Oceania Reveals First Details of New Sonata Ship Class
Oceania Cruises recently revealed the initial details of its upcoming series of newbuilds, the Sonata class. Now under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, the first vessel in the class will be the Oceania Sonata. According to a press release, the ship is set to kick off its maiden season in the summer of…
Carnival Cruise Line Celebrates 35 Years at Port Canaveral
Carnival Cruise Line marked 35 years of cruises from Central Florida with a special celebration aboard its Mardi Gras on Saturday. Carnival began sailing from Port Canaveral in 1990, and has grown its operations over the years to homeport more ships than any other cruise line and embark more than 1.2 million guests from the…
Holland America: ’Free of Amusement Parks and 2,000 Extra Guests’
In its new marketing campaign, Holland America Line is taking a unique approach to differentiation by highlighting the qualities it doesn’t possess. The promotion plan is focused on the Caribbean and aims to highlight the company’s product, which is based on relaxed premium experiences onboard mid-sized cruise ships. Launched earlier this month, the “Refreshingly Free”…
Mitsui Ocean Cruises to Retire Nippon Maru in 2026
Mitsui Ocean Cruises announced the upcoming retirement of the cruise line’s 422-guest Nippon Maru. The cruise ship will officially retire from the fleet on May 10, 2026, in Yokohama. The ship first entered service in 1990 and has since traveled 2,877,642 nautical miles – approximately 133 times around the earth – sailing over 2,000 cruises,…
Asuka III Arrives in Japan Ahead of Maiden Season
The new Asuka III arrived in Japan earlier this week after her long journey from Europe to Asia. Built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany, the new Asuka Cruise ship arrived at the port of Yokohama on June 2, 2025. The LNG-powered vessel is now getting ready to embark on its inaugural season in…
Princess: Sapphire to Join Diamond in Asia for 2026-27 Winter
The Sapphire Princess is set to join the Diamond Princess for Princess Cruises’ 2026-27 winter season in Asia. The sister ships will offer a series of ten- to 42-night itineraries to destinations in the Far East and Southeast Asia including Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea. Nearly 20 unique itineraries will be offered by the…
New AIDA Ships to Run on Multiple Fuels
The new AIDA Cruises ships will be equipped with multi-fuel engines that will be able to run on multiple fuels, the company’s CEO, Felix Eichhorn, said. This means that the ships will run on LNG when they enter service but will be ready to operate on bio-LNG, e-LNG, or e-methanol in the future, he explained…
Mein Schiff Flow Launched at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone Shipyard
Fincantieri and TUI Cruises have launched the new Mein Schiff Flow, the second ship in the InTUItion class, at the Monfalcone shipyard. The ship is designed for dual-fuel operation using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Marine Gas Oil (MGO), and is the sister ship to the Mein Schiff Relax, which was delivered in February. The…
MSC to Add Yacht Club to Magnifica During Big Drydock
MSC Cruises has announced the MSC Magnifica will get its Yacht Club concept later this year as part of significant onboard enhancements that will also see the introduction of a new spa and gym. What the company called a substantial drydock refurbishment will be undertaken to transform some of the vessel’s public spaces. Sales opened…
MSC Opera To Sail Year-Round in South Caribbean
MSC Cruises has announced that the MSC Opera will operate year-round in the South Caribbean beginning in winter 2026-27 through summer 2027. This marks the first time the cruise line will deploy a ship in the region during the summer season. For the winter 2026-27 season, the MSC Opera will be joined by the MSC…
Queen Anne Completes First Year of Service for Cunard
The Queen Anne is set to mark its first year in service for Cunard after being delivered on April 19, 2024. As the 249th ship to sail under the company’s flag, the 3,000-guest ship was built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy. After sailing to its homeport in Southampton with no passengers onboard, the…
AIDA: All Sphinx Class to Undergo Evolution Program Drydocks by 2028
AIDA Cruises’ CEO Felix Eichhorn confirmed that all seven Sphinx Class ships are scheduled to undergo refits as part of the AIDA Evolution program. In an interview with the Hamburger Abendblatt, he said that as part of the initiative all the vessels will be modernized by 2028. The first ship to undergo a refit as…
German Market Growth to be Driven by TUI
The cruise brands catering to the national German market are forecast to grow their annual capacity to 2.5 million passengers by 2033, up from an estimated capacity of 2.1 million this year (double occupancy), according to the 2025 Cruise Industry News Annual Report. The growth will mainly be driven by TUI Cruises which is launching…
First Look at Royal Caribbean’s New Star of the Seas
Royal Caribbean International recently released the first pictures of its upcoming new ship, the Star of the Seas. Currently under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, the LNG-powered vessel will be the second in the company’s Icon-class series. In the newly released pictures, the Star of the Seas is seen heading to open…
MSC Orders Two More World Class Ships
MSC Cruises today ordered two more LNG-powered 5,400-guest World Class vessels from Chantiers de l’Atlantique to complement the four already delivered or under construction. The two new orders, currently referred to as World Class 5 and 6, will be delivered in 2029 and 2030, respectively. The World Class 5 and 6 will join MSC World…