March

All Things Cruise is the leading website for cruise enthusiasts, dedicated to the joy of cruise travel and planning the best cruise vacations ever. The site claims to have built a team of strong cruise bloggers who are constantly providing updated fresh information to its readers. The constant stream of cruise and port reviews are written by members of the site, whom she called the traveling public…people who paid their hard-earned money for their cruise experiences and who are generous with both praise and criticism. There is  updated information on all cruise lines, including small and niche lines.

Singapore
Silversea Cruises' Silver Shadow has a fresh new look thanks to a major renovation completed during the two weeks that the ultra-luxury ship spent in dry dock in Singapore, before returning to service on March 19. As with the refurbishment of sister ship Silver Whisper last year, the enhancements made aboard Silver Shadow echo the sophisticated contemporary design themes and warm color palettes of Silversea's newest ship, Silver Spirit. more...

Crystal Cruises is enhancing its already expansive host of luxury services and amenities.  Effective spring 2012, vacations on the award-winning Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity will include complimentary fine wines and premium spirits throughout the ship, open bar service in all lounges, and pre-paid gratuities for housekeeping, bar and dining staff.  The complimentary gratuity amenity also includes Penthouse butler service as well as service in all of Crystal’s fine specialty restaurants and sushi bar.

Nightingale Island
Yet for reasons still under investigation, the 75,300 ton Greek freighter “Oliva” enroute from Santos, Brazil to Singapore with a cargo of soya beans found itself hopelessly off course and its captain now has the distinction of having run aground on the world’s most remote inhabited island. At 430am on March 16th, “Oliva” smashed into the rocks on Nightingale Islands. By sheer chance, our expedition ship, Silversea’s “Prince Albert II,” arrived on scene early the next morning, and the ship’s expedition team — specially trained in the operation of Zodiacs in heavy weather — rescued the remaining 12 crew. Less than 12 hours later, “Oliva” broke apart on the rocks. more...
One of a series of dramatic pictures taken aboard the cruise ship Prince Albert II on the morning of 17th March 2011 as the ship was en route for Tristan da Cunha for a planned visit. more...

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Ltd. gets rid of Customer Relations Exec after she tries to take action to prevent Park West Gallery from repeatedly ripping off customers on board Royal Caribbean ships. The ex-Customer Relations Exec, Samantha Algar, talks to Teri Franks, CEO of Fine Art Registry about the events surrounding this surreal incident. wath Video here...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
Icebreakers have been called in to free dozens of ships that became trapped in ice in the Gulf of Finland - Video - near St. Petersburg last week. The administration of St. Petersburg's port said at least 97 ships were still waiting for help on Tuesday, down from 160 ships two days ago. The eastern Gulf of Finland has not seen such thick ice since 1992, according to the Federal Agency of Sea and River Transport. In some places the ice is more than a meter (three feet) thick. Most of the trapped ships are cargo vessels, but some are passenger ferries. Many have been trapped for at least several days. Among the ships freed over the weekend was a ferry that had been stuck for six days with 12 people on board, including a pregnant women. The ferry runs between a port near St. Petersburg and the Kaliningrad region. The Princess Maria ferry running between St. Petersburg and the Finnish capital, Helsinki, has been suspended since March 9, but was due to resume its operation on Wednesday, ferry operator St. Peter Line said.

Princess Cruises today announced its next ship will be called the Royal Princess - VIDEO - a name the line has used twice before -- and revealed several new-to-the-industry features that will be aboard the vessel. at 141,000 tons, the line's largest ship ever -- will have a glass-bottomed walkway that will extend more than 28 feet off the side of its pool deck, an industry first. Located on the starboard side of the 3,600-passenger vessel, the "SeaWalk," as Princess is calling the new feature, will offer dramatic views of the ocean 128 feet below. The Royal Princess also will have another cantilevered feature on the port side of the ship, the SeaView bar, which will have space for 20 people. more...

Cuba
In an attractive circuit around Cuba, the Russian cruise ship Adriana landed in the port of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba with 62 travelers aboard. This is the fourth visit of the Adriana ship to Santiago de Cuba and this time it brought tourist from Canada, Russia, Germany, Belarus, Spain, Sweden and Austria, and tour operators from the first two. Operated by Tropicana Cruises, the 7-night cruise, departing from Havana, includes stops in Isle of Youth, Trinidad, Jamaica, Santiago de Cuba, Cayo Saetia key north of Holguin, to return later to the departure point. more

What does a modern day romantic cruise adventure look like?  In her directorial debut,Jenny McCarthy stars in a sexy romantic comedy set onboard Royal Caribbean International's newest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas.  McCarthy, along with Hollywood veteran James Brolin, recently wrapped the "Ocean Views" film series project commissioned by Royal Caribbean, whereby the actors not only directed, but also star in, original short films designed to share great cinematic stories, while highlighting the variety of cruising experiences one can enjoy with Royal Caribbean. The film series is available on Royal Caribbean's website and YouTube channel, www.RoyalCaribbean.com/OceanViews and www.youtube.com/royalcaribbeanintl, and marks the first time any cruise line has made the foray into the digital film forum. more...

USAtoday
If there's one thing you can count on from the fast-growing cruise industry, it's that it always has at least a few new ships in the works. Even during the economic downturn of the past few years, the industry's major players continued to push ahead with orders for new vessels -- albeit at a slower pace than in the past. This year already has seen the debut of two major new ships: Disney Cruise Line's Disney Dream and Oceania Cruises' Marina. What's on tap for the rest of 2011, 2012 and beyond? What follows is a list of all the ships on order for the major ocean-going lines. more...

P&O Cruises has announced details of “The Grand Event” on July 3, 2012, when the entire fleet of seven ships will be docked together in its home port of Southampton for the first time in the company’s history. This is part of a year of celebrations in 2012, marking the 175^th anniversary of the all Peninsular Steam Navigation Company being awarded the lucrative Admiralty contract to carry mail to the Iberian Peninsula and beyond. Not long afterwards the concept of cruising was born and since 1837, cruising has evolved into a popular holiday choice and now P&O Cruises - Video - carries more British cruisers than any other line. Each ship in The Grand Event will then depart on its own Grand Event cruise, with a spectacular send off with champagne deck party, flutterfetti and marching bands. The ships will then form a procession as they leave Southampton for the English Channel and beyond.

Bahrain's cruise season has been cancelled due to ongoing unrest, resulting in a loss of nearly 50,000 tourists, it has emerged. None of the large cruise liners that make at least three calls to the Khalifa bin Salman Port every week have docked since the start of incidents from mid-February, said tour operators. They have now dropped Bahrain from the cruise ship calendar altogether for the remainder of the season, which ends next month. more...

Mein Schiff 1 of TUI Cruises will host Wiener Philharmoniker - Video -, the world renowened Austreian orchestra, again in the summer after a successful premiere at sea last year. They will saiol with the 77,713 gross ton vessl on a 7-night cruise from 6 to 13 July. The cruise line has cooperared with MM Reisegesellschaft and MS6 Travel, two Austrian travel companies, to arrange the event. On their first cruise with the ship, the orcherstra staged rehersals on board the vessel, while the actual concerts were given at concert halls in various ports of call on the cruise that took the ship to the Baltic. Passengers had the possibility to watch the rehersals.

Salisbury,MD
The new sternwheeler is currently under construction at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, MD. The hull is nearly complete and the superstructure is taking shape. The paddlewheeler will fully recreate the grandeur of past riverboats, while incorporating the latest safety, environmental and construction technologies. This is the first and grandest overnight paddlewheeler built for the Mississippi in nearly twenty years. It will have the largest staterooms ever, almost all of which will have private balconies. In addition, the ship will feature a multitude of lounges to choose from that not only accommodate various passenger tastes in onboard activity but truly capture the historic essence of the Mississippi River cruising experience. American Cruise Lines’ new paddlewheeler will have the option of cruising at a significantly higher speed to make the most imaginative itineraries possible.

Cruises have become a major part of the tourism industry. Recent passenger figures suggest that although the cruise industry is growing, so is the competition. The industry's rapid growth has seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American market added every year since 2001, as well as others servicing European market. But achieving a high percentage of loyal customers is new for the cruise industry. Historically, the industry serves a large proportion of first time customers (about 50% in the North American market). As a result, companies are changing their focus from new customer acquisition to better understanding the elements that impact customer retention. more...

The extensive refurbishment of Ocean Star Pacific  - Video -(ex Aquamarine) continues in Curaçao, where the ship is gaining upgrades and new facilities prior to entering service in April for Mexico start-up Ocean Star Cruises. Work began in Curaçaco on Jan. 10 and will wrap up in late March, Yaniz said. The ship was built in 1971 as Nordic Prince and most recently sailed for Louis Cruises.  the market response has been ‘unbelievable.’ In launching last month, the company has blanketed Mexico City and Guadalajara with promotions on television, radio, billboards and in magazines. The spring sailings are nearly sold out, but people are also booking for Christmas and New Year departures. Yaniz said eight people were added to the call center last week and eight more are in training. Reservations are being taken seven days a week.