tidecat

If Carnival doesn't sell Pacific Explorer to them, Seajets has Queen of the Oceans (formerly Oceana for P&O UK, built in 2000). Aegean Majesty (formerly Veendam for Holland America, built 1996), and Majesty of the Oceans (formerly Majesty of the Seas, built 1992) likely are too old to be of interest.

Carnival of course sold Costa Atlantica to Margaritaville, but it's a year older than Carnival Spirit. If Carnival really wanted to keep a competitor out of Philadelphia, the easiest option would be to take Pacific Explorer there instead of trying to sell it. No existing cruises would have to be canceled beyond those that were in the original batch of cancellations from the sunset of the P&O Australia brand.

I took GoPort from the Orlando Airport to the Seashore last week. They should have park/snooze/cruise options for MSC sailings.

Carnival VIFP Gold to MSC Silver.

ABC/Disney and DirecTV are having a carriage dispute at the moment, so check to make sure any streaming service you use is actually carrying ABC and not blacked out.

I was on the August 29 three-day sailing of MSC Seashore out of Port Canaveral. This was my ninth cruise, but my first time with MSC. I booked this cruise a mere 36 days out. I reached out to my travel agent after booking as I had not received a confirmation e-mail after booking, but he was able to resolve that. I used the status match to get Silver status in Voyagers Club from Gold in Carnival's VIFP Program; the request was approved in one business day. I did use my Voyagers Club discount to buy a ship model in the gift shop I booked an oceanview guaranty stateroom and wound up with 9212, which is a balcony cabin. The location was on the starboard side of Deck 9, near the mid-aft stairs and elevator bank. The location made it hyper-convenient to get to other decks via the elevator, but it was susceptible to noise from the atrium and elevator lobby, as well as the exterior promenade on Deck 8. The decor was light, and the balcony felt slightly deeper than what I was used to with Carnival. There being only one USB outlet near the bed seemed to be a rather curious decision for a newer ship, and I'm not 100% sure that outlet even worked. The outlets at the desk (2 US, 2 Euro, 2 USB) were more than sufficient. I would have preferred another couple of inches between the closet and the bed, but the closet was still usable. The bathroom is not designed that well - the sink is frankly too large given how tightly the toilet is wedged into the space, and the shower was just large enough to be usable. The pump soap dispenser by the sink also seemed to be an odd choice, especially since it looked like there were grooves for placing a soap bar right underneath it. The stopper in the sink apparently got stuck in the down position at one point, but I guess the room steward fixed it - I never met my steward at all, but the servicing of the room was adequate. I also had no washcloths the first night, but they did appear the second morning. Having the do not disturb button in the room was a nice touch. One of the biggest opportunities for improvement would be servicing staterooms on turnaround day - 3:00 PM is simply unacceptable. At least I could drop my carryon bag in my room, which around 11:30 had been partially serviced as the bed was made but there was trash from the previous sailing. At least it gave me an opportunity to explore the ship on embarkation day, as well as set reservation times for the spa and specialty dining. Speaking of layout, there were several cases where it wasn't immediately obvious to get from one area to another without going outside (which in this case meant in the rain) on Deck 8 or Deck 16. MSC must also really love mirrors, because it seems like anywhere they could put a mirror, they did. Since I was onboard early, the buffet was not open, which I noticed did seem to bother other guests who were onboard that early. I did get a BBC from the Jungle Pool bar to bide the time. My favorite drink on Carnival is the Mocha Chocolate Getaway, so this was basically a banana-flavored version of that. I found the buffet options for breakfast and lunch to be adequate, although seeing a Philly Steak Sandwich listed as "Tex-Mex" was mildly amusing. It seemed to be easier to get fruit on MSC's buffet than on Carnival's, although I know Carnival buffets vary greatly between ships. The Divas show on the first night was entertaining even if not the most original concept. The choice of "Proud Mary" as one of the songs in that show was a bit curious as the original artist for that song is Creedence Clearwater Revival. There is a fairly well-known cover by Cher (whose "Life After Love" is also in the show), but even that is a duet with Elton John. My first dinner was at Ocean Cay. I had the fennel salad, squid ragout, and the cheesecake. I highly recommend the squid ragout - it's a good mix of battered squid and espelette chili that is filling but not too heavy. The second day I had a Balinese massage in the Aurea spa. I would have preferred not to have had the usual cruise ship spa sales pitch while I was still on the table immediately afterwards, but at least the therapist wasn't too pushy about it. I had planned on using the Nassau port stop as a de facto sea day since there was no sea day on the itinerary, but given how bad the weather was, I wound up doing three trivia sessions back-to-back-to-back. I actually won the one on MSC Cruises and received a little rubber ship trinket as a prize. I also took advantage of the enclosed Jungle Pool area and spent some time in the pool and hot tub. All but one of the ship-sponsored excursions had been canceled due to weather, although I could tell some people went ashore. For dinner on the second night I went to Butcher's Cut and got a shrimp cocktail, filet mignon, and the lava cake, all of which were good. After dinner, I was still able to catch most of the show "The Journey". The costuming and design in this show is gorgeous, and this features more of the acrobatic displays than "Divas" (although not as much as "Rock Royalty"). Later that evening I went up to see the White Party, although not long after I got there it started raining which chased everyone back downstairs. The weather was even worse when we arrived to Ocean Cay as a rather strong thunderstorm was moving through when we docked. The beaches were delayed opening, the ship announced it was canceling the usual lunch service on the island, and it was a while before anyone could go ashore at all. Eventually the skies cleared and most of the island was open that afternoon. There was ongoing construction in several parts of the island, including Lighthouse Beach. The best views of the lighthouse were actually from the starboard promenade and balconies onboard the ship. Our call only lasted to 6:00 PM so we did not get the nighttime show. For dinner that night I went to Hola! Tacos and Cantina. The tacos are quite small, but you can order as many as you want with the dining experience package. I had the Carne Asada and Ancho Chicken Tinga tacos, the latter of which were surprisingly spicy. I then saw the "Rock Royalty" show which was rather fun, especially with all of the acrobatics. After the show I got a gelato from Venchi and watched the pianists for a little bit in Times Square. The placement of Times Square actually makes for a really lively atmosphere as you have people watching the pianists on Decks 6 and 7, and open area on Deck 7 is surrounded by the casino which of course is right outside the Madison Theater. I chose to self-assist for debarkation as I had booked a third-party shuttle back to Orlando. I was able to vacate my stateroom just before 8:00 AM, and was through customs by 8:20. You go through a long snaking line on Deck 6 that takes you all the way up to Times Square - be prepared to walk back and forth a lot - but the line kept moving. There was a lot on the ship I really didn't get to interact with like shore excursions, photo gallery, the sports bar, Hall of Games, or any of the main dining rooms. I wish I could have done a back-to-back to have had seven days onboard. I am, though, looking forward to my next MSC cruise.

It sounds like you haven't logged out on the app.

The Bahamas, Mexico, and Caribbean seem content with larger ships, for now at least.

Icon III was ordered with what are now Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas. It is due in 2026.

Since we know people may be willing to pay a premium to avoid flying, an Icon in the Northeast, would be huge.

If RCI wants to go the short cruise route, Ensenada is really the only port you really need. Mazatlan should be good as it is an industrial port with large container ships. Puerto Vallarta likely would be OK as is. Cabo San Lucas would be a bit iffy as it is a tender port. Icon being a replacement for a Quantum-class or smaller isn't quite the ask it would be if RCI was adding an Icon-class to serve alongside another ship.

Michael Bayley made a remark to travel agents about Ovation of the Seas being based in Los Angeles that if they "sell the hell out of this ship, we’ll send you an Icon." In some ways the ship-as-destination works better for the West Coast because of the limited number of destinations.

Do the daily service charges/automatic gratuities count towards board spending for Voyagers Club points?

Not sure if Los Angeles County would have legal authority to address this, but the CDC does via the Vessel Sanitation Program: https://www.cdc.gov/vessel-sanitation/about/index.html#cdc_health_safety_special_topic_research-contact-us

Carnival Splendor gets an Australia-specific livery:

Maybe California needs to pass some follow-up legislation.

I know DSME (or whatever they are now) tried to get into the cruise ship building business back in the late 2010s. I'm sure they or someone would be interested in Meyer if it was for sale. I don't know if Fincantieri would be an option since they acquired STX France (now Chanters d'Atlantique) a few years ago. EU regulators probably would veto them acquiring Meyer.

Meyer Werft may soon be owned by the German state of Lower Saxony: https://splash247.com/meyer-werft-looks-for-government-lifeline/ Meyer Werft has orders for the two remaining Excel class ships due in 2027 and 2028.

If this were the case it would be all over the news.

Fleet departures are not generally announced more than a year in advance, if that long. If market conditions change, or if the ships are not economically viable to maintain in 2030 or 2031, Disney will get rid of them. It certainly would be possible for Magic and Wonder to still be around in 2031, but it won't be because of a marketing announcement made in 2024.

Grand-class has an air draft of 188 feet. Pacific Adventure was modified to clear the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which has a clearance of only 161 feet. It might make sense to do it with one of the younger ships in the class like Ruby or Emerald.

Gross tonnage is a measure of enclosed space. Split superstructures don't actually increase gross tonnage, they just increase the number of cabins with natural light and balconies that command higher fares. As long as the total volume of all enclosed spaces on a ship is 1,596,518.4375 cubic meters, it is 230,000 gross tons, regardless of the shape of the ship.

Given that most of the fleet is open for booking through April 2026, Carnival could redeploy Mardi Gras and/or Celebration on shorter itineraries starting in May 2026.

ssship_cruisenews on Instagram reports the design is based on the Sphere class - would you agree with that?

Unless if Aida is parting with one or more of the Icarus-class ships. That would still represent a substantial increase in capacity. The Icarus-class ships would have value to Carnival's fleet as they are newer than the Spirit class.