Grand Turk Cruise Center in a Hurricane

Updated - August 24:



Hurricane Irene passed by Grand Turk this afternoon about 2pm. While the eye was still approximately 40 miles to the south, it’s estimated that the island was experiencing winds of about 90 mph. That closed the Grand Turk Cruise Center until further notice, but they left their webcam on. The photo above was snapped at 2:14pm when the storm should have been at its height. Amazingly the communication link remained up until 3:44pm.

Update - August 24 - 9pm



The back edge of the storm passed by early Wednesday afternoon, and the webcam came back up Wednesday evening. As you can see, in the photo above, taken at 7:05pm, there is no visible damage to the facility. Carnival says the Cruise Center should be open in time for the next scheduled operation, Carnival Miracle, which arrives on Monday morning.

Video of Cunard's Queen Mary 2 Departing Hamburg

Germany, with a gateway in Hamburg, has become a market with growing importance to Cunard, and the city always seems anxious to see the Cunarders when they are in port. These short clips show Queen Mary 2 departing from Hamburg earlier this month, its twentieth visit to the German port. In the clips, you can see some of the thousands lining the banks of the Elbe to see the ship. Just a moment of Zen.

Christmas in July on Princess Cruises

It's Christmas in July aboard Emerald Princess in the Baltic!



All kinds of groups travel aboard Princess Cruises, and this group of 20 Santas was aboard Emerald Princess for a "School4Santas" last month. It was a real treat for passengers that even included carols, Christmas cookies - yes, and Princess signature snow in the atrium which, like Santa, is normally only seen in December.

Who says Christmas comes but once a year? On Princess Cruises, it comes again in summer - times twenty. All part of the miracle of Princess Cruises.

Construction Begins at Banana Coast Cruise Port

Construction has begun on the new Banana Coast cruise port on Honduras' Caribbean coast, shown in these artists' renderings.

Like similar self-contained resorts for cruise passengers, Banana Coast will offer twin berths for post-Panamax ships, a large sandy beach at the foot of the finger pier, a world-class shopping complex, and a transportation hub and marina for shore and water-based excursions. The difference is that Banana Coast is located at the western end of the Caribbean.

The facility is scheduled to be completed and open to cruise ships in late 2012.

Costa Romantica Set for Major Refit

Costa Romantica is scheduled for a major refit and updating this fall running from October 2011 through January 2012. Costa says it's an evolution of the product resulting in changes so dramatic to the ship it will be renamed Costa neoRomantica.

A major part of the construction will be the construction of two half decks on the forward part of the ship, dramatically changing the ship's profile.

Not only will the ship's capacity increase, but there will be construction of a number of new public rooms.

Rendering of the new Costa neoRomantica at sea.

The new lido bar Monte Carlo.

Grand Bar Piazza Italia is a new cabaret and bar with a dance floor.

The Ristorante Samsara is a new private restaurant dedicated to the new spa staterooms and suites.

Complete details of the project were published in the August 8, 2011, edition of Cruise News Daily.