Virgin’s Scarlet Lady Returns to Europe

Posted on 2 June, 2025 by Spacejunkie2

Virgin’s Scarlet Lady Returns to Europe

The Scarlet Lady recently returned to the Western Mediterranean as part of Virgin Voyages’ summer deployment in Europe.

After crossing the Atlantic earlier this month, the 2020-built vessel arrived in Barcelona for the season on May 18, 2025.

For its first voyage in Europe this year, the ship embarked on a seven-night itinerary to Spain and France.

Sailing round-trip from Barcelona, the cruise included visits to Cannes, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca and Ajaccio.

Over the next two months, the Scarlet Lady offers a series of seven- to 11-night itineraries in the Western Mediterranean, including Virgin’s “Spanish and Italian Hot Spots” voyage.

The seven-night cruise departs from Civitavecchia, a port near Italy’s capital city of Rome, and sails to five destinations in three countries.

Before arriving in Barcelona, the open-jaw itinerary is set to visit Naples, Palermo, Ajaccio and Marina di Carrara.

The Scarlet Lady is then set to reposition to Northern Europe in late July for cruises departing from Portsmouth, England, and Reykjavik, Iceland.

Itineraries include visits to the British Isles, Scandinavia, Western Europe and the North Sea destinations.

Before repositioning back to North America for the winter, the Scarlet Lady returns to the Mediterranean in late September for a short fall season.

Concluding its European deployment, the 2,770-guest ship then kicks off a trans-Atlantic crossing to PortMiami in mid-October.

As part of its 2025-26 winter deployment, the Scarlet Lady offers four- and five-night cruises to the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Most of the sailings also feature a visit to Virgin’s exclusive beach club in Bimini.

In addition to the Scarlet Lady, a second Virgin Voyages ship, the Resilient Lady, is also offering cruises in Europe this year.

Sailing from Piraeus, Greece, the vessel offers itineraries to the Eastern Mediterranean that highlight the Greek Isles and the Adriatic.

Costa Sales ‘Robust’ as Easter Cruises Kick Off European Season

Posted on 8 April, 2023 by Spacejunkie2

Costa Cruises is highlighting a series of Easter cruises including sailings in the Western Mediterranean, South America and a two-week cruise bound for the Canary Islands, according to a press release.

“Sales in the last three months have been robust. Ship occupancy is growing steadily, and summer programs are selling quickly with a high demand for cabins. This is a very encouraging outlook, considering that our capacity in the Mediterranean has increased compared to 2019, while keeping our capacity in Northern Europe constant, thanks to the entry of new, state-of-the-art ships into the fleet in the last three years, such as Costa Toscana and Costa Smeralda,” said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises.

The Easter cruises mark the beginning of the spring-summer 2023 season. The Costa Toscana will be returning to the Mediterranean after a winter in the Arabian Gulf and will be offering one-week cruises to Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona, Cagliari, Naples and Civitavecchia/Rome.

The Costa Smeralda will offer a one-week itinerary to Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca (Ibiza in summer), Palermo, and Civitavecchia/Rome. Joining them in the Mediterranean is the Costa Diadema, which underwent major renovation work over the winter and restarted on Friday.

The Costa Diadema will introduce new experiences onboard such as the Archipelago restaurant, where guests can enjoy menus crafted by chefs Bruno Barbieri, Hélène Darroze and Ángel León; the Sushino at Costa, a sushi bistro by the sea; and the Fiorentina Steak House, featuring Italian and international meats. The Costa Diadema will offer two-week cruises to the Canary Islands and a one-week itinerary starting May 7, with calls in Savona, Civitavecchia/Rome, Cagliari or Ajaccio (depending on departures), Palma de Mallorca, Valencia and Marseille.

Starting on April 13, the Fortuna will also offer sailings in the western Mediterranean including a three-day mini-cruise and 14-day itineraries to Turkey and the Canary Islands. In the summer, the Costa Fortuna will offer a new two-week itinerary exploring the Greek and Balearic islands with calls in Savona, Civitavecchia/Rome, Messina, Crete, Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, Kefalonia, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Marseille.

The Costa Deliziosa will sail to Marghera/Venice, Katakolon/Olympia (Greece), Mykonos (Greece) Santorini (Greece) and Bari while the Costa Pacifica will visit Catania, Malta, Mykonos and Santorini.

The Costa Fascinosa will sail 12-day itineraries to the North Cape, or nine-day cruises to the Baltic. The Costa Favolosa will explore Iceland, the Lofoten Islands and Greenland while the Costa Firenze will offer one-week cruises in the Norwegian fjords.

Norwegian Escape Resumes Service After Drydock

Posted on 12 October, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Bliss arriving in Southampton photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

The Norwegian Escape is resuming service today in Civitavecchia, Italy. After spending most of September at a drydock in France, the vessel is welcoming guests for the final part of its 2022 season in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The program, which started in May, includes nine- to 11-night cruises to popular destinations in Greece, Malta, Italy and France.

The Oct. 12 departure, for instance, sails to Livorno, Naples, Messina, Valletta, Corfu, Piraeus and Santorini before returning to Civitavecchia.

Following an incident that took place earlier this year, the drydock period was confirmed by Norwegian Cruise Line in June.

At the time, the cruise line said that the ship required a shipyard visit but did not reveal the nature of the work being carried out onboard.

Previously, in March, the Norwegian Escape ran aground in the Dominican Republic during a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.

After being refloated, the 163,000-ton ship was said to have suffered minor damage and spent a month undergoing repairs before resuming regular operations in mid-April.

The Norwegian Escape is set to return to North America following its European cruise program.

In November, the ship offers a trans-Atlantic crossing to New York City before kicking off a season in the Caribbean.

Highlighted by a visit to the Azores Archipelago, the 16-night voyage includes calls in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the United States.

Continuing its winter program, the 4,200-guest vessel launches a series of week-long Eastern Caribbean cruises on November 19.

Departing from Port Canaveral, the regular itineraries sail to the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Before returning to its Florida homeport, the vessel also visits the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.

Part of the Breakaway-Plus Class, the Norwegian Escape originally entered service in 2015. After nearly two years out of service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the vessel resumed revenue operations in late 2021.