After a two-year absence, the province of British Columbia, Canada, was set to welcome its first cruise ship in more than two years. Holland America Line's Koningsdam arrived in Victoria on Saturday, April 9 and then sailed to Vancouver on Sunday, April 10.
The godmother of the second LNG cruise ship from AIDA Cruises, eleven-time world champion in track cycling, Kristina Vogel baptized AIDAcosma on April 9, 2022 in Hamburg, Germany. Accompanied by Captain Vincent Cofalka, Kristina Vogel lit up a colorful globe on the Ocean Deck of AIDAcosma. At the same time, the baptismal bottle smashed against the hull of the ship.
P&O Cruises has announced cancelation of sailings on the Arcadia through July 5. The difficult decision comes as a result of lower crew numbers across the fleet and plans to transfer Arcadia’s crew to other ships in order to ease the pressure and workload.
Celebrity Cruises has officially taken ownership of Celebrity Beyond, the third in the Edge-class which will be 20 meters longer than the first two with new and re-designed spaces. Celebrity Beyond has been constructed at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard and Captain Kate McCue, America’s first female cruise ship captain, will take the helm of the vessel.
After five months of extensive refurbishment at the Croatian shipyard Viktor Lenac in Rijeka, the cruise ship Ambience, operated by the start-up British company Ambassador Cruise Line, is finally ready for its inaugural season. Ambience departed the shipyard last week and is expected to arrive at it’s homeport Tilbury ahead of its 4 Night Maiden Voyage To Hamburg scheduled for April 20.
Royal Caribbean International has held a keel-laying ceremony for the highly anticipated cruise ship, Icon of the Seas at Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku. The traditional ceremony marks the start of construction of the Icon of the Seas, and involved a 3,000-ton crane lifting the first massive steel block that is placed into the new ship's building dock placing a newly minted coin under the keel for good luck.
Oceania Cruises’ full fleet of 6 ships has now returned to operation, following the departure of the Nautica on April 1, 2022. The ship’s officers, staff and crew were thrilled to welcome back guests on board in Civitavecchia, Rome for a 10 Night Western Mediterranean cruise.
The return of the cruise industry faced many hurdles along the way to full recovery, which is expected to happen this year. The cruise lines and especially the crew has shown great resilience reinforcing their ongoing efforts to a full return to service. Last year was especially challenging for the crew facing many restrictions, quarantines, and requirements which affected the crew rotation and the length of contracts.
The moment that many loyal Mein Schiff guests and crew have been waiting for after two years of uncertainty and setbacks has finally arrived. Today TUI Cruises celebrated an important milestone as the company marked the return to service of the final ship in the fleet.
