Royal Caribbean

The Cypriot ministers responsible for transport, shipping and tourism on Thursday visited the new DP World Limassol passenger terminal to express their determination to work together to resolve any problems and improve services.

Royal Caribbean confirmed this week it has selected Greece for homeporting, with its 11-deck Enchantment of the Seas cruise liner departing from Piraeus from May to September this year for seven-night cruises to Greek ports such as Mykonos, Santorini, Hania, Corfu etc, and Adriatic ports such as Kotor in Montenegro and Split in Croatia, before disembarking at Ravenna in Italy.

Four cruise lines have been sentenced by a US judge to pay a total of nearly $450 million for having used a Havana port nationalized by the Cuban government in 1960.    

The Celebrity Beyond cruise ship arrived in Piraeus on Wednesday morning. The ship is 327 meters long and 39 meters wide, has 21 decks, and can carry 1,416 crew members and up to 3,937 passengers.

Celebrity Cruises' newest ship is captained by Kate McCue, who was one of the first women and the first American woman to head a cruise ship.

Arrival in Piraeus

As work got under way on Piraeus Port Authority's (OLP) new cruise terminal on Tuesday, top officials of global cruise tourism giants Carnival and Royal Caribbean expressed confidence that it would reposition Greece's main port at the center of the Mediterranean cruise market.

A total of 64 cruise ships will visit Istanbul this year, representatives of tour operators have said, expecting a lucrative business both for local shops and themselves.

The death toll from a volcanic eruption in New Zealand earlier this month has risen to 19 after police said on Dec. 23 another person died at an Auckland hospital overnight.

Cyprus' ministry of tourism is teaming up with Israeli authorities to promote the east Mediterranean as a prime cruise line holiday destination.

The tourism minister, Savvas Perdios, told The Associated Press Wednesday that the government is also in advanced talks with Egypt to offer cruise packages to include Cypriot and Egyptian ports of call.

A series of business meetings is under way in Athens between Greek cruise sector officials and foreign operators such as Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Carnival Corporation, in the context of the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum.

Up to 80 percent of cruise trips to Turkey have been canceled due to security concerns, a leading sector representative has stated.