Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Lines altered some of its cruise itineraries to avoid Tropical Storm Rita as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits last week. The Grandeur of the Seas skipped Key West, Fla. on September 20 and headed directly for Mexico´s Cozumel. The Mariner of the Seas substituted a call in San Juan on September 20 instead of calling in Nassau, Bahamas.

Heading into the 2006 Europe cruise season, Holland America Line deploys a record five ships and introduces a full summer of Mediterranean cruises aboard the new Ms Noordam liner. The premium line covers all of Europe –featuring 14 maiden port calls and 27 unique itineraries sailing the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Russia, Greenland and Iceland, North Cape and Polar Icecap, Black Sea, North Africa, British Isles and Transatlantic voyages.

Radisson Seven Seas today has just unveiled an innovative "Circle of Interest" concept, offering guests of select cruises their choice of exclusive packages featuring ship and shore programs linked by a common theme. Participants of the "Archaeology & Ancient History" package will enjoy in-depth historical perspectives of ancient Mediterranean sites.

Visiting the Caribbean onboard an MSC Cruises´ ship is not your "typical" Caribbean cruise experience. MSC Cruises combines its uniquely authentic Italian culture and cuisine (which are part of every MSC cruise) with a distinctly European way of experiencing Caribbean destinations to create lifetime memories for its guests.

Ultra-luxury Silversea Cruises is rolling out an expanded collection of 15 Culinary Arts Cruises and 12 Wine Series Voyages in 2006. It´s the biggest program the line has ever offered and will feature, for the first time, award-winning authors in addition to a stellar lineup of international wine experts, winemakers, and acclaimed chefs from the world´s top restaurants. Among the talented food and wine writers set to join the program is the culinary power couple of Jill Van Cleave and William Rice, scheduled to jointly host Silver Wind´s Voyage 2610, sailing April 8 from Lisbon to Barcelona. Van Cleave is a renowned author, food stylist and chef and Rice is the food and wine columnist for the "Chicago Tribune," former editor-in-chief of "Food and Wine," and winner of the Who´s Who award for "Best Food Journalism."

Silversea Cruises is installing WiFi hotspots around its four ships and revamping its Internet centers with 17-inch flat-screen monitors and new computers. The “enhanced cyber technology”, as Silversea called it, was installed on the Silver Shadow in August and will be installed onboard Silversea´s three other ships by the end of the year. Maritime Telecommunications Network is providing the satellite technology.