Royal Caribbean International’s Wonder of the Seas has arrived in Barcelona, Spain, to kick off a summer full of European cruises.
The fifth ship in the cruise line’s Oasis Class line-up sets course for the Mediterranean on seven-night cruises from Barcelona and Rome beginning Sunday.
Calls include Florence, Naples and Capri, Italy; Provence, France; and Malaga, Spain.
The Wonder’s Western Mediterranean sailings will continue through October, rounding out a summer splash in Europe with eight action-packed ships, including Odyssey of the Seas – also marking its first season in Europe.
In November, the Wonder will return to the U.S. to sail from its new year-round home in Port Canaveral, Florida, to explore the Caribbean and The Bahamas, including the cruise line’s private island destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Oceania Cruises plans to completely revamp two of its ships, Riviera and Marina, and give them a full “stem-to-stern” overhaul.
The undertaking, which will be completed over the course of this year and next, is the next step in its ongoing OceaniaNEXT programme.
Once completed, Oceania said it would proudly deploy a fully refreshed fleet comprising brand new or “better-than-new” ships in every destination.
Oceania expects Riviera to re-enter service in December 2022 and Marina in November 2023. Each ship will accommodate 1,210 guests.
Every suite and stateroom will be renovated, while public spaces will feature a refreshed colour palette, new fabrics, furnishings and light fittings.
“At Oceania Cruises, we continue to raise the bar and elevate the guest experience at every opportunity,” said president and chief executive Howard Sherman.
He added the work would extend to new culinary concepts and “immersive new destination experiences”.
Riviera will debut on 7 December sailing a 16-day Mediterranean, Atlantic and Caribbean cruise from Rome to Miami.
It will then resume sailing seven- to 14-day trips from Miami to the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America before returning to Europe in late March 2023. An inaugural Far East season will follow in late 2023 and early 2024.
Marina, meanwhile, will return to service on 13 November 2023 sailing a seven-day cruise from Barcelona to Lisbon. From Lisbon, Marina will sail to Miami to sail its annual South America season, starting 3 December 2023. Details of Oceania’s 2024 itineraries will follow in the coming weeks.
Oceania’s other ships – Insignia, Regatta, Sirena and latterly Nautica – have all been refreshed, with Nautica returning to service on 1 April.
The Costa Firenze has made its debut in Genoa, marking the restart of Costa’s cruises from the city.
Guests will be able to disembark freely as the company will no longer require bubble-style excursions.
Costa said it will call at Genoa every Thursday through November as part of a one-week Western Mediterranean itinerary, which also includes Marseille, Barcelona, Cagliari, Palermo and Civitavecchia/Rome.
In addition to the Costa Firenze, starting in November and through the end of the year, the Costa Luminosa will also be in Genoa every Sunday, again for one-week cruises in the Western Mediterranean.
In 2022 Costa will be in Genoa for a total of 45 calls, after only a few calls in 2021 and 2020.
Numbers will continue growing in 2023 too with weekly calls on Fridays from the new Costa Toscana.
“After a two-year pause, we are finally returning regularly with our cruises to Genoa. We are doing so with a new-generation ship, Costa Firenze, and an even richer product that will allow exploring our destinations in the best possible way,” said Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises.
“Costa Firenze, as well as the other ships in the fleet, offer the opportunity to generate shared value in the territories and contribute to creating models of future development that are sustainable and able to multiply growth opportunities for the territory. I am thinking, for example, of projects such as cold ironing, i.e., the use of land-based energy for ships calling at ports,” he said.
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