It’s straightforward to remain on prime of vital cruise developments by studying Cruise Hive every single day, however simply in case you’ve missed one thing, right here’s our newest version of Cruise Information Replace. This week’s recap has protection from Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, and PortMiami, the Cruise Capital of the World.
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Royal Caribbean Provides Homeport in The Golden State
Royal Caribbean is banking huge on California in 2026 and 2027, including a brand new homeport — San Diego, and basing 4 mega-ships in Los Angeles.
The two,490-guest Serenade of the Seas will sail from San Diego beginning in October 2026 and persevering with via the winter 2027 season. Three-, 4-, and 7-night itineraries are provided to locations alongside the Mexican Riviera.
In Los Angeles, Quantum of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas, each with double occupancy capability for five,000 company; the 4,000-guest Navigator of the Seas; and the three,600-guest Voyager of the Seas will sail a number of itineraries of as much as 8 nights in the course of the summer season and winter seasons.
Locations visited from each ports embody Cabo San Lucas, Ensenada, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Catalina Island.
Additionally, La Paz will probably be a brand new port name for Serenade of the Seas, marking the primary time Royal Caribbean has included the vacation spot on a voyage. The ship’s maiden name to La Paz will probably be a celebratory occasion. The entire California-based cruises have opened for bookings.
Rubber Geese: Cruisers Both Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em
Carnival Cruise Line Model Ambassador John Heald reached out to his 1000’s of followers on Fb asking why so many company need the rubber duck sport banned.
For these readers who could also be oblivious to the innocent sport, Cruisers disguise small rubber geese round their ship for others to seek out. Those that uncover a duck can disguise it some place else, for another person to seek out, or maintain onto it as a souvenir.
Though some company have instructed that the road ban the sport, Heald has already said that won’t occur. Some company replied to his put up, with various opinions on the controversy.
One admitted he’s not into the “duck factor,” however has no objection to others having fun with the sport. One other posited that company who complain concerning the duck sport accomplish that solely as a result of they haven’t been fortunate sufficient to seek out considered one of their very own.
Acknowledging the recognition of the sport, Carnival Cruise Line not too long ago took it to a brand new stage by including a “Ducky the Duck” character onboard its ships for the needs of photograph ops for his or her duck-loving company.
Taxi Travesty Journeys Up Cruisers at Port Canaveral
At all times decide on the fare — or at the least know the mileage cost, earlier than getting right into a taxi. That was a lesson discovered the laborious means for a pair who not too long ago disembarked Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas at Port Canaveral.
Capable of get off the ship sooner than anticipated, the couple had an hour to attend for his or her pre-scheduled Uber trip, they wrote in a Reddit put up. So that they cancelled that reserving and as an alternative accepted a trip from a driver already on the port, nevertheless, he would grow to be a scammer.
As soon as arrived at their vacation spot — Orlando, about 60 miles from the port, the couple was introduced with the scammer’s invoice, a whopping $345. The Uber trip would have price round $120.
Ultimately, the couple paid the scammer $100 in money, grabbed their suitcases and shortly left the scene. Whereas they didn’t really pay the scammer’s worth, they described their expertise as a warning to others.
Carnival Sunshine Begins Service From Norfolk
Carnival Cruise Line started working year-round from Norfolk, with the three,700-guest Carnival Sunshine launching a sequence of Caribbean and Bahamas cruises from the Virginia port.
Beforehand, the three,690-guest Carnival Magic provided solely seasonal voyages. That ship is now crusing from PortMiami.
The choice to base Carnival Sunshine at Norfolk was made again in 2022. The ship not too long ago emerged from a scheduled dry dock and is crusing 5-, 6-, and 8-night voyages to the Jap Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda. Come September 2025, the ship will function a port name to Celebration Key, Carnival’s new personal vacation spot within the Bahamas set to open in July 2025.
Norfolk expects to welcome about 150,000 cruise arrivals every year because of the presence of Carnival Sunshine, which the town believes will probably be a boon to the native economic system. The port has been making ready for the ship’s arrival by investing $12 million within the Half Moone Cruise Heart.
Upgrades embody the addition of air-conditioned seating areas for as much as 600 company, and a sloped walkway from the cruise heart’s second flooring to the luggage pick-up space.
‘Get to Know’ Your Favourite Carnival Cruise Director
Carnival Cruise Line company — previous, current, and future, now have an opportunity to go behind the scenes and study all about their ships’ cruise administrators. Cruise administrators, in spite of everything, play an important position in setting the tone of a Enjoyable Ship trip and within the course of grow to be recognized to many company on every crusing.
Fleet Cruise Director Lee Mason has launched a YouTube video sequence that focuses on the road’s cruise administrators. Mason is a former Carnival cruise director and, as fleet cruise director, is concerned in coaching and supervising administrators throughout a number of ships.
His “Get to Know” sequence consists of 5- to 10-minute interviews with varied cruise administrators. The primary within the sequence launched on February 10, 2025 and featured Gary Blair, at the moment serving aboard Carnival Miracle.
It seems that Blair is an accordion participant, has a penchant for Scottish dancing, and is a giant fan of actuality TV. So tune into the Mason’s sequence and search for your favourite Carnival Cruise Line cruise director.
New Carnival Cruise Line Reward Makes Packing Simpler
Cruisers who’re Platinum and Diamond stage members of Carnival Cruise Line’s Very Essential Enjoyable Individual (VIFP) loyalty program will quickly have a brand new reward to get pleasure from once they board their subsequent Carnival cruise: packing cubes.
The cubes are zippered luggage designed to carry private gadgets inside a chunk of baggage. They’ve already rolled out aboard Carnival Jubilee and will probably be made out there throughout the fleet by early March, Model Ambassador John Heald revealed on his Fb web page.
Loyalty membership members usually are recipients of particular items from cruise traces. Carnival Cruise Line’s newest reward, in October 2024, was a baseball cap.
Loyalty membership members earn factors for every day they sail on a Carnival Cruise Line ship. The Platinum stage requires 75 factors, whereas Diamond standing is reached at 200 factors.
Cruisers can gather their reward by visiting the Pixels Photograph Gallery onboard their cruise ship. Their title and membership stage standing will probably be checked in opposition to an inventory of eligible passengers.
PortMiami Data Busiest Cruise Day Ever
On a typical day at PortMiami, the world’s busiest cruise port, one can look forward to finding 5 or 6 cruise ships embarking and debarking company, however on February 8, 2025, the port had 10 ships docked, making it the busiest day within the port’s historical past.
The ships on the port that day have been Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Dawn and Carnival Magic; Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and Icon of the Seas; Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Gem; MSC Cruises’ MSC Seascape; Oceania Cruises’ Sirena; Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Girl; and Holland America Line’s Zaandam.
All advised, the passengers transiting the port from all the ships mixed got here to a dizzying 68,000.
The ships working on the port that day have been certain for varied locations and areas of the Caribbean. Icon of the Seas, for example, the world’s largest cruise ship, was boarding company for a 7-night Jap Caribbean cruise to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Excellent Day at CocoCay, whereas Zaandam was departing on a 27-night voyage to the Amazon.
Extra Cruise Headlines
These have been only a handful of cruise information developments from the previous week, and we’ve acquired a lot extra on Cruise Hive. Try our protection on Costa Cruises unveiling its 2027 World Cruise; Norwegian Cruise Line and its sister manufacturers including a well-liked on-line fee possibility; Princess Cruises increasing its Alaska cruisetours; a brand new residential cruise ship revealing its inside design; and a Royal Caribbean visitor suing the road after a jet ski accident.
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