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Popular all-inclusive British cruise line Marella Cruises has revealed its 2025 winter season, which will include new itineraries and ports of call across the fleet.

Similar to the 2024 season, the cruise line will have three ships stationed in the Caribbean and two in the Canary Islands.

One of the highlights is the new Tropical Isles itinerary, which will include first-time visits to Isla Catalina in the Dominican Republic, and Ponce in Puerto Rico. Other ports of call on the itinerary will include San Juan, Charlotte Amalie, and Fredericksted.

Another highlight is the Exotic Islands itinerary which will be available on Marella Discovery 2.

This will feature an overnight stay in Willemstad, Curacao, and it has some fantastic options for a cruise & stay holiday, including the Hilton Barbados Resort and Radisson Aquatica.

In the Canary Islands, a particular highlight will be the cruise ‘A New Year’s Dream’ onboard Marella Voyager, which will include the firework display in Madeira to ring in 2026.

By expanding our overnight onboard stay offering in the Curacao and Canary Islands and cruise-and-stay options in the Caribbean and Canary Islands, it will give guests a chance to explore the sights, with a change to stay at our TUI hotels pre- or post-cruise.

Chris Hackney, managing director of Marella Cruises

The new cruises are on sale to guests now.

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Celebrity Cruises has revealed changes to its Blue Chip Club, the rewards programme for guests who use the casino.

The cruise line has also apologised after its initial email to customers was unclear, making it seem that changes were being made immediately.

“Yesterday, we announced some changes to the Celebrity Blue Chip Club program. The feedback we received from you in the last 24 hours made it clear that we did not roll out these changes the way we should have… We are very sorry for the stress this may have caused you and would like to share how we are addressing this“

Celebrity Cruises’ email to guests

Instead, the rewards changes will come into effect in August 2025.

The changes are quite significant, with the biggest one being the removal of drinks packages from the rewards tiers.

Packages have been replaced with complimentary drinks in the casino only – once the new rewards kick in, guests will have to buy their own drinks when they aren’t gambling.

Other changes include free play credit being altered, a downgrade in WiFi reward for all except Ruby guests, and a downgrade in digital photography rewards.

However, new reards have been added, including new credit to spend in the onboard Effy Boutique, spa discounts, and exclusive rates for family members.

Ruby-tier members will also enjoy several new benefits, including unlimited complimentary room service, priority luggage delivery, onboard credit, a welcome lunch on the ship, and reserved theatre seating.

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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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A family that missed their all-aboard time during a cruise to Alaska was charged almost $9,000 by Norwegian Cruise Line due to the incident.

The charge was for fees incurred by the family for violating US Customs and Border Protection policies, and was for $971 per person. The family of 9 had missed the return time while in Ketchikan.

The family was forced to pay the fee, but NCL did later confirm that it would refund the charge and that it was also refunding other out-of-pocket expenses for the family. As a gesture of goodwill, the family also received a 20% discount on a future cruise.

That’s despite the fact that the cruise line was not at fault for the family missing the ship, but instead it was the fault of a local tour company.

The family had used the operator to see a lumberjack show, but then when they tried to use the company’s bus to return to the port, they were told it was full and to wait for another.

The company never sent another bus, and so the family had to urgently contact the cruise line and the port authority who did send a van, but it was too late.

Apparently, the tour operator was not checking who had booked with the ship, and so was allowing anyone onto the bus.

While most of the family were given their passports back, one had been left on the ship and so the family couldn’t travel to meet the ship in the next port of call.

They eventually managed to get home, although they said they had issues with cancelled flights and had to travel via various cities.

NCL claims that they were able to help the family make their travel arrangements so that they could get home.

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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

Carnival Cruise Line has announced a small change to its perks for the VIFP loyalty programme, giving guests more flexibility on when they can enjoy a specific perk.

Guests in the Gold, Platinum and Diamond rankings are currently entitled to a free drink during their cruise, but only at limited times.

Gold members used to get their appreciation drink (on cruises of 5 days or more) on the last evening of the cruise after 5pm, while Platinum and Diamond guests would get a complimentary cocktail during the SeaDay brunch only.

As of 20th July, that’s changing, and guests will be able to enjoy their free drink at any time of the day, on any day of their cruise.

The same rules apply regarding a minimum of 5 days for the cruise – guests on shorter cruises won’t get the free drink.

But the change – announced by John Heald in a live stream on his Facebook page and later shared to his fans via the page itself – should be welcomed by Carnival guests who can now enjoy their free drink at a time that suits them.

Wider changes to the VIFP loyalty programme are still expected later this year.

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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

Michael Bayley has responded to some customers’ concerns over kids using ship facilities late at night, confirming that the cruise line will look into its options with curfews.

Speaking at a Q&A event onboard the new Utopia of the Seas ship as part of her 3-day naming ceremony, Bayley was responding to a travel agent who was reporting feedback from her own customers.

She claimed that adults enjoy the larger ships, but are struggling with how kids are causing problems, specifically mentioning how kids are using the swim-up bar to splash around (and spoiling guests’ drinks), or playing in the Bolero’s nightclub into the very late hours when adults want to dance.

The travel agent claimed that some of her customers are now leaving Royal Caribbean to instead cruise with adults-only lines.

Bayley acknowledged the feedback and assured the agent that the cruise line would look into options for curfews in certain parts of the ships.

He confirmed that it wasn’t the first time they’d received this feedback, and so the current curfew (1 AM for all guests aged 17 and under, ship-wide) would be reviewed.

“It’s probably time for us to take a look at (the curfew). I think the idea of curfews in some of the bars is a great idea…And you know what they say, everybody loves their own kids, but they’re not so fond of everybody else’s kids.”

Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean CEO

Bayley was quick to clarify that the cruise line will always be family-friendly, but that there is definitely scope to look at improving the experience for adults.

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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

Carnival Cruise Line’s impressive ship Mardi Gras is to return to Europe for a drydock renovation, giving guests the chance to try transatlantic cruises in 2025.

Mardi Gras is part of Carnival’s Excel Class, which also contains Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee. These are the biggest ships in the Carnival fleet and they sail exclusively from the US normally.

However, European guests who don’t want to fly in both directions across the Atlantic can now book a 2025 cruise either from Port Canaveral to Barcelona, or from Barcelona to Port Canaveral.

Both cruises will last 14 nights and will feature additional ports of call including Celebration Key, Carnival’s newest private island destination.

While specifics of the drydock haven’t been announced, it isn’t expected to be a major renovation – rather routine maintenance and class inspections.

The west-to-east crossing will take place in mid-September 2025 with the return journey taking place a month later.

Once the ship has returned to Port Canaveral, she will resume her regular sailings around the Caribbean.

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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 set a new Guinness World Record for the “World’s Largest Pizza Party,” celebrated across multiple venues aboard its fleet.

The event, in partnership with Chef Tony Gemignani, a 13-time World Pizza Champion, saw guests indulging in over 60,000 slices of pizza.

It was held across July 12th and 13th, across 16 ships in the fleet. This meant that the party was held across three continents at once, over eight different time zones.

Chef Tony Gemignani introduced two exclusive pizzas featuring ingredients like Soppressata sausage, hot honey, agave pesto, and fresh goat cheese. These gourmet pizzas were a highlight of the event.

Overall, the event involved over 6,500 lb of pizza dough and over 2,300 lb of cheese!

“Princess is about delivering great experiences, and there is no more important element than pizza. While Princess has long been known for having the best pizza at sea, we decided to take it up an entirely new level with legendary Tony Gemignani and also set a Guinness World Record title in the process.“

John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises

The event was verified by an adjudicator from Guinness World Records, meaning that it took the prize from the previous winner – a pizza party held in Tulsa, Oklahoma in early 2023.

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