Tahiti welcomed the arrival of Viking Orion, the first international cruise ship in nearly two years, to visit French Polynesia. As the Viking Orion, docked in Papeete the ship was welcomed by orchestra and dancers, on the dock while busses and tourist guides were all ready to show the beauty of the island to the guests. With its 228 meters and 450 passengers on board out of the maximum capacity of 930, the vessel is the first transpacific cruise ship to stop in Tahiti since March 2020.

One more cruise ship was forced to cancel its Caribbean voyage due to COVID-related circumstances. The German-based cruise line TUI Cruises has informed guests booked on the 14-day Caribbean voyage of Mein Schiff 2, which was scheduled to depart from Bridgetown - Barbados on January 17th, that the crusie was canceled. The reason for this short notice cancellation is that several COVID cases were identified onboard the cruise ship affecting important service operations. 

Costa Cruises has signed an exclusive partnership and has become the Official Cruise Line of the Ryder Cup 2023, the most important team golf turnement, which will take place for the first time at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy from 29 September to 1 October 2023.

The current voyage on Norwegian Gem was cancelled mid-cruise and the ship will return to New York ahead of the schedule due to COVID-related circumstances. Guests sailing on the current 10-day voyage received a letter that their Norwegian Gem voyage was cancelled.

Norwegian Cruise Line is pulling out the cast members from the Norwegian Pearl, and it seems that Creative Studios shows onboard will be temporarily pausing performances for the next three months. In a letter sent out by the Senior Director of Entertainment Production for NCLH Robert Dean Hertenstein, cast/ band members were informed about the canceled shows which are expected to return on April 15. The cast members are expected to disembark the Norwegian Pearl today in PortMiami.

Brazilan cruise season could be canceled for the five cruise ships currently anchored off the coast of Santos, after the Health Regulatory Agency – Anvisa, recommended suspension of the 2021/2022 season due to the rapid rise of COVID cases aboard the ships and in the country. Several media outlets in Brazil report that Anvisa sent a document to the Ministry of Health which will have the final word about the faith of the season.

Norwegian Cruise Line next Prima-class ship set to be delivered by Fincantieri shipyards in 2023 will be named Norwegian Viva. The vessel is the second of six NCL’s Prima-class ships that will eventually join the cruise line by 2027.

The Italian company Somec specializing in engineering and construction of complex turnkey projects in naval and civil engineering has announced a new order for the complete restyling of the boutique cruise ship Azamara Onward for a total value of over 14 million euros. Somec, through the subsidiary TSI, will be in charge of the extensive renovation converting of the cruise ship and making it more consistent with the high-quality standards of the brand.

The cruise ship Norwegian Pearl has become the latest vessel to be hit by a COVID-19 outbreak amid the current global surge in cases by the highly contagious Omicron variant. Norwegian Pearl is heading back to Miami after the captain’s announcement that the current cruise is canceled due to “several COVID-19 positive cases” detected among the crew. The ship is expected to arrive in Miami on January 6, to disembark all passengers onboard.

The year is coming to an infamous end, with the even more contagious Omicron variant that recently contributed to increased numbers worldwide. Not a good sign for the cruise industry, that had been hit hard for these past two years and now another year coming with so many positive cases and chaos to start with.