Cruise Radio: Weekly Cruise News & Travel Tips

We break down the biggest cruise news stories of the week, including Carnival Cruise Line revealing its next-generation Carnival Destiny, a teacher fired from her school district for booking cruises around cheaper sailings, the latest Ruby Princess illness outbreak, Royal Caribbean's cruise port setback near Rome, and why an LGBTQ charter cruise aboard Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady was denied entry to ports in Turkey and Egypt.

Later in the episode, listener Maureen shares her review of a five-night Celebrity Summit cruise sailing from Port Everglades to Key West and Nassau. She discusses Concierge Class, dining, entertainment, Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, and whether Celebrity Summit is still one of the best values in premium cruising.

• Carnival announces Carnival Destiny, the first ACE Class ship
• UK school principal banned after changing school schedules to book cheaper cruises
• LGBTQ charter aboard Virgin Voyages denied entry to Turkey and Egypt
• Royal Caribbean's proposed Rome cruise port faces environmental setback
• Second illness outbreak reported aboard Ruby Princess
• Virgin Voyages spa employee charged after alleged onboard assaults
• Cruise Question of the Week: Are slot pulls worth joining?

• Embarkation at Port Everglades
• Concierge Class balcony review
• Oceanview Café and Main Dining Room
• La Petite Chef specialty dining
• Entertainment and nightlife
• Non-smoking casino
• Key West jet ski excursion
• Royal Beach Club Paradise Island review
• Crew service
• Is Celebrity Summit worth booking?

Share your thoughts: [email protected]

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About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Doug Parker interviews Chris, who recently returned from a 10-night Southern Caribbean cruise aboard Princess Cruises' Enchanted Princess, sailing roundtrip from Port Everglades.

Chris shares why Enchanted Princess is his favorite cruise ship, discussing the Princess Premier package, specialty dining, entertainment, and the ship's relaxed atmosphere. He also reviews ports including Princess Cays, St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, Martinique, and Antigua, highlighting the Titou Gorge and Hot Springs excursion in Dominica as the standout experience.

Chris recommends this itinerary for cruisers looking to visit less-common Southern Caribbean islands while enjoying Princess Cruises' classic onboard experience.

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About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Doug Parker interviews Jan, who recently completed a 16-night repositioning cruise aboard Explorer Journeys' Explorer One, sailing from Barcelona to Miami. Jan shares his enthusiasm for the cruise line, highlighting the exceptional food, spacious suites, inclusive amenities, and intimate atmosphere. He describes memorable ports including Cadiz, Madeira, Antigua, Tortola, and San Juan, along with standout onboard experiences like enrichment lectures and a culinary cooking class. Jan recommends Explorer Journeys as outstanding value for travelers seeking a luxury experience without ultra-luxury pricing.

Share your thoughts: [email protected]

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Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Celebrity Solstice review and this week's cruise news.

Steven shares his experience aboard Celebrity Solstice on a 16-night transpacific cruise from Sydney to Honolulu. We discuss the ship's renovation, dining, entertainment, sea days, ports of call in New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, and American Samoa, plus crossing the Equator and International Date Line. We also talk about an onboard power outage and Coast Guard medical evacuation that happened near the end of the voyage.

Cruise Radio staff writer Richard Simms covers this week's headlines:

• River cruise fire in France • Sun Princess overnight fire scare • Celebration Key expansion • Carnival crew member honored as a hero • Ruby Princess norovirus outbreak • Frank Del Rio's $18 million lawsuit

Share your thoughts: [email protected]

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Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Corey joins Doug to share his review of a five-night cruise aboard Carnival Sunrise from Miami, featuring visits to RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay and Celebration Key.

Taking advantage of a casino offer, Corey and his girlfriend booked an interior stateroom for her first cruise and explored everything from Carnival's newest private destinations to the ship's specialty dining venues. They discuss Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse, Bonsai Sushi, Cucina del Capitano, the Chef's Table experience, Carnival's new Bagels at Sea concept, and the overall food quality onboard.

The conversation also covers entertainment, casino offers, crowd levels on a smaller Carnival ship, and how Carnival Sunrise compares to newer ships sailing today. Corey shares his thoughts on the grand reopening of RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, his experience at Pearl Cove Beach Club at Celebration Key, and why he believes the combination of Carnival's two private destinations creates one of the strongest beach-focused itineraries in the Caribbean.

In This Episode:

• Carnival Sunrise interior stateroom review
• Bagels at Sea and onboard dining
• Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse
• Chef's Table experience
• Nassau shore excursion
• RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay reopening
• Celebration Key and Pearl Cove Beach Club
• Carnival casino offers
• Tips for first-time Carnival Sunrise cruisers

Share your thoughts: [email protected]

Sponsor

Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Share your thoughts: [email protected]

A review of Icon of the Seas.

Staff writer Richard Simms has cruise news. This week, we cover a record-setting day in Nassau as more than 33,000 cruise passengers arrived in port, ongoing chaos in Santorini as a controversial passenger distribution rule triggers another shutdown, and the tragic death of a pregnant fin whale believed to have been struck by Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas near Seward, Alaska.

We also discuss Royal Caribbean's decision to allow suite guests to bring non-suite friends into Coastal Kitchen for a fee, a massive brawl at PortMiami that resulted in 16 Carnival passengers being permanently banned from the cruise line, and Carnival's new limited-edition Bulleit single-barrel bourbon being sold aboard select ships as part of America's 250th anniversary celebration.

Michael and Tiffany return to Cruise Radio to share their review of a seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas. Sailing from Miami, they discuss what it was like experiencing one of the world's largest cruise ships and whether the hype lives up to reality.

The couple shares their thoughts on the ship's layout, dining, entertainment, and crowd management, including why the vessel never felt crowded despite carrying more than 7,000 guests. They discuss favorites like Pearl Café, Giovanni's Italian Kitchen, Hooked Seafood, the AquaTheater production, and Royal Caribbean's adults-only Hideaway areas both onboard and at Perfect Day at CocoCay.

They also talk about their visits to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay, along with tips for navigating the ship, finding quiet spaces, and deciding whether Icon of the Seas is worth the premium price.

In This Episode:

• Cruise news
• Icon of the Seas balcony stateroom review
• Pearl Cafe and included dining options
• Giovanni's Italian Kitchen and Hooked Seafood
• AquaTheater, ice show, and Wizard of Oz production
• St. Maarten and Maho Beach
• St. Thomas port day changes
• Hideaway Beach at Perfect Day at CocoCay
• Crowd levels on a 7,000+ passenger ship
• Tips for first-time Icon of the Seas cruisers

Sponsor

Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Share your thoughts: [email protected]

Marcus joins Doug to review a 7-night cruise aboard Marella Voyager, sailing roundtrip from Tenerife to the Canary Islands and Madeira.

In this episode, he shares his experience aboard the former Celebrity Mercury, including an upgrade to an Executive Suite, dining at the ship's included and specialty restaurants, entertainment, and what it's like sailing on Marella Cruises for the first time.

He also discusses visits to Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Madeira, and La Palma, along with tips for embarking in Tenerife and navigating this port-intensive itinerary.

Topics Discussed:

• Marella Voyager Executive Suite
• Dining and specialty restaurants
• The all-inclusive cruise experience
• Entertainment and onboard atmosphere
• Canary Islands ports of call
• Madeira highlights
• Embarkation and debarkation in Tenerife
• How Marella compares to Princess and Celebrity Cruise

Sponsor

Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Share your thoughts: [email protected]

A review of Norwegian Luna.

We cover recent cruise news, including the Anna Kepner murder case aboard Carnival Horizon, a video voyeurism arrest on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, a brawl at Nassau Cruise Pier, a $1.9 billion lawsuit against MSC Cruises, and new dining announcements from Carnival and Holland America.

Tony shares a detailed review of his seven-night family cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's brand-new Prima class ship, the Norwegian Luna, highlighting dining, entertainment, ports of call, including a stop at the newly renovated Great Stirrup Cay, and gives us his overall impressions.

Sponsor

Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

We cover major cruise news, including American cruise passengers arrested in Nassau, a foiled plot to bomb a cruise ship in Greece, a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean, updates on Perfect Day Mexico, and the delivery of Legend of the Seas.

Richard also answers a listener question about casino bounce-back offers.

The episode features a detailed review of the Majestic Princess by first-time cruiser Chris, who shares details including his inaugural cruise out of Port Everglades, how good the dining on board was, scuba diving in Cozumel, and Mayan ruins in Belize.

Sponsor

Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.

Doug chats with guest Tom about his three-night solo cruise aboard Celebrity Reflection, visiting Key West and Nassau. Tom shares his experience as a first-time Celebrity and solo cruiser, covering the smooth embarkation process, his interior stateroom, buffet and specialty dining highlights, and diverse entertainment options.

He compares Celebrity favorably to other cruise lines, noting its calm, upscale atmosphere. Tom also offers practical tips for solo travelers, recommending short cruises as a starting point and encouraging passengers to engage socially onboard.

We also feature a segment about travel insurance with Dan Skilken, President of TripInsurance.com. Dan discusses its importance for cruise travelers, what to look for in a policy, what "cancel-for-any-reason" travel insurance really means, and tips for making sure you have adequate coverage for your trip.

Sponsor

Cruise line protection is designed to help if you can't take your cruise. Third-party travel insurance helps protect you during the trip. Including medical care, delays, and unexpected issues.

Compare plans and save up to 30% at TripInsurance.com.

About Cruise Radio: Cruise Radio has been delivering cruise news, ship reviews, and money-saving tips weekly since 2009.