Archive

Update 6/12/09

Hi everyone. I am currently in Massachusetts for a surprise visit for my Brother’s graduation. If anything big breaks in the cruise industry, I’ll keep you up to date. Other than that, enjoy your weekend! -Greg

Another Norwegian Epic Fire And They are All Arson

French maritime news site, Mer et Marine, is reporting that on June 6th there was a small fire onboard. Families of the workers at STX France were allowed to tour the vessel and see what their relatives had been working…

New Cruise Ship Ordered…from Libya?

Yes, that’s right. Libya just ordered a cruise ship. The Libyan National Company for Maritime Transport, GNMTC, just signed a letter of intent to build one ship at STX France in Saint Nazaire. The ship, to be completed by December…

NCL Installs the Largest Chandelier…

…at sea that is. Click the photo for the link on CruiseInd’s Epic page.

Almost 100 Sick as Ship Sails into Seattle

UPDATE 11:46: So it turns out that when I go to find a quote from Princess, their news site is down! 96 passengers became ill with the norovirus on Princess Cruises, Sapphire Princess. She was on the return leg of…

Azamara Cancels Israel Port-of-Call

In my post titled “Cruise Line Changes From Israel-Gaza Ship Clash,” it was mentioned that further alteration could be announced. This morning comes word that Azamara Club Cruises had cancelled the Azamara Quest’s port of call in Ashdod, Israel. Although,…

Ship With Safety Deficiencies Sets Sail

On Thursday I reported about the Vistamar that flunked safety inspections and detained in port. Today the BBC is reporting that she finally set sail. The fixes had been made, she was re-inspected and and given her certificate of seaworthiness.…

Awesome Webcam Grab This Morning

Here are Crystal Cruises fleet, all of 2 ships, docked in Barcelona, Spain this morning. The ultra luxury ships are docked bow-bow. Onboard the Crystal Serenity, looking at the Crystal Symphony Onboard the Crystal Symphony, looking at the Crystal Serenity

Norwegian Epic Updates

Some Norwegian Epic news for you this morning. As she nears completion and her June 15 delivery date looms close by, STX has released a slew of new photos of her. I have been, and will be, compiling them on…

British Officials Detain Cruise Ship for Safety Violations

Vistamar in Turkey in 2008 from Shipspotting.com Interesting story developing in the U.K. Officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have detained the cruise ship, Vistamar, in the Port of Belfast and are not permitting her to leave…

Cruise Line Changes From Israel-Gaza Ship Clash

As we’ve all seen in the news, there are a lot of protests regarding the Israeli special forces landing on a ship. So far Princess Cruises have cancelled today’s call in the port of Ashdod, Israel. Azmara is the next…

Changes to Oasis Lifeboats

Oasis has undergone some external changes the past few weeks. You may recall that when she first arrived in the states from Finland, she encountered some rough weather that resulted in some damage to one of the fowardmost lifeboats. It…

New Changes to RCCL’s Crown & Anchor Program

RCI has always had a rough time with publicity surrounding past guests. There was the March 2009 scale back that sparked outrage. Then the Royal Champions on a certain message board. RCI announced today further changes and enhancments to their…

Disney Dream Gets Her Last Block

This morning marked a major step in the building process of one of the most highly anticipated cruises to be launched. Taking place in Papenburg, Germany, the Disney Dream received her last building block. Remember that ships are build like…

Luxury Cruise Operator Get Their Newest Ship

Leaving T.Mariotti in Italy upon completion of outfitting. The Seabourn Sojourn was formally handed over from the ship yard to the line. This is the final step in the construction of the vessel and the first step for her new…

Norovirus on Indy

UPDATE SATURDAY: According to two comments below, the ship was not evacuated in Cadiz. Here is where I got the false information: Round Town News Thanks to Rosie and fudge for keeping us informed UPDATE: This gets weird, according to…

Another Update on the MS Deutschland

Friday: The Deutschland was the ship that caught Fire on Sunday while in Norway. No one was seriously injured, but it prompted the evacuation of the vessel. Check out the original post for photos and more detail. The ship was…

New Construction Photos of Disney Dream

I came across some photos of the Disney Dream being build and thought I would pass them along. Take note of the detail that goes into the vessels bow and stern. Reminds me of the old sailing days where the…

MS Deutschland Update (incl. Cancellations)

Tuesday Update As I reported yesterday, the MS Deutschland was towed from Eidfjorden to Bergen Norway for inspection of the damage. The analysis warrants the cancellation of her cruise that was supposed to leave today and sail Hamburg-Hamburg for a…

BREAKING: Overboard on Oasis of the Seas

Confirmed: Crewmember missing from Oasis. A 45 year old member from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was first discovered to be missing and then confirmed to have gone overboard (probably through the ships surveillance cameras). The ship will now sail…