Cruise ships

"In choosing the name Koningsdam, we are honoring our rich Dutch heritage while reflecting that we’re entering a new era as a company,” said Stein Kruse, chief executive officer of the Holland America Group. (more…)

The iconic trans-Atlantic liner Queen Mary turns 80 on September 26 and the public is invited to join a ship-wide celebration. (more…)

The Port of New Orleans and Carnival Cruise Lines signed a new agreement that will keep the world’s largest cruise line sailing at least two ships year-round from New Orleans through 2019. (more…)

Last week, as Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Equinox completed its scheduled dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, it joined Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas in a program that tracks ocean circulation dynamics and measures atmospheric and oceanographic conditions, on repeated journeys. (more…)

A naval battle between Britain and the US will take place off the south coast next year – but instead of cannon balls or torpedoes, the ammunition will be bumper cars, skydiving machines and celebrity chefs and the victory will be counted in dollars, pounds… and passengers. (more…)

Port Canaveral has announced that the port commissioners have unanimously approved building a new $80-$85 million cruise terminal and 1,000-vehicle parking facility that is scheduled to open in November 2014. The 185,000-square-foot terminal will be located on the south side of the harbor in the Cove restaurant and retail area. (more…)

One of the largest cruise ships in 1985 was the 46,000-ton Carnival Holiday. Ten years ago, the biggest, the Queen Mary 2, was three times as large. Today’s record holders are two 225,000-ton ships whose displacement, a measure of a ship’s weight, is about the same as that of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. (more…)

On October 15, COSCO (Zhoushan) Shipyard, a subsidiary of the COSCO Shipyard Group, and QE2 Holdings Ltd, entered into a contract for the refurbishment of the legendary cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 into a luxury five-star floating hotel. This is the first cruise ship conversion project COSCO Shipyard has undertaken; it is also the first time project of such kind and scale was assigned to a Chinese Shipyard, marking the successful entrance of the Chinese Shipyards into the international cruise ship conversion market. (more…)

Cunard Line’s flagship Queen Mary 2 is making her historic 200th Transatlantic Crossing, having sailed from New York on Saturday 6 July en route to her homeport of Southampton, England, arriving 13 July. To mark the beginning of the historic voyage from New York, Queen Mary 2 performed a sail-by of the world’s most iconic statue atop Liberty Island. On board are keynote speakers presenting talks about the ship’s design, as well as special Big Band performances, and a celebratory Gala Dinner to be held on 11 July. (more…)