Adora Cruises’ Second Ship To Get Upsized

According to a report from China Daily, the new vessel will be 17.4 meters longer than the 2023-built sister ship.

Currently under construction at China State Shipbuilding Company’s Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Yard in Shanghai, the cruise ship is scheduled to enter service in 2025.

At 141,000 gross tons, the newbuild will be roughly five percent larger than the 135,500-ton Adora Magic City, the report added.

Citing shipyard sources, China Daily also said that the new vessel will feature an optimized interior layout, in addition to enhanced facilities.

“China State Shipbuilding Company will continuously make efforts to enhance the second cruise ship’s design, craftsmanship, construction and facilities to achieve higher quality, greater efficiency and lower cost,” the report concluded.

With its construction started in August 2022, the second China-made cruise ship currently has 75 percent of its design workload finished, while 58 percent of the production design was completed.

Both the 2025 newbuild and the Adora Magic City feature a basic project based on Carnival Corporation’s Vista class.

Built to serve the Chinese domestic market, the vessels offer a series of customized features, including an expanded shopping area and a series of alterantive restaurants.

After five years in the making, the Adora Magic City kicked off a series of short cruises to the Far East departing from Shanghai in January.

Also built at the Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Yard, the 4,200-guest ship became the first large cruise ship ever constructed in China.

In addition to the two newbuilds, Adora Cruises also operates the former Costa Mediterranea. Now named Mediterranea, the 2003-built ship is offering a series of short cruises departing from Tianjin.

Red Sea Changes: Carnival Corp. Rerouting 12 Cruise Ships

Carnival Corporation said on Tuesday it had made the decision to reroute itineraries for 12 ships across seven brands, which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea through May 2024.

The Red Sea rerouting is expected to have an adjusted earnings per share impact of $0.07 to $0.08 for full year 2024, the company announced, with the vast majority of the impact in the second quarter.

Carnival said it has not seen an impact on booking trends due to the Red Sea situation and has no other Red Sea transits until November 2024.

Piraeus Welcomes First Ship of the Year, Costa Deliziosa

The Port of Piraeus has welcomed its first cruise ship call of the new year with the arrival of the Costa Deliziosa on Tuesday, January 2, according to a press release.

To mark the occasion, the Management of Piraeus Port Authority hosted a special ceremony with the exchange of plaques and Christmas treats for all passengers.

The Costa Deliziosa arrived from Izmir, Turkey during its 14-night Mediterranean voyage sailing roundtrip from Trieste, Italy.

The ship then continued its trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia and will also call in Bari, Italy, before returning to Trieste on Saturday, January 6.

The port also reported historical records for cruise passengers in 2023, with approximately 1.5 million passengers, compared to 880,000 in 2022. Additionally, the total number of cruise ships that visited the port was 760.

The port expects record arrivals in 2024.