Stay on top of cruise industry news with Cruise Hive’s weekly recap. This week’s edition features coverage on Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Princess Cruises.
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Can’t Get a Good Cup of Joe, Guest Complains
Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald tackles all kinds of topics and controversies on his popular Facebook page, where one disgruntled guest recently questioned why the cruise line won’t allow passengers to bring their own coffeemaker onboard.
After their Mr. Coffee machine was confiscated as a banned item while boarding a recent Carnival Radiance cruise, the guests declared their cruise was ruined. The angry guests are Diamond-level loyalty club members and suggested that, as such, they ought to be allowed to bring a coffee pot onboard.
They also complained that room service coffee was disappointing. Heald confirmed that, yes, appliances with heating elements are banned from being brought onboard Carnival Cruise Line ships for safety reasons.
But he noted that the guests could have ordered a new room service coffee delivery, asking specifically for it to be stronger, warmer, or made however they prefer it. Or, they could have paid for specialty coffees from the ship’s Java Blue Cafe.
Captain Kate McCue to Depart Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises is losing one of its top celebrities. Captain Kate McCue, the first American woman at the helm of a major cruise ship, announced she will soon leave Celebrity Cruises.
McCue most recently served as captain of Celebrity Beyond, but began her career as captain aboard Celebrity Summit in 2015. She also captained two other of the line’s ships — Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Edge.
She confirmed her plan to depart Celebrity Cruises on Instagram, where she has some 1 million followers. Captain McCue did not reveal where she is headed next, but indicated that her sailing days are not over, saying she has too much salt in her veins to leave the sea behind.
Her Instagram announcement included a video showing some of her top career moments, such as christening ships and interacting with crew members. Celebrity Cruises added a comment to the post, offering her their best wishes.
Before Celebrity Cruises, McCue was a third mate on Disney Cruise Line and a second officer with Royal Caribbean.
Guests Allege Poor Treatment After Balcony Fire
A small fire erupted on the balcony of a cabin on Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Glory during a 3-night Bahamas cruise from Port Canaveral. While the fire damaged a chair on the veranda, it was quickly discovered and extinguished, and no one was injured.
However, the three young women who were staying in the stateroom have complained they were badly treated by ship’s crew after the emergency. The fire happened on February 22, 2025 following a port call at Nassau, Bahamas.
Guest Tatianna Chuitian and two unidentified friends say they were not held accountable for the fire but were taken to the ship’s medical center and were required to take pregnancy tests. The guests said they also had to provide written statements about the incident but were not allowed to photograph those statements.
Moreover, the guests said they were intimidated by crew members and pressured to sign waivers. In a statement, Carnival Cruise Line acknowledged that a minor fire broke out onboard the 2,980-guest ship, but offered no response to the guests’ allegations.
Icon of the Seas Nixes Calls to San Juan
When will it be business as usual at San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Pier 3? Cruise lines are beginning to wonder.
Ever since MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia accidentally damaged a mooring dolphin at Pier 3 in April 2024, the dock has been unable to accommodate ships. Pier 3 is the port’s only berth big enough to host Royal Caribbean’s largest ships.
The line’s Symphony of the Seas, an Oasis-class mega-ship, has been altering itineraries to avoid the port since November 2024, and now, the even bigger Icon of the Seas, an Icon-class ship, is skipping scheduled calls to the port as well.
Impacted cruises are the May 3, June 7, June 21, and July 19 sailings — all 7-night Eastern Caribbean voyages from Icon’s homeport of Miami.
While repairs are under way at the San Juan port, Icon of the Seas’ July 19 cruise will swap the port with a call at St. Maarten. Her other three affected cruises will still visit Puerto Rico but will call at Ponce rather than San Juan.
Symphony of the Seas’ itineraries have been adjusted, too, and guests have been notified.
Strong Winds Cause Ship to List off New Zealand
Thirteen guests and three crew members sustained minor injuries aboard Princess Cruises’ Crown Princess when the ship listed about 14 degrees due to strong winds in Milford Sound, New Zealand on February 24, 2025.
The listing was enough to cause a pool to flood a dining area and to knock items off tables and shelves. There was no structural damage to the ship but the incident caused panic among some guests.
The cruise line later confirmed that Crown Princess encountered strong winds during a course change, and that crew members responded immediately, cleaning up any broken items and dealing with the pool overflow.
The 3,080-passenger Crown Princess is operating a 14-night sailing roundtrip from Sydney. The sailing concludes on March 8, 2025.
This was not the ship’s first experience with a significant tilt. Back in 2006, the ship’s automatic steering was mistakenly disengaged, causing a 24-degree list as Crown Princess sailed off Port Canaveral.
Cruiser Jumps Off Mexico Pier to Retrieve a Hat
A pair of honeymooners got more than they bargained for at the port of Progreso, Mexico, when the wind blew the wife’s hat into the harbor. Apparently the hat was a special one — a memento from their wedding, and husband Micah Lugones jumped into the water to retrieve it.
Lugones and his wife, Laci, were sailing on their first cruise, a 5-night Caribbean voyage aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Valor from New Orleans. The ship had departed the Big Easy on February 17, 2025 and called at Progreso on February 20, 2025.
Lugones, who was able to grab the hat and climb out of the water safely, was cheered by those who watched from the ship and the pier, but such action is not recommended.
It can be dangerous to be in the water in an active port like Progreso. Cruise and cargo ships, and other vessels, are coming and going, and wind and currents can make swimming difficult, even hazardous. In this case, all’s well that ended well.
Oasis-Class Ship Nearly Fails CDC Inspection
Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, an Oasis-class ship carrying up to 5,500 guests in double occupancy, almost failed her most recent inspection by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Inspectors boarded the ship on February 9, 2025 and found 44 line-item violations, giving the ship a final score of 86, out of 100. A score of 85 or below means the ship failed its inspection.
The most serious violations were related to improper reporting of illnesses affecting several young guests sailing on the ship, and those guests not being isolated from others. Additional offenses involved plumbing leaks, improper food storage, broken hand washing stations, and lighting issues in some galleys.
The ship has a record of better CDC scores. In November 2023, the ship received a score of 97, and in October 2022, a perfect score of 100.
The 228,081-gross-ton ship is based at PortMiami and sails 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.
More Cruise Headlines
Let’s keep going with even more cruise news from Cruise Hive. Check out additional stories about Holland America Line revealing new itineraries to Hawaii and the Panama Canal; Disney Cruise Line altering a Disney Treasure itinerary to the Caribbean; Ketchikan deciding to reinstate a local tax on shipboard purchases while vessels are docked; a Royal Caribbean ship making a rescue off the coast of Mexico; and Costa Cruises adding another embarkation port in the Caribbean.
