The new Interim orders announced by the Canadian Minister of Transport, the Honorable Omar Alghabra, banning cruise ships in Canadian waters until February 28, 2022 has put Alaska cruise season on ice. The big reason why the latest Canadian ban on cruise ship impacts Alaska season is that there is no getting to Alaska without stops being made in Canada. The Jones Act requires foreign-flagged cruise ships to stop at a foreign port between U.S.

MSC Cruises plans to restart Greece cruise program in April 2021, just in time for the upcoming Easter holiday. The company said in a press release that it is working closely with the relevant authorities including the Greek Ministry of Tourism for the reopening of local tourist services in time to serve cruise passengers.

The fate of the crew on board Ponant cruise ship Le Laperouse, who are from several different countries, remains highly uncertain after New Zealand immigration authorities have denied them entry visas. Le Laperouse was scheduled to start the first of seven planned cruises from Auckland on February 8th, after receiving permission from New Zealand Ministry of Health to operate within NZ waters, for Kiwis only.

The former Princess Cruises ship, Sea Princess received a new hull art and has been officially renamed to “Charming”. The 77,499 gross tonnage vessel has completed the dry dock refurbishment on January 28, 2021 in China Merchants Industry Holding Co shipyard at Mazhou Island.

Today, February 1 2021, MSC Cruises has taken delivery of the fleet's 18th ship, MSC Virtuosa. In a private ceremony held at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint Nazaire, France, the new ship received its official flag and was baptized. The ceremony was attended by MSC Cruises executive president, Pierfrancesco Vago, Captain Massa, as well as representatives of the MSC new construction team, along with representatives from the shipyard.

In the past year, all of us have lost a loved one, a dear friend, a family member, or a colleague. The crew community was hit hard by the pandemic no only during the lockdown of the cruise industry keeping thousands of crew members stranded on the ships, but also once they all returned back home.  Every day we hear that some of our fellow shipmates has passed away.

Royal Caribbean Group sold two more cruise ships sailing under the Silversea Cruises and Celebrity Cruises brands reports Tradewinds.com. These are small expedition cruise ships sailing exclusively to the Galapagos Islands that were put on sale last January. According to the source, the two ships, Silver Galapagos (built in 1990) and Celebrity Xperience (built in 1998) have found a buyer.

Norwegian Cruise Line will return all crew members that joined recently and isn't part of the skeleton crew back home. The difficult decision was announced in a meeting yesterday and the crew on board received a letter with all the details regarding the latest repatriation process. 

Azamara has announced today that they have bought another R-class ship and the cruise line now has a fleet of 4 vessels. Azamara’s new owner Sycamore Partners has confirmed the cruise line has bought the cruise ship Pacific Princess, just days after Princess Cruises confirmed the sale. The latest addition to the fleet will undergo full renovation, and the ship, which will be renamed, will sail its inaugural season in Europe in 2022.

Carnival Cruise Line announced plans for additional ship deployments as the company continues to refine its phased in approach to a return to guest cruise operations this year, resulting in some ship-specific cruise cancellations and movements.  

Carnival latest plans include: