This Week in Cruise: American Cruise Line's Queen of the Mississippi Leaves Chesapeake Shipbuilding Six Weeks Early

American Cruise Lines' Queen of the Mississippi received Coast Guard certificates and left Chesapeake Shibuilding six weeks ahead of schedule for New Orleans, where it will begin a cruising schedule in August. The Queen of the Mississippi carries 150 guests in spacious staterooms. Nearly all staterooms feature large private balconies with sliding glass doors. The new paddlewheeler will sail throughout the entire Mississippi River System, including the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers.

Royal Caribbean announced that the recently renovated Mariner of the Seas will begin sailing to Asia in June 2013, offering  new itineraries from China and Singapore to Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia for the remainder of the year. The move caters to the ever-expanding Chinese cruise vacation population, while enticing cruise guests from around the world to visit China and sail around Asia. A number of itineraries will be offered, with stays ranging from 3 to 12 nights.

In conjunction with CruiseOne and Cruises Inc.’s 20th and 30th anniversaries, the sister brands - both part of World Travel Holdings (WTH) – unveiled completely revamped websites. The user-friendly sites now offer an enhanced “Cruise Finder” dynamic search tool, a new shopping process and the creative display of cruise line and resort promotions. Three of the most notable feature updates include the “Cruise Finder” dynamic search tool, a new shopping process and the creative display of cruise line and resort promotions.