Alley-OOOOOP!

When Carnival Vista finishes its current cruise, its off to dry dock for repair of its two Azipods, one of which has been keeping the ship from attaining normal cruising speed and has necessitated modifying the itineraries. It will be out of service for a couple of weeks causing the cancellation of three scheduled sailings.

There are few dry docks in the region that can handle a ship the size of Carnival Vista, and fewer that have the expertise to do this kind of work. Normally, the most logical place to have the work done would be Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport, but as you may remember, its large dry dock was damaged in an accident when a crane collapsed on Oasis of the Seas several weeks ago.

At the time Carnival announced Carnival Vista's repairs, Carnival said they were working on a repair solution with ABB (the manufacturer of the podded propulsion system). Carnival detailed that solution today and explained how the repair would be accomplished.

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

Claustrophobics Need Not Consider This Excursion

In the race to have the coolest luxury amenities, Seabourn is definitely pulling ahead on their expedition ships. Today they provided details of the seven-person submarines that will be carried aboard each of the two ships.

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

Rendering courtesy of Seabourn Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permissin.

Voyager Is Next

Royal Caribbean announced plans to “Amplify” Voyager of the Seas similar to what they have done with other Voyager-class ships, adding new and updated features while at the same time doing a general refreshment of the ship. What's significant about the $97 million project in this case is that upon completion in November, the ship will be going to the Australian market, a market into which a lot of companies are pouring resources.

The complete story appeared in the June 27 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Welcome Back, Jack

Very few lines can celebrate their one hundredth anniversary of anything, but Cunard already has a whole list of centennials. An upcoming one in November is the 100th anniversary for operating their signature route from Southampton to New York, which they will mark with a special transatlantic crossing of Queen Mary 2.

Equally impressive is that Cunard has former employees who started with the company as little more than children and now at 100 years old can come back and visit today's ships.

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

99-year old former Cunard bellboy John ‘Jack’ Jenkins during his visit to Queen Mary 2 in Southampton.  John joined the Cunard Steamship Company in 1933 & his first job was as a bellboy and lift operator. One of his main jobs was to open the doors for the first class passengers in the dinning saloon working on the famous Cunard liner RMS. Mauretania,

Photos couresty of Cunard Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Longer Means New Layout

MSC opened the next Seaside-class ship for reservations today, but since it's the first of the next generation of the class, the line also released some new details of the class.

The complete story appeared in the June 26 issue of Cruise News Daily.