If It's Not One Side, It's the Other

Roseanne Roseannadanna, one of Gilda Radner's characters, always used to remind us, “If it's not one thing, it's another.” She must have known some forty years ago about Norwegian Star. In December, at the beginning of Norwegian Cruise Line's new Asian season, the ship's starboard Azipod failed, causing a major disruption of the new program. Now, a little more than a month after getting the right pod all fixed up, the left one has developed a similar problem.

What are the chances? Well, they're slim. Norwegian Cruise Line says they've never seen anything like it, and so slim, neither has ABB, the manufacturer.

The complete story appeared in the January 27 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Growth for Summer

Crews are working day and night (well, evenings, at least) in Juneau to complete the two additional floating berths at the city's downtown port in time for the summer cruise season.

The berths are also larger and will enable the port to handle longer ships. Currently, the longest ship that can be accommodated is 960 feet. When the new berths are completed, the city will be able to receive a 1,000-foot and 1,100-foot vessel at the same time.

Details appeared in the January 27 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Taking a Dive

You can now become a PADI-certified scuba diver aboard many Royal Caribbean cruises, the only line to have PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Five Star Dive Centers aboard their ships. That will enable you to explore storied shipwrecks and renowned coral reefs in the underwater world that will open to you.

Details appeared in the January 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Fincantieri Delivers Viking Sky

Fincantieri delivered Viking Sky to Viking Ocean Cruises today at their Ancona yard on the Adriatic in central Italy. The 47,800-ton vessel is the third of six in the series ordered by Viking.

Details appeared in the January 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Cuba in Perspective

With all the herald trumpets and fireworks each time a cruise line makes an announcement about being approved to sail to Cuba, you'd think it was really important to them. It today's earnings call, Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain revealed that it's something they are happy they have in their portfolio, but in the whole scheme of things, it's not that significant.

The complete story appeared in the January 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain discussing US-Mexico relations, the company's future with Cuba and the strength of Royal Caribbean's bookings, now as the highest level ever, as revealed in the company's earnings released today.



Video courtesy of CNBC

Windstar Sets Return to Alaska

After an absence from the market for more than two decades, Windstar will return to Alaska in 2018 in a way much different from the way most lines cruise in Alaska.

Windstar will bring the 212-passenger Star Legend to Alaska after its 2017/2018 season in Asia.

The complete story appeared in the January 25 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Keeping Carnival Engines Running Better Than Ever

Imagine being able to hire someone from your car's manufacturer to keep it running in tip-top form, and when the manufacturer has ideas to improve performance, they automatically make the upgrade. Well, that's just what Carnival Corp has done for their ships. They've hired giant engine manufacturer and maintenance experts Wartsila to maintain the engines on 79 of their 100-plus-ship fleet.

Details appeared in the January 25 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Carnival Details Horizon's First Programs

Carnival Cruise Line released the itineraries for Carnival Horizon's inaugural seasons, and the pattern is similar to that of Carnival Vista which entered service last year, except the length of time in each home port is adjusted for how the market is changing.

In a nutshell, Carnival Horizon will start out in the Mediterranean sailing from Barcelona, then move to New York for a Caribbean program, and ultimately it will move to Miami for year round Caribbean cruising. The big difference is that Carnival Horizon will be sailing in Europe just for a month, and New York sailings were expanded to the entire summer.

While that's going to disappoint some, Carnival is just following the market trends which say most of its core American market wants to cruise closer to home.

The complete story appeared in the January 24 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Thanks to a Marvel-ous Response, Disney Expanding

Following an enthusiastic response to the Marvel Day at Sea scheduled for this fall from New York, Disney Cruise Line has scheduled more of the MDaS aboard Disney Magic from January through April from Miami.

Details appeared in the January 24 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Bid for Your Balcony

Norwegian Cruise Line has always been known for their innovation in the industry and now they are beginning to roll out an idea that will maximize their profits while they are giving an upgrade to the people who really want them the most.

The line is auctioning off their available upgrades. It's a concept that has been tried with some success in  other segments of the travel industry, but NCL is the first cruise line to try it out. It's apparently meeting with success because, after a two-month test, they are beginning to make the program available fleetwide.

The complete story appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 23, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• If you shrink up after a lifetime exploring underwater
• Carnival Legend becomes a multiple record holder
• Another waiter arrested

Details appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily.