The small village of Teahupo'o in Tahiti is set to host the surfing events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Due to limited space on land, the Olympic organizers have arranged for the cruise ship Aranui 5, to accommodate the various delegations, offering a suitable alternative that meets the athletes' needs.
This year, Venice started charging a five-euro entrance fee for day tourists on particularly busy days, generating significantly more income from tourism. Next year, the city plans to continue this fee and might increase it to ten euros. Cruise tourists are also affected by this fee. Since 2021, large cruise ships cannot dock directly in Venice, but shore excursions from nearby ports like Marghera, Monfalcone, Trieste, continued.
Royal Caribbean International's new ship, Utopia of the Seas, is at Port Canaveral, Florida, today for its christening voyage. From there the ship will head to Royal Caribbean's private island, Coco Cay in the Bahamas, over the next three days.
This special voyage wasn't open for bookings. Only invited guests, including 52 competition winners and their companions, will board the ship. These guests typically include company representatives, business partners, and media.
Princess Cruises has set the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Pizza Party. Thousands of guests and crew members across the fleet participated in this event, consuming more than 60,000 slices of pizza. This celebration took place on Princess ships stationed across the world including Alaska, New England, the Caribbean, the British Isles, the Mediterranean, and Japan.
The pizza party also marked the launch of a new partnership with 13-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani, now Princess Cruises' newest celebrity culinary partner.
Sportsbooks and cruise ship companies have embarked on an exciting partnership to bring sports betting and iGaming experiences to passengers at sea. This collaboration, featuring major players like BetMGM and Carnival Corporation, is revolutionizing the entertainment landscape on cruise ships by integrating sports betting into the travel experience.
Let’s delve into the details of these partnerships, the ships involved, and the future of sports betting on the high seas.
BetMGM and Carnival Corporation Partnership
On Tuesday, July 9th, Grenada welcomed Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas, which brought much-needed supplies, including 15 tons of fuel, to help with recovery after Hurricane Beryl. The cruise ship, carrying 2,416 passengers, usually sails seven-day Southern Caribbean trips from San Juan. However, it changed its route to provide humanitarian aid to those in need.
Police are searching for a 14-year-old autistic boy from the U.S. who went missing in the port of Warnemünde, Germany. The boy, Aydin Brown, was last seen disembarking the Caribbean Princess on July 4, shortly after the cruise ship docked at the port, and has since disappeared. Witnesses reported that the teenager disembarked around 7 a.m.
The police launched a public search after his disappearance was reported. Aydin Brown is approximately 175 cm tall and has long, dark hair. He was wearing a dark jacket, long dark trousers, and retro shoes.
Last week, a tragic event occurred on the cruise ship Celebrity Infinity. A 45-year-old crew member from Indonesia was found dead in his cabin. The discovery was made while the ship was sailing between the Greek ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala.
The ship’s officers informed local authorities about the incident, and upon arriving in Kavala, the crew member's body was transferred to the medical examiner in Komotini for a necropsy, according to Greek news outlets.
AIDA Cruises is launching the biggest fleet upgrade in its history, called AIDA Evolution. By 2026, the first three ships in the Sphinx series will undergo extensive modernization. The first ship to be revamped is the AIDAdiva, which will be in the Chantier Naval shipyard in Marseille, France, from February 3 to March 22, 2025. Next up, AIDAluna will be in the shipyard from October 22 to December 10, 2025, and AIDAbella will follow from January 21 to March 11, 2026.
A fire broke out today, June 25th, aboard the world's largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, while the vessel was docked at the port of Costa Maya, Mexico. According to our source, a Bravo code was announced on the ship's PA system, locating the fire in the engine room. Firefighting teams were dispatched to the scene to handle the situation, and the crew responded to the emergency instructions.
