Cunard’s Queen Victoria to Get a Significant Makeover

Cunard have revealed they are investing over $40 million in the refit of one of their three queens: the nine-year-old Queen Victoria. The ship enters a dry dock in early May for a month-long refurbishment that will include the addition of new Britannia Club cabins. Britannia Club cabins come with their own private restaurant open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that are already available on Cunard’s sisters, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth.

The new colour scheme with its signature Cunard purple will take inspiration from the line’s history. The improvements will raise the double-occupancy capacity from 2,020 to 2,088, the senior vice president of Cunard North America Josh Liebowitz said at a press conference.

An intimate restaurant and 43 spacious Britannia Club cabins will be added in a prime mid-ship location and they will be in a configuration similar to Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth.

The refreshed cabins will feature newly-designed carpets and soft furnishings, as well as new flat screen TVs.

The refurbishment of Queen Victoria takes place at a Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo, Italy,  and also will include a complete re-design of the majestic Grand Suites and several Penthouses aboard.

The Grand Suites, that are named Aquitania, Berengaria, Mauretania and Laconia suites, will boast a new purple color scheme. Each of the suites will measure almost 1,500 square feet. There are five new Penthouse Suites on Deck 8 that will feature floor-to-ceiling windows and bathrooms with natural light.

The makeover of Queen Victoria comes less than a year after a massive, $130 million overhaul of Queen Mary 2.

Carnival Adds Gas Cleaning Systems to 60 Cruise Ships

Carnival Corporation the world’s largest cruise operator announced yesterday it has installed Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) on 60 ships across its 10 brands. The company is planning to deploy the cleaning systems to 85 ships of its fleet through 2020 in its effort to improve the quality of air emissions and reduce the environmental impact of their ships. The investment is about $400 million to date. Continue reading

Royal Caribbean to Cancel Turkey Cruise Calls

Royal Caribbean has canceled all calls to Turkey in 2017 due to security concerns.

Royal Caribbean International is the latest cruise line that will remove all calls to Turkey from its itineraries for the remainder of the 2017. Carnival Corporation’s Cunard Line and P&O Cruises are among other cruise lines that decided to stop sailing to the Mediterranean nation through at least the end of this year. Continue reading

Royal Caribbean Adds Lifeguards to its Ships

Royal Caribbean International is adding licensed lifeguards to all of its cruise ships starting this weekend. 

The lifeguards will be part of a new water safety program introduced by Royal Caribbean that includes water safety instruction and signage around the pool areas. Every ship of Royal Caribbean’s fleet will implement the new program over the next few months. Continue reading