Celebrity to add overnight port stays on long Caribbean cruises

Celebrity Cruises said it will add an overnight stay to the itinerary of Caribbean cruises of 10 days or longer, starting in January 2016. The decision affects 43 cruises, said Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales, trade support and services.

Ritzenthaler stressed that overnights are typically a feature of cruises outside the Caribbean, so Celebrity is breaking ground with the move.

“This gives us the ability to say we have more overnights in the Caribbean than any cruise line in the industry,” Ritzenthaler said. “While overnights have been a trend in the marketplace in Europe and in Asia, there really hasn’t been a movement and we believe we are a leader in this initiative.”

The destinations where overnights are planned include Aruba, Barbados, Cartagena, Cozumel, Curacao and St. Maarten. Ritzenthaler said they are among the highest-rated destinations in the Caribbean by guests.

“Consumer and trade research indicates this is something they desire,” Ritzenthaler said.

Of Celebrity’s 10 ships, five are scheduled to be in the Caribbean in the first quarter of 2016, but not all do itineraries of 10 days or longer.

Celebrity has been selling the 2016 Caribbean winter season since the fall of 2014 and cruises have been booking well, Ritzenthaler said. Now booked guests will get the bonus of an overnight stay. “This will be a really wonderful gift for these folks,” she said. “This will be something that will be a really nice opportunity for them. We think it will be a differentiator.”

MSC Divina will return to Miami in 2016

MSC Cruises said that MSC Divina will sail from Miami during the summer of 2016, giving it a year-round presence in the Caribbean again.

MSC had said that Divina would return from the Mediterranean this fall but hadn’t announced deployment beyond April 2016.

With the announcement, MSC published itineraries for Divina through March 2017. They will rotate between eastern and western Caribbean routes and call in St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico and the Bahamas.

As previously announced, MSC plans to deploy a new ship, the MSC Seaside, from Miami starting in November 2017. The MSC Seaside is expected to sail to the Caribbean year round.

Divina sailings from April 2016 through March 2017 will go on sale on Friday, May 1. In an introductory promotion,  MSC said it will offer consumers a shipboard credit, a beverage package and a WiFi package, depending on the category of stateroom booked.

The line will also offer 18% flat commission for group bookings, along with complimentary stateroom upgrades and shipboard credit for guests in the group.

No Freedom of the Seas cancellations, just free onboard credit

No Freedom of the Seas cancellation, just free onboard credit

Several days ago Royal Caribbean had to inform passengers on Freedom of the Seas that they were unable to call at the private island of CocoCay, and also reduce the amount of time spent in St. Maarten due to an issue with it propulsion system. The cruise company has not cancelled the cruise or any future one, although they did issue free onboard credit.

Royal Caribbean has said the issue is due to the ships center fixipod, which is the same that affected Allure of the Seas, and that one of the bearings is not in good condition. The company made the decision to remove the propeller blade from the center pod and cruise 5 knots slower than usual, which will have repercussions on future sailings and their itineraries.

With the ship only being able to travel at 18 knots she will not be able to make all ports of call, and the time spent in certain ports will need to be adjusted. If this is the case, then Royal Caribbean will have to issue more onboard credit for free.

Royal Caribbean Blog reports that Freedom of the Seas is due a dry dock session in January 2015, which will be the perfect time for repairs to be made to the propulsion system. Once again, there will be no cancellation, just readjustments due to the ship moving at a slower speed.