Disney Cruise Line to return to  New York and Galveston in 2016

Disney Dream enters New York.

Disney Cruise Line is to return to the US ports of New York and Galveston, and offer new seven-night cruises from PortMiami to the Caribbean in 2016.

Departing from New York on 2 October, Disney Magic will sail a five-night cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick in Canada. The ship will then return to New York to offer an eight-night Bahamas cruise on 7 October, which will include calls at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay; Nassau, Bahamas; and Port Canaveral, Florida.

On 15, 22 and 29 October, Disney Magic will offer seven-night voyages from New York to Castaway Cay and Port Canaveral. Each guest will receive a one-day Walt Disney World Park Hopper ticket and roundtrip transportation between the ship and Walt Disney World Resort when the ship calls at Port Canaveral.

Disney Magic will then offer the line’s first season of seven-night cruises from Miami to the Caribbean in November and December.

On 20 November and 4 December, the ship will sail from Miami to destinations in the Western Caribbean including Key West in Florida, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Castaway Cay. Meanwhile, on 27 November and 11 December, she will offer sailings to Tortola, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay in the Eastern Caribbean. On 23 December, Disney Magic will sail to Tortola, San Juan in Puerto Rico and Castaway Cay.

Additional Miami sailings include a four-night Bahamas cruise departing on 16 November, a five-night Bahamas cruise departing on 18 December and a six-night Western Caribbean cruise departing on 30 December. Each sailing will include call at Castaway Cay.

Meanwhile, Disney Wonder will return to Galveston in Texas to offer a series of seven-night itineraries to destinations in the Bahamas, Mexico and the Caribbean. These include Key West, Castaway Cay, Nassau, Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Costa Maya. The ship will also offer two four-night roundtrips from Galveston to Cozumel on 10 and 14 November.

Carnival Live makes debut with sellout Styx concerts

By Tom Stieghorst

Carnival Cruise Lines said the first in a series of big-name concerts attracted a sellout audience.

Show lounges on Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Fascination were filled for the 1980s rock band Styx, which performed while the ships were docked in Nassau.

Carnival live video

Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill told a group of travel agents Monday that the audience was a lot of “40s and 50s” who brought their children to the shows.

“We wanted to put energy in the product, and we’re trying to give you something to sell,” Cahill told the group, which was part of the company’s ongoing Carnival Conversations initiative.

Carnival has 49 Carnival Live performance dates scheduled, with 15 artists ranging from Jennifer Hudson to Olivia Newton-John. Tickets are priced between $20 and $40, with a limited number of VIP seats going for $100 to $150.

The shows occur in port at Nassau, Cozumel and Catalina Island, Calif.

Lifeboat malfunctions plague Royal Caribbean


Royal Caribbean vessels drop two lifeboats within as many weeks

A pair of Royal Caribbean cruise ships have been forced to set sail one lifeboat lighter than usual after both vessels were struck by strange malfunctions that caused them to drop unexpectedly into the water.

Legend of the Seas was anchored near Cabo San Lucas when one of the pulleys malfunctioned on November 25th, causing the lifeboat to fall into the sea. It was later recovered and reattached.

More recently, a similar issue plagued Allure of the Seas when it lost a lifeboat near Nassau due to a broken wire.

Cynthia Martinez, spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean, reassured Cruise Critic that “we had enough safety crafts for everyone onboard the ship. …Our ships carry extra lifesaving vessels at all times”.

She added that, despite the fact the occurrences happened within a two week span, it is not considered to be anything more than an unusual coincidence