Symphony Gets Bigger and Boarding Gets Faster

Symphony of the Seas will have the capacity to carry more than 6,800 passengers, and Royal Caribbean has developed a  faster way to get them aboard at embarkation, minimizing the check-in process, and they barely see the terminal.

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

Weddings for Everyone

You wouldn't think what happens in Malta would affect what happens on ships in the Caribbean, but it does. Thanks to a vote in Malta's parliament, where most of Celebrity Cruises' fleet is registered, same-sex couples can now legally wed aboard the Malta-registered ships.

Details appeared in the October 12 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

FEMA Goes Cruising Again

Change of plans: After just announcing that Carnival Fascination will return to San Juan sailings this weekend despite ongoing repairs to the terminal, Carnival announced this afternoon that the ship will instead be chartered to FEMA to house relief workers on St. Croix.

The charter will necessitate canceling the ship's San Juan sailings from October 15 through January 28.

Details appear in the October 11 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Now You Can Get a Beer with That Barbeque

Passengers love Guy's Burger Joint on many Carnival ships. As a result, Guy Fieri developed the Pig & Anchor barbeque restaurant for Carnival where the meat is smoked right on the ship. It's available on just a couple of ships and only at selected times. Now Carnival has him branching out again.

Guy's Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse/Brewhouse is more of an evolution to a third brand than just an expansion of the Pig & Anchor franchise. It will debut aboard Carnival Horizon.

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

Nate Takes His Turn

Hurricane Nate turned out to be the least disruptive to turnarounds of the recent hurricanes. Still, it is relatively unusual for hurricanes to keep ships at sea for extra days, but 2017 seems to be the year for it.

The complete story appeared in the October 10 edition of Cruise News Daily.