Friday, October 3, 2008

Freedom of the Seas Accident Rumor

Rumors sometimes get embellished.

There's a posting on a bulletin board which quotes a second-hand source about an accident this week aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. According to the posting, which was posted by someone who had heard from someone aboard Freedom, who was not involved in the accident, a child received a head injury while riding the FlowRider surfing simulator. The posting went on to say that the ship returned to Montego Bay so the child could be receive treatment in a shoreside medical facility.

CND is still unable to confirm the details of the injury, except where the incident did not happen. RCCL spokesperson Cynthia Martinez tells CND that the child was injured in the H2O Zone (the family waterpark area), and not on the FlowRider.

We will update this item when more details are confirmed.

Carnival Adds Balconies, Suites

Carnival Cruise Lines announced plans today to add a total of 48 private balconies existing staterooms aboard Carnival Destiny, Carnival Triumph and Carnival Liberty.

Additionally, two new suites will be added to Carnival Liberty. This will be a new suite type for Carnival that is almost double the size of any of Carnival's existing suites. The new "deluxe penthouse suites" will be 750 square feet.

The work will be performed as the ships cycle through their regular drydocks over the next few months.

Details appeared in the October 3, 2008, edition of Cruise News Daily.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Hurricane Kyle Updates

Updated Sept 29 - 3:30pm EDT

Hurricane Kyle is now over land and has dissipated.

Here are the itinerary changes announced (listed in alphabetical order by ship):

Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas - which departed New York on September 25. The call at Charlottetown on Sunday was canceled. Instead the ship will proceed to Quebec and have a two-day call there. The new itinerary calls at Sydney NS (Saturday, September 27), Saguenay River cruising (Sunday, September 28), Quebec (Monday & Tuesday September 29 & 30) and Halifax (Thursday, October 2). Explorer will return to New York as scheduled on Saturday (October 4).

Holland America's Maasdam - departed Boston on September 27. The call at Bar Harbor on Sunday (September 28) was canceled and the ship went directly to Halifax, arriving there early for an extended call.

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 - which departed New York on September 27. If QM2 had departed as scheduled, Cunard said it would have had to sail right in the storm, so departure from New York was delayed until 5pm on Sunday (September 28), allowing it to sail behind the storm and keep all the other ports in a revised order, except Portland Maine, which will be canceled. The rearranged itinerary is delaying the call at Saint John by a day (until Wednesday October 1) which was to have been a record-breaking day at the port with four ships in at once.

Royal Princess - departed New York on September 26: The ship overnighted at Boston on Sunday (September 27) and departed at 8am on Monday (September 28) for Saint John where she will arrive on scheduled on Tuesday (September 30) at 7am. The Bar Harbor call on Tuesday (September 28) was canceled.

Sea Princess - departed Quebec on September 23: The ship called on Halifax on Saturday (September 27) as planned but departed four hours early. The ship then headed out to sea on an easterly track to keep clear from the worst of the storm. The call to Saint John was cancelled on Monday (September 29), and the ship will return to her scheduled itinerary on Tuesday (September 30) in Bar Harbor.

For links to other related weather information, please see the cruise weather page on our main site at www.cruisenewsdaily.com.