Cruise News Update: Cruise Passengers, Expansion and Power Outage (2024)

The cruise news just keeps coming, and Cruise Hive has it all covered. In this week’s exciting news round-up, look for stories from Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean.

Cruise News Update

Get ready to dive into Cruise Hive’s recap of the big cruise news developments of the week.

Our coverage includes new details about Carnival Cruise Line’s Celebration Key, the story of a cruise guest who lost her expensive reservation after sharing her booking details on social media, Carnival confirming its return to the Port of Baltimore, a cruise guest suing Ketchikan after being injured on a town bus, Norwegian Cruise Line expanding its Asia-Pacific deployments, and Icon of the Seas experiencing a power outage.

Cruise Line Introduces Family Portal at Celebration Key

Carnival Cruise Line revealed the details about Starfish Lagoon, the family-friendly area of Celebration Key, the private destination in the Bahamas set to open in July 2025.

The portal, one of five distinct spaces in the new development, will feature thrill rides such as the 350-feet-long waterslides Flash Flamingo and Mach III Marlin, plus pools and water games for young children in the Guppy Grotto, which will have a wading pool and dump bucket.

The lagoon itself will be one of the largest freshwater bodies in the Caribbean, and those who prefer saltwater will enjoy a spacious beachfront where kayaks and paddle boards can be rented.

Amenities for adults and groups include AquaBanas — floating cabanas that seat eight and provide shaded areas. Regular beachside cabanas will be offered for rent, too. The Starfish Lagoon Sports Court will have volleyball, basketball, and pickleball courts, plus a range of table games.

Starfish Lagoon will feature multiple dining options. An adult-only sanctuary is also planned for Celebration Key, but neither its name nor its amenities and services have been revealed yet.

Carnival Cruise Line, in recent months, has opened a slew of itineraries for sale, including port calls to the new destination. Cruisers who wish to visit Celebration Key can choose from a dozen ships departing from eight US ports in 2025 and 2026. Depending on the ship selected, itineraries range from 3-night getaways to longer, 14-night cruises.

Identity Theft Robs Guest of $12K Caribbean Cruise

An unfortunate set of circ*mstances led to a huge disappointment for a couple who booked a Carnival Cruise Line sailing aboard Carnival Celebration and then found out — one day prior to embarkation — that their reservation had been cancelled.

Tiffany and Jamie Banks were all set for a luxury vacation at sea in the ship’s Excel Presidential Suite, which came with a cruise fare of $12,000. Plus, they had spent another $3,000 on various services and airfare.

Tiffany Banks had posted information on TikTok about the 6-night Caribbean cruise, which departed from Miami on May 18, 2024, as embarkation day approached, but she made one big mistake: She posted her booking ID number and her cabin number on the social media site.

Some unknown and unscrupulous person used that information to access her booking on the cruise line website and cancel the reservation two days before departure. Tiffany, who goes by@thathippiedoc on TikTok, knew something was wrong when she received an email from Carnival Cruise Line notifying her that two excursions had been cancelled.

The cruiser called the line to inquire, and learned the sad truth that her entire booking was cancelled. A victim of identity theft, Tiffany is looking for compensation from the cruise line, which has so far offered a $10,000 future cruise credit.

Carnival Cruise Line Resumes Sailings From Baltimore

It’s official: Carnival Cruise Line is once again operating from the Port of Baltimore effective with the May 26, 2024 departure of Carnival Pride. All service from the port was temporarily suspended after a cargo ship slammed into and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, located at the entrance to the port, on March 26, 2024.

Carnival Pride operates Eastern Caribbean and Bahamas cruises from Baltimore, and had shifted her homeport to Norfolk, Virginia, while crews worked to open shipping channels into the Baltimore port.

Carnival Legend also was affected by the accident, since she had departed from Baltimore the day before the crash and had to disembark guests in Norfolk when that sailing concluded on March 31, 2024. With Norfolk a roughly 4-hour drive from Baltimore, the port switch presented logistical challenges for the cruise line and its guests.

Carnival Pride’s first cruise from Baltimore will be a 14-day cruise to Greenland & Canada departing May 26, 2024, with port calls at Nanortalik and Qaqortoq, Greenland; St. Anthony and Corner Brook, Newfoundland; and Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Royal Caribbean was also impacted by the port’s closure and had recently announced that Vision of the Seas, which homeports in Baltimore, would resume cruises there on May 25, 2024.

Cruise Guest Sues Alaskan Town After Scooter Injury

A 91-year-old cruise guest has filed a lawsuit against the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, holding the Alaskan town liable for an incident that occurred on September 9, 2023 onboard a public bus operated by the borough.

Donald Gillingham and his wife, Patricia, had disembarked their cruise ship in Ketchikan, a popular port call in Southeast Alaska, and rented an electric scooter for Donald, who had mobility issues.

The incident happened onboard a public bus, when the scooter, which was not secured, tipped over when the vehicle made a turn. The man’s injuries were not immediately apparent, but when the couple returned to their cruise ship — which is not identified in the lawsuit — he was evaluated by medical staff.

At the next port call, Juneau, the guest was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital for examination and was found to have broken ribs and a punctured lung.

The couple, who are residents of Montana, is suing the town of Ketchikan for damages, claiming that the bus driver did not secure the scooter or advise them to secure the scooter. The suit states that the couple has suffered damages in excess of $100,000.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court on May 8, 2024. It does not hold a cruise line accountable for the incident. Generally, once guests disembark a cruise ship, they are responsible for their own safety.

Cruise Line Expands Asia-Pacific Voyage Roster

Norwegian Cruise Line is banking big on the cruising grounds of the Asia-Pacific and Australia/New Zealand regions, announcing the deployment of a record three ships that will operate some 90 voyages between September 2024 and March 2026.

The 1,944-guestNorwegian Sky, the 1,976-guest Norwegian Sun, and2,032-guest Norwegian Spirit will sail a collection of itineraries that feature more than 30 overnights in port, including first-time overnights in Bali and Lembar (Lombok), Indonesia.

Guests can choose from 15 embarkation ports, such as Bangkok, Thailand; Manila, Philippines; Papeete, French Polynesia; Seoul, South Korea; Singapore; and Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan, plus the new options of Cairns, Australia, and Lautoka, Fiji.

Norwegian Spiritwill sail 11- to 14-day journeys between Australia and New Zealand from December 2025 to March 2026. Norwegian Sun will debut in Australia in December 2024 with 12- to 15-day voyages between Australia and New Zealand, as well as across French Polynesia.

Norwegian Sky will enter the Asia market in January 2025, sailing a series of Japan and Southeast Asia cruises through March 2025. All told, the ships’ 9- to 19-day itineraries will visit more than 60 destinations.

Icon of the Seas Experiences Short Power Outage

A short-lived power outage hit Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas on May 19, 2024 as the ship sailed a 7-night Eastern Caribbean voyage from Miami. While temporary power failures on cruise ships are unusual, they are downright puzzling on new ships like Icon of the Seas, which entered service just four months ago.

Icon of the Seas is the world’s largest cruise ship sailing today, with capacity for 7,600 guests and weighing a hefty 248,663 gross tons. Built at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, the mega-ship was launched in late January 2024.

The power outage lasted between 10 minutes and an hour, by most accounts, and affected propulsion, elevators, water pumps (for waterslides), and lighting in staterooms and other parts of the ship.

The causes of small outages can vary, and include power surges, generator or engine maintenance, or electrical issues. Reports about the outage, which happened in the early afternoon, were posted on social media, but Royal Caribbean has not confirmed any information about the incident.

The outage happened during a day at sea and did not impact the ship’s itinerary, which featured calls at St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay.

More Cruise Headlines

Those were not the only big cruise headlines from the past week. Check out even more coverage from Cruise Hive, such as Cunard revealing more details about the upcoming naming ceremony for Queen Anne; MSC Cruises deploying nine ships to the Mediterranean this summer; TUI Cruises planning a preview voyage of its new-build Mein Schiff 7; Oceania Cruises’ new ship entering service earlier than scheduled; and NOAA predicting an active hurricane season in 2024.