Tag Archives: Mediterranean Cruise

Cruise Ship Affected By Strong Winds In Mediterranean

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neoRomanticaPhoto By: LiveBoat.it

Thanks to CruiseHive.com

A Costa Cruise ship sailing in the Mediterranean has been affected by bad weather conditions including strong winds.

Apparently according to local Italian media the neoRomatica which is operated by Costa Cruises had a scary ordeal during a Mediterranean cruise. The ship sailed into a storm on Thursday night March 5th near the vessels last port of call at Trapani, Sicily. The storm was producing wind gusts of around 60 mph which also caused strong waves to hit the 57,000 gross ton cruise ship.

The neoRomantica was forced to let go one of its anchors so the strong conditions wouldn’t knock it out of action. The anchor was apparently hitting the ship’s bow very strong which has done some damage as seen in the featured image. An Italian forum has messages from passengers who were onboard the ship at the time:

” Moments of panic !!! staff on board certainly very prepared to deal with the situation! We were forced to stay almost a full day in the hallway without eating almost had it not been for some apple and a few bottles of water !!! ”

“My boss is on board, I confirm cabins flooded (including that of my head, not accessible to virtually all day yesterday, the water is coming down from the ceiling, wetting the bed and carpet, you name it) and the black out” .

Here is one video posted by a YouTube user who was a passenger onboard neoRomantic as the storm was just starting to get more intense:

Costa NeoRomantica Video

So it seems some Cabins had been flooded but this could have been from water pipes inside the ship. With the heavy rocking and banging of the waves against the ships hull it’s possible that pipes could burst. As a result of the damage the ship diverted to Savona, Italy instead of sailing back to its home port of  Marseille, France. Passengers were taken back to Marseille by bus.

Cruise Hive has requested further details from Costa Cruises and will update this report once we get a response.

Carnival Vista to sail from Miami

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The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners approved a new lease for Carnival Corp. at Port Miami that stipulates the Carnival Vista will use the port after it is delivered next year.

The deal calls for Carnival Vista to sail from Port Miami for 24 months out of its first three years in service. Carnival had not previously disclosed where Vista would sail from after its inaugural series of cruises next summer in the Mediterranean.

Carnival’s newest ship, Carnival Breeze, currently sails from Miami. Its next most recent ship, Carnival Magic, debuted in Galveston, Texas, after a European summer launch.

Carnival Cruise Line to return to Europe

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Carnival Cruise Line will make a return to Europe in 2016 when it launches new ship Carnival Vista.

The news comes after the line announced in May 2013 that it would have no ships sailing in Europe during 2014 and 2015, citing increasing airfares as the reason behind the decision.

New itineraries for summer 2016 on Carnival Vista include Athens, Barcelona, Dubrovnik, Izmir, Corfu, Livorno, Marseille, Messina (Sicily), Naples, Rome, Trieste and Valetta.

The ship will have its first European sailing on May 1 and will then have 18 sailings in Europe before moving on to New York in October. The ship’s official homeport has yet to be revealed.

The ship will have the first IMAX cinema at sea, as well as new dining options, more alfresco dining and the biggest Waterworks of any Carnival ship. The ship will also have a new Havana pool at the back of the ship, with Havana cabana staterooms available to book.

Mark Tamis (pictured), senior vice president of guest operations, said: “I really feel and we do [at Carnival] that this is the greatest ship to date and certainly the best ship to come from Carnival Cruise Line.

“This is about building on past success. This is built of the success of Carnival Breeze and what is rolling out across the whole Carnival fleet.

“We set out to make this our most innovative ship to date. This is about creating connects and a connection to the sea. This ship, like no other ship, brings that all together.“

When the line announced it was pulling away from Europe in last year, the company said it didn’t believe Americans, who make up the vast majority of its passengers, would pay increased airfares to cross the Atlantic.

In May last year, agents were praised for switch-selling customers to book a Caribbean cruise with Carnival rather than a European one.

During a VIP agent trip on Carnival Breeze last year, Lynn Torrent, executive vice-president os sales and guest services, said the line’s bosses were watching the moves being made by other international brands. She said Carnival was sitting back and seeing what other lines were doing in the UK market before making a decision.