Princess Cruises is to further expand its Australian-based fleet, with the 3,082-passenger and 113,561gt/2007 built Emerald Princess to become the newest of the company’s ships sailing from Sydney. The ship will arrive in Sydney for the first time on 15th November 2016, and will stay until April 2017. She will join the Diamond Princess as a seasonal addition to the Australian fleet, while the Dawn Princess, Sea Princess and Sun Princess will continue to operate year-round from Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle and Sydney.

Oceania’s fire damaged 30,277gt/1998 built Insignia required repairs lasting nine weeks forcing a reorganisation of her world cruise itinerary that will now commence on 22nd March in Singapore. The engine room fire broke out on the Insignia while the ship was docked in St. Lucia on 11th December. No passengers were hurt and all were evacuated and flown to Miami. One crewmember and two contractors who had been working in the engine room were killed in the accident.

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line: The 47,263gt/1987 built Costa Celebration is confirmed as the new vessel for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line following the grounding of the Bahamas Celebration at Freeport. The latter is unlikely to see further service whilst the former Costa Cruises ship will now be employed on 4, 6 & 8 Night Cruises with Bahamas Resort Stay Packages starting under $300 per person. The arrival of Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth at Southampton on 10th January was severely delayed to 1530 instead of the usual 0500-0600 due to gale force winds. Winds in excess of 50mph had hindered the ship’s progress back to Southampton and she finally followed in the Queen Mary 2’s wake at 2230 that night at the beginning of the world cruise itineraries for both ships.

Crystal Cruises: Rumours were rife in early January in the German media that Crystal Cruises had purchased the 22,496gt/1998 built Deutschland for $50 million. The ship had operated for Peter Deilmann Cruises in the German luxury segment until financial problems left the operating company insolvent. The rumour was immediately denied by Crystal Cruises with their previously promised ‘big news’ referring only to a new brochure.

NCL: The New Year also saw Frank Del Rio appointed as president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, replacing Kevin Sheehan who has resigned from the position. Kevin Sheehan had led the company for the past seven years and has overseen the addition of various new ships and itineraries. Most recently, he was involved in securing the acquisition of Prestige Cruise Holdings and helping Norwegian Cruise Holdings to assemble a portfolio of brands that spans all market segments in the cruise industry. Mr Del Rio has served as the CEO of Prestige Cruises International, which was acquired by NCL in November 2014, and has more than 20 years of experience in the cruise industry.

Carnival Cruise Line’s 85,942gt/2004 built Carnival Miracle will undergo an extensive refurbishment this spring during a two-week dry dock from 7th-21st March as part of the Fun Ship 2.0 product enhancement programme.

MSC Cruises announced on 13th January that it had begun work to transform the second of its four Lirica-class ships with the arrival of the 58,625gt/2002 built MSC Sinfonia at the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo.