Cystal Cruises has put two new Pacific Coast cruises on its 2011 calendar, replacing two Mexican Riviera itineraries. The two new cruises, departing April 10 and 17, sail between Los Angeles and Vancouver on the Crystal Symphony and visit Santa Barbara and San Francisco, Calif.; Seattle; Astoria, Ore.; and Victoria, British Columbia. Crystal is the [...]

President Obama signed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act into law on Tuesday, enacting legislation that will require the cruise industry to be more transparent in reporting cruise ship crime and comply with new cabin security and surveillance measures. The bill was introduced by Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., who joined Obama at the White [...]

The 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend docked in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, 2002.   Industry giant Carnival is the latest line to up the ante in on-board entertainment this year with an announcement it soon will offer a dedicated comedy club on every ship.   The “fun ship” line, as it likes to call itself, says it [...]

  The launch of Royal Caribbean International’s 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, the worlds largest cruise ship. Aerial views off Miami. Fares for cruises are bouncing back this year after plunging during the recent economic crisis, but they remain well below the peak levels of a couple years ago. That’s the word from Royal Caribbean [...]

For those taking a Mediterranean cruise next year, chances are their voyage will begin in Barcelona. Starting next summer, Barcelona will be home to three of the largest cruise ships in the world, Norwegian’s new Epic, Carnival’s new Magic and Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas. With the addition of these ships, the cruise fleet, already substantial, [...]

European River Cruises are booming as smaller ships are drawing bigger crowds. Well over a dozen new ships have been built in the past two years to sail on European rivers-on top of an already very substantial fleet that plies the continent’s waterways. Today, Europe has 25,000 berths on river ships and Russia has another [...]

 Walt Disney Co.’s decision to spend an estimated $1.5 billion building two more cruise ships will give the company’s cruise line the ability to spread out to more destinations, says Disney President and CEO Bob Iger. During a presentation last week to stock analysts in New York, Iger said that with its two new ships [...]

On a conference call with media and agents today, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) announced it is now implementing a new process for the required onboard lifeboat drill. The new process is going to be fleetwide except on Pride of America.   Andy Stuart, the line’s executive vice president of sales and passenger services, says it’s [...]

“What a difference a year makes and we’re all very thankful for that,” said Kevin Sheehan, CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line, talking on a cruise executive panel talking about the “state of the industry” at Cruise Shipping Miami this week. “A year later we’re seeing solid signs of recovery, [although it’s] one that will play out over [...]

Ship: 13%   Cruise Line: 22%   Itinerary: 46%   Activities and excursions: 8%   Reviews: 10%   2097 respondents to USA Today Poll.