Royal Caribbean International held a press conference today in Beijing's Great Hall to formally announce internationally renowned movie star Miss Fan Bingbing, as godmother of thier latest cruise ship Ovation of the Seas. Fan Bingbing will be the first Chinese woman to serve as a godmother of a large cruise ship for international cruise line. The Baptism will take place on 24 June 2016 in Tianjin, the Chinese base port of Ovation of the Seas in summer 2016. Forbes China has placed Fan Bingbing three years on top of their "Celebrity 100" list as one of the most influential Chinese stars.

Norwegian Epic Passanger was mugged yesterday in the port of Palermo, Italy. After the ship docked in Palermo the woman disembarked for sightseeing the city on her own. On the way back to the ship, near the cruise terminal two young men on a scooter approached the tourist and snatched the golden necklace. The incident happened in Via Emeric Amari a few steps from the entrance of the port.

The woman asked for help and reported the robbery to the police. Palermo police hopes to reveal the identity of the thefts by the CCTV cameras located in the port area.

The maiden voyage for the new social-impact cruise line Fathom has been canceled by the U.S. Coast Guard. The cruise ship Adonia, didn’t pass the U.S. Coast Guard safety inspection on Sunday after the authorities find out that 30 fire screen doors were not functioning properly.

MV Adonia was scheduled to set sail on April 10 from Miami on a 7-night voyage to the Dominican Republic, after a major dry dock renovation. Fathom says the April 10 cruise is completely canceled and, plans to make the maiden voyage on April 17.

Fathom passengers received the following letter:

Court trial is underway in Germany after a crew member started a fire onboard AIDACara cruise ship operated by the German company AIDA Cruises. The incident happened last September 2015, when the 35-year-old stage technician Anton G setup on fire a laundry bag in the ship’s crew corridor. According to Bild, the fire spread in small section of the ship and five crewmembers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

The Cuban Democracy Movement has called a protest in front of Carnival Corporation Headquarters in Miami, regarding the latest discriminatory policy imposed against Cubans living in the United States. Current Cuban laws prohibit individuals born in Cuba from entering the island on ship or other maritime vessels, regardless of their US citizenship. For that reason, at this time Carnival Operated cruise ship, Fathom can not accommodate individuals born in Cuba.

Italian coast guard medevac two children from the cruise ship Costa Deliziosa yesterday. The children feel ill during the cruise and the ships captain notified the Italian authorities.

It seems unlikely that the EU Commission will act against the US and Canada, given the fact that the current visa dispute has been ongoing. But if the EU Commission will vote next week to implement Visas, it is far from certain that the European Parliament would support the move.

The EU Commission will consider imposing visa requirements on tourists from the United States and Canada because not all EU citizens enjoy visa-free travel to North America. EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said the proposal would be on the commission's agenda for next week on 12 April 2016 .

From March 2 and April 11, 2016, the Brazil Navy and, the US Navy and law enforcement agencies will carry out special operations training in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The activities are part of an exercise aimed for improving techniques at sea in counterterrorism. The name of the exercise is JCET, Joint Combined Exchange Training.  JCET represents an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences between special operations units in Brazil and the United States.

Tasmania Fire Service was called next to Dawn Princess as a precaution measure due to a small fire on board the cruise ship this morning around 9am. 

Pullmantur Cruises crew was awarded 'Excellence Award for Best Crew' for seventh consecutive year by Cruises News Media Group.

The Excellence Awards ceremony, held last night in Cartagena, Spain, gathers around 200 local authorities, representatives of cruise lines, travel agents, etc.