Weekly News Update - 6/16/2024

 

Cruise Industry News

American Cruise Lines:

• The company orders 3 newbuilds as the domestic market is growing strongly.  The new ships will be modified versions of ships of the same class built in 2023, including a larger passenger capacity.

Cunard Cruises:

• The company celebrated record bookings following the Queen Anne launch. Source

Carnival Cruise Line:

• A guest was banned for life from the line after for sharing a video of them refilling a water bottle with faucet water and resealing the bottle's lid with glue and placing it back on the shelf, making the bottle appear unused and would not be charged.  A 12 pack of large bottles now costs $14.95, up from $4.95 18 months ago.

Celebrity Cruises:

• Sells 2 ships to Lindblad Expeditions and will sell it's 3rd ship when the line is folded into Carnival Cruise Line in 2025.

Disney Cruise Line:

• Port of Vancouver awards Disney Cruise Line the Blue Circle Award for 2023.

Holland America Line:

• The line added Bora Bora to upcoming 56 day "Tales of the South Pacific" Voyage aboard the Zaandam.  Other destinations will include Hawaii, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, American Samoa, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands.

Lindblad Expeditions:

• The company announced it was buying 2 ships from Celebrity Cruises; Celebrity Xpedition and Celebrity Xploration.  It will take possession of the ships in early 2025.

Margaritaville at Sea:

• The company's second ship, Margaritaville at Sea Islander, enters service after being refurbished.

MSC Cruises:

• MSC World America will feature the largest, most action packed kids area in the MSC fleet spanning 10,000 feet.  The ship will offer the first LEGO themed parade at sea, a LEGO family game show and master build area.  Source

Neonyx Cruises:

• The Goddess of the Night was seized by official in Italy for signifigant hygienic sanitary issues and serious accommodation deficiencies.  The ship was set to host police officers at the G7 Summit.  The ship was found to have defective toilets, leaks, air conditioning not working, flooding in cabins, tears in mattresses and stained carpets.  It was also found to have moldy food, a dirty buffet and waste materials scattered around the ship.  When the ship was inspected in April, the deficiencies were noted, but had not been fixed.  The cruise line is now potentially facing fraud charges.

Royal Caribbean International:

• Takes delivery of Utopia of the Seas, it's 2nd mega ship of 2024.  This one is built for shorter cruises of 3 to 4 day cruises.  Royal Caribbean's standard 3 to 4 day cruise ship segment is mainly served by the Freedom Class ships which are half the size of the Utopia of the Seas.

Seabourn Cruise Line:

• The Seabourn Pursuit visits Australia for the first time. Source

Silversea Cruises:

• Official names it's newest ship, Silver Ray.

TUI Cruises:

• Takes delivery of the Mein Schiff 7, the first methanol ready fuel powered cruise ship.

Windstar Cruises:

• Christopher Prelog receives TravelAge West Excellence in Leadership Award.  The company also won the Best Travel Advisor Support for Small Ship Cruises.  Source
• The company reveals it's newest ship, Star Seeker.  Announced it will bring back routes to include Alaska and Japan in 2026.  Source

Other Industry News:

• The SS United States, currently laid up at Pier 82 in Philadelphia, will have to be moved by September 12, 2024, by order of a U.S. District Court Judge. The ship's owners having paid a large amount of past docking fees.  The ship faces potential scrapping if the owner fails to have it moved in time.

Amusement Park Industry News

Disney Parks:

• The multi-year Epcot transformation has been completed with the launch of the CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza.
• The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has unanimously approved a $17 billion development deal with Disney.  The deal calls for Disney to invest the money over the next 10-20 years and permit a 5th major theme park and 2 minor parks, expanded hotel room capacity and an increase in retail and restaurant space.  Disney must also provide $10 million for affordable housing and donate at least 100 acres of land to the tourism district.

Universal Parks:

• Universal Orlando has expanded its Epic Universe development district from 700 acres to more than 2,000 acres.