NCL cruise ship Norwegian Joy will set sail to China next year with stunning hull design of a giant phoenix bird. The cruise company announced today that has commissioned the Chinese artist Tan Ping to design the hull artwork of the new Breakaway-Plus class vessel. Norwegian Joy is the Norwegian Cruise Line's first purpose-built cruise ship for the Chinese market. Tan Ping's artwork will deliver Norwegian Joy closer to the Chinese consumers providing an unparalleled cruise experience to this region.

One of the most intelligent scientist in the world, Professor Stephen Hawking arrived on Sunday in Tenerife, Spain on a cruise ship. Stephen Hawking was welcomed on the pier in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where representatives of the Island authorities meet to welcome him. The renowned scientist arrived on the Island aboard the cruise ship P&O Britannia.

The cruise ship Carnival Paradise is host of the international competition for Universal Petite Pageant 2016. This unique beauty pageant organized by Hazely Corp set sail from Tampa on July 18, 2016, to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Designated for ladies 5’6 feet (167.5cm) or less, the main focus of this pageant is to appreciate the beauty of petite women by offering opportunities and special acknowledgment.

Magical clouds covered the sea around the island of Santorini, Greece forming unique landscape. This phenomena occurred on Friday, July 15, 2016, just when the Cunard line cruise ship Queen Victoria arrived in Santorini. As the cloud formation covered the sea it looks like the cruise ship is sailing into clouds. Andreas Patiniotis captured this heavenly landscape with his camera showing how magical it must have been the scenery up close.

Genoa, 12 July 2016 – Onboard Costa Diadema, flagship of the Costa Cruises fleet, was presented Pepper, the first robot in the world able to recognize main human emotions and proactively interact with the surrounding environment. Starting from today, five Pe pper robots will be operative on all 7-day cruises of the Costa’s flagship in the Western Mediterraneean: their task will be to entertain guests, making their on board experience even more unique and unforgettable.

More than a hundred cruise ship passengers from two cruise ships will participate in the Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona. On July 7, 2016, 75 passengers from the cruise ship Celebrity Constellation operated by Celebrity Cruises, docked in Bilbao will come by buses to participate in this unusual festival. From the balconies or in the square, they will enjoy the festival with organized tour. A similar tour has been prepared by the tourist operator for two groups of 25 people who will arrive on 13 and 14, on the cruise ship The Word, docked in Hendaya.

A huge crocodile was captured on video last week walking along the Palancar beach in Cozumel, causing fear among people who were at the beach resort. The crocodile was first captured resting under the shade of a palm tree and then heading between beach chairs he disappeared in the sea. This is not the first time crocodiles are spotted on the beaches of Cozumel or the Riviera Maya because of the proximity to wetland areas, natural habitat of such species.

The French navy maritime surveillance aircraft type Dassault Falcon 50 “Surmar” caused disturbance among the passengers sailing onboard Norwegian Breakaway. The aircraft passed four times close to the cruise ship that had just departed from St. Gerorge, Bermuda. Several passengers express concern over the low-flying aircraft, and some fearing it might have been a terrorist attack.

The cruise ship AIDA prima was racing field for two drones type Vortex 250 Pro, capable of reaching top speed of 120 km / h. The drone cameras show the new extreme perspective of the latest AIDA cruise ship. They fly over the Lanai deck, the Beach Club and more rapid scenes take place in the theater, restaurants and in the Spa. The two-minute video was shot in April 2016 during the crossing of Aida Prima to Hamburg. The pilots Detlef Wormstall and Alex Wulf from Skypros navigated the drones all around the ship using VR goggles.

Every ship has a captain, but on larger percentage on the ships in the cruise industry captains are of the male gender. It has been the truth as old as time, men overpopulate the majority of the higher paying positions around the world and this position has not been any different for as long as the cruise industry has existed. It seems that this old-fashioned way of thinking has been shifting lately since the cruise industry slowly is incorporating female captains into their fleets.