Special Added Attraction

Fathom Travel said today they have obtained approval to add the Cuban port of Santiago de Cuba, the second largest city in Cuba, to six of its upcoming Dominican Republic sailings.

Yes, this will reduce time in the Dominican Republic by a day, but it will add a stop that should create a lot more interest in the Dominican program.

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

Passenger Overboard from Independence of the Seas

A 22-year-old American man went overboard from Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas early this morning at 1:45am when the ship was approximately 33 miles southeast of Key Largo.

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

* Other Things You'll Want to Know - December 22, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• Port Everglades receiving approval to move forward widening and deepening their channels to accommodate larger ships. 
• Royal Caribbean opening an eye-popping new show, “The Fine Line,” in the AquaTheater aboard Harmony of the Seas.  (a video is below)

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

When Meraviglia Just Isn't Big Enough, There Will Now Be Meraviglia-Plus

MSC and STX France have finalized the contract converting two options for Meraviglia-class ships to firm orders. The two ships will actually be “Meraviglia-plus-class” ships, progressions from the design of the original two.

These ships will grow from 167,000-grt of the original two, to 177,000-tons. They will also balloon from 2,250 staterooms to 2,450 with a maximum capacity of 6,300 passengers. They will be 1,086 feet in length.

Details appeared in the December 21 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

So Good You'll Want to Do It Again

Occasionally, you come across a commercial that's so good, you want to watch it again, so you do. And maybe even a third time. Cunard just released one like that.

The video supports their new campaign entitled, “Everything you wanted, nothing you expected.”

The complete story appeared in the December 21 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Norwegian Has It Right

Norwegian Cruise Line unveiled their May series of cruises to Cuba today and opened them for sale, and it looks like they have the program most travelers probably have in mind when they think about a cruise to Cuba - at least at this point.

Details appeared in the December 20 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Virgin Finalizes Three-Ship Order

Virgin Cruises had a splashy announcement that they were going to order, but today, they quietly signed on the dotted line to finalize the order for three ships from Fincantieri.

The builder said they would be built at their Sestri Ponente yard near Genoa for delivery in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The complete story appeared in the December 20 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Save the Waves Heading Toward Zero Landfill

Last year marked ten years of Royal Caribbean's (RCCL, the parent company) Save the Waves program which focused on reduction of emissions and waste.

The complete story appeared in the December 19 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - December 19, 2016

CND subscibers also read about:

• The extreme itinerary for lovers of sea days
• Bringing the shoreside shopping aboard in a pop-up shop

Details appeared in the December 19 edition of Cruise News Daily.