January

ROME/wwsj -Giglio Livecam -
Costa Crociere, operator of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, learned the vessel was flooding from a collision off the coast of Tuscany within minutes of the accident and more than an hour before passengers were instructed to evacuate the ship, according to testimony the company delivered to the Italian Senate on Wednesday. The account also raised more questions about why Mr. Schettino and Costa Crociere waited until 10:58 p.m. to sound the ship's evacuation alarm, more than an hour after the ship hit the rock on Jan. 13, causing at least 16 confirmed deaths and leaving 19 people still missing. more...

Oceania Cruises was notified by Fincantieri late last week of construction delays and as a result, will reschedule the maiden voyage of its m/s Riviera. Construction on the 1,250-guest ship fell behind schedule when strikes at Fincantieri's shipyard near Genoa, Italy, lasted longer than expected. 
The maiden voyage of Riviera has moved from April 24 to May 16, and all guests affected by the delay will be contacted by their travel agents or by Oceania Cruises directly to discuss alternative cruise dates.
The new maiden voyage is a 10-day “Pearls of the Aegean” cruise that includes an overnight aboard ship in Venice before visiting Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Monemvasia, Crete, Santorini, Kusadasi (gateway to Ephesus), Delos, Mykonos and Athens.

gCaptain - Slideshow -  Concordia Livecam -
Costa Concordia – The 3 Most Fatal Mistakes:
Of note, the following comments are made with input from ship captains and maritime experts based on the evidence now available.
1. FATAL MISTAKE:The first fatal mistake was likely in the training of the bridge crew. The job of the captain is to give orders and the crew must accept even foolish ones, but it’s the understanding and execution of these orders which is most important.
2. FATAL MISTAKE: Slow Down! Once the turn was made the ship should have slowed down.
But it didn’t. 
3. FATAL MISTAKE: Why does a ship list to starboard when all her damage is on the port side? This could have been caused by emergency ballasting procedures (pumping water into the starboard side to compensate for the water entering to port) but the more likely answer is that by grounding her starboard-side-to the beach the ship’s momentum pulled her over to starboard. read more....

Maritime authorities, passengers and mounting evidence pointed toward the captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast, amid accusations that he abandoned ship before everyone was safely evacuated and was showing off when he steered the vessel far too close to shore. 
The Costa Crociera company, which owns the Costa Concordia cruise ship, released a statement refuting the earlier claims by Captain Francisco Schettino, saying that the captain had "made an error of judgment which has had serious consequences." VIDEO

The Friday the 13th grounding of the Concordia was one of the most dramatic cruise ship accidents in recent memory. It immediately raised a host of questions: Why did it hit a reef so close to the Tuscan island of Giglio? Did a power failure cause the crew to lose control? Did the captain - under investigation on manslaughter allegations - purposely steer it in the wrong direction? And why did crew members tell passengers they weren't in danger until the boat was listing perilously to the side? The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, was detained for questioning by prosecutors investigating him for suspected manslaughter, abandoning ship before all others, and causing a shipwreck, state TV and Sky TV said. Prosecutor Francesco Verusio was quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA as saying Schettino deliberately chose a sea route that was too close to shore. Late on Saturday, firefighters heard distinct shouts, "one in a male voice, the other in a female voice" coming from the liner, coast guard officer Marcello Fertitta said. The people calling for help turned out to be a honeymooning South Korean couple, who were brought out in good condition, Prato fire Cmdr. Vincenzo Bennardo told the Associated Press. SKY NEWS VIDEO.....

The highest ranked cruise ship in the world, according to the 2012 Berlitz Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships  Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ MS EUROPA is offering guests two world-class music festivals in 2012. The “Ocean Sun Festival,” the only classical music festival on the High Seas, will feature internationally acclaimed classical music stars performing on board, as well as exclusive concerts at historical sites ashore. Additionally, the “Stella Maris“ International Vocal Competition will bring together up-and-coming young singers from the most renowned opera houses in the world to perform and compete on board a Middle East and Africa itinerary. These two music cruises are the highlights of a total of nine music cruises aboard the EUROPA in 2012.

St.Petersburg
St Peter Line, the Russian cruise ferry company that operates two ships in the Baltic, says it will increase sailings on Helsinki service and introduce cruises with day in Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn and St Petersburg on year-round itinerary with no need for Russian visa. The 38,000 gross ton Princess Anastasia - VIDEO -, will start a new kind of Baltic cruise from Helsinki via Stockholm and Tallinn to St. Petersburg in the beginning of February 2012. “Passengers are able to spend the whole day in each city and Princess Anastasia will take the passenger to a new city conveniently during the night. As the whole cruise is done with the same vessel no inconvenient ship changes are required. Departures will be twice a week from Helsinki,” the company said in a statement. Previously the ship only spent a couple of hours in most ports to allow disembarkation and embarkation of passengers and vehicles.

Papenburg, Germany
The Disney Fantasy floated out of its dock in Germany Sunday, 8th January 2012. The "float out" was witnessed by thousands of visitors along the shores. 
The "float out" comes when the final phase of the construction begins, as the exteriors and interiors of the ship get the finishing touches.  The Disney Fantasy is the second of two newly designed Disney ships. It has many of the features found on its sister ship, Disney Dream, which sails out of Port Canaveral. The Disney Fantasy is scheduled to sail its maiden voyage on March 31, from Port Canaveral here in Florida.

MSC Magnifica became on Tuesday the first of some 800 cruise ships expected to dock at the port of Piraeus in 2012, and was greeted by Development and Merchant Marine Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis."This is an important and symbolic move we are making as last year the cruise industry in this country posted growth of 35 percent with some 2.5 million passengers visiting Greece,» said Chrysochoidis, who pledged to help make the country more attractive to cruise passengers so as to achieve the best possible financial benefits. The minister added that the bill for the liberalization of the sector is to be tabled in Parliament today, «allowing all ships, regardless of whether they bear a European Union flag or one from a third country, to visit Greece,» he said.

Port Rashid, Dubai
Sounds like the New Year's Eve party on board QE2 was a bit of a strange affair, with the guests hardly being allowed inside the ship, and even having to use Portaloos on the outer decks rather than put a strain on the original plumbing. 
And it must have been a chilly evening in Dubai if organisers thought it necessary to fire up the patio heaters on the aft decks in the picture below.Lindsay Lohan had threatened legal action to prevent the organisers suggesting she was going to be attending and there was no sign of the promised Pamela Anderson - partying in Las Vegas instead. Tennis stars Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer - who were in nearby Abu Dhabi for a match - chose an early night over the canapes on offer on board. According to gossip on board, Dubai world is still considering converting the venerable famous vessel into a Luxury floating Hotel with 200 rooms at the Palm Jumeirah Island. Well we heard this numerous of times. 
As they say in the Middle East: Inshallah!

Celebrity Cruises is now offering guests an inside look into the world of luxury cruise ship operations. The new “Celebrity Inside Access” takes guests on a once-in-a-lifetime journey behind the scenes of the Celebrity Cruises’ fleet including to the bridge and other non-public areas. The See How It’s Done Tour guides an intimate group of guests through several otherwise non-public areas of the ship, including the bridge, mooring deck, crew gym, theatre, engine control room, prep rooms and the main dining room galley. The Bridge Sail Away Experience offers guests the opportunity to join the navigational team on the bridge as the ship sails away from port. Beginning 30 minutes before and concluding 30 minutes after departing, guests are given a tour and an overview of the bridge. 
The Celebrity Inside Access programme is offered on all ships and available for purchase onboard with the See How It's Done Tour available at $150 per person and the Bridge Sail Away Experience at $75 per person.

London
People willing to take a look at the then world's biggest ocean liner, the Titanic, will be able to make trips to the wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic at a price of around $61,000.
Among those who have already signed up for the trip are a London banker and a doctor from Missouri, the Telegraph reported. Deep Ocean Expeditions are hoping to take 80 people to the ship on the centenary of its sinking in 2012.
However, just two visitors would be able to go down at a time and it would take two hours to descend to the wreck, that was discovered in 1985.