Celebrity Cruises is planning to build its first post-Panamax cruise ship, a 117,000-ton, 2,850-passenger vessel that, if ordered, would be ready in the second half of 2008. The line said July 12 it signed a letter-of-intent with Papenburg, Germany-based Meyer Werft yard, which built Celebrity´s Century-class ships and, more recently, sister line Royal Caribbean International´s four Radiance-class ships.

Eight Princess ships will be sailing through the sunny Caribbean during the 2006-07 season, giving passengers more choice than ever with a selection of eleven itineraries, including Southern Caribbean cruises aboard the new Crown Princess and an inaugural season of sailings from the new homeport of New Orleans. The cruises will range from seven to fourteen days, aboard some of the youngest and most amenity-filled ships in the region. Crown Princes, which will sail on her first full program of Southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan, and Golden Princess, which will inaugurate Princess´ first sailings from a new homeport in New Orleans, will be joined by Caribbean Princess in the Eastern Caribbean, Star Princess in the Western Caribbean and Grand Princess sailing the Western Caribbean from Galveston.

With an ice-strengthened hull and advanced satellite navigational equipment, the 122-passenger Clipper Adventurer is capable now of transporting passengers in a comfortable manner to virtually anywhere on the face of the earth. The best example of this range of itineraries is found on the ship´s fall and winter schedules, where it travels on various voyages from the Panama Canal to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Golden Princess will introduce its first West Coast cruises next season as part of Princess´ 2006-07 Mexican Riviera cruise program, which features south-of-the-border cruises from both Los Angeles and San Francisco. In total, three ships (Diamond Princess, Golden Princess and Island Princess) will continue Princess´ legacy and leadership in Mexico with the itineraries that first brought the line to prominence.

EasyCruise, the low-cost cruise startup that offers hop-on, hop-off cruises in the Mediterranean, will winter in the Caribbean, the line said Tuesday. The EasyCruise1 will launch seven-day voyages Nov. 12 from Bridgetown, Barbados. The ship will call in a new port each day -St. Vincent, Martinique, the Grenadines, Grenada and St. Lucia- and passengers can embark and disembark at will.

Discovery World Cruises brokered a deal to offer two sailings that include the Galapagos Islands, a tightly-controlled cruising region that is restricted to small ships that fly the Ecuadorian flag. Typically, ships must apply for a small handful of permits in order to cruise the region. The Discovery, which flies the Bahamian flag, will be an exception.