Royal Caribbean's decision to home port its newest vessel, Quantum of the Seas, in Shanghai, China, prompted the line to alter its itineraries fleet-wide. Liberty of the Seas will now set up shop in Cape Liberty, N.J., for summer 2015, operating winter sailings in New York to Bermuda and the Caribbean.
Then in Winter 2015-2016, Liberty of the Seas will be replaced by Anthem of the Seas, which had previously been slated to sail from Port Everglades, Fla., in winter 2015-2016 after its inaugural U.K. sailings from Southampton. So now Royal Caribbean says it will put the recently revitalized Navigator of the Seas in Port Everglades in November 2015 to sail the winter season. It will move the ship from Galveston, Texas.
A Voyager-class ship, Navigator of the Seas will offer six- to eight-night western Caribbean sailings from Port Everglades, along with Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Independence of the Seas.
Carnival Cruise Line unveiled its new Camp Ocean children's program, which is set to replace the existing Camp Carnival program. The new offering is designed for children ages 2-11, and will include more than 200 ocean-inspired activities.
Camp Ocean will have three age-related categories with their own identity: children ages 2-5 will be dubbed "Penguins," with those ages 6-8 called "Sting Rays" while 9-11 year olds will be "Sharks." In developing the new Camp Ocean program, the company convened a Carnival Play Panel comprised of experts in child education, media and play to develop and curate the more than 200 new activities to resonate with today's children and to continually review and guide updates to the children's programming.
Cruises on Compagnie du Ponant are now available for booking more than a year out, a first for the 26-year old French-flagged luxury cruise line. Beginning April 15, 2014, guests will be able to book new itineraries for Summer 2015, which include 70 cruise programs, from April to October 2015, in the Arctic, Northern Europe and the Baltic, the Mediterranean and Japan.
The line will be sailing to Alaska and Japan in summer 2015.