Carnival Corporation & PLC announced today that they’ve signed a memorandum of agreement with Fincantieri shipyard to bring a new vessel to Cunard Line.  The yet unnamed vessel will be the largest in the Cunard fleet with an expected delivery date in 2022.  While the new ship will be the 249th to fly the Cunard flag in Cunard’s 178 year history, she will only be the fourth ship in the current fleet, alongside Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Mary 2...

Celebrity Cruise lines announced this week that Captain Nathaly Albán will command the exclusive Celebrity Xploration through the archipelago of the Galapagos.  This marks the first time in cruise history that a woman will navigate the region as captain and continues the history-making promotion of qualified women to senior officer roles in the cruise industry, including appointments by lines such as Cunard and sister-company Royal Caribbean International...

Update: The episode is now available online (depending on your cable subscription).  Click here to read the full article and get a link to the show.

On Tuesday, July 25th, 2017 at 10:00pm Eastern the latest episode of CNBC's hour-long reality series, "The Profit", with serial entrepreneur and investor Marcus Lemonis, will head onto the Norwegian Escape.  The show, which highlights Lemonis as he puts his money down to help struggling businesses across the country, will feature chocolatier Zoe's Chocolates as they pitch Norwegian's executives in hope of striking a deal...

Today at D23 in Anaheim, CA, an annual Disney fan event, Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts announced an additional build for the cruise line, bringing her planned ship count to seven.  This adds to DCL's announcement last year that they'd be bringing two new and larger ships, scheduled for delivery in 2021 and 2023.  The additional build will be a member of the same new class of ships, slated to come in at 135k gross tons and be released in 2022, with all three ships being built at Meyer Werft in Germany.  

Today in New York Celebrity Cruises revealed impressive new details about their upcoming flag ship, the Celebrity Edge.  Presented was a new venue, Eden.  Located at the aft of the ship and larger than the Hayden Planetarium, is a lounge, dinner theater, and more, featuring 7,000 sq ft of glass windows - more than any other room at sea, live plants and herbs, and truly inspired design...

An iconic step in the life of any new ship is the keel laying ceremony, when the first piece of steel is put in place.  Today in Saint-Nazaire, France the foundation was laid for the innovative new structure of the Celebrity Edge.  In front of leaders of Celebrity Cruises and STX France shipyard, an 875 ton block was lifted into the air and a coin was placed on the dock before lowering the metal section into position.  Now the vessel will begin to take shape as additional blocks can be joined to the newly-laid foundation...

Yesterday we discussed information that was revealed around how changes to the United States' Cuba policies may affect travelers and today things are becoming a bit more clear.  Continue reading to find out how you'll be able to travel to Cuba, if you'll be able to bring back cigars, rum, and other items, and whether diplomatic relations will continue...

Update: Additional details have been released and you can read about them here.

Recently the US restored many relations with Cuba, allowing, among many other things, American cruise lines to sail to the island nation with American passengers.  Rumors have swirled recently however about possible changes to United States' Cuba policies with regard to travel, remittances, imports, and more.  While no official policy changes have been made, some information about the intended changes has come to light...

In an industry-first move, Carnival Cruise Lines has launched a program which allows guests to pay for their cruise in three monthly installments.  Traditionally, guests have had to make a deposit and then pay the balance before final payment day.  This new program allows guests to not only spread out these payments, but do so automatically so they can both budget easily and avoid a missed opportunity to sail because of forgotten payments.  Here's how it works...

MSC Cruises, a Swiss-based Italian line, and the largest privately owned cruise line in the world, had several big pieces of news this week.  From details of their 200,000 gross ton "World" class of ships, to Cirque du Soleil on Meraviglia, to taking delivery of their latest ship, there is a lot to unpack.  Take a look at details on the innovative design, new technology, and exciting entertainment options...

To keep things from getting confusing, it should be noted that the name of this class of ships is "World", so when I say World Class I mean "World" class, not the world-class. Not confusing at all, right?