NCL Shifts Second Vessel to New York

NCL's Norwegan Spirit departed New York today on her first voyage from her new year round departure point. The ship joins the Norwegan Dawn which is already offering year round departures from New York. NCL decided to move the Norwegan Spirit to New York in response to the enormous demand for departures from the city.

Planned itineraries for the Norwegan Spirit will feature stops in St Thomas, Antigua, St Maarten, Barbados, Grenada, Dominica and Tortola. Itineraries for later in the year will include stops in Port Canaveral, Miami, Great Stirrup Cay (NCL's private island), and Nassau, Bahamas.

This summer will see the launch of a Bermuda and Eastern Caribbean itinerary that includes a full day port call at Kings Wharf Bemuda as well as port calls in St Thomas and Tortola.

In addition in May Norwegan Dawn will also introduce new iteneraries including ones to Bermuda and the Bahamas as well.


For more information on any of NCL's New York departures please visit www.mycruiseplanner.net

MSC to Offer Year Round Departures from New York.

According to the Miami Herald, MSC Cruises intends to offer year round departures from New York starting in 2007.

Rick Sasso President of MSC Cruises USA says that the line chose New York due to its high population and heavy concentration of Italian Americans.

The move is MSC's first outside of South Florida. Since entering the North American cruise market in th 1990s MSC has offered depatures on two ships from Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale Florida during the winter months, however the line has historically focused on the European market.

Beginning in April 2007 the MSC Lirica will shift to New York and offer year round itineraries to Bermuda, the Caribbean and Canada. Meanwhile the MSC Opera will continue to sail from Port Everglades, it will be joined by the MSC Musica.

The MSC Lirica will join ships from Norwegan Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line that are also offering year round sailings. In addition the City of New York will be spending $150 million to improve the passenger terminals in both Manhattan and Brooklyn.

For more information about any of MSC's itineraries or those of other lines offering departures from either New York or Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale please visit www.mycruiseplanner.net or call My Cruise Planner at 1-866-286-9827

Celebrity's ZENITH Rescue's 10

Celebrity Cruise Line's ZENITH made a slight detour this past weekend when the passengers and crew discovered a 15 foot boat foundering in the Florida Straights this past weekend according to the Miami Herald. The ship was sailing off the western coast of Cuba when it discovered the boat loaded with 10 Cuban migrants onboard including a seven year old girl.

The crew of the ZENITH took the Cubans onboard until they could be transferred to a US Coast Guard cutter. According to the US Coast Guard in Miami the group is being questioned by immigration officials who will determine if they will be repatriated to Cuba or allowed to resettle in a third country.

The ZENITH arrived at the Port of Miami on Monday as scheduled.

Glacier Bay Cruiseline Cancels 2006 Sailing Season

It seems Hurricane Katrina has claimed another victim, this time from as far away as Seattle and Alaska.

Glacier Bay Cruiseline has been contracted by both the government and also by private agencies invovled with the cleanup and recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast. In order for the line to focus it's energy on assisting in the Gulf Coast they've cancelled their entire 2006 cruise schedule.

Glacier Bay plans launch an improved schedule for the 2007 cruising season. For more information about Glacier Bay's 2007 season once it is annouced be sure to visit www.mycruiseplanner.net and sign up for the mailing list.

Crystal Cruises Offering Reduced Rate Business Class Airfare

Crystal Cruises is offering reduced rate business class airfare on all 2006 European cruises booked by March 31 2006. The reduced rate fares are approximately 50% cheaper than normal unrestricted business class fares.

This promotion is available as a $1,099 upgrade to Crystal's currently available coach fares from their Northeast gateways of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washingtion DC (IAD). For departures from Crystal's Central and Southeast gateways of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, Detroit, and Miami the discounted upgrades are available for $1,199. Add $1,299 for departures from the Western gateways of Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Pheonix and Seattle.

This offer is capacity controlled and subject to availability.

For more information contact Cruise Planners at www.mycruiseplanner.net

MSC Cruises Orders Two New Ships

On November 22 Italian cruise line MSC Cruises announced in Paris that it's adding two 133,500 ton ship's to the fleet accoring to the line's website. MSC signed a nearly $1.2 billion contract for the two ships which will be delivered in 2008 and 2009.

The MSC Fantasia is scheduled to join the MSC fleet in June 2008 and the MSC Serenata is expected to join the fleet in March 2009. With the addition of the MSC Fantasia and MSC Serenata the MSC fleet will grow to 11 ships making MSC the largest European cruise line.

According to MSC CEO Pierfrancesco Vago, once the MSC Fantasia and MSC Serenata are delivered MSC expects to carry more than 900,000 passengers worldwide by 2010.

The two new ships will be 1,092 feet long, and 124 feet wide. They will accomodate 3,300 passengers in 1,650 staterooms of which 1,260 will have private balconies. With their crew of 1,313 MSC will have a higher crew to passenger ratio than competing European lines.

In addition the ships will feature a 23 knot cruising speed, over 21,000 square feet of spa facilites and a special two-deck section of VIP suites with butler service an exclusive restaurant, pool and sun deck, as well as other amenities.

For more information or to book an MSC cruise please visit www.mycruiseplanner.net

Problems on NCL's Norwegan Star

Norwegan Cruise Lines on November 22 announced on their website that due to damage to the thrust bearings on the propulsion system onboard the Norwegan Star that they are revising the ship's Mexican Riviera itinerary until repairs can be completed in March 2006.

The original itinerary featured a Wednesday arrival in Acapulco with a 12:30AM Thursday departure followed by a 9:00AM arrival in Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, then a Friday port call in Puerto Vallarta. The revised itnerary features a Wednesday arrival in Manzanillo, Thursday in Puerto Vallarta, and Friday in Mazatlan, the remainder of the itinerary is unchanged.

The change is due to a reduction in the Norwegan Star's normal cruising speed in order to prevent further damage to the ship's azipod propulsion system. NCL is offering a $50 per person onboard credit with a maximum of $100 per stateroom to compensate passengers for the inconvience.