January 2005

Cruise ship schedules affected by Tsunami: Star Cruises has amended the itineraries of two of its vessels, Superstar Virgo and Superstar Gemini as calls at Phuket, Thailand have been cancelled. Star Clippers' Star Flyer, based for several cruises in Thailand has been relocated to Singapore. Ocean Princess and Andaman Princess have assisted in rescue operations immediately after the disaster took place,and are both currently laid up. They even could remain out of service for the rest of the winter season.

January 5th   Costa Cruises announced the order of a new cruise ship to be constructed at Fincantieri measuring 112.000GRT, a sister vessel to Costa Concordia for delivery QI 2007.

January 5th    Costa Tropicale will be renamed Pacific Star. Built as Tropicale in 1981 for Carnival Cruise Lines, she sailed as Costa Tropicale for Costa Cruises since 2000. She will be transferred in October '05 to P&O's Australia division. Both Costa and P&O are subsidiairies of Canival Cruise Lines.

January 8th    Portuguese based Classic Int. Cruises has taken delivery of the former Valtur Prima, and have renamed her Athena. After a refit she will start sailing for her new owners this spring.

January 10th   Mediterranean Shipping Cruises has revealed names for their two newbuildings planned for delivery in 2006/ 2007: MSC Musica and MSC Orchestra.

January 13th  New cruise company easyCruise has cancelled the inaugural cruises out of Singapore because of the Tsunami, the tidal wave that caused havoc in December 2004. After her refit will be completed, easyCruise I will start sailing in the Mediterranean spring 2005.

January 20th   Due to technical problems with her propulsion, P&O Cruises Aurora's world cruise has been cancelled. The ship has returned to Southampton after sea trials to check if repairs were successful and her passengers will leave the ship as soon as possible, as it will probably take several weeks to rectify the problems.

Januari 21st    Rochdale One, former Aywasowski, Carina (built 1977) will welcome the last group of students who will use the ship as accomodation in the course of the coming weeks. The ship is part of a large project to house 1100 students from 2004 to 2009. She is moored in the Port of Amsterdam in the Houthaven, where a small village is created with simple accommodations on land for appr. 900 students, while Rochdale One will provide living quarters for another 200 students. The ship will remain in working condition, so she can be taken into cruise service again after the project has ended in 5 years time. See separate page on Rochdale One

January 26th   Fred Olsen has bought the Grand Latino (1973, ex Royal Viking Sky) from Iberojet Cruceros. Iberoject had put the vessel on the sales list after their purchase of the Mistral from defunct Festival Cruises. She is a sister ship to another Fred Olsen owned vessel, the Black Watch.

January 27th   Aurora arrived today in Bremerhaven to have one of her electric motors replaced. Repairs will take appr. 3 months to complete. Her world cruise had been cancelled on Jan 20th. She will return to service in May.

January 27th  Explorer ex Olympia Explorer was struck by a monster wave in the Pacific en route from Vancouver to Japan. Her bridge windows were smashed and the incoming water seriously damaged her navigation equipment. All four engines were disabled, and after a few hours, engineers had reactivated two engines so Explorer could sail at half power. Explorer had just started a 100-day voyage with appr. 700 students on board, sailing for the Semester at Sea-program.

February 2005

February 7th  Lisa Curry Kenny (Olympic Games athlete) acted as godmother during the (re)naming ceremony  in Sydney where Carnival's Jubilee became P&O Australia's Pacific Sun.

February 11th  NCL announced that Pride of America left the dry dock at Lloyd Werft and is now alongside the outfitting pier at the German shipyard. Sea trials are scheduled from May 19 through May 22 and NCL America will take delivery of Pride of America on June 6, 2005.

Februray 12th  A Greek court has declared Royal Olympia Cruises bankrupt. The company's three vessels will be auctioned off. The company had been struggling to survive for about a year after her two most imprtant ships, two recent newbuildings and one of her older ships had already been sold off.

February 14th  Just like her sister Explorer two weeks earlier, Iberojet's Voyager encountered very heavy seas when sailing in the vicinity of Sardinia during a cruise in the Western Med. After her bridge windows were shattered, the ship was left without power. Later, power was restored and Voyager could reach port. A handful of her passengers became slightly injured

February 18th Fred Olsen's fourth cruise ship, the recently acquired Grand Latino (built in 1972 as Royal Viking Sky) will be renamed Boudicca. She will join the Fred Olsen fleet after a lengthy refit in 2006

February 25th Sad news has reached us: NCL's ss Norway (ex France, 1962) has reportedly been sold to the breakers, problably in India. After an explosion of one of her boilers, she has been in lay up in Bremerhaven at Lloyd Werft for the last two years. Repairs to let her return to active service proved uneconomical. Plans to use her as a hotel ship in France or the Netherlands fell through. However, there are persistent rumours that she might be used as a hotel ship in the port of Singapore....

March 2005

March 7th  Island Cruises will introduce their second vessel, the Island Star at the fall of 2005. Island Star is the former Horizon of Celebrity Cruises, measures 47000 GRT and has a passenger capacity of 1700. Island Star will join fleetmate Island Escape. Island Cruises operates cruises with an informal, club like character.

March 8th  Color Line and Aker Yards have signed a letter of intent for the construction of a sister vessel to Color Fantsay for delivery in the last quarter of 2007. The recently delivered Color Fantasy is a huge succes, and features a shopping mall running two-thirds of the vessels's length. Although a car ferry, Color Fantasy is marketed as "the first cruise ship with a car deck". Indeed, her interiors can compete with a regular cruise ship.  

March 14th  Minimum prices for cruises are at the same level today as they were 25 years ago, according to Carnival president Mr. Dickinson. When inflation is taken into account, this means that price levels have dropped appr. 50%. Considering that early cruise ships often were converted liners with simple interiors and that today's cruise vessels feature modern, spectacular facilities like rock climbing walls, shopping malls etc. cruising gives great value for money.

March 16th  NCL stated  today that four more of its ships will feature special artwork design on their hull. This concerns two new and two existing ships, the Norwegian Jewel, the Pride of Hawaii, Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Sun.

March 24th  P&O Cruises has taken delivery of the new Arcadia (83.000 GRT). She will be named in her homeport of Southampton on April 12th by olympic athlete Dame Kelly Holmes. Her maiden voyage starts on April 14th.

March 30th   In December 2005 Crystal Cruises Crystal Harmony (built 1990) will move to the cruise division of it's parent company, NYK Cruises. She will join Asuka and wiil be renamed Asuka II. NYK, catering for the Japanese market, has a shortage of capacity and the move will also enable Crystal Cruises to update it's fleet by replacing Crystal Harmony with a newbuilding.

April 2005

April 1st  RCCL has placed a final order (on March 7th a letter of intent had already been signed) with Aker Yards to build a third ship in the Freedom of the Seas-series. with delivery planned for the second quarter of 2008.  This series of ships are the largest cruise vessels in the world, measuring 158.000 GRT, thus surpassing the Queen Mary2 in size.

April 3rd  Deilmann Reederei has sold the Berlin to Saga Cruises.She will join their fleet as Saga Opal. Saga offers cruises for those aged 55 and over.

April 6th All vesses of defunct Royal Olympia Cruises have found new owners: the 1975 built Ocean Countess, already sold at auction to Majestic Cruises will be chartered to Holiday Kreuzfahrten and will be renamed Lili Marleen, Triton (1972, 14500grt) has been sold to Louis Cruises from Cyprus, World Renaissance's (1966, 11720grt) new owners are Elysian Cruises and finally Odysseues (1962, 9820grt) has been sold to unknown Asian interests.

April 8th Star Cruises report that they will shift the Norwegian Sea from subsidiary NCL to the Star brand. She will perform a series of 1, 2 and 4-day cruises from Mumbai/ Bombay, India. It is the first time the Indian government has given permission to a foreign company to operate a series of cruises from an Indian port.

April 14th Today P&O's recently delivered, brand new Arcadia, will sail from Southampton on her maiden trip. Her naming ceremony took place on April 12th.

April 15th Princess Cruises have announced the name of their newbuilding to be constructed by Fincantieri with delivery in the first half of 2007: Emerald Princess. The 116.000 grt-vessel will be a sister ship to Caribbean Princess.

April 25th MSC's Lirica passed her health inspection carried out by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Protection with flying colours, receiving the maximum score of a 100 points.

May 2005

May 13th: Thomson Celebration (former Noordam of Holland America) has cut short a two week cruise because of plumbing problems affecting over 200 cabins. Passengers were flown home.

May 24th Norway, former NCL flagship and the world's longest passenger vessel until the advent of Cunard's Queen Mary 2  has finally left Bremerhaven after two years of lay up. Her destination is Port Klang, Malaysia. It is said Star/ NCL want to convert her to a floating hotel.

May 25th Viking Bordeaux, the former Sun Line vessel Stella Maris will finally embark on a new career after a long period of lay up in Eemshaven, The Netherlands. Renamed Madagascar, she will be refitted and start cruising in the Indian Ocean after a short charter in the Baltic.

May 27th In Southampton, P&O's Adonia was renamed Sea Princess by British actress Joanna Lumley. After a short period of two years in the P&O fleet, she was transferred back to the Princess fleet, where she started her career seven years ago under the same name.

May 29th Celebrity Cruises had filed a 300 million dollar law suit agaiast Alstom (shipyard) and Rolls Royce (delivered propulsion system) because four of it's ships Infinity, Constellation, Summit and Millennium have repeatedly encountered problems with their azipod-propulsion interrupting their schedules because of forced shipyard visits.   

June 2005

June 1st One of the most famous cruise ships ever built, the former Stella Polaris built 1927 and in use as a hotel/ restaurant in Japan for the last 35 years has been sold to new owners who want to operate her in active cruise service in the Caribbean. But after many years without any significant maintenance to her hull, she will have to be completely refitted.

June 7th Lloyd Werft, Bremerhaven delivered the Pride of America to her owners Norwegian Cruise Line. She will sail empty to New York, where she will be christened. Then she will start cruise service in Hawaiian waters. Her delivery has been postponed for a year because of damage she suffered during a storm  causing her to sink at her outfitting berth.

June 8th The University of Pittsbergh has decided not to renew their partnership with the Institute of Shipboard Education operating the cruise ship Explorer on student cruises, a programme called "Semester at Sea". This was caused by the damage the vessel suffered when she was hit by a gigantic wave a few moths earlier and a disagreement over the scheduled port of calls, of which the Unversity of Pittsburgh doubted the safety of it's students could be guaranteed there.

June 23rd Black Watch returns to service after being reengined at the Blohm & Voss ship yard in Hamburg. Also, 14 new suites with balconies have been added and existing cabins were upgraded during her refit.

June 24th The Berlin, until recently operated by German ship owner Deilmann, will be renamed Spirit of Adventure when she will enter the Saga Cruises fleet at the end of this year. Until then, she will sail under charter to Russian Metropolis Tur as the Orange Melody in European waters.

June 27th At the Fincantieri ship yard in Genoa, Costa Concordia's bridge section was lifted on top of the vessel. This section weighs around 190 tonnes. Costa Concordia is scheduled for delivery in the summer of 2006.

June 30th The former Holland America Line flag ship Rotterdam of 1959 has passed to new owners after her former Dutch owners ran into financial difficulties. An investment firm has teamed up with a housing company and a Dutch university.There are plans to have her fulfill a new role as museum, hotel and college.

July 2005

July 7th Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Enchantment of the Seas reentered service after a 2 month stay at the Dutch ship yard Keppel Verolme during which she was lengthened by 70ft. She received 150 new cabins and part of her new deck space is overhanging the sea. Her passenger capacity has incraesed by 300 to 2700 passengers.

July 11th For the tenth time in a row, readers of the prestigious travel magazine Travel + Leisure have voted Crystal Cruises to offer the best cruise product in the segment of luxury cruising onboard large vessels.

July13th Aida Cruises as wel as Celebrity cruises have both ordered new tonnage from German Meyer werft, both for delivery in 2008. Aida's vessel will be a third sister to the two 68.000GRT vessels already on order from the same yard. The Celebrity vessel will be the start of a new class of ships measuring 117.000GRT. Celebrity has an option for a second vessel. Meyer, which has just laid off personnel because of an almost empty orderbook, has made a dramatic comeback as one of the frontrunners in cruise ship construction

July 15th Carnival has taken delivery of their 21st vessel, the Carnival Liberty (110.000GRT). She was built by the  Italian Fincantieri yard. Sisters Carnival Conquest and Valor have been delivered in 2002 and 2004 respectively. A last sister Carnival Freedom will enter service in the spring of 2007.

July 19th Pride of America, NCL's brand new cruise liner constructed at Lloyd Werft, Bremerhaven arrived at Honolulu today. She will embark on her first cruise on July 23rd.

August 2005

August 4th NCL took delivery of its newest vessel Norwegian Jewel constructed by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany.

August 4th Aida Cruises report that their oldest vessel AidaBlu (former Princess Cruises Crown Princess) will shift to sister company Ocean Village (both are owned by Carnival Corp.) in spring 2007. Aida currently has three vessels on order from Meyer Werft for delivery in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

August 9th EasyCruise announced that their first and only cruise ship EasyCruise One is fully booked this month, which is quite an achievement for a company that has only seen three months of operation. EasyCruise organises budget cruises for a clientele aged 20-40 years.

August 10th A new company started operations: Indian Ocean Cruises. Their first vessel is the small, classic Madagascar (built 1960 as the day cruiser Bremerhaven, she also sailed as Stella Maris II and Viking Bordeaux). Madagascar will sail on short cruises in south east African waters.

August 16th Queen Mary 2 will start on her first world cruise on January 10th, 2007, Cunard Line announced today. She will depart together with fleetmate Queen Elizabeth 2 from Fort Lauderdale. It will be Queen Elizabeth's 25th world cruise.

August 22nd The hull of the world's largest cruise ship, RCCL's Freedom of the Seas was floated out today at Aker Finyards (Finland). Her maiden voyage is planned for April 2006.

August 26th StarCruises has officially obtained permission to operate a cruise ship out of Mumbai. As of October 2005, their Superstar Libra will operate 1, 2 and 5-day trips to Goa and Kadmat Island. Star has launched a special Indian website and toll free telephone number to make the Indian populatian aware of their cruise product.

August 30th HAL reports three spectacular voyages in 2007 as it expands its Grand Voyage Program. The ms Amsterdam will depart on a world cruise while the ms Prinsendam will depart on a voyage to South America/ Antartica (66days) followed by a grand cruise to North Africa/ Europe (56 days).

September 2005

September 4th Orient Venus owned by Japan Cruise Lines has been sold to European interests after three years of lay up. Another attempt to interest the Japanese in cruising has partly failed The company has another vessel still in service: Pacific Venus of 1998. Recently it became known that another Japanese cruise ship, the Asuka was sold to German Phoenix Reisen and will sail as their Amadea in 2006.

September 15th After the hurricane Katrina's devastating blow to New Orleans and the area surrounding it at the end of August, several cruise ships are chartered by the US government to house relief workers. Ships chartered so far: Carnival's Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday, Majestic Cruises' Ocean Monarch and Silja Lines' Finnjet.  Originally, plans were to use these ships to accommodate victims of Katrina, but generally, these people want to return home to rebuild/ repair damages.

September 15th OVDS, one of the two operators of the Norwegian Coastal Express service Hurtigrute, has placed an order at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri. The new vessel will be 110 m long, will carry 500 passengers on 8 passenger decks. She will be dlivered in the spring of 2007.

September 16th Costa Cruises has announced the name of their latest newbuilding on which construction started today at the Fincantieri yard at Sestri Ponente: Costa Serena. Delivery is planned in 2007. Sister vessel Costa Concordia will start sailing in the summer of 2006.

September 21st Today, P&O Cruises announced that one of the newbuildings recently oredered by parent company Carnival Corp. will go to P&O. Her name will be Ventura and she will measure 116.000GRT.

September 27th  6 Star cruise line Silversea Cruises released a press statement in which the companies'  first world cruise was announced. On Januari 15th 2007, Silver Shadow will depart for a voyage of 126 days duration calling at 61 countries.

September 30th In a press statement, Carnival stated today that the 5th newbuilding recently ordered from Fincantieri will go to the Carnival Cruises fleet. Other ships from the series have been assigned to Princess Cruises, P&O Cruuises, Cunard Line and another one to Carnival itself.

October 2005

October 5th Work has started at the German Meyer Werft in Papenburg on the new NCL vessel (93.000 GRT) which will enter service in the first half of 2007.

October 13th A new Norwegian Company called Orphalese Global Strategies, claims to have ordered the world's second residential passenger vessel (the vessel The World, built in 2002 being the first) at Finnish Finnyards. Just like The World, part of her passengers will be residents and the rest will be "normal" cruise passengers.

October15th MSC's newbuilding ms Musica, scheduled for delivery in June 2006 was floated out. She will embark on her Maiden Voyage on July 1st when she commences her regular one week circuit from Venice.

October 18th  Norwegian Coastal Voyages (Hurtigrute service) announced a special 7 day cruise will be carried out by their Midnatsol starting December 27th. She will sail from Trondheim and New Years Eve will be celebrated "on the top of the world", on the North Cape plateau.

October 26th Today, Meyer Werft started work on the first vessel of the series of three ships ordered by Aida Kreuzfahrthen. She will be delivered in 2007, her sister ships will follow one and two years later respectively.

October 31st After two years of lay up in Eemshaven, The Netherlands, followed by a refit in the Ukraine, the former Viking Bordeaux/ Stella Maris/ Bremerhaven has started cruise service from Durban, South Africa for her new owners Indian Ocean Cruises.

November 2005

November 3rd In an impressive naming ceremony in Miami NCL's newest vessel, the Norwegian Jewel, has been christened by Melania Trump, wife of business tycoon Donald Trump.

November 4th Sea Containers Ltd, owner of several shipping  companies has announced drastic restructuring plans. Sea Containers owns two cruise ships, the Walrus and Silja Opera. Both will be chartered out or sold.

November5th Today Seabourn Spirit was attacked by pirates just of the Somali coast. The pirates used rifles and grenades during their attack on the vessel which carried 300 passengers at the time. The Seabourn Spirit manged to flee from the pirates, sailing at full speed.

November 8th Queen Mary2 arrived in the port of Hamburg to be overhauled at the Blohm + Voss shipyard. She will be repainted with appr.50tons of paint and some of her equipment like winches and stabilisers will be serviced. She will stay at the yard for 10 days.

November 14th Queen Elizabeth II will celibrate her 80th birthday in 2006 aboard the small Scottish cruise ship Hebridean Princess. The Queen will charter the ship for a cruise around the Western Scottish Isles. The Queen's original yacht, the Britannia was donated to the port of Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland for use as a museum because the ship had become too old (44 years old) and thus costly to keep her in service as the Royal Yacht.

November 14th Again an important order for the French Shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique concerning two giant cruise ships for Italian shipowner MSC Cruises. Two vessels, measuring 133.000 GRT, a capacity of 3800 passengers and a length of 333m. will enter service in 2008 and 2009 as the MSC Sonata and MSC Fantasia respectively.

November 18th Plans were made public today by the Rotterdam BV, owners of the classic Rotterdam V. concerning the overhaul of the vessel,. She will leave Gibraltar, her home this year on November 23rd bound for Cadiz to be upgraded for her stationary role as a convention center and museum. There is still no fixed date set for her return to the Netherlands.

November 23rd Star Cruises' Superstar Gemini arrived in Krabi, Thailand today for the first time. Superstar Gemini has started a season of longer cruises (1 to 3 weeks) to more exotic destinations of the beaten track. Star Cruises hopes to attract a different clientele of more sophisticated cruise passengers by offering these special voyages.

November 25th The Rotterdam V of 1959 which is being restored to her former glory for use as a static hotel and museum left the Cammel Laird yard in Gibraltar and was towed to Cadiz for dry docking and repainting in her former Holland America colours.

December 2005

December Aida Cruises reports a record year: the ships of the company carried 233.000 passengers. This represents a 10% growth over 2004.

December 14th Carnival issued a press report today stating that the company ordered four ships from the Fincantieri ship yard, Italy. Besides Carnival itself, subsidiaries Costa, HAL and Princess will each receive one vessel. An option for another two vessels was also added to the contract, this concerns vessels for Carnival and HAL. Those vessels ordered will be delivered from 2008-2010.

December 15th Actress Marlee Matlin (winner of several prestigious prizes who starred in 19 movies) will be godmother to HAL’s new Noordam (Vista Class vessel). She will christen the ship during a naming ceremony on February 22, 2006 

December 19th Founder of the budget cruise line EasyCruise Mr Stelios has visited the port of Miami to investigate the possibilities to position a cruise vessel here for service to the Bahama’s . US passengers react very favourably to the EasyCruise concept according to Mr Stelios, encouraging him to position a vessel in Florida in the near future. 

December 20th In a surprise move, Pullmantur has acquired two vessels, one from P&O Australia, The Pacific Sky and another from German operator Delphin Kreuzfahrten, the Delphin  Renaissance which leaves Delphin without a vessel as from June 2006. Both ships will enter service for Pullmantur in Spring 2006. Recently Pullmantur had announced plans for 2 newbuildings, but buying existing ships adds the much needed extra capacity sooner. 

December 29th The Italian shipyard Fincantieri has won the contract to upgrade Celebrity Cruises Century. She will be drydocked for 5 weeks in May-June 2006.

December 31th After the hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Delphin Renaissance (Delphin Kreuzfahrten) will be the first ship to call at the port of New Orleans.

January 2006

January 3rd  NCL announced names of two of its newest ships; Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Gem. Meyer Werft, Papenburg Germany will delivery them spring 2007 and autumn 2008 respectively. Both vessels belong to the Jewel class. 

January 4th  Alstom, owner of shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique has sold a 75% stake in this yard to the Norwegian company Aker Yards. 

January 9th  HAL reports that its two newbuildings will be styled after the requirements specified in its “Signature of Excellence project”of which several aspects will be included in all vessels of HAL's present fleet. Fincantieri will deliver these two ships in 2008 and 2009 respectively. 

January 17th  Queen Mary 2 suffered propulsion problems, resulting in her forced return to Port Everglades. Investigations will be carried out, she may have struck an underwater object while leaving port. 

January 17th Cruise West sold two of its smallest vessels, Nantucket Clipper and Yorktown Clipper to Cruise West. 

January 18th Rotterdam V entered drydock in Cadiz, where she will be repainted in her original HAL colours. After this she will be shifted to a Polish yard for completion of her restoration to a static hotel , museum and convention centre in the port of Rotterdam where she is expected to arrive in September 2006.

January 19th QM2 returned to active service, with one of her pods, the damaged one, out of operation. 

January 25th Viking Line offered 500 million Euro today for Silja Line. Present owner Sea Containers wants to exit the passenger ferry market and offered the company for sale recently. Sea Containers put two cruise ships (one of which currently sails under the Silja banner) the Silja Opera and the Walrus on the sales list.

January 28th  HAL took delivery of the last Vista-class vessel, the Noordam at the Fincantieri yard.

February 2006

February 5th A new vessel  scheduled for delivery in 2008 measuring 112.00 GRT which will be constructed by the Italian Fincantieri yard will be named Carnival Splendor, Carnival Cruise Line announced today. 

February 6th Royal Caribbean ordered the largest cruise ship ever at AkerYards, Finland. She will measure an incredible 220.000 GRT and will accommodate 5.400 passengers! This ship will be almost 70.000 GRT larger than the Freedom of the Seas, which is currently being built at the same yard with delivery this summer. When Freedom enters service she will be the world's largest cruise ship, surpassing the Queen Mary 2 in tonnage.

February 13th EasyCruise has revealed plans for a second vessel, measuring 7.500 GRT, a length of 100 m and a passenger capacity of around 500. No firm order has been placed yet.

February 19th NCL newbuilding Pride of Hawaii (93.500 GRT) left the covered building hall of Meyer Werft, Germany and was shifted to the fitting out pier of the yard. She will leave the yard on March 11th for Eemshaven, The Netherlands, where she will be completed.

February 20th Celebrity Cruises has ordered a sister ship to the vessel they ordered last year from Meyer Werft. The ship will be delivered in 2009 and will be named Celebrity Equinox (118.000GRT). Her sister will enter service in 2008 under the name of Celebrity Solstice.

February 23rd Queen Mary2 visited the port of Long Beach today and saluted her namesake the famous Queen Mary. Both ships exchanged whistles and greeted each other by raising/ lowering their flags. Queen Mary 2 then turned around and left port an hour later, bound for Ensenada, Mexico.

February 25th Boudicca started out from Dover on her maiden voyage today for new owners Fred Olsen Lines. She has been upgraded and reengined at the Blohm & Voss yard in Hamburg Recently, Blohm & Voss reengined Boudicca’s sister ships Albatros (Phoenix Seereisen) and Black Watch (also Fred Olsen). These ships once formed a famous five star trio of Royal Viking Lines ships which had a fiercely loyal following.

February 27th Rotterdam V arrived at Gdansk, Poland from Cadiz, Spain where she will undergo the last phase of her renovation for her hotel/ museum/ college-role in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 

March 2006

March 2nd Queen Victoria’s maiden voyage, planned December 2007 has already been sold out well in advance, Cunard Line announced today. Fincantieri has only just started construction on Cunard's third Queen.

March 3rd/4th Holiday, Ecstasy and  Sensation have ended their role as temporary housing vessels for the victims of the Hurricane Katrina. After a refit they will return to regular cruise service.

March 3rd At Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany, work has started on the first of a series of three newbuildings for Aida Cruises. Delivery of this 68.500 GRT vessel is planned for 2007, sister ships will follow in 2008 and 2009. 

March 9th Minerva II, currently sailing for Swan Hellenic Cruises will shift to the Princess fleet in 2007. She will be renamed Royal Princess. Reports indicate that Minerva II has been experiencing dropping load factors recently, resulting in the closure of Swan Hellenic. 

March 15th MSC Cruises confirmed yet again an order for a new vessel recently today, sister ship to MSC Musica (planned delivery June 2006) from French yard Chantiers de l’Atlantique. She will be named Poesia. There is an option for a sister ship.

March 17th Disney Magic (Disney Cruise Line) will sail in European waters summer 2007: Western Europe and the Mediterranean. 

March 23rd A fire broke out on board Star Princess (Princess Cruises) today which quickly engulfed 100 staterooms. So far one death has been reported. The Star Princess will proceed to Grand Cayman on her own power and off load passengers there. An investigation has been initiated.

April 2006

April 6th Pride of Hawaii (Norwegian Cruise Lines) will leave the Blohm & Voss ship yard now sea trials have been completed after a final inspection. She was built by Meyer Werft. 

April 15th Final inspection of Pride of Hawaii has brought to light faulty pod bearings. This means the ship will have to return to its builders, Meyer Werft, Papenburg.

April 17th Star Cruises report the sail of the ss Blue Lady, former Norway, France of 1962, to an undisclosed party, probably scrappers. The ships has been at anchor in Malaysia since August 2005 and could not be sold to the scrappers yet because of the asbestos within the ship. 

April 20th Luther Blount, ship builder and owner of American Canadian Cruise Lines donated one of his ships, the Niagara Prince to three colleges. He expects them to sell the vessel at a profit. 

April 24th Freedom of the Seas, the worlds largest cruise ship was delivered by Aker ship yard to owners Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines today. 

May 2006

May 6th The starboard engine of Louis Cruise Lines’ Cal;ypso caught fire whilst on a trip from Tilbury to Guernsey. The ship rapidly filled with smoke and passengers were ordered to get their life jackets and report to their muster stations. However, the crew got the fire under control quickly. The vessel will proceed under tow to Southampton for repairs. Calypso had been chartered by Dutch cruise agency Cruise Travel to celebrate their 20^th year in the cruise industry. 

May 12th Celebrity has cancelled Summit’s Alaskan cruise starting May 20th due to problems with her propulsion.

May 17th The German chartered Vistamar (1989, 7480 GRT) has been detained in the port of London when a check by the UK Coastguard brought several deficiencies to light concerning her lifeboats, fire dampers etc.

May 19th Louis Cruise Lines has renamed her classic Ausonia (a name she has had for 49 years!) to Ivory.

May 19th At the Marghera shipyard of Fincantieri, the first keel section was laid for Cunards newbuilding Queen Victoria. The vessel will measure appr 90.000 GRT and will sail on her maiden voyage in December 2007.

May 28th The English Coast guard detained ms Van Gogh today, after a virus infected over a 100 passengers on her previous cruise. Passengers wanting to embark the ship for her next cruise were sent home. After crew and vessel are reported “clean” she will be allowed to sail. She is currently chartered by British operator Travelscope.

May 30th Celebrity Cruises Century departed on her first cruise after a $55 mio make over during which balconies were added, a new spectacular specialty restaurant was realised featuring stunning Murano glass chandeliers etc.

May 31st Sea Princess (P&O) Cruises returned to Southampton early, cutting short her cruise as 200 passengers were struck by a virus (possibly the Norovirus). The ship will be decontaminated.

June 2006

June 1st Aker Yards from Finland today merged with French Alstom Marine owner of Chantiers de l’Atlantique. Both yards are renowned builders of cruise ships.

June 7th Norwegian Crown (NCL, 34.000 GRT) grounded on a sandbar today in Bermuda. After a couple of hours she was freed by tugs.

June 13th Carnival Cruises reports that the company has ordered two newbuildings for two of her European brands, Costa Cruises and Aida. The Costa vessel, 93.000GRT (there is an option for a sister vessel) will be delivered in 2009 by Finacantieri and the Aida ship, 68500 GRT in 2010 by Meyer Werft.

June 14th American interior architect Martha Stewart christened Princess Cruises newest vessel Crown Princess in New York.

June19th MSC Musica was delivered today by French shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique to MSC Crociere.

June 28th Queen Constantina, renamed Forest for her last voyage to the scrapyard reached the beach of Alang, where she was run aground to be scrapped by Indian shipbreakers. The ship formerly sailed as 33 Orientales, City of Rhodos and Queen Eleni before entering a long perod of lay up.

June 30th Costa Concordia (112.000GRT) was delievred today by the Italian Fincantieri ship yard at Genoa. She will be the largest Italian cruise ship.

July 2006

July 7th NCL announces that it will be the first cruise line to enable passengers to use their cell phones on all their ships while at sea. In 2002, NCL was the first cruise line to offer passengers wireless internet acces.

July 10th Norwegian Crown, recently acquired from Norwegian Cruise Lines by Fred Olsen, will be renamed Balmoral in autumn 2007, when she will be handed over and join the Fred Olsen fleet as their fifth vessel.in January 2008, after she has been refitted.

July 18th Crown Princess, Princess Cruises newest vessel, had to return to Port Canaveral after she developed a severe list. Princess Cruises states the ship is upright as of now and the matter will be thoroughly investigated.

July 18th Crystal Cruises orders a third Solstice-class newbuilding from Meyer Werft for delivery in 2010. She will be a luxury vessel, 90% of her cabins are outide cabins of which 90% have balconies.

July 22nd HMS Queen Elizabeth has departed on a cruise around Scotland to celebrate her 80th birthday. She used to circumnavigate Scotland each summer, but in 1997 the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommisioned as the ship became to old. For this special occaision Hebredean |Princess, a small Sottish 50 passenger cruise ship was chartered.

July 25th Evacuation of foreigners from Lebanon as a reult of the war with Israel, draws to a close. Together with several ferries, three cruise ships took part in the evacuation, Louis Cruise Lines Serenade and Princesa Marissa and Abou Merhi Cruises Orient Queen. Serenade rescued Aualian citizens, Princesa Marissa Canadian and European citizens while Orient Queen was chartered by the US Government.

July 28th It seems that the problems concerning off laoding the asbestos which was removed by a Polish shipyard at Gdansk has been solved and the asbestos can be shifted to a freighter so work on Rotterdam V's restoration can continue. The Polish Minister Wiechecki had ordered the Rotterdam to leave port two weeks earlier but hundreds of swallows, a protected bird species in Poland which nested on board prevented the ship from leaving port. However, the Minister has given his approval now for the asbestos to be off loaded.

July 29th Due to the agressive promotional efforts of the Dubai Port Authority, another cruise line has decided to have their ships call at Dubai. Fred Olsen's Black Watch will make her first call at Dubai February 2007. Starting with 13,000 cruise passengers handled by the new terminal in 2005, this will grow to 30.000 in 2007.

August 2006

August 4 Just a few weeks after Costa Concordia was taken into service, a sister vessel Costa Serena was floated out her building dock at the Finacantieri's Sestri Ponente shipyard. It will take another 10 months to complete the vessel.

August 4th Today, Royal Caribbean announced the name of the sister vessel to the largest cruise ship afloat nowadays, Freedom of the Seas. She will be named Liberty of the Seas and will enter service in May 2007.s

August 8th  More and more residents of the World, currently the only cruiseships where one can buy appartments  and travel around the world in one's own home, acquire larger appartments or a second one and invite their family to accompany them while sailing to the msot exotic destinations around the globe.

August 9th NCL will hold a conference call regarding the company's second quarter financial results. Investors can follow this confernce call on line through NCL's website, where it will remain for a month.

August 11th Celebrity Cruises' Infinity has been experiencing problems with her propulsion pods again recently and has entered drydock at Virginia, British Columbia for repairs which will take appr. two weeks to complete. The Millenium class of ships have had problems with their pod propulsion throughout their career.

August 15th Sad news, Blue Lady, ex Norway, ex France, beached  at Alang for scrapping today.Until the final end, rumours surrounded the ship, for example that she may be used as a floating hotel in Dubai. Soon, one of the most famous passenger ships of all times will silently disappear into history. Beaching the ship has been postponed several times, as she has asbestos on board. Finally, the Indian Government granted permission to have her scrapped at Alang after she had been at anchor in heavy seas off the Indian coast for several weeks.

August 18th Carnival Cruise Lines introduces a new feature. Passengers can view a video in their cabins on which Carnival's famous architect Joe Farcus tours the vessel they are sailing on and explains the central interior-theme of the vessel and the idea behind the decoration of the main public spaces on board.

August 21st Celebration (Carnival Cruise Lines) entered drydock at Freeport, Bahams for repairs to her propellor. She hit the harbour floor when entering Nassau, Bahamas and sustained damge to her propellor on August 16th.

August 21st Cape May Cod and Cape May Light, two coastal cruise ships laid up since their owners American Classic Voyages went bankrupt in 2001 have been sold to Hornblower Marine Services. They have never seen active service as of yet, as they went into lay up immedeately after they were completed.

August 25th Easy Cruise and Louis Cruise Lines have agreed to join forces to help EasyCruise expand the fastest possible way. The number of new ships on order in Greece will grow to three, and Louis will operate one or two of her vessels under the EasyCruise brand name in the Eastern Mediterranean.

August 29th The first keel section of P&O’s Ventura (116.000GRT) which will be taken into service in spring 2008 was laid today at the Fincantieri shipyard.

August 29th Windstar Cruises will upgrade all three sail cruisers it owns in fall 2006 and 2007. Besides mechanical work, guest areas and staterooms will be upgraded also. On board Windsurf work will also include the Windspa, the library and the addition of two new suites.

August 31st Today RCCL announced it has agreed to buy Spanish tour operator Pullmantur. Pullmantur currently operates five vessels. Probably vessels will be shifted between both companies. This is the first European brand RCCL now owns.
 

September 2006

September 2nd  The famous former Bergen Line cruise ship Scandinavia ex Stella Polaris has been lost south east of Japan while under tow to China. Plans were to refit here there and subsequently operate her as a hotel/ restaurant in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Stella Polaris had been operated as such for the last three decades in Japan. Recently she had been acquired by Petro Fast from Sweden

September 5th The cruise industry contributed 32.4 billion dollars to the North American economy in 2005, an increase of 8% compared to 2004. This is the result of passnger on shore spending, maintenance on ships, payments for port services, shoreside staffing and the purchase of goods necessary for ship operations.

September 7th  NCL has placed a spectacular order in France with Aker Yards, concerning two vessels measuring 150.000 GRT and a passenger capacity of 4.200 for delivery in 2010. There is an option for a third vessel.

September 10th  Today Rotterdam V of 1959, which is being restored to her former glory before being used in her homeport of Rotterdam as a tourist attraction, arrived at Wilhelmshaven, Germany where she will stay for appr. 2 months. Here, the recently removed asbestos will be off loaded.

September 11th  Indian Ocean Cruises ms Ocean Odyssey (ex Eros/ Jason 1965) started cruising in south eastern Indian waters today. She sails between Goa and Sri Lanka on two week voyages.

September 21st  German operator Holiday Kreuzfahrten surprisingly went bankrupt. Both vessels chartered by the company, the Mona Lisa and Lili Marleen will finish their Baltic cruises and will be returned to their respective owners.

September 26th  HAL announces it's biggest Alaskan cruise season ever, including 3 Vista-ships, Noordam, Zuiserdam and Oosterdam; in total there will be 156 departures to choose from.

September 28th  At the Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany the building dock where the first of four newbuildings for Aida Cruises is constructed was flooded. Although now afloat, the AidaDiva will remain in the large covered construction dock for further outfitting. She will be delivered in April this year.
 

October 2006

October 3rd P&O Australia cruises is celebrating it's 75th anniversary sailing in Australian waters. Capacity will grow by 65% as the Pacific Dawn (2050 pax) will start sailing alongside fleetmates Pacific Star and Pacific Sun.  Apart from Australian waters, the ships will also sail to Asian destinations.

October 11th  Building has started on Celebrity’s newbuilding Celebrity Solstice at Meyer Werft, Germany, which is due for delivery in the second half of 2008.

October 12th  Monterey, the oldest vessel in the MSC-fleet (built in 1952 as the Free State Mariner) seems to have been suddenly sold for scrap. She silently left Genoa with her funnel logo painted over and her name shortened to Monte.

October 15th  HAL’s Oosterdam experienced trouble with one of her azipods. By cutting short her Mexican Riviera cruise, she can be repaired in San Diego in time for her next cruise.

October 21st  Seabourn Cruises has signed a letter of intent with Italian yard T. Mariotti for the construction of two de luxe vessels of 32.000GRT. Delivery is planned to take place in 2009 and 2010. Seabourn is one of the companies working under the Carnival umbrella.

October 26th  On March 23 a fire broke out on a balcony on board Princess’ Cruises Star Princess. The fire quickly spread accros other balconies, killing one passenger. Now, the investigations to its cause have ended. It seems that the cause has been a burning cigarette. Also it has been determined that flammable materials were used on the balconies. Carnival, parent company of Princess has declared it will modify all balconies on its existing ships to prevent fires like this in the future.

October 31 st  Douglas Ward, author of the famous Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising, states in his newest 2007 edition that experienced cruisers may turn their back on the ever bigger cruise ships which enter service one after another. In 2007, 27 ships of over 100.000GRT will be in service, carrying very large numbers of passengers. For example the Freedom of the Seas which carries 4400 guests.Ward predicts a growing number of cruisers will turn to smaller vessels which have a more personal atmosphere and can enter more ports.

October 31st  Silversea Cruises will introduce a new service concept aboard its luxury fleet on 2007, called Priviliged Passage. A new lifestyle aboard will be introduced, which will make life on its ships ultra-personal and ulta-inclusive, Silversea states.

November 2006

November 2nd  Today the Aliaga Sun (ex Achilleus, Orion, Thomas II and Olympia) was beached at Aliaga for scrapping. She used to cruise for Nomikos and Kavounides Lines before bing converted to a day cruiser. However most of the last decade was spent in lay up.

November 4th  Monarch Classic Cruises announced their new schedules for this year. Their two classic vessels Ocean Monarch and Blue Monarch will perform 3, 4 and 7 day cruises from Piraues to the Greek Isles.

November 5th  When NCL’s newest vessel. Norwegian Pearl left the Meyer Werft for further outfitting in Eemshaven The Netherlands, German technicians powered down a power cable resulting in power failures in several countries, even as far as Morocco.

November 7th  Five cruiseships of Costa Crociere will depart for their trans-atlantic crossings from the company-owned terminal Palacrociere in Savona, Italy, in November and December 2006. Costa Romantica will undergo routine technical maintenance in Genoa before she will depart on her trans-atlantic voyage. Meanwhile, Costa Concordia, Costa Victoria and Costa Europa will use Savona as their homeport for their respective winter programs in the Mediterranean.

November 9th   The former MSC cruise ship Monterey, built 1952 as Free State Mariner, now renamed Monte has finally been beached for scrapping at Alang, India.

November 8th   HAL’s first vessel of the new Signature –class will be named Eurodam, HAL announced today. Fincantieri will deliver the 86.000GRT vessel in the summer of 2008.

November 12th  Exactly one year from now, Queen Victoria, Cunard's third ship, will be taken into service.Her first two voyages are already sold out. On January 8th she will depart on her first world cruise, and on January 13th, she will visit New York where she will meet her fleet mates Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2, the first time three Cunard Queens will be in port together.

November 14th  The Scholar Ship, a new venture in which six universities and RCCL participate, will set sail on its first 16-week voyage around the world in September 2007 with 600 students aboard from all over the world. The charter of a ship is in the final stages. The itinerary of a second voyage commencing January 2008 has already been planned.

November 16th  Queen Mary 2 left the Blohm and Voss yard at Hamburg today where her damaged azipod has been reinstalled. It was removed for repairs in May. The Queen damaged her azipod when leaving Port Everglades in January 2006.

November 20th   The expedition cruise ship Lyubov Orlova ran aground in the Shetland Islands with 150 passengers aboard. After radioing for assistance she was later freed by the Spanish icebreaker Las Palmas.

November 28th Ocean Village will introduce 100 3-berth cabins designed for single parent families where one parent takes two children on vacation on its new Ocean Village Two when it debuts in April 2007. It is a trend Ocean Village expects to grow in the near future.

November 30th   Kyma ship management, which are the owners of the Mona Lisa, which was on long term charter to now defunct Holiday Kreuzfahrten will operate the ship as an accommodation vessel for the Asian Games. What will happen afterwards with this classic (1966) vessel remains to be seen.
 

December 2006

December 4th  On board RCCL's brand new Freedom of the Seas over 300 passengers and 50 crew members were infected with the norovirus. However, corrective measures were taken and the ships shedule was not affected.

December 12th  Parent company Carnival has turned an option for a new ship for Costa Cruises into a firm order. The vessel will be built at the Marghera ship yard of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and will be ready for service in 2010.

December 15th  German tour oprator TUI and Carnival have signed a letter of intent to operate two cruise brands targeted at the German market. One of the brands will be Carnival's subsidiary Aida Cruises, known for their informal club style cruises, while the other will be a newly formed brand.

December 17th   NCL's latest vessel Norwegian Pearl was named in Miami by talk show host Rosie O'Donnell. The day before Norwegian Pearl had departed on a charity day cruise during which 600.000 dollar was raised for poor children.

December 21th   RCCL has announced the name of the third Freedom-class newbuilding which is currently under construction at Aker Yards in Turku, Finland: Independance of the Seas.

December 20th  This year 51.500 cruise passengers visited New Foundland and Labrador, and this will rise to at least 57.000 in 2007. NCL's Norwegian Dawn will visit the area 5 times in 2007.

December 25th  Again, Carnival has placed an order for the construcion of a new cruise ship.The ship will measure 130.000GRT and will be built by Fincantieri as usual. Carnival now has four ships on order.     

Januari 2007

January 3rd  Carnival Corp has signed a letter of intent with the Finacantieri yard for yet another new vessel (3000 pax, 116.000GRT) to be delivered in 2010. The vessel is for its P&O subsidiary. Delivery of another new ship for Carnival Cruises will be postponed to 2011 (originally 2010).

January 4th  Odessa (built 1973, 11.900 GRT, ex Copenhagen) has been sold for scrapping in Bangladesh. After a seven year lay up in Naples, Italy, her owners planned a return to service after a refit. However, they could not finder a charterer in time an decided to sell the vessel to scrap merchants.

January 10th  Celebrity announced the name of the third vessel of the Solstice-class: Eclipse. The Eclipse (118.000GRT, 2800 passengers) will enter service in 2010.

January 15th  Silversea's Silver Shadow left on her first world cruise today, starting from Port Everglades. During her 126-day voyage she will call at 60 ports.Guests booked for the full voyage were treated to a grand dinner the night before in the well known Boca Raton Resort. The next day, the luxury yacht Lady Windridge took them to the Silver Shadow for an embarkation "in style".

January 16th  French cruise ship Le Levant, made her maiden call at Dubai. The small vessel, carrying 125 passengers berthed at the modern Dubai Cruise Terminal and was received with a warm welcoming ceremony. Schoolchildren showered flowers while traditionally dressed men performed in a spectacular show.

January 18th  As a result of a navigational error, Pullmantur's Sky Wonder ran aground during a cruise in South American waters near Buenos Aires. After she was pulled free by three tugs from the sand bar she could finish her cruise as scheduled.

January 22nd  The prestigious magazine Conde Nast Traveller has awarded the three Seabourn vessels the highest ranking of all cruise ships in the categories food and service.Since this survey amongst its readers was initiated in 1994, the Seabourn vessels received award after award.

January 29th  Island Cruises presents its totally renewed website www.islandcruises.com, Details on its two ships Island Escape and Island Star, the itineraries and shore excursions can easily be found on the site.

January 30th  Nordkapp, one of the Hurtigrute vessels, ran aground today near Deception Island, in the vicinity of the Shetland Islands.A British warship offered assistance by providing divers to inspect the hull. Passengers have been transferred to sister vessel Nordnorge which will bring them to Ushaia, Argentina. The Nordkapp is in no danger of sinking, it looks like she sustained minor damage.

February 2007

February 7th  Kyma Ship Management, owners of the Mona Lisa (ex Victoria, Sea Princess, Kungsholm) have announced the ship will be chartered out to Sholar Ship, a new venture between Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and several universities. From September this year, she will make two sixteen week voyages. The first voyage will be from Greece to Japan through the Panama Canal, the second back to Greece through the Suez Canal.

February 8th Carnival will join forces with the Spanish travel company Orizonia Corp. owner of Iberojet which operates two cruise ships, Grand Voyager and Grand Mistral. This deal will give Carnival a stronger foothold in Europe, and Iberojet a chance for fast growth.

February 14th  Aida Cruises have announced the name of the second newbuilding which will be built by Meyer Werft, Papenburg: AidaBella. Aida currently has four ships on order from Meyer, one every year, starting in 2007.

February 15th Today, Carnival Cruise Lines President Bob Dickinson celebrated his 35th anniverary with the company, resulting in festivities at Carnival's headquarters in Miami. Dickinson is according to a Carnival press statement: "credited for transforming cruising from an elitist experience to a popular mainstream vacation choice".

February 16th On board EasyCruise vessel easyCruise One, a new spa facility will be operated, the company announced today. It will enable passengers to enjoy facials, manicures, massages and pedicures and will be operated by the Greek firm Apivita, well known for producing skin care products.

February 19th Chef cook Marco Pierre who will be operating his very own restaurant on P&O's Ventura, a newbuilding to enter service at the end of 2007 and leading designer Nick Munro will guide you with computer generated tours through the vessels public spaces on a website dedicated to the introduction of the Ventura: www.virtualventura.co.uk

February 22nd Disney Cruise Line has signed a Letter of Intent with Meyer Werft, Papenburg to construct two new cruise ships for delivery in 2010 and 2012. They will be larger than the ships currenlty operated by Disney at 120.000GRT.

February 22nd Carnival has sold one of its subsidiaries, Windstar Cruises to Ambassador Int. for 100 million dollar. Ambassador is the owner of Majestic Cruise Lines which operates several classic paddle-wheelers like American Queen, Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen etc. 

March 2007

March 1st Spanish operator Pullmantur Cruises has announced it will lease the Mona Lisa (former Kungsholm, Sea Princess and Victoria) for three years during the summer periods. Mona Lisa will sail for Scholar Ship the remainder of the year.

March 4th Carnival Freedom (110.000GRT), newest vessel of the ever expanding Carnival Cruises fleet was named by Kathy Ireland (former photomodel) in Venice today

March 13th Royal Caribbean International announced its largest deployment in Europe with seven ships visiting the continent in 2008. Choosing from 4- through 14-night cruises, guests will be able to tour Europe aboard the new Independence of the Seas, the first Freedom-class ship in the region; two Voyager-class ships, Navigator of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas; and Brilliance of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Legend of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas.

March 15th  Swan Hellenic Cruises, owned by P&O and due to stop operations after their only ship Minerva II will be withdrawn in April, will probably continue as a brand after all. The company name and rights have been acquired by former P&O chairman Lord Sterling.

March 17th Windstar Cruises will send the second of its three sail cruise ships to a shipyard to be upgraded as a part of the Degrees of  Differences programme.Work on the Wind Spirit will start March 17th and will take five weeks. Passenger cabins (upgrade of bathrooms), an expanded beauty salon and a refurbished main lounge will be realised. Work will be carried out in Portugal at the Lisnave Mitrena ship yard.

March 18th Oceania Cruises has ordered two 65.000 GRT cruise ships from the Fincantieri shipyard. They will be delivered in 2010-2011 and will carry 1260 passengers in 630 staterooms and will have 9 decks.

March 20th Fincantieri secures yet another order, this time from Silversea Cruises. One vessel of 36.000 GRT carrying 540 passengers will be constructed. There is an option for a sister ship. 

March 20th EasyCruise has announced that its summer season in Greece will be extended because of strong bookings for the 2007 season, that 23 cabins will be added to their vessel Easycruise One and that a new 'Classical Greece' itinerary will be included in the autumn, sailing to archeological and historical sites in Greece.

March 29th MSC Cruises ordered a fourth vessel in the Musica series. To be named Magnifica, she will be constructed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique (part of Aker yards group) and delivered in 2010.

April 2007

April 3rd Owners of the Rotterdam V of 1959 announced their final plans for the vessel. The vessel will be towed to Rotterdam in December or January. It will take another two months to make the vessel fully operational as a hotel and museum.

April 5th One of the vessels of Cypriot-bases Louis Cruise Lines, the Sea Diamond (former Birka Princess) has struck rocks near the Greek island of Santorini. Passengers are being evacuated at the moment.

April 6th In the early morning hours the Sea Diamond sank and now lies a 100 metres below the surface. It seems that two passengers are not accounted for after the vessel had been abandoned, a father and his daughter from France.

April 11th German shipyard Blohm and Voss will lengthen Fred Olsen Cruise Lines newest vessel Balmoral (former Norwegian Crown of NCL and due to enter service for Fred Olsen in January 2008) with a 30 meter midsection in December this year. This will increase the ships capacity by one third.

April 11th/ April 16th Problems for NCL. Due to heavy competition in Hawaiian waters leading to downward pricing, NCL announced it will withdraw the Pride of Hawaii and shift her to European waters in early 2008. The company has experienced massive losses in 2006 and 2007.  The ship will be renamed Norwegian Jade.

April 17th Ocean Village announces full details of the 14,000 square foot Karma Spa and Fitness complex on the upper decks of its second and latest ship, Ocean Village Two. The ships' two-storey, ocean-view spa features a number of industry firsts as well as being the largest afloat relative to the ship's size.

April 23th Today, Fincantieri delivered a new vessel to Norwegian coastal express operator Hurtigruten, the FRAM (named after the polar ship used for several expeditions in the late nineteenth century). FRAM measures 12.700 GRT and is built specifically for use in the waters around Iceland and Greenland.

April 24th Today, Royal Caribbean International took delivery of its newest Freedom-class ship, Liberty of the Seas, from Aker Yards during a ceremony today in Turku, Finland. Thip will debut on May 3, 2007 and will be the first in Royal Caribbean's fleet to offer new and distinctive wellness, family and wedding programming, which will be rolled out fleet-wide. Liberty shares the title of world's largest cruise ship with sister ship, Freedom of the Seas, which was launched in May 2006.
 

May 2007

May 2nd First Choice Cruises has acquired Quark Expeditions and its fleet of 6 vessels which make expedition cruises. First Choice wants to expand in the expedition cruises market.

May 7th Today Carnival revealed plans to upgrade cabins and public spaces on board all eight Fantasy vessels between now and 2009. They will also be renamed, as their current names will be preceded by Carnival.

May 9th After just announcing the acquistion of the company Quark Expeditions, First Choice Cruises will now dispose of two expedition ships it already owned, the Clipper Adventurer and Clipper Odyssey. Both vessels will be sold to International Shipping Partners.

May 10th Louis Cruise Lines has bought the Opera (1192, 25.600 GRT, ex Silja Opera, Superstar Taurus, Leeward and Sally Albatross). The opera will enter service for Louis this summer.

May 13th Today Princess Cruises’ newest vessel Emerald Princess was christened in Piraeus by Florence Henderson and Susan Olson from the  tv series Brady Bunch and Marion Ross and Erin Moran from the equally successful tv series Happy Days.

May 14th Again a cruise ship christening: today the new MSC cruise liner MSC Orchestra was christened by film star Sophia Loren.

May 22th Celebrity Cruises will expand their fleet even further as today they ordered a fourth vessel in the Solstice-class from Meyer Werft for delivery in late 2011.

June 2007

June 2nd The American Star, a small cruise ship carrying 100 passengers, built by the Chesapeake Shipbuilding Corp and owned by American Cruise Lines sailed on her maiden voyage today.

June 5th Recently, on May 9 the first steel plates were cut for Seabourn's newest ship.
In all, more than 8,500 tons of steel will be cut and welded to form the line's $250 million flagship, which is scheduled to enter service in mid-June 2009. Seabourn's new yacht will offer four dining options, thirteen types of suites, six open bars and many more recreational facilities. She will have an extremely high space-per-guest ratio of 71.1.

June 18th Interesting news. Cunard Line announces the sudden and unexpected sale of the famous Queen Elizabeth 2 to Dubai interest for a reported 100 million dollars. She will be used as a luxury floating hotel and entertainment centre, berthed at the Palm Jumeirah, a man-made island in the form of a palm tree. She will be delivered late 2008.

June 18th It was known already that Orient Lines had sold their classic Marco Polo of 1965 to undisclosed buyers. Today it became clear that the ship has been sold to German operator Transocean Tours. Marco Polo will be handed over in March  2008.

June 19th Bookings for Celebrity Solstice will open exclusively for members of Celebrity's loyalty program, "Captain's Club," on June 21, the date of this year's summer solstice (which is the years' longest day and shortest night). Beginning July 5, everybody else can book a Celebrity Solstice cruise. A new feature of the ship will be the AquaClass staterooms:accommodations expressly designed for spa enthusiasts. Guests booked in AquaClass will receive unlimited access to Celebrity Solstice's new AquaSpa relaxation room and the Persian Garden, an exotic aromatherapy and steam room, as well as exclusive, complimentary dining in Blu, an intimate, 130-seat specialty restaurant whose design is likely to be as inviting as the cuisine. Celebrity Solstice will make its maiden voyage December 14, 2008.

June 20th Royal Caribbean Cruises has formed a new cruise line which will aim at the deluxe market: Azamara Cruises. The line will use two former Renaissance R-class ships as Azamara Quest and Azamara Journey 

June 26th  Seabourn Cruise Line will name their newbuilding ordered form the Italian shipyard of T Mariotti Seabourn Odyssey. 

June 27th Today, the small cruise ship DISKO II ran aground near the coast of Greenland. All passengers have been eveacuated, a skeleton crew has remained on board. There is no immediate danger the DISKO II will sink. She will be inspected before a decision is made if she can continue her cruise. 

July 2007

July3rd  For the first time, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate voyages to South America with 14- to 18-day departures featuring extended visits to several destinations in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile and Peru aboard the new 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor beginning in January 2009.

July 10th Cunard announces the 2009 World Cruise itineraries for flagship Queen Mary 2 and the new Queen Victoria. When Cunard set out to chart its world cruise destinations, it drew upon an 85-year tradition dating back to 1922, when it first pioneered the concept of world cruising. In 2009 both liners will undertake their second world cruise. Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria will explore the globe during voyages of 90 and 99 days, meeting in Ft. Lauderdale for a Cunard Royal Rendezvous as Cunard calls it on January 13, 2009.

July 10th Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., announces the opening in Singapore of its Asia-Pacific headquarters - Royal Caribbean Cruises (Asia) Pte. Ltd.
The regional headquarters, which are located in Singapore's central business district, will support the marketing efforts in the Asia-Pacific region for three of the company's cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises.

July 15th The Marine Star (former Aquarama), a onetime day cruiser on the Great Lakes left her moorings in Buffalo, New York today where she has been in lay up for years. Plans to rebuild her into a casino ship seem to have been shelved and it is feared she will go for scrap. 

July 17th Holland America Line launches As You Wish dining, an innovative program that allows guests to choose from the best of both worlds -- either traditional pre-set seating and dining times, or a completely flexible dining schedule. One level of the two-tiered restaurant will offer a flexible/open dining service from 5:15 to 9 p.m. daily, and the other will host two seatings, an early and main seating.

July 17th This week, NCL has published its new brochure for the season April 2008 to March 2009 with an expanded cruise programme in Europe. For the first time in company history, NCL deploys three of its most modern Freestyle Cruising resorts - Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Jewel - in the Mediterranean, in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea and thus presents the youngest fleet in Europe.

July 21th The Pacific Star of P&O Australia ran into a severe storm on July 17^th while on her way to the Pacific Islands. Besides smashing windows, the rough seas also caused hull damage to the 1982-built ship. At least one cruise will be cancelled so damages can be repaired.

July31st  Seven Princess ships will sail on 11 itineraries in the Caribbean, featuring the youngest fleet of any major cruise line in the region. This array of modern vessels, ranging from 710 to 3,100 passengers, offers the highest percentage of balcony staterooms in the Caribbean.
 

August 2007

August 1st Majestic America Line shares bad news. It seems that one of its ships, the historic  Delta Queen (built   1927) will have to be withdrawn from service in 2008. The US Congress does not want to extend the ships exemption for SOLAS regulations as it has done for 37 years now. Delta Queen has lots of flammable material used in her interiors. 

August 9th Ocean Majesty and Thomson Spirit have collided in the Geiranger Fjord in Norway One of Ocean Majesty’s lifeboats was damaged as well as Thomson Spirits bow.

August 14th Silversea Cruises is expanding its enrichment program this month with the official launch of the Viking Cooking School aboard Silversea. The Viking Cooking School on each Silversea ship features a custom-designed demonstration culinary theater equipped with state-of-the-art induction stove, sophisticated convection-microwave oven and Viking professional-caliber cookware, cutlery and countertop appliances -- plus a large rear projection screen so guests can easily view different cooking techniques and utensils.

August 14th Norwegian Coastal Voyage continues to expand its "Discover Winter Norway" program with a new theme cruise for "Bridge Players" joining three other popular ones -- "Winter Digital Photography," "Harmony At Sea" and "Watercolors And Art"; special voyages and extended stays in the northern most areas of Norway to catch the magic of the Northern Lights far removed from the interference caused by artificial light; Arctic theme adventures ranging from ice hotel stays to killer whale safaris; and land explorations on the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen.

August 17th After NCL reported massive losses mostly from its US division (Hawaii) the company will receive a financial injection of $1 billion from Apollo Management, a firm which recently also invested in Oceania Cruises.

August 28th P&O Cruises newbuilding Ventura is to be UK's largest floating art galley. 40 British artists will produce almost 7,000 pieces of modern art worth over 1 million pounds. The collection on board will showcase work from all disciplines including sculpture, photography, digital print, mural, painting, glasswork, lenticular and mosaic.The art will be displayed all around the public areas of the new ship but the three stairwells will be a highlight of the collection, each led by a single artist. 

September 2007

September 11th Easy Cruise will add  a second vessel to their fleet in 2008. The vessel concerned is the current Jasmine of Israeli Mano Cruises (former Lev Tolstoy, Natasha, Palmira). Prior to her inaugural sailing for Easy Cruise the ship will be refitted. 

September 13th A new European cruise line is launched by Royal Caribbean Cruises. The new line, to be called CDF Croisieres de France will cater to the French market. Sailings will start in May 2008 using the former Europa, Superstar Aries, Holiday Dream under her new name Blue de France. 

September 14th Finally the Norway can be scrapped. This has been ruled by the high court of India although environmentalists still claimed asbestos and other dangerous substances are present on the vessel. 

September 18th Star Clippers have revealed plans for a new five-masted sailing ship of 7.400 GT. Discussions are underway with several yards. Star aims at delivery in 2010. This new ship will be based on the France II, once at the beginning of the 20^th century the largest seagoing ship in the world. 

September 18th Among approximately 175 cruise ships belonging to members of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the majority has been built since 2000 and almost all have health and fitness facilities, with full-sized luxury spas and shipboard sports facilities among the major features of the larger vessels.Virtually every CLIA member ship offers delicious "spa cuisine" or other healthy dining selections, often in a choice of restaurants and dining rooms, and innovative wellness, exercise and fitness programs. Many lines even offer theme cruises focusing on wellness and featuring some of the world's top fitness, wellness and culinary experts.

September 25th Long laid up World Discoverer, an expedition cruise ship, has been sold to Silversea Cruises. Before entering service again, the ship will be refitted and upgraded to higher standards of luxury. 

September 30th Island Star has suffered from a power failure twice this week. The second time passengers were evacuated in the lifeboats in rough seas. Island Star has ended its cruise in Nice to have the ship checked by technicians.

October 2007

October 10th Today, Cunard Line announced it has ordered a new vessel measuring 92.000GRT. The ship will be named Queen Elizabeth and will be constructed by the Monfalcone yard of Finacantieri at a cost of appr. 700 mio dollars. 

October 10th The keel of Costa’s newest cruise vessel, Costa Luminosa was laid at the Marghera shipyard of Fincantieri. The 93.00 GRT vessel will be delivered in early 2009. 

October 20th Costa Cruises grows even further: two new ships of the Costa Concordia-class have been ordered from Fincantieri ship yard for delivery in 2011 and 2012. The order is worth 1 billion dollar. 

October 20th Lindblad Expeditions announced it has acquired a seventh ship in the fleet, the former Hurtigruten vessel Lyngen (built 1983, 6000 GRT). With an ice-strengthened hull this ship is ideal for expedition cruising in the waters of Antarctica. 

October 23rd Today, Azamara Cruises, Royal Caribbean's new cruise brand, officially adds the 694-guest Azamara Quest to its fleet, as the ship sets sail on the first of its two special two-night cruises from Miami, followed by a series of Caribbean and Panama Canal itineraries. The line aims at filling a niche: a cruise product presenting a more intimate, exclusive onboard experience, while allowing access to the less-travelled ports of call experienced travelers want to visit.

October 30th Silversea Cruises is offering guests aboard Silver Shadow's World Cruise 2008 a collection of optional overland adventures carefully tailored to show China's rich history and culture, while offering a glimpse of new attractions like Beijing's stunning new National Stadium and the National Aquatics Center, known as the Water Cube, both specially constructed for the Summer Olympics.
 

November 2007

November 9th Princess Cruises Regal Princess was renamed Pacific Dawn today during a ceremony in Sydney, Australia. The vessel is transferred form Princess cruises to P&O Australia. This 70.000GRT vessel will give a considerable boost to P&O Australia’s capacity. 

November 13th Portuguese Classic International Cruises (Arcalia Shipping) has bought the 1955-built Ocean Monarch from Greek Majestic Cruises. She will be renamed Princess Daphne (in the seventies this ship was one of the most luxurious cruise ships, sailing for Carras Delian Cruises. She will be united with her sister Princess Danae also owned by CIC after many years  . 

November 17th Today, Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg will cut the former Norwegian Crown in half and insert a 100-ft midsection which will boost capacity by appr. 300 berths. After her conversion and upgrade she will enter service for new owners Fred. Olsen Line as Balmoral and will sail in US waters (from Miami, Florida). 

November 19th: It seems that the reason for the SS Norway’s boiler explosion on May 25^th, 2003 will never be discovered. The NTSB which conducted the investigations have still not reached a final conclusion. This is reported by the Northern Country Gazette. 

November 23rd Today the Explorer, operated by GAP Adventure Cruises sank of the Argentinean Coast in Antarctican waters after striking a submerged iceberg yesterday. The vessel suffered a hole of about 10 cm in the hull and pumps couldn’t cope. Passengers were transferred to Nordnorge (Hurtigruten cruise ship) and Lindblad Expedition’s Geographic Endeavour. The Explorer, built in 1969 and former Lindblad Explorer, Society Explorer is known for being the first cruise ship to navigate the North West passage in 1984.   

December 2007

December 4th Celebrity Cruises' new Celebrity Solstice will introduce an industry first.Celebrity will collaborate with the world-renowned Corning Museum of Glass to bring the captivating art of glassblowing to sea when the Museum's "Hot Glass Shows" debuts on Celebrity Solstice in December 2008. Through Celebrity's alliance with The Corning Museum of Glass, the premier authority on glass and glassmaking history, the Hot Glass Show will provide live demonstrations and a narrated performance of glassblowing.

December 12th The first 570-ton keel section of RCL's 220.000GRT Genesis ship was put in place. Several coines were placed under this first building block following maritime tradition.

December 14th Norwegian Cruise Line's 1992-built Norwegian Dream (ex Dremward) collided with a container-carrying barge on Monday afternoon, December 10, outside the port of Montevideo, Uruguay. The NCL ship had just begun a cruise in Buenos Aires the day before. This is her second collision as On August 24, 1999, Norwegian Dream collided with container ship Ever Decent in the English Channel, resulting in bow damage.

December 18th Continuing its growth in the rapidly expanding European cruise market, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate an unprecedented number of "Fun Ship" voyages within the region in 2009. The line's 2009 European season will feature two of its newest 110,000-ton ships - Carnival Liberty, which will operate 12-day Northern European and Mediterranean cruises, and Carnival Freedom, sailing 12-day departures to the Mediterranean.

December 22nd AIDA Cruises' 42,289 gt AidaAura has suffered a mechanical failure on a voyage just to Palma de Mallorca after her dry-docking in Genoa, Italy. The propulsion system developed problems AidaAura had to return to the shipyard in Genoa.The ship was sailing without passengers.

December 25th As the transaction between Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and Apollo Management, nears completion and the infusion of $1 billion comes into the company, NCL announced its Freestyle 2.0 fleet wide initiative featuring significant enhancements in its onboard product. The enhancements include a major investment in the total dining experience; upgrading the stateroom experience across the ship; new wide ranging onboard activities for guests all of ages; additional service and amenities for balcony, suite and villa guests; and a re-launch of a tiered Latitudes past guest recognition program.

January 2008

January 2nd Investigations to discover the cause of the sinking of the Explorer indicate that after colliding with an iceberg, the fist-sized hole below the waterline cannot have caused the ship to sink. It is suspect that the already damaged vessel drifted into a second iceberg which caused further damage.

January 6th Today it was announced that EasyCruise Life (ex Lev Tolstoy, Natasha, Palmira, The Jasmin, Farah) will debut April 19 for EasyCruise, offering seven day cruises to six Greek islands, Syros, Samos, Kalymnos, Kos, Paros and Mykonos and a call at Bodrum, Turkey. The ship is currently undergoing an extensive refit to accommodate over 500 passengers, with facilities that include a pool, bar, restaurant, spa, sauna, sun decks, wellness zone, chill out zone and shops. 

January 13th Despite heavy weather and, later, fog, both Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Victoria arrived in New York together from their tandem crossing from Southampton this morningrs. Queen Mary 2 had alreay berthed in Brooklyn. For the first time in maritime history all three Cunard Queens will meet. This will be near the Statue of Liberty about 7:30 PM local time.

January 15th Voyages of Discovery launches its World of Discovery 2008/09 winter voyages brochure, featuring 24 inaugural calls among an array of exciting destinations rarely found in other cruise programs. New destinations for 2009 include South Africa and the Indian Ocean, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mumbai and Goa.

January 21st Today, Royal Caribbean opened a contest with USA Today for reader's to chose names for the two Project Genesis ships now under construction in Finland

January 22nd This summer, Silversea's all-suite, 382-guest Silver Shadow will be the only ultra-luxury cruise ship exploring Alaska. Boasting a crew-to-guest ratio of 1 to 1.29 and a space ratio of 74.0 (or 7,400 cubic feet of space per guest), Silver Shadow offers a level of personalized service and spaciousness that is unsurpassed. And at just 28,258 gross tons, these hallmarks of luxury are served up in a most intimate, club-like environment not available on larger ships.

January 22nd Princess Cruises has announced details of the first ever cruise departing from Australia to circumnavigate the globe - a magnificent 104-night odyssey on its premium superliner Dawn Princess, visiting more than 35 ports. Departing July 2009, Dawn Princess' world cruise will be the longest roundtrip voyage undertaken from Australia. This remarkable cruise will feature a memorable visit to Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

January 25th: Seacontainers has sold their GTS Finnjet, once the fastest ferry in the world to Dutch cruise ship operator Club Cruise. The ship will be renamed Da Vinci and she will be converted to a cruise ship at the Mariotti yard in Genoa, Italy.

January 25th: Dutch Club Cruises, owners of the cruise ship Van Gogh, have established a subsidiary Van Gogh Cruises which will operate the ship after the demise of her former operator, Travelscope from the UK. Even the planned world cruise which started on January 4th can take place as planned. Van Gogh has become a popular cruise ship in the UK over the last six years and Van Gogh Cruises will operat her in the UK market.

February 2008

Febrary 1st: At Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard, Princess' Cruises brand new Ruby Princess was floated out today. She will be taken into service in November 2008.

February 3rd: Not  yet final, but there are plans to change the law which forces foreign cruise ships sailing from a US port to include at least one foreign port in their itinerary. Nowadays, these visits include just a token visit of a couple of hours. This could be changed to 48 hours, so eg cruises from San Diego which briefly call at Ensenada, Mexico en route to Hawaii might be seriously affected.

February 4th: Disney Cruise Line has decided not to operate Disney Magic in Europe in 2008 and 2009 even the  2007 season in the Mediterranean has been very successful. The 1998-built vessel will spend this summer cruising the Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles, while during the summer of 2009 she will be sailing in the Caribbean from Port Canaveral.

February 8th: Peaceboat, current charterers of The Topaz have confirmed that they will end their charter of this classic vessel after she will have completed her world cruise in April. She will be replaced by the Clipper Pacific (ex Song of Norway).

February 8th: The SS Oceanic left san Francisco under tow today where has been in long time lay up after her former owners American Hawaii Cruises went bankrupt in 2001. She is currently owned by NCL who planned her return to active cruise service in US waters, but it is now feared she will go for scrap.

February 9th: Growing passenger numbers for cruises in Australian waters have had an unexpected effect on Captain Cook Cruises. This Australian company will end their cruises to the Great Barrier Reef because growing competition has made it uneconomical. Increasing capacity of P&O and Princess Cruises have seen Captain Cook losing market share.

February 11th: Again a cruise vessel of NCL will leave Hawaiian waters. Last week Pride of Hawaii was renamed Norwegian Jade and she will shift to European cruise service. Today NCL announced that in May Pride of Aloha will be transferred to the Star Cruises-fleet. This leaves only Pride of America in Hawaii.

February 21st: Rederij De Rotterdam BV, Dutch owners of the Rotterdam V from 1959 announced today that the ship is expected to arrive in Rotterdam this summer and that she will open up to the public as a museum and hotel/ restaurant this autumn.

February 24th: Celebrity Cruises has ordered a fifth vessel of the Solstice-class (122.000GRT) from Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany.

Febraury 25th: Sliversea Cruises' new vessel, the recently acquired World Discoverer will be renamed HSH Prince Albert II after the Prince of Monaco. The ship is currently being renovated by Fincantieri in Italy and will be renamed in Monaco on June 12th.
 

March 2008

March 7th: Discussions about the future of Island Cruises are ongoing, but no decision about the line’s future has yet been made. Island was set up as a 50:50 joint venture between First Choice and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, which still owns its newest ship, Island Star, formerly Celebrity Cruises Horizon. Following the merger of First Choice and Tui Travel last year the future of the line has been unclear, with Tui already operating Thomson Cruises, a competitor to Royal Caribbean. However, according to Mr. Peden, sales director of Island Cruises said Thomson and Island offer very different products and he expected there would be space in the market for both..

March 8th: Eight months before she is taken into service, Celebrity Cruises' newest ship, Celebrity Solstice, the company is already releasing many exciting feaures of the new vessel like: staterooms 15 percent larger than those on previous Celebrity ships, a half-acre Lawn Club with real grass, a glassblowing show and studio developed with The Corning Museum of Glass.

March 12th: Silversea Cruises will upgrade the Silver Cloud and Silver Wind in order to get them on the same level as its new Silver Spirit which will join the fleet in December 2009. The month-long renovations will be completed on Silver Wind in November and Silver Cloud in May 2009 and include new bathrooms, carpets, furnishings and flat-screen TVs in all the suites. Public spaces to be upgraded include the main dining room, La Terrazza specialty restaurant, Panorama Lounge, The Bar, library, casino, Internet center, theater, shops, reception lobby, hallways and the pool deck. A new, larger, ocean-view spa and fitness center will be added on Deck 9, replacing the smaller spa on Deck 7. Also new Observation Lounge and eight additional suites will be added.

March 12th: Her Majesty Queen of the Netherlands Beatrix will christen the Eurodam in a naming ceremony at Rotterdam on July 1st, 2008. Eurodam is currently under construction at Fincantieri's Marghera yard (Venice).

March 20th: Aegean Two (ex Ausonia) will leave the Golden Star Cruises fleet and will return to Louis Cruises. It is not known on which route she will be deployed, but Louis insist she will return to service for the company. Aegean Two will be replaced by Aegean Pearl (ex Southward, Seawing, Perla) and will operate the company's program of 3 and 4 night cruises.

March 20th: Oceania Cruises has ordered two new 66.000GRT vessels from the Fincantieri ship yards in Italy. Designers of the new ships will be the well known architects from Oslo Yran & Storbraten. They will have 626 staterooms for 1252 passengers and passengers will be pampered by 780 crew. The ships are expected to enter service in 2010/ 2011.

March 26th: Pullmantur's Sky Wonder (ex Fairsky, Sky Princess, Pacific Sky) ran aground while docking at the outer harbour of Kusadasi, Turkey because of fierce winds. Passengers were evacuated and efforts te refloat the vessel have begun.

March 30th: Pacific Sky has been refloated after five days. It seems there is no hull damage. her passengers who were evacuated after she grounded were flown home when it became clear it would take time to free her and there was a chance she had suffered hull damage.

April 2008

April 3rd: Princess Cruises will rename their Tahitian Princess (ex R Four) to Ocean Princess in November 2009 when she is refitted in Singapore. She will sail on a world wide series of cruises thereafter.

April 4th: The French three-masted sail cruiser Le Ponant has been hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. The ship was returning empty, only 30 crew memebers are onboard.

April 8th: Actress Sophia Loren acted as Godmother in a naming ceremony where she christened MSC's new Poesia in Dover, England. Sophia Loren has been godmother of four other ships of MSC. This is the first naming ceremony out of Italy.

April 8th: The weblog of Carnival Cruise Lines' Senior Cruise Director John Heald continues to attract growing numbers of visitors, with the number of total hits approaching two million and daily visitors increasing 55 percent over the past month. Heald's blog can be accessed via http://www.carnival.com or http://www.johnhealdsblog.com.

April 12th: The crew of the seized Le Ponant have been rescued. A ransom has been paid to the pirates who seized the vessel on April 4th. Later the French army took 6 pirates in custody when the fled from the scene.

April 19th: easyCruise's new ship CRUISE LIFE has been delayed because of strikes in the Greek shipyard carrying out the conversion work. Her maiden voyage was originaly planned this week but will now be delayed for 6 to 8 weeks.

April 19th: Thomson Cruises will no longer charter the Emerald from Louis Cruises after this summer as there are plans for a larger, more modern ship in 2010.

April 23rd: Super model Eva Padberg named AidaBella, the latest Aida cruises vessel in Warnemunde, Germany today. On April 24th, AidaBella will depart on her maiden cruise. She will spend the summer in the Baltic and will reposition to the Canary Isles in winter.

April 24th: The US House of Representatives has voted against a renewal of the exemption of the Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Act, which will force this historical vessel, the last survivor from the steamboat era on the Mississippi, but which unfortunately has a wooden susperstructure which SOLAS does not permit because of stringent fire regulations out of service in November 2008.

April 30th: Louis Cruises has acquired NCL's Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Majesty. Both will be chartered back to NCL, until November 2008 and December 2009 respectively. Rumour has it Louis veterans Serenade (ex Jean Mermoz) and Princesa Marissa (ex Finnhansa) have been sold for scrap.

April 30th: Ambasador Intl, an investment firm which owns Windstar Cruises and Majestic America Line has plans to sell the latter at the end of 2008. Majestic America operates a fleet of stern-wheelers (Delta Queen, American Queen,Columbia Queen, Empress of the North and Queens of the West) which sail on different US rivers

May 2008

May 2nd: Norwegian Cruise Line will probably plead guilty to being charged "grossly negligent operation of a ship". The National Transportation Safety Board concluded this after ending its investigations into the boiler explosion on board SS Norway on May 25 which killed 8 crew members.

May 2nd: A record 4 million Europeans took cruise holidays last year, according to the latest statistics unveiled Thursday by the European Cruise Council (ECC) in Brussels. The ECC 2007 "Markets Report" shows that five years ago, 2.6 million Europeans took a cruise holiday. By 2006, that number had grown to 3.4 million, and in 2007 to an all time high of 4 million. Sixty percent of Europeans cruised in the Mediterranean and Atlantic islands, 24 percent in the Caribbean and other parts of the world, and 16 percent sailed in Northern Europe

May 7th: Mona Lisa, chartered by German operator Lord Nelson Cruises has been refloated after running aground May 4 off the Latvian coast. All 651 passengers were evacuated from the ship. It seems the ship is undamaged and after inspection will recommence her cruise schedule as planned.

May 7th: Guests on Holland America Line's new ms Eurodam can enjoy the outdoors in the comfort of their own private haven in the cabanas on the Observation and Lido decks of the company's newest ship. The tented cabanas are located on Observation Deck in an area called the Retreat and around the mid-ship pool on Lido Deck. Furnished with modern chaises, ottomans and upholstered settees, all cabanas come stocked with bathrobes and plush towels, handheld fans, an Evian spray mister and iPods(TM) preloaded with music.

May 13th: The cruise ship Braemar (ex Crown Dynasty) from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has docked on May 13th in dry dock Elbe 17 at the Blohm + Voss Repair yard. This ship will be extended by a 31,20 metre long midship section at the shipyard in Hamburg. In addition to the new section, 18 new balconies will be installed, the restaurant on deck 8 reconverted and various public areas newly constructed or modified.

May 17th: EasyCruise's new vessel, EasyCruise Life (former Lev Tolstoy, Natasha, Palmira, The Jasmine, Farah) started on her maiden voyage today. She was expected to debut in April but Greek labour actions delayed her delivery. On her maiden voyage the EasyCruise Life will call at five Greek islands (Syros, Kalymnos, Kos, Paros and Mykonos) and Turkey's Bodrum.

June 2008

June 4th: The Passenger Shipping Association's Annual Cruise Review reveals again an increase in the number of cruises sold for less than £1,000 in 2007. Over the year, these represented 38% of all cruises booked, compared with 34% in 2006.

June 4th: This morning, in the harbour of Monte Carlo, the expedition ship Prince Albert II officially joined the Silversea fleet. HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco was present during the naming ceremony..

June 13th: EasyCruise new ship EasyCruise Life ran aground at the Aegean island of Syros today with 353 passengers and 105 crew on board. She was freed from the sandbar with the help of a tug.. After inspction of her hull she is expected to complete her seven day cruise as scheduled.

June 16th: Cruises of the Scholar Ship scheduled for fall 2008 and spring 2009 have been cancelled. Those who already booked will be refunded. It seems that charterers of The Scholar Ship have not been able to secure funding in time. The Scholar Ship sailed on study cruises, being a university abroad.

June 16th: Holland America's newest ship, the Eurodam (the first ship to be built specifically according to HAL's Signature standards) was handed over today builders Fincantieri. Eurodam will first sail to Southampton and then proceed to Rotterdam on June 28. On July 1 the ship will be christened by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in a gala naming ceremony on July 1.

June 20th: Costa Cruises has done it again. The Italian Company has topped the record figure of 1 million customer bookings for this year some 5 weeks earlier than in 2007. This happened on June 10, 37 days earlier than in 2007 when, on July 17, Costa received its one millionth passenger for that year.

June 27th: Carnival Cruise Lines took delivery of the 113,300 gt Carnival Splendor today. She will be named at Dover by UK TV presenter and musician Myleene Klass. The Carnival Splendor will cruise in Europe until being repositioned to the Caribbean in September.

June 27th: Orient Lines, the destination cruise specialist founded by British entrepreneur Gerry Herrod in 1992, has now been acquired by Wayne Heller, the founder of Orlando-based retailer Cruises Only. Heller's Origin Cruise Group LLC purchased the brand from Star Cruises Ltd. Much like the former company's Marco Polo, the new Orient Lines plans to acquire vessels with character that can carry 600 to 800 passengers to all seven continents. The line plans to announce its first ship within weeks.

July 2008

July 1st: Press release from Seabourn Cruises: Twin blue-white flames in the noonday sun signaled the simultaneous welding of coins yesterday onto two steel keel blocks that will become the sleek hulls of two new, ultra luxury cruising yachts in 2010 and 2011. In an innovative variation on a traditional ceremony, this happenng marks the beginning of the next stage in a three-vessel expansion project that will increase Seabourn’s capacity by over 200 percent in the next three years.

July 9th: Celebrity Cruises announced its new Celebrity Solstice, set to debut this November, will offer guests the chance to purchase a 10-sided diamond cut for the first time, available exclusively on the ship. Named the Solstice Diamond, the patented gem's 86 facets create a visible, distinguishing star pattern. The stone originates from Canada and was created by U.K.-based Harding Brothers, which will manage the retail shops onboard. The diamonds will be available in Celebrity Solstice's "Boutique C," one of 18 shops spanning three decks and 6,500 square feet onboard the ship.

July 14th: The major refit and lengthening of Fred. Olsen’s cruise ship, Braemar, is now complete and she is about to recommence her cruise programme from Southampton. Braemar arrived at the Blohm + Voss Repair GmbH shipyard in Hamburg on May 13th for work to begin on inserting a new midsection into the vessel.

July 24th: MSC Splendida floated out in St Nazaire during a ceremony took place Sunday at the Aker Yards in St. Nazaire, France. The ship was accompanied by a fleet of eight tugboats. At the end of the hour-long floating out ceremony in which she travelled about half a mile, she entered the dock where she will remain until her construction has been completed.

July 25th: Regent Seven Seas Cruises announced today that a new ship is under development. During an America's Vacation Center webinar yesterday, Regent Seven Seas President Mark Conroy said the line plans to take delivery of the yet-unnamed ship in 2012.

July 27th: Ms Zenith of Pullmantur Cruises collided today with Louis Cruise Lines Aegean Pearl. Both ships suffered minor damage. Aegean Pearl off loaded passengers and sailed to a nearby shipyard (Neorion Shipyard, Syros) for repairs to her superstructure and lifeboats.

July 31st:  Ultra-luxury cruise line Silversea Cruises is seeing record growth in the percentage of guests who have never previously sailed with the line.  For the third consecutive year, the company has achieved an increase in new guests of about ten percent.  Currently, fifty-four percent of all guests are new to Silversea, the largest percentage ever

August 2008

August 4th: The 1959-built SS Rotterdan returned to her home port of Rotterdam today. The ship has left Wilhelmshaven, Germany on Saturday morning and arrived at Hoek van Holland at approximately 4.00 PM local time. Thousands of spectators saw the ship sail down the river Nieuwe Waterweg to her permanent berth at the Katendrechtse Hoofd in the port of Rotterdam.

August 11th: Celebrity Solstice was floated out from her covered dry dock at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, yesterday. The 122,000 gt Celebrity Solstice is the largest cruise ship built in Germany, with a length of 1,033 feet, (315 meters). Four sisterships will follow.

August 11th: Carnival Sensation will undergo a multi-million-dollar refurbishment that will include the installation of an expansive water park, an exclusive adults-only retreat and tropical-themed mid-ship pool area, as well as renovations to nearly 1,000 staterooms and cosmetic enhancements and a wide range of public rooms and areas. This upgrade is the result of the next phase of the line’s “Evolutions of Fun” product enhancement initiative for the line’s eight Fantasy-class vessels and will take place during a scheduled 35-day dry dock in January 2009.

August 11th: New Princess Cruises vessel Ruby Princess has completed her sea trials succesfully and all is on schedule for her debut planned November. The new ship set out to sea to test her propulsion, steering and navigational equipment. She is currently being constructed at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.

August 15th: Pearl Seas Cruises announced the name of their new cruise ship:Pearl Mist. The 210-passenger ship is currently being outfited at the Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Instead of being completed in the autumn of 2008 as originally planned, she will now be taken into service in the first quarter of 2009. Itineraries scheduled include the Caribbean, Canada (Newfoundland, The Great Lakes).

August 18th: According to an announcement made by its general manger, Fred. Olsen will divert the Black Watch from its planned call in Batumi, Georgia on Oct. 12 because of the country's recent conflict with Russia.

August 19th: Carnival Corporation has announced that its smallest, oldest vessel, the Holiday of 1985 will be transferred to Iberocruceros, a Spanish subsidiary of the company. Holiday will be renaned Grand Holiday and will join near sister, the Grand Celebration (1987), also a former Carnival vessel (sailed under the named of Celebration in those days).

August 20: Restarting Orient Lines announced the acquisition of the Maxim Gorkiy presently being operated by Phoenix Seereisen from Germany. The ship will end its charter to Phoenix in November. Orient will rename her Marco Polo, she will be refitted to meet 2010 SOLAS requirements and start sailing in European waters in spring 2009.

August 20th: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has been named a finalist in Condé Nast Traveler magazine's 2008 World Savers Awards. The awards honor 38 travel companies from around the world for their leadership in social responsibility in five key areas: poverty alleviation, cultural and/or environmental preservation, education, wildlife conservation and health. The 2008 World Savers Awards are featured in the September issue of Condé Nast Traveler. The finalists will be recognized during an award ceremony on September 23, 2008, at the 2nd Annual Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Congress in New York City.

August 27th: At a Virtual Travel Show sponsored by AAA Travel last night, Royal Caribbean International unveiled two more neighborhoods of the highly anticipated Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest and most revolutionary cruise ship when she launches in November 2009. The Pool and Sports Zone and the Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center were announced at the consumer Internet event. This latest announcement precedes the opening of Oasis of the Seas' general bookings on September 3, 2008. The Pool and Sports Zone and the Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center - coupled with the previously announced neighborhoods of Central Park, Boardwalk and Royal Promenade - will provide guests with the widest array of experiences possible, including private cabanas, four unique types of pools, and two FlowRider surf simulators - each larger than the single FlowRider found on the line's Freedom-class ships.

September 2008

September 5th: Swedish entrepreneur Lars Hallgren's revealed plans to save the Mona Lisa (ex Kungsholm, Sea Pr5ncess, Victoria, Scholarship, Ocanic II) for preservation as a hotel and museum at Gothenburg. The city of Gothenburg port authorities supports Hallgren’s plans The vessel is owned by Greek-based Kyma Ship Management and  will be forced to retire in 2010 when new SOLAS regulations are implemented.

September 6th: Holland America Line will send Satendam, Rijndam, Maasdam and Veendam and near sister Rotterdam to dry dock for month long refits that will total $200 million and will be carried out from spring 2009 (Veendam) to autumn 2010 (Maasdam). Each ship will receive 32 verandah staterooms aft and additional verandahs will be added to existing staterooms. On the Statendam, Rijndam, Maasdam and Veendam fifteen cabins will be transformed into Spa staterooms, on Rotterdam 23 cabins will be converted to Spa staterooms. Furthermore new inside staterooms will be added and all cabins on all five vessels will be redecorated in earth tones. Capacities will increase to 1,350 and 1,404 respectively. Finally, Lido decks aft will be expanded and bars added here.

September 6th: Disney Cruise Line's 2,700 passenger Disney Magic was sent to the shipyard for an upgrade: the adults-only Quiet, the Oceaneer Club will be refitted and LCD tv's will be installed in all staterooms amongst other work done on the vessel.

September 8th: MSC announces the order of two more 93,000 gt 2,550 passenger Musica-class ships to be constructed by the St. Nazaire-based STX Europe Yard in France for delivery in 2011 and 2012.. They will be called MSC Meraviglia (“marvelous") and MSC Favolosa ( "fabulous"), respectively.

September 23rd: NCL is having a dispute with bulders of their new F3-series of cruise ships, STX Europe, France. The line disagrees with the construction costs of the first F3-vessel (150.000GRT, 4.200 pax). The second vessel is not under discussion at the moment. The F3-vessels are revolutionary ships, concerning both size and on board facilities.

September 25th: The 1956-built ROYAL STAR is to be sold at auction at the court of Mombasa, Kenya. The ship has been abandoned by her former owners and presently lies idle in the port of Mombasa, her homeport for her Indian Ocean cruises the past few years. While sailing for former owners, the little ship cruised in the Mediterranean.

September 26th: Imperial Majesty Cruise Line, which has been sailing short cruises from Port Everglades to the Bahamas since 1999, will be putting its regular operation on hold to help with disaster relief efforts for several Texas Gulf Coast communities damaged by Hurricane Ike. The line’s 21,909-ton Regal Empress, which can accommodate 1,068 guests, will provide accommodations for engineers, analysts and other relief personnel in the Galveston area.

September 28th: Today, watched by a huge crowd on the river banks, the largest cruise ship ever built in Germany, the Celebrity Solstice departed her builders yard Meyer Werft, Papenburg and was towed along the narrow River Ems today for trials in the North Sea. Locks on the river were closed to increase the depth of the water. Destination for the Celebrity Solstice is Eemshaven, Netherlands, where she will stay from September 29 to October 24 when she will depart for Fort Lauderdale. Her naming ceremony is planned for November 14.

September 29th: CEO of  Royal Caribbean Int, Mr Fain -speaking ahead of the departure for sea trials of the first ship in a new class for Celebrity Cruises, the $900m Celebrity Solstice which currently is under construction at Meyer Werft’s yard in Papenburg- stated that his company will be looking carefully at future orders because of high costs of building ships as well as the expensive euro. Mr Meyer, managing director of the yard expressed his fears about the future: the current economic crises will affect the cruising industry, he stated.

September 30th: The sale of the Norwegian Dream from NCL to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines with planned delivery in November has been cancelled for unknown reasons. Louis will go ahead taking over the Norwegian Majesty (1992) for a reported price of US$162m.

October 2008

October 7th: Royal Caribbean International will sell its 50 percent stake of Island Cruises to a unit of co-owner TUI Travel. The two vessels of the fleet will be redeployed, the Island Star (owned by RCI) will be shifted to RCI-subsidiary Pullmantur while the Island Escape will probably  be transferred to TUI-subsidiary Thomson Cruises.

October 7th: After the owners of gaming cruise ship Island Adventure, Sea Escape Cruises went bankrupt last month, the idle vessel remained laid-up but will now be auctioned of to pay creditors. The ship was seized on August 23 after crew members filed charges against SeaEscape claiming they had not been paid.

October 12th: It seems that the new owners of the QE2 plan to slice of the ships well known funnel and replace it with a four-deck high glass penthouse. The funnel would be placed on the dock and would be used as entrance to the ship which will be permanently docked at one of the islands of the Palm Jumeirah, a series of islands in the shape of a palm tree situated at the Dubai coast line.  However, reportedly plans of the new owners for the QE2 seem to change often……

October 17th: Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines announce that their best known ship,  Black Prince (ex Venus) of 1966 will be retired in October 2009 after a series of farewell sailings. It seems that the costs of the work needed to get the vessel up to SOLAS 2010 standards are too high for such an old vessel.

October 21st:  Royal Caribbean International announced the final neighborhood on the Oasis of the Seas -- The Youth Zone, a haven for children and teens including themed play areas, a teen club and a nursery. The company announced the seventh and final of the ship’s neighborhoods during an online reveal sponsored by American Express Travel. When launched in November 2009, the 220,000-ton Oasis of the Seas will feature six other neighborhoods, including Central Park, Boardwalk with the AquaTheater, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, the Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, and Entertainment Place.

October 21st: Hurtigruten, which has a fleet of 11 ships that sail the Norwegian Coastal Express service, has laid up one of its ships, the Vesteralen (1983) and plans to withdraw another one on November 11, the Nordlys from 1994 unless the company and the Norwegian government reach an agreement on higher subsidy for the service.

October 22th: Saga Holidays state their veteran Saga Rose (ex Sagafjord, Gripsholm, 1965) will be  retired in the autumn of 2009. Her last cruise will be  a 37 day voyage to the Mediterranean starting on December 6 which will be her last departure from the UK

October 24th: Today the Carnival Dream, Carnival’s largest ship to date was floated out at the Fincantieri Monfalcone yard. Carnival Dream measures 130.000GRT and will cary 4.632 pax maximum.

October 30th: Carnival will end the operations of subsidiary Ocean Village starting early 2009 when Ocean Village Two will be transferred to P&O Cruises Australia  Ocean Village One will follow appr. one year  later.

November 2008
November 1st: Mona Lisa (ex Kungsholm, Sea Princess) currently in winter lay up at Eleusis Bay, Piraeus will be reactivated as from November 5^th for Japan-based Peaceboat, whose Clipper Pacific (ex Song of Norway) has been experiencing  technical problems repeatedly.

November 11th: It is reported that thousands of people bid farewell to the 41-year old QE2 during her last departure from Southampton. A million poppies dropped from a plane, three fireworks displays, and live BBC coverage all to bid farewell to this magnificent liner as she departed to become a hotel ship in Dubai.

November 18th: The outcome of the investigations carried out by the Hellenic Navy into the cause of the grounding of Louis Cruise Lines’ Sea Diamond in April this year is that the sea chart used by the crew of the doomed ship was inaccurate. This proves that the crew of the Sea Diamond is not to blame for the disaster which  took the lives of two French passengers and caused minor environmental pollution at the shores of the Greek Isle of Santorini.

November 18th: Due to the world wide financial crisis, the planned restart of Orient Line after it had been sold by Star Cruises to its former owner Mr. Heller will not take place. Recently part of its sales staff had been laid off. The future of the Maxim Gorkiy, the vessel which would be refitted as the company’s first vessel is now most uncertain.

November 18th: The worlds’ largest cruise ship, RCI’s Oasis of the Seas was floated out today at her builders yard, STX Europe in Turku, Finland. The 220,000 GRT vessel which is 360 meter long will be delivered in the autumn of 2009.

November 20th: EasyCruise trips will be available through travel agency Amadeus Cruise starting by next February as it seeks to build relations with the travel industry to attract more passengers. The one-ship budget line has adopted this new strategy since it started a process of renewal. Its first move was selling its original ship to owners in Dubai and moving operations to Greece. Cruises are now half-board instead of cruise-only, and the line has increased its prices from around £9 a night to £40. And, for 2009, it has also published its first brochure.

November 26/27th: The handover of the QE2 from Cunard to new owner Nakheel, a project developing company from Dubai took place today. The QE2s Captain McNaught sounded the ship's whistle for 39 seconds, one or each year of her service. Off the coast of Dubai a flotilla of ships had been present to welcome the famous liner on her arrival at Dubai, amongst them the worlds largest yacht, the Dubai, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. The climax was a fly-by of an Airbus 380 (the largest passenger airliner in the world) which has just been delivered to the Emirates airline.

November 28th:  NCL unveiled plans for a multi-million dollar overhaul of the Norwegian Spirit, the 10-year-old vessel that was transferred from parent company Star Cruises  in 2004. Cabins, especially bathrooms will be upgraded, pool decks will be refurbished, furniture in the public rooms will be upholstered and a dozen extra cabins will be squeezed in.

November 30th: Oceana Cruises 2000-built Nautica (ex R Five, Blue Dream) was attacked while she was transiting through the Gulf of Aden this morning. Although the ship was sailing within the internationally protected waters where war ships of several nationalities patrol the area, Nautica was attacked  by two small boats. She was able to outrun these however. Rifle shots were fired at Nautica but no one on board was hurt. Oceana Cruise stated that the voyage will continue as scheduled.

December 2008

December 2nd:  Reports indicate that plans to operate the Maxim Gorkiy as a static hotel in her former homeport of Hamburg might succeed. The ship should have been the first ship sailing for Orient Lines as Marco Polo II at their re-start after having been refitted, but Orient Line postponed their new start due to the worlds financial crisis. After these announcements from Orient Line, the threat of Maxim Gorkiy being scrapped has been serious.

December 2nd: After a thorough refit ( and upgade to SOLAS 2010 requirements) Lisbon-based Classic International Cruises have now officially renamed the 1954-built, 15,833 gt Ocean Monarch to  Princess Daphne.

December 4th: Again a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. This time the German cruise ship Astor (Transocean Tours) was the victim. Assistance of a Germany Navy frigate chased off the pirates.

December 8th: The expedition ship Ushuaia which ran aground on December 4 with 122 passengers on board in Antarctican waters has been refloated. Passengers have already been offloaded and the ship sustained minor damage resulting in some oil leaking from the vessel.

December 18th: After negotiations with the yard, STX Europe France, NCL has decided to limit the order for two F3-vessels to one which will be delivered in May 2010. NCL and the yard disagreed on the matter of the building costs of the first F3-ship. Being extremely innovative according to NCL, the F3 newbuild is of great value to NCL.

December 22th: Carnival has unveiled a new series of never-before-seen renderings of the 130,000-ton Carnival Dream – the largest “Fun Ship” ever constructed set to debut Sept. 21, 2009 – along with an entertaining and informative new blog by senior cruise director John Heald who recently toured the ship during its construction at Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard. The new image gallery and blog are available at www.carnival.com/dream.

December 23th: The Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica – Costa Cruises’ two new ships, which will be christened together at an extraordinary event to be staged in Genoa on June 5, 2009 – are now online, each with her own totally dedicated website. The two ships, the 13th and 14th Costa fleet members, both built by Fincantieri for a total investment of about 900 million euros, are currently being fitted out in Marghera (Venice) and Genoa-Sestri Ponente. Web surfers can already have a sneak preview of the new ships at www.luminosa.costacruise.com and www.pacifica.costacruise.com.

 January 2009

January 8: After the restart of Orient Line had been put on hold due to the financial crisis, Maxim Gorkiy, which should have been the lines’ first vessel Marco Polo II will probably be sold to Indian scrappers. This means that last minute attempts to save her and operate her as a hotel and museum in the port of Hamburg have failed.

January 16: Regent Seven Seas Cruises ‘ Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Voyager have been extensively refitted for a total of 40 mio dollars at the Freeport's Grand Bahamas shipyard. Well-known maritime architects Yran & Storbraaten  supervised the overhaul. The vessels were redecorated in general, a new grill restaurant with the illustrious name Prime 7 was added on both vessels as well as a new lounge and restaurant adjacent to the Lido area and on SS Voyager a coffee bar was added (already present on SS Mariner).

January 19: Maybe there is a future after all for the Mississsippi Queen (3,365GRT, built 1976), formerly operated by the now defunct Majestic America Line. A developer form Madison, Indiana has revealed plans to operate the former riverboat as a static hotel in Madison for 450 guests. The ship was completely gutted prior to a planned refurbishment when owners Majestic America Line ran into financial difficulties and it was feared she might go for scrap.

January 19: MSC Cruises newbuilding MSC Magnifica (93.000GRT, delivery planned for 2010) has been floated out of STX Europe's dry dock in St Nazair, France.

January 23: The first keel block of the third unit of the Celebrity Solstice-class, the Celebrity Eclipse has been laid in the covered construction dock of Meyer Werft, Papenburg. Delivery is scheduled for 2010.

January 27: The famous Delta Queen Riverboat is coming to Chattanooga to serve as a hotel. Ambassadors International, Inc., owners of the historic Delta Queen, have chartered the vessel to Harry Phillips, owner of Chattanooga Water Taxi and Fat Cat Ferry in Chattanooga, Tenn., who will operate the vessel as a hotel and convention center in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile Ambassador will try to find an operator who is willing to operate it as an overnight cruise vessel. But to make this possible, a congressional exemption for the 82-year old vessel is needed, since federal law prohibits it from operating overnight cruise voyages due to its wooden superstructure.

January 27: Following the successful Eurodam News Blog, Holland America Line today launched an ambitious fleetwide weblog that highlights all 14 existing ships as well as the upcoming newbuilding ms Nieuw Amsterdam and a wide array of topics. The blog, which has been in development for several months, officially goes live today at www.hollandamericablog.com.

January 28: Ocean Village  which will be transferred to P&O Cruises Australia fleet next year will be renamed Pacific.

January 30: Norwegian Cruise Line has announced the name of its new F3 vessel, currently under construction (planned delivery 2010) at the STX ship yard in St. Nazaire, France will be Norwegian Epic.

February 2009

February 10: The SS United States Conservancy has released an urgent message with the following contents:
"The SS United States Conservancy has learned that the SS UNITED STATES will soon be listed for sale. The SS UNITED STATES was purchased by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in 2003, and ownership of the vessel was recently transferred to a holding company controlled by NCL's parent company, Hong Kong-based Star Cruises. In light of current economic conditions, the SS UNITED STATES is now in grave danger of being sold for scrap".

All those who oppose to this historic vessel being scrapped are urged to contact their congress men and try to have the sail of the Unites States prevented in time.

February 11: TUI Cruises, the German joint venture of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and TUI AG, has decided to name its first vessel Mein Schiff following a competition. More than 11,000 people sent in over 30,000 ideas to the competition for finding a name for TUI Cruises´ first ship.

February 12: Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, which operates five ships on the British market, suffered a net loss of NOK 181 million last year compared to a loss of NOK152 million in the previous year. The weakening of the result followed a 40% increase in supply of berths on the UK cruise market last year, high cost of bunkers and significant one-off expenses arising from the lengthening of two ships, Balmoral and Braemar. 

February 13: Celebrity Equinox, the second in a series of five 122,500 gross ton cruise liners for Celebrity cruises, will be named in a ceremony in Southampton in the UK between 25 and 31 July, Celebrity Cruises stated today. The events are part of Celebrity Cruises plans to increase its market share in the British cruise market that is the second largest in the world after North America.

February 13: The new AIDAluna (69,200 gt) left the covered building dock at Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, Germany today. On February 21 she will pass down the River Ems. Delivery is expected on March 16 while her maiden voyage will start March 22, from Hamburg to Palma de Majorca.

February 13: CDF Croisieres de France, the Francophone brand in the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) group, will widen the offering of cruises from 7 night ones it offered last year to 3,4,7 and 11 nights in the coming season of Mediterranean cruises. All of these cruises will depart from Marseilles and the season will commence on 12 April. The company operates the 37,000 gross ton Bleu de France, which was built in 1982 as Europa of Hapag-Lloyd.

February 18/ 20: Passengers and crew have evacuated the expedition vessel Ocean Nova (operated by Quark Expeditions) and are transported to the town of Ushuaia, Argentina, after she had been pushed on the rocks by strong winds. Two days later the vessel is lifted free of the rocks by the high tide. It seems the Ocean Nova's hull has not sustained any damage.

February 26:  After all attempts to preserve her failed, Maxim Gorkiy was beached in the early morning hours at the scrappers in Alang, India

March 2009

March 3: Norwegian Cruise Line  has finally released artists impressions and figures of her newbuilding currently under construction at the STX Europe Shipyard in St. Nazaire, France. Norwegian Epic. She will measure 153,000GRT, carry 4,200 and have a length of 1068 ft.

March 8:  The 42-year old cruise liner QE2 is currently berthed at Port Rashid where she has been since her arrival in Dubai on 26 November 2008. Nakheel, her current owner has implemented a maintenance and repair program at Port Rashid and is currently operating her with a minimal crew. In response to a number of requests, Nakheel is also investigating the possibility of opening QE2 to visitors in her current condition for a short period of time before her refurbishment begins. Irrespective of short-term plans, the ultimate goal is to renovate and refurbish QE2, and for her to be the focal point of a luxury precinct located at the Palm Islands, that will recreate an authentic luxury ocean liner ambience and lifestyle.

March 9: BBC-footage has been broadcasted showing the collapse of the MSC Fantasia’s gangway as the ship swung away from the dockside because of high winds in the port of  Mallorca. One 80-year old passenger was thrown into the water and four crewmen immediately dived into the water to rescue him. They managed so save the unharmed passenger.

March 9:  The cost of conversion of an old cruise liner to meet the requirements of SOLAS 2010 rules will in many cases be so high that most of the vessels that would require such a conversion will be taken out of service. After 2005 when all passenger ships had to be fitted with sprinklers the next major amendment to SOLAS 1974 will come into force 1 October 2010. This will be the final incremental application of the amendments introduced to enhance the fire protection, detection and extinction requirements. A conversion of a vessel to fulfill SOLAS 2010 is expected to be between €5 million to €20 million. This means that in most cases the price of a conversion exceeds the value of the ship. An article on this matter has been written by naval architect at STX ship yards in Finland mr. Westerlund as a result of his studies.

March 10: Rumour has it that the classic ss Oceanic has been sold by Pullmantur to an undisclosed Japanese party. The new owners intend to charter her to the Japanese Peaceboat organization whose currently chartered Clipper Pacific (ex Song of Norway) suffers from mechanical breakdowns.

March 10: Disney Cruises announced today the names of the two newbuildings on order from Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany: Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. Work on the first ship has just started (steel cutting). Delivery of the 128,000GRT and 2500-passenger cruise liners is planned for 2011 and 2012.