Cruise News

Cruise News

Cruise News brings you the latest headlines, ship updates, and insights from across the cruise industry. Each week, we cover what’s new in cruise travel, from ship launches and itinerary changes to environmental policy, innovation, and onboard trends. Whether you’re a frequent cruiser, travel professional, or just dreaming of your next voyage, Cruise News helps you stay informed without the fluff. Expect timely coverage of major cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, MSC, and Disney Cruise Line, along with interviews and analysis that explain what the headlines really mean for travelers. Join us for clear, credible updates on the business, destinations, and experiences shaping the world of cruising. Learn more at https://www.cruisenews.io

Episodes

July 7, 2026 8 mins
Today's Cruise News covers three developments spanning safety, ports, and ships. In a federal courtroom in Houston, former Royal Caribbean crew member Elias Luis Herrera pleaded guilty to the 2003 sexual assault of a 15-year-old passenger aboard Rhapsody of the Seas; sentencing is set for September 18, 2026, and he faces up to 20 years in prison. Carnival Corporation completed a pier expansion at Celebration Key on Grand Bahama Isl...
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Today's Cruise News covers three stories from across the industry. Port Tampa Bay projects roughly 1.8 million cruise passengers in 2026, an eight percent increase over its record 2025 total, with a fourth cruise terminal in development to add capacity. AIDA Cruises has canceled its winter 2027-28 Middle East program aboard AIDAperla and AIDAprima, saying the regional situation cannot be assessed reliably enough to keep the deploym...
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July 5, 2026 20 mins
Today on Cruise News: cruise lines are increasingly building voyages around celebrations, entertainment, and personal passions. Carnival Cruise Line, an official America250 partner, opens its shipboard celebrations of America's 250th anniversary with a June 28 event aboard Carnival Pride at the Port of Baltimore, followed by July 4 gatherings across its fleet and a 40-foot Uncle Sam hat on deck. Cunard unveils its 2027 entertainmen...
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Norwegian Cruise Line opens the show with a 50% discount on 2026 summer fares across 15 homeports, pairing Kids Sail Free with its Free at Sea package and pointing families toward Great Stirrup Cay, where the new Great Tides Waterpark opens September 4. We then turn to the MS Hondius, where Oceanwide Expeditions says its crew has completed quarantine following a hantavirus outbreak that produced 12 confirmed cases and three deaths ...
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Today's Cruise News covers three stories from across the industry. Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sun has dropped four Baltic ports — Nynäshamn/Stockholm, Klaipeda, Gdynia/Gdansk, and Kiel — from its June 24, 2026 sailing after propulsion issues limited the ship to 11 knots, with affected guests offered a $100 onboard credit per stateroom, a 25% future cruise credit, and a 25% fare refund. Ambassador Cruise Line has ...
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Today's Cruise News covers three stories shaping cruise choices for the seasons ahead. Margaritaville at Sea welcomed its one millionth guest on June 25 and is preparing to add a third ship, the Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber, which will homeport at PortMiami beginning January 2027. MSC Cruises launched a July 4 sale offering 40 percent off, free sailings for children, and 250 dollars off U.S. homeport departures, with five sail...
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July 1, 2026 9 mins
Today on Cruise News: Miami-Dade County moves to seize the Fisher Island fuel depot that supplies PortMiami, using eminent domain after the site's new owners signaled plans to close it for luxury residential redevelopment — a dispute with stakes for the busiest cruise port in the United States. Royal Caribbean's new Icon-class Legend of the Seas scraps its planned Cadiz drydock stop and heads straight to its July 4 maiden voy...
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Today on Cruise News: Carnival Cruise Line is planning 155 Halloween-themed cruises across its entire 29-ship fleet, with departures running from September 20 through October 31, 2026, and onboard fun including costume contests, trick-or-treating, themed bingo, and pumpkin hunts. Port Tampa Bay has completed three enclosed, climate-controlled boarding bridges across its cruise terminals, modernizing infrastructure for the roughly 1...
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June 27, 2026 9 mins
Today's Cruise News brief covers three developments across the cruise industry. Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas returns to Europe for the first time in five years after an April to May 2026 drydock, sailing the Western Mediterranean from Barcelona and Civitavecchia before a July transatlantic crossing back to Port Canaveral, with roughly 100 new staterooms and refreshed onboard venues. MSC Cruises expands its Aurea Spa concep...
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Today's Cruise News covers three developments shaping how cruisers plan ahead. Carnival Cruise Line points to NOAA's forecast for a quieter 2026 Atlantic hurricane season — a 55% chance of below-normal activity, with eight to 14 named storms expected against an average of 14 — and details how its 35,000-square-foot Miami Fleet Operations Center monitors all 29 ships to steer captains into the safest water. Holland Ameri...
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On today's Cruise News: PortMiami warns of heavy traffic on June 13 as eight cruise ships and the opening of the FIFA Fan Festival overlap, with roughly 63,000 cruise passengers expected through the port in a single day during a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. peak. Royal Caribbean's seventh Oasis-class ship, known for now as B35, has begun block assembly at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France, following its June 11 keel-laying ce...
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Today's brief covers three stories shaping the cruise calendar. Fincantieri has delivered the LNG-ready Mein Schiff Flow, the ninth ship for TUI Cruises, from its Monfalcone yard, a roughly 160,000-gross-ton vessel carrying 3,984 guests, with a christening set for Trieste and a Mediterranean program based out of Palma de Mallorca. Norwegian Sun opens its 2026 Northern Europe season on seven-to-ten-night sailings between Copenhagen ...
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June 24, 2026 16 mins
Two safety cases — onboard and ashore — bracket a lighter look at music cruising. In federal court in Bangor, Maine, 46-year-old John Kelleher was sentenced to 12 months for assaulting his girlfriend in their cabin aboard a cruise ship that departed New York in December 2024. In Genoa, Italy, a 14-year-old French passenger was punched near the cruise terminal while ashore with family, and police detained a female suspec...
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June 23, 2026 16 mins
Alaska takes center stage this season. Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas launches its first Alaska summer from Seattle — running seven-night Inside Passage itineraries to Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, and the Dawes Glacier — though its June 19 departure was overbooked, with the line offering incentives to rebook. Aboard Virgin Voyages' Brilliant Lady, onboard retailer Starboard rolls out an Alaska-exclusive collection ble...
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Three stories on a faster, more digital, and cautiously expanding cruise industry. The Port of Vancouver has processed its one millionth cruise passenger through facial biometrics, cutting per-passenger screening from minutes to about 10 seconds and embarkation from two hours to 30. Carnival Cruise Line completes its rollout of Konami's SYNKROS casino system — branded SURF onboard — across all 29 ships, enabling cashles...
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Three stories on safety, growth, and shifting tastes at sea. A 43-year-old passenger has pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to sexually abusing a 15-year-old aboard a Carnival cruise that sailed from New Orleans in November 2023, with sentencing set for September 1 — a sober reminder of onboard passenger-safety stakes. On the Great Lakes, Victory II kicked off Green Bay's expanded 2026 season at Leicht Park, part of a tripl...
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MSC Cruises unveils 'The Spiral @ Tree of Life' aboard the upcoming MSC World Asia — an 81.3-meter, 12-deck plunge billed as the longest dry slide at sea, debuting on the 6,758-guest ship in December 2026. Celestyal turns Celestyal Journey and Celestyal Discovery into floating sports bars, screening 2026 FIFA World Cup matches across multiple lounges from June 11 to July 19. And Holland America's Nieuw Statendam becomes the l...
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Port Canaveral advances a $95 million upgrade of Cruise Terminal 10 — expanding security and luggage handling, fixing the trench-drain failures that caused sinkholes, and readying the building for ships up to 6,700 guests like Disney Wish and MSC Seashore — as the record-setting homeport handles 8.6 million passenger movements a year. And Holland America expands its Single Barrel Series to 13 bourbons and ryes in the Oc...
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Carnival unveils 'The Next Course,' a fleetwide dining overhaul with new venues like Emeril's Coastal Seafood, Uku Lei Lei, and Fetaccine debuting on the upcoming Festivale (2027) and Tropicale (2028), plus refreshed main-dining menus rolling out to 14 ships by July. Turkey's Antalya port opens shared piers 9 and 10, finally letting it berth ships over 300 meters — like the 335-meter Aroya — as it eyes up to 35 calls a ...
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A Florida federal judge clears the way for a lawsuit against Carnival to proceed after a passenger lost both legs in a Nassau shore-excursion propeller accident, putting cruise lines' responsibility for vetting and selling third-party excursions back in the spotlight. Margaritaville at Sea taps MJM Marine and Mivan to convert the former Costa Fortuna into its third ship, Beachcomber, ahead of a 2027 Miami debut. And Royal Caribbean...
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