Royal Caribbean has named retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Lori J. Robinson godmother of Legend of the Seas, with the naming ceremony set for Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale ahead of the ship's first Caribbean season. Aroya Cruises is adding Alexandria as a second embarkation gateway and its first 14-night voyages to an expanded 2026-27 Mediterranean program from Galataport Istanbul, which expects a 188% passenger increase. And the Isles of Scilly wrapped its 2026 cruise season with all 46 scheduled calls operating and 19,000 passengers tendered ashore without a single weather cancellation.
Silversea has delayed Silver Moon's departure from Tokyo by two days as Typhoon Dujuan approaches Japan, dropping the ship's Hiroshima call, cutting Osaka from an overnight stay to a day call and moving Kochi back by one day on the 14-night voyage. Busan is courting more overnight cruise calls with what the city describes as South Korea's first round-the-clock cruise-terminal operating system, after six overnight calls so far this year including the residence ship The World, with Azamara Pursuit scheduled to become the seventh. And Travelmarvel has returned to Nile River cruising after about a decade with the maiden voyage of the 124-passenger Travelmarvel Sirius, which departed Luxor for Aswan with Egyptology-qualified tour directors leading shore excursions and 2028 departures now open to American travelers.
Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas turned back to Nassau to evacuate two critically ill passengers, including a 7-year-old child, delaying its return to Cape Liberty in Bayonne by about eight hours, cancelling the next sailing's Port Canaveral call, and triggering flight reimbursements and onboard credit for guests. San Diego has opened its busiest cruise season in more than 15 years, with 183 scheduled calls and more than 700,000 passengers expected, led by a new 47-call Royal Caribbean homeport program and a Disney Cruise Line agreement that adds Disney Magic alongside Disney Wonder through at least 2031. And Hurtigruten has recovered 1,002 bottles of Barolo from Italian winery Rivetto after 12 months stored 34 metres beneath the Arctic Ocean off Kirkenes, with the Arctic Barolo to be served exclusively aboard its 10 Norwegian coast ships.
NOAA Fisheries is assessing the death of an endangered fin whale found on the bow of Norwegian Joy as the ship approached Sitka, Alaska, on Sept. 17, delaying the port call by about three hours. It is the second time since June that a cruise ship has arrived at an Alaska port with a dead fin whale on its bow. We also cover the seven Royal Caribbean ships, from Grandeur of the Seas to Icon of the Seas, that earned perfect 100-point scores in 2026 CDC Vessel Sanitation Program inspections, and what those scores do and don't tell you. Then a look at the 2026-27 newbuild pipeline, led by MSC World Asia, which will be named in Le Havre on Nov. 28 before its Dec. 4 debut from Barcelona, alongside the hydrogen-powered Viking Libra and Regent's Seven Seas Prestige.
Oceania Cruises' Riviera left Haines, Alaska, without docking after strong winds repeatedly pushed the 1,250-passenger ship out of position during berthing attempts, and anchoring was ruled out over the risk of a dragging anchor near the town's wastewater outfall and an undersea electrical cable. Oceania has also opened 12 segments of Oceania Aurelia's inaugural 180-day Around the World voyage for booking, offering 10- to 19-day portions of a January 2028 departure from Miami that together span six continents. And Fincantieri floated out Viking Astrea at its Ancona shipyard in Italy, Viking's second hydrogen-powered ocean ship, whose polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells from Isotta Fraschini Motori will be capable of producing up to six megawatts for zero exhaust-emission operation during portions of a sailing.
Fuel surcharge clauses are back in focus for passengers sailing from Port Canaveral, where Carnival Cruise Line retains contractual authority to add up to $9 per person per day and Royal Caribbean up to $12, including on some fully paid bookings, while Disney Cruise Line's published U.S. terms show no active supplement. In Alaska, the Alaska State Fire Marshal's Office has declared the dock at Whittier's Chugach Glacier Gateway Cruise Terminal a total loss after a Sept. 14 fire; no injuries were reported, Norwegian Jade shifted its embarkation across the water, and the Oct. 3 commissioning of the USS Ted Stevens moved to the Holland America Princess terminal. And the Port of San Diego has opened its largest cruise season in more than 15 years, with 183 scheduled ship calls and more than 700,000 passengers expected, driven by new Royal Caribbean homeport operations and Disney's first two-ship deployment from the port.
Today's brief covers three stories. Royal Caribbean laid the keel for its fifth Icon-class ship, NB-1408, at the Meyer Turku yard in Finland on September 14; the roughly 250,000-gross-ton vessel is scheduled to enter service in 2028. Celebrity Cruises completed the float out of Celebrity Compass on September 9, its first river ship, a 172-guest vessel with 86 staterooms that will debut on the Danube in August 2027 sailing between Budapest, Hungary and Vilshofen, Germany. And Cody Gray, 34, of Maitland, Florida, was arrested at PortMiami and charged with felony sexual battery and a misdemeanor count of giving alcohol to a minor; he pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bond, and neither the ship nor the cruise line was disclosed.
Margaritaville at Sea Islander makes its first call at Willemstad, Curacao, arriving September 10 on a 10-night Southern and Western Caribbean sailing from Port Tampa Bay after the line reversed the voyage's Aruba and Curacao port days. Windstar Cruises takes its Destination Discovery Events fleetwide for 2027, adding evening programs in Livorno, Dubrovnik and London across all eight yachts and 165 sailings, with Star Pride calling at the Tower of London and the new 224-guest Star Explorer joining the fleet. And Celebrity Summit marks 25 years with Celebrity Cruises, from its 2001 delivery at Chantiers de l'Atlantique and first sailing out of Port Everglades through the Celebrity Revolution refit and on to upcoming Tampa, Alaska and Iceland deployments.
MSC Cruises' MSC World Asia has completed final sea trials off western France ahead of delivery by Chantiers de l'Atlantique on November 25, 2026. The 216,638-gross-ton ship measures 333.3 metres and carries up to 6,764 passengers in 2,614 cabins, with a naming ceremony set for Le Havre on November 28 and a first passenger sailing from Barcelona on December 4. In Florida, Marco Island City Council approved three Rose Marina requests on September 10, 2026, clearing a 200-seat waterfront restaurant, expanded parking and reconfigured docks, with the new dock plan limiting the marina to three buses and 150 passengers at a time. Opponents raised traffic and environmental concerns over Factory Bay, and Vice Chair Rene Champagne questioned how passenger vessel calls began in December 2023 without separate city approval. And the Golden Horizon, the square-rigged sailing cruise ship built by Brodosplit and laid up in Split since 2022, has been sold for £110 million to an unidentified Swiss company that operates around 100 vessels.
Norwegian Cruise Line has closed all public hot tubs and private balcony whirlpools aboard Norwegian Prima after three Legionnaires' disease diagnoses involving passengers on May and July 2026 sailings, with water testing underway across showers, faucets and hot tubs, all results negative so far, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention involved; NCL says it has not been confirmed whether the exposure occurred on the ship or elsewhere, and Caribbean itineraries from Port Canaveral continue unchanged. Carnival Cruise Line replaced self-muster with full in-person muster drills on Carnival Magic's September 13 departure from Miami and Carnival Paradise's September 14 departure from Tampa, sending guests to assigned muster stations for life-jacket demonstrations under SOLAS and coast guard rules that brand ambassador John Heald says every ship must meet twice a year. And the Royal Canadian Air Force airlifted an ill passenger from a cruise ship about 200 kilometres northwest of Port Hardy, British Columbia, with a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft from 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron at 19 Wing Comox, coordinated by Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria; the ship was not named and the nature of the emergency was not disclosed.