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RCI to Remain in Short Cruise Market at Port Canaveral

The full text of the stories has been delivered to our subscribers on the dates indicated.

Latest video: Time-Lapse video of the AIDAmar Event - May 16
Carnival Breeze Returns from Sea Trials - May 14
What Your Car Might Be Doing While You're on Your Cruise - May 2
Watching the Ships Come In - Apr 30

Latest news blog entries - May 16

* Rounding out the Winter Season
May 16 - Royal Caribbean International released a hodgepodge of North American deployment announcements this week for the 2013-2014 Caribbean season. They contain several minor adjustments from last year and some ship changes, but there was one more major decision released among the others.
Apparently Royal Caribbean has decided they are going to stay in the short cruise business from Port Canaveral, although the new deployment was announced without any fanfare.

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
May 16 - CND subscribers also read about another in the series of weekly drug busts in Bermuda ... the tale of two Gavins ... a "quick" look at AIDAmar's christening.

The complete text of these stories appeared in the CND editions referenced and was sent to subscribers.

* AIDA Takes Title for World's Largest Christening
May 15 - When AIDA, Carnival's German brand, christens a ship, they usually find a way to make it into a spectacle attended by thousands. This time they've outdone themselves.

* Carnival Breaks Ground for New Caribbean Port
May 15 - A couple of years from now, if you sail in the central Caribbean aboard a ship of one of the Carnival brands, you may well be stopping at a new semi-self-contained cruise port in the Dominican Republic. Carnival Corp broke ground today for Amber Cove which will be located on the Dominican Republic's north coast near Puerto Plata.

* New Julia Street Cruise Terminal Dedicated
May 15 - The Port of New Orleans dedicated their "new" Julia Street Cruise Terminal today.

* More Costa Growth in China
May 14 - Carnival Corp will be pushing further into Asia and China next year via their Costa brand with the addition of a second ship, Costa Atlantica, to the region.

* Celebrity Completes "Solsticizing" Project - Almost
May 14 - When Celebrity Millennium returned to service this week, it marked the completion of the line's $140 million "Solsticizing" project. All four of the Millennium-class ships have now been through lengthy drydocks to have some of the line's newest features - which appear on the Solstice-class ships - added to them.

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
May 14 - CND subscribers also read about Carnival Breeze completing sea trials ... Princess has been served ... and a medevac in an unusual place.

* Two More Dining Choices on Carnival Breeze
May 11 - Maybe they're going to have to change the version number on Carnival Breeze. We thought we had seen all the Carnival 2.0 enhancements, but Carnival has two more dining venues that will sail out with Carnival Breeze when it debuts June 3, and another option that will be added when the ship reaches the Caribbean in the fall.

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
May 11 - CND subscribers also read about cutting steel in Germany ... what a Cat can do with a bottle of champagne ... a light sentence ... a big score ... and something for our readers outside the Southeast.

* That's Why They Call Themselves Royal Caribbean
May 10 - Royal Caribbean International released deployment details for six ships in the Caribbean for the winter 2013-2014 season. It could probably be summed up by the words "more of the same," except in New Orleans.

* Costa Implements Seven New Safety Procedures
May 10 - Costa Crociere is implementing seven initiatives most of which are designed to make their ships safer. The announcement of these is part of the line's effort to reestablish trust, with the European market in particular.
While some of these may not seem to be too complex, some of them are actually going to need a change of Italian maritime law to be implemented.

* Revitalization of Grandeur of the Seas Begins
May 9 - Grandeur of the Seas has become the latest ship to undergo Royal Caribbean's revitalization process which brings many of the line's newest features aboard their older vessels.
The ship has entered the Navantia Shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, for a five-week $48 million upgrade.

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
May 9 - CND subscribers also read about a Royal occasion in Southampton ... a Royal dividend ... US Government wanting to muscle in on Bermuda's territory ... a lot of French settlements ... it's more costly to look than to touch ... and more parking tales from Port Canaveral.

* Princess to Homeport Year Round in San Francisco
May 8 - We reported earlier that San Francisco is going to have a brand-new cruise terminal. Now they're going to have a cruise ship based there year round, which will be a first for the city.
Princess Cruises is going to base Grand Princess at San Francisco year round beginning in May 2013. Unlike other year round home ports, though, Grand Princess will operate a variety of seasonal programs from San Francisco.

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
May 8 - CND subscribers also read about Norwegian Breakaway taking shape ... tweeting causing trouble for Carnival ... drug tales from Bermuda.

* A Fascinating Weekend
May 7 - I had a unique opportunity this last weekend. I was invited to Venice for the handover of Costa Fascinosa to Costa Crociere. One can't see a "newer" ship. When I arrived at the pier just after 5pm on Friday, Fincantieri had just sailed the ship to Venice from the yard in Marghera a few miles away, and it had arrived only about two hours earlier.
But the new ship itself wasn't really the story. The real story we went to Italy to cover was how Costa is going to move forward now from the Costa Concordia accident, and what the mood of things really is in Italy.

* RCI Announces Additional Ships for European Deployment
May 4 - This week Royal Caribbean International detailed the itineraries for two more ships in their 2013 European deployment.
The announcement tells us that Brilliance of the Seas will be the brand's third ship based in the UK for the summer season, but it occupies a rather unique place in the UK deployment.

* Does the World Want Titanic II
May 4 - The general news media is already all over the story that Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer plans to build a replica of Titanic for operation between London and New York, which, according to him, will be the first of several luxury ships he plans to build.
The plans have gone as far as signing a MOU with China's CSC Jinling Shipyard to build the vessel, with a delivery date of late 2016. But is there really a market today for a duplicate of Titanic given the constraints it puts on the design?

The complete text of these stories appeared in the CND editions referenced and was sent to subscribers.

May 16 - AIDA christens AIDAmar at Hamburg in an event which features the four sister ships. More/Larger

May 16 - Gavin MacLeod Meets Gavin MacLeod on the bridge of Island Princess - More

May 9 - Grandeur of the Seas enters dry dock at Cadiz. More/Larger

May 8 - The keel for Norwegian Breakaway was laid at the Meyer yard in Papenburg on Friday. More/Larger

Apr 30 - First Look at Norwegian Breakaway's top deck sports and water complexes. More/Larger

Anita, the editing on these photos is protected by our copyright. Please don't steal them the way you did the one below.

Apr 24 - Costa Fascinosa has completed sea trials. More/Larger

Apr 16 - MSC Divina returns from initial sea trials. Larger

Apr 9 - Azamara Journey's maiden arrival at New York on Monday. Larger

Mar 30 - AIDAmar is readied for this weekend's float out at Meyer Werft - More/Larger

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