Starting February 27, MSC Cruises will increase the prices of its onboard beverage packages and, at the same time, expand the offer of the included drinks. Additionally, the automatic service charge for drink orders without a package will increase from 15 to 18 percent on ships using the USD currency.
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Abdulatif Zagoub, a crew member of Silversea Cruises. The 32-year-old Tunisian national passed away in a hospital in Chile after he was disembarked from the cruise ship Silver Wind due to a medical emergency. After admission to the intensive care unit on February 25th, the clinic informed the company and his family of his passing.
On Wednesday, the cruise liner Amadea operated by Phoenix Reisen, arrived at the port of Shizuoka, marking the first arrival of a foreign cruise ship in Japan in the past three years due to the government's suspension of cruises. The Amadea, operated by German company Phoenix Reisen, carried approximately 500 passengers and 300 crew members and was the first of 212 vessels scheduled to arrive in Japan in 2023, with some ships expected to make multiple port calls.
Since 2022, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has incorporated methanol as a future marine fuel in its strategy and is now planning to introduce two cruise ships that can run on methanol for the first time. The last two ships in NCL's Prima class will be equipped with technology that can easily be converted to run on methanol without significant effort.
A cruise ship crew member has been fired for allegedly filming a woman from a restroom cubicle. The incident occurred on the MSC Meraviglia, where a passenger named Saja reported that a man had locked himself in a public toilet stall and appeared to be recording her with a camera. Saja shared a video of the incident on TikTok. In the video, several women can be seen confronting the man wearing an MSC employee uniform.
Cunard has launched Sea Views Exhibition to commemorate its century-long history and proud British maritime heritage.
On February 28th, the port of Nassau set a new record for the highest number of daily arrivals, with a total of 28,554 passengers and 10,302 crew members. This was made possible by the presence of two of the largest cruise ships in the world - the Wonder of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International, as well as four other large cruise ships, such as Carnival Cruise Line's Mardi Gras and MSC Cruises' MSC Meraviglia.
Cruise Saudi, a government agency tasked with growing the local cruise industry in Saudi Arabia, has recently acquired the World Dream cruise ship from Genting Hong Kong. This $330 million acquisition represents a significant step towards expanding the country's cruise industry, as Saudi Arabia opened its ports to cruise ships for the first time in 2021 and plans to become a major cruise destination by 2035.
Life at Sea Cruises, a new cruise brand under the Turkish company Miray Cruises, is set to embark on an unprecedented three-year global tour starting in November 2023 with its MV Gemini cruise ship. Despite the unlikelihood of guests staying on board for the entire voyage, this world tour is expected to break all records as the ship will visit 375 cruise destinations across 135 countries on all seven continents, covering a total distance of 130,000 miles.
The Italian company Navim Group, a leader in construction and supply of marine equipment, has released a graphical representation of what could be TUI Cruises' newest mega cruise ship Mein Schiff 8, set for delivery in 2024. While TUI Cruises has not yet released any information or renderings of the ship, we know that the vessel is under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, where Navim Group is installing equipment on the vessel.
