Emerging from a five-week work period, Windstar Cruises’ motor sailing yacht Wind Surf sailed from Barbados on December 16 with all Degrees of Difference enhancements completed on board.

The Carnival Liberty will launch a seven-day Caribbean cruise schedule from Miami beginning in May 2008, and its upcoming, new sister ship, the Carnival Freedom, will reposition to Fort Lauderdale, to assume the Liberty’s six- and eight-day Caribbean cruises, in November 2008.

A rare opportunity awaits to visit the seldom-seen Galapagos of the North, the northern islands of Mexico’s Sea of Cortes. Known as the “Aquarium of the World”, the Biosphere Reserve is home to many species of whales, dolphins, sea birds, fish and plant life that is found nowhere else on the planet.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line launched on January 1 the biggest ever “Turn of Year Marketing” campaign, targeting the UK and Ireland. In a concerted effort to boost awareness, the cruise line is for the first time ever running TV ads for its Celebrity Cruises brand, along with a press campaign.

Touring foreign flagged cruise vessels wishing to visit and disembark tourists in southern Chile fiords and channels will in the future have to request specific authorization for each spot they wish to call at.

Holland America Line will launch a multi-million dollar magazine advertising campaign in 2007, which will first appear in the January issue of Vanity Fair, the cruise line said, doubling the number of publications running its ads and increasing frequency by 33 percent over 2006.