German shipyard Meyer Werft turned over the 4,180-passenger Quantum of the Seas to Royal Caribbean International in a signing ceremony Tuesday. The ship is now heading from Germany to Southampton in the U.K., where the first passengers will board on Sunday for the transatlantic sailing to Bayonne, N.J.

Costa Cruises introduced a new flagship of the fleet with a series of events, anticipating the christening on Nov. 7 in Genoa. On Oct. 25, Costa Diadema was officially presented at Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Venice, in the presence of Costa Cruises' CEO, Michael Thamm and Fincantieri's CEO, Giuseppe Bono.

The ship, which regularly calls on Grand Cayman as part of its cruising itinerary hit the international news headlines last week when it was revealed that a Texas lab technician who had handled Ebola medical samples was aboard.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Tourism attended the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Conference and Trade show in St. Maarten on October 6-8, 2014 and held high level talks with Ministers of Tourism of Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent on the Southern Caribbean Cruise Initiative (SCCI).

St. Kitts will experience its best ever summer cruise ship season in history next year, between May and September. According to the official 2014/2015 Cruise Ship Itinerary, 70 calls from 9 ships are scheduled during this period with an estimated 258,000 passengers.