Aurora Expeditions’ new Polar Class 6 expedition cruise vessel, the Greg Mortimer, had her keel laying ceremony at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard on 12th June. The 104.3m long and 18.4m beam ship is being built for Miami-based SunStone Ships who will charter her to Aurora Expeditions. The ship can accommodate a total of 255 persons, including crew. For expedition cruises in the Polar Regions, the vessel will carry just 120 passengers. The newbuild is named after Aurora’s founder, an Australian mountaineer. Norwegian ship designer Ulstein designed the polar class, X-BOW expedition cruise vessel, and provided the equipment package for one vessel and options for an additional nine units. The company’s 1,753gt/1982 built Polar Pioneer will embark on her final season of sailing the Polar Regions in 2019 as the Greg Mortimer will replace her. The ship was originally built as an ice-strengthened research vessel in Finland before undergoing a significant refurbishment and conversion in 2000 to become a passenger ship able to accommodate 54 passengers.

Azamara Club Cruises’ third ship, the 30,277gt/2001 built Azamara Pursuit (ex-Adonia), will be christened in Southampton on 28th August by two godmothers, namely AFAR Media’s Ellen Asmodeo Giglio and Travel Weekly UK’s Lucy Huxley. Azamara chose the two travel and media persons to represent two of its key markets, the U.S.A and UK

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch will rendezvous in Cadiz on 10th September for the company’s long-awaited Captains in Cádiz event. This is the second time that all four of Fred. Olsen’s ocean cruise ships will have assembled together at the same time, anywhere in the world. The 24,344gt/1993 built Braemar made history on 21st June by becoming the largest cruise ship to dock in Murmansk, Russia.

FTI Cruises’ 9,570gt/1980 built Berlin became the first cruise ship to call at the Dutch port of Scheveningen on 5th June. The ship was assisted by the tug Fairplay 1 and local KNRM lifeboat Kitty Roosmale Nepvue performed for the passengers as the ship approached the port.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises announced on 3rd July that it has ordered a third luxury expedition cruise vessel from VARD Holdings Limited, part of the Fincantieri Group. Developed by VARD in close co-operation with the cruise company, the vessels are specially designed for cruises in Polar Regions in the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as operations in warm water destinations such as the Amazon. The first two 16,000gt, 139m long and 22m beam ships will be delivered in 2019.

Havila requires four ships by 2021 for its new Norwegian coastal service responsibilities. The Norwegian company has entered into an agreement with Barreras of Vigo, Spain, to build two of four vessels with a contract price of around €200 million per 700 passenger capacity/LNG powered ship.

Lindblad Expeditions’ second newbuild and sister ship to the National Geographic Quest (above), the 100-passenger National Geographic Venture, is due for delivery this October. Following inaugural celebrations in San Francisco, the ship will depart on two maiden itineraries on 2nd/7th December that explore the Pacific U.S coast before beginning seasons in Baja, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ newbuild Seven Seas Splendor had her keel laying ceremony at Fincantieri’s Ancona Shipyard on 28th June. The ship is the second super luxury cruise ship that Fincantieri is building for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a brand of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., following on from the 55,254gt/2016 built Seven Seas Explorer. Delivery of the 750 passenger capacity ship is scheduled for 2020.

Star Cruises’ 75,338gt/1999 built SuperStar Virgo (above) will relocate to the North China market from September 2018 and homeport in Dalian, Tianjin and Qingdao. With this expansion to the North China market, Star Cruises will further expand its footprint in the country by covering China’s three main cruise markets in the South, East and North.

Windstar Cruises’ 9,961gt/1992 built Star Legend became the largest cruise ship ever to transit the Ballard Locks and sail on to Lake Union in Seattle, Washington on 27th June (above). The Star Legend’s inaugural visit to Seattle was especially significant, as the 212-passenger ship is owned by Seattle-based Windstar Cruises, a small ship cruise line with a fleet of six ships sailing worldwide but that had not had a ship in Seattle in nearly three decades. The ship carried Windstar employees, VIPs, travel partners and media onboard for the day, which was a grand homecoming for the company with hundreds of people lining the locks and shoreline for the event and local media covering the spectacle live onboard and from helicopters above.

Two Mid-Size Favourites To Bow Out

On 29th June P&O Cruises announced that the 69,840gt/1995 built Oriana (above), a name inspired by the Latin word for dawn, would be leaving the P&O fleet in August 2019. This had always been on the cards since the newbuild Iona was announced plus plans to make the 76,152gt/2000 built Aurora an Adult’s Only ship. The Oriana arrived at Southampton from her builders, Meyer Werft, in April 1995 having been handed over on 2nd April. The ship was named by Her Majesty The Queen and was the first new ship commissioned for P&O Cruises and was the first to be designed specifically for the British cruise market. Her styling mirrored that of an Ocean Liner with many features inspired by the Canberra and, when built, was one of the largest cruise ships in the world and the biggest passenger vessel built in Germany since 1914. Just look at the size of ships that Meyer Werft builds now!

Just days later it was confirmed that Holland America Line had sold the Prinsendam (above) to Phoenix Reisen with the ship due to leave the HAL fleet on 1st July 2019. Despite the sale, the ship is leased back to HAL so that she can conclude her booked itineraries. The 39,051gt/1988 built ship began life as the Royal Viking Sun and later became the Seabourn Sun in 1999. The ship joined HAL in 2002 and is the company’s only “small” cruise ship so the sale has brought considerable displeasure to her followers as the withdrawal of the Adonia did from the P&O Cruises fleet. There does perhaps appear to be a worrying trend of the Carnival owned brands weeding out the smaller (and very popular) ships in favour of shiny new cruising behemoths. The Prinsendam will be renamed Amera by Phoenix Reisen.