Shipbuilding technology has come a long way since Royal Caribbean International lengthened its last ship 25 years ago. Royal Caribbean´s third ship to be extended, Enchantment of the Seas, lies in dry dock this month, where workmen are laboring round-the-clock to add a 22.2-meter (73-foot) midsection and other major innovations.. Royal Caribbean teamed with two European shipyards to stretch the eight-year-old Enchantment of the Seas. Aker Finnyards of Finland, which built the original ship, was given overall responsibility for designing, building and installing the mid-body section.

The founder and chairman of cut-price service provider EasyGroup, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has revealed plans to take his existing cruise-boat, EasyCruiseOne, to the Caribbean islands this winter. Haji-Ioannou said he would travel to Barbados on June 16 to negotiate access to local ports. The deal could also include the French island of Martinique.

For most, the new century begins in 95 years, but for Celebrity Cruises, it will launch next year. The top-rated premium cruise line has announced plans to significantly revitalize its 77,713-ton Century, which entered service in December 1995. Following an approximately $55-million makeover beginning in April 2006, and marking Celebrity´s most extensive refurbishment to-date, Century will emerge from a five-week dry dock period on June 2, 2006, with 314 new verandas.

The cruise ship Disney Magic, which usually operates out of Port Canaveral, set sail on its first cruise out of the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Calif. A flotilla of Los Angeles fire and police boats, Coast Guard cutters and recreational boats, including kite boats, accompanied the Magic out of the port as it began its first of 12 seven-night cruises to the Mexican Riviera.

For the first time this fall, luxury cruise specialist Crystal Cruises will offer a dedicated new season of seven Mexican Riviera cruises in round-trip from Los Angeles, California. The extensive series also represents the last season for Crystal Harmony, scheduled to join its parent company´s Japanese cruise division in December.

Carnival Cruise Lines will operate a six-day Bermuda cruise in 2006 and another in 2007 aboard the 88,500-ton Carnival Legend. The six-day voyages will depart from New York on April 20, 2006, and April 19, 2007, and feature an overnight visit to King´s Wharf, Bermuda; as well as a full-day call at Newport, R.I.