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Cruise Line News
---- THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS ----
(1/6/2025) Royal Caribbean Beach Club Nassau Construction Photos
(1/5/2025) Royal Caribbean To Open Newest Beach Club in December
(12/4/2024) Who Wants To Buy A Cruise Line Annual Pass?!?!
(11/9/2024) A New Perfect Day Resort Coming to Royal Caribbean
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE - (12/23/2023) A quick congratulations goes out to Maurer Rides and Carnival Cruise Line today for the official first launch of the Carnival Jubilee taking place today, which features another Maurer Rides “BOLT” coaster mounted to the top of the ship. The Carnival Jubilee is the newest Excel Class vessel, the largest in the fleet, and the third such design following the launch of the Carnival Mardi Gras in 2021 and the Carnival Celebration in 2022, which were the first two to feature the BOLT coaster, a custom variation of Maruer Ride’s Spike coaster concept.
Look for the Carnival Jubilee to take to the waters on her maiden voyage today, departing from Galveston, Texas for the time being, while the sister ships depart from Port Canaveral (Mardi Gras) and Miami (Celebration).
(9/30/2023) Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans to open a new private beach resort destination on the south side of Grand Bahama to be called Celebration Key. They’ve already opened bookings for the 12 different ships that will journey there starting in 2025 from eight different homeports, ranging from the ports you would expect in Florida as well as ships departing Galveston, New Orleans, Baltimore, Norfolk and Mobile.
Development of the new destination is ongoing but it from what we can see, it looks like the plan is building a sea-dock, allowing walk-on/off access to the cruise ships, eliminating the need for using tender boats to shuttle guests to and from the shore. In addition to beach access, it also appears that a giant man-made inland lagoon will be created, along with more cabanas, splash pads and even small waterslides.
Currently Carnival Cruise Line ships on routes in the Bahamas stop at Princess Cays, a facitlity they co-share with sister company, Princess Cruise Lines.
CELEBRITY CRUISES - (4/14/2024) If you’ve planned a trip on Royal Caribbean cruises with a stop at their private island destination, Perfect Day at CoCoCay, then you may want to prepare yourself for the island to be a little more crowded than you may have anticipated. According to this article a deal has been struck with Celebrity Cruises that will see those ships and passengers also stop to enjoy the exclusive destination 48 times between April 21st and the end of the year.
For those who have been looking for a way to get out and try the semi-exclusive CoCoCay waterpark attractions without the extra cost of taking a lengthy Royal Carribbean cruise, several of the Celebrity Cruises itineraries departing from Ft. Lauderdale will be short 3-day cruises that will make CoCoCay as their only stop on the entire itinerary, with fares as low as $277 per person for the trip.
Now, this news shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to those with extensive knowledge of the cruise industry, as Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean are both owned by the same parent company, in much the same way that Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruises are also owned by one company, with both lines making stops at their own private beach destination, Princess Cays.
MSC Cruises - (6/15/2024) MSC has announced that their new MSC World America ship is expected to launch cruises from Miami in April 2025. This will be the line’s latest “World Class” ship, and offer a variety of experiences for kids, including unique new LEGO branded experience such as a LEGO character parade, the LEGO: Family Zone, and a LEGO Game Show. Other family attractions will include a “BOXES” family game show, Doremix Family Disco and the largest Doremiland kids play area in the fleet, a Star Shooter VR experience, a ropes course called The Harbor, a Sportplex and more.
This is all in addition to the previously announced Cliffhanger swing ride we mentioned earlier this year, that will swing guests out and over the edge of the ship.
(4/13/2024) MSC Cruises has unveiled details about their latest thrill creation coming to one of their vessels. As we’ve reported numerous times, today’s modern cruise ship designers frequently borrow concepts from the amusement park sector when it comes to adding new and unique new attractions to these massive floating resorts. MSC last hit the headlines when they premiered the Robotron (A KUKA robotic arm ride) on the MSC Seascape in December 2022.
Now MSC Cruises has announced Cliffhanger, a unique swing ride, that will dangle guests over the side of the MSC World America vessel. Four guests at a time will be loaded into seats on deck level and then raised up and lifted out over the edge of the ship to swing back and forth approximately 50 meters over the surface of the water.
When the MSC World America launches in Spring 2025 with voyages departing from Miami, it will also feature bumper cars, a small outdoor waterpark, and based on artwork shown, it appears to have a ropes course with a zip coaster, a massive dry spiral slide, and some other yet to be announced amenities.
Norwegian Cruise Line - (11/5/2023) Norwegian Cruise Line has announced details about their newest vessel, the Norwegian Aqua when it sets sail in April 2025. The ship will feature a “roller coaster-waterslide hybrid’ called Aqua Slidecoaster. This will be a dueling pair of watercoaster slides that will use magnetic lift to propel the rafts through the courses. The ship will also feature a “Glow Court” digitial sports arena by day with an LED floor that will transform into a nightclub after dark. The ship will also feature it’s own version of ‘The Drop’, a fry spiraling free-fall slide that first premiered on The Norwegian Prima in 2022.
Princess Cruises - (8/25/2024) As the various cruise lines have begun to enter a sort of arms race to develop and add their own take on unique custom thrill attractions to their latest ships, it was almost inevitable that we would see one project stumble along the way. While some might have expected it to be the impressive Bolt powered roller coasters installed onto the Carnival Mardi Gras and Jubilee vessels, our first major failure appears to be from sister line, Princess Cruises.
In mid 2023 Princess Cruises announced the details about a unique new “ride” they were installing onto their latest and greatest vessel, the Sun Princess. The highlight was something called the Sea Breeze Rollglider, which is essentially a powered zip-coaster experience. The manufacturer was never named, but given the name used and some concept art, it matched up with the Rollglider line of products. These are not new, as the company says they’ve installed at least 41 of these around the world so far in three different styles: the Extreme Rollglider (more like an inverted roller coaster with a lift hill and a traditional steel support structure), the Panoramic Rollglider (less thrills, more for a peaceful installation in a nature setting, allowing for the track to be suspended from trees), and then there is the Electric Rollglider which needs no lift hill or gravity slope, and can be installed as a flat level attraction, using a powered vehicle system. (If you’ve been to Area 15 in Las Vegas, you’ve seen this very system in action, sending guests flying through the air on the tracks attached to the roof.)
So what happened on the Sun Princess? The Sea Breeze Rollglider was to be one of several attractions included in a fun-zone called “Park19”, that would also include a variety of other outdoor attractions like a ropes course, slides, and a net climbing experience. Currently the Sun Princess has been sailing around the Mediterranean and European ports, but is slated to relocate to sail out of Fort Lauderdale starting in mid October 2024 through to March 2025 before returning to the Med for next Summer.
The problem is, according to what reports I’ve been able to find, that Park19 has failed to ever completely open, though the attractions have been built. In total there were said to have been 8 attractions included in the Park19 experience, and thus far only the more mild ones have opened. Open attractions in the area include a splash pad, a jogging track, a sports court space, hammocks (all extremely common on many ships) and something called Infinite Horizon, which is a sort of leaning glass wall that tilts over letting guests look down upon the lower decks below.
However after months of guests hammering the line on social media, asking when the Park19 experiences were going to finally open, Princess finally relented with a disappointing response in late July. Prior to this, the company line regarding the closed status of Park19 was that they were waiting on final “safety certifications” on the various attractions before they could open.
However, this was updated with an official statement sent to Cruise Fever in late July 2024 stated that, “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.” It went on to say that they are looking into developing those areas into some kind of “future recreational opportunities”.
The wording is extremely strange, claiming they are ‘unable to accept delivery’ of attractions that have already been fully installed onto the ship for nearly the past year, many of which were seen being tested in early Spring 2024, with crew telling guests they were expecting to have them open by May. So now you’ll never get to experience the RollGlider at sea, along with the more simple ropes course attraction and Coastal Climb, which was a kid friendly net-crawl style experience up a couple of levels that ended with a slide experience back down two levels to the deck below. It is also worth mentioning that a social media report from guests on the Sun Princess in July 2024 confirmed that the splash pad attraction was also now not working as well.
Essentially, anything worth truly mentioning as being a marketable and unique feature on the Sun Princess, making up the Park19 attraction, has been scuttled, but unfortunately these large installations will still be a present and ongoing eyesore for guests for many months to come, until Princess can find the time to remove them. Some of this work could take place in mid October as the Sun Princess relocated to Fort Lauderdale on the morning of Oct. 9th and does not set sail again until Oct. 14th, giving them 5 days to potentially remove the ropes course or RollGlider track perhaps, but not nearly enough time to add anything new as a replacement. Otherwise, Princess has a fairly full schedule for her between now and the end of October 2026, so nothing may change for quite some time.
Meanwhile Princess is also set to launch a sister ship, the Star Princess, in October 2025. Star Princess was supposed to be a copy of the Sun Princess, complete with the full array of Park19 experiences, with an original launch date expected in Summer 2025 which has now been pushed back twice to the current October 2025 timeline. I can’t help but think that the current issues with Park19 on the Sun Princess may be to blame for some of the delays on the Star Princess, allowing them time to possibly rework the space into something new. Currently the official Princess website makes no mention of Park19 on the Star Princess, with the area only labeled as ‘Coming Soon’ on the current deck plans. Meanwhile the Sun Princess deck plans have now relabeled Park19 as simply “Jogging Track”.
(6/21/2023) The thrill ride arms race amongst cruise lines is clearly on, as the decks of the latest monster vessels are now commonly adorned by various amusement structures. Climbing Walls, Water Slides, Zip Lines, Go Kart, Robot-Arm Rides and even the Bolt powered roller coaster. The latest creation comes from Princess Cruises who has announced that their new Sun Princess will feature a ride they call the Sea Breeze Rollglider. The creation is sort of a hybrid between a zip-line and an inverted roller coaster. Guests are strapped to hang under the track which is electrically powered to propel them at speeds up to 11mph around a track that runs over the top deck.
The new Sun Princess will first tour the waters around the Mediterranean in 2024 before setting sail to begin cruising from Fort Lauderfale’s Port Everglades cruise terminal later in the year. The Sun Princess is the first of the line’s new “Sphere” class vessels and a sister ship to the Sun Princess is also in the works with a planned 2025 launch date.
Check out the animated preview of the new Sea Breeze Rollglider in the video below.
 Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - (1/6/2025) A Screamscape reader just returned from a Royal Caribbean cruise where they stopped at Nassau and spotted the new Royal Caribbean Beach Club under construction from the port. In fact, the Beach Club will be built on a narrow strip of land between the cruise docks and the open ocean.
The interesting thing is that based on memory, and google maps, the area used to be more green and even looked to have some houses or buildings here, but is now in the process of being entirely cleared out.
(1/5/2025) Royal Caribbean will open a new private island destination for their cruise guests in the Bahamas in December 2025 called Royal Beach Club Paradise. According to the details, this 17-acre beach club on the western end of Paradise Island will offer both beaches and pools, including the world’s largest swim-up bar.
As we mentioned in the previous upside, this will be the first of Royal Caribbean’s new “Beach Club” destinations, which unlike the Perfect Day at CocoCay, access to the Beach Clubs will not be free, but rather require an extra charge, just like the other non-exclusive shore excursion options at Paradise Island. The Beach Club will be divided into three areas: a Family Beach, Chill beach and Party Cove.
Look for more of these Beach Clubs to be added in the future, with the next site to be in Cozumel, Mexico, opening sometime in 2026.
(11/9/2024) The concept of major cruise lines featuring stops at private islands or private beach clubs destinations is only growing. According to the latest headlines Royal Caribbean is working on adding three private ‘beach club’ destinations to their planned stops in Nassau, Paradise Island and Cozumel. Unlike the experience of a stop at the Perfect Day at CocoCay, these new beach club additions will require an extra charge to visit if you want the experience.
That said, it sounds like a second “Perfect Day” style experience is also in the works for Mexico’s Costa Maya port, as Royal Caribbean is working on plans to create a “Perfect Day Mexico” beach resort and water park experience after finalizing a $292 million deal to purchase the port itself and nearby land attached to create the new offering. Look for the port to be added to the line’s Western Caribbean itineraries starting in 2027.
Meanwhile look for Royal Beach Club Paradise Island to be offered in 2025, and Royal Beach Club Cozumel in 2026.
(9/24/2024) Royal Caribbean will launch their next Icon class vessel, Star of the Seas, in August 2025. The massive ship will begin service with runs out of Florida’s Port Canaveral at that time as the twin to Icon of the Seas, which is currently the world’s biggest cruise ship. Icon has made waves with guests from the impressive waterslide collection being offered along the top decks and a collection of other amazing attractions and Star of the Seas is expected to offer an extremely similar, if not identical, line-up of attractions.
(3/16/2024) Just a heads up for anyone cruising the Caribbean currently, especially if you are booked on Royal Caribbean. Due to the rise of violence in Haiti, Royal Caribbean has suspended all stops in Haiti, including at their private beach port of Labadee on the northern side of the island. In thrill ride circles, the Labadee area had become known for featuring the amazing Dragon’s Breath zip line experience as well as the Dragon’s Tail alpine coaster.
(1/29/2024) Our friends at Attractions Magazine have posted some new videos of the big highlight waterslides on Royal Caribbean’s new Icon of the Seas. This includes a look at the Storm Chaser mat-race slides, Storm Surge, Hurricane Hunter and the tallest drop-pod slide on the seas today, Frightening Bolt.
Virgin Voyages - (12/4/2024) Got a spare $120,000 and enough time-off saved to go on Vacation for an entire year? Or maybe you’re ready to quit and take some time for self reflection… as long as you have $120k, I’ve got the deal for you.
Would you believe that Virgin Voyages is now selling a very limited number of Annual Passes that will allow for you, and a guest, to sail on Virgin Voyages as much as you want for an entire year. Any ship… any itinerary…
I’ve been fortunate enough toi sail with Virgin twice now and I loved it… but I don’t have $120k laying around, or the time-off from my job, so this deal isn’t for me. But man… it would be a great way to report on attractions from around the world from a virtual office at sea! Check out the details here.
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