Norwegian Cruise Line’s US-flagged Pride of America has returned to her homeport of Honolulu as a nearly new ship following a three and half week dry dock where she received ship-wide enhancements.

Cruise tourism in the Dominican Republic closed February with 63.3 percent growth. According to the projections, each month should be better than the one before.

In a week of historic firsts between the United States and Cuba, Carnival Corporation gained approval Monday to sail from Miami into the port of Havana in May.

Recognized as the largest cruise ship registered in Japan, the awarding-winning NYK Asuka II is currently on a luxurious 100-day World Cruise roundtrip from Japan with an extensive South American itinerary and visits to Trinidad, Curacao and Panama.

Cuba was a hot topic for cruise executives and tourism officials gathered this week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the annual Seatrade Cruise Global conference. Other islands are worried.

For the world’s three largest cruise companies, Cuba represents a tantalizingly close destination that they see as key to adding new buzz to traditional Caribbean sailings.