Welcome to the weekly Cruise News Digest. Here you can catch up on the past week’s cruise news and all things La Lido Loca.
Let’s dive in!
This week brought us news from Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean.
In an 80’s throwback to Hollywood Insider, Princess Cruises announced a series of three “Hollywood Insider” cruises to debut on California Coastal voyages in October 2023. The cruises will feature onboard celebrities from the popular 80’s show Dallas, behind the scenes professional from movie and TV shows, and musical performances from award winning musicians. The three “Hollywood Insider” voyages are 3-, 5-, and 7-day sailings aboard Crown Princess, Majestic Princess, and Discovery Princess respectively.
Later in the week, Princess Cruises announced another set of themed cruises. Also departing in October 2023, the “Pacific Coast Wine & Food Experience” cruises aboard Discovery Princess and Sapphire Princess will focus on family-owned wineries on the US West Coast. These itineraries include two celebrated family wineries—Wagner Family of Wine and Jackson Family Wines and sail from Vancouver, British Columbia to Los Angeles. Discovery Princess will offer a 6-night voyage while Sapphire Princess will offer a 7-night cruise.
Carnival Cruise Line rolled out the schedule for their new vegan menu that they tested on Carnival Magic. The choices featured in the new vegan menu include Hawaiian Salmon Poke, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Spaghetti Carbonara for appetizers. For entrees the menu features Grilled Tofu Steak, Baked Vegetable Au Gratin, and Eggplant Cutlet a la Parmigiana. Want dessert? Guests will find Key Lime Velvet Cake, Dutch Double Chocolate Pave, and Cappuccino Pot de Crème and are expected to be offered fleet-wide by the end of 2023.
Carnival Cruise Line also announced Carnival Legend will join Carnival Dream, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Jubilee at the Port of Galveston in the fall of 2025. She will sail a variety of four- through 10-day Western Caribbean cruises along with two Panama Canal cruises. Look for her to arrive in October 2025 and alternate between shorter and longer voyages in the Western Caribbean.
Exciting news from Royal Caribbean International as Utopia of the Seas was floated out for the first time. This is a major milestone in the construction of any ship. The float out took place at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France where Utopia of the Seas has been under construction since April 2022 when her first steel was cut. Utopia of the Seas will be the first in its class to offer short vacations when she debuts in July 2024.
Lastly, Royal Caribbean International reached out to guests who had their cruise aboard Freedom of the Seas canceled and let them know it’s not canceled. In July, Royal Caribbean had reached out to guests aboard several Freedom of the Seas sailings to let them know that due to a dry dock schedule their cruise had been canceled. They were given the opportunity to change or cancel their cruise at that time. Now, the cruise line has reached back out to guests to let them know the dry dock schedule had been adjusted and they can cruise on Freedom of the Seas again. Guests have until October 3, 2023, to decide what they are doing with this new information.
There you have it. This week’s Cruise News Digest. Are you keeping up with Tony (and Don) and their Princess cruise this week? You can get even more cruise news and views at La Lido Loca, along with extra content and the podcast at La Lido Loca Two. Follow along with Tony’s weight loss journey at Have To Lose or join in on the conversation via social media on the La Lido Cruising Community and the Have to Lose Support Crew group pages.