Carnival has just announced that the Carnival Legend, a Spirit-class ship, will be heading to Europe in 2013.  The homeport will be Dover, UK with some Mediterranean sailings leaving from Barcelona and Venice. The ship will arrive in Europe on Aprill 22 after an April 7th trans-atlantic sailing that stops in Bermuda, the Azores, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.  It will then begin a series of Mediterranean cruises before turning its attention North to the Baltics and the British Isles. The return to Tampa for a winter cruising season will begin on November 12, leaving the Legend in Europe for almost 6 months.

This news is extremely exciting for us as we love the value that Carnival provides, and Europe happens to be our favorite cruise itinerary.  John Heald has been hinting to a UK-based ship for some time, and we suspected it might be a Spirit-class ship, just because the size really seems to work for Europe.  Another exciting part of this announcement is that the Legend is not sticking to the normal itinerary of the Western Mediterranean, but is branching out to not only just the Baltics, but also the British Isles. Carnival has reported increased success in reaching British passengers in the past year, and this deployment is a step in affirming that relationship. 


The Spirit-class ships are usually among the highest-rated ships for Carnival at 88,000 gross tons.  With a longer, more sleek look than some of their fleetmates, these ships are usually praised for layout, and all feature Carnival's Supper Club. 

What do you think of the news? Does a Carnival ship in Europe make you more likely to cruise there?

Yesterday, Disney announced some new itineraries for not only the Disney Wonder as expected, but also the Disney Magic.  For the past few weeks, there has been much speculation about what Disney would do with the Wonder since it cancelled several Mexican Riviera itineraries next December.  Alaska has been profitable for Disney, but we have seen continued sales and discounts for the Mexican Riviera.  

About a week ago, the buzz began that the Disney Wonder would homeport in Miami, and yesterday it was confirmed.  The Wonder will be doing a mix of 4 and 5 day itineraries to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean respectively.  Most include a stop at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, but a few substitute a stop in Grand Cayman (a poor substitution, in my opinion).  The Wonder will still be heading back to Alaska in the summer of 2013 with Panama Canal cruises offered for repositioning.

Perhaps more exciting are the itineraries for the Disney Magic, which will be returning to the Mediterranean with different, yet amazing itineraries. Cruising from Barcelona, most of the Magic's itineraries will be 7 night cruises with stops in Villefranche, LaSpezia, Civitavecchia and Naples, which are really the highlights of their previous Med itineraries.  They are also offering four special 12 night sailings with 2 stopping in Venice, Dubrovnik and Malta and the other 2 stopping in Athens(Piraeus), Kusadasi, Mykonos and Malta.  There are also a couple of 4 day cruises with stops in Villefranche and Palma de Mallorca.  

I must admit to drooling when I read about both of the 12 day itineraries in Europe.  The first one with Venice contains all ports that I have previously visited, but they are all truly amazing ports. It is particularly suited for first time visitors to Europe as it hits all the highlights: Rome, Florence, Naples, Venice, a The second one with Athens, Turkey and Mykonos holds even more appeal since those are ports I have yet to see, but you do lose Naples, which is a great stop.  Still, there are some great choices there, and I imagine that they will sell quite well for Disney since they are new itineraries.  And, of course, if you are booking one of these cruises, you can find port info here on our site, detailing how to do each of these ports on your own. Feel free to email us with any questions [email protected]

Carnvial has ordered 3 new ships for two of its subsidiary companies, all of which are larger than the current ships operating for the lines. Two ships have been ordered for AIDA cruises to be delivered March 2015 and March 2016. The ships will both be 125,000 tons with 3,250 passengers. AIDA is a British-owned, German cruise line which currently operates 8 ships and has orders for 2 more, which will be delivered in 2012 and 2013. AIDA offers itineraries in Europe as well as the Amazon, North America, southeast Asia and transatlantic crossings. The largest current ship is 71,000 tons.
The other order is a 132,500 vessel for Costa with a capacity of 3,700 passengers. It will be delivered in October 2014, and is expected to replace older Costa vessels, which have been sold. Costa is the Italian subsidiary of Carnival Corp. with sailings around Europe, with a few in the Caribbean. The 114,500 Costa Favolosa was just introduced to the line, and is part of a continued expansion of the line.

If you have never considered a river cruise before, it might be time in the next few years as Viking River Cruises has delivered the first of ten new ships in 3 years. The new ship will be sailing a series of 8 day "Romantic Danube" cruises between Budapest and Nuremburg, Germany and start at $1656 for double occupancy. The Prestige has an open air lounge, all outward facing cabins with floor to ceiling French doors on the balcony rooms and free wi-fi.
Here's hoping that the expansion of the cruise line results in more deals and lower fares so that more of us can experience these amazing cruises in countries not normally known for cruising like Germany and Austria.

June 21, 2011
Some cruisers will be returning to the port of La Goulette in Tunisia starting in just a few weeks. MSC has officially announced today that it has reinstated the stop in Tunisia on its scheduled Mediterranean itineraries.  Civil unrest due to a change in the government earlier this year prompted most cruise lines to drop the port from their itineraries. In a press release, MSC cites customer requests and increased security as the reasons for returning to La Goulette.  Several cruise lines, including Disney have maintained their decision to not include the port in their sailings, which has, at least in Disney's case, resulted in high VAT taxes for cruisers onboard due to all port stops residing within the EU. The port of La Goulette in Tunisia is known for being the gateway to Roman ruins such as Carthage and Dougga as well as famous blue and white seaside town, Sidi Bou Said.

Norwegian has long been known for breaking traditional cruise rules, but their newest announcement breaks the mold of what cruising actually is. Next summer when the Norwegian Epic comes back to the Mediterranean, guests can choose to embark in either Civitavecchia or Barcelona for the SAME cruise. Well, sort of. If you embark in Civitavecchia, Barcelona will be a port day and vice versa. The cruise will be seven days in length, regardless of where you board, you can just choose between the two cities for your round-trip cruise. The rest of the ports remain the same: Livorno, Villefranche and Marseilles.
With airline tickets ranging so drastically in price, this is a great option since you can play around with which city might offer the better rates. Also, if you are tired of spending that before and after day in Barcelona, you can change it up and start your cruise in Rome.
NCL's season in the Med starts next year on April 29 and runs through Oct 17.