Category: The Cruise Examiner

by Kevin Griffin

MSC Cruises has this week disclosed that its MSC Magnifica will be based in the UK starting in 2021, with twenty-four sailings from Southampton. Elsewhere, Voyages To Antiquity will close at the end of October while the ship goes on charter to Road Scholar next year. Meanwhile, the northern Alaska port of Nome has seen a busy late summer period, with Bremen sailing for the Northern Searoute across Russia and Roald Amundsen arriving from the Northwest Passage across Canada. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

This week we carry the news of a new winter-based cruise program to be operated from Dover by Hurtigruten’s expedition conversion m.s. Maud. Elsewhere, a head is named to MSC’s new luxury cruise division, and direct sailings are re-introduced between Europe and Australia by CM A CGM. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

This week we compare two favourite or about to be favourite British cruise ships, both built by Meyer Werft at Papenburg, and both christened by royalty, and we have a qiuick look at happennings at the Barerros shipyard in the Spanish port of Vigo. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

This week we have salad bowl of stories. Reports say that Star Clippers may be avoiding the French coast as part of their dispute over “their” latest cruise ship, the Flying Clipper. Meanwhile, the new ship operated her first cruise carrying Ultra Europe group passengers under the flag of her builders, Brodosplit. We also examine the first half dozen “Infinity” class expedition ships and survey some new names in the field of cruising. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

A lot is happening right now in the UK cruise world. An “upstart” line for the over 50s has just taken delivery of its first newbuilding, which it calls a luxury boutique ship. Another “upstart” line for the below 50s is adding four newbuildings that will eschew the traditional cruise buffet first introduced by Holland America Line as Statendam’s Lido Cafe back in the 1970s. One traditonal line is going to 5,200-passenger ships fuelled with LNG while another is adding a fourth Queen. And of two second-tier lines, one is adding one or two ships year, mostly early balcony second generation ships, the other is standing pat with the same four ships. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

Once or twice a year we have a look at the cargo ship passenger market, which counts around 300 passenger-carrying ships in the trade. Now offered solely by European owners, services are by shipowners from Germany and Poland in the north and from France and Italy in the south. The main cargo-passenger operators now are Marseilles-based CMA CGM, Naples-based Grimaldi Lines, a number of different German owners, including NSB, but no longer Hamburg-Süd and Rickmers Line, which have both withdrawn. The Polish Steamship Company operates about fifteen ships in the North Atlantic Great Lakes trade. Two older names have also re-entered the passenger trades, as Atlantic Container Line (ACL), a subsidiary of Grimaldi Lines, now has five 12-passenger ships on the North Atlantic, and APL, now part of CMA CGM, has revived passenger service on eighteen of its Singapore-based ships, mainly in the Pacific. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

On Friday, July 5, Saga Cruises’ new ship Spirit of Discovery was named in Dover by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Elsewhere when Cunard’s 2,101-berth Queen Elizabeth left Vancouver for the first time in May, it also marked the first time in more than twenty years that a Cunard ship had docked in the city. And finally, Ponant has launched the ninth ship to its fleet and the fourth in its “Explorer” class. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

Following many years of stagnation after the opening up of Seattle as a cruise gateway to Alaska, Vancouver finally celebrates being in the million-plus passenger league again with the arrival of short seasons this year and full seasons in 2020 from Cunard Line and Hurtigruten. Elsewhere, Ponant has taken delivery of its ninth ship with Le Dumont d’Urville and Carnival has announced that it’s biggest ship, the 5,200-berth Mardi Gras (II), will make a Transatlantic crossing between Southampton and New York in 2020. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

After many years of stop-and-go come-and-leave progress, the Great Lakes are finally coming to a stage where in 2020 they will have a fleet of eleven vessels offering cruises, mostly of between 7 and 11 days. These ships will be able to accept a total of 1,852 berths among them at one time. Elsewhere in North America, Virgin Voyages has announced the woman who will command its first ship, the Scarlet Lady. And we observe that five new ships will be delivered to Uniworld Boutique River Cruises by next year, to serve variously Venice, Bordeaux, Portugal, the Nile and the Mekong. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

This week, The Cruise Examiner reports on indications that Cruise & Maritime Voyages will be acquiring three new ships for its mid-size cruise fleet, two to join its UK-based fleet and a third to be based in Germany. And while Crystal Cruises’ 200-berth Crystal Endeavor had been designed for exotic expedition itinerary we have a look at three cruises planned to operate from Tokyo in 2020. And we look at a trio of tall ship cruises from Star Clippers in the West Indies and in Thailand. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

Recent surprise news is that the US has banned all cruise ships sailing from US ports from entering Cuba, effective immediately last week. Elsewhere, Norwegian Cruise Line has decided to base its Norwegian Pearl in Amsterdam. And Aurora Expeditions has ordered a second X-Bow expedition ship. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

Recent surprise news is that the Russian-owned Akademik Ioffe and the Akademik Sergey Vavilov have apparently been withdrawn from carrying passsengers after twenty-five years. In a possibly contradictory announcement it was stated that the charteres in charge of these ships is actuallly a company based in Cyprus and not the Kalinigrad-based owners P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanography. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

At CLIA’s annual UK Cruise Conference last week, Virgin Voyages announced that its new ship, the 2,700-berth Scarlet Lady, will visit one or maybe two UK ports on her way from her builders in Genoa to her home port of Miami next March. From elsewhere came news that river operator CroisiEurope would acquire a second seagoing vessel, by acquiring the Silver Discoverer from Silversea. And finally, the Crystal Mozart will leave the Crystal River Cruises fleet to operate for Genting Cruise Lines next year. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

This week sees news of two classes of expedition vessel, the first of three 230-berth “Hanseatic” class ships for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and the second and third of the 200-berth “Infinity” class for SunStone Ships. The Hanseatic Nature sailed from Hamburg on her maiden voyage last week and Victory Cruise Line’s announced that its Ocean Victory would trade to Alaska in 2021. The 8,000-ton Ocean Victory will be the largest “small ship” in Alaska since the 214-berth 8,282-ton Song of Flower, operated by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises and sold in 2003, and Cruise West’s 120-berth 4,280-ton Spirit of Oceanus, sold in 2010. Neatly tying in to the Ocean Victiory story is news that while Denmark’s Albatros Travel will be chartering her for use in Antartica, SunStone ships will build a sister vessel for Albatros, the Ocean Albatros, thus giving the latter two X-bowed sister ships of the “Infinity” class. In North America, meanwhile, the 202-berth sister ships Victory I and Victory 2 will introduce new itineraries next year. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

Last week Voyages to Antiquity was forced to cancel ten summer cruises due to engine trouble with their sole ship, Aegean Odyssey. Working With Ponant, Culture Cruises offered to rebook affected passengers on eight cruises by the French line. Elsewhere came the announcement that Saga had sold its Saga Pearl II to owners in the British Virgin Islands. And charters on three passenger-carrying container ships to Australia and New Zealand have been extended. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

Culture Cruises, who we mentioned last week, is introducing a Newsletter. Moreover, they have added some unique financial benefits: their aim is not only to source the most interesting cruises, but also to negotiate the very best prices. (more…)

by Kevin Griffin

Built at MV Werften in 2018, the Crystal Debussy is one of two sister ships to have entered service on European rivers last year for Crystal River Cruises, bringing their fleet to five river ships. Last Tuesday, The Cruise Examiner, was able to visit the vessel in Amsterdam. Elsewhere, Celebrity Cruises announced an order for a fifth “Edge” class ship, the last three of which will be completed to a lengthened design. And in India, Essel Group’s Jalesh Cruises has commenced service between Mumbai and Goa with the 2,000-berth Karnika, formerly P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Jewel. (more…)