American Cruise Lines has announced that its new riverboat, the first in the company’s Modern Riverboat Series, will be named the American Song. The new vessel will boast a four-storey glass atrium, spacious lounges and the largest staterooms in the industry, including private furnished balconies and full-sized bathrooms. The inaugural season for the American Song begins in autumn 2018 on the Mississippi River and will then continue to the West Coast in 2019.

Aurora Expeditions will honour its founder, pioneering mountaineer and explorer Greg Mortimer, by naming its new ship after him. The vessel, set to debut in late 2019, will be the first expedition cruise ship to feature the patented Ulstein X-Bow which pierces waves with greater stability. The ship’s name will ensure that Greg’s legacy and vision for small group voyages continues. Aurora Expeditions was founded in 1991.

Carnival Cruise Line announced on 23rd November that it will expand capacity on its cruise offerings to Mexico from Galveston and New Orleans beginning in 2019. The announcement is a reflection of the cruise line’s position as a leader in Mexican cruising, with recent figures showing an 8.5% increase in Australians cruising to Mexico with Carnival Cruise Line this year. The 128,251gt/2009 built Carnival Dream will launch 4 and 5-day cruises to Mexico year-round from Galveston beginning in May 2019, becoming the newest and largest Carnival ship to operate a short cruise program from that port. The ‘Dream replaces the 110,348gt/2004 built Carnival Valor, which will transfer to New Orleans to also begin year-round 4 and 5-day cruises, beginning May 2019. She will be the largest ship to offer a year-round short cruise schedule from New Orleans.

Marella Cruises’ ships have been renamed with the Marella prefix replacing the Thomson name. For example, the 33,933gt/1984 built Marella Celebration (formerly Thomson Celebration) was noted in Gibraltar during November.

Norwegian Cruise Line has contracted MAN PrimeServ to provide SOLAS insulation upgrades for nine ships of NCL’s ships, totalling 44 engines. The project, to be completed in 2018, incorporates the equipping of all engines with an individual output of over 375kW with heat insulation, spray protection and resistance to flammability and fluid density, according to the SOLAS 220 convention. MAN 48/60B, 48/60A and 58/64 engine types will receive the upgrades, which represent the first such order from NCL. Hot spots can affect and damage other engine components, while splashing fuel-oil has the potential to result in engine-room fires as well as serious accidents to a ship’s crew. In order to ensure conformity with SOLAS, MAN PrimeServ has carefully examined engine insulations and heat shielding over many years. Results have shown that the MAN engines’ original SOLAS insulation has lasted extremely well. Ships built before 2003 are not SOLAS-compliant and therefore have to be upgraded through tailor-made solutions.

P&O Cruises’ 69,840gt/1995 built Oriana (above) will need to visit Blohm+Voss in Hamburg early in the New Year so the ship’s 6th January departure from Southampton on a 50-night itinerary exploring the Caribbean and the Americas has been cancelled. The unscheduled 3-week dry docking has become necessary due to unforeseen technical issues which have not been disclosed. Rumours have been circulating for a while as to the ship’s future in the P&O fleet and this sort of unfortunate incident will do nothing to help her position, especially as she is more costly to operate.

PortMiami surpassed the five million passenger mark in the 2016-2017 fiscal year (to 30th September) welcoming more than 5.3 million cruise passengers to Miami, the highest number of cruise guests anywhere. New cruise berths and terminals, including intermodal and parking facilities are in the process of being built that will accommodate additional cruise ships at the port. The $200m project is due to be ready for business in 2018. Cruise Terminal F has also been undergoing renovation and expansion in preparation for the arrival of the 152,050gt MSC Seaside in late 2017. The port also celebrated the arrival of Viking Ocean Cruises’ 47,842gt/2017 built Viking Sky and Viking Sun in November. The expansion continues for 2018 with the arrival of Carnival Cruise Lines’ 133,500gt/2018 built Carnival Horizon and 128,048gt/2011 built Carnival Magic; Norwegian Cruise Line’s 167,725gt/2017 built Norwegian Bliss; and Royal Caribbean International’s 225,282gt/2010 built Allure of the Seas, 138,279gt/2003 built Mariner of the Seas, and the 226,000gt/2018 built Symphony of the Seas. MSC Cruises’ 171,598gt/2017 built MSC Meraviglia will also be joining the Miami fleet in 2019 and Virgin Voyages will be making a debut in spring 2020.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has announced that its 2020 newbuild will be named Seven Seas Splendor and is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2020. As part of the naming process, Regent Seven Seas Cruises sought suggestions from its travel agents, loyal guests and employees for the ship’s name in a sweepstakes held in September. Seven Seas Splendor was chosen among nearly 2,600 unique names from more than 14,000 submissions. Thank goodness the winner wasn’t Cruiser McCruise Face! It is incredible to think that between 2018 and 2026 92 new cruise ships of various descriptions are scheduled for delivery with ten having begun plying their trade in 2017.

Silversea’s rejuvenated Silver Cloud departed from Buenos Aires during the week commencing 13th November fresh from a $40 million refurbishment and conversion to an ice-class expedition ship. This was the ship’s first-ever expedition voyage. Sadly the ship was forced to abort her first voyage following the $40 million refit and turn back to Puerto Madryn on 20th November for repairs following a mechanical failure. All guests were flown home as soon as it could be arranged. The 16,927gt/1994 built Silver Cloud accommodates 254 guests (200 in polar waters) in updated suites, most featuring a private veranda. The redesigned public spaces include the new Tor’s Observation Lounge, a heated pool, the all-new Zàgara Spa, and the new Photo Studio. A fleet of 16 Zodiacs provide opportunities for exploration, while 10 kayaks offer a more personal experience. Following her first season in Antarctica, the Silver Cloud will cruise along Africa’s western coast to Northern Europe and the Norwegian Arctic, where she will spend summer 2018.

SkySea Cruise Line’s 72,458gt/1995 built SkySea Golden Era (above), unmistakably the former Celebrity Century, completed an extensive dry dock period on 11th November at the Cosco Shipyard in Zhoushan, where she arrived on 25th October. The refit was brought forward from January as the beginning of 2018 offered promising business opportunities. The overhaul included routine work and equipment maintenance as well as a number of hotel projects including the addition of two new conference rooms. The new SkySea Board Room located on Deck 7 can accommodate up to 50 guests and the new SkySea Conference Room located on Deck 12 can cater for up to 100 guests. In addition, the Grand Restaurant was renovated with a new Chinese look and feel and expanded retail shops and a pharmacy were added. Post refit the Golden Era had a schedule of 13 cruises from Shenzhen, sailing to Miyakojima and Okinawa in Japan and Da Nang and Halong Bay in Vietnam.

Sunstone’s expedition newbuild under construction at China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co. shipyard in China is to feature Wärtsilä engines and exhaust gas cleaning systems. The contract with Wärtsilä was placed by Ulstein Design and Solutions of Norway, the company responsible for delivering the design and equipment package to the yard. The order was booked in June 2017 and there are options for an additional nine vessels. The full Wärtsilä scope of supply comprises two 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 20 engines fitted with the Wärtsilä NOR (NOx Reducer) exhaust gas cleaning system, and two 8-cylinder Wärtsilä 20 engines. The Wärtsilä NOR is based on SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology. The system is compliant with various NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) emission reduction needs, such as the IMO Tier III rules. The Wärtsilä equipment will be delivered to the yard in January 2018, and the ship is expected to begin operations in September 2019.