Royal Caribbean’s newest ship Star of the Seas is already making waves literally and visually before its official launch. The second ship in the Icon Class was recently spotted at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland testing a never-before-seen dynamic light display on the Royal Caribbean crown and anchor logo.
Margaritaville at Sea has officially introduced its third—and largest—cruise ship, Beachcomber, marking a major expansion for the tropical-themed cruise line.
Joining Paradise and Islander, Beachcomber becomes the new flagship of the fleet. At 100,000 gross tons, it is the biggest vessel in the lineup. While Margaritaville at Sea has not yet revealed the ship’s home port, its other ships are currently based in Palm Beach (Paradise) and Port Tampa Bay (Islander).
Explora Journeys, the luxury cruise brand of MSC Group, marked a major step in its fleet expansion with three key milestones celebrated simultaneously at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente.
The shipbuilder held the technical launch of Explora III, the coin ceremony for Explora IV, and steel cutting for Explora V, all in one day demonstrating the momentum behind MSC’s €3.5 billion investment into its growing luxury cruise division.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents recently detained and removed crew members from Victory I and Victory II, the two small cruise ships operated by Victory Cruise Lines, while the vessels were sailing the Great Lakes. The removals happened during scheduled port stops in the United States, with Detroit confirmed as one of the key locations.
A local court in Nice has thrown out Mayor Christian Estrosi’s attempt to limit cruise ship arrivals, calling the move illegal and beyond his authority. The ruling came just four days after Estrosi issued the order on July 9 to restrict access to the Port of Nice and Villefranche-sur-Mer.
A norovirus outbreak has struck the cruise ship Artania, leaving around 200 passengers sick and prompting an emergency medical response. The ship, which departed from Bremerhaven on 14 day cruise to the Norwegian Fords , was en route to Brønnøysund, Norway when the illness began to spread.
AIDA Cruises has scrapped its entire 2025/26 winter cruise season in the Middle East due to ongoing regional instability. The move affects all sailings aboard AIDAprima between October 3, 2025, and March 25, 2026, including round-trip cruises from Dubai and a planned repositioning voyage via Cape Town, Cruise Arabia reported.
The cruise ship Genting Dream cruise ship joined major emergency response drill held at Phuket Deep Sea Port on July 9.
In a ceremonial handover at the Sestri Ponente shipyard, Fincantieri officially delivered Oceania Allura, the latest addition to the Oceania Cruises fleet. The 68,000-gross-ton vessel is the second in the Allura class, following the delivery of sister ship Oceania Vista in 2023, and further underscores Oceania’s position in the premium cruise segment.
It’s a proud day for Royal Caribbean and for the hardworking crew who helped bring Star of the Seas to life. Today, July 10, Star of the Seas officially joins the Royal Caribbean family in a moment of celebration, innovation, and next-level cruising. The grand handover ceremony took place at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, where Royal Caribbean International proudly took delivery of its newest Icon-class vessel.
