Aida Cruises’ AIDAprima (above) arrived at Singapore on 20th March en route from Japan to Hamburg. In Singapore, approximately 40 containers with some of the fitting out equipment were taken on board as work continues on her shops, art gallery etc. during the crossing to Hamburg, around 900 crew members on board were working towards the ship receiving her first guests. The ship commences her Hamburg- Southampton-le Havre cruises from 30th April.

Carnival Cruises’ 101,509gt/1999 built Carnival Triumph (above) arrived at the Port of New Orleans on 4th April, representing a 34% capacity increase on the line’s four- and five-day cruise program from New Orleans. Together with Carnival dream, which operates year-round seven-day voyages, Carnival is expected to carry 450,000 passengers annually from the renovated Erato Street Terminal, representing the largest ever capacity commitment by a cruise line in New Orleans.

One day later the keel laying ceremony for the new unit for Carnival Cruise line took place at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard (above). The new 140,527gt vessel will go to sea in 2018 with a capacity for almost 6,500 people (guests and crew) and will be a sistership to the Carnival vista, the largest ship which Fincantieri has ever built and due for delivery at the end of April.

CMV’s 22,080gt/1965 built Marco Polo (above) made the news in March when a 65- year-old British female was rescued off the coast of Santa Cruz, Madeira, whilst swimming out to sea after missing the ship’s departure from Funchal. The woman was travelling with her 69-year-old husband, but requested to disembark the ship in Madeira for personal reasons. The couple somehow became separated and after heading to Madeira international airport for a flight back to the UK, the lady in question saw the Marco Polo sailing off the coast and decided to swim out to her, believing her husband had returned on board. She managed to swim 500 metres, before being rescued by a small fishing boat, which heard her screaming for help. She was reportedly in the water for three hours and was subsequently treated for hypothermia at a local hospital. The husband had in fact flown back to Bristol and was not on the ship as his wife had reportedly believed. The Marco Polo was on a 32- night “Treasures of the West indies” cruise, which departed Avonmouth on 28th February and returned on 31st March.

Fred. Olsen Cruises will offer more regional cruise departures in 2017/18 when the Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch cruise from no less than ten ports: Southampton, Dover, Tilbury, Harwich, Falmouth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Greenock (Glasgow), Rosyth (Edinburgh) and Belfast. The Balmoral will once again be sailing from Newcastle, with a record 13 departures, which is an increase of two sailings on the previous cruise season. The Balmoral’s cruise programme from the Port of Tyne will commence on 25th May 2017. In addition to Newcastle, the Balmoral will also be serving the Southern ports of Southampton and Dover in 2017/18. The Braemar will serve Southampton and Dover plus will also be making a return to her popular Caribbean programme in 2018, with six fly-cruises between December 2017 and March 2018. The Boudicca will be cruising from the port of Falmouth in April 2017, for her second season plus four sailings from Greenock (Glasgow) and two from Belfast. Fred. Olsen remains one of the leading cruise lines operating from the port of Liverpool in 2017/18, with a total of 11 calls on board Boudicca whilst the Black Watch will be offering departures from Southampton, Dover and Rosyth (Edinburgh), with eight sailings, an increase on the seven available in 2016, along with two cruises from Harwich and five from Tilbury.

Lindblad Expedition Holdings, celebrating 50 years of trading, intends to build a new bluewater expedition vessel for delivery in 2019. The new expedition vessel will follow two 100-passenger American-flagged coastal vessels being built for introduction in 2017 and 2018. Meanwhile, the company has also bought the Via Australis (above), which will be refurbished, before replacing the National geographic Endeavour in the Galapagos.

MSC Cruises signed a letter of intent on 6th April with STX France for the construction of a new advanced next-generation prototype for up to four ING propelled cruise ships in excess of 200,000gt each. The first of the four will be delivered in 2022 and will be known as the World Class. The announcement was made at the Élysée Palace in the presence of the President of France, François Hollande, as well as MSC group’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Gianluigi Aponte, and STX France’s Laurent Castaing. MSC Cruises is the first global cruise line brand to develop an investment plan of this length and magnitude, spanning a horizon of over ten years (from 2014 through to 2026) and for a total of up to eleven next-generation ships. The new orders will reflect an additional €4 billion investment, bringing the total value of the Company’s 10-plus year investment plan to nearly €9 billion. STX France has already designed four different classes of ship for MSC Cruises, opera, Musica, Fantasia and Meraviglia, each with four ships per class. By 2026, a total of 20 ships will have been designed and built by STX France in Saint- Nazaire for MSC Cruises. The second World Class ship is scheduled for 2024 with the other two options being for 2025 and 2026.

Oceania Cruises’ 30,277gt/1999 built Sirena (above) is undergoing transformation from Princess Cruises’ ocean Princess in Marseilles. Her first cruise is expected to be on 27th April and workers are being accommodated aboard the ferry Moby Drea in port, which arrived there on 20th March. This vessel was formerly known as DFDS Seaways’ Prince of Scandinavia.

Star Clippers is to name its new ship, to be launched in 2017, the Flying Clipper (above). The new sailing ship will carry 300 passengers and be powered by 35 sails. She is a near replica of the France II ordered in 1911 at la Gironde shipyard Bordeaux, which was the largest square rig sailing ship ever built. The Flying Clipper will have three pools, including one that funnels sunlight through the ship’s atrium into the dining room. There will be a water sports platform in the stern for use when the ship is at anchor and a variety of cabin grades, including 34 suites with balconies and four luxurious owner’s suites. The ships sail in Mediterranean waters in the summer months and relocate to the Caribbean for the winter, with a new route in Asia starting in December 2016, on board the Star Clipper. In Summer 2017 Star Clippers will sail into Indonesian waters for the first time with 19 departures scheduled.