Cruise News

The four panellists at the World Travel Market's Cruise Forum in London were keen to show off their shiny new ships to a packed audience today - although as they had to admit, none is actually exhibiting at the country's biggest travel trade show. Royal Caribbean's Jo Rzymowska is about to fly to Fort Lauderdale for the launch of the biggest cruise ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas. Norwegian Cruise Lines' Stephen Parker can hardly wait for the arrival of Norwegian Epic next June. Andy Magowan of Yachts of Seabourn has seen Seabourn Odyssey launched this year and [...]

How delicious is this? At a press conference to be held at World Travel Market in London later today, Costa Cruises will announce that their newest ship, Costa Deliziosa, will be named at a ceremony in Dubai on February 23. The naming ceremony will take place during the ship's inaugural cruise which leaves Savona, in Italy, on February 5. Deliziosa will be in Dubai from February 23 to 26 and passengers on the first leg of the maiden cruise will be able to attend the christening ceremony. The Costa Deliziosa, carrying up to 2,826 passengers is currently being fitted out [...]

Even the biggest cruise ship in the world is not immune to the weather, and Royal Caribbean have announced today that Oasis of the Seas is going to be arriving in its Florida home port two days behind schedule, thanks to storms in the Atlantic. The 220,000-ton vessel is on its way from Finland and chairman and CEO Richard Fain reported earlier this week that his new pride and joy had encountered winds of up to 70 mph (anything above 74mph is hurricane-force) and 40-foot waves. He struck a confident note, however, saying the ship was riding the seas well, [...]

It's not often these days that a British shipyard gets involved in work on a cruise ship - the glory days of Swan Hunter, John Brown, and Harland & Wolff are long gone. But today it was announced that Swansea Dry Dock has won a £20 million deal to refit Saga Cruises' new ship, converting the Astoria into Saga Pearl II, and providing 300 jobs during the three-month contract. The ship has been in the Welsh port since arriving from Gibraltar some weeks ago. Saga bought the 18,500-ton vessel at auction to replace the Saga Rose, which is currently sailing [...]

Fabulous . . . and fascinating: that's what the 16th and 17th cruise ships in the Costa fleet will be. Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa are the names chosen after travel agents and passengers were asked to suggest "a sea of names". Today's announcement comes just in time for the keel-laying ceremony for Favolosa at the Fincantieri shipyard near Venice on Thursday. The two ships, each of 114,500 tons and carrying 3,3780 passengers, will enter service in summer 2011 and spring 2012. Before then the Costa Deliziosa will be launched next February, confirming Costa's place as the biggest cruise line [...]

Passengers heading for home after leaving a cruise or arriving at a ship to start their holiday might wonder what's involved in turning round a giant liner in the space of a few hours, but never get a chance to look behind the scenes. Anyone wanting an insight into the hectic activities that occur between a ship entering port at dawn and setting out again before dusk should read the fascinating blog entry by Nigel Travis, currently standing in as Cruise Director on P&O's Oriana. The ship arrived in Southampton on Wednesday after a Transatlantic crossing from the Caribbean, and [...]