Share and Share Alike

Princess Cruises has opened the first of their new Share restaurants aboard Ruby Princess and Emerald Princess. The restaurants are the creation of Australian chef Curtis Stone.

The concept is sharing food between family and friends from a menu of interesting food created by Stone.

The complete story appeared in the January 29 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Share aboard Ruby Princess

Captain Craig Street, Chef Curtis Stone and Princess Cruises' Celebrations Ambassador Jill Whelan open
Share aboard Ruby Princess

Photos courtesy of Princess Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Yet Another Line Drops Turkish Ports

You can mark down Carnival’s German brand, AIDA, as the latest line to drop calls at Turkey for security reasons. The move comes in response to the terrorist attacks on tourists in Istanbul.

The complete story appeared in the January 29 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Windfall

You will remember that last week we told you how Royal Caribbean delayed the turnarounds of two ships because of the blizzard in the Northeast. Of course every day they delay, it shortens the next cruise by a day, and that means they probably can’t stay with the original itinerary either.

Even through the winter storm is long gone (but not the snow), its effects are continuing, even far down in the Caribbean.

Details appeared in the January 29 edition of Cruise News Daily.

AIDA Has Balls

In one of the most innovative additions we’ve seen lately, AIDA ships are adding Loopy Balls.

The participants stand in giant inflatable balls (with their legs exposed from about the knees down) and run at each other. When they collide, they bounce and roll around. Boing Boing. AIDA says it is 100% safe.

The complete story appeared in the January 29 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photo courtesy of AIDA. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

In a Fog

The Port of Tampa has been closed all day due to fog. It didn’t open until about 6pm, and Carnival Paradise, which had been waiting at sea all day, finally began to proceed up the channel with arrival expected at the terminal between 9pm and 10pm.

That would mean a very late embarkation for the next cruise, so about 3pm this afternoon, Carnival decided the next cruise wouldn’t embark until Friday.

The complete story appeared in the January 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Dominica Crash Claims Life of Child

The ongoing string of excursion bus crashes in the Caribbean continued today, this time on Dominica. The bus was carrying passengers from MSC Orchestra, but was not booked by the line.

The complete story appeared in the January 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Aground in the Cook Islands

Passengers going ashore in the Cook Islands from Holland America’s Amsterdam ran into a problem this week (January 26) when their tender ran aground in shallow water.

Details appeared in the January 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.

MSC Sets Zika Policy

Yesterday, we told you that the Zika virus is spreading quickly and several Caribbean islands have newly been added to the list, and most lines are responding to pregnant women’s concerns and assisting those who would prefer to the concerns of those who would prefer not to go to areas where mosquitos are transmitting the disease.

Today, the director general of the World Health Organization called an emergency meeting on the Zika virus, and in a separate action MSC set their policy for pregnant women who decide to avoid the area.

The complete story appeared in the January 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.

There May Be Life in the United States

It appears that the SS United States Conservancy at last has firm plans to repurpose the classic ocean liner and a developer to do it, and it seems it will happen in New York.

The group advised news organizations of a press conference in New York on February 4. They said the announcement would reveal “an exciting future” for the ship.

This story appeared in the January 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Relief for Pregnant Women

No, the relief isn’t someone from the cruise line rubbing your back, but cruise lines are showing they are understanding that you may not want to go on your cruise if it is calling at a port where mosquitoes are transmitting the Zika virus.

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

Casting a Wider Net

Cruise lines search the world for entertainers, and if you check their websites, most will have a section where they are recruiting talent, and they will tell you where they are holding auditions. Most of the time, they are within a certain geographic range of the home office. But Carnival’s German brand AIDA is casting a wider net, because they need a lot of talent.

On an average day, AIDA has entertainers on 24 stages on 10 ships. This year they need to hire 570 entertainers of every type - singers, dancers, and specialty acts - but this number is higher than normal because they also have to staff the entertainers aboard their new flagship, AIDAprima which will enter service in April, adding three more stages to the inventory. To do this they are searching the world from Hamburg to Los Angeles - and lots of places in between.

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

Norwegian Planning Big European Summer

Norwegian Cruise Line summer European program next year (summer 2017) is going to expand by way of the number of ships and by taking one of their newest and largest ships to the market in northern Europe.

It will be the largest European deployment in Norwegian’s history.

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

A Smaller Slice

The cruise industry is like a giant pie. When one market’s slice of the pie gets bigger, someone else’s gets smaller. Even if the pie itself gets bigger, some markets’ slices get smaller.

We have written frequently about how the cruise industry is sending additional ships to Australia and China, but we haven’t written about the market whose slice is getting smaller - strangely it’s a market that used to be one of the strongest.

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

Raising the Bar

A new menu is coming to Holland America Line, but not the one you think of in the dining room.

This is a new bar menu, thanks to a new partnership with Master Mixologist Dale DeGroff.

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

A Nose Worth Its Weight in Coke

When Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas arrived in San Juan Sunday, US Customs and Border Protection agents were doing a routine inspection of the cabins when the canine alerted to a piece of luggage in one of the cabins. They ended up finding 24.25 pounds, valued at more than $300,000, and detaining seven people connected to the luggage.

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