Posts in category: Diplomacy

Viking is now the proud owner of a new cruise ship in their ocean vessel category after Fincantieri officially made the delivery today in Ancona, Italy.

This new 998-passenger cruise ship, Viking Mira, is now the thirteenth with the cruise line. After operating river cruise ships for years, Viking made huge waves in the ocean cruise category when introducing Viking Star back in 2015.

Today’s ceremony was attended by Viking’s Executive Vice President, Jeff Dash, and the Senior Vice President Operations of Fincantieri, Giorgio Gomiero.

With the handover of the 54,300 gross ton vessel, Viking now has a fleet-wide capacity of 12,226.

Small Ships Viking’s Passengers Love

While some cruise lines are focused on building as big as humanly possible with ships that hold over 7,000 people on a single vessel, Viking is doing something very different. They are staying intentionally small.

To put that into perspective, you could combine all 13 of Viking’s ocean-going ships, and they would still carry fewer guests than just two of Royal Caribbean’s Icon-class mega-ships.

Doing the Math on the Viking Fleet

How does that 12,226 number break down? Viking’s growth has followed a very simple plan.

• The Original Ocean Class (11 Ships): Viking’s first 11 ocean ships are completely identical sister ships, each carrying exactly 930 passengers.

• The Newer Vela Class (2 Ships): Starting with Viking Vela in late 2024 and now continuing with the brand-new Viking Mira, these ships are slightly longer. This extra space allows for newer, more efficient propulsion technology while keeping the guest count at a still-intimate 998 passengers.

By keeping the passenger count under 1,000 per ship, Viking is making sure they can continue to dock in smaller ports around the world that the mega-ships simply can’t touch.

What’s Next?

Viking Mira is scheduled to welcome its very first revenue guests onboard on June 5, 2026, sailing a 7-day Mediterranean itinerary from Rome (Civitavecchia) to Barcelona, before heading up to Northern Europe for the summer season.

And Viking isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The cruise line already has a pipeline of future sister ships lined up at Fincantieri to offer even more sailings on newer ships.

Following Viking Vela, Viking Vesta, and the brand-new Viking Mira, the fleet will soon welcome Viking Libra (expected December 2026), Viking Astrea (expected June 2027), and Viking Lyra (expected May 2028).

Along with Viking’s 13 ocean ships, the company also operates two polar expedition vessels, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, which explore Antarctica and North America’s Great Lakes.

On the river side of the business, Viking currently operates 89 river ships around the world, with plans already to increase that number to 112 by 2028.

Royal Caribbean Group posted their Q1 earnings a few weeks ago, reporting $4.5 billion in total revenue, with about $1billion of that in net profit.

That got some cruisers looking into the numbers and wondering what those profit margins look like on a passenger-by-passenger basis. In other words, how much money does Royal Caribbean actually make per cruiser?

A recent social media post breaking down how much Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) profits from each cruise passenger has been getting some attention.

Some people are looking at the math and arguing that cruise lines actually lose money on the initial fare price, saying they rely almost entirely on onboard spending just to make a buck.

Others pointed out some creative pricing tactics, like keeping daily gratuities separate from the base fare, which can hide the real cost of the original price of the cruise.

But what do the actual numbers say? If you look directly at Royal Caribbean’s audited, full-year SEC earnings reports, the math tells the entire story.

The Individual Passenger Breakdown

To find out how much money an individual passenger on average generates for the company, you have to divide the company’s revenue by the actual number of humans who stepped onboard.

Across all of Royal Caribbean Group’s brands (which includes Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea), the company carried exactly 9,446,010 passengers over the fiscal year.

During that time, the company pulled in a total revenue of $17.935 billion and reported $4.268 billion in net income after all expenses were paid.

When you divide those numbers down to a per-passenger level, here is exactly where the money goes:

• Passenger Ticket Revenue: $1,299.91 – This is the average amount a passenger pays just to book their cabin.
• Onboard & Other Revenue: $598.77 – This is what the average passenger spends on things like drink packages, Wi-Fi, the casino, spa treatments, and shore excursions.
• Total Revenue Collected: $1,898.68 – This is the total amount of money Royal Caribbean gets out of each person, combining the ticket and onboard spending.
• Total Overhead & Operating Expenses: $1,446.85 – This is the per-passenger cost of operating the cruise ship, including fuel, food, crew payroll, marketing, and a ton of other stuff.
• Pure Net Profit: $451.83 – This is the profit left over for Royal Caribbean Group.

Royal Caribbean clears about $452 profit for every single passenger that boards their ships.

If you take a family of four on a week-long sailing, the company walks away with about $1,800 in profit after every ribeye steak and drop of fuel is paid for.

Of course, this is on average, and that number is considerably higher with a brand like Silversea.

Do They Really Lose Money on the Fare Price?

The Reddit post claimed that because the average cost to run the business per passenger ($1,446.85) is higher than the average ticket price ($1,299.91), Royal Caribbean is technically losing about $147 the moment you book your vacation.

But the “cost per passenger” includes corporate expenses, depreciation, and loan payments. Those expenses exist whether a specific cabin is empty or full.

The actual cost of adding you to an empty stateroom is pretty low and your fare easily covers that.

But one thing is true: Royal Caribbean (and other cruise lines) don’t get their profit from the fare price alone.  The base fare price is aggressively low so that cruise ships can fill every cabin on every sailing.

Royal Caribbean’s capacity hovers around 108% because rooms are regularly filled with third and fourth passengers.

The extra revenue comes from the extra stuff.

The Power of the Captive Audience

Once the ship leaves the port, you are a completely captive audience for the next 7 days. Something I gladly welcome on every cruise by the way.

As the numbers show, the average cruise passenger drops $598.77 on onboard extras. That is nearly half the price of the original cruise ticket itself.

Even better for the cruise line, onboard revenue is high margin. When you purchase a $14 beverage, pay for a Wi-Fi package, or book a specialty dining experience, it’s mostly gravy for the bottom line.

According to Royal Caribbean’s earnings data, nearly 50% of all onboard revenue is now booked pre-cruise through their digital apps and websites.

By the time a passenger even packs their bags, they’ve already paid for their drink packages and shore excursions.

So, while some might complain about the extra costs associated with cruising, it’s those onboard expenses that keep cruise lines profitable and allow us to enjoy incredible vacations.

It was only 10 years ago that Cuba opened up to cruise ships. From about 2016 to 2019, at least four major cruise lines started taking passengers to the tropical island, which was the hottest destination at the time. Now, there is legal trouble for the cruise lines that sailed to the port.

I was lucky enough to sail to Cuba during this time period, taking a Royal Caribbean ship to the Havana port. I shared my thoughts on Majesty of the Seas during only her third-ever voyage to the island and put together a slideshow video of what it was like in Cuba at the time.

It was incredible to watch the ship pull past Morro Castle into a port that felt frozen in time.

But while passengers were busy enjoying taking limited shore excursions through Old Havana, a legal time bomb was quietly ticking in the background.

Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in, and it means four major cruise lines are officially back on the hook for a $440 million penalty.

What is This Lawsuit All About?

To understand how we got here, we have to look back long before modern cruise ships ever docked in Havana. Way back in 1960, shortly after Fidel Castro took power, the Cuban government confiscated millions of dollars’ worth of private property from Americans without paying them for it.

One of those seized assets was the main port terminal in Havana. A U.S.-based company called Havana Docks held the original contract to operate that exact pier.

Then, in 1996, the U.S. passed the Helms-Burton Act. A specific clause in that law allows Americans whose property was stolen by the Cuban government to sue any commercial company that later steps in and makes money off that stolen property.

For over 20 years, U.S. presidents blocked those lawsuits from actually happening to avoid major international legal messes. But in May 2019, the administration officially allowed the law to take effect.

Havana Docks immediately sued Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and MSC Cruises for using their port.

The “Lease Expiration” Battle

The cruise lines fought back. Their main legal defense was all based on a specific timeline.  Havana Docks’ original contract was set to expire in the year 2004.

Because the cruise lines didn’t start using the port until 2016, they argued that Havana Docks wouldn’t have owned the rights to the port by then anyway, so no damages should be owed.

At first, a lower appeals court actually agreed with the cruise lines and threw the fines out.

But the Supreme Court just declined to take up the cruise lines’ appeal, effectively reversing that decision.

The ruling states that if a company profits from property that was wrongfully taken, the original claim remains valid, even if a lease would have timed out.

What Does This Mean for the Cruise Lines?

The original judgment ordered the four cruise lines to pay a combined $439 million in damages, interest, and attorney fees. With the Supreme Court passing on the case, that huge payout is now back on the table.

It is important to note that the cruise lines weren’t intentionally breaking the rules at the time.

Between 2016 and 2019, the U.S. government actively encouraged educational and cultural “people-to-people” travel to Cuba, and the lines were operating under strict federal guidelines.

This educational travel experience was the reason I was not allowed to just roam around Cuba and had to be very specific in my reasons for being there.

Will Cruise Ships Ever Go Back to Cuba?

For cruisers holding out hope that Havana will return to short Caribbean itineraries anytime soon, this ruling could set that back a bit.

By confirming that using the port counts as “trafficking in stolen property,” the Supreme Court has made the Havana docks a troublesome area that they may not want to test until there is more clarity.

Even if political relations between the U.S. and Cuba get better, cruise lines won’t be able to touch the port before resolving these claims first.

For now, that little window of Cuba cruises from 2016–2019 look like a blip on the radar of cruise history that many of us hope opens again someday.

It might be free to eat at a cruise ship’s buffet, but if you try sneaking that food back to your cabin with one cruise line, it will cost you the price of a steak dinner (or about $70).

It’s fairly common to see cruisers loading up their plates with lido deck treats to take back to their staterooms or eat in other parts of the ship.

It’s kind of a “free” room service hack that involves careful balance, and a lot of walking. It also ends with a hallway that looks a lot like kitchen counters back on land.

And now, at least one cruise line is trying to clean up those hallways and limit where passengers can take all of that delicious food.

Costa Cruises’ New Buffet Rule

Costa Cruises is cracking down on passengers taking food away from designated eating areas on their ships. 

In a notice sent to guests, the Carnival Corporation owned cruise line said the following:

“All food must be consumed exclusively in designated dining areas.”

But staterooms are not the only place where food is not to be taken. The letter went on to say that it is now prohibited to take food into pool areas, public lounges, or other indoor spaces.

Sanitation in Focus

The reason? Health and hygiene. The cruise line stated that they are trying to prevent food contamination and promote a better standard of cleanliness on board. It also reduces the risk of pests and parasites.

What about room service? The notice said that the cruise line’s crew are trained in hygiene and sanitation and are the only ones authorized to bring food to staterooms.

The result of breaking this new rule will be a €60 cleaning fee (about $70 USD) charged to that stateroom’s account.

Cruiser Reactions

It remains to be seen how this rule will be enforced and what that will look like, but it’s a topic that is fairly polarizing.

Personally, I’m guilty of bringing plates of food back to my cabin for some later afternoon snacks on the balcony.  But I’ve also been grossed out by dirty dishes piling up in the hallway.

The new Costa rule has sparked a lot of frustration, with many people calling it inconvenient and over-the-top. But others are tired of unsightly plates in those long hallways too.

Here’s what some cruisers are saying in reaction to this news:

• “Yes it would bother me, as a diabetic insulin dependent a sandwich, a bit of fruit is a must for me and for others who need that…”
• “It’s a catch 22, but there are times when there is no place to sit and eat at the buffet so you need to leave.”
• “What is the difference between room service delivering food to your cabin and you taking a donut to your cabin. Why would the …”
• “Yeah no… no one has EVER said we cannot remove food from ANY of the dining areas in a ship.”
• “Sometimes on cruises, while I am showering, my husband will go to the buffet and bring me back coffee and a croissant or muffin.”

Is the Buffet Rule Due for a Change?

So far, Costa Cruises is the only cruise line I know of that has this specific rule, and time will tell if other cruise lines follow suit. I do think the policy of putting plates in the hallway is due for change though.

To me, it makes more sense to leave them in the cabin and maybe let the stateroom attendant know about them or put the indicator light on for that room. This is still a hassle for the crew to manage all the extra dishes, but dirty plates in the hallways is just a bad look.

Still, taking food back to the cabin is one of those timeless traditions on sea days that I can’t see stopping any time soon.

If room service were completely free, this might not be as big an issue. Most cruise lines offered free room service (excluding the tip) until recently.

While 24-hour room service is available on Costa Cruises ships, it is not complimentary unless you’re in a suite or premium/deluxe cabin. Standard cabins get charged a €5 per person delivery fee for breakfast brought to the cabin. This is charged per person, regardless of how much food you order.

Carnival Cruise Line opened a new pool area and recreational space at one of their private destinations in the Caribbean this week.

Mangrove Bay opened yesterday at Isla Tropicale in Roatan, Honduras, and the area includes a swim-up bar and splash pad for younger cruisers.

The pool includes a peninsula lined with cabanas and loungers that creates a premium space for guests, and poolside daybeds offering another way to relax.

Isla Tropicale, previously known as Mahogany Bay, has berths for two Carnival Corporation cruise ships to dock on the same day. The port area that opened in 2009 features 52 shops, local artisan kiosks, three restaurants, four bars, a scenic chairlift and oceanview cabanas.

Carnival recently announced a $93 million investment into improving the private port area. The port has welcome over 9 million guests since opening 17 years ago.

The beach earned the Honduras Blue Flag Award and a five-star rating in 2024 and 2025 for excellence in environmental management, water quality, safety, accessibility and sustainable tourism.

Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, gave the following statement:

“Isla Tropicale marks another exciting investment in the largest group of exclusive cruise destinations, Paradise Collection by Carnival. New features, including the destination’s first pool area, will elevate the guest experience at Isla Tropicale. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Roatán and Honduras and expanding our positive economic impact in the region.”

Andrés Ehrler, minister of tourism of Honduras, added:

“Isla Tropicale reflects the continued importance of cruise tourism to Roatán and to Honduras. We value partnerships that support local jobs, create opportunities for businesses and help strengthen Roatán’s position as one of the Caribbean’s most welcoming destinations, and Carnival has done exactly that.”