Your cruise news update for all major cruise lines for the past week. There are several developments from Carnival and for a change most are good! There are also things you need to know about Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Disney Cruise Line.
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Cruise News Update
We have many Cruise News Updates It’s been a busy week for Carnival Cruise Line with changes to protocols, the addition of Costa ships to the fleet and a popular onboard event making a comeback.
We also have news of Princess Cruises’ cancellations, a big development as a cruise line seeks to halt pre-cruise testing and Disney’s new cruise ship arrives in Florida. Celebrity Cruises hits a massive milestone as Celebrity Infinity completes not only the comeback of the fleet, but the comeback of all cruise lines in the Royal Caribbean Group.
Carnival eases logs for going ashore
In a message sent to Travel Partners, as well as changes to his Enjoy. Be sure. logs, Carnival Cruise Line has dropped its requirement that unvaccinated guests only book land tours or remain on board in ports of call.
The cruise line now says unvaccinated guests, regardless of vaccination status, will be allowed to go ashore to enjoy tours or independent sightseeing.
This means guests who have received an exemption from vaccinations can now choose to arrange independent shore tours not offered by Carnival, or simply disembark to explore on their own.
Previously, Carnival’s protocols stated that unvaccinated guests 12 years and older were not allowed to visit ports of call alone and could only go ashore if they booked a Carnival shore excursion.
However, the update does not apply to all ports of call as they do not yet allow all unvaccinated guests to go ashore. The ports still open to unvaccinated guests 12 and older are San Juan, Bonaire, Grand Cayman, St. Kitts and Tortola. Grand Turk does not allow guests 16 years and older to disembark and guests 18 years and older cannot disembark in Cartagena, Colombia.
The cruise line is slowly relaxing its protocols and more changes could be on the way very soon. The CDC already confirmed to Cruise Hive last week that it was reassessing its pre-cruise testing requirements for cruise ships.
Cancellations by Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises has announced further cancellations affecting cruise guests in Australia. That Majestic Princess Travel from March 7, 2023 to March 9, 2023 has now been cancelled.
These crossings are part of a longer 18-day itinerary that can be split between different ports of departure. Princess Cruises said the reason for the cancellations was due to recent deployment changes.
The Australian Seacation sailing tour on March 7th was scheduled to depart from Sydney and end in Brisbane on March 9th. There was also a much longer 18-day Asia and Australia sailing voyage that departed on the same day and ended in Hong Kong on March 25, 2023. The third cruise affected is the 16-day Asia and Australia voyage from Brisbane to Hong Kong.
The cruise line is offering alternative options for guests booked on the affected islands Majestic Princess sailing. Replacement voyages are recommended with a 2 day departure from Sydney departing 6 April 2024, a 21 day departure from Sydney departing 6 April 2024 and a 19 day departure from Brisbane 8 April 2024.
More Costa ships at Carnival Cruise Line
With “COSTA by Carnival”, Carnival Cruise Line is fully committed to Italian style brings two more Costa cruise ships to the Carnival fleet.
Costa Venezia will join in Spring 2023 and debut in New York City during Costa Florence will join in 2024 and debut under her new cruise brand in Long Beach, California.
The cruise line is bringing Italian cruising style to the US market and guests can enjoy the stunning Italian-inspired amenities both ships offer.
This follows the recent announcement that Costa Luminosa will join Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet in November 2022. However, this ship will be completely renamed and renamed Carnival Luminosawhile Costa Venezia and Costa Florence will retain their identity as Costa Cruises.
Both ships will undergo dry dock work prior to their transfer to the United States, but full details of that work have not yet been released.
Carnival Cruise Line already operates three Vista-class ships in the Fun Ship fleet: Carnival vista, carnival horizonand Carnival panoramawho joined the line in 2016, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
The two Costa ships are younger sisters in the class, with Costa Venezia after debuting in 2019 and Costa Florence in 2020.
P&O Cruises does not carry out any pre-departure tests
P&O Cruises, the UK’s largest cruise line, is to temporarily revoke the audit mandate for at least one ship. The cruise line, owned by Carnival Corporation, operates cruises primarily from the UK, where the government lifted entry requirements for entry into the country on March 18, 2022.
In a letter to guests, P&O Cruises announced it would eliminate the need for pre-departure testing onboard its flagship Iona. This would be for a limited time only, from June 25th to July 23rd, 2022.
During the five voyages during this period, guests deemed fully vaccinated will no longer be required to purchase or take a lateral flow (antigen) test before boarding the ship.
The voyages in question are departures from Southampton, UK on 25 June, 2 July, 9 July, 16 July and 23 July.
All unvaccinated guests must continue to adhere to testing requirements. This includes all guests over the age of 12. Guests 16 years and older will also need a booster shot if it has been more than 270 days since their last dose.
Likewise, Iona sails on a series of short cruises, all following the same itinerary. This gives the cruise line the opportunity to evaluate each voyage and see if there is a basis for extending the policy to other ships in the fleet.
Disney Wish is coming to the US
Disney Cruise Line’s newest cruise ship, the highly anticipated Disney wish, arrived at her new home port of Port Canaveral shortly before sunrise Monday, June 20, 2022. The ship left Germany on June 9.
She was escorted by a flotilla of port tugs and the Port Canaveral Fire Rescue Fireboat 2, which delivered the traditional water cannon salute.
Disney wish was greeted at her new Florida home by cruise fans who lined up at Jetty Park, a popular spot to view cruise ships bound for Port Canaveral. In the coming days, the ship is preparing for its first official guest voyage, which sets sail on June 29th.
The ship should already be operational in January of this year. However, supply chain issues and delays due to COVID-19 meant the ship did not leave the yard until March for final fitting out and sea trials.
The fifth ship in the fleet will offer three- and four-day itineraries to the Bahamas, including Disney’s own private island, Castaway Cay. Disney Wish is 144,000 gross tons and has a capacity of 2,500 guests based on double occupancy.
Carnival brings back popular event
In a sign that crew shortages are easing somewhat (which we’ll get to in a moment), Carnival Cruise Line is now able to do so Bring back the popular loyalty parties for its Diamond and Platinum Very Important Fun Person (VIFP) guests.
This is certainly a welcome announcement for many passengers as the parties are a highlight of the cruise for many past guests.
Highly anticipated by many of Carnival’s loyal cruise lines, these events often include complimentary drinks and appetizers, visits from the ship’s officers, and a popular video showcasing each Carnival cruise ship from the line’s inception in 1972 to the newest and upcoming ships.
VIFP events were temporarily canceled in mid-May due to staffing shortages on Carnival’s ships, and guests were offered other compensation to replace the missed events.
More good news is coming for Carnival Cruise Line as staffing issues improve. A backlog of visa applications to be processed was part of the cause of the cruise line’s staff shortage, and Carnival Cruise Line has been working with US government officials to clear the backlog and get eager crew members back on their ships.
It will take some time, but hopefully not only Carnival but also other cruise lines will be able to be fully booked again soon.
All Celebrity Cruise Ships are sailing back
We close with some more good news than Celebrity Infinity returns to service after 881 days of hiatus due to the industry-wide suspension that began in March 2020. Cruise ship Celebrity departs Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 25 for a seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise with stops in the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos and The Dominican Republic.
Celebrity Infinity offers alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, with all cruises calling at Bimini or Nassau and Key West. The Eastern Caribbean cruises include additional visits to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Western Caribbean cruises will include additional ports in Belize and Cozumel.
It gets even better as the Celebrity cruise ship marks a major milestone not only for Celebrity Cruises but also for parent company Royal Caribbean Group.
It now means that all 63 cruise ships in the Royal Caribbean Group have returned to sea. To mark the major milestone, the entire fleet will sound their horn on Saturday 25 June in celebration and honor of the crew.
More cruise headlines
The past week has been packed with major cruise news and we’ve got all the coverage, including Damage at the cruise port in Skagway after a rock fall, MSC Cruises Brings back his popular gala night throughout the fleet, Carnival Corporation Business update for the second quarterBeing two Crystal cruise ships reissued under the same brand names in 2023, construction begins on the first of two TUI cruise ships with LNG propulsion and a gross tonnage of 160,000 CDC reevaluates pre-cruise testing for cruise ships and much more.