Letโs get going with another must-read edition of Cruise Hiveโs weekly recap of the top stories across the cruise industry. This week, we have coverage of Port Canaveral, PortMiami, Carnival Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Royal Caribbean.
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Port Canaveral Marks Its Busiest Day Ever
Six cruise ships, with a combined guest capacity of a whopping 26,000, joined 19 other types of vessels at Port Canaveral on January 25, 2025, making the day the portโs busiest in its history.
Twenty-five big ships, including cruise, cargo, barges, and others, along with scores of recreational and commercial fishing boats, all came together at Port Canaveral, which is the second-busiest port in the world behind PortMiami.
It was welcome news for port officials, who are anticipating total revenues of $210 million in 2025. In 2024, the port welcomed 7.6 million cruise passengers on 911 cruise ships. It appears poised to break that record this year.
The cruise ships that departed Port Canaveral on the big day included Carnival Cruise Lineโs 4,700-guest Carnival Vista and 5,200-guest Mardi Gras; Celebrity Cruisesโ 3,400-guest Celebrity Equinox; Disney Cruise Lineโs 3,500-guest Disney Treasure; Norwegian Cruise Lineโs 5,000-guest Norwegian Epic; and Royal Caribbeanโs 4,100-guest Voyager of the Seas.
The ships are sailing various Eastern and Western Caribbean voyages of varying lengths.
PortMiami Terminal Becomes Scene of Drug Arrest
Officials in the Miami-Dade Sheriffโs Office arrested one of its own deputies in the Royal Caribbean Cruise Terminal at PortMiami, just as the officer was getting ready to board Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas for a chartered music cruise.
Following his January 23, 2025 arrest, Francisco Melo, 36, a six-year veteran of the Sheriffโs Office, was fired from his job and charged with the possession, sale, and trafficking of a controlled substance.
Police said the deputy allegedly tried to board the ship with narcotic pills hidden in candy bags, and planned to sell the drugs to other guests.
News reports said drug-sniffing dogs at the port signaled Melo had drugs in his luggage. According to police, around 60 MDMA (Ecstasy) pills were discovered. Police had been watching Meloโs actions since a December 2024 undercover operation allegedly revealed the suspect sold 12 Ecstasy pills to an informant.
The 4-night โGroove Cruiseโ departed as planned and there were no impacts to other guests as a result of the police action inside the terminal.
Formal Night and Big Game Day Donโt Mix For Some
At least one Carnival Cruise Line ship is moving its โElegant Eveningโ formal night โ scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday on February 9, 2025, to another night so that there will not be a conflict between the two events.
More ships might follow suit, according to Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador John Heald, who was asked about the overlap by several guests who posted on his popular Facebook page.
Typically, 7-night cruises that depart on a Saturday will have the first of two formal nights on Sunday, meaning that sailings departing on February 8, 2025 would hold its dress-up evening during Super Bowl the next day.
Such is the case with Carnival Dreamโs departure from Galveston that day. However, onboard management has confirmed to Heald that the usual Sunday night formal event will likely be moved to Monday, February 10, the third night of the 7-night cruise.
Heald promised to post any further Super Bowl night information from other cruise ships on his social media page. In any case, formal nights are optional on all cruise ships. All Carnival Cruise Line ships will broadcast Super Bowl LIX on their Seaside Theater screens and in various bars and lounges.
MSC Cruises to Base World-Class Ship at Port Canaveral
MSC Cruises has confirmed that the fourth ship in its World class, as yet unnamed, will be based at Port Canaveral for the winter 2027-28 season.
The ship will sail 7-night Caribbean voyages. No itinerary details are available yet, but itโs a good bet that sailings will call at MSC Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, the cruise lineโs private island in the Bahamas.
MSC Cruisesโ World-class ships can accommodate up to 6,700 guests at full capacity, and offer nearly 40 dining and lounge venues along with signature activities like water parks, thrill rides, and the luxury ship-within-a-ship retreat area called MSC Yacht Club.
The lineโs first World-class ship, MSC World Europa, is based in the Mediterranean, while the second, MSC World America, will homeport in Miami following her launch in April 2025. The third in the class, MSC World Asia, will operate in the Mediterranean when she debuts in late 2026.
Besides hosting the fourth World-class ship, Port Canaveral is also home to MSC Cruisesโ MSC Seashore year-round and will welcome MSC Grandiosa for the 2026-27 winter season.
Celebrity Cruises Makes the Leap Into River Cruising
The growing popularity of river cruising prompted the premium line Celebrity Cruises to spin off a new brand, Celebrity River Cruises. The brand ordered 10 river ships that will operate on European waterways.
Owned by Royal Caribbean Group, Celebrity Cruises has enjoyed a lot of success with its Edge-class ocean-going ships, and has vowed that the new fleet of river vessels will feature certain elements of the award-winning class.
Feedback from guests who sailed with Celebrity Cruises and its sister brands, Royal Caribbean and Silversea Cruises, indicated strong interest in river cruising. Few blue-water cruise lines cross over into the river cruise niche, but Celebrity Cruises is apparently willing to make the investment.
The cruise lineโs announcement was short on details, providing no timeline for the construction of the ships nor any insight into which rivers the vessels will sail.
Also, no shipyard was identified, however, all of the lineโs four existing Edge-class ships were built at the Chantiers de lโAtlantique shipyard in France. Two additional Edge-class ships are yet to come.
Star of the Seasโ Debut Moves Forward
Royal Caribbean surprised cruise watchers with the announcement that its second Icon-class ship, Star of the Seas, will be handed over from the shipyard sooner than anticipated, allowing the line to schedule two new cruises.
Originally set to debut with a 7-night Caribbean voyage from Port Canaveral on August 31, 2025, the 5,600-guest ship has now added two 4-night Bahamas cruises departing on August 23 and 27, 2025.
Dubbed โshowcase sailings,โ the shorter itineraries will call at the lineโs popular Perfect Day at CocoCay private island destination.
The sooner-than-expected delivery was especially surprising because in February 2024, the line revealed there were construction challenges that would delay the shipโs launch, which was originally planned for August 17, 2025.
Guests booked on the August 31, 2025 cruise were given first dibs on also booking one or both of the showcase sailings, or moving their booking to one of the earlier cruises.
AAA Projects 19 Million Americans Will Cruise in 2025
The cruise industry continues to grow at a robust pace, with 19 million Americans expected to enjoy a vacation at sea in 2025, a new survey from American Automobile Association (AAA) has revealed.
AAAโs first annual cruise forecast found that the number of American cruisers will increase by 4.5% versus 2024, when 18.2 million passengers boarded cruise ships. The numbers show healthy gains from the pre-pandemic total in 2019 of 14.2 million.
The Caribbean is the most popular destination for American cruisers in 2025, followed by Alaska and the Mediterranean. Voyages of 6 to 8 days will account for the lionโs share of booked cruises, the survey found, however, Caribbean cruises that top out at 5 days are growing in popularity.
In 2023, these shorter Caribbean cruises accounted for just 2 percent of all sailings to the region, but the shorter itineraries in 2025 will account for 18%. AAAโs 2025 Cruise Outlook was based on scheduled cruises and various cruise analytics.
More Cruise Headlines
Those were the big headlines of the week, but Cruise Hive has plenty more stories about cruise lines and cruise ships, including celebrity chef Guy Fieri hosting a special cruise onboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras; Carnival Cruise Line changing multiple itineraries on four ships; MSC Cruises opening bookings for MSC World Asia; Holland America Line unveiling Legendary Voyages; and Royal Caribbean revealing an upbeat financial report.