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.

Uruguay expects a busy 2005-2006 cruise season with the port of Montevideo operating as the hub but incorporating the Atlantic resort of Punta del Este as a growing calling point. A total of 33 cruise calls with an estimated 25.000 passengers are scheduled to visit Punta del Este beginning next December, according to local tourist industry sources. Traffic will be mainly concentrated in two companies, Italian Costa Cruises and Mediterranean Shipping Cruises with their vessels “Costa Romantic” and “Melody”, catering mostly for Brazilian, Argentine and European tourists.

Costa Cruises has just found a moniker for its new liner –still under construction- and the nametag is Costa Serena. The first building block for the ship was laid on September 16 at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Sestri Ponente, Italy. The 112,000-ton, 3,000-passenger Costa Serena will be delivered to the Italian cruise company in May 2007. Its sister ship, the Costa Concordia, will be delivered in June 2006.

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.