Everyone’s been here, but hardly anyone’s ever seen it. You’ve visited Civitavecchia if you’ve ever cruised to Rome, but I’ll bet it left no impression as you hit the highway for the hour’s ride to the Eternal City.
Viking has launched a new and improved travel advisor portal designed to provide advisors with the tools and resources needed to sell the cruise line’s river, ocean and expedition voyages. The updated platform offers a comprehensive suite of features to enhance the booking experience and streamline the marketing process.
Norwegian Cruise Line has expanded its Military Appreciation Program to include active Canadian service members, veterans, and their dependents from the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Coast Guard. Eligible members of the Canadian armed forces will receive special onboard experiences, amenities, and a 10 percent cruise fare discount across all sailings on all ships throughout the entire NCL fleet.
Crystal has launched a new booking engine today (Aug. 1). The cruise line say its innovative platform is designed to streamline the booking experience for travel advisors, offering “unparalleled ease of use, advanced features, and robust support tailored to meet the needs of today’s travel professionals.
You can’t make up a place like Portovenere. Its confection of tall candy-coloured homes and ancient stone walls lining a sparkling blue harbour dedicated to Venus has inspired generations of romantic poets and artists. Visitors and locals mingle on narrow streets that stay shaded and naturally cool in the summer heat. Staircases built of lava rock lead to a fantastic cove where poet Lord Byron is said to have brooded while writing odes to beauty and nature.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ third ‘Rivers of the World’ cruise in 2026 will highlight the company’s 50th anniversary with a 50-night around-the-world journey where guests will sail on five different vessels across multiple countries and continents with special surprises including the brand’s Uniworld’s signature Mystery Cruise leg to secret destinations.
In an unusual first-look roll-out of details of its newest ship, taking place over three days, Disney Cruise Line (DCL) has revealed the first details of the heroes and villains-inspired Disney Destiny, which will set sail in late 2025 from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Young travellers are driving a cruise boom, according to the CLIA’s 2024 State of the Cruise Industry report. Its surveys find that 88 percent of Millennials and 86 percent of Gen-X who have taken a cruise are planning to cruise again. And the surge is particularly strong in Canada, says Ian Patterson, MSC Cruises Canada country manager.
With a capacity that would hold the entire current population of Goderich, Ont. – nearly 8,000 people – Carnival Cruise Line’s new ships will be the biggest in the world when they entire service in the summers of 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively. The ships will be a new class of vessel and feature over 3,000 staterooms each.
Taking a page from the Olympics, AmaWaterways has launched its ‘Cruise for Gold’ travel advisor incentives, offering Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals to the three North American travel advisors who book the most river cruises to France with the company during the course of the Summer and Paralympic Games in Paris – July 26 to Sept. 8.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has announced its 2026 spring/summer itineraries to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Alaska, and Canada and New England, as well as a new season of voyages from the Port of Philadelphia (PhilaPort) for the first time in many years.
Let’s put it this way: if Waterside restaurant on Crystal Symphony was ashore, you wouldn’t be able to get a reservation even weeks in advance. Seriously. It’s that good. The menus are so varied, the presentations so outstanding and the service so impeccable that it would be a hands-down choice for a memorable splurge dinner anywhere on land or sea. And Crystal’s gourmet restaurants are complimentary.
MSC Cruises is introducing more than 90 shore excursions for MSC Yacht Club guests, providing guests touring options in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Northern Europe beyond existing shore excursion programs. The exclusive excursions are also designed to take care of all the details, from priority disembarkation, private transfers to local experts ashore.
Royal Caribbean International’s Utopia of the Seas has arrived in Port Canaveral (Orlando), Fla., ahead of its official debut later this week (Friday). The Oasis Class ship is the first of its kind to debut with three-night weekend and four-night weekday getaways.
You can’t keep a winner down. On her return to service, the classic Crystal Symphony has a strikingly fresh new look, with the verve and determination to make new magic. The ship is attracting a new generation of cruisers and long-time regulars are seeing her with a fresh eye.
Disney is taking its cruise brand to Japan under an agreement that will see the company that owns and operates Tokyo Disney Resort build and operate a Disney-branded cruise ship in the country, which is expected to set sail by early 2029.
In a measure to combat over-tourism, Amsterdam will reduce number of sea cruises calling in the Dutch city by almost half in 2026, while aiming for its cruise terminal to leave the city altogether by 2035. The number of sea cruises that moor at the Passengers Terminal Amsterdam (PTA) will drop from 190 to a maximum of 100 per year and the PTA will also immediately return to one berth and cruise ships required to use shore power by 2027.
Let’s add it up: As Crystal Symphony with 600 aboard sailed into Mykonos harbour, she’s joined by Odyssey of the Seas carrying about 4,100 and Celestyal Journey, with another 1,260. Several tourist ferries are also unloading throngs eager to squeeze shoulder-to-shoulder along the narrow laneways of white-stucco Mykonos Town.
Coinciding with Canada Day, Windstar Cruises has unveiled a new Canada-centred booking process designed order to provide better service and value for Canadian guests and the travel advisors who serve them. Canadians can also sail on select cruises for up to 30% off in Iceland, the Mediterranean, and French Polynesia.
Oceania Cruises is making the 2025 season in the South Pacific it most expansive yet. Two ships, Nautica and Regatta are plotting unique itineraries in fascinating corners of Tahiti during the winter and summer seasons.
With Four Seasons Yachts preparing to debut in 2026, the company has revealed its first 10 voyages, featuring more than 130 distinct destinations across over 30 countries and territories.
Breaching whales, polar bears on the prowl, other-worldly landscapes and cultures whose traditions date back to pre-history. No summer travel destination can give you an entirely new view of the world like an Arctic experience. I can vouch for that because a Northwest Passage crossing I did on the luxury expedition ship Seabourn Venture last year is still inspiring my dreams.
Virtuoso has released survey findings that offer a glimpse into the preferences of the world’s luxury cruise passengers. Drawing on the insight of more than 300 professional travel advisors who specialize in cruising, Virtuoso found that 58% believe it will emerge as the strongest tourism sector in 2024-25, surpassing land-only experiences.
As the allure of the enigmatic monuments and history of Egyptian empires attract increasing numbers of tourists, AmaWaterways has doubled its Nile River fleet. The luxurious new AmaLilia, featuring 41 staterooms, including 13 suites is welcoming guests as part of an 11-night cruise and land experience.
Cunard says it registered record-breaking bookings following the launch of its new ship Queen Anne. The 3,000-guest vessel set sail on its maiden voyage on May 3 before returning to her homeport of Southampton on May 24 to begin a celebratory British Isles Festival voyage, which included a spectacular naming ceremony in Liverpool.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ new Uniworld University course for 2025 is now available in its online travel advisor education program. The course details what’s to come in 2025 for the luxury river cruise line, including five new itineraries, expanded land extensions, more ‘MAKE TRAVEL MATTER’ experiences, and a new ship setting sail next year, the SS Elisabeth.
MSC Cruises has unveiled an expanded slate of itineraries for guests departing from the line’s four US homeports: Miami, Port Canaveral, New York, and Galveston, Texas. The company’s Winter 2025/26 season will feature seven ships, including MSC Grandiosa’s debut in the US from Port Canaveral; the cruise line’s inaugural season sailing from Galveston; and MSC World America’s first winter season sailing from Miami, following her debut as the line’s newest flagship in April 2025.
Sliding into the tub and looking around at the extensive detailing of the bathroom in an elegant suite on Regent’s Seven Seas Explorer reveals a host of exclusive and steal-able design tips for creating a dream space in your own home.
A new agreement between Alaska’s capital city and major cruise lines seeks to cap the daily number of cruise ship passengers arriving in Juneau starting in 2026. The agreement, finalized late last week, seeks a daily limit of 16,000 cruise passengers Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 on Saturdays. However, officials in Juneau say that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be that many people every day.
When the ‘Queen Anne’ sailed up the River Mersey to Cunard’s “spiritual home” in Liverpool, UK – where Samuel Cunard launched the first transatlantic passenger cargo service in 1840 with steamship Britannia – thousands of people lined the waterfront, cheering on the majestic vessel in anticipation of the christening and naming ceremony of the illustrious Cunard brand’s first new ship in 14 years.