ABP Southampton has been named as the UK’s best cruise departure port for the eighth year running by Cruise Critic, the world’s leading reviews site and online community. The port welcomed over 1.8 million cruise passengers in 2016 and over the last 12 months, ABP Southampton, together with its partners, has invested heavily in its cruise terminals. The refurbishment of the QEII Terminal is the most recent of these developments and has improved passenger flows, access arrangements and crew facilities across all four cruise terminals. The award winners were announced on 12th October and were selected by a global panel of impartial cruise experts from Cruise Critic to highlight the best in the industry across a number of categories.

AIDA Cruises’ 125,572gt/2016 built AIDAprima became the venue for an ice show on 12th November in Hamburg. A first for the German cruise market, the 200m2 ice rink is around 40m high on Deck 16 and was formally inaugurated by skating duo Salomé Casabona Studer and Peter Turner, who are known from the latest Holiday on Ice show, Believe. The live performance is also the start of a long-term partnership between the two market leaders. The rink was, as is tradition, inspected and approved by ice master Peter Koschmieder, production director. Until mid-March 2017 guests aboard the AIDAprima can look forward to all kinds of winter fun and exclusive Holiday on Ice workshops.

Australis’ new ship, the 210-passenger Ventus Australis will make her maiden cruise from Patagonia on 2nd January 2018. The cruise will be part of the 2017/18 “bottom of the world” voyages to Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego. During her maiden season, Ventus Australis will operate 22 four-night sailings between Ushuaia in Argentina and Punta Arenas in Chile while the Stella Australis will offer fifty four 3,4 and 7-night sailings from Ushuaia and Punta Arenas.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour has received a boost from the granting of permission for the development of a new cruise ship berth. It is estimated that the project will cost around €18 million. In the original application, the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company requested a 400m berth, but the go-ahead is for a 250m long facility. Cobh Port is currently the only port in Ireland that can accommodate ships of that size.

Hurtigruten unveiled the names of its new hybrid-powered expedition ships in the second half of October. The expedition ships will be named Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen after the two Norwegian polar pioneers from the period when the company began offering adventure travels. Being built by Hurtigruten’s compatriot shipbuilder Kleven Maritime, the 140m long vessels were ordered in April 2016 and are scheduled for delivery in the summer of 2018. The 530 passenger capacity duo has been designed by Rolls-Royce, in collaboration with the Norwegian yacht designer Espen Øino.

MSC Cruises’ 65,542gt/2002 built MSC Sinfonia opened the South African 2016/17 cruise season on 1st November 2016 when she arrived at the Port of Durban on her repositioning voyage from Venice. MSC Cruises is one of 14 cruise line operators serving South Africa this season, while the MSC Sinfonia is among at least 20 international cruise ships that will call at six of South Africa’s eight commercial ports during this season. The Port of Durban is also set to announce the preferred bidder for development of a new passenger terminal in the port by the end of April 2017. On 14th November the company revealed that the 95,128gt/2010 built MSC Magnifica will offer a unique 119 day cruise itinerary showcasing 49 unique destinations across six continents, MSC’s first world cruise. The ship will depart from Genoa on 5th January 2019.

Oceania Cruises’ 30,277gt/1998 built Insignia will homeport in New York in 2017, offering round-trip voyages to New England, Canada, Bermuda, Greenland and Iceland. The company said it will be the only upscale line to homeport in New York and has more than 20 planned voyages beginning 2017.

Princess Cruises’ 30,277gt/1999 built Pacific Princess returned to service on 28th October following an incident in Nice in which her hull was damaged. The ship had been out of action since 14th Oct when she hit a breakwater on arrival at the French port, damaging the hull below the waterline. No-one was injured in the incident, which was attributed to an unexpected wind change. Princess Cruises was forced to cancel the subsequent scheduled departure from Barcelona. Work began on the fourth Royal Class ship for Princess Cruises when the steel cutting ceremony of the bow section was held on 3rd November at Fincantieri’s Castellammare di Stabia shipyard in Italy. The new build’s design (Hull 6268) follows sister ships Royal, Regal, and Majestic Princess, and is scheduled for delivery in 2019. The construction signals the continuation of a 16 year partnership that has delivered some of the most spectacular and innovative cruise ships at sea for Princess Cruises.

Regent’s 42,363gt/2003 built Seven Seas Voyager received a new look in October as part of the cruise line’s $125 million fleetwide refurbishment programme. Renovations extended from bow to stern with penthouse, concierge and deluxe suites being overhauled to include large oversized marble accented bathrooms, leather headboards and new beds. The ship’s on board dining establishments also received a fresh look with the Chartreuse, La Veranda, Pool Grill and Compass Rose all scheduled for interior enhancements. The post-refurbishment cruise was a 23-night Barcelona to Dubai itinerary on 9th November.

Seabourn’s 40,350gt Seabourn Encore has completed her final round of sea trials off the coast of Italy. The vessel spent three days at sea before returning to the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera. Staff and workers then put the final touches aboard the ship before she was delivered on 30th November. The ship will embark on her first sailing from Athens on 4th December and was due to arrive in Australia on 22nd January for a mini-debut season until 17th March.

Thomson Cruises’ Thomson Majesty lost power on 24th October after a minor fire in the engine room off Livorno, Italy. The vessel had departed from the Italian port en-route to Corsica, but suffered the engine failure after a short circuit and fire. The engineers activated the CO2 firefighting system and quickly extinguished the fire. However, the 41,662gt/1992 built vessel remained adrift for several hours until the engineers succeeded in restarting the engines and all services returned to normal. The ship returned to Livorno for repairs and inspection whilst the voyage to Corsica was cancelled.

Viking Ocean Cruises’ Viking Star cruised into NYC for the first time on 18th October. Making her inaugural North American voyage, the 930-guest ship sailed into Manhattan with a salute from fireboats. The ship had earlier made her US debut in Boston. Prior to this, on 12th October, the navigation light atop the ship’s funnel clipped a bridge in Massachusetts as she passed beneath the Buzzards Bay Railroad Bridge in Bourne. No major damage occurred to the funnel or bridge. The Viking Star was on a 13-day Eastern Seaboard Explorer cruise from Montreal during her U.S debut.