Today’s Your Daily Boarding Call has a billion-dollar resort deal, an old-school cruise tradition making a temporary comeback, a serious Alaska port update, and one post-cruise surprise nobody wants.

Royal Caribbean Group is acquiring a 50% stake in Sandals and Beaches Resorts for approximately $3 billion, creating a vacation partnership valued at roughly $6 billion and raising some intriguing possibilities for future cruise-and-resort experiences.

Meanwhile, Carnival Cruise Line is bringing traditional full-group muster drills back on five ships this weekend as part of required periodic safety exercises—but don’t panic, e-muster isn’t disappearing fleetwide.

GFree also shares an important update from Whittier, Alaska, where the new Chugach Glacier Gateway cruis ...