This Week in Cruise: MSC Divina to Home Port in PortMiami

MSC Cruises' 3,502-passenger MSC Divina is preparing to home port in PortMiami during the 2013-2014 cruise season. The ship launches May 2012, and will be the newest MSC ship to sail from the South Florida port. Following her May 26 christening in Marseille, France, MSC Divina sails May 27 on a six-night cruise to Venice, calling at Civitavecchia, Messina, Valetta and Dubrovnik. The ship will then begin a series of seven-night Eastern Mediterranean roundtrip itineraries from Venice and Bari, calling in Katakalon, Izmir, Istanbul and Dubrovnik through Oct. 2012.

Princess Cruises revealed Princess Live!, a new entertainment venue aboard Royal Princess that offers live television broadcasts, performances from musicians and special events such as cooking shows. Princess Live! will be a 280-seat venue based on a television broadcast studio, and when the ship debuts in June 2013 Princess Live! will serve as a venue for daily broadcasts of “The Wake Show” with a daily live audience.

American Cruise Lines is making changes to its website, starting with a new travel agent portal. The portal will be available this summer, and gives agents personal login and secured access, an outline of agent benefits, a virtual training and certification program, promotional and marketing tools, video and image galleries, agent order forms and information on FAM programs.

The Great American Steamboat Company's American Queen arrived in Memphis last week for its official christening. Present at the ceremony was the American Queen's godmother, Priscilla Presley. After the christening, the American Queen will depart for her inaugural voyage up the Mississippi River to the Ohio River with stops in Henderson, Ky., Louisville, Ky., and Madison, Ind., before arriving in her disembarkation city of Cincinnati, Ohio. On May 2 in Louisville, she  will take part in the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Great Steamboat Race with the Belle of Louisville and Belle of Cincinnati.