Cruise Ships Resume Sailing from Port of Baltimore After Bridge Collapse

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.

I've been on nine Disney cruises with my husband and two teenage sons. Although we've sailed on other cruise lines like Carnival, Celebrity, MSC, and Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line is always our top pick.

The Alaskan city of Juneau will cap cruise ship visitors in the coming years in an effort to combat overtourism in the popular state capital.

If you aren't careful, your Carnival cruise could quickly become as expensive as an Oceania one.

The Port of Galveston is the fourth-most-popular cruise home port in the U.S., having hosted 1.49 million cruise passengers in 2023.