New for Tampa

Cruisers wanting a short cruise sailing from Tampa will now have a couple of new options as Carnival has added two new itineraries to Carnival Paradise's choice of five-night itineraries. Tampa, of course, is a popular port of departure for those driving to Florida, since its location can shorten the driving time by as much as a day (as opposed to driving to the South Florida ports).

The new itineraries are five-night programs sailing on Saturdays and Mondays.

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

Just Like Broadway

In a cruise line first, Princess Cruises is releasing an original cast album of their musical production, “Magic to Do.” The production is the first of four productions for the cruise line in partnership with award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz.

The 14-track musical compilation will be available on CD, digital download and through streaming services on September 9. It's available now for pre-order on iTunes.

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

Not Yet

Ever since Empress of the Seas returned to the Royal Caribbean fleet, the open secret has been that the line intends to use it for their Cuban program once it is approved by the Cuban government. While waiting for that approval, Royal Caribbean has scheduled the ship on short cruises out of Miami to other popular ports, opening them only a few months at a time, so the ship will be available as soon as possible once Cuban approval is received.

After sitting by the phone for a couple more months, Royal Caribbean must have just decided again, no one from Cuba is going to call this month, and they've opened another series of dates - this time through the end of the year - just not to Cuba.

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

Long Beach Just Got Closer to Alaska

Thanks to a Carnival announcement this week, cruisers in the Southwest - within driving distance of Long Beach - have it made, especially if they want to cruise Alaska. For the first time, Carnival Cruise Line has scheduled an Alaskan cruise round trip from Southern California (Long Beach), making it easy to drive to the port and get on the ship with today's inconvenience of having to fly to the port.

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

Other Things You'll Want to Know - August 25, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• Crystal Mozart became the first river ship to have webcam(s) and broadcast a live view of what the pilot sees. 
• Carnival Chairman Micky Arison and his wife Madeleine donated another $250,000 to Louisiana flood relief, bringing Carnival's total donation to a half million dollars. 

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

A Quick Look at a Ship We'll Probably Never See

Once it arrives in China, Majestic Princess will, for the foreseeable future, be homeported in Shanghai for sale to the local Chinese market. So it's only logical that Princess' big splashy announcement that reveals the ship's features was in Shanghai today,

Since Majestic Princess will have a mini-European Season in the Med from April 4 to May 14 and a repositioning voyage from Barcelona to Shanghai from May 14 to July 11, Princess also let the rest of us have a peek at the newest member of the fleet.

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

Other Things You'll Want to Know - August 24, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• The Panama Canal beginning to accept reservations for larger cruise ships to transit the new, larger locks. 
• How Disney is adapting the animated feature "Frozen" for the stage aboard Disney Wonder. A new video is below. 

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

Anticipating Hermine

You may not have heard of Hermine, but when the next named storm forms in the Atlantic, it will be called Hermine. There is a tropical disturbance east of the Caribbean that has a 70% chance of becoming Hermine It's not even a tropical depression yet, but the National Hurricane Center has already projected a path for it, if it becomes a storm, and Royal Caribbean has already moved two ships out of its projected path.

Back in February, Royal Caribbean changed their policy to anticipate storms' paths farther out and keep ships out of their projected way. These changes are apparently the result of that policy change.

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

Carnival Comes Up with a Quarter Million Ways to Help Louisiana Flood Victims

New Orleans has been a home port for Carnival Cruise Line for many years, since 1994. With the widespread flooding in other parts of the state, as is often the case, Carnival felt the need to jump in and help their neighbors.

Today Carnival Cruise Line and their parent, Carnival Corporation, through their charitable foundation, have sent checks to various charities in the state totaling a quarter million dollars.

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

An Alternative Candidate

Can you stand hearing about one more political rally? Even if this one served green eggs and ham?

The Cat in the Hat kicked off his presidential campaign aboard Carnival Ecstasy while it was in Charleston yesterday.

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

Fun in Vietnam

A couple months ago we told you how Carnival Cruise Line had rethought (retimed) their entry into the Chinese market, and it would at first be a seasonal entry in the summer of 2018 with Carnival Spirit. Part of the reasoning was that the ship would be part way there when it went into dry dock in Singapore.

Of course there will be repositioning cruises from/to its home port in Australia, and now as the programs are opening for sale, Carnival is releasing details of the itineraries and they reveal plans for the Fun Ships' first ever visits to Vietnam and Thailand.

Details appeared in the August 22 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Wrapping Up Caribbean Fantasy

Last Wednesday we told you how the media was confusing the ferry Caribbean Fantasy with a cruise ship in their reporting of the early morning fire onboard that caused the successful evacuation of all 512 passengers and 26 crew members.

Since it wasn't a cruise ship, that was the end of our normal coverage, but the story is continuing, so we thought our subscribers would appreciate an update, because the fire continued burning until Saturday night.

The complete story appeared in the August 22 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Closed for Renovation

We previously reported that Norwegian Cruise Line is making a major upgrade to their private island in the Bahamas, Great Stirrup Cay. As part of that, the line said they are closing the island for two months from August 25 to October 20.

Details appeared in the August 22 edition of Cruise News Daily.