Tourists headed to the expensive hotels of Mykonos and Santorini: rejoice!
28.05.2024 - 17:19 / travelandleisure.com / Royal Caribbean
Cruise ships are once again sailing out of Baltimore, just a couple months after a deadly bridge collapse causing voyages to change course.
The port, which shut down in March following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, welcomed Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas on Sunday, followed by the Carnival Pride on Monday. The Vision of the Seas sailed a 5-night voyage to Bermuda, while theCarnival Pride embarked on a 14-day voyage to Greenland and Canada.
“Just a week ago, this terminal was being utilized as an incident command post. In one week, it’s been transformed back to starting out that guest experience,” Jonathan Daniels, the director for the Port of Baltimore, said in a video posted to X as cruisers got ready to board the Royal Caribbean ship in the background. “[The] Port of Baltimore is back — cruising is back. It’s absolutely great to be able to welcome everybody here.”
The sailings come just days after the Port of Baltimore officially reopened the channel following the refloat and removal of the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge. The channel now has a depth of 50 feet and a horizontal clearance of 400 feet.
The port is home to three major lines: Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival were forced to reroute their ships after the bridge collapsed in the early hours of the morning on March 26.
Norwegian, which first launched cruises from the Maryland port last year, previously told Travel + Leisure the company wasn’t scheduled to return to the port until September.
While smaller than some other homeports, Baltimore hosted 444,000 passengers on cruises out of the city’s port in 2023, according to the government. The port also brings in more than $63 million to Maryland's economy and is responsible for 400 jobs.
Tourists headed to the expensive hotels of Mykonos and Santorini: rejoice!
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, June 13, 2024. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Luxury cruise line Lindblad Expeditions is expanding its presence in the Galapagos with plans to buy two ships from fellow cruise line Celebrity Cruises. Lindblad will purchase both the 48-guest Celebrity Xpedition and the smaller, 16-guest Celebrity Xploration for the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic fleet, the company announced Wednesday. Following the sale, which is expected to close in January 2025, both ships will undergo multi-million dollar renovations. Each ship was purpose-built for the Galapagos. «We recognize and appreciate the immense privilege our company has to operate and grow our expedition cruise offerings in the Galápagos Islands,» Sven-Olof Lindblad, the founder and CEO of Lindblad Expeditions, said in a statement. «By sourcing well-appointed vessels and onboarding the most experienced crew and staff who meet our exacting standards of responsible exploration, we're able to transport guests from around the world to the iconic archipelago and help them understand the importance of protecting and preserving its wonders and wildlife, as a consequence of their personal experience.»
The world’s largest cruise operators are expected to disclose upfront port and other manadatory fees, as well as taxes, to consumers in the U.S. starting July 1 to comply with California’s junk fee law.
As Lisbon began its St. Anthony's Day celebrations, marking the anniversary of the saint's death, the cruise world celebrated the birth of a new luxury cruise ship, Silversea Cruises' Silver Ray, with a christening ceremony in the heart of the Portuguese city.
Margaritaville at Sea's new ship, Islander, officially set sail on its first voyage from Tampa on Tuesday. So far, it's doing a great job of catering to Parrotheads with plenty of tropical decor, including a giant flip-flop photo backdrop in the atrium, two dining rooms with giant palm trees in the middle and renovated cabins that feel more like you're renting someone's beach house than taking up residence on a ship.
Diplo, born Thomas Wesley Pentz, fell in love with Jamaica, particularly its Portland parish on the northeast coast, nearly 20 years ago. “I was D. J.ing on a cruise ship, got off in Ocho Rios, and drove through Port Antonio to get to Kingston,” said the 13-time Grammy nominee who has collaborated with Dua Lipa, Sturgil Simpson, Snoop Dogg, Shakira, Bad Bunny and countless other musicians. “Portland is sort of like Costa Rica, all jungly and waterfalls. And Port Antonio is this quaint little town where I’d go on a sort of retreat, “Mr. Pentz added. About eight years ago he bought some farmland and built a house there.
Before I took my first cruise in April 2022, I had never even seen a cruise ship.
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