Norwegian Epic Passanger was mugged yesterday in the port of Palermo, Italy. After the ship docked in Palermo the woman disembarked for sightseeing the city on her own. On the way back to the ship, near the cruise terminal two young men on a scooter approached the tourist and snatched the golden necklace. The incident happened in Via Emeric Amari a few steps from the entrance of the port.

The woman asked for help and reported the robbery to the police. Palermo police hopes to reveal the identity of the thefts by the CCTV cameras located in the port area.

The maiden voyage for the new social-impact cruise line Fathom has been canceled by the U.S. Coast Guard. The cruise ship Adonia, didn’t pass the U.S. Coast Guard safety inspection on Sunday after the authorities find out that 30 fire screen doors were not functioning properly.

MV Adonia was scheduled to set sail on April 10 from Miami on a 7-night voyage to the Dominican Republic, after a major dry dock renovation. Fathom says the April 10 cruise is completely canceled and, plans to make the maiden voyage on April 17.

Fathom passengers received the following letter:

Court trial is underway in Germany after a crew member started a fire onboard AIDACara cruise ship operated by the German company AIDA Cruises. The incident happened last September 2015, when the 35-year-old stage technician Anton G setup on fire a laundry bag in the ship’s crew corridor. According to Bild, the fire spread in small section of the ship and five crewmembers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

The Cuban Democracy Movement has called a protest in front of Carnival Corporation Headquarters in Miami, regarding the latest discriminatory policy imposed against Cubans living in the United States. Current Cuban laws prohibit individuals born in Cuba from entering the island on ship or other maritime vessels, regardless of their US citizenship. For that reason, at this time Carnival Operated cruise ship, Fathom can not accommodate individuals born in Cuba.

Italian coast guard medevac two children from the cruise ship Costa Deliziosa yesterday. The children feel ill during the cruise and the ships captain notified the Italian authorities. The nearest Coast Guard on duty at the District Otranto answered to distress call and despite the bad sea conditions, they managed to recover and carry on to the mainland the two passengers. Costa Deliziosa was sailing towards Croatia in the waters of the Adriatic Sea at a distance of about 25 miles from the port of Otranto when they call for emegency to the operations center in the port of Salento. 

It seems unlikely that the EU Commission will act against the US and Canada, given the fact that the current visa dispute has been ongoing. But if the EU Commission will vote next week to implement Visas, it is far from certain that the European Parliament would support the move.

The EU Commission will consider imposing visa requirements on tourists from the United States and Canada because not all EU citizens enjoy visa-free travel to North America. EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said the proposal would be on the commission's agenda for next week on 12 April 2016 .

From March 2 and April 11, 2016, the Brazil Navy and, the US Navy and law enforcement agencies will carry out special operations training in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The activities are part of an exercise aimed for improving techniques at sea in counterterrorism. The name of the exercise is JCET, Joint Combined Exchange Training.  JCET represents an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences between special operations units in Brazil and the United States.

Tasmania Fire Service was called next to Dawn Princess as a precaution measure due to a small fire on board the cruise ship this morning around 9am. 

Pullmantur Cruises crew was awarded 'Excellence Award for Best Crew' for seventh consecutive year by Cruises News Media Group.

The Excellence Awards ceremony, held last night in Cartagena, Spain, gathers around 200 local authorities, representatives of cruise lines, travel agents, etc.

The Local News Media El Policiaco reported on a fatal accident in Cozumel, Mexico, involving two Carnival Liberty cruise ship passengers.  The couple rented a bike type Honda for sightseeing on April 2, while the cruise ship was docked in the port. One of the road curves proved to be fatal for the them, after they lost control of the bike skidding off the road.

Sadly the woman died at the scene of the accident and her partner died few hours later in the hospital.