Fincantieri Finalizing Purchase of STX France Stake

After one false start, Fincantieri and the French government seem to have again settled on a plan for Fincantieri to purchase half of STX France. The previous agreement was nixed by the Macron government using the government's veto when it came to power fearing too much control of a major French asset and employer by the Italian shipbuilder.

The new agreement provides for Fincantieri to purchase exactly 50% of STX France from the French government for 59.7 million euros.

The complete story appeared in the February 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

More Time to Enjoy the Ride

Life is slower in the Caribbean, and even the Caribbean Princess is slower in the Caribbean these days. As a result, passengers are being advised of revised Caribbean itineraries.

The company said an unspecified technical issue is preventing Caribbean Princess from sailing at top speeds which was required on certain portions of the published itineraries, so in many cases, port times were adjusted.

Details appeared in the February 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

AIDAnova to Be Delivered Early

Meyer Werft will deliver AIDAnova about two weeks early, and AIDA has scheduled a series of four-night “pre-premier” cruises (a term only a cruise line could invent) to either Oslo or Rotterdam.

Not to worry. AIDAnova's maiden voyage will still leave Hamburg on December 2 for the Canary Islands.

Details appeared in the February 1 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

A New Era in Short Cruises

We are about to enter a new era in the cruise industry. In June, Royal Caribbean's will place the 138,000-ton Mariner of the Seas in the short (three- and four-night) cruise market from Miami.

The Voyager-class ship, built for seven-night itineraries, is already feature-rich, but after a $90 million makeover, she'll have even more.

The complete story appeared in the February 1 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Meyer Werft Cuts Steel for Next Norwegian Ship

Meyer Werft cut the first steel today for Norwegian Cruise Line's seventeenth ship, and the fourth and final of the Breakaway Plus-class, which Norwegian says is their most successful class ever.

The event took place at Meyer's Laser Center in Papenburg (Germany). Norwegian used the event to make two major announcements about the ship.

The complete story appeared in the January 31 edition of Cruise News Daily,

People on the Run Need a Vacation

When a 30-year-old woman checked in for her cruise on Carnival Triumph on Monday, she had a surprise waiting for her. She was arrested by New Orleans police on an outstanding warrant for desertion from the army in 2012.

Details appeared in the January 31 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Even Birds Need to Get Away

This is the story of Harri, who is an Australian galah, which is a type of cockatoo. He's also a very fortunate one at that. He had a nice home with a nice family in Brisbane (Australia). One day he apparently decided he just needed to get away, so he flew the coop, so to speak
.
His (human) family was devastated, but this happens with birds sometimes. They carried on and went on the cruise they had planned aboard P&O's new Pacific Aria. They had no idea of the surprise they would have before the end of their cruise.

The complete story appeared in the January 31 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Can You Wait until Next Year?

If you'd like to have more space to spread out in the wide-open spaces of Alaska, Holland America will soon have a new option for you. The line has planned a new 99-room wing at the McKinley Chalet Resort at Denali National Park. Fifty-five of the units will be junior suites, the first-ever at the resort.

Details appeared in the January 30 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

A First for Celebrity

Two gentlemen became the first same-sex couple to be married at sea aboard a major cruise line today when they were married by the captain aboard Celebrity Equinox.

The grooms were joined by their immediate families who were with them on the western Caribbean cruise.

The complete story appeared in the January 30 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Lots of Practice

The crew of Carnival Pride got lots of practice today with helicopter medevacs as the ship sailed off the Carolina coast toward the Bahamas when not one, but two patients were medevaced off the deck of the ship in separate incidents. `

The Coast Guard shot outstanding video of both, which are shown below.

Details appeared in the January 30 edition of Cruise News Daily.

First medevac of the day:



Second medevac of the day:



Video courtesy of US Coast Guard. All rights reserved.

Doubling Up in Tampa

Carnival Miracle arrived in its new home port of Tampa on Saturday at the end of a trans-Panama repositioning cruise from Long Beach. Saturday evening it sailed on its first seven-night cruise from Tampa to the western Caribbean.

Carnival Miracle joins Carnival Paradise at Tampa. With the addition of a second year round ship, Carnival expects to carry 280,000 passengers annually from the Gulf Coast port, the most of any cruise line in Tampa.

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

Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 29, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Crystal is downsizing the plans for their three large oceangoing newbuilds.
• The Mexican navy has ended their search unsuccessfully for the woman who went overboard from Carnival Triumph last week. 

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