A Serbian crew member working as a violinist on MSC Poesia cruise ship, was stabbed in Recife, Brazil on Saturday. Vera Stefanovic, age 31, was assaulted by two men who tried to take her bag. The attack happened in Avenida Alfredo Lisboa, in the city center, when Vera Stefanovic and a fellow Brazilian crew member were surprised by two burglars.

She fell on the ground and one of the robbers was pulling her bag. That's when one of the robbers pulled the knife and hit her in the head.

The blow struck the head of the Serbian tourist caused a deep cut on the scalp. 

According to CruiseCompete.com's annual report, nine of the 10 most popular cruise ports in the world are in the Caribbean (or close enough to count).

The website's list, which is compiled from cruise quotes requested by potential customers, shows that Alaska is also a perennial favorite for cruisers. Several Inside Passage ports made the cut, with Juneau coming out as the most requested cruise stop in the 50 states.

American DIY fanatic Wayne Kusy, has built a fleet of model ships - using millions of toothpicks.

His latest project took him two and a half years to complete, using 270,000 toothpicks to create a replica of the SS America transatlantic cruiser. This 55-year-old fan from Chicago has been building ships from toothpicks since he was 10 years old.

His mammoth models include a 10ft-long Titanic, 16ft Lusitania and a 25ft Queen Mary, the last of which took a mammoth 814,000 toothpicks.

Five teenagers, including two believed to be accessories to murder, have been arrested in Sweden on suspicion of gang raping a girl on-board a cruise ship. MS Galaxy operated by Silja Line was chartered for 1700 students by the Nordic company Fun Cruises.

Four boys aged between 18 and 19 were arrested in Stockholm on Wednesday after the cruise ship returned from Finland. The fifth suspect was arrested one day later. All five are accused of gang-raping  a girl, and face charges of aggravated rape.

Several people were injured when a cruise ship crashed on Thursday into a pier in downtown San Diego.

A 150-foot Adventure Hornblower with 139 passengers on board smashed into the Embarcadero harbour due to technical malfunction. Seven people were injured and three were hospitalised as a result of the violent stop. None of the passengers sustained injuries that were life-threatening.

The 22-year-old ship, which offers short cruises, whale-watching tours and chartered events, could be heard on the video repeatedly sounding its horn as it approached the pier.

Hong Kong Health officials are investigating a norovirus outbreak onboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth cruise ship. A total of 150 crew and passengers have been taken ill in the outbreak.

A Public Health Incident Assessment Group was established to conduct the investigation at Hong Kong Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. Queen Elizabeth is currently on a world tour, with more than 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members.

Star Clippers announced the name of its newest cruise ship the Flying Clipper. The ship had already been announced by the company last year, but the name just came today to the public. 

The ship is a replica of the sailboat France II built in 1911 upgraded with all international security measures. 

One of the big news in the Star Clippers it is that in this ship the company will implement cabins with private balcony’s. This innovation aims to give a new kind of accommodation to their customers which have long asked for this kind of cabins. 

Starting from May 1, 2016 Royal Caribbean International will increase the guest’s gratuities for 55 cents per person, per day. The new daily gratuity rates will be $13.50 per guest, per day for Junior Suite, Balcony, Ocean View, and $16.50 per guest, per day for the Suites. 

Guests with existing reservations can pre-pay their gratuities before April 14 on the current rate which is $12.95 per person, per day for regular staterooms and $15.95 for the suites.

World's Largest Ship presented in 3D rendering video: Royal Caribbean Created a Virtual Tour for Harmony of the Seas experience. Royal Caribbean uses virtual reality as a tool to showcase their newest state-of-the-art ship, Harmony of the Seas at STX Shipyard. 

Indonesian media report that today the militants of a known Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, have hijacked the tugboat Brahma 12 with ten crew members on board, near the Sulu islands. 

The hijacking was revealed after one of the crew members contacted his supervisor saying that they were kidnapped and the kidnappers demanded a ransom.

Reportedly the terrorists are demanding a ransom of $ 1,000,000.