It’s time for another edition of Cruise Hive’s must-read Cruise News Update, featuring the top stories from the past week. We have coverage from Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Margaritaville at Sea, and Port Canaveral.
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In This Article:
- Norwegian Cruise Line Cancels Whopping 38 Cruises
- Carnival Cruise Line Shutting Down Charleston Operation
- Carnival Adds Bluetooth Speakers to Prohibited List
- Industry’s First Dog-Friendly Cruise Set for 2025
- No Serenity at Carnival Cruise Line Retreat For This Guest
- Actor Chosen as Godfather of Norwegian Aqua
- Port Canaveral Sees Big Jump in Cruise Arrivals
- More Cruise Headlines
Norwegian Cruise Line Cancels Whopping 38 Cruises
The entire 2025-26 winter cruise schedules of three Norwegian Cruise Line ships are no more. The line broke the bad news to booked guests that all voyages, 38 in total, between November 2025 and April 2026 on Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Star, and Norwegian Dawn have been cancelled.
No reasons were provided by the line, but cruise watchers will find out soon enough, as redeployments, charter deals, or dry dock plans are typically announced following the cancellation of voyages.
Booked guests are being automatically refunded, and were offered a 10% discount on a future cruise, which will be allocated as a Future Cruise Credit.
Based in Tampa, Norwegian Jewel was to have sailed Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises. All departures from November 23, 2025 to April 5, 2026 are cancelled.
Norwegian Star’s cruises between November 20, 2025 and April 14, 2026 were nixed. Most of her voyages were South American itineraries featuring Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, plus some that also ventured to Antarctica.
Cruises between November 2, 2025, and April 12, 2026, operated by Norwegian Dawn, were cancelled. Her winter series was to include Africa and Middle East destinations.
Carnival Cruise Line Shutting Down Charleston Operation
Carnival Cruise Line is all set to shut down operations at the Port of Charleston, moving Carnival Sunshine, which has been homeported there for five years, to Norfolk, Virginia, in early January 2025.
The ship’s final voyage from Charleston will depart on December 30, 2024. The 5-day Bahamas voyage will call at Nassau, Bahamas, and Half Moon Cay, the cruise line’s private island destination.
Following a dry dock refit, Carnival Sunshine will enter service from Norfolk with the February 11, 2025 departure of a 5-day Bahamas sailing that will call at Freeport, Bahamas, and Bimini.
The departure of Carnival Cruise Line from Charleston had been in the works since 2022, when the South Carolina Ports Authority announced it would not extend its homeport agreement with the cruise line beyond 2024.
The authority is planning major improvements to its Union Pier Terminal, and cannot accommodate homeport operations while work is underway.
Several cruise ships will continue to call at the popular and historic port in 2025, including Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas, Oceania Cruises’ Vista, and Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Silhouette, to name a few.
Carnival Adds Bluetooth Speakers to Prohibited List
There’ll be no more blasting music from speakers or radios onboard Carnival Cruise Line ships, effective immediately, after the line banned the items from all ships in the fleet and added them to its prohibited items list.
The change was confirmed by brand ambassador John Heald on his Facebook page, when he announced that any Bluetooth speakers would be taken from guests at the start of a cruise and returned when the sailing concludes.
The reason behind the prohibition is safety: Personal speakers blaring music onboard the ships can prevent guests and crew from hearing public announcements, which can include safety information.
The line’s updated Prohibited Items Policies section of its web site now states that all boom boxes, radios and all types of speakers, including Bluetooth, portable and wireless, are banned.
Industry’s First Dog-Friendly Cruise Set for 2025
We’ve heard of all kinds of theme cruises but this one really takes the cake. The Margaritaville at Sea cruise line is planning a dog-friendly cruise aboard its 2,650-guest Islander in November 2025.
Up to 250 dogs will be allowed on the cruise, which does not yet have a departure date. The special guests will be able to join costume contests, parades, and dog shows, and enjoy activities like puppy massages, grooming sessions, and splash stations.
Islander is based in Tampa, and her dog-friendly itinerary has not yet been revealed. While operational details are still being worked out, the cruise line announced that dogs will be permitted in certain staterooms, and that cabin balconies will serve as the place where the canines can relieve themselves.
Some public spaces will remain off-limits to the canine guests. The cruise line promises that interested cruisers will be able to sign up on a waitlist for the voyage in early December.
No Serenity at Carnival Cruise Line Retreat For This Guest
Carnival Cruise Line markets its Serenity Adult-Only Retreat with the description: “The world you’ll find yourself in is one of complete peace, sea breezes and, of course, a nearby bar.”
However, one disgruntled guest complained to brand ambassador John Heald on his Facebook page that her time at the retreat was not one of peace. In fact, on her recent Carnival Pride cruise to Bermuda, the guest encountered a group that she described as loud, obnoxious, and “dropping F-bombs.”
She left the area as a result. Heald suggested that the venue perhaps doesn’t have the right name, but he added that it sounded like the group was having fun, and after all, Carnival is the Fun Ship line. Obnoxious behavior should be reported, said Heald.
The guest did complain to some crew members, but they did nothing to help. One commenter suggested she should have asked the ship’s security team to intervene. In the end, her experience was far short of serene.
Actor Chosen as Godfather of Norwegian Aqua
Eric Stonestreet, the American actor who portrays Cameron Tucker in the hit TV show “Modern Family,” will serve as godfather to the 3,600-guest Norwegian Aqua and preside over her christening ceremony at PortMiami on April 13, 2025.
Norwegian Aqua is the line’s first Prima Plus-class ship. She is under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy.
Stonestreet has appeared on the big screen in the movies “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Identity Thief.” Viewers also will find him in season two of “The Santa Clauses,” a Disney+ series.
David J. Herrera, president of Norwegian Cruise Line, cited Stonestreet’s wit and charm as he welcomed the actor to the Norwegian family. Stonestreet said he’s looking forward to riding on the thrill ride Aqua Slidecoaster, the ship’s combination rollercoaster-waterslide.
After her maiden voyage, Norwegian Aqua will be based at Port Canaveral and sail 7-day cruises to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; and Great Stirrup Cay, the cruise line’s private island in the Bahamas.
Port Canaveral Sees Big Jump in Cruise Arrivals
Port Canaveral saw another big jump in cruise arrivals in 2024, welcoming a record 7.6 million passengers, a 12% hike from the 6.8 million that transited the facility in 2023.
The total arrivals number in 2023 also was a record-breaker, up substantially from the 4 million who passed through the port in 2022.
In terms of cruise arrivals, Port Canaveral maintains its position as the world’s second-busiest port, behind PortMiami, which tallied a record-breaking 8.2 million cruise arrivals in 2024.
In fiscal year 2024, according to Canaveral Port Authority CEO Capt. John Murray, the Central Florida port earned $191 million in revenue. Cruise operations accounted for the lion’s share of the revenue — $156 million.
Part of that revenue came from parking fees. Newly added parking facilities, including two multi-story garages, enabled 914,000 vehicles to park in 2024. Cruise guests paid a daily parking rate of $17 to leave their cars while vacationing at sea.
More Cruise Headlines
Check out even more cruise news coverage on Cruise Hive, including the retirement of a popular Carnival Cruise Line fleet cruise director; the unveiling of new stateroom details aboard the new-build MSC World America; new visa requirements for travel to the UK; the newly launched Disney Treasure making her maiden call at Nassau, Bahamas; and rough weather causing itinerary changes for a Norwegian Cruise Line ship in the Mediterranean.
