Diamond Cruise, a fledgling cruise operation in Shanghai, has purchased the 40,171gt/1982 built island Escape. The ship proceeded to Brest for refit in December to help transform her to cater to Chinese passengers. Reports suggest that Diamond Cruise intends to invest $2.1 billion in ship hardware over the next 5 years. 

Celebrity Cruises has announced a revamp of its dress code, replacing Formal Nights on board with Evening Chic. Commencing 4th December, the change moves towards “sophistication and relaxation”, rather than “stuffiness and structure”. Passengers will be free to be glamorous, chic and sophisticated in their own way and Evening Chic nights will take place on up to two nights on every cruise. Acceptable attire now includes cocktail dresses, skirts and jeans for women, while men can feel comfortable wearing button down shirts.

Fred. Olsen Cruise lines’ 28,551gt/1973 built Boudicca entered dry dock at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany on 18th November 2015 to undergo various engineering works, general refurbishment and interior/exterior painting. During the dry dock, the Boudicca received terrace balconies to 28 cabins on Lido Deck 7. These new terrace balcony cabins extend out 1.2 metres from the ship’s bulkhead, and provide guests with an increased choice of cost-effective balcony cabins. The ship also received a modified hull livery, as seen here in Funchal on 9th December, which presumably will be applied to each fleet member. The new look will certainly take some getting used to!

Celestyal Cruises’ Celestyal Crystal has also had balconies added during refit, 26 on Deck 6 and a further 17 on Deck 7, whilst dry docked in Piraeus as part of a 20 day refurbishment, which also saw various onboard venues renovated. Work also continues on upgrading the Celestyal Olympia whilst the Celestyal Nefeli will be refurbished before joining the fleet in February.

Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime took delivery of its new 11,468gt multipurpose freighter and passenger vessel, the Aranui 5 (above), when she arrived at Papeete, French Polynesia on 9th November from her builders in China. The ship entered service on 12th December 2015 between Tahiti and the Marquesas islands. Apart from supplying cargo to the six ports in the Marquesas Islands, the Aranui 5 also operates a passenger service and tourist cruise as part of her 14-day itinerary.

Star Cruises has not deployed a ship to Europe for 10 years but the 50,764gt/1992 built Superstar Gemini (above) is scheduled to visit Genoa in 2016 according to reports. Capacity in Asia appears to be reaching saturation if this and the redeployment of the Costa Victoria to Japan in 2016 for 60 days and closure of cruise company HNA are anything to go by.

MSC Cruises announced on 3rd December that it is to strengthen its presence in Cuba by home-porting a second ship in Havana from the winter season 2016-17. The 65,542gt/2001 built MSC Armonia will join the 65,591gt/2004 built MSC opera in Havana, from November 2016, for the entire winter season.

Princess Cruises’ 107,517gt/1998 built grand Princess (above) lost power early on the morning of 30th November after a fire was reported in an engine room switchboard. The ship was approaching Hilo, Hawaii when the alarm was raised before switching to emergency lighting and limited air conditioning systems. After a short time power was restored and the vessel was able to resume course with three of four engines running. However, the call at Hilo was cancelled in order to proceed to Honolulu where shore based engineers were deployed to meet the ship. The grand Princess was on the fifth day of her 15-day Hawaiian cruise that had departed San Francisco on 25th November with 2,592 passengers and 1,095 crew members. Due to reduced speed after the incident, the calls at Nawiliwili (Kaui) and Lahaina (Maui) were cancelled in order to return to San Francisco as scheduled on 10th December. Princess Cruises’ newest ship, the Majestic Princess, will be deployed on sailings to Europe in 2017 before transferring to ply Asian waters. The 142,714gt newbuild will join the company’s royal Princess, regal Princess, Crown Princess, Pacific Princess and Caribbean Princess in Europe. The ship will make her debut on 4th April 2017 from Civitavecchia (Rome), for a five-day Maiden Adriatic Sea roundtrip voyage visiting Kotor and Corfu. The ship will then undertake 5-28 day Mediterranean voyages from Barcelona, Piraeus (Athens) and Civitavecchia.

Royal Caribbean international’s 90,090gt Jewel of the seas will receive a complete makeover from bow to stern, unveiling a fresh and thoroughly contemporary style including new staterooms, new restaurants, technology upgrades and new entertainment venues. Additions include a two-bedroom family suite and 24 new outside and balcony accommodations. Giovanni’s Table, vintages and Izumi, some of Royal Caribbean’s most popular dining venues, will join the diverse menu of dining options. Chops grille, the spa and retail areas also will be refreshed with a new modern design and in addition a new poolside movie screen will be installed. On 19th November the Explorer of the Seas arrived in Melbourne for the very first time after her transit voyage from Southampton.

Thomson Cruises unveiled a new ship livery in November to be applied to the Thomson Discovery, currently the 69,472gt/1996 built Splendour of the Seas, when she joins the fleet in summer 2016. The livery will feature light and dark blue waves along her hull. The Thomson Discovery will operate cruises out of Palma De Mallorca during the summer, before heading to the Caribbean in the winter.