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A large group of cruise guests were left behind in port due to a landslide blocking their private tour, and so instead boarded a different cruise ship in order to catch up, according to claims on Reddit.

Apparently, the group of 20 guests were enjoying a private tour in Skagway on their cruise onboard Discovery Princess, but the landslide meant that they were blocked and couldn’t get back to the ship before she was due to depart.

However, after presumably contacting the cruise line, they were able to speak to their counterparts at Holland America Line, who had the MS Koningsdam in the same port and following the same itinerary.

As the MS Koningsdam was departing after Discovery Princess, the guests were invited to board that ship for two nights until both ships reached Ketchikan, where they could be reunited with their original ship.

If true, it’s an amazing show of teamwork between two cruise lines – albeit two that are part of the same parent company, the Carnival Group.

It’s a much better option for the guests who can catch up with their ship without missing the beautiful views of Glacier Bay, and without having to pay for flights to reach the ship.

Well done to the staff and crew of the cruise lines and ships for sorting this out for the group – some quick-thinking saved a lot of hassle for those guests who otherwise would’ve been left with some serious headaches through no fault of their own.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

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Carnival Cruise Line has announced that it is creating a new class of ship that will be the biggest ever for the company, with three ships set to be delivered.

The new class of ship will measure at “almost 230,000 gross tonnes”, meaning they will be a similar size to the Oasis-class ships sailing for rival cruise line Royal Caribbean, though a little short of the biggest ships in the world, the Icon Class.

The ships will be delivered in 2029, 2031 and 2033 respectively and they are being constructed at Fincantieri, the world-renowned shipbuilder in Italy.

“We are proud to be known as America’s cruise line with tremendous guest loyalty and an outstanding team that has enabled us to deliver memorable vacations to over 100 million guests… For this next generation ship, we are focused on creating innovative guest experiences that will take Carnival Cruise Line into the future with new FUN features and excitement that we know our guests will LOVE.“

Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line president

Carnival had already announced earlier this year that two more Excel-class ships would be built for the cruise line, meaning that there will be five brand-new ships joining the fleet between 2027 and 2033.

2025 will also see two ships joining the Carnival Cruise Line fleet from sister brand P&O Australia, which is to cease trading as a brand.

By 2033, the Carnival Group will have 16 cruise ships powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), with half of those sailing for Carnival Cruise Line, meaning that almost 30% of the fleet will be powered by this cleaner fuel type.

As soon as we hear more on the names of these ships and the name of the new class, I’ll let you know!

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

Norwegian Jade suffered an unknown problem with her propulsion systems which caused her to be late back to Port Canaveral by an entire day.

While this may sound like heaven for those onboard – an extra free day of cruising – instead it was likely to be a significant cause of stress as guests had to rearrange travel plans at short notice.

Guests who had booked flights and transfers through NCL were having changes arranged automatically although there was no guarantee guests could be flown out that day – with plans put in place to accommodate guests who would have to stay overnight in a hotel before being flown home an extra day later.

Other guests who had not booked via NCL were given free internet access onboard the ship to allow them to make their adjustments, as well as up to $300 per person to cover any cancellation or adjustment fees with airlines that weren’t already covered by travel insurance.

Guests onboard were also offered a 10% discount on future cruises as an apology, to be used before 31st December 2025.

This also had the knock-on effect of shortening the next cruise by one day. Guests on that cruise are to be given a pro-rated refund for the day they’re now missing, but the impact was more significant than just shortening the cruise by a day.

The shorter time also meant that the original itinerary was completely changed, with Tortola and San Juan removed from the plans, to be replaced by Nassau. The ship is still set to visit Puerto Plata and Great Stirrup Cay as per the original itinerary.

Guests on that cruise were also given a $100 non-refundable credit to spend onboard the ship along with a 20% discount on a future cruise booked before 31st December 2025.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

Sun Princess, the new flagship for Princess Cruises which launched in February 2024, has cancelled all port visits to Kotor for the summer season, along with some Santorini port visits.

The ship originally cancelled visits to Santorini during her first couple of weeks of sailing due to issues with the tender boats not aligning with the ship for boarding properly.

It’s rumoured that this is an ongoing issue, although others have also claimed that the cancellations for Kotor and Santorini are due to ship congestion instead.

Kotor is no longer being advertised for the 2024 season although several cruises are still advertising Santorini as a port of call.

I asked Princess Cruises for clarification on whether Santorini was still scheduled on those cruises, and was told that there was no official cancellation for the port, but that if that were to change then customers on the affected cruises would be told.

Some guests on social media have reported frustration with the cancellation of the port after booking, especially with Santorini being such a popular destination in the region.

It’s also compounded by the further issues with Sun Princess, such as the cancellation of several major features in Park19 onboard the ship, which its been confirmed will now never open to guests.

Guests are always advised to have travel insurance with missed port cover included so that they can get a partial refund on their cruise fare if ports are missed.

Anyone booking a Sun Princess cruise that includes Santorini should definitely get the coverage, in case the ship does cancel the visits!

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

Princess Cruises has announced some disappointing news regarding newest ship Sun Princess – several features within the Park19 area of the ship will now never open.

The features are the RollGlider, the Coastal Climb, and the Ropes Course. The three attractions are all installed in Park19 already, but will never open.

The ship debuted in February 2024 (after delays) but with the features closed. Since then, details have been limited on when they could open. It was believed that they might open once the ship crossed to the US after the summer season, when key safety features could be added.

But in a statement, the cruise line has confirmed that the experiences will never now open to guests.

“We regret to announce that Princess is unable to accept delivery of the RollGlider, Coastal Climb, and Ropes Course features within Park19 aboard Sun Princess and those experiences will not be opening… We are actively evaluating these areas for future recreational opportunities to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all our guests.”

Princess Cruises Statement

The RollGlider was set to be a first-of-its-kind glider/zipline experience around the top deck, which had been specially designed to be usable by disabled guests as well as able-bodied ones.

Costal Climb was a climbing feature within the ropes course area, offering amazing views out to sea for guests brave enough to attempt it.

It’s not clear why the attractions can’t open – but it’s likely a safety issue. Whether it was a fault in their design, or a key part that will now no longer be available, we may never find out.

As it stands, no announcements have been made for any replacement features. In the medium term, the features will just remain in place, but dormant.

Sun Princess has debuted many new features that guests do enjoy, but it’s a real shame these experiences will never be open for guests to enjoy.

Star Princess, the site ship to Sun Princess, is still under construction and you would expect the features would be removed, if they had already been added by this stage.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

Wesley Dunlop, one of the most popular cruise captains for British guests, has announced that he is leaving Carnival Group and P&O Cruises, and will instead be joining Disney Cruise Line.

Dunlop joined Carnival Group in April 2016 and has helmed several ships, most recently Iona.

He confirmed that he would be taking one final trip as captain of Iona in August to complete the Norway season for the ship and then he would be done.

He will then be joining Disney Cruise Line in 2025. It’s not yet confirmed if he’ll be in charge of one of the new cruise ships such as Disney Treasure, or if he’ll continue to work out of the UK and helm the British season for Disney Fantasy in 2025.

Several cruise captains and other senior officers have a public presence on social media and build up a reputation as a ‘fan favourite’ due to their cheery nature, and Dunlop is certainly a popular figure.

His announcement on social media brought many well-wishes, as he was described as some guests’ “favourite captain”, with several describing it as a big loss for P&O that he was going.

Related posts

Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me