Royal Caribbean Plans for Boosting Grand Bahama

Royal Caribbean and Mexico's ITM Group have formed a joint venture and signed a letter of intent to purchase the Grand Lucayan Resort on Grand Bahama Island.

The Prime Minister says Royal Caribbean plans to develop the resort into “a world-class destination, featuring water-based family entertainment, with dining, gaming and entertainment options, and five-star hotel accommodations.”

The complete story appeared in the March 29 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Silversea Opens 2021 World Cruise

Silversea opened bookings to the public today on what they call their Finest World Tour. The 2021 World Cruise aboard Silver Whisper will depart Ft. Lauderdale on January 7, 2021.

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

Virgin Will Be the Cruise Line You Hear

Virgin Voyages revealed more of their coming onboard experience this week when they talked about a series of musical connections onboard with Virgin's musical roots.

Virgin Voyages will feature DJ residencies, an onboard record shop and karaoke lounge. They will also have access to top-name live music on select voyages.

The complete story appeared in the March 28 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Voyage Vinyl aboard Scarlet Lady

Rendering courtesy of Virgin Voyages. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

A Family Tradition

Kelly Arison will be the godmother of Carnival Sunrise. Ms Arison is the daughter of Carnival Corp Chairman Micky Arison.

And with that comes a couple of other interesting family connections. 

Details appeared in the March 28 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Princess Sets 2021 World Cruise

Princess has chosen the 91,627-ton Island Princess to operate their 2021 world cruise which they say will be the most destination-rich world cruise they have ever offered.

The 111-day cruise will visit 50 ports in 32 countries on six continents. It will cover 34,000 nautical miles as it completely circumnavigates the world, and it will cross the equator twice. 

Details appeared in the March 28 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Norwegian Maritime Authority's Finding on Viking Sky

After an intense investigation, to complete its work as quickly as possible, the Norwegian Maritime Authority has determined at this point, they believe Viking Sky's engine failure during the extremely rough weather/sea conditions on Saturday was due to low oil pressure.

The Authority found that the levels of lubricating oil were within the limits set by the manufacturer, but they were at the lower end of the limit. The rolling of the ship in the heavy seas was so extreme that as the oil moved in the tanks, the oil too rolled so much that it triggered a low oil level alarm and that triggered an automatic shutdown of the engine.

The complete story appeared in the March 27 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Two More Ships on Order for Princess

Carnival and Fincantieri have finalized a contract for two 175,000-ton ships for their Princess brand which will be delivered in late 2023 and the spring of 2025. An MOA was signed for the ships last July.

The ships will be a next-generation design (probably indicating there will be further orders by Carnival) carrying approximately 4,300 passengers and powered by LNG.

Details appeared in the March 27 issue of Cruise News Daily.

Seems Like Old Times

Costa Cruises' headquarters are in Genoa. Of course their cruise ships always called there at the busy port in the heart of town. Then about twenty years ago, Costa built a gleaming new terminal down the coast in the nearby town of Savona and the big Costa ships moved there. But Costa's headquarters (and heart) stayed in Genoa.

Today, there was a homecoming, because Costa returned to the Port of Genoa, right in the heart of town, when the 103,000-ton Costa Fortuna returned to make its homeport there through this fall for a total of 34 calls.

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

Photos courtesy of Costa Cruises. All rights reserved may not be copied or used without express permission.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - March 26, 2019

CND subscribers also read about:

• ABB winning a contract to supply the propulsion and Azipod systems for the first cruise ship built in China which will be operated by CSSC Carnival. Delivery of the ship is scheduled for 2023.
• Royal Caribbean releasing a video that follows Spectrum of the Seas from Meyer Werft down the Ems River during its careful conveyance. (The video is below)

Details appeared in the March 26 edition of Cruise News Daily 

Video courtesy of Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved.

Viking Sky Loses Power in Rough Seas

Tragedy was averted on Saturday when Viking Ocean Cruises' Viking Sky sailed into a powerful storm off Norway's west coast and then lost power. The ship was traveling from Tromso to Stavanger at the time of the incident which occurred about 2pm local time when the ship was off the coast of Molde.

As can be seen in news footage, the ship was being tossed about badly, and passengers feared the ship would capsize. Video from inside the ship showed passengers sitting in life vests as water washed across the floor in some parts of the ship. Surprisingly, there is a lengthy piece of video that shows large pieces of furniture sliding back and forth across the room as passengers dodge it and ceiling panels fall as the ship is obviously rolling to a great degree. It's unexplained why the large furniture wasn't secured.

The complete story appeared in the March 25 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - March 25, 2019

CND subscribers also read about:

• Power failures are better in the Bahamas
• MSC stretches (and twists) it out to 1,000 

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