Out the Door and Down the River

Ovation of the Seas began her once-in-her-lifetime 26-mile journey from Meyer Werft in Papenburg down the Ems River to the North Sea this morning.

Details appeared in the March 11 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Ovation of the Seas leaving Meyer Werft

 Photo courtesy of Meyer Werft. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Armed Robbery in Belize? Are They Too Numerous to Report?

Belize is getting to be a dangerous place. I saw an article yesterday about cruise passengers who were robbed at gunpoint this week while on an excursion. The article didn’t mention the ship, but I wanted to find out so I could get some more details.

What I found was that there was more than one armed robbery.

The complete story appeared in the March 11 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You’ll Want to Know - March 11, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• AIDA announced that 13-year-old actress Emma Schweiger will be godmother of their new flagship, AIDAprima.
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is reducing the size of their Board of Directors by two.
• A small ship captain was arrested for using another person's identity for 20 years. 

Details appeared in the March 11 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Emma Schweiger will be godmother to AIDAprima

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

She’s Leaving Home

Meyer Werft has set Friday as the day Ovation of the Seas will be leaving the Papenburg yard for its conveyance down the Ems River to Eemshaven, never to return.

The complete story appeared in the March 10 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Harmony Leaves on Sea Trials

Harmony of the Seas left the STX France shipyard in St Nazaire this afternoon, assisted by six tugboats, to begin a three-day sea trial in the Bay of Biscay this afternoon.

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Harmony of the Seas leaves the STX France yard in St Nazaire on its first sea trials this afternoon.

Photos courtesy of Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Other Things You’ll Want to Know - March 10, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• Terrorism threat in Bali cancels two more cruise calls. 
• The port pledges New Orleans' two cruise terminals will remain open daily despite torrential rains that are closing many offices/businesses in the city. 
• In the second video in the series (below) Adam Tihany continues discussion of his design theory for Holland America's Koningsdam. In this part he focuses on the dining venues. 

Just What You Wanted

If it existed anymore, you could pick up Royal Caribbean’s Big Giant Book of Shore Excursions and find more than 3,000 offerings in 288 ports of call - everything you’d ever want to do in any of the line’s ports. Not quite. There’s often something you’ve heard about, or some little extravagance that you’ve dreamed about, that isn’t going to be there, because it isn’t for the masses.

For those special things that will make your trip complete, Royal Caribbean has created Private Journeys.

The complete story appeared in the March 9 edition of Cruise News Daily.

When Is a Reservation Not a Reservation?

AIDA has released their programs for October 2016 to October 2017, and are previewing programs through April 2018. Included is the inaugural program for AIDAperla, the sister to AIDA’s delayed new flagship, AIDAprima.

But there's something interesting about the AIDAperla plans.

Details were in the March 9 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Chopped Anthem Style

Now that things have smoothed out for Anthem of the Seas, there was time for a little fun. Three of the line’s chefs were chosen to compete on a special seagoing Royal Caribbean version of the cooking competition show “Chopped.” They each received a mystery basket of Caribbean-style ingredients and they had to impress the judges with their personal take on what to cook up with the ingredients in the basket.

Fincantieri Begins Construction on MSC Seaside

Construction started last Friday on one of MSC’s innovative new ships - MSC Seaside, the first of which will be based in Miami.

   The first 500-plus-ton block was laid in the dry dock at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone yard, signaling that things will now begin to move quickly toward the ship’s completion in November 2017, just about a year and a half away. The ship will be christened the next month in Miami.

The complete story appeared in the March 8 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photos courtesy of Fincantieri. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Don’t Leave the Cellar Door Open

In the movies, when someone goes through the cellar door, it might be the last you ever see them. The cellar is a creepy place where bad things happen to unsuspecting people. But on P&O Australia Cruises, going in the Cellar Door is the key to a delightful experience where you could well meet some new wines that you’d like to invite to lunch.

The Cellar Door is a new concept for Australian cruise ships, available on the line’s two newest ships, Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden.

The complete story appears in the March 8 edition of Cruise News Daily.

What’s Large and Purple and Just Fits under the Sydney Harbor Bridge?

No, it’s not a 90,000-ton grape. It’s Cunard’s Queen Victoria celebrating International Women’s Day.

The liner is in Sydney as part of its 120-day world cruise, and as dusk fell last night the ship began to turn purple (the recognized color for women’s rights) and wore a 60-meter-long banner along her hull with this year’s campaign message #PledgeForParity.

Details appeared in the March 8 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Queen Victoria in Sydney lit for International Women's Day

Photo courtesy of Cunard Line and James Morgan. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Carnival Live Sets Fall Concert Season

Carnival Cruise Line just released the Carnival Live schedule for next fall, and there are changes coming - new artists, new ports and more comedy.

Details appeared in the March 7 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Overboard from Navigator of the Seas

A 46-year-old man went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas Friday evening about 10:55pm when it was off the coast of Key Largo.

Details appeared in the March 7 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Celebrity Solstice Skips Port on Security Concerns

Celebrity Solstice bypassed its scheduled port call at Bali today due to the potential terrorism threat, warned of in travel advices from the UK and Australian governments, and the potential opportunities posed by the upcoming Balinese New Year celebrations on March 9.

The ship is proceeding on to its next scheduled port of Darwin.

The complete story appeared in the March 7 edition of Cruise News Daily.