Tagged With "CruiseCritic"

The Disney empire, which seems to be almost as much a travel and resort company as it is a studio and park operator, has another new plan: change river cruising from an older-adult activity to a family plan. Adventures by Disney, which provides...

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 will go into drydock next May for a month-long update that will include adding single  staterooms and more kennels, reflecting several changing trends for cruisers.   Cunard says the single rooms are not only because...

CroisiEurope's Leonardo da Vinci on the Neckar at Heidelberg   Continuing problems with low water in European rivers, as described in several recent TG NewsLinks, are disrupting more cruise plans by most operators...but at least some see hope in...

Tropical Storm Erika has been downgraded, but her effect on the Caribbean cruise industry continues, bringing changes to cruise itineraries, and cancelling some port calls, although some cruises are now slated to resume their original plans.  ...

Low water in the Danube, 2012   If it seems like only yesterday we were reporting on European river cruises being canceled because high waters were blocking ships from sailing under bridges...well, it was. On May 7, we reported problems on the...

Carnival Cruise Line, which has recently tried out faster internet with lower package prices on three of its ships—and gotten good marks for it from passengers—is adding it to nine more ships, and plans to include the majority of its fleet...

Cuban sunset, soon to be seen from Carnival's volunteer cruises   Carnival's Fathom cruise line will offer "voluntourism" cruises to Cuba starting next spring, it announced today. Although the itineraries haven't yet been fully developed, and the...

Norwegian Escape (above) arrives with new dining charges                   Photo: Arno Redenius / Wikimedia   Perhaps taking a cue from the airlines, a number of cruise lines have recently added...

Cruise lines have announced some changes in plans and prices recently; two big ones are a trend to higher daily gratuity charges on board, and a move to more flexibility in choosing flights as part of cruise packages. Princess Cruises is raising daily...

In light of recent events, security is being tightened along the routes of Europe's river cruise ships.

Over the past year we've mentioned the growing trend toward families traveling on river cruises, which has led operators to modify ships and routes, and even brought Disney into the market.   Last week, at an industry convention in Amsterdam,...

Disney continues to expand its cruise fleet, adding two new ships, each one a bit bigger than the current four. No names and no itineraries set yet.

In two announcements today, Royal Caribbean gave passengers bad news: It's raising gratuity fees on its ships, and cancelling a free internet plan.

MSC Cruises is joining the parade of cruise lines with private islands that host their passengers for days on the beach, at sports and even shopping. MSC has acquired a former dredging station 20 miles south of Bimini and 65 miles east of Miami and renamed it Ocean Cay. By the end of next year, $200 million will have created 6 beaches, 2000-seat amphitheatre, sports venues, walking and nature trails, and even a "Bahamian village" with shops and restaurants. Ocean Cay will be the biggest of...

Disney Cruise Line has cancelled both Greece and Turkey from its 2016 itinerary for Disney Magic's 12-night cruise. A spokesperson said the change was a result of monitoring conditions and activities in the region. Earlier, Costa Cruises had dropped Turkey stopovers for the last half of the 2015 season, and last month Celebrity announced it wouldn't overnight in Istanbul in 2016. The Celebrity announcement said it was due to cruise port construction in Istanbul, but it seems likely that...

Royal Caribbean is putting a 30-day cutoff on price cuts, in part to keep early-payers from being upset that others waited and paid less.

Royal Caribbean, which has recently had to cancel or shorten some cruises, is now imposing stricter rules on customers who want to cancel bookings.

Celebrity Cruises has dropped overnight stays at Istanbul for the rest of the cruise season, affecting eight cruises. The line had already skipped overnights twice in recent weeks, citing concerns about possible violence in the area.

High water levels from heavy rainfall and spring snowmelt in the Alps has caused delays and changes in river cruises, including those on the Seine, Rhine and Danube. While serious, it's not as bad as the spring of 2013 when many port towns were...