The past week in the cruise industry has been busy, so Cruise Hive is here to make sure don’t miss a thing. We’ve got cruise news updates on multiple new ships, including from Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Virgin Voyages, along with a price hike from Norwegian.

Cruise News Update

It was another busy week of cruise news, but no fear as we have you covered. It was dominated by new cruise ship news with Royal Caribbean’s new mega-ship floating out onto the water at the shipyard for the first time, the world’s largest cruise ship celebrating its naming, Carnival’s third excel-class vessel being delayed, Virgin Voyages taking delivery of its third new ship, the naming ceremony for MSC’s new vessel and NCL hiking the price of gratuities.

Icon of the Seas Floats Out

Icon of the Seas has officially touched water for the first time, as the

Norwegian Cruise Line has reached out to guests booked aboard another ship with itinerary changes in the name of sustainability. Guests looking forward to sailing on Norwegian Joy from New York City to Virginia Beach and Bermuda in the coming months will now only be visiting Bermuda, as Norfolk has been removed as a port of call from multiple itineraries.

Multiple Cruises Changed for Norwegian Joy

Travel agents and guests booked aboard multiple upcoming cruises on the Breakaway Plus-class Norwegian Joy are being informed of an itinerary change that includes a cancelled port of call. On many of the ship’s scheduled “Bermuda Virginia Beach” sailings, the call in Norfolk, Virginia has been cancelled with no replacement port visit.

Instead, the ship will depart New York City as planned, spend two days at sea en route to Bermuda, enjoy the planned extended stay in that unique tropical destination, then return

The Carnival Sunrise cruise ship rescued several refugees on Friday while heading back to Florida towards the end of its Caribbean cruise. Passengers were surprised to see the small boat with several refugees who needed help and were brought aboard the Sunshine-class vessel. It comes following many recent rescues in the Caribbean by other ships in the fleet.

Carnival Sunshine Rescue

Passengers were met with an eventual final sea day on Friday when the Carnival Sunrise came to the rescue of several refugees on a small makeshift boat. The cruise line has released no details, but passengers have posted about the rescue that took place off the coast of Cuba in the Caribbean.

There were approximately seven refugees in what appeared to be a small boat with a makeshift sail. The ship’s captain apparently stopped and picked up the refugees, who were trying to get to South Florida from Cuba.

Holland America Line has quietly added an announcement to the “Crew Appreciation & Service Charge Policy” page of its website noting that as of February 1, 2023, gratuity rates will be increasing. While the increase is relatively minimal, this follows the trend of other cruise lines likewise raising gratuity fees.

Holland America Line Raising Gratuities

Holland America Line, part of Carnival Corporation & plc, has announced a slight increase in gratuity rates to take effect on all sailings from February 1, 2023. The increase will be $.50 (USD) per guest per day in all stateroom categories.

The new rate will then be $17.50 per person per day for guests in suites, and $16.00 per person per day in non-suite stateroom categories such as balcony, oceanview, and interior staterooms.

Holland America Line describes these fees as “a daily amount for each guest that will be automatically added to your onboard

Carnival Celebration, Carnival Cruise Line’s newest Excel-class cruise ship, is in the United States. The ship sailed on a 14-day transatlantic cruise from the United Kingdom to her new home port, PortMiami.

The 180,800 gross-tons cruise ship is the sister ship to Mardi Gras, Carnival’s hugely successful first LNG-powered vessel. We look at what you can expect from the most anticipated cruise ship of 2022.

Carnival Celebration is in Miami

After much anticipation, the moment is finally here. Carnival Celebration is in PortMiami, ready for her inaugural season sailing from the world’s biggest cruise port. The vessel actually arrived much earlier than expected in the very early hours of Sunday morning, while still dark, due to a guest needing some medical attention ashore.

The 180,800 gross-tons, 5,374-passenger made her way into PortMiami, where she docked at her new home, the 471,000-square-foot Terminal F. The terminal, upgraded recently at