Norwegian Cruise Line will add 58 new staterooms and suites to the Norwegian Dawn when it enters dry dock in May. The 28 new suites include two categories of family suites that can sleep up to six, executives announced during a Feb. 23 conference call with travel agents and press.
New cruise ship calls will be made to St. Lucia in the 2012-2013 season when Norwegian Cruise Line makes regular visits to the island. Tourism Minister Senator Allen Chastanet has announced that the top cruise company has added the Caribbean island to its Norwegian Sun’s Southern Caribbean itinerary for the new season.
The Carnival Splendor welcomed its first passengers since it emerged from dry dock to repair damages from an engine fire that crippled the ship last November. The vessel hosted travel agents and media on Saturday night at its homeport of Long Beach, Calif., before it embarked on it first Mexican Riviera cruise in three and a half months. The overnight stay (the ship remained docked) was a thank-you to travel agents, whom Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill lauded as instrumental in the logistics of rebooking guests who were affected by the accident.
As part of its corporate reorganization following the relocation of Seabourn to Seattle, Holland America Line has promoted Cyril Tatar to director of Seabourn technical operations. As part of his new responsibilities, Tatar will oversee the completion of construction on the Seabourn Quest, scheduled for delivery in May. He reports to Dan Grausz, executive vice president-fleet operations for Holland America Line and Seabourn.
Costa Cruises has released its 2012 brochure, featuring 400 pages and more than 130 itineraries on five continents in more than 250 destinations. Costa’s 2012 itineraries also are available on all digital information channels, including websites, social networking sites, smartphones (via a QR code), iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads (Costa Digital Library application).
MSC Cruises has cancelled all calls in Tunisia on four of its ships from April through early November unless conditions improve. The country has been experiencing political and social unrest. Affected ships are the MSC Fantasia from April 16 to Oct. 15, MSC Splendida from April 10 to Nov. 6, MSC Lirica from April 18 to Oct. 7, and MSC Sinfonia from June 4 to Oct. 15.