It Will Be a Cold Day When a 250,800-Ton Ship Floats

 Meyer Turku floats out Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas at their Turku, Finland, yard on December 8, 2022.

Photos courtesy of Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Here Comes the Sun - for the Third Time

Princess Cruises announced that their next ship, the first of a new class, will be called Sun Princess, the third ship to bear that name. It's already under construction and will be delivered on January 31, 2024. Here is a quick look around it.

 

Set Completed

P&O's Pacific Adventure arrives at Sydney for the first time since the end of the pandemic (September 9, 2022, local time), marking the return to Australia of all three ships in the P&O Australia fleet.

Photo courtesy of P&O Australia. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

MSC's Robotron

The first look at the Robotron thrill ride which will debut aboard MSC Seascape in November 2022. There's nothing like it at sea.

Seascape Gets Closer to the US

Next winter, MSC will have a brand-new ship in the US market, MSC Seascape, and it just returned to the Fincantieri yard at Monfalcone (Italy) after successfully completing sea trials, which were conducted in the Adriatic August 17-20.

These photos from Fincantieri were taken during the sea trials and give you a full look at the ship's exterior. 

Photos courtesy of Fincantieri. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Big Splash in Hamburg

Hamburg's Cruise Days on Saturday night featured a sound and light show on the Elbe which featured, music, lasers, a drone ballet, AIDAprima and MSC Magnifica.

Photos courtesy of AIDA. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Next!

Fincantieri floated up Norwegian Viva in the dry dock at their Marghera yard today. The ship will now be towed to a finishing dock for completion and expected delivery in June 2023. 

 Photo courtesy of Fincantieri. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Seven Seas Grandeur Begins to Take Shape

Fincantieri laid the keel today for Regent's Seven Seas Grandeur at their Ancona yard. The 55,500-ton vessel is expected to be delivered in 2023. 

In the photo below, the first block of the luxury vessel is being lowered into the dry dock.

The complete story appeared in the July 12 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Photo courtesy of Fincantieri. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.
 

The Gateway

Carnival has revealed the final zone aboard Carnival Celebration which will debut in November 2022. It's The Gateway, whose main elements will be two bars and a restaurant along with a couple of pretty interesting features. 

The complete story appeared in the July 8 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

 

In this view of The Gateway note the split-flap board above Latitudes and the virtual "windows" on the left and above.

This view shows Emiril's Bistro 1397 from above and looking the opposite direction from the previous rendering.

This rendering shows the iconic split-flap board above the Latitudes bar.

Renderings courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Noticed Something

Carnival released this rendering of what Carnival Luminosa will look like when it enters service for the line in November 2022. 

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

Rendering courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Chantiers de l'Atlantique laid the keel today at their Saint-Nazaire yard for Royal Caribbean's next Oasis-class ship, Utopia of the Seas which will debut in the spring of 2024. 

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

Photos courtesy of Chantiers de l'Atlantique. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Going Home

P&O Australia's Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure made a rare side-by-side appearance as they spent the night next to each other yesterday at the shipyard in Trieste. 

Pacific Encounter was preparing to leave for Australia to resume service in Australia on August 20, and Pacific Adventure was just arriving at the shipyard for its dry dock work. 

Australia's cruise industry is returning to work after a more than two-year pause during the pandemic. 

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

Photos courtesy of P&O Australia Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

The Birth of a Cruise Line

Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard floated out the first ship of MSC Cruises' new luxury brand, Explora Journeys, on Monday (May 30, 2022). It is also the first ship of a four-ship order, called Explora I.

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

Photo courtesy of Fincantieri. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Worth Waiting For

Holland America's new Rotterdam was named by Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands on Sunday (May 30, 2022). 

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

Photos courtesy of Holland America Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Open for Business

P&O Australia resumed cruising from Sydney today for the first time in more than two years. Shown below is Pacific Explorer arriving at Sydney this morning. The banner says it all. 

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

Courtesy of P&O Australia Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

It's Just a Few Days

It's just a few days until P&O Cruises Australia resumes service with a four-night aboard Pacific Explorer round trip cruise from Sydney to Brisbane on May 31. 

   The ship is crewed and excitement abounds. 

   As part of the process, the restaurant staff is seeing and sampling dozens of new menu items. 

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

Photo courtesy of P&O Cruises Australia. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Widescreen Ocean Views

P&O's new Arvia will enter service in December (2022) and the first feature P&O is giving us a look at is The Grand Atrium. 

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

Rendering courtesy of P&O Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Golf Was Never Even This Cool on the Ship

Carnival Cruise Line is bringing the fun back to Sydney early. They don't return to Australia until October, but through mid-June, visitors to the Sydney Zoo's GLOW Light Festival can play miniature golf Carnival-style around a friendly frog, a happy hippo, a chirpy crocodile - and of course, a glowing Carnival funnel. 

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

Photo courtesy of Carnival Australia. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Stepping into the Past

When Carnival Celebration debuts in November (2022), passengers will be able to enter the Golden Jubilee Bar through the original polished brass and glass doors that were at the entrance to the night club aboard TSS Carnivale thus literally walking through Carnival Cruise Line's history. The lounge will be filled with memorabilia and recreated design elements from Carnival's 50-year history. 

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

Renderings courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Now There's Something You Don't See Everyday

 Ready for the final phase of construction, Fincantieri transported the completed hull of Seabourn Pursuit from San Giorgio di Nogaro in northeastern Italy 1,200 nautical miles all the way around Italy to Genoa in northwest Italy on the Mediterranean coast. 

Photo courtesy of Fincantieri. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

It's Not Really a Ship

This is somewhat outside the realm of our normal coverage, but the Meyer Group, the parent of Meyer Werft, is in a new partnership to build a new product, Meyer Floating Solutions, which is essentially floating real estate. 

The complete story appeared in the March 11 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Rendering of one of Meyer Floating Solutions' boutique hotels

Rendering courtesy of Meyer Floating Solutions. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Arvia Keel Laid

Meyer Werft laid the keel for P&O's 184,000-ton Arvia on February 15 (2022) at their Papenburg (Germany) yard with will be the sister to Iona. 

Photos courtesy of Meyer Werft. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Carnival Celebration Floats Out

The float out process for Carnival's second LNG-powered Excel-class ship began at Meyer Turku on Friday. The celebration and ceremony was actually for opening the valves and allowing water to flow into the massive dry dock at the frigid Turku, Finland yard. 

 Photo courtesy of Meyer Turku. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Disney Wish Floats Out

 On Friday (February 11), Disney Wish floated out of the covered building dock at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. 

Photos courtesy of Meyer Werft. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

It's a Celebration in Turku

 Carnival Celebration is looking like a Carnival ship tonight at the Meyer Turku shipyard. 

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.