Cruise Radio News Briefs | Week of December 27, 2020

Welcome to the Cruise Radio News Brief for the Week of December 27, 2020, where we bring you the latest cruise news, our weekly podcast, and recent YouTube videos.

1. Disney Cruise Line released details about its upcoming ship, Disney Wish. The ship’s iconic golden statue in the atrium will be Cinderella, which seems fitting given the ship’s name. This will be the first ship in the Disney fleet to be powered by LNG.

2. Norwegian Cruise Line canceled its remaining March 2021 sailings. Previously, the cruise line had canceled sailings on all but three of its ships. Now, no ships will sail with guests until April at the earliest.

3. Empress of the Seas was recently sold by Royal Caribbean, but the good news is that the ship is getting a new life. Instead of being doomed to the scrapyard, the ship will sail for Cordelia Cruises as the line seeks to capitalize on the Indian market.

4. On both sides of the country, cruise ships are making their way back to embarkation ports. Several cruise ships have returned to San Diego, California, while many others are already arrived and waiting in Miami and Port Everglades, signaling a positive move toward the potential return to cruising in 2021.

5. Viking Cruises’ first expedition ship Viking Octantis was officially floated out from at Fincantieri’s VARD shipyard in Norway. Though the vessel is not slated to start service until 2022, it will sail in Antarctica and North America’s Great Lakes.

Featured Article: The 2021 Cruise Story We Can’t Wait to Write

I think we all know and accept that cruising will not be the quite the same experience when operations return. But, the important thing is that they will return. And we can’t wait to get back to writing about that experience.

This Week’s Podcast: End of the Year Cruising Thoughts

In this final episode of Cruise Radio for 2020, Doug interviews Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald, Sheri Griffiths from CruiseTipsTV, Nancy Schretter from the Family Travel Network, Matt Hochberg from Royal Caribbean Blog, Cruise Radio Staff Writer Richard Simms, Cruise Radio Writer Ashley Kosciolek, and Cruise Radio listener Dr. Kris.

Featured Video: Getting to Trunk Bay from St. Thomas

As soon as cruising can safely resume, we can start to plan what we’ll be doing in ports of call. When a ship visits St. Thomas, many people choose to take a boat ride over to the island of St. John instead. Here’s how to do that and visit one of the most popular beaches, Trunk Bay.