Carnival Spirit Offers Panama Canal Cruise Ahead of Summer in Alaska

Carnival Spirit Offers Panama Canal Cruise Ahead of Summer in Alaska

Set to operate in Alaska during the summer, the Carnival Spirit is currently offering a 16-night Panama Canal to the Pacific Northwest.

After completing its winter schedule in the Caribbean, the Carnival Cruise Line vessel left Miami on its repositioning voyage on April 16.

Cruising all the way to Seattle, the one-way itinerary features visits to ports in three different countries: Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.

In addition to doing a complete transit of the Panama Canal, the Carnival Spirit is visiting Cartagena de Indias, Santa Marta, Puntarenas and Cabo San Lucas before arriving in Washington.

The 2001-built ship is then set to kick off its summer program in Alaska.

Beginning on May 2, the Spirit offers a series of seven-night cruises to the Last Frontier which also includes visits to Canada.

During the four-month program, the vessel will visit popular destinations in the region including Skagway, Ketchikan and Juneau.

Sailing roundtrip from Seattle, the Carnival Spirit also offers scenic cruising of the Tracy Arm Fjord, as well as visits to Victoria.

The schedule is part of Carnival’s 49-departure, three-ship summer season in Alaska, which also features the Carnival Luminosa and the Carnival Miracle.

Upon completing its Alaskan program in September, the Carnival Spirit is set to offer an additional Panama Canal cruise. Sailing from Seattle to New Orleans, the 16-night repositioning voyage precedes the ship’s debut in Mobile.

During the 2023-2024 winter, the Spirit is set to offer a series of different itineraries departing from the Alabama port.

Ranging from six to eight nights, the cruises sail to different parts of the Caribbean and the Bahamas, including Mexico, Honduras and Belize. In the Bahamas, the ship is set to visit Bimini, Freeport, Nassau and Princess Cays.

As the lead ship of Carnival’s Spirit Class, the Carnival Spirit originally entered service in 2001. Designed with a multi-deck atrium, a glass-enclosed pool deck and a large number of cabins with private balconies, the 2,100-guest ship was followed by the Carnival Pride, the Carnival Legend and the Carnival Miracle.

Phoenix Reisen’s Amadea First Ship to Dock In Venezuela in 15 Years

Phoenix Reisen’s Amadea First Ship to Dock In Venezuela in 15 Years

On January 3, 2023, Phoenix Reisen’s Amadea became the first ship in 15 years to dock on Isla Margarita, Venezuela, the company said.

Venezuelan Minister of Tourism Ali Padrón arrived at the island, especially for this event and visited Captain Robert Fronenbroek and Cruise Director Manuela Bzdega onboard the Amadea.

“We at Phoenix Reisen thank you for the warm and colourful welcome provided to our guests and the crew,” the company wrote on social media.

The Bahamas-flagged ship docked at the Caribbean island of Margarita carrying almost 500 passengers, mainly from Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

“For many years Venezuela was off the radar of cruise ships,” said Tourism Minister Ali Padron, as he welcomed the historic docking.

The arrival of the Amadea may open the food for other cruise lines to return to the country. 

The Amadea is currently on its 23-day voyage which departed from Villefranche (Nice) France, on December 20 with calls in Cadiz, Spain; Funchal, Madeira; Bridgetown, Barbados and Scarborough, Tobago among other destinations. The journey will end in Puntarenas, Costa Rica on January 11. 

Variety Steps Up to Get MSC Crew Home to Cuba

Variety Cruises has stepped up, using its 50-guest Variety Panorama to help repatriate 19 Cuban crew members from the MSC Preziosa, according to a statement.

Variety said it responded to call for assistance and made a 14-day diversion to bring the crew members home.

Having completed a winter season of cruising off the coast of Costa Rica and Panama, the Panorama was empty other than for the crew and en route to Europe for the summer.

Having stopped to bunker fuel in Barbados prior to crossing the Atlantic, she berthed near the MSC Preziosa. A request followed from the Cuban government, and the Panorama’s Captain, Vasilis Mazarakis, agreed to repatriate the Cuban crew members to Havana.

The voyage took seven days, with the ship then cruising back to Barbados for another week to refuel prior to her crossing.

Health declarations were provided by the Captain of MSC Preziosa and the Barbadian medical authorities, and the new addition of guests was thermo-scanned prior to boarding and on every subsequent day of the journey.

Upon disembarking his charges on April 4 in Havana, Captain Mazarakis said: “During these difficult times we are facing, it is important to help each other. Knowing that we were helping fellow seafarers by getting them back to their families makes us all proud. We wish and hope that all stranded crew and passengers alike manage to get home to their loved ones and that the world will return to normal soon.’'.

Windstar ship runs aground near Panama

Windstar Cruises said the Star Pride, a 212-passenger ship, ran aground at Isla de Coba, Panama, and suffered some hull damage.

On a posting on its Facebook page, Windstar said everyone on the 212-pasenger ship was safe. Guests disembarked as scheduled for a private-island event.

After determining that the ship was unable to sail, Windstar canceled the rest of the cruise. Passengers were transferred from the island location to other ships: Windstar's Star Breeze and Paul Gauguin Cruises'  Tere Moana. 

Windstar said the guests were routed through Golfito, Costa Rica, to San Jose, where they had the option to stay in Costa Rica for the balance of their vacation or to fly home early. They received a 100% refund plus a future cruise credit for 100% of their fare paid.

Windstar said the Star Pride will be towed to the port of Balboa in Panama for further inspections and repairs. The Dec. 26 cruise has been canceled.