It’s time for an additional version of Cruise Hive’s Cruise Information Replace, recapping the highest cruise tales of the previous week. This week we’ve protection from Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Holland America Line, and the Port of Nassau.
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Carnival Explains Lack of Formal Service
There was a time, just a few many years again, when cruise ships had formal put on retailers onboard their ships, the place males might lease tuxedos and varied equipment for Formal Nights, and purchase recent flowers for his or her companions.
Cruisers don’t discover these retailers onboard anymore. Why? Nicely, Carnival Cruise Line Model Ambassador John Heald took a stroll down the Formal Night time reminiscence lane just lately, when a visitor posted a query on his widespread Fb web page asking whether or not the road nonetheless has tux rental locations.
The reply was no, as a result of the areas previously used for formal evening leases have been reworked into extra profitable enterprises. Actually, on Carnival Cruise Line ships, these areas are actually Cherry on High sweet retailers. Additionally, Formal Nights have been altered significantly in recent times, with apparel solutions a lot much less strict.
Heald’s reminiscences of these earlier instances onboard cruise ships embody the period when an outfit referred to as Hong Kong Tailors occupied area on the road’s ships. It specialised in custom-made males’s fits, and Heald ordered one for himself. At $100 it was a discount.
Nonetheless, that enterprise disappeared, too, with the rise of “Hong Kong Sars” within the early 2000s. Today, anybody wanting to decorate up in a tuxedo must deliver his personal.
New Arrivals File For Port of Nassau
The Port of Nassau, Bahamas, continues to develop by leaps and bounds. With the 2024 cruise arrivals numbers tallied, the port welcomed 5.6 million cruise passengers.
That’s 1.2 million greater than in 2023 and almost 2.5 million greater than in 2022.
The port can accommodate seven mega-ships at a time, and 6 of these berths can deal with Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships, every of which has capability for greater than 5,500 company, double occupancy, and as much as 6,700 with all berths occupied.
The Nassau port on March 12, 2024 marked a milestone when it hosted a report seven ships and 20,000 company in someday. The ships included Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and Imaginative and prescient of the Seas; Sea Cloud’s Sea Cloud Spirit; Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Paradise, Carnival Liberty, and Carnival Elation; and Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Want.
Cruise visitor arrivals add mightily to the income that ports and surrounding companies get pleasure from. In Nassau, the 2024 annual tourism revenues reached $2.6 billion, with a lot of it trickling right down to native tour operators, eating places, and retailers.
Following a $300 million improve in 2023, the Port of Nassau is planning to construct a $35 million water park as a consequence of open in late 2025.
Carnival Conquest’s Velocity Difficulty Prompts Late Arrival
A 3-night getaway cruise aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Conquest, crusing out of PortMiami on January 3, 2025, changed into a barely prolonged voyage as a consequence of a propulsion concern that slowed down the 23-year-old ship.
Carnival Conquest, with capability for two,900 company, returned to her Miami dock at 10:30 a.m. on January 6, 2025, just a few hours later than scheduled. A late arrival disrupts not solely the forward-travel plans of company onboard the ship, resembling air flights residence, but in addition the embarkation of the subsequent batch of cruisers.
A discover to company booked on the ship’s subsequent crusing suggested delaying their arrival on the cruise terminal by three hours.
The cruise had one port name, at Nassau, Bahamas, and it wasn’t instantly clear when the ship’s pace concern developed.
Carnival Conquest has not reported propulsion issues earlier than this incident, however different ships within the fleet have had points.
Carnival Liberty, a sister ship to Carnival Conquest, skilled a pace downside throughout a November 2024 cruise that precipitated a late return to her homeport in New Orleans.
Additionally, Carnival Vista cancelled a cruise in September 2024 as a consequence of pace issues and skilled delays in October 2024. All three ships are within the line’s Vista class.
Norwegian Epic Waves Bye-Bye to Corfu
For causes unknown, Norwegian Cruise Line has cancelled Norwegian Epic’s scheduled port calls to the Greek island of Corfu in 2025. The ship was to have visited the island 17 instances throughout its Could to October deployment.
Rather than Corfu, the ship will as a substitute name at Katakolon. Moreover, Norwegian Epic company have been notified that different port calls have been adjusted. A Santorini name, as an illustration, was modified from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. relatively than the initially deliberate 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In that case, company would possibly benefit from the vacation spot extra, since they’ll stay within the vacation spot into the night hours, maybe eating on native delicacies at an island restaurant because the solar slides beneath the Aegean Sea.
Shore excursions booked for Corfu are being robotically cancelled and refunded, and any shore excursions impacted by the adjustments in port arrival and departure instances are also being altered.
The Greek authorities permitted a brand new set of charges it should cost to cruise company, as cruise tourism to the islands has soared in recent times. Corfu welcomed 815,000 cruise company in 2024, setting a report, and the federal government charge to go to that island is now €5 per individual.
It’s uncertain, nevertheless, that the brand new tax is the explanation why Norwegian Cruise Line scrapped the port.
Princess Cruises Nixes 2026 Caribbean Crusing
Friends who booked a September 2026 Southern Caribbean cruise aboard Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess must make new plans. The cruise line has cancelled the 14-night voyage that was to have sailed roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale.
The ship was set to depart on September 5, 2026 and name at Curacao, Aruba, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, St. Maarten, and Puerto Rico.
Princess Cruises instructed booked company that adjustments in its deployment program was the reason for the cancellation. For the reason that ship’s earlier cruise, a 7-night Jap Caribbean voyage, and her subsequent scheduled voyage, a 7-night Western Caribbean, are unaffected, it’s doable that the cruise line is benefiting from a 14-day constitution alternative.
The cruise cancellation additionally could possibly be as a consequence of a upkeep schedule. The three,560-guest ship has had latest bouts of engine issues that wanted restore.
All reservations have been cancelled and the cruise line urged different crusing choices for impacted company. The three,560-guest Majestic Princess will function a 12-day Southern Caribbean voyage from New York to Fort Lauderdale on November 7, 2026. The cruise will name at St. Maarten, Curacao, Aruba, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia.
One other alternative is a 14-night Caribbean cruise onboard Caribbean Princess, departing from Port Canaveral on September 6, 2026. The three,100-guest ship sails a 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary, returns to Port Canaveral, then embarks on an Jap Caribbean voyage.
Bumpy Roll-Out For Norwegian Cruise Line App
The Norwegian Cruise Line App that rolled out in August 2024 has formally changed its older app, which was shut down on January 1, 2025. However because the transition, some cruise company have complained that the brand new app is not so good as the previous one.
The app is designed to allow company to verify in on-line, ebook eating and leisure reservations, entry their cabins, purchase shore excursions, and deal with different onboard life-style duties.
Up till the brand new yr, company might entry each the outdated and the brand new apps, and now, some say the outdated one was higher. The brand new app was reviewed by customers on the App Retailer and Google Play, and others posted their opinions on social media. Among the many frustrations was a protracted load time, they mentioned.
The cruise line acknowledged there had been a technical concern with the brand new app however mentioned it has been resolved.
General, evaluations are blended, with some company reporting issues with choosing and saving actions into a private calendar whereas others say the brand new app capabilities higher than the outdated one.
Two Virus Outbreaks Hit Cruise Ships in Early 2025
Cruise watchers know that 2024 was a foul yr for virus outbreaks, resembling norovirus, on cruise ships, and it seems like 2025 is continuous the sad development.
For the reason that new yr turned, two outbreaks have already got been reported to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, one onboard a Holland America Line ship and one other on an Oceania Cruises’ ship.
At Holland America Line, Eurodam set sail on a New 12 months’s cruise on December 30, 2024 from Fort Lauderdale. She returned on schedule on January 8, 2025 after 86 company and eight crew members got here down with norovirus.
Signs can embody vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, and fever. The two,139-guest ship had referred to as at Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.
Oceania Cruises’ 639-guest Nautica reported a gastrointestinal sickness outbreak on January 3, 2025. The ship had departed from PortMiami on December 23, 2024 on a vacation cruise to Los Angeles.
The vessel arrived on time on January 8, 2025 after visiting locations within the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Central America.
The road reported that 15 company and 16 crew members had taken unwell. Following an intense cleansing, Nautica departed on January 8, 2025 for her 180-day world cruise from Los Angeles.
Extra Cruise Headlines
Cruise Hive has loads extra essential cruise information tales you received’t wish to miss, together with Azamara Cruises’ new 188-day World Cruise in 2027; the merger of two cruise strains in Europe; record-breaking cruise arrivals in USVI; luxurious line Cunard returning to Alaska in 2026; and Holland America Line unveiling its Asia program for 2026-27.
