Carnival Cruise Lines´ 2,056-passenger Fantasy recently underwent a multi-million-dollar refurbishment and emerged with a host of new and updated features and facilities, including new photo and art galleries, a nine-hole miniature golf course, and completely renovated health and fitness center. The upgrades were completed during a 21-day scheduled dry dock that took place in Norfolk, Virginia. The Fantasy resumed its year-round schedule of three- and four-day Bahamas cruises from Port Canaveral, Florida.

Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises` innovative online check-in program that launched on two ships in July now is available fleet-wide, in English and Spanish, reducing guests` check-in times to mere seconds at the pier. Named “Xpress Pass” for Celebrity Cruises and “SetSail” for Royal Caribbean International, online check-in allows guests to fill out all pertinent cruise documents before arriving at the pier. Boarding documents, immigration forms, onboard accounts and ticket contracts can be completed with just a click of the mouse.

Carnival Cruise Lines will get another ship from parent company Carnival Corp., to be delivered in spring 2008. The vessel –at 112,000 tons and room for 3,006 passengers- is slightly larger than the ships in the 110,000-ton Conquest-class series, and it will be the first Carnival ship to top the 3,000 lower-berth mark. Carnival said the ship will represent a new design and will offer a larger spa and kids´ facilities. The new ship, which is still unnamed, is the final ship in a multi-vessel deal struck between Carnival Corp. and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri last fall.

Windstar Cruises is launching an upgrade program similar –albeit smaller in scale- to sister company Holland America Line´s Signature of Excellence program. The Windstar initiative, called Degrees of Difference, will add new amenities to the cabins and other enhancements around its three-ship fleet. The program was unveiled during the Cruise Lines International Association´s Cruise3Sixty event here.

The Grandeur of the Seas, which had been scheduled to sail from New Orleans on seven-day cruises this winter, will homeport in Tampa, Florida., starting on December 3. The vessel will offer four- and five-day western Caribbean itineraries through April 22, Royal Caribbean International said. The vessel will operate a seven-day cruise from San Juan on April 29.

Clipper Cruise Line introduced a number of new itineraries for 2006, including a 17-day voyage on the Clipper Odyssey in the South Pacific islands from New Caledonia to New Zealand. The cruise departs November 9, 2006, timed to coincide with the Leonid meteor shower. An astronomer will be onboard to amplify the experience for guests. Cabin rates will start at $7,270 per person, double occupancy.