Costa Cruises has signed an exclusive partnership and has become the Official Cruise Line of the Ryder Cup 2023, the most important team golf turnement, which will take place for the first time at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy from 29 September to 1 October 2023.
The current voyage on Norwegian Gem was cancelled mid-cruise and the ship will return to New York ahead of the schedule due to COVID-related circumstances. Guests sailing on the current 10-day voyage received a letter that their Norwegian Gem voyage was cancelled.
Norwegian Cruise Line is pulling out the cast members from the Norwegian Pearl, and it seems that Creative Studios shows onboard will be temporarily pausing performances for the next three months. In a letter sent out by the Senior Director of Entertainment Production for NCLH Robert Dean Hertenstein, cast/ band members were informed about the canceled shows which are expected to return on April 15. The cast members are expected to disembark the Norwegian Pearl today in PortMiami.
Brazilan cruise season could be canceled for the five cruise ships currently anchored off the coast of Santos, after the Health Regulatory Agency – Anvisa, recommended suspension of the 2021/2022 season due to the rapid rise of COVID cases aboard the ships and in the country. Several media outlets in Brazil report that Anvisa sent a document to the Ministry of Health which will have the final word about the faith of the season.
Norwegian Cruise Line next Prima-class ship set to be delivered by Fincantieri shipyards in 2023 will be named Norwegian Viva. The vessel is the second of six NCL’s Prima-class ships that will eventually join the cruise line by 2027.
The Italian company Somec specializing in engineering and construction of complex turnkey projects in naval and civil engineering has announced a new order for the complete restyling of the boutique cruise ship Azamara Onward for a total value of over 14 million euros. Somec, through the subsidiary TSI, will be in charge of the extensive renovation converting of the cruise ship and making it more consistent with the high-quality standards of the brand.
The cruise ship Norwegian Pearl has become the latest vessel to be hit by a COVID-19 outbreak amid the current global surge in cases by the highly contagious Omicron variant. Norwegian Pearl is heading back to Miami after the captain’s announcement that the current cruise is canceled due to “several COVID-19 positive cases” detected among the crew. The ship is expected to arrive in Miami on January 6, to disembark all passengers onboard.
The year is coming to an infamous end, with the even more contagious Omicron variant that recently contributed to increased numbers worldwide. Not a good sign for the cruise industry, that had been hit hard for these past two years and now another year coming with so many positive cases and chaos to start with.
The cruise industry is once again facing challenges caused by the global pandemic, with the main focus on cruise ships sailing in the USA. The CDC's latest report states that positive cases were found on 89 cruise ships sailing out from the US ports. However cruise ships deployed in other regions around the world are also reporting positive cases onboard.
The dream cruise ended unexpectedly with bitterness for the travelers on board the luxury cruise ship MS Europa 2, after a corona outbreak. Instead of spending New Year’s Eve in Mauritius, they will hopefully reach home and celebrate it there.
