Cruise Ship News

Marlink, a leader in managed services for business-critical digital solutions, has been selected by TUI Cruises to deliver digital experiences for guests, crew and ship operations through a fully managed hybrid connectivity and digital services platform for Mein Schiff Flow, the latest addition to the cruise operator’s fleet. Scheduled for christening in Trieste, Italy, on 20 June 2026, Mein Schiff Flow will enter service with a fully integrated connectivity environment combining Starlink LEO services…

NYK, Yanmar Power Solutions and ENEOS have agreed to install a hydrogen fuel cell system on a new dining cruise vessel scheduled to enter service in 2027, as the companies seek to advance the use of hydrogen in the maritime sector.The vessel will replace Lady Crystal, which currently operates in the Tennoz Isle area of Tokyo as part of the NYK Group's passenger cruise business.Under the project, Yanmar Power Solutions will design the hydrogen fuel cell system, while hydrogen storage…

Royal Caribbean has celebrated the keel-laying of its seventh Oasis Class vessel at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The soon-to-be-named ship will join the revolutionary Oasis Class lineup in 2028. The vessel follows Oasis of the Seas (2009), Allure of the Seas (2010), Harmony of the Seas (2016), Symphony of the Seas (2018), Wonder of the Seas (2022), and Utopia of the Seas (2024).

In Basel today, June 11, 2026, NEPTUN WERFT officially delivered the river cruise ships Viking Annar and Viking Fjolvar to Viking. The technical handover of the vessels by the project management had already taken place yesterday, June 10, in Lelystad in the Netherlands.At 135 meters, the Viking Annar is a vessel of the Longship series. It accommodates 190 passengers and 53 crew members and operates on the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers. The first guests are scheduled to board in Amsterdam on June 22.The Viking Fjolvar is currently the last river cruise ship of the Seine series.

Royal Caribbean has officially welcomed Legend of the Seas. After nearly two years of construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland, the third Icon Class ship is now ready to make its July 2026 European debut.To mark the milestone, more than 1,200 crew members and partners came together for a legendary ceremony led by Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean President and CEO Michael Bayley, and Meyer Turku CEO Casimir Lindholm.The delivery is part of the company’s long-term framework agreement with Meyer Turku…

Fincantieri and Viking celebrated the delivery of “Viking Mira” at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona.The ceremony was attended by Jeff Dash, Viking’s Executive Vice President and Head of Business Development, Giorgio Gomiero, Senior Vice President Operations of Fincantieri and Gilberto Tobaldi, Director of the Ancona Shipyard.With a gross tonnage of approximately 54,300 tons, “Viking Mira” features 499 staterooms and can accommodate up to 998 passengers. The vessel, which will offer itineraries in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe…

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a setback on Thursday to four American cruise operators that contested $440 million in combined judgments after being accused of unlawfully using docks in Cuba that were seized in 1959 by former leader Fidel Castro's communist government.The justices, in an 8-1 ruling, set aside a lower court's decision to throw out the judgments against Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Cruises and MSC Cruises. The cruise operators were sued by a U.S.

The hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius was due to dock in Rotterdam on Monday morning for disinfection, with Dutch authorities preparing quarantine arrangements for the 25 crew members and two medical staff remaining on board.Local authorities said quarantine facilities had been set up for some of the non-Dutch crew, though it was not clear yet if they would stay there for the full recommended 42-day quarantine period.The Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship had been carrying around…

Tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula is a niche but booming industry powered by deep-pocketed adventure-seekers travelling thousands of miles to marvel at penguin colonies and take "polar plunges" in sight of icebergs.But growing numbers of visitors bring risks including disease, invasive species and pollution to the delicate ecosystems of Antarctica and the remote sub-Antarctic islands that teem with bird life, sea lions and whales.The outbreak of a deadly strain of the hantavirus…

The arrival this weekend of a cruise ship hit by an outbreak of hantavirus is reviving memories for residents of Spain's Canary Islands of the quarantines they experienced during the Covid pandemic.The MV Hondius, carrying 150 people, is expected to reach Tenerife on Saturday, where it will dock after Spain agreed to requests from the World Health Organization to receive it despite protests from the local government.The archipelago was one of the first places in Europe to undergo quarantines during the early days of the pandemic.

A luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak and marooned since Sunday off the coast of Cape Verde was set to leave for Spain on Wednesday after three people, two of them seriously ill, were evacuated.The MV Hondius, with nearly 150 people on board, is expected to dock in Spain's Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, within three days, Spain's health minister said, adding that those still on board were not presenting any symptoms of the disease.Once in Tenerife, if they are still healthy…

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it suspects some rare human to human transmission of the deadly hantavirus took place between very close contacts on board a luxury cruise ship hit by seven confirmed or suspected cases.Human to human transmission is not common, and the U.N. health agency reiterated that the risk to the wider public was low from a disease typically spread from contact with infected rodents.A Dutch couple and a German national have died, while a British national was evacuated from the ship and is in intensive care in South Africa…

Norwegian Cruise Line cut its annual profit forecast on Monday, as the cruise operator battles surging fuel costs linked to the war in the Middle East and tepid demand for its sea voyages, sending its shares down 7% in morning trading.Global oil prices surged above $100 a barrel after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. More than $50 billion worth of crude oil supply has been lost since the start of the war, according to Reuters calculations as of mid-April.Rivals Carnival and Royal Caribbean have also highlighted potential hits from rising fuel costs…

Medics were working on Monday to evacuate two people with symptoms of the deadly hantavirus after a suspected outbreak on a luxury cruise ship held off West Africa carrying mostly British, American and Spanish passengers, officials said.Around 150 people were still stuck on the vessel after three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - died, and others fell ill, including a Briton who left the vessel and was being treated in South Africa, authorities added.Hantavirus, which can cause fatal respiratory illness, can be spread when particles from rodent droppings or urine become airborne.

Orient Express Corinthian, the world's largest sailing yacht, has been named in Saint-Nazaire, France.The vessel is the result of a collaboration between Orient Express and Chantiers de l'Atlantique. She is the first cruise ship equipped with the SolidSail wind propulsion system, developed by Chantiers de l'Atlantique. Her three rigs, each spanning 1,500 m² and rising to over 320 feet, are fully automated and capable of delivering 100% wind-powered propulsion in favorable conditions. Rotating through 360 degrees, they maintain optimal trim on any point of sail, whatever the wind direction.

Three people have died and one case of hantavirus has been confirmed among passengers on a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean, the World Health Organization said on Sunday.Six individuals were affected in the incident, of whom three have died and one is in intensive care in South Africa, it said in a post on X.The WHO did not name the vessel or its operator, although a source familiar with the situation said it was the MV Hondius, travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde."WHO…

Royal Caribbean Group has confirmed an order with Meyer Turku for a sixth and seventh Icon Class ship to be delivered in 2029 and 2030, respectively.The order is part of the company's long-term framework agreement with Meyer Turku that secures the Group's access to shipbuilding capacity through 2036 and includes the previously announced Icon 5 order to be delivered in 2028.The collaboration between Royal Caribbean Group and Meyer Turku spans more than three decades, during which the shipyard has built 25 ships for the company.

TUI Cruises said on Sunday that its Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5 ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz.In a statement posted on its website, the company said it had obtained approvals from relevant authorities, under careful consideration of the security situation.It said the ships would now proceed swiftly to the Mediterranean Sea.The cruise operator said that all passengers had previously been brought home and both ships were operating with reduced crews.

Building on strong momentum and record performance, Holland America Line has announced Holland America Evolution, a multiyear investment to reimagine six ships.Representing the most ambitious guest experience update in the company's 153-year history, Evolution will deliver a comprehensive bow-to-stern revitalization while bringing the best of its Pinnacle Class ships to most of the fleet.Evolution will span the four Holland America Vista Class ships — Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Westerdam and Noordam — and the two Signature Class ships, Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam.

Virgin Voyages has started a new West Coast itinerary sailing from the Los Angeles Cruise Terminal, with its newest ship, Brilliant Lady, making the Port of Los Angeles its homeport this spring.“Virgin Voyages brings a fresh, contemporary cruise product to Los Angeles, and we’re proud to welcome them as a new homeport partner,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “With these well-crafted itineraries, passengers can make the most of their time exploring destinations…

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) preliminary report has been released that outlines the order of events leading up to the grounding of the cruise ship Coral Adventurer near a remote port on the north-east coast of Papua New Guinea in December.The ATSB launched a transport safety investigation after the 93-metre Australian-flagged ship grounded on the morning of 27 December 2025, with 80 passengers and 44 crew on board.The cruise, which had left Cairns 10 days earlier, had visited several sites in Papua New Guinea, with passages between them generally conducted overnight.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its report into the loss of propulsion in heavy weather experienced by Spirit of Discovery in the Bay of Biscay which led over 100 injuries and one fatality. Shortly after 1230 on 4 November 2023, the passenger vessel Spirit of Discovery lost propulsion in heavy weather while crossing the Bay of Biscay, France. Over 100 passengers were injured during this period. Eight of the seriously injured passengers were taken…

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to explore legal questions arising from the fraught history of U.S.-Cuban relations when it considers the scope of a 1996 law that lets U.S. nationals seek compensation for property confiscated by the communist-led Cuban government.The justices hear arguments on Monday in two cases centered on the federal law called the Helms-Burton Act, one involving U.S. oil major ExxonMobil and the other involving the cruise lines Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises.One of the law's provisions, called Title III, allows for lawsuits in U.S.