In Piraeus on 10th December came the announcement that plans to bring the laid-up Coral back to service in 2014 as the Louis Rhea will not now happen. Instead the former 14,194gt/1971 built Cunard Adventurer has been sold for scrap and is now destined for Aliaga from lay-up in Eleusis.

On 11th November 2013 at around 2200 the 2,191gt/1956 built Nordstjernen ran aground with 21 persons on board at the northern spit of Storøy in the Karm Sound, west of Tonjer, Norway. The ship had not long left dry dock after refit and two tugs failed to refloat the vessel the following morning. Eventually she was refloated at 0700 on the high tide and docked in Haugesund at 0730 where the Haugaland and Hardangerfjord police boarded the vessel to interrogate the crew and take drug tests of the bridge crew. The former Hurtigruten ship suffered some damage but did not take on water.

The 103,881gt/1996 built Carnival Sunshine departed on her inaugural voyage from New Orleans on 18th November at the beginning of her winter schedule based here. Earlier in 2013, Carnival Sunshine underwent a $155 million, 75-day makeover that added a variety of innovations that are part of Carnival’s ground breaking Fun Ship 2.0 enhancement initiative, along with several features unique to this vessel and 182 new staterooms.

The 24,492gt/1973 built Saga Ruby arrived at Southampton to undertake her final cruise for Saga on 7th December to the Caribbean. The ship is due to return on 7th January at what could well be the end of her career. Reports suggest that she could go to Singapore as a “floatel” but such schemes rarely end well. The 18,627gt/1981 built Quest for Adventure assumed her previous name of Saga Pearl II on 22nd November 2013 to effectively replace the “Rubes” as she is affectionately known.