AIDA Cruises is set to release its vibrant new cookbook, The World Eats Colorfully, on November 7, 2024. With over 300 pages packed with recipes, stories, and cultural delights, this cookbook brings the tastes and traditions of AIDA's diverse crew and travel destinations directly to the reader's kitchen. Featuring more than 90 recipes for dishes and cocktails, it’s designed to help people savor the unforgettable flavors of an AIDA cruise from home.

The newly established Crew Welfare Hub at Liverpool Cruise Terminal has wrapped up a highly successful summer season, providing essential support and services to thousands of cruise ship crew members.

Throughout the summer months, the terminal welcomed 97 vessels, bringing in a total of 55,575 crew members. These dedicated professionals worked tirelessly to ensure an unforgettable experience for passengers aboard their vessels.

The Norwegian Star, a 294-meter cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, has arrived at the Damen Shiprepair dock in Brest, France, for a three-week maintenance period that began on October 21, 2024. This technical shutdown, managed by Damen Shiprepair, involves complex repairs and routine maintenance to prepare the vessel for future cruises.

Key Maintenance Projects at Damen Shiprepair:

Today, October 24, Oasis of the Seas kicks off a 14-day transatlantic cruise from Barcelona. After spending the summer doing week-long trips around the western Mediterranean and a visit to the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, the ship is heading to the Caribbean.

Search efforts for a woman who fell overboard from Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas near the Bahamas have been suspended, announced the U.S. Coast Guard.
The incident occurred around 9:40 p.m. on Tuesday, approximately 17 miles north of Nassau, Bahamas. Multiple international agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, were involved in the search.

We are deeply saddened to report the passing of a crew member aboard the Margaritaville Islander. The tragic event occurred during a general emergency crew drill while the ship was docked in Cozumel, Mexico.

The crew member, from Indonesia and part of the AB Deck Department, was found unresponsive on the deck following the drill. 

While the details remain unclear, it appears he sustained fatal injuries during the lowering of a lifeboat.
 

Starting November 1, 2024, Royal Caribbean International will raise its daily gratuities by fifty cents per person, per day. This announcement comes as part of a broader trend across the cruise industry, where gratuities seem to climb year after year. The updated rates will bring standard stateroom gratuities to $18.50 per person, and suite gratuities to $21.00 per person. While this might seem like a small increase, it marks the second hike in the past 12 months, raising questions about where these additional funds are going and how they impact the hard-working crew.

A passenger sailing on one of Carnival Cruise Line's ships shared a video revealing that they managed to smuggle a handgun onboard. Kendra Gordon from Bradenton, Florida, posted a video showing the gun she brought onboard, which had gone unnoticed by security checks. In the video, she displays the firearm stored in her stateroom safe.

Compagnie Française de Croisières (CFC) has announced the cancellation of all scheduled cruises aboard its only vessel, the Renaissance, for a two-month period. According to media reports, all departures between January and February 2025 have been affected, including seven- and eight-night Mediterranean cruises and a ten-night repositioning voyage in Northern Europe. These voyages, initially scheduled to depart from Marseille, are now canceled due to planned ship maintenance.

The Astoria Grande, formerly known as AIDAcara, is now up for sale after two years serving the Russian cruise market.