Ambassador Cruise Line has become the first cruise operator to partner with Nectar, allowing members of the UK loyalty programme to both collect points on cruise bookings and use existing points towards the cost of a holiday.
The partnership covers Ambassador’s available cruise seasons, including its no-fly sailings from seven regional UK ports and its winter Caribbean fly-cruise programme.
Customers can collect up to 150,000 Nectar points on eligible cruise bookings, equivalent to as much as £750 in Nectar value. Members can also redeem points against their cruise fare, including using enough points to cover the entire eligible cost of a booking.
The arrangement applies across Ambassador’s Saver and Ambassador Fare options, as well as full-priced upgrades and applicable flight classes on Caribbean fly-cruise bookings.
Customers can link their Nectar account through Ambassador’s website. Points can also be collected when booking through the cruise line’s Guest Reservations team or at the Future Cruise Desk aboard its ships by providing a Nectar ID.
Nectar Expands Into Cruise Holidays
The agreement marks Nectar’s first partnership with a cruise line and expands the loyalty programme’s existing range of travel and leisure rewards.
Ambassador currently operates Ambience and Ambition on its UK no-fly programme, with departures from London Tilbury, Newcastle, Dundee, Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol Royal Portbury and Portsmouth.
Its itineraries include destinations such as the Norwegian Fjords, Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Caribbean and Africa, with a mixture of shorter cruises and longer voyages.
Renaissance, which joined Ambassador following its merger with French operator Compagnie Française de Croisières in January 2025, is being used for the company’s Caribbean fly-cruise programme.
The ship is scheduled to operate from Bridgetown, Barbados, during the 2026-27 winter season, with 14-night fly-cruise holidays running between 29th October 2026 and 1st April 2027. The programme includes direct Virgin Atlantic charter flights from London Heathrow and Manchester, as well as repositioning cruises at the beginning and end of the season.
Amir Rasekh, Managing Director at Nectar360, said: “We’re always looking for new ways to help members get more value from Nectar. Our partnership with Ambassador Cruise Line gives customers another way to turn everyday loyalty into memorable experiences.
“For the first time, Nectar members can use the points they collect through everyday spending towards a cruise holiday. Whether they’re collecting points on a booking or using points towards their next trip, this partnership gives customers another exciting way to get value from Nectar”
Gordon Nardini, Chief Marketing Officer at Ambassador Cruise Line, said: “We’re delighted to become Nectar’s first cruise line partner, offering millions of members a brand-new way to turn the points they collect into unforgettable holidays.”
Nardini described the agreement as one of Ambassador’s most significant brand partnerships since the cruise line launched five years ago.
Sainsbury’s Campaign And Cruise Competition
The partnership is being promoted through an in-store campaign beginning on 16th September and continuing until 13th October 2026 across 300 Sainsbury’s stores.
Ambassador advertising is set to appear at several points within participating stores, including entrance gates, displays, payment terminals and travel money screens, putting the cruise line in front of Nectar members while they shop.
Ambassador and Nectar are also marking the launch with a competition offering one Nectar member a cruise for two people in 2027.
The winner will be able to select either a no-fly cruise or fly-cruise of up to 14 nights. Full entry details are due to be released on 16th September 2026 through Nectar.
Ambassador was founded in 2021 and initially focused on adult-only no-fly cruises from the UK. Its fleet has since expanded to three ships following the January 2025 merger with Compagnie Française de Croisières.
The cruise line offers two principal fare types. Saver Fare covers accommodation, full-board dining and entertainment, while Ambassador Fare adds the Expedition Drinks Package alongside gratuities and service charges.
The Nectar agreement gives Ambassador another route to reach customers outside the traditional cruise market while allowing existing guests who are Nectar members to earn points from their holiday spending.
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A crew member told me there were 9,700 people on board Legend of the Seas when I spent a week sailing on the world’s biggest cruise ship. That’s around 7,200 guests plus another 2,500 crew.
That sounds like far too many people to fit comfortably on one ship, right? Before we went, I genuinely wondered whether the whole experience would feel crowded, chaotic and exhausting.
By the end of the week, I had my answer.
This Was My Second Cruise On Legend Of The Seas
I’d actually sailed on Legend of the Seas before, but under very different circumstances. My first trip was a preview sailing before the ship entered normal service, with a (relatively!) small number of travel agents, journalists and content creators on board.
On that first cruise, there were hardly any children either. So while I’d seen what the ship had to offer, I hadn’t really experienced what it was like during a normal family cruise.
This time was very different. We were sailing in August with thousands of families on board, and every cabin was occupied.
Some of my concerns looked justified almost immediately. By 9am, rows of sun loungers had already been claimed with towels, while two of the ship’s six water slides stayed closed for the entire cruise. On some days, only two slides were operating, which meant queues could stretch to an hour.
But what surprised me over the following seven days was how rarely the ship actually felt overwhelmed by all those people.
Embarkation Was Much Easier Than Expected
Getting more than 7,000 passengers onto one ship sounds like it should be chaotic, but embarkation in Barcelona was incredibly quick. We barely queued and were on board before we knew it.
My first job was to open the Royal Caribbean app and book the shows, which immediately caused a slight panic because many of the times we wanted were already showing as unavailable. I booked whatever was left and assumed we’d just have to work around it.
As it turned out, that wasn’t really necessary. The shows themselves were never as full as the app suggested, and we eventually managed to see everything we wanted.
We sailed on 30th August, which turned out to be an unusually good week for us. Most children in the UK were about to return to school, but mine weren’t due back until 7th September, and going just one week later saved us more than £1,000 on the cruise fare alone. Flights were considerably cheaper too.
It also meant there were very few British families on board. Most guests seemed to be Spanish, which made sense given that we were sailing from Barcelona and Spanish schools generally return later than those in the UK.
Announcements and some entertainment were in both English and Spanish, and the queuing culture was a little different from what I’m used to. At drinks machines, people tended to gather around rather than form an orderly line, and elevators could occasionally become a bit of a free-for-all.
As a British person who has effectively been trained from birth to queue properly, it took a little getting used to, but it wasn’t a major issue.
Most Activities Were Much Easier To Use Than I Expected
One of my biggest questions before the cruise was whether we’d actually be able to use everything we’d paid for.
Legend of the Seas has an almost ridiculous number of activities, including Crown’s Edge, rock climbing, ice skating, mini golf, the FlowRider surf simulator, a carousel and the huge Category 6 water park.
With 7,200 guests on board, I assumed there would be long queues for everything. There weren’t.
The kids used the climbing wall, tried the FlowRider and played mini golf without any real problems. My daughter also became slightly obsessed with the carousel in Surfside, where the animals are ducks rather than horses.
Apparently, riding one duck wasn’t enough. She needed to try every single one. Fortunately, there was barely ever a queue, so she managed it.
The kids also loved the ice skating. You can only reserve one skating session through the app, but if people don’t turn up for their booked slot, the crew will often let other guests take the spare spaces.
Ours ended up skating three times during the week simply by turning up and asking if there was room.
That became a useful lesson for the rest of the cruise too. If something appears fully booked in the app, it is still worth checking in person because people reserve activities and then change their plans all the time.
We Never Found Skipper The Dog
One thing Royal Caribbean promotes quite heavily on its Icon Class ships is the resident dog.
Legend of the Seas has a Golden Retriever called Skipper, whose official job title is Chief Dog Officer, and naturally my children were desperate to meet her.
Not Skipper, unfortunately.
Unfortunately, her appearances aren’t listed in the daily programme. From what I’d heard, you simply have to get lucky and happen to bump into her somewhere around the ship.
We tried.
We looked around Central Park, the AquaDome and the Royal Promenade, and spent quite a lot of time keeping an eye out in quieter areas where we’d heard she sometimes appeared. We even found Skipper’s toilet.
But during our entire seven-night cruise, we never actually saw Skipper. So if your children have seen the adverts and are imagining that they’ll spend the cruise hanging out with a Golden Retriever, I definitely wouldn’t choose the ship for that reason alone. You might see her, but there’s no guarantee.
One of the biggest tricks on a ship this size is doing things when everyone else isn’t.
If most guests are planning a lazy morning and activities later in the day, we’ll usually do the opposite. We’d get the active stuff done early, then slow down later when more people started appearing.
For most things, this worked brilliantly, but the big exception was the water park.
Category 6 has six slides, and I’d been especially keen to try them because I’d broken my toe on my previous Legend of the Seas cruise and hadn’t been able to use any of them.
This time, two months later, I was finally ready!
Unfortunately, two of the slides never opened during the entire week, and they also looked like two of the best ones.
Some days were even worse, with four of the six slides closed. That meant hundreds of people who had planned to spread themselves across a six-slide water park were suddenly being funnelled onto just two.
That’s when the queues became ridiculous. At times, the wait was around an hour for a single slide. We’d stand there for 20 minutes, barely move, then decide it simply wasn’t worth it.
The slides themselves were good, but I don’t think any water slide is good enough to justify standing in the sun for an hour without a hat or sunglasses.
We tried going at around 8pm one evening because the water park stays open until 9pm. The queue was shorter, but then we discovered another problem: once the sun starts going down, standing around soaking wet gets surprisingly cold.
Eventually, we found the perfect time: 9am.
As soon as the slides opened in the morning, the weather was already warm and there was hardly anybody waiting. We could actually enjoy them rather than spend half the morning standing in a queue.
So, if Category 6 is important to you, go as soon as it opens.
I wouldn’t book Legend of the Seas purely for the water park, though. The slides are excellent when they’re operating, but our cruise proved that you can’t assume all six will be available.
Some Of The Paid Extras Were Surprisingly Good Value
Crown’s Edge worked out much better. It normally cost around $45 per person on our sailing, which I thought was pretty expensive for something that only lasts a couple of minutes.
On embarkation day, though, Royal Caribbean was offering it for just $17 each, so I booked all four of us straight away. And we loved it.
That became something of a theme during the cruise. Royal Caribbean has a reputation for upselling once you’re on board, and there is certainly no shortage of opportunities to spend extra money, but some of the offers were genuinely very good.
One day, a chef approached us while we were eating in the Windjammer and offered us a discounted galley tour. We got 30% off, the kids went free and it included a bottomless brunch afterwards.
I had seven mimosas, so I definitely wasn’t complaining about the value!
We also saw speciality restaurants discounted by as much as 50%, which led to one of the strangest things about sailing with 7,200 guests…
Some of the paid restaurants were virtually empty!
The Restaurants Were Much Quieter Than I Expected
One evening, we ate at Pier 7 in Surfside. It cost just $25 per adult, while the children could order from the adult menu free of charge, which I thought was an excellent deal.
Apparently, nobody else agreed, because we were the only people in the restaurant for the entire evening.
It felt incredibly strange to be on the biggest cruise ship in the world, surrounded by thousands of passengers, yet sitting in a speciality restaurant completely by ourselves.
Perhaps speciality dining would have been busier on a sailing with more American guests. Maybe European passengers were simply less inclined to pay extra when so much food was already included?
Whatever the reason, overcrowding certainly wasn’t a problem there. And the venue where I expected it to be worst – the buffet – was nowhere near as bad as I’d imagined either.
Thousands of people all trying to eat breakfast at the same time sounds horrific, but we never struggled to find a table in the Windjammer.
It could look busy when we first walked in, but the restaurant is enormous. We’d simply carry on towards the back and almost always find somewhere.
There’s also another buffet that I think many families overlook. Surfside Eatery is smaller and has less choice than the Windjammer, but it was quiet almost every time we visited. If you just want to get the kids something quickly without walking around a huge buffet looking for somewhere to sit, it’s really useful.
We Hardly Used The Main Dining Room
We ate very well throughout the cruise, despite only going to the main dining room once. The meal we had there was good, but as a vegetarian I still think Royal Caribbean’s main dining menus can be a little restrictive.
The line used to have a separate vegan menu, which gave you plenty more options. Now, you may only have one or two vegetarian choices on the standard menu. If that night’s main option happens to be something you don’t like, you’ll need another plan.
Fortunately, Legend of the Seas makes that very easy. Sorrento’s was probably our most visited dining venue because the pizza is excellent, while El Loco Fresh became another regular stop for tacos, nachos and quesadillas.
Pearl Cafe is also very easy to miss. It’s tucked away behind The Pearl and is brilliant when you want to grab something quickly without going anywhere near the buffet.
Legend Of The Seas Works Brilliantly For Kids
One thing I really like about the ship is how playful it feels. There are slides that take you from one deck to another in places such as Surfside and near the pool decks. They serve absolutely no practical purpose beyond being much more fun than using the stairs.
Surfside itself is bright, colourful and designed completely around families, although I think much of it is probably best for children under around eight. Mine were nine and eleven when we sailed, so they’re starting to outgrow parts of it.
Adventure Ocean was a different story, though. They’ve used plenty of kids’ clubs on previous cruises, and both said this was one of the best they’d experienced.
Even the entrance has interactive screens that make the whole thing feel more exciting before they’ve actually reached the club. And what surprised me most was how easy it was to get them in.
Adventure Ocean operates on a first-come, first-served basis, and you can’t reserve sessions in advance. I’ve sailed on ships before where arriving after the session has started means being told it’s already full, so on a ship carrying thousands of children, I expected queues of parents waiting outside the doors.
That never happened. Not once during the week were our children turned away.
Sometimes my son went several times in the same day, and we’d arrive an hour after a session had started to find there was still space. Impressive!
Would it have been the same a week earlier, right in the middle of the British school holidays? I don’t know. But on our sailing, Adventure Ocean was remarkably easy to use.
WOW Bands Were Worth Buying For The Kids
We also bought both children WOW Bands for $15 each, and I found them genuinely useful because they allowed the kids to move around the ship with a little more independence. They could go and get themselves a snack or head somewhere nearby without constantly needing one of us beside them.
Using the Royal Caribbean app, we could also keep an eye on where they were. On a ship this enormous, giving tweens or teenagers some freedom without completely losing track of them was easily worth $15 to me.
I would set some spending rules first, though! There are plenty of shops aimed at children and they’re not cheap. The same applies to the arcade, where games cost around $3.50 each on our sailing.
I’ve heard stories of children running up enormous bills because parents didn’t realise purchases were being charged straight to the cabin account. You have to be careful.
Fortunately, there was so much else to do that we never really felt the need to use the arcade anyway.
The Sun Lounger Situation Was Annoying
The pool decks were one area where the number of passengers did occasionally become noticeable.
Early in the morning, everything was lovely and quiet. By around 9am, though, plenty of sun loungers already had towels on them.
Not people. Just towels.
One morning, several loungers had been left like this for well over an hour, so I asked a crew member whether she could remove the towels. And she said she couldn’t.
I then asked what would happen if I moved them myself. She smiled and said: “then I wouldn’t see anything”. So I moved them.
About an hour later, two people came back and were absolutely furious. They said they’d only gone for lunch for an hour and believed they should have been allowed to reserve the loungers while they were away.
(They had definitely been gone longer than that.)
But I think that exchange highlighted the bigger issue. A lot of people simply don’t realise that leaving a towel on a lounger while you disappear for lunch isn’t really okay.
There weren’t many obvious signs during most of our cruise, and I didn’t hear regular announcements warning people not to reserve loungers. If you’re used to hotels where guests put towels down in the morning and return hours later, you might assume the same rules apply at sea.
The problem is that a cruise ship doesn’t have enough poolside loungers for every guest. If you’re not using one for an hour or two, somebody else should be able to.
Interestingly, Royal Caribbean became much stricter about this on our final day, which was our only sea day. Signs suddenly appeared around the pool deck stating that loungers couldn’t be reserved, and it made a noticeable difference.
Even with everyone on board, we still managed to find somewhere to sit, get into the hot tubs and find quieter areas away from the busiest pools.
So although all those abandoned towels initially looked like proof that the ship was overcrowded, the reality was more complicated.
Based on our overall experience though, you might not get a lounger directly beside the pool, but there were always other places available.
This, for me, is the biggest reason Legend of the Seas works. It’s not simply enormous. It’s divided into so many different areas that everyone naturally spreads out.
One family might be in Surfside, while another is watching the ice show. Some guests are wandering through Central Park or the Royal Promenade, while others are in Category 6, Adventure Ocean, the casino, the FlowRider, Crown’s Edge or one of dozens of restaurants and bars.
You almost never have all 7,200 passengers trying to use the same space. There were several points during the cruise when we genuinely looked around and wondered where everyone was.
Sometimes It Barely Feels Like A Cruise Ship
There is a downside to that design, and that is that Legend of the Seas is very inward-facing.
Many of its main public areas look into the ship rather than towards the ocean, and you can spend surprisingly long periods on board without actually seeing the sea.
Whether that’s a good or bad thing will depend entirely on what you want from a cruise. If your favourite thing is sitting somewhere quiet and watching the ocean go past, there are other ships I’d choose first.
Likewise, if you want sea views every time you sit down for lunch, Legend isn’t necessarily the best fit. But if you want to wake up every morning wondering which of 50 different things you’re going to do first, that’s where this ship makes far more sense.
One of my favourite quieter places was the AquaDome at the front of the ship. During the daytime, it was often incredibly peaceful and became one of my favourite places to relax. Then, in the evening, it completely transforms…
The Entertainment Is Some Of The Best I’ve Seen At Sea
The AquaTheater performances inside the AquaDome are absolutely incredible, with divers launching themselves from high above the pool.
Then there’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
This wasn’t just my favourite show on the cruise. It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at sea, and probably one of the best I’ve seen anywhere. I’ve seen quite a few by now, so that’s high praise!
The ice skating production is brilliant too, and having skated on the same rink ourselves earlier in the cruise really makes you appreciate how talented the performers are.
Legend of the Seas also has an America’s Got Talent show featuring performers connected with the TV series, which was excellent.
The biggest compliment I can give the entertainment is that I’d already seen all of these shows on my previous Legend cruise… and I went back to watch them all again.
There wasn’t a single one where I thought, “I’ve seen that already, I’ll do something else.”
And remember all those unavailable reservations when we first boarded? They weren’t a problem at all. The shows themselves were never completely full. People reserve seats and then don’t turn up, so even if the app says something is fully booked, I’d still go to the venue and ask.
We got into everything we wanted.
Our Balcony Cabin Worked Well For Four
We stayed in a traditional ocean-view balcony cabin with a proper outside balcony rather than an Infinite Balcony where the window lowers.
I’ve stayed in Royal Caribbean cabins overlooking the inside of the ship before, but personally I prefer being able to step outside and see the sea.
Now, I’ve got to be honest: for four people, the cabin wasn’t enormous. The sofa converted into a double bed for the children, which I don’t think is ideal. I really don’t understand why Royal Caribbean seems to prefer double sofa beds over bunks in so many family cabins, because two children sharing a bed isn’t always practical.
Our cabin steward left the sofa bed made up throughout the cruise, which reduced the floor space quite a bit. I’m sure he would have folded it away each morning if we’d asked, but we didn’t really want to make extra work for him.
He did make some excellent towel animals, though!
Most importantly, the cabin was incredibly quiet. That’s worth checking before you book because on my previous Legend cruise, I’d stayed directly underneath Crown’s Edge and could regularly hear people screaming as they went past above the cabin.
A quick look at the deck plans before choosing your room can make a big difference.
We Barely Got Off The Ship
Probably the most unusual thing about our cruise was that we hardly went ashore, and for the most part that was by design.
Normally, if I’m sailing around the Mediterranean, I want to explore the destinations. That’s a huge part of the appeal.
But on this cruise, every time we arrived in port it felt like we had to make a choice: do we go out and explore, or stay on the enormous ship we’ve paid all this money to experience? Most days, we stayed, and it was brilliant.
The activities were quieter, the pools were calmer and we could make much better use of everything while thousands of other guests were ashore.
On one day, we did use the tender boats and I was impressed by how easy the process was. You could reserve a tender time through the app if you needed to get off at a specific time, but there was still plenty of availability on the morning itself.
I would say that, if visiting as many different destinations as possible is the most important part of your holiday, Legend of the Seas probably wouldn’t be my first choice.
There’s nothing wrong with the itinerary, to be clear. It just feels slightly wasteful to pay so much for a ship like this and then spend most of your days away from it. For me, Legend makes much more sense when the ship itself is the destination.
So, Did 9,700 People Feel Like Too Many?
For most of the week, I kept waiting for the moment when I’d decide that Legend of the Seas was simply too crowded, and it never really came.
The sun lounger situation was annoying, and the water slide closures were disappointing. Royal Caribbean definitely needs to get that sorted because running two slides in a water park designed for six creates annoying queues.
There were occasional moments when it was obvious that thousands and thousands of other people were on board. But those moments were the exception.
We never struggled to find somewhere to sit, didn’t spend ages waiting for elevators and the kids were never turned away from Adventure Ocean. We managed almost every activity we wanted to do without long queues and saw every show we wanted.
Even on our only sea day, the ship never felt uncomfortably busy, and there were actually several occasions where we looked around and asked, “Where is everyone?”
That’s probably the most impressive thing about Legend of the Seas. Royal Caribbean hasn’t just built an enormous ship and filled it with thousands of people. It’s built enough different places for those people to spread themselves around.
We had a fantastic week, and I was genuinely sad to get off.
I’ve now sailed on Legend of the Seas twice. Would I pay to sail on her for a third time? Absolutely.
I do want to try one of their smallest ships though, to compare…
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This milestone marks the completion of the vessel’s exterior construction and the first time the ship has touched water, bringing the brand one step closer to launching a new premium river cruise experience when Celebrity Compass sets sail in August 2027.
As the inaugural ship in the fleet, Celebrity Compass introduces Celebrity Cruises’ signature approach to elevated travel on the world’s iconic rivers, combining contemporary design, exceptional hospitality, destination-focused experiences and industry-leading innovation.
Celebrity River Cruises marks major milestone with float out of Celebrity Compass (Credit: Celebrity River Cruises)
The multi-day float out process began at Zwijnenburg shipyard in Rotterdam on Wednesday, September 9. Following a successful float out, Celebrity Compass then traveled her first 80 kilometers on the river, arriving at TeamCo Shipyard in Heusden on Saturday, September 12.
“The float out of Celebrity Compass is a defining milestone as we bring our vision for Celebrity River Cruises to life,” said Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises. “With Celebrity Compass, we’re reimagining river cruising The Celebrity Way, combining elevated design, exceptional hospitality, and destination-rich experiences to create a journey unlike any other on the river. As our inaugural ship enters the next phase of construction, we’re one step closer to welcoming guests aboard in 2027 and showing them a new way to discover the world’s iconic waterways.”
Get To Know Celebrity’s New River Cruise Fleet:
Revolutionary open decks expand guests’ horizons. Celebrity River Cruises features the intuitive design the brand is known for on the ocean, connecting guests to the world around them like never before. Revolutionary open decks immerse vacationers in each destination with uninterrupted, 360-degree views. Guests can dine floating above the river on the Magic Edge — the first-ever cantilevered dining pods on a river — while enjoying regional, destination-driven culinary offerings. An infinity-edge plunge pool invites guests to cool off while taking in the sights.
Uniquely elegant staterooms offer more room to vacation. Innovative stateroom design delivers intuitive storage, enhanced configurations, king-sized beds in every stateroom and spacious balconies to make guests feel at home on the river. Five boutique stateroom categories, each bathed in natural light, are designed not just for staying but for living with residential interior design.
More flavors to savor on the river. Designed for every mood and any taste, guests will enjoy flavorful dining at eight restaurants and bars — including Celebrity-favorite venues Martini Bar, Sunset Bar and Café Al Bacio — offering the most choice and variety on the river, all served with the unmatched hospitality Celebrity Cruises is known for. Guests can savor the day on their own time with complimentary breakfast room service and flexible, all-day dining access that offers the only 24/7 meal options on the river.
Industry-leading ship design. With an unrivaled exterior profile, Celebrity River Cruises will turn heads while maintaining respect for the scenery and history of destinations. An innovative hull delivers a lightweight, versatile design that improves river navigation, while a best-in-class hybrid propulsion system and advanced technology reduce noise and vibration.
A 34-year-old Florida man was arrested after authorities said he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman he met aboard a cruise ship returning to PortMiami. According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrest report cited by Local 10, Cody Gray met the woman in a shipboard nightclub early September 12 and allegedly supplied her with three additional alcoholic drinks.
Investigators said the woman told Gray she did not want to have sex, later became unconscious, and reported that she never consented to sexual activity. Gray was taken into custody after the ship returned to Miami and faces charges of sexual battery and providing alcohol to a minor. He was ordered held without bond pending another hearing. Authorities did not identify the cruise ship in the arrest report. Cruise Law News subsequently noted that Carnival Horizon appears to match the September 6–12 PortMiami itinerary, but that identification has not been confirmed by law enforcement and should be treated as an inference rather than fact.
Cruise Addicts recently held live discussion with Attorney Thomas Scolaro of CruiseInjury.law about the dangers of sexual assault while cruising and how to protect yourself – CLICK HERE to watch.
A major fire broke out Monday, September 14, at Whittier, Alaska’s newly opened Chugach Glacier Gateway cruise terminal, forcing Norwegian Jade to pull away from the dock as emergency crews responded. The U.S. Coast Guard told Alaska media the fire was reported at about 11 a.m. local time. No injuries had been reported as of Monday afternoon.
Norwegian Jade was alongside the terminal when the blaze began but safely moved away, according to the Coast Guard. A nearby tour vessel, Klondike Express, was also moved from the area; officials said no passengers were aboard it when the fire started. Images showed heavy flames and smoke around the dock. The cause remained unknown Monday afternoon. Norwegian Jade was scheduled to begin a seven-night Alaska sailing from Whittier on September 14.
New cruise ships and existing ships are coming to PortMiami next year, and this list breaks down what cruisers near the “Cruise Capital of the World” can expect from the new arrivals.
Three new ships are coming to PortMiami in 2027, along with three existing vessels.
2027 is going to be an interesting year. Not only is the largest ship in the world coming to the port, but a total of five cruise lines will be represented in the vessels that will call PortMiami home.
Six cruise ships that aren’t currently sailing from Miami will begin trickling in over the course of the year. Three of them are brand-new vessels making their debut, while the other four are existing ships moving over from other homeports.
Here’s the full rundown of what’s coming.
Hero of the Seas
Hero of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s fourth Icon-class ship is headed straight to Miami.
Hero of the Seas is scheduled to debut in August 2027 and will sail 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, including stops at Perfect Day CocoCay.
The ship will basically take over the Saturday slot that Icon of the Seas currently holds (Icon is currently in PortMiami but moves to Galveston later in the fall of 2027).
The first block for Royal Caribbean’s fifth Icon-class ship was just laid down this week at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, and that ship is expected to be completed in 2028.
Norwegian Aura
Norwegian Aura
Norwegian Cruise Line’s next (and largest) Prima Plus-class ship will also call Miami home in 2027. Just today NCL announced a new 45-minute production that will feature on Aura called “Whitney: A Celebration of Whitney Houston”.
Norwegian Aura debuts in Europe in late May in 2027 before crossing the Atlantic and settling into PortMiami starting in June after a 13-night transatlantic sailing.
From Miami she’ll sail 7-night Caribbean itineraries, beginning with Eastern Caribbean routes and later moving to some Western Caribbean options.
It will be the biggest ship in the Norwegian fleet so far at 172,000 gross tons in space. But the cruise has an even larger class in the works which will be around 227,000 GT and accommodate 5,000 passengers.
Beachcomber
Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber
This is a big one for the relatively young Margaritaville at Sea cruise line. And while it’s technically not a brand-new vessel itself, it’s brand new to the cruise line and has received a ton of updates after the transfer from Costa Cruises and 12-week dry dock.
The newly debuted Beachcomber will begin year-round sailings from PortMiami in January 2027.
It’s the largest ship in the Margaritaville at Sea fleet and will offer mostly 4- to 8-night itineraries to the Eastern and Southern Caribbean, with some Western Caribbean and Bahamas options mixed in as well.
Until now, Margaritaville has operated out of Palm Beach and Tampa. So, PortMiami is a major step for the cruise line, and I’m excited to see how it’s received in the Miami market.
Below are the existing cruise ships that will be moving from another homeport to Miami in 2027:
Carnival Venezia
Carnival Venezia
Carnival is bringing its “Fun Italian Style” ship to Miami as well.
Starting in May 2027, Carnival Venezia will homeport at PortMiami through at least April 2028, offering 6- and 8-day Eastern, Western, and Southern Caribbean cruises.
This ship has been more familiar to New York and Port Canaveral residents, so the move to PortMiami will offer Italian style to a new market.
MSC Seashore
MSC Seashore
MSC Seashore was the first Seaside EVO-class ship with MSC and is going to be moving from Port Canaveral to Miami for the winter of 2027–28.
She arrives in early to mid-November 2027 and will sail a mix of 6- to 9-night Eastern Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries, including stops at the cruise line’s private island, Ocean Cay.
According to the ship’s current schedule, Seashore will be in Miami until March 2028 when the vessel will take a transatlantic voyage to Europe and begin offering Mediterranean sailings.
Allure of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s second Oasis-class vessel, Allure of the Seas, is also making the move south in November 2027.
After spending most of 2026 (and part of 2027) sailing from Fort Lauderdale, the Oasis-class ship will move to PortMiami for 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.
She’s finally amplified, so passengers can expect the full Oasis-class experience with the latest upgrades.
Two Ships Heading to Miami Soon
A couple of ships will actually start sailing from PortMiami later this year (November 2026) and will already be based there when 2027 begins:
Independence of the Seas (repositioning from Cape Liberty)
Celebrity Xcel (new Edge-class ship arriving from Europe)
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Norwegian Cruise Line moved embarkation for Norwegian Jade to an alternative terminal in Whittier, Alaska, after a fire involving a tour boat prompted the cruise ship to leave the Chugach Glacier Gateway Cruise Terminal on 14th September 2026.
The fire broke out at around 11am local time while Klondike Express, operated by Phillips Cruises & Tours, was moored at the dock. The US Coast Guard said there were no passengers aboard the tour vessel at the time.
Norwegian Jade was also alongside when the incident began and moved safely away from the terminal. No damage to the 2,402-guest cruise ship was reported, while authorities said there were no injuries.
Emergency crews released Klondike Express from the pier so that the vessel could be moved away from the dock. The fire was subsequently extinguished, although images released by the Coast Guard showed fire damage to the tour boat.
Klondike Express operates sightseeing cruises from Whittier into Prince William Sound.
Multi-Agency Response To Whittier Fire
Girdwood Fire and Rescue joined Whittier Fire, Anchorage Fire and LifeMed Alaska in responding to the incident.
Footage released by Girdwood Fire and Rescue showed thick black smoke rising from the dock as Norwegian Jade moved away from the terminal. Klondike Express could also be seen being moved from the opposite side of the structure.
Access to Whittier was temporarily restricted during the emergency response. The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, the road connection used to reach the community, was closed for several hours to help emergency personnel access the area.
Girdwood Fire and Rescue and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced shortly before 2pm local time that the tunnel had reopened.
Officials had not announced the cause of the fire by 15th September.
The incident also required Norwegian Cruise Line to change where passengers boarded Norwegian Jade for the ship’s 14th September departure.
Norwegian Cruise Line said:
“The safety and security of our guests, crew and the communities we visit are always a top priority. We are aware of a fire at the Chugach Glacier Gateway Cruise Terminal in Whittier, Alaska where one of our ships was scheduled to have guests embark from. As emergency personnel continue to respond to the situation, access to the area remains restricted. As a result, we will proceed with our embarkation process from an alternate location, Whittier Alaska Cruise Ship Terminal 1.”
Cruise Ship Terminal 1 is located on West Camp Road, approximately two-thirds of a mile from the affected terminal across the water.
At the time of the cruise line’s statement, there was no confirmed impact on Norwegian Jade’s wider itinerary. Norwegian Cruise Line said any further changes would be communicated directly to passengers.
Norwegian Jade Continues Final Alaska Sailings
The affected departure was the final southbound Alaska sailing of Norwegian Jade’s 2026 season.
The seven-night one-way itinerary was due to take the ship from Whittier to Vancouver, with scenic cruising near Hubbard Glacier and calls at Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan before reaching Vancouver on 21st September.
Norwegian Jade is then scheduled to depart Vancouver on 21st September for another journey through Alaska as the ship heads towards Japan for its winter programme in Asia.
The next cruise ship scheduled to visit Whittier after Norwegian Jade is Royal Princess on 24th September. Royal Princess has experienced engine problems during its current voyage, resulting in itinerary adjustments, but as of 15th September there had been no announced change to the ship’s 19th September departure that is scheduled to include Whittier.
The Whittier incident came one week after a separate small fire involving another Norwegian Cruise Line ship. A fire was reported aboard Norwegian Aura on 7th September while the vessel was under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. No injuries or significant damage were reported in that incident.
Royal Princess is skipping Juneau and Ketchikan on its September 12 Alaska sailing after Princess Cruises told guests that a technical issue with the ship’s engines was limiting the speed needed to maintain the original itinerary.
A guest letter reproduced by Cruise Fever says the issue does not affect the safety of guests or crew and that technical teams are working to resolve it. The ship is continuing north, with Skagway still scheduled for September 15 and Victoria later in the voyage. Princess is offering affected guests a refund equal to 50% of their cruise fare, and is also refunding Princess-booked shore excursions for the canceled ports. Independent passenger posts from the sailing are consistent with the reported itinerary changes.
Source: Princess Cruises guest communication / Cruise Fever
Vanessa Phillips boarded MSC Seascape on 30th August 2026 to confront a former associate she alleges took nearly $1,100 from her for a cruise booking before cutting off contact ahead of the sailing.
The confrontation took place during the ship’s seven-night Western Caribbean cruise from Galveston, Texas, after Phillips booked herself onto the same voyage as Armonte Wilson. Video later posted online showed Phillips approaching Wilson while he was in one of the ship’s hot tubs and repeatedly demanding an explanation and the return of her money.
Phillips said she had previously met Wilson during an MSC Cruises sailing in December 2025. The pair subsequently discussed travelling together in August, but Phillips alleges the arrangements developed into a fraudulent booking involving an itinerary, booking information and invoices.
According to Phillips, she transferred payments totalling close to $1,100 before Wilson stopped communicating with her shortly before departure.
Phillips has since reported her fraud allegation to the FBI and said she intends to pursue other legal action. Wilson has publicly disputed her version of events.
Confrontation Takes Place On MSC Seascape
After losing contact with Wilson, Phillips contacted MSC Cruises while attempting to establish what had happened to the booking. She said she was told Wilson had paid $524 for the seven-night cruise.
Rather than abandoning her plans, Phillips made her own arrangements to travel aboard MSC Seascape when the ship departed Galveston on 30th August.
Once onboard, she enlisted the assistance of another passenger to arrange an encounter with Wilson that could be recorded.
“I never had plans to put my hands on this man. My intention was to get him to confess so that I can report him to all legal authorities, including cruise ship security,” Phillips said.
The resulting video shows Phillips approaching Wilson in a hot tub and asking repeatedly about the disputed money.
“What I want to know is, where’s my $1,100?” she asks. “You know you stole my $1,100.”
The exchange remained verbal in the footage, with no apparent physical contact. Wilson indicated that he wanted to contact ship security, while Phillips encouraged him to do so and said she wanted to accompany him.
The video ends after another passenger, who is not visible, questions why Phillips is bothering Wilson.
Phillips subsequently shared footage of the encounter on social media on 5th September. Within several days, her Facebook video had accumulated more than 2.5 million views and around 3,500 comments, while versions circulating on other platforms had reportedly surpassed 14 million views.
Wilson has also responded publicly through TikTok and Instagram, disputing Phillips’ allegations and addressing the monetary transactions. His response does not resolve the competing claims over what happened to the money.
Fraud Allegation Reported To FBI
Phillips said she reported the matter to the FBI as alleged fraud and was pursuing additional legal avenues following the cruise.
At the same time, she has sought to discourage social media users from targeting Wilson as footage of the confrontation spread online.
“I removed my explanation video because I do not want him doxxed or harrassed… I posted the receipts but was unaware certain information was present,” she said. “I do not condone bullying or harrassment [sic].”
The dispute centres on Phillips’ allegation that she paid Wilson almost $1,100 in connection with a cruise reservation that either did not exist as represented or from which she was subsequently removed.
Her decision to book the same MSC Seascape voyage ultimately brought the two face to face aboard the ship, but the filmed confrontation did not settle the financial dispute.
With Wilson contesting the allegations and Phillips saying she has referred the matter to federal authorities, the claims remain disputed.
The incident also highlights the risks of transferring cruise payments to individuals rather than completing transactions through established booking channels. Travellers arranging cruises through third parties can independently confirm reservations with the cruise line and retain invoices, payment records and other booking documentation in case a transaction is later disputed.
National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions is launching an air-credit promotion worth up to $2,000 per person on select 2027 expedition cruises, according to TravelPulse. The offer runs from September 15 through November 4, 2026, and requires flights to be booked through the Lindblad Expeditions Air Department.
Eligible voyages include expeditions in Antarctica, Svalbard, Greenland, Japan, Patagonia, French Polynesia and European coastal destinations. Lindblad’s official Air Department page confirms that the company handles promotional air-credit bookings and notes that airfare promotions can carry special conditions. Travelers should verify the exact credit, eligible departure, and fare terms before booking, as benefits vary by sailing.
