Diplomacy

Cruise lines continue to build and add new features on cruise ships that were once unheard of. However, not every idea and proposed cruise ship has been built. From a mile long ship to Titanic II, here are the some of the most unique cruise ships that were never built.

The Freedom Ship is a nearly mile long cruise ship that can carry 60,000 passengers. The ship itself would be able to accommodate an incredible 100,000 people at a time (40,000 residents, 30,000 daily visitors, 20,000 full time crew members, and 10,000 overnight hotel guests).

The idea behind the ship was for it to spend two years at a time circumnavigating the globe, visiting ports and countries all around the world.

You can read more about the Freedom Ship here.

Carnival Cruise Line’s Project Pinnacle was a radical design for a cruise ship that was years ahead of its time. The project started in 2004 and ended up being scrapped. The ships would have been the world’s largest at the time at over 200,000 gross tons.

One of the really cool features on the ship was a people mover system to quickly take people all around the vessel.

There was a proposed lazy river and the aft of the ship was split, an idea that Royal Caribbean ended up using for their Oasis class ships.

You can read more about Carnival Cruise Line’s Project Pinnacle here.

RMS Titanic is the most well known ship of all time. When an Australian Billionaire proposed building Titanic II around 12 years ago, it made news all around the world.

However, it was likely nothing more than a publicity stunt. The launch of the ship kept getting pushed back, from 2016 to 2018, and then 2022. However, work on the ship never began and Blue Star Line keeps delivering false promises.

This past spring, they once again said that the project was moving forward. Nine months later, they haven’t said a word about the ship since. However, they did update their website during this time.

Titanic II would have been built as close to the original as possible with everything from first to third class cabins. New modern safety equipment, navigation methods, and technology would have been integrated into the ship.

They even created a video of what life would be like on Titanic II that racked up 3.5 million views on YouTube.

You can watch the watch the video below:

While the first three projects mentioned in this article are dead and the ships won’t be built, a shipyard has proposed another incredible cruise ship that is currently just a prototype. Since the ship has some insane features, I thought it would be a good addition to the article.

Meyer Werft unveiled a 430,000 gross ton prototype cruise ship that would likely carry between 12-15,000 passengers. Due to its enormous size and port limitations, it will likely never be built.

I had the opportunity to see a model of the ship at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami a few years ago. You can see photos of Project Trimaran here.

Azamara, a small ship destination focused cruise line, has released their winter deployment for 2026-2027 that consists of 66 new cruises.

These 66 new cruises from Azamara include eight extraordinary Grand Voyages that span 35 nights and longer. The newly announced sailings visit 20 countries on five continents.

The Grand Voyages span a variety of continents and destinations including Canada to Australia, Australia to Japan, Canada to Japan, Buenos Aires to Miami, and more. They offer an in-depth exploration of each port so guest can immerse themselves in local culture.

For the first time, Azamara Onward will offer cruises in Europe during the winter to meet growing demand. One huge benefit of these winter cruises is easier admittance to museums, landmarks and local markets due to the off season.

Azamara is also returning to China and their small ships allow them to sail right into the heart of Shanghai. 

The cruise line is offering an early booking bonus that not only includes 20% off cruise fares, but guests who book a veranda cabin or suite will receive the following:

• $300 in on board credit
• Free WiFi
• Premium beverage package for two

Michael Pawlus, Head of Itinerary Planning at Azamara, gave the following statement:

“We are thrilled to announce our winter 2026-2027 cruises, which mark an exciting chapter in Azamara’s commitment to bringing our guests to the world,” said . “For the first time ever, we are pleased to offer cruises to Europe during the wintertime so guests can delight in beloved destinations without peak-season crowds and during cooler weather.

“Additionally, we are thrilled to return to China with its rich culture and history. These sailings offer an unparalleled opportunity to explore the world in a more meaningful way.”

“Our Grand Voyages, with extended itineraries and in-depth exploration, allow travelers to truly connect with each destination while enjoying the signature Azamara experience.

“Whether it’s an unforgettable evening in a Mediterranean port or a multi-week journey across continents, we’re proud to offer diverse and enriching itineraries that cater to every kind of traveler.”

After a year and a half of offering Italian style cruises out of New York, Carnival Venezia has been repositioned to Port Canaveral, Florida.

The 4,208-passenger ship arrived on Wednesday and will be offering seasonal sailings out of the Florida cruise port through May 2025.

Carnival Venezia’s arrival makes it the fifth Carnival Cruise Line ship to currently homeport in Port Canaveral.  The other four ships include Carnival Vista, Carnival Glory, Carnival Freedom, and Mardi Gras.

The cruise line is the first to offer five ships at one time out of the port.

Port Canaveral CEO Capt. John Murray welcomed the ship to the Space Coast port, emphasizing the port’s long partnership with Carnival.

“Our new fiscal year is taking off in grand style with the arrival of Carnival Venezia, which represents the 16^th cruise ship to home port at Port Canaveral – the most in our history.  We’ve have had a long and successful partnership with Carnival Cruise Line for nearly 35 years. We’re very proud of our collective growth and thrilled to play a role in their continuing success with Carnival Venezia added to our incredible lineup of homeported ships,” Murray stated.

Dubbed as a “Carnival Fun Italian Style” cruise ship, Venezia is Venice-themed and originally debuted with sister brand Costa Cruises.

In June 2022, Carnival announced that both Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze would be transferred to the cruise line’s fleet.  Both vessels are now Vista-class cruise ships and are the largest in the class with about 135,000 of gross tons in volume.

Carnival Venezia is currently on 4-day sailing to the Bahamas for its first voyage out of Port Canaveral.  From now until May 2025, Venezia will be sailing 7-day and 14-day cruises to the Eastern, Western, and Southern Caribbean.

On May 11, 2025, the ship will reposition back to New York on an 11-day one-way sailing.

Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, commented on the arrival of Carnival Venezia:

“Our Venice-themed ship adds another truly dynamic offering, with a fresh Italian twist on our signature Carnival fun plus the same friendly service our guests love and further enriches the variety of convenient options available to our loyal guests cruising from Orlando.”

Duffy also noted, “Our guests who sailed with Carnival Venezia from New York love the ship and its new experiences, and we know that she will add even more value to the Carnival offering in her new winter home at Port Canaveral.“

A cruise line is making changes to their unlimited drink packages that will go into effect for cruises that depart on or after April 1, 2025.

MSC Cruises sent out an email today to travel agents informing them of these new changes. The biggest change is that the Premium Extra Package will begin to be limited to 15 alcoholic drinks a day, per person.

However, you can still drink after you reach the daily limit, but you will have to pay full price for each drink.

For cruises that depart on or after April 1, 2025, MSC Cruises will offer the following three drink packages.

Premium Extra Package

This package will allow for 15 alcoholic drinks that are priced up to $16 each. For bottled wines and champagne, it will discount them by 25%.

This package also includes unlimited bottled water, sodas, energy drinks, coffee, hot chocolate, and tea.

Alcohol-Free Package

This package allows for unlimited alcohol-free cocktails, sodas, energy drinks, flavored water, fruit juices, coffee and ice cream.

Minors Package

This package for younger cruisers includes alcohol-free cocktails, sodas, energy drinks, flavored water, fruit juices, coffee, and ice cream.

The new 15-drink limit for the Premium Extra Package only applies to beverages ordered outside of the Yacht Club or Yacht Club areas.

This change will apply to all cruises sailing in the Caribbean, North America, and Pacific Ocean areas. 

Guests who purchased beverage packages prior to December 18, 2024, will not be impacted by this change.

Dining with strangers at the same table might seem odd or even awkward, but for cruise passengers who enjoy a traditional dining experience, it’s part of life at sea.

The thing is, you never know who will be sitting at the same table.  People who regularly choose this traditional style of eating in the main dining room typically find it an enriching experience.

But for one particular pair of cruise passengers, the very vocation of their tablemates was grounds to request their removal.

Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald recently took to Facebook to share a message he received on the incident.

“One question I want to chat about is one from yesterday and a lady who wrote to me demanding that she and her friend have a guest and his wife removed from the table they were sharing at dinner,” Heald began.

He went on to ask his colleagues what this couple had done to warrant such a request.

“Perhaps they had said something, done something that was inappropriate or perhaps they were Cruise Critic members,” he joked.

It turns out, the two ladies sitting with the couple were both vegan and didn’t appreciate what the couple did for a living.

“On the first evening of the cruise they did the introductions as usual. The farmer told the table he and his with were farmers,” Heald said. “They raised cows and sheep and that is what upset this lady so much. And as a non-meat eater and animal lover she decided to tell him what she thought of him and then told the Senior Maître D that they needed to be removed from their table.”

The farmer and his wife did end up moving to another table, but Heald stated that they were not moved because of the “ladies insistence”. 

They were moved to a table for two and given the steakhouse selection compliments of Carnival.

In the end of his post, Heald reaffirmed his appreciation for farmers while stating that not everyone on a cruise ship shares the same views about animals.  Carnival has a broad selection of vegan choices on their menus which is expanding all the time.

“I think it is safe to say that many of the almost 600,000 page readers here will admit they like animals. We like looking at them. We like petting them. And some of us like eating them. It really is that simple,” Heald noted.

Of course, there are many other options for eating on a cruise ship, and some cruise lines don’t even have a traditional dining experience in which passengers eat with strangers.

A more variable Anytime Dining or My Time Dining experience has been implemented by Carnival and Royal Caribbean.  The main difference is that the wait staff may be different each night for this more adaptable dining option.

Norwegian Cruise Line introduced “Freestyle Dining” to the world over 20 years ago which means “you can dine when and where you want, with no fixed dining times or pre-assigned seating”.

Anytime Dining may still involve eating with other cruise passengers unless a request can be met for just your party.

One reason some cruise passengers still prefer traditional dining at set times is that they can get to know the wait staff, and the crew can better serve any specific dietary needs.

Read more: 4 problems with anytime dining on a cruise and how to avoid them