Ft. Lauderdale Shootings Delay Cruise Ships

The closure of Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport this afternoon due to the shooting incident, has resulted in the delay of at least two cruise ships departing from Port Everglades right down the street.

The complete story appeared in the January 6 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Getting Ready for Your First Ocean Medallion

Carnival CEO Arnold Donald announced Ocean Medallions to the world today at CES in Las Vegas, and this afternoon on a conference call, he and other Carnival and Princess executives answered questions for the trade media.

The call helped clear up a number of questions about the details of how the medallions work. Along with yesterday's article, the video below will broaden understanding of the new service innovation. 

The complete article appeared in the January 5 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 5, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• HAL's Koningsdam beginning a new streak
• Costa Luminosa beginning its world cruise
• Another British travel firm shuts down
• Rats in Jamaica

Details appeared in the January 5 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Brave New Cruise

Carnival Corp is set to announce a new customer service feature on Thursday that will allow them (the ship's staff - and the ship) to know who you are and where you are - and probably soon thereafter, what you're thinking. Presumably behind the scenes, this smart ship will be extrapolating everything they know about you to figure out what you want.

Details appeared in the January 4 edition of Cruise News Daily.

All Leisure Goes Out of Business, Takes Two Cruise Brands with It

British operator All Leisure Holidays has gone out of business after selling some of their brands in recent days. But the closure has also caused two specialty cruise lines owned by the company to cease operating. Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery were marketed to a limited extend in North America.

The company's one-ship luxury line, Hebridean Island Cruises, was sold ahead of the bankruptcy filing and is not believed to be affected.

The complete story appeared in the January 4 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Search Suspended

At 9:55pm on Tuesday evening, the US Coast Guard suspended their search for the 74-year-old French man believed to have gone overboard from MSC Divina in the early hours of Monday morning.

Details appeared in the January 4 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Viking Sea Broken Until Further Notice

Viking Ocean Cruises seems to have bad luck with new ships. Viking Sea, which just entered service in May, left Barcelona last Friday for Toulon when it had some kind of unspecified engine failure and was able to return to Barcelona at a very slow speed and dock. And there it sits.

Passengers said they were told they were welcome to stay aboard until January 8 and enjoy Barcelona, or they were free to disembark to return home. Passengers said they would be offered compensation, but a specific package did not seem to be immediately detailed.

Details appeared in the January 3 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Overboard from MSC Divina

A 74-year-old French man appears to have gone overboard from MSC Divina early Monday morning north of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

The US Coast Guard is searching the waters along the ship's path, but he was not witnessed going overboard, nor is there any concrete evidence he did.

Details appeared in the January 3 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Fincantieri Is Preferred

Fincantieri said today that they have been notified by Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, the advisor appointed by STX Europe, that Fincantieri has been selected as the preferred bidder in the sale of the 66.66% stake in STX France.

The complete story appeared in the January 3 edition of Cruise News Daily.