Celebrity Cruises has withdrawn a Bahamas cruise on 21st November to enable vital repairs aboard the 90,940gt/2002 built Celebrity Constellation. A large component requires renewal, more than likely propulsion related, which can only be performed in dry dock.
Cranky Princess: The 77,499gt/1998 built Sea Princess suffered from crankshaft issues over several weeks causing her to operate at reduced speed, skip ports and miss an entire cruise on 13th September. The ship was dry docked in Sydney and was then made ready for her next cruise from Brisbane on 29th September.

Crystal Cruises: The 51,044gt/1995 built Crystal Symphony has emerged from dry dock with a fresh new look following an intensive $20 million refit that took two weeks to accomplish. Improvements on board include the upgrade of 48 additional cabins to “Pure” hypoallergenic staterooms.

Island Escape Cruises is to build a new all-suite ship named Horizon. The classically lined 46m long vessel will cater for just 24 guests and is planned for delivery in August 2015.

Ponant: French cruise operator Ponant has celebrated the completion of a transit of the Northwest Passage by the 10,944gt/2010 built L’Austral. The ship retraced the historic route taken by Roald Amundsen in 1905. This is the second time that a Ponant ship has negotiated the voyage with sister ship, the 10,992gt/2013 built Le Soleal, also making the trip in 2013 – the first French commercial vessel to follow the challenging maritime route which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. L’Austral departed Kangerlussuag in Greenland with 206 passengers aboard on 26th August, arriving at Anadyr in Russia on 16th September.

Princess Cruises will mark its 50th anniversary in 2015 with a programme of on board celebrations. Commemorative food, drink and entertainment will be offered on its ships to celebrate the milestone. Anniversary décor and signage will be displayed on board the ships and in terminal buildings plus each vessel in the fleet will feature a 50th anniversary flag on her bow.

RMS Queen Mary: Perhaps the grandest ocean liner of them all celebrated her 80th birthday on 26th September, the anniversary of her launch at the John Brown Shipyard, Clydebank, Glasgow. The 81,237grt former Cunard Line ship is 310.7m long and survives to this day at Long Beach, California. She held the Blue Riband 1938- 1952 and had a service speed of around 28.5 knots.