Azamara has announced today that they have bought another R-class ship and the cruise line now has a fleet of 4 vessels. Azamara’s new owner Sycamore Partners has confirmed the cruise line has bought the cruise ship Pacific Princess, just days after Princess Cruises confirmed the sale. The latest addition to the fleet will undergo full renovation, and the ship, which will be renamed, will sail its inaugural season in Europe in 2022.

Princess Cruises announced today that the company is canceling voyages on all 15 ships in the fleet through March 31, 2021. In a press release, the company said the reason for extending its pause in global operations is to allow more time for the preparation needed for completing required activities by the CDC "Framework for Conditional Sailing Order" prior to sailing and taking into consideration the temporary seven-day cruises cap on itineraries that call at a U.S. port. 

Today the popular cruise website Cruise Capital reported that Princess Cruises has sold two of its cruise ships as part of Carnival Corporation restructuring plan to sell 18 ships from its fleet this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Diamond Princess Captain Gennaro Arma was honored with the recognition of Magister of Amalfi Civilization for the Byzantine New Year for his role as a leader of the ship that was quarantined for nearly a month in Yokohama, Japan. Known as "The Brave Captain" among his crew and passengers, Captain Arma demonstrated incredible leadership at the helm of the Diamond

Captain Gennaro Arma of the Diamond Princess cruise ship received the highest honor of the Italian Republic, the Order of Merit, for his commitment and courage by President Sergio Mattarella. Captain Arma, also known as Gladiator Captain among his crew, has been widely praised for the care and concern he gave to the passengers and crew on the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship that was quarantined in the port of Yokohama. 

There are still more than 1200 crew members trapped onboard the Holland America Line cruise ship ms Koningsdam, who comply 2 and a half months of not touching land and they wish to be repatriated to their countries to see their families. The ship is currently anchored in front of Puerto Vallarta, inside the bay, and it is visible from land. 

A terrible tragedy has struck the crew community with the loss of one more crew member today. We received a message that e crew member went overboard from the cruise ship Regal Princess docked at the port of Rotterdam, Holland. Our source says that the female crew member from Ukraine took her own life, adding that she was scheduled to return home on a charter flight which was later canceled.

Holland America Line Group is in process of creating a plan to sail repatriation voyages to return thousands of crew members home to Europe, Asia, South America and the Caribbean. In order to put this plan in action, there are multiple challenges to consider including the individual destination of each crew member, U.S.

The cruise ship Sun Princess which set sail from Australia in order to return its Filipino and Indonesian crew members back home is facing repatriation problems. Sun Princess is currently off the coast of Manila however some Filipino crew onboard report that they are not allowed to disembark the ship. According to them, the government is not allowing the disembarkation process to begin and they haven’t received any official announcement by the local authorities.

Carnival Australia President Sture Myrmell has come out in strong defence of the cruise industry after Australian authorities announced restrictions on foreign-flag cruise ships, basically saying they are not welcomed.