Cruise News

Virgin Voyages sets its first Scandinavia and Baltic season, basing Valiant Lady in Amsterdam for summer 2028 across a six-sailing program that adds an Arctic Circle crossing and puts at least one first-time port on every voyage, from Oslo and Copenhagen to Tromso and the Norwegian fjords. Royal Caribbean lifts its 2026 adjusted earnings outlook to $17.73 to $17.87 per share after a second quarter that beat estimates, with revenue of $4.83 billion, 2.4 million guests carried and load factors at 110%, even as fuel costs climbed 27%. And Villa Vie Residences prepares to unveil Legacy, a second residential ship targeted for early 2029 with residences roughly 50% larger than comparable units aboard Odyssey, which has now sold more than 85% of its available homes.

Today on Cruise News: Cordelia Cruises plans eight seven-night Chennai to Singapore sailings aboard Cordelia Sky between late June and late August 2027, calling at Langkawi and Port Klang in Malaysia with an overnight in Phuket, while Norwegian Cruise Line reworks the ship's farewell voyage into an 18-day cruise ending in Muscat, Oman on September 27, 2026, dropping Dubai and Doha and offering guests a 15 percent prorated refund plus a 15 percent future cruise credit. Margaritaville at Sea brings Halloween back to Paradise and Islander from September 15 through November 1, 2026, adding an interactive Ghostly Game Show, a Halloween bar crawl and themed guest entertainers alongside returning favorites such as the Spooktacular Murder Mystery Game Show and the Trick-or-Treat Trail. And Viking details an 80-voyage 2028-29 ocean program calling at 301 ports across 84 countries, with new Alaska, Mediterranean and Japan itineraries aboard Viking Orion, Viking Venus and Viking Neptune.

Today's Cruise News brief covers three stories. A Kentucky woman, filing under the pseudonym Jane Doe, has sued Carnival Cruise Line and spa operator OneSpaWorld over an alleged assault by a massage therapist aboard Carnival Vista on July 5, 2025, a complaint that arrives alongside Department of Transportation figures showing 135 sexual assaults reported on Carnival vessels between 2016 and 2025. In Italy, a July 3, 2026 court ruling voided the environmental approval for the 600 million euro Fiumicino Waterfront cruise port near Rome, a project 90 percent owned by iCON Infrastructure funds with a 10 percent stake held by Royal Caribbean Group, leaving Civitavecchia as the region's cruise gateway after it processed 3,556,559 passengers in 2025. And Disney Cruise Line is scaling up in St. Maarten, moving from three calls in 2026 to roughly 14 in 2027 following Disney Destiny's inaugural visit on July 1, 2026, at a port that welcomed 1,597,940 cruise visitors last year.

Austrian authorities are investigating after the river cruise ship MS Anna Katharina struck a quay wall and lock gate at Vienna's Freudenau lock on the Danube on July 24, injuring 14 of the roughly 200 passengers and crew aboard; six people were taken to hospital with back, neck and chest pain and were discharged within hours, and police say a possible technical defect is among the lines of inquiry. In Finland, Meyer Turku completed hull assembly on Royal Caribbean's Hero of the Seas, the 250,800-GT Icon-class ship due to enter service in August 2027 from PortMiami carrying about 5,610 guests at double occupancy, with nine pools and a 50-meter-wide AquaDome. And Holland America Line's Zuiderdam has sailed from Boston on the 35-night Voyage of the Vikings, a 20-destination run through Canada, New England, Greenland, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and the Netherlands that returns to Boston on August 20, ahead of the ship's turn in the line's $500 million-plus Evolution refit program.

Today on Cruise News: Carnival Cruise Line's private Bahamian destination, Celebration Key on Grand Bahama, drew 2.4 million guests in its first year after opening July 19, 2025, and Carnival projects 3.5 million in year two following a $600 million initial investment. Fincantieri delivered Explora III to Explora Journeys on July 23, the fleet's first LNG-powered ship at 72,810 gross tons with 463 suites, ahead of an August 1 naming ceremony in Barcelona. And Silversea launched its S.A.L.T. Grape Harvest culinary voyages, seven autumn sailings across Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom aboard Silver Dawn and Silver Spirit.

Today's Cruise News covers three developments reshaping the cruise experience. Royal Caribbean Group is building out the Mahahual K'iin Community Center in Costa Maya, Mexico, adding sports courts and spaces for education, workshops, and cultural events, even as its larger Perfect Day Mexico project remains unresolved after Mexican authorities rejected the current plan in May. Disney Cruise Line's Disney Fantasy has returned from a rare 10-night Southern Caribbean voyage with calls in St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua, and Puerto Rico, and a repeat sailing is set for July 11, 2027. And Holland America Line has debuted four original productions aboard Oosterdam, headlined by a new Rolling Stone-branded rock show at the World Stage, part of the line's $500 million-plus Evolution program spanning six ships.

Royal Caribbean has extended its suspension of ship calls to Labadee, its leased private destination in Haiti, through June 2027, citing safety concerns tied to conditions in the country. The decision cancels 62 scheduled visits in early 2027 across nine ships and reroutes calls to ports including Nassau, Perfect Day at CocoCay, Puerto Plata, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. At Port Canaveral on July 17, 2026, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office took six cruise guests into custody on outstanding warrants; no onboard misconduct or delays were reported, and all ships departed on schedule. And Victory Cruise Lines will add Erie, Pennsylvania to its 2028 Great Lakes Voyage aboard the 190-passenger Victory I and Victory II, with an inaugural call set for July 21, 2028.

Today's Cruise News covers three itinerary developments across ocean and river cruising. AIDA Cruises has canceled AIDAperla's Middle East winter season, saying conditions in the region cannot be reliably assessed, and will redeploy the ship from Kiel, Germany for winter 2027-28 with Baltic, Nordic, Norwegian fjord and a 24-day Canary Islands voyage; affected guests receive a 10 percent cabin voucher. Century Cruises is bringing its river operation to Egypt in 2027 aboard the 20-suite Sunrise Terramar on the Nile, with an 11-day Treasures of the Nile itinerary and a 15-day Legends of Egypt sailing that adds a four-day Red Sea extension in Hurghada. And Uniworld Boutique River Cruises plans three new vessels for 2028 — the S.S. Helen on the Danube, the S.S. Clara on the Rhine, and Mekong Mystique in Southeast Asia — part of a seven-ship expansion that brings its fleet to 22 ships.

Cruise travelers are navigating a season of change. Low water on the Danube and Rhine is disrupting peak river cruise sailings, with Avalon Waterways shifting departures from Nuremberg to Passau, AmaWaterways moving guests off the AmaMagna above Budapest, and Viking swapping sister ships to keep itineraries running. On the ocean side, Cunard's Queen Victoria heads to Damen Shiprepair in Rotterdam from October 17 to November 5 for a refit that adds eight new staterooms and refreshes public spaces including the Grand Lobby and Queens Room. And Windstar's newly acquired Star Explorer has arrived at the West Sea shipyard in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, for a conversion that lifts capacity to 224 guests ahead of a December 28 debut.

Carnival's private Bahamas destination Celebration Key wrapped its first year with 2.4 million guest visits, and with a pier extension finished ahead of schedule Carnival projects 3.5 million visits in year two. P&O Cruises opened its 2027 school-holiday sale with children's fares from 299 pounds and a Classic Package priced at 49 pounds per person per day, with the booking window running to late August 2026. And Emerald Cruises unveiled a rum-themed, seven-night Caribbean sailing aboard the 100-guest Emerald Sakara in March 2027, hosted by rum sommelier Alejandro Ferris and calling on ports including Nevis, Guadeloupe, Antigua, and St. Barths.