You’ve probably danced the Tennessee Waltz, but it’s not likely you’ve ever had a chance to sail the Tennessee River. American Cruise Lines is inaugurating eight-day cruises on a river seldom explored with new eight-day Tennessee River cruises between Nashville and Chattanooga. Guests will visit towns in the winding Tennessee Valley through the Appalachian Mountains.
Celebrity Cruises has unveiled for the first details about what travellers can experience on board the brand’s newest resort at sea, Celebrity Ascent, when it sets sail this December out of Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A ship designed for exploration of the seas was christened by the first woman to walk in space. Accompanied by Scenic Group owners Glen and Karen Moroney, NASA Astronaut Dr. Kathryn Sullivan christened one of the world’s most technologically advanced ultra-luxury yachts, Scenic Eclipse II in Málaga, Spain.
A marine conservation charity and Inuit hunters are praising cruise operators for agreeing to avoid a Nunavut waterway where thousands of narwhal migrate each summer.
MSC Cruises may still have only the third-largest cruise fleet in the world, but it keeps expanding in grand fashion. At a ceremony in France, the cruise division of MSC Group took delivery of its 22nd ship, MSC Euribia. It’s the final evolution of the line’s popular Meraviglia class and the second ship for MSC Cruises to be powered by Liquefied Natural Gas.
After three years of construction and a cost of $300 million, the reimagined Nassau Cruise Port has opened its doors to cruisers, not only offering enhanced service for cruises to the Bahamas’ capital city, but ushering in a regeneration of the city’s downtown core.
A Carnival cruise ship that navigated rough seas off the South Carolina coast over the Memorial Day weekend “terrifying” passengers has resumed sailing on its next cruise, the cruise line says
Carnival Pride is embarked Sunday on her first sailing of the Europe summer season, sporting the signature Carnival red, white, and blue hull design for the first time, after undergoing extensive enhancements that include bow-to-stern upgrades to enhance accessibility on the ship for guests with disabilities.
When Oceania Cruises launched Vista in this month, the cruise line set a new global standard for the upper-premium category of cruise ships. Designed with evolutionary style concepts and substantial luxe elements, the 1,200-passenger Vista – Oceania’s first new build in over a decade, and first of the Allura class vessels – approaches the luxury level of sister brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Both are owned by Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
The new Crystal is setting a global course for 2024, planning extended cruises to iconic and off-the-beaten-track destinations around the world while almost never repeating a port. The luxury line’s two ships will both be globe-trotters, highlighted by a 141-night world cruise on Crystal Serenity as well as a series of unique Grand Journeys ranging from 37 to 68 nights.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has dismissed three cabin crew members after a passenger accused them of discriminating against non-English speakers, in a case that drew criticism from Chinese state media.
Staying connected on expeditions to remote locales or even on a leisurely sail in the Caribbean is becoming easier this year as cruise lines swap their old satellite equipment for the speedier Starlink system.
Cunard has announced its Winter 2025 program, offering over 133 voyages, with stops at 159 unique destinations around the globe. The luxury cruise line also revealed that its highly anticipated Queen Anne will be the only one of vessels to offer a full World Voyage in 2025.
River cruises are creating waves across the industry, helping to lead travel’s comeback. Avalon Waterways is coming off its strongest first quarter sales season ever. From witnessing a surge in bookings across France on the Seine and Rhône, to the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, to sell-out status on special interest cruises, Avalon Waterways is adding
You can actually take a cruise from Duluth, Minnesota, all the way to Antarctica. And the ports along the route include Thunder Bay, Parry Sound, Windsor, Cleveland and Toronto. There’s never been a cruise itinerary like it before, and the 71-day cruise that starts in Lake Superior in September is only one of a series of Longitudinal World Cruises being innovated by Viking Cruises as two of its new expedition ships explore the Great Lakes.
When Oceania Cruises christened its newest ship Vista against the ancient walls of Valletta, Malta on the evening of May 8, the glittering ceremony celebrated more than the line’s first Allura Class vessel, its first new ship in the decade. With auspicious timing, marking 20 years since Frank J. Del Rio founded Oceania with visionary ingenuity, Del Rio is retiring as president/CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Luxury cruise brand Cunard celebrated a construction milestone last week with the float out of Queen Anne at the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard in Venice, Italy. The 249th ship to sail under the Cunard flag, Queen Anne officially touched water for the first time exactly 365 days before she will set sail on her maiden voyage to Lisbon on May 3, 2024.
In the not-too-distant past, asking for a vegan or vegetarian option on a cruise might have been greeted with a choice of a plate of steamed vegetables or a green salad. But increasingly, cruise lines are rolling out daily vegetarian menus and many are including vegan options for each course.
The first member of the three-vessel Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection fleet, Evrima, finally began accepting passengers in October 2022. I was on the christening cruise, which left Lisbon Nov. 5, for Funchal, Tenerife, and Barbados. It was a 13-day indulgence, which, for some of my fellow travellers, meant sipping champagne from breakfast to bedtime.
Every day’s a holiday is the promise of Life at Sea Cruises. There’s always that moment as you pack up to go home from your cruise when the thought comes up : Why does this have to end? That’s why there’s usually a future cruise desk located conveniently near the reception area.
With Seabourn marking a major construction milestone for its second purpose-built expedition vessel Seabourn Pursuit with a traditional coin ceremony at Italian shipyard this month, there was no better time for the company to call in Canada for sessions with the trade to highlight the cruise line’s growing expedition travel segment.
Quebec’s international cruise season industry kicked off Sunday with the arrival of the Viking Octantis in the Magdalen Islands, and by the time it concludes Nov. 5 with a visit of Silverseas’ Silver Shadow to Quebec, it is expected to have been the longest season in history.
It’s so sleek it cuts effortlessly through waves and headwinds. It’s powered by emission-free fuel cells and wind turbines, while photo cells in its glass produce more than enough juice for all the ship’s electrical needs. It’s called Reverse, but it’s a look far into the future by engineers at Germany’s Meyer Group working on ideas to create a totally self-sufficient ecologically friendly cruise ship.
Viking reports its newest ship for the Nile River – the 82-guest Viking Aton – has been “floated out,” marking a major construction milestone and the first time the ship has touched water. Set to debut in August, the Viking Aton will help serve surging demand for the destination, resulting in the cruise company selling out its 2023 season.
The lobby of Explora 1 evokes comparisons to the luxury of a grand European hotel. The itineraries speak of extraordinary adventures with whimsical names like Glacier Carved Islands or the Valley of Mischievous Trolls.
The first cruise ship of the season – the Sapphire Princess – arrived in Vancouver yesterday, officially kicking off what is expected to be a record season for the industry in BC. A total of 331 cruise ships visits are scheduled for the Canada Place cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver between April 12 and Oct. 24, destined to bring more than a million visitors to the city.
Royal Caribbean Group announced that Laura Hodges Bethge will be the next president of Celebrity Cruises, taking over from Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, who will transition to Vice Chair, External Affairs for Royal Caribbean Group, effective May 01.
Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that cruise industry veteran John Chernesky will succeed Todd Hamilton as the Brand’s Sr. VP of Sales for North America, as Hamilton steps into a new strategic role as Sr. VP of New Ventures at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
You can’t keep a good dragon down. Hong Kong is aiming to reach new heights now that it has fully reopened, and officials at a cruise conference promised cruise passengers will find more than ever before when they visit.
As might be expected, optimism reigned at a conference of the cruise community that predicted the clouds of the long pandemic lockdown have finally disappeared and the horizon is once again brilliantly sunny. At the Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Fort Lauderdale, cruise lines pointed to record booking days–in part due to redemptions of cruise credits for previously cancelled cruises–and the fact cruise tourism is rebounding faster than bookings for land-based resorts–in part because cruising is a comparative bargain.