Diplomacy

A cruise line has extended their ‘Best Deal Ever’ for cruises that depart in 2025 that visit Alaska, Europe and Canada/New England.

Holland America Line, one of nine cruise lines from Carnival Corporation, has extended their ‘Best Deal Ever’ through October 31, 2024. It includes $1,000 worth of amenities and reduced cruise deposits.

Holland America Line’s Best Deal Ever

This deal is good on select 2025 Alaska, Europe and Canada/New England cruises, Alaska Cruisetours and back-to-back Collectors’ Voyages.

It includes the following:

• $99 cruise deposits
• Up to $300 shore excursion credit
• Up to three nights of specialty dining
• Free upgrade to the Elite Beverage Package
• Free upgrade to Premium WiFi Packages
• Free crew appreciation (daily gratuities)
• Low price guarantee included
• View Best Prices on Holland America Cruises

Shore excursion credits are based on the length of the cruise, guests will receive up to three tours valued at up to $100 each.

The free upgrade to the Elite Beverage Package allows guests to drink up to 15 premium drinks and it includes bar service charges.

Here is how the Low Price Guarantee works. If you book a Holland America Line cruise with “Best Deal Ever” and then find a less expensive price for an identical Holland America Line booking within the duration of offer, the difference may be compensated in the form of an onboard credit, stateroom upgrade or other method.

More than 300 cruises on Holland America Line are included in this sale. However, it does exclude Grand Voyages and cruises that are five days and shorter.

For complete terms of this ‘Best Deal Ever’, visit HollandAmerica.com or contact your local travel professional.

The deal ends on October 31, 2024.

Carnival Cruise Line sent an email out today to guests who have cruises coming up that might be affected by Hurricane Milton.

Hurricane Milton currently has winds of 80 mph but is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane before reaching Florida in the middle of this week.

Carnival Cruise Line sent out the email to guests who are booked on the October 10, 2024 sailings on Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise.

Carnival Paradise is scheduled for a four-night cruise from Tampa with Carnival Elation scheduled for four-night cruise from Jacksonville.

The email sent to these guests can be read below:

“Dear Carnival Guest,

Our Fleet Operations Center is actively monitoring Tropical Storm Milton that has developed in the Gulf of Mexico. The system is expected to impact certain parts of Florida in the next few days.

At present, there is no change to our plans for your cruise, but we will continue to monitor the forecasts and provide timely updates. In the meantime, to stay up to date on our operational plans.

Please sign up for our text alert service by visiting Cruise Manager on Carnival.com, or by texting the below code to CRUISE (278473):

• • CCL1 for Carnival Elation (October 10, 2024)
  • CCL2 for Carnival Paradise (October 10, 2024)

Please do not proceed to the cruise terminal until you have received confirmation from us on when your cruise will operate.”

For the latest on Hurricane Milton, you can visit the National Hurricane Center.

If you’re wondering what happens if there is a hurricane or tropical storm during your cruise, you can read about that here.

There are also two other hurricanes in the Atlantic, Hurricane Kirk and Hurricane Leslie. Neither is forecasted to come anywhere near the U.S. at this time.

Cruise Fever will continue to monitor updates from Carnival and will have any changes to cruises if they are made.

Cruise ports along the coast of Florida are once again bracing for impact as a massive oncoming storm threatens cruise itineraries.

As Milton becomes a Category 5 hurricane, it’s forecasted to hit the western coast of Florida on Wednesday.

Port Canaveral is expected to close this week as the storm moves closer.  This will halt all cruise traffic in and out of the port.

Currently, the Florida cruise port is under “Condition X-Ray” as labeled by the U.S. Coast Guard.  This designation means that gale force winds are expected in the next 48 hours.

It also means that commercial vessels over 500 gross tons must prepare to depart the port.

While at this time Port Canaveral is still open, port officials are expecting limited waterside operations and are telling operators to “make necessary plans to safeguard vessels, crews and/or facilities.”

Port Canaveral is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world.  Just this morning there were five cruise ships in port: Utopia of the Seas, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Disney Wish, and Mein Schiff.

Tomorrow, two cruise ships are on schedule to arrive at Port Canaveral as a port of call.  MSC Meraviglia and Symphony of the Seas are on the itinerary, but Symphony of the Seas has already seen a change in the schedule and will be skipping the port and instead enjoy a sea day.

Even after the hurricane has passed, the U.S. Coast Guard in addition to port officials will need to inspect the port.  Only after debris has been cleared and it’s been deemed safe will ships be able to sail in and out of the port again.

2023 was the busiest year ever for Port Canaveral, as 6.8 million passengers boarded ships in the port.

Cruise passengers that could be impacted by Hurricane Milton should stay in touch with their respective cruise lines.  Cruise Fever will keep readers updated with new information as the storm approaches.

Celestyal Cruises has announced an expansion of the coffee bar found on their ships, Cafe Nation.

The expanded Caffe Nation is now available on Celestyal Discovery and will be added to their other ship, Celestyal Journey, when she starts sailing in the Arabian Gulf in November.

Celestyal has a partnership with illy and Cafe Nation offers more than 90 specialty drinks. Illy is one of the most recognizable coffee brands in world. They use a unique blend of 100% Arabia varieties that are sourced from the top 1% of what’s cultivated worldwide.

The menu includes a selection of barista poured hot coffees, herbal infused teas, creamy hot chocolates and Frappuccinos, iced coffees and teas, as well as cold brewed coffee.

Guests can also choose from seven different varieties of coffee including five single origins, blended premium or decaf.

Lee Haslett, chief commercial officer at Celestyal Cruises, gave the following statement about the expanded coffee shop:

“We’re delighted to expand our partnership with the world-renowned brand illy. Café Nation has had fantastic feedback from our guests onboard Celestyal Discovery, and with over 85,000 coffees served on Celestyal Journey alone in the last year, we are confident that this popular meeting spot will be warmly received onboard. After all, coffee is an international daily ritual!”

A cruise line has decided to change the itineraries on two world cruises in 2026 which also results in them canceling some segments of them.

Cunard Line, one of nine cruise lines from Carnival Corporation, is modifying their two world cruises in 2026 on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Anne.

The changes are being made after consulting with global security experts and government authorities due to the ongoing situation in the Red Sea and surrounding area.

Instead of calling at Dubai on April 10, 2026, Queen Mary 2 will now sail around the west coast of Africa via Port Louis, Mauritius, and Cape Town. This will allow the ship to bypass the Red Sea and a transit of the Suez Canal.

The ship’s itinerary remains as scheduled up until Port Kelang, Malaysia on March 29, 2026.

Queen Anne will depart as scheduled from Southampton on January 11, 2026. Instead of sailing through the Suez Canal to Dubai, the ship’s new route will sail around the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. The vessel will then sail as planned to Asia and Australia.

Queen Anne will return from Australia via the South Pacific and America with a transit through the Panama Canal, before crossing the Atlantic and arriving back into Southampton as scheduled on April 30, 2026.

Several segments of the world cruises were canceled due to the itinerary changes.

Guests who were booked on one of the canceled segments will receive a full refund within 14 days.

World Cruises are often broken up into smaller segments for guests who don’t want to sail on the entire voyage.

Carnival Cruise Line has canceled a weekend cruise out of Tampa due to the port being closed and the ship arriving back over two days later than scheduled.

The September 26 sailing on Carnival Paradise has been canceled. Carnival Cruise Line was hoping the port would reopen so the ship could sail a shortened three day cruise. Unfortunately, that’s unable to happen.

Carnival issued a statement saying that the cruise ship would not be able to return to Tampa until tomorrow afternoon. Because of the late arrival, Carnival decided to cancel the cruise and give all guests a full refund.

Since the ship isn’t arriving until tomorrow afternoon, it didn’t make sense to sail a one and a half day cruise when it was scheduled as a four day cruise.

The update that Carnival Cruise Line sent to guests who were booked on the canceled sailing can be read below:

“Carnival Paradise 09/26/24: Thanks for your patience while you waited for updates about your cruise. Port officials have informed us that we will not be able to return to Tampa until tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, 9/28.

“This would not allow us enough time to deliver the experience we had planned for you. So, disappointingly, we must cancel the sailing. A full refund will be issued. Please check your email for full details.

“We are sorry mother nature interrupted your vacation plans. We hope to see you on another Carnival cruise soon.”

The September 26 canceled cruise was originally scheduled for a four night cruise to the Western Caribbean with a port stop in Cozumel, Mexico.