No April Showers for Carnival Corporation! 
Everything's coming up roses in the photo at right as Micky Arison, center, Chairman & CEO of Carnival Corp. & plc, and his wife Madeleine, right, applaud traders on the New York Stock Exchange floor Tuesday, April 22, 2003, during the first day of trading for the cruise conglomerate on both New York and London exchanges. At left is Howard Frank, the company's chief operating officer.

Wasting no time, Carnival Corporation & plc London announced a senior management realignment of the company's executive directors who have specific brand responsibilities and an agreement for Princess Cruises to construct a new 116,000-ton cruise ship, a sister to the Caribbean Princess, to be built at Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard. Built at an approximate all-in cost of $500 million (US), the new vessel is expected to be delivered in May 2006. By utilizing an existing hedge against the euro, the new Princess vessel will be built at approximately 92 cents (US) to the euro versus the current exchange, which is approximately $1.10 (US) today. In addition, the company has reduced the number of Holland America's "Vista-class" vessels from five to four.

On April 14th, Carnival Corporation gave berth to their brand-new Long Beach Cruise Terminal. Adjacent to the historic Queen Mary, the state-of-the-art $40 million cruise facility is ushering in an exciting new era in the company's West Coast operations. The new terminal, the first in the United States built by a cruise operator, will be home to two of Carnival Cruise Lines' 2,052-passenger vessels: the Ecstasy, which will operate three-day and four-day Baja cruises, and the Elation, sailing on seven-day Mexican Riviera voyages. (More details in Cruise News)

A recorded message on Regal Cruises' answering machine informed callers that the line ceased operations as of April 28, 2003. The line was forced to cancel two scheduled cruises following the "arrest" of their sole ship Regal Empress, but expected to sail again on May 1st. Regal Cruises is now making every effort to contact passengers on the upcoming sailings to advise them of the cruise cancellations. Details regarding passenger refunds will be forthcoming.

Following the combination of Carnival Corp and P&O Princess Cruises, Los Angeles-based Princess Cruises, one of the most recognizable names in travel, has joined the World's Leading Cruise Lines (WLCL) marketing alliance, bringing the total number of WLCL members to seven. Princess Cruises joins the WLCL's six original members, Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Windstar Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruise Line, to create a truly global vacation company operating more voyages, offering more itineraries and visiting more destinations than any other cruise operator in the world.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) announced an expanded slate of 52 weekly Bermuda departures from four Homeland Cruising ports with its 2004/05 Bermuda program. Included are sailings from Baltimore, Boston, New York and Philadelphia. In addition, NCL will re-deploy the Norwegian Star from Honolulu to Seattle in the spring of 2004 to offer seven-day Alaska cruises through September 2004.

Oceania Cruises, which is less than three months away from the debut of its first ship Regatta, has announced a revised delivery date for its second ship, Insignia. Originally scheduled to sail her inaugural voyage in October 2003 from Barcelona, Insignia will now make her Mediterranean debut on April 10, 2004. After exploring a world of epicurean delights From Châteaux Margaux to Holmenkollen during the inaugural European season, the luxurious, 684 guest Regatta will begin her inaugural season of 10-, 12- and 14-day sailings to the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and the Panama Canal from Miami on November 25, 2003.

Crystal Cruises has eliminated visits to Turkey and ports of call in the Black Sea due to security concerns on two Crystal Serenity sailings, August 26 and October 1, and is offering reduced fares on the ship's inaugural Mediterranean season. To complement guests' on board experience, the line has selected music pioneer Yamaha to offer a comprehensive program of music instruction as part of an innovative new "Creative Learning Institute" set to debut aboard the new Crystal Serenity this July. And sailing solo has never been so affordable. In addition to supplying extra Ambassador Hosts to serve as dancing and dining partners, Crystal Cruises has waived the single supplement for most stateroom categories and is offering special savings and future benefits for those sailing on the luxury line's October 19 Fort Lauderdale to Buenos Aires cruise aboard Crystal Symphony.

SeaDream Yacht Club is also giving a break to single travelers. For the 2003 European season of its twin, ultra-luxury mega yachts, SeaDream I and II, SeaDream will charge singles only 125 percent of tariff, down from its regular 175 percent. Single fares of 175 to 200 percent are almost a passenger ship standard when solo travelers occupy onboard accommodations designed for two or more persons. Singles aren't the only guests to benefit on SeaDream. To demonstrate that families are also welcome on board, the entrepreneurial company is offering a Summer Family Program for select 2003 European sailings aboard SeaDream I and II.

Marlink announced a new agreement with Radisson Seven Seas Cruises to provide complete onboard satellite communications for the Radisson Diamond. The Diamond joins other Radisson Seven Seas Cruise ships in offering state-of-the-art at-sea satellite communications.

CruiseReport.com has selected Silversea Cruises to receive its "BEST Small Ship Cruise Line" award for 2003. The award is voted on by the editors of CruiseReport.com and is presented to the cruise line that they feel provides the highest level of service and quality.

Windstar Cruises will partner with Sky High Travel and the H.S. Dent Adviser’s Network® to host expert financial advisers to speak onboard Windstar’s 308-passenger Wind Surf. Seventeen upcoming Wind Surf cruises, from June 1 through Nov. 9, 2003, will feature free financial seminars by Master Certified Members of the H.S. Dent Adviser’s Network®. 

Diamond Princess, being built for Princess Cruises by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, was floated out from the shipyard during ceremonies in Nagasaki on April 12. Diamond Princess will debut in March 2004 with a series of 7-day Mexican Riviera sailings roundtrip from Los Angeles, before beginning her maiden Alaska season from Seattle in the summer.

Readers of Departures, a luxury lifestyle magazine published exclusively for American Express Platinum and Centurion Card members named Crystal Cruises as "World's Top" Cruise Line.

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