Cruises Cancelled as Carnival Pride Heads to Drydock in 2026

Posted on 22 May, 2024 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Pride arriving into Liverpool, photo credit Spacejunkie2 Flickr

Carnival Cruise Line has cancelled three cruises onboard the Carnival Pride to accommodate a drydock in early 2026.

According to a statement sent to booked guests, the impacted sailings were set to depart from Baltimore between March 29 and April 12, 2026.

“In our continuous effort to enhance our product, Carnival Pride has now been scheduled for drydock and we’re sorry to inform you that your cruise has been cancelled,” Carnival Cruise Line said.

The cancelled cruises were set to sail to different ports of call in the Bahamas. Sailing for seven nights, the itineraries featured visits to Half Moon Cay, Nassau, Celebration Key and Princess Cays.

Carnival is offering passengers a series of alternatives, including the option to rebook another voyage.

Guests who choose to transfer their reservations will have their cruise rate protected when sailing on a comparable sailing in similar accommodations, the company said.

Carnival is also offering a $50 per person onboard credit (limited to $100 per stateroom) for passengers who choose to rebook their cruises.

For passengers who do not wish to reschedule, the company is offering a full refund of the paid cruise fare and any pre-purchased items.

According to Carnival, the amounts will be automatically returned to the guests’ original form of payment after May 28, 2024.

Following a winter program in Tampa, the Carnival Pride recently repositioned to the East Coast. Currently sailing from Norfolk, the 2001-built cruise ship offers seven- to 14-night cruises to the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Greenland.

Norwegian Set to Boost Caribbean Cruise Capacity

Posted on 22 May, 2024 by Spacejunkie2

“We pair our ships with destinations, sending some of our smaller ships to exotic destinations and some of our larger amenity-filled ships to our fun and sun destinations,” said Harry Sommer, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, speaking on Monday at an investor event held in New York.

As a result, “Fun and Sun” (Caribbean, Bermuda and Hawaii) capacity will make up 54 per cent of the deployment for the Norwegian Cruise Line brand in 2026, up from 42 per cent this year.

“It gives our guests the opportunity, on the NCL brand, to return over and over and over again, maximizing their lifetime value and driving high fields.”

Sommer said he believed Norwegian’s ships with increased amenities were perfectly suited for millennial and Generation Z guests.

The company will send its biggest ships to its core destinations in the “Fun and Sun” regions.

As a result, by 2026, the company’s average cruise length will be down to eight days from nine in 2023 with more short and week-long Caribbean sailings as a growing part of the deployment mix.

Capacity days are expected to be in the 12 million range in these “Fun and Sun” destinations by 2026, up from 8 million in 2023, according to a company presentation.

In addition, the mix of the company’s top 10 embarkation points (homeports) will be greater, representing 80 per cent of 2026 capacity, compared to 65 per cent in 2023.

“Our increased Caribbean deployment has given us the ability to invest in our private island in Great Stirrup Cay,” Sommer said, noting the coming two-ship pier for the island set to open in 2025.

Other investments will follow in Great Stirrup Cay, including a VIP area, and the company expects to host approximately 700,000 guests on the island by 2026, up from 400,000 in 2023.

Regal Princess Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Posted on 20 May, 2024 by Spacejunkie2

Regal Princess arrives in the World Famous Port City of Liverpool on the 29th June 2023 and Spacejunkie2 took some great photos of the arrival.

Regal Princess in the Famous city of Liverpool, Photo credit Spacejunkie2 Flickr -29/062023

The Regal Princess is completing its 10th year of service this month. Built for Princess Cruises at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, the vessel officially debuted on May 20, 2014.

A sister to the 2013-built Royal Princess, the ship is the second in a series of six Royal-class ships for Princess Cruises.

For its maiden voyage, the Regal Princess offered a seven-night cruise to Italy, Turkey and Greece. Built at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard, the vessel departed from Venice on an open-jaw cruise to Athens.

Sailing through the Eastern Mediterranean, the itinerary featured visits to Corfu and Mykonos, in addition to a two-day stop in Istanbul.

Throughout the summer of 2014, the Regal Princess offered Princess Cruises’ signature Grand Mediterranean cruises, with different seven- to 12-night itinerary choices.

In October 2014, the 3,600-guest ship crossed the Atlantic for the first time ahead of a winter season in the Caribbean.

Sailing from Port Everglades on Sundays, the Regal offered week-long cruises to St. Thomas, St. Maarten and the Bahamas during its inaugural program in the region.

The Princess ship is spending another summer in Europe in 2024.

Sailing from Southampton, the vessel is offering a series of 12-night cruises to the British Isles that feature visits to Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England. Some itineraries also include stops in Wales, France and the Shetland Isles.

In early October the Regal Princess is scheduled to return to North America for a winter season in the Caribbean.

Now sailing from Galveston, the ship will offer six- to 11-night cruises to the Western Caribbean, featuring calls to ports in Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Belize and Grand Cayman.