Cruise News Brief: Pier Construction, Policy Tightened, Port Congestion

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Itโ€™s been another busy week for cruise news, and Cruise Hive has it all covered in our weekly round-up. This week, we have stories from Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, and Celebrity Cruises.

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Port Congestion Prompts Route Changes in Europe

Sun Princess in Europe
Sun Princess in Europe (Photo Credit: Oleh Gold)

More than a half-dozen Western and Eastern Mediterranean itineraries aboard Princess Cruisesโ€™ Sun Princess in 2025 are being altered due mainly to port congestion.

The cruise line has notified booked guests that some port calls are being cancelled and replaced with other destinations.

While there may be more changes in the future, it appears that impacted departure dates are May 17, May 31, June 14, June 21, July 19, July 29, and September 27, 2025. Additionally, some voyages in 2026 are affected.

With the popularity of European cruises booming, ports can become overwhelmed when multiple mega-ships call on the same day.

In one notification to booked guests, Princess Cruises attributed cruise ship congestion in Genoa, Italy, as the reason for nixing a call to the port and substituting Malaga, Spain, instead.

That sailing, an 11-night cruise from Rome to Barcelona on July 29, 2025, has other changes, too, including revising a call to Marseille, France, and altering the time in port at Gibraltar, for instance.

Other destinations with port call changes include the Greek Islands, where tourist overcrowding made headlines in the summer of 2024.

Cruise Line Ups WiFi Minutes on Longer Voyages

Norwegian Cruise Line Ship
Norwegian Cruise Line Ship (Photo Credit: Just dance)

Feedback from guests has prompted Norwegian Cruise Line to increase the number of WiFi minutes provided with its More at Sea benefit program. The change applies to longer cruises, of 12 nights or more, and ups the minutes to 300.

Previously, any cruise of 7 nights or longer received 150 minutes under the plan. The total minutes apply to all guests in a stateroom, and can be used on one device at a time.

Post-cruise surveys and other guest comments signaled that guests were looking for more WiFi access, especially on longer voyages. Cruise length indicates the number of minutes allowed. For cruises of 3 to 6 nights, guests receive 75 minutes, and those on 7- to 11-night sailings receive 150.

In its announcement of the new WiFi perk, the cruise line also confirmed that the Starlink access to all ships fleetwide has been completed.

The More at Sea program is relatively new. It was launched as a replacement for the lineโ€™s Free at Sea plan, effective on January 1, 2025.

Two-Ship Pier in the Works at Great Stirrup Cay

New Pier Redner at Great Stirrup Cay
New Pier Redner at Great Stirrup Cay (Credit: Norwegian Cruise Line)

Ships will soon be able to dock at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdingsโ€™ Great Stirrup Cay private destination in the Bahamas now that construction has finally begun.

The building of a pier, which will accommodate up to two mega-ships simultaneously, was originally planned to start in summer 2024 but was delayed for unknown reasons.

Once the pier is constructed, ships will no longer have to tender thousands of cruisers ashore. The official groundbreaking was held on January 17, 2025, with cruise and Bahamian government officials in attendance.

Ships from all three Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings brands โ€” Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and ultra-luxury Regent Seven Seas Cruises, will be able to use the pier. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2025.

Great Stirrup Cay is one of two private destinations that the cruise company owns. Harvest Caye, in Belize, is the other. 

The Great Stirrup Cay project was announced in 2024 along with a major fleet expansion that will add four ships to the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet, and two each to Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Disney Cruise Line Hikes Suggested Gratuity Rates

Disney Cruise Line Ship
Disney Cruise Line Ship (Photo Credit: Carolyne Parent)

For the second time since October 2024, Disney Cruise Line has raised its suggested gratuity rates.

The latest increase, which took effect on January 22, 2025, raised the rate to $16 per person, per day, in standard staterooms and to $27.25 per person, per day, in suites and Concierge-level cabins.

These rates previously were $14.50 and $23.50, respectively. It doesnโ€™t sound like a huge increase, until you look back to October. 

Before the October hike, the Concierge-level and suite accommodations carried a daily gratuity rate of $15.50 per person prior to the jump to $23.50.

The change from the pre-October rate of $15.50 to the latest rate of $27.25 represents a 76% hike.

The new rates can add hundreds of dollars to a family vacation. For example, a family of four on a 7-night cruise with suite accommodations will pay $763 in gratuities.

Compared to other cruise lines, Disney Cruise Line has the highest gratuity rate for suites at $27.25. Carnival Cruise Line recommends $18 for suite guests, Royal Caribbean $21, Norwegian Cruise Line $25, and MSC Cruises $20.

Carnival Cruise Line Tightens Policy for Minors

Carnival Cruise Line Kids Area
Carnival Cruise Line Kids Area (Photo Credit: denbaim)

Carnival Cruise Line has shored up its stateroom rules for minors, with an eye toward keeping youngsters in closer proximity to an adult in their booking party.

Effective on new bookings made on and after February 1, 2025, guests under age 21 are subject to the new requirements. The cruise line requires that all guests aged 20 and younger must travel with an adult over 25.

When it comes to stateroom location, the lineโ€™s new policy is very specific. Guests who are 14 and younger must be booked into the same cabin, or a connecting cabin, as their adult guardian or parent.

Teens aged 15 to 17 can be booked into their own stateroom, but it must be no more than three staterooms away from their adult guardian. Finally, guests between 18 and 20 years old can be booked into any stateroom, but the booking has to be linked to their adult guardian.

No specific reason was given for the new rules, but some insiders suggest it is a way to curtail unruly behavior by some teenage guests.

Celebrity Cruises Orders Sixth Edge-Class Ship

Under Construction Celebrity Xcel Cruise Ship
Under Construction Celebrity Xcel Cruise Ship (Photo Copyright: Emrys Thakkar)

Fans of Celebrity Cruisesโ€™ Edge-class ships will be glad to learn there is another vessel on the way. Parent company Royal Caribbean Group has ordered the sixth ship in the class from the Chantiers de lโ€™Atlantique shipyard in France, with delivery in 2028.

The new ship will be a sister to the new-build Celebrity Xcel, set to launch in November 2025 with accommodations for 3,260 guests and 1,400 crew members. Celebrity Xcel will be based at Port Everglades.

Among the venues guests can expect to see on the just-ordered ship is the popular Magic Carpet dining and entertainment space. The cantilevered, floating platform reaches heights of 13 stories above sea level.

No details regarding where the ship will homeport or her itineraries have yet been announced.

The new ship order means that the parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, now has six ships in its order book. Royal Caribbean has three Icon-class ships in the works and one Oasis class, while Celebrity Cruises has Celebrity Xcel and the one just ordered.

The third brand in the group, Silversea Cruises, has no ship orders pending.

Cruise Line Offers Late Checkout on Some Ships

Norwegian Viva in Europe
Norwegian Viva in Europe (Photo Credit: Stalon)

Norwegian Cruise Line has added a major convenience to its debarkation policy on several ships: a late checkout service that enables guests to remain onboard their ship until about 1 p.m. on disembarkation day.

It means, among other things, that guests with air travel scheduled in the late afternoon will not have to vacate their ship in the morning and spend the entire day at an airport, book an excursion that includes airport drop-off later in the day, or find some other way to pass the time.

Under the pilot program, guests must vacate their staterooms by 8:30 a.m., but can remain in designated public areas until early afternoon. Luggage is to be stored in the cruise terminal until passengers debark the ship.

The policy is intended for guests who have flights scheduled for 5 or 6 p.m.

The late checkout offer is available on certain ships in certain European destinations, and could be expanded in the future. The ships implementing the service are Norwegian Breakaway, Star, Viva, Prima, Sky, Epic, Pearl, and Dawn.

More Cruise Headlines

Now that youโ€™re up to date on the top stories, take a look at even more Cruise Hive coverage of the weekโ€™s developments, including Sea Dream Yacht Club accepting cryptocurrency as payment; MSC Cruises revealing two top actors for its new Big Game commercial; the UK Port of Plymouth expecting a big boost in cruise arrivals; Holland America Line refreshing its Rudiโ€™s Sel de Mer restaurants; and Costa Concordiaโ€™s former captain applying to leave prison early.

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Donna Tunney
Donna Tunney
Donna Tunney is a travel news/feature writer and editor with 20-plus years covering cruise news, luxury travel, and Europe and UK destinations. A former staffer at Travel Weekly and at the USAToday Network, she also was a luxury travel columnist at Travel Market Report, and a cruise columnist at Sherman's Travel.

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