and countess of Carnarvon, and the filming location for Downton Abbey. For more than a year, Lady Carnarvon has welcomed viewers to Highclere Castle on Viking TV.”

Regent:  The hugely knowledgeable Anne also reports:  “Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 2024 world cruise sold out in 2 1/2 hours on July 14th, at fares ranging from $73,499 to $199,999 per person. This was the third year in a row for record-breaking world cruise sales at Regent. The line’s previous world cruise opening day record was set when the 2023 world cruise went on sale in September 2020.”

Carnival has resumed cruising from Galveston.

Out of the old shoebox:   

Above:  New York on a sunny August day in 1990 – the Eugenio Costa & QE2 are berthed while the Crystal Harmony approaches on her maiden  call;  Below:  A Tue morning arrival at Pier 90, New York for the Queen Elizabeth.  She had just arrived from a 5-day crossing from Southampton and Cherbourg.   The stern of the United States can be seen on the right.

Thank you to all our readers, correspondents, those “agents” in faraway places! 

LIVES OF THE LINERS: CRUISING & CRUISE SHIPS – July 4, 2021 

From Bill Miller

July 4^th 2021

Mon Jun 21^st Bits’n Pieces:  After confirming its service resumption in Alaska, Princess Cruises has announced its intent to return to service in other US ports, sailing from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale this fall.  By the Nov, eight big Princess  ships will be once again taking guests to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii and the California Coast. … Cruise lines are planning restarts in various phases in 2021, including a number of smaller European niche brands. … Although I won’t list them, some cruise lines are offering “insane” deals to recruit passengers following the long, otherwise very costly pandemic shutdown.

Tue Jun 22nd Holland America Line is gearing up to restart cruising out of Port of San Diego in California beginning with a season of cruises to Mexico, Hawaii and along the California coast aboard Koningsdam and Zuiderdam. The cruise line has expanded the season with the addition of six new cruise departures for Zuiderdam and two new cruises on Koningsdam, offering a total of 40 cruises from San Diego from Sep 2021 through Apr 2022. With the resumption of service on the West Coast, Holland America also is looking toward cruising in the Caribbean with four ships. All sailing roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the season will begin Oct 23rd 2021, with Nieuw Amsterdam. The ship will be joined by the new Rotterdam Nov 3, Eurodam Nov 14 and Nieuw Statendam Nov 21. Caribbean cruises range in length from four to 14 days, span the entire region and include a call at Half Moon Cay, Holland America Line’s private island.

Royal Caribbean International embarked on its first simulated voyage Sunday as the cruise industry continues moving in the direction of resuming regular sailings. Last Sunday, the 3,600-bed Freedom of the Seas welcomed employee volunteers on board at Port Miami.

Celebrity Cruises:  Excitement, anticipation, and awe. These three words captured the feeling of passengers and onlookers as Celebrity Apex sailed out of the Port of Athens, on Sat Jun 19^th, to begin her maiden voyage and first summer season in the Aegean. The much-anticipated sailing marks an historic moment for the company, which had originally planned to introduce its newest ship in late Mar 2020. Guests and fans of the brand have waited ever-since with huge anticipation to experience the fleet’s new flagship.

Wed Jun 23rd More Bits’n Pieces: Christmas-New Year holiday cruises are just about heavily wait-listed across the board. Travelers are anxious to get away. Disney, as example, is promising the best holiday trips yet! … Denmark: From Jun 26th, vaccinated cruise guests will be allowed to go ashore in Denmark without any restrictions.

P&O Cruises has announced its expected deployment and phased re-start plan for the remainder of 2021 and into early 2022.  The Britannia will begin the planned western Mediterranean itineraries on Sep 25^th  and the brand new Iona will start her Atlantic coast holidays from the same date. These cruises will follow the series of UK coastal cruises beginning in June.  The Ventura’s first cruises will be the planned program of Atlantic islands holidays from Oct 3rd.  Following the Mediterranean season, running until Oct, the Britannia will reposition to the Caribbean for her winter season as scheduled, followed by the Azura which will begin Caribbean fly/cruises slightly later than published from Dec 10^th. 

Thu Jun 24^th Carnival Cruise Line announced plans yesterday to grow its fleet by two additional ships by 2023, taking the delivery position of an Excel-class ship that had previously been assigned to sister line AIDA Cruises that will arrive in late 2023, as well as taking ownership of the Costa Magica from another of its European sister lines, with that ship going through a dry dock, renaming and Carnival-branded conversion and joining the fleet by mid-2022.

More News from Carnival Corp:  Eight cruise line brands from Carnival Corporation have announced plans to resume guest cruise operations, with AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Seabourn sailing in the United States, the Caribbean and Europe. The company said it expects to have 42 ships in service through the end of its fiscal year 2021 (Nov 30th), representing 52 percent of the company’s total capacity across its global fleet of 91 cruise ships.

Hurtigruten, best known for its Norwegian coastal service and expedition cruising, is heading into Galapagos cruising, having inked a deal with Metropolitan Touring to take guests to the region starting in Jan 2022. Hurtigruten now has a satellite: Hurtigruten Expeditions.

Sea Days!  While it is all a matter of choice, the well respected Cruise Critic has selected 8 ships for the “best days at sea”.  

When Royal Caribbean’s gargantuan and game-changing Oasis of the Seas debuted as the then-world’s largest ship in 2009, people wondered if anyone would bother to get off the ship in port, as it could take a week to try out all the onboard activities. With 24 dining options, 21 pools and hot tubs, multiple live performance venues (including an ice rink and AquaTheater for high-diving shows) and seven “neighborhoods,” the ship practically guarantees that no one will have trouble finding something to do.  Well, lots of cruise travelers prefer spending time onboard – including during port calls – and the top 8 cruise ships for “stay aboard” cruising are:

1. Norwegian Escape
2. Carnival Vista
3. Harmony of the Seas
4. Disney Fantasy
5. Queen Mary 2
6. Crystal Serenity
7. Celebrity Reflection
8. Regal Princess

Fri Jun 25^th Further News from Carnival:  “Our strategic decision to accelerate the exit of 19 ships has lowered our capacity growth to roughly 2.5% compounded annually from 2019 through 2025, that’s down from 4.5% pre-COVID,” said Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation, on the company’s second quarter earnings call on Thursday.  “Moreover, we have opportunistically rebalanced our portfolio through the ship exits as well as the ship transfer and a modification to our newbuild schedule, the combination of which will transfer 8,000 berths from our Continental European brands to America’s favorite cruise line, Carnival Cruise Line to optimize the current environment, maximize cash generation and improve our return on invested capital.”

For Sale!  Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises brand today announced the AIDAcara has been sold and will leave the fleet soon after 25 years in service for the German cruise brand. A buyer was not named.

Added News from AIDA:  AIDA Cruises has announced it will open the 2021 season at a third German cruise port, Hamburg, with AIDAmar on Jul 31^st.

Royal Caribbean:  Two young unvaccinated passengers on a Royal Caribbean International cruise out of the Bahamas tested positive for the coronavirus.  The passengers, who were younger than 16 and traveling in the same group, left the Adventure of the Seas before the end of the cruise on Thursday in Freeport with their companions. They returned home to Florida on a private flight arranged by the cruise company.

Single Travel:  Solo cruising is about to get a major upgrade on Atlas Ocean Voyages. The cruise line just unveiled its first Solo Suites – 183-square-foot escapes that travelers won’t have to pay extra for to get all to themselves. Each suite comes with a queen-sized bed, television, desk, mini fridge, and en suite bathroom featuring a rainfall shower. Most suites also have balconies from which to enjoy the expansive ocean views.

Sat Jun 26^th US Cruising:  When the Celebrity Edge departs Port Everglades today, it will mark the first revenue cruise with paying passengers on a large cruise ship sailing from a U.S. port in more than 15 months.   

Yes, it is all resuming – normalcy and step by step, cruise line by cruise line, ship by ship – bon voyage to all!

Out of the old shoebox:  A Saturday afternoon sailing from New York’s Pier 95 for the very popular Queen of Bermuda.  

Thank you to all our readers, correspondents, those “agents” in faraway places!