Cruise News

Carnival Cruise Lines has confirmed a £200 million investment programme to improve power supply and safety its 24 ships, following incidents in which passengers were left without power and with limited bathroom facilities. Every ship will have an additional emergency generator installed to ensure that 100 per cent of cabin and public toilets, fresh water supply and lifts will continue to operate in the "unlikely event" of a loss of main power. Once the initial phase is complete, the company will instal a second permanent back-up power system on each ship to provide an even greater level of hotel and [...]

A tour bus carrying 55 cruise ship passengers - including 10 from Britain - was held up at gunpoint during an excursion on the Caribbean island of St Lucia. The group, which also included two members of crew from Celebrity Eclipse, was on a tour to the botanical gardens in Soufriere. Reports say three masked gunmen took cash and jewellery from the passengers. A statement from Celebrity Cruises said no-one was injured during the incident and all passengers returned to the ship unharmed. St. Lucia Tourist Board Chairman Mathew Beaubrun said the robbery was a "rare incident." The Celebrity spokesperson [...]

Italian prosecutors have accepted a plea bargain from Costa Crociere and have imposed a €1 million fine to settle potential criminal charges against the company in relation to the capsize of Costa Concordia in January 2012. The company had been under investigation as the employer of the crew of the ship which hit a rock off the island of Giglio, resulting in 32 deaths. Prosecutors now say they are satisfied with a preliminary court ruling and will not proceed with a criminal trial against Costa. However, the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, still faces charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and [...]

A 72-year-old cruise passenger shot during a visit to Barbados last month returned home this week with a bullet still lodged in his leg. But Philip Prior and his wife Ann, 59, say they have not been deterred from travelling and are already looking at plans for a trip to Australia. The Priors, from Suffolk, were on a three-month cruise aboard P&O's Adonia when they were attacked during a day visit to Bridgetown. They were returning to the ship from a Commonwealth Day service in the capital's St Michael's Cathedral. Robbers stole Mrs Prior's bag during the attack. She was [...]