The cruise ship Viking Sun is officially the first vessel of the joint venture between China Merchants Shekou and Viking Cruises. The ship will sail under the Chinese flag with its new name “Zhao Shang Yi Dun”. China Merchants Shekou and Viking Cruises agreed on the joint venture in April 2019 and formally concluded it at the end of November 2020.
The boutique cruise line Azamara announced today the restart of cruise operations this summer with the cruise ship Azamara Quest. Starting August 28, 2021 Azamara Quest will set sail on a seven-day back-to-back Country-Intensive Voyages and one classic Mediterranean itinerary in Greece. The ship will have a total of 18 late-night stays in port, including Santorini, Rhodes and Heraklion.
Indian crew members will not be able to board Royal Caribbean ships at this stage after the company decided to temporary cancel all assignments for shipboard employees from India or people who reside in this country. According to a letter sent to the crew, this decision is based on various reasons and related to recently announced travel restrictions and complexities with crew movement to and from India.
Costa Cruises officially presented the program for summer 2021, which will start on May 1, with Costa Smeralda. The company decided to focus on destinations in the Mediterranean, close to the European guests offering cruises on Costa Deliziosa and Costa Luminosa in the Eastern Mediterranean and Costa Smeralda together with Costa Firenze in the Western Mediterranean.
On Thursday afternoon, the Coast Guard suspended its search for a missing crew member who went overboard a cruise ship off the coast of Cyprus. Larnaca-based search and rescue coordination centre said that the search operations to locate the crew member reported missing since Tuesday, has been called off without locating the missing person.
Carnival Corporation's ultra-luxury brand Seabourn has announced restart of a second ship this summer through a series of new voyages operating out of Bridgetown, Barbados. Starting July 18, 2021 Seabourn Odyssey will set sail on 7-day cruises from Barbados to Southern Caribbean destinations, including Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and St. Kitts.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings released an updated list of approved vaccines for crew, as the company prepares to restart cruise operations with three NCL ships this summer. NCLH shared important information with the shipboard team members about the broadened scope of accepted vaccine
The cruise ship Viking Orion arrived in the port of Bodrum, Turkey on April 18, to collect crew members and supplies as part of preparations for the upcoming summer cruises in Bermuda. Around 300 crew members, are expected to board the Viking Orion in batches as they arrive from various parts of the world. Viking Orion will stay in Bodrum until the end of April when the final batch of crew will board the ship.
Royal Caribbean newest Quantum Ultra Class ship, Odyssey of the Seas has arrived in the port of Limassol, Cyprus to collect crew ahead of the final preparations for the inaugural summer season in the Eastern Mediterranean
Following the recent developments in St. Vincent the U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), has released revised natural disaster alert, offering transit opportunity for U.S. citizens who wish to depart the island. According to the announcement the U.S. Embassy is coordinating with Royal Caribbean Group for a maritime transit opportunity for U.S. citizens who wish to depart St. Vincent on Friday, 16 April.
