Welcome to Cruise News, your daily
update on everything happening at
sea. Visit CruiseNews .io to see
today's stories and sign up for
email alerts. We are definitely
tracking a really massive structural
shift across the industry today.
Yeah, we really are. If you're looking
at booking a sailing for, you know,
2026 or 2027, the options on the
table are fundamentally changing
as we speak. Right, entirely. The
overarching theme we're seeing right
now is just, well, it's a theme
of shifting plans. We're watching
cruise lines execute these massive
itinerary redeployments, basically
completely abandoning certain regions.
And we're also tracking this quiet
but honestly aggressive surge in
port costs. And that's altering
the basic math of where these floating
resorts can even afford to dock.
Oh, completely. And You know, it
ties directly into the strategic
gambles that these lines are taking
with their older hardware. Specifically,
what it actually means for you if
you book a sailing right after a
ship comes out of a major dry dock.
Right. Because none of these developments
are happening in a vacuum, are they?
No, not at all. They're all driven
by the exact same core pressure.
I mean, cruise lines are just trying
to navigate a highly volatile global
landscape. while protecting their
profit margins. Yeah, it's a massive
balancing act. Exactly. It's balancing,
mitigating external risks, managing
these skyrocketing operational costs,
and like you said, finding new ways
to extract value from their existing
fleets. Well, let's start with that
geography of risk because we just
saw a pretty major domino fall.
Costa Cruises has completely scrapped
its plans for the Middle East for
the winter 2026 -27 season. Yeah,
they are pulling out entirely. She's
not totally gone. Carnival Corporation,
which owns Costa, obviously, they
are looking at the geopolitical
outlook for the Arabian Gulf and
deciding they certainly do not want
the exposure. Right. So, Cosas Merelda
was supposed to be in the Gulf now.
She is being yanked. Wow. Yeah,
she's being sent to run a brand
new seven night itinerary that links
the Canary Islands and Madeira instead.
And that causes this huge ripple
effect across the rest of the fleet,
right? Because Maralda is moving
to the Canaries, the coast of Pacifica,
which was originally supposed to
take that Canaries route. She gets
bumped. Right, she gets bumped.
So now Pacifica is heading to the
western Mediterranean following
her plan dry dock. She'll be picking
up itineraries that reach down into
southern Europe and North Africa.
And bookings for these new routes
are supposed to open by, I think,
late March. Late March, yeah. And
the logistics of this, it's just
staggering. When a cruise line redeploys
vessels of this size, they are undoing
literally years of advanced planning.
Decades of man hours, probably.
Oh, absolutely. They have to go
out and secure new port births in
the Mediterranean, negotiate new
terminal space, tear up all their
old provisioning contracts for food
and fuel in the Middle East. Which
is huge. Right, and then entirely
rewrite their marketing strategies
on top of it. So I have to ask about
the passengers who are already booked
on those Middle East sailings or,
you know, the repositioning cruises
to get there. Costa is offering
them an immediate transfer to another
cruise, plus 200 and onboard credit
per cabin. Which breaks down to
about 100 per person. Right, 100
per person. And my initial reaction
is that 100 per person feels, I
don't know, a bit light. Like, if
you had your heart set on seeing
the Emirates and now you're being
offered a week in Spain. I mean,
I hear you. It feels like a letdown.
But it actually is the industry
standard for a cancellation this
far out. Really? Yeah. Because these
sailings are late 2026 and early
2027, Costa's calculation is that
they're giving passengers plenty
of time to adjust their vacation
plan. Oh, I see. So the onboard
credit is just kind of a bonus.
It's essentially a gesture of goodwill,
right? They want to retain the booking
within the Carnival Corporation
family rather than losing that customer
to a competitor. And speaking of
competitors, This is where the story
gets incredibly layered because
Carnival Corporation cited an uncertain
regional outlook and they didn't
just pull Costa They also canceled
Aida Cruise's season in the region.
Right. Pulling the Aida Prima. Exactly.
They stated they want to ensure
every sailing remains relaxing,
enjoyable and worry free. And you
hear that and you naturally assume,
well, the Arabian Gulf is about
to be a ghost town for cruise ships.
Yeah. But the reality is the exact
opposite. It's wild. It really is.
While Carnival Corporation is fleeing
the region, several other major
players are basically doubling down.
The contrast is just fascinating.
Let's look at who is actually staying.
MSC Cruises is sending the MSC World
Europa. And I just want to pause
on that ship for a second because
the scale is hard to even comprehend.
It's massive. It is over 215 ,000
gross tons and carries nearly 7
,000 guests. And just to clarify
for the listener, because gross
tons is a term that gets thrown
around a lot in this industry, it
doesn't actually measure weight.
It's a measurement of interior volume.
So one gross ton... equals exactly
100 cubic feet of enclosed space.
Okay, wow. So when we say 215 ,000
gross tons, we're talking about
a vessel with the interior volume
of a massive skyscraper, basically
operating as a floating city. Thank
you for that because it really highlights
the sheer physical and honestly
financial risk of sending a piece
of hardware that massive into a
region. And MSC isn't alone there.
No, not at all. Celestial is operating
their Desert Days and iconic Arabia
itineraries. TUI is sending a brand
new ship, the Mine Shift Flow. Aroya
is planning a three month deployment.
And Explorer Journeys is debuting
the Explorer 2 in the region. I
mean, Explorer did build in a little
breathing room, right? They extended
their cancellation window by 45
days. They did, yeah. But structurally,
they are holding the course. It
just feels like a massive high stakes
game of risk. It's a perfect way
to put it. But instead of little
plastic armies, you're playing with,
like, billion dollar floating resorts.
And you have to commit your pieces
to the board years before the game
actually starts. So if MSC is comfortable
sending 7 ,000 passengers into the
Arabian Gulf, why is Carnival Corporation
viewing the exact same body of water
as too risky? Well, it really comes
down to corporate risk tolerance.
MSC might have a different calculation
regarding their European source
markets, or perhaps they just have
a higher threshold for regional
uncertainty. Carnival Corporation
is looking at the landscape and
deciding that the financial penalty
of having to scramble and redeploy
a ship, say, six months from now...
Which would be a nightmare. Exactly.
They think that's infinitely worse
than the pain of ripping the Band
-Aid off today. They want the absolute
certainty of the Canary Islands
and the Mediterranean, where those
logistical variables are heavily,
heavily controlled. That makes me
wonder about the passengers' role
in all this. If you are a loyal
Costa cruiser, your geographic options
are suddenly being dictated not
by where the ocean can take you,
but by a corporate boardroom's geopolitical
risk assessment. Which is a reality
cruisers just have to accept right
now. But there is another much quieter
force dictating where these ships
can sail. It doesn't make international
headlines the way geopolitical tension
does, but it is fundamentally altering
the cruise map. You're talking about
the rising cost of actually pulling
into port. Exactly. We are seeing
this play out right now in Portland,
Maine. The Portland City Council
just approved tariff 11, which goes
into effect January 1st, 2027, and
they are hiking their fees significantly.
They really are. The per passenger
tariff is climbing from $18 to $24
by 2030. And the annual infrastructure
fee is jumping from $3 to $7. And
keep in mind, Portland sees about
100 cruise visits a year. And we
are talking about massive vessels.
Yeah, the mega ships. Right, ships
like the MSC Maravilla, the Norwegian
Breakaway, the Majestic Princess.
These ships bring thousands of people
to Casco Bay all at once. And, you
know, my first thought when I see
a $10 overall fee increase per passenger
is to kind of shrug. Sure. Like
if a family is paying $3 ,000 for
a cruise vacation, an extra $10
feels like a rounding error. Why
would a multi -billion dollar cruise
line actually care about a marginal
fee hike in Maine? Well, because
you cannot look at that $10 in a
vacuum. The cruise business operates
on incredibly tight margins per
passenger. Right. Economies of scale.
Exactly. So a $10 increase on a
ship carrying 4 ,000 passengers
means the line is suddenly paying
$40 ,000 more just to tie off the
ropes for eight hours. Wow. And
that is just one port. It compounds.
If Portland raises fees, and then
Bar Harbor raises fees, and then
Halifax raises fees, suddenly the
overhead for a standard seven -day
New England itinerary has completely
spiked. And the structural reality
of that route changes entirely.
Initially, yeah, cruise lines will
quietly pass those port charges
down to you, the passenger, folding
them into the taxes and fees at
checkout. Which we all love. Right.
But eventually, if the baseline
cost of an itinerary becomes too
expensive, consumers will push back.
If the math stops making sense,
the cruise line will simply move
the ship to a region with cheaper
operational costs. But Portland
is trying to, I guess, soften the
blow for certain ships. Tariff 11
includes this fascinating environmental
lever. Yes, the fuel discount. Right.
They're offering a $2 per passenger
discount for ships that use low
-sulfur fuel, specifically marine
gas oil, while they are docked or
anchored in Portland Harbor. And
that discount exists because of
a pretty massive infrastructure
gap. Portland doesn't offer shore
power. Meaning the ship can't just
plug a giant extension cord into
the local electrical grid when it
docks. Exactly, they cannot plug
in. And a modern cruise ship requires
immense power, even when it is just
sitting still. Right, for the hotel
operations. Yeah, the lights, the
massive industrial kitchens, the
air conditioning for 4 ,000 people.
It all requires the ship to keep
running its engines or generators.
Usually ships burn heavy fuel oil,
which is cheap. but highly polluting.
Okay. Marine gas oil is a cleaner,
highly refined alternative, but
it is significantly more expensive.
So Portland is offering this tariff
discount to incentivize lines to
burn the expensive, cleaner fuel
while sitting in Casco Bay. It's
basically like a toll road that
suddenly implements surge pricing
to fix its potholes, but then offers
you an EZ Pass discount if you happen
to be driving a hybrid vehicle.
That is a perfect analogy. And they
aren't stopping at fuel types either.
The city's sustainability and transportation
committee is reviewing options for
their 2026 agenda targeting exhaust
gas cleaning systems. Scrubbers.
Scrubbers, right. This is a massive
flash point in the industry right
now. I always hear the term scrubber
and I just imagine like a giant
sponge in the smokestack. How does
this technology actually work and
why does Portland want to eliminate
the discharge from it? So a scrubber
is essentially a shower system inside
the ship's exhaust funnel. Instead
of burning expensive, low -sulfur
fuel, the ship burns the cheaper,
dirty, heavy fuel oil. Okay. As
the toxic exhaust travels up the
funnel, the scrubber sprays massive
amounts of seawater into the exhaust
stream. The water essentially scrubs
the sulfur out of the smoke, which
allows the ship to meet air quality
standards. But the sulfur doesn't
just disappear. No, it goes into
the water. In an open -loop scrubber
system, that acidic sulfur -heavy
wash water is then discharged directly
back into the ocean. Yeah, so local
advocacy groups in Portland are
pushing to eliminate that wash water
discharge into Casco Bay, arguing
it harms the local marine ecosystem.
which really puts the city in a
tough spot. They have to balance
funding their working waterfront
facilities with managing the environmental
impact of these massive floating
cities. And Portland isn't an outlier
here. Juneau, Alaska has increased
passenger fees for environmental
mitigation. Hawaii lawmakers are
proposing a green fee for climate
resilience. And Bar Harbor voters
famously approved a 1 ,000 passenger
daily limit. We are witnessing a
systemic repricing of the cruise
product. The destinations hold the
leverage right now, and they are
demanding a higher premium for access.
So if destinations are becoming
vastly more expensive to visit and
cruise lines are being squeezed
on margins, how do they make up
the difference? I mean, they can't
just rely on the shiny billion dollar
mega ships that launch every year
to carry the entire financial load
of the company. No, they have to
extract maximum value from the ships
they already own. That means investing
heavily in legacy tonnage to keep
those older vessels competitive
enough to command premium ticket
prices. Let's look at P &O Cruises
Ventura as the perfect case study
for this. Yes. This is a grand class
ship built in 2008. She carries
about 3 ,100 guests and she just
returned to service on February
27th following a major dry dock
at the Damon Shipyard in Rotterdam.
And a ship built in 2008 is practically
a different era in cruise design.
Oh, totally. wants to deploy Ventura
on lucrative long -haul itineraries,
they cannot send her out looking
like a mid -2000s time capsule.
And they certainly aren't easing
her back into service with, like,
short, cheap weekend getaways. Look
at the itinerary they put her on
right out of the shipyard. It's
a 35 -night repositioning -style
cruise from Southampton to the Caribbean
and the US. 35 nights. Yeah. And
the stops are impressive. La Coruña,
Praia da Vitoria, Port Canaveral,
Miami, Cozumel, Belize, Rodatan,
Freeport. And a standout, extended
two -day stay in New Orleans. Right.
And then following this, it heads
back to Northern Europe and the
Canaries, hitting places like Zebraga,
Santander, Vigo, Funchal, and Tenerife.
But to convince a modern consumer
to spend over a month on a single
ship, the onboard environment has
to meet 2026 expectations. And they
completely overhauled the interior
to meet those expectations. In the
cabins and suites, they stripped
out the old look and brought in
warmer, neutral tones, new carpets,
updated soft furnishings. They even
added decorative ceiling lighting
and sweet bedside maps. And in the
public spaces, the main atrium got
a new dance floor with these marquetry
effects. timber finishes. They modernize
the color schemes across the Red
Bar, Tamarind Club, Havana, and
Metropolis. It's a huge refresh.
But it's the dining and wellness
upgrades that reveal the true strategy
here, don't they? Exactly. This
isn't just about making the ship
look pretty. It is about driving
onboard revenue. Explain that connection
for me. How does, say, a carpet
update actually drive revenue? It's
all about consumer psychology. Sindhu,
their Indian specialty restaurant,
received beautiful new block printing
style carpets. They updated Epicurean,
Beach House, Bay Tree, Saffron,
and Waterside. They even redesigned
the 800 -seat Arena Theater using
Greek geometric symmetry. When a
space feels premium, modern, and
intentionally designed, passengers
are statistically more likely to
spend money on specialty dining
cover charges, premium cocktails,
and retail. That makes total sense,
especially when you look at what
they did in the Oasis spa. They
introduced three Japanese head rituals
for scalp care and relaxation. Right,
alongside a visual refresh that
combines geometric tiles with warm
tones. They are totally tapping
into the massive consumer demand
for high -end wellness experiences.
If you're stressed out about the
$24 port tax in Portland, you can
just forget about it while getting
a Japanese scalp treatment. Exactly.
And they also added new retail spaces
on decks six and seven. Every single
square foot of a legacy ship has
to be optimized to generate the
revenue needed to offset the rising
costs we discussed earlier. But
there is a massive caveat for anyone
listening who thinks, great, I'll
just book the first sailing after
a ship gets upgraded. Yes, there
is. We need to talk about the reality
of the shipyard. Ventura's dry dock
ran long. And because of that delay,
P &O had to abruptly cancel a four
night cruise departing February
23rd that was supposed to feature
an overnight stay in Amsterdam.
The logistics of a dry dock are
just mind -boggling. You are taking
a 3 ,100 guest floating hotel, lifting
it entirely out of the water, and
coordinating thousands of contractors,
electricians, and designers simultaneously.
It's a logistical tightrope. It
really is. It's basically the ultimate
home renovation, but on a maritime
scale. You keep the strong foundational
bones of the 2008 build, but you
tear out the outdated fixtures to
create this 2026 open -concept,
wellness -focused interior. Right.
But anyone who has ever survived
a home renovation knows the contractor
never finishes on the exact day
they promise. You open up a wall
and find a rusted pipe. Oh, exactly.
In a shipyard, they pull up a deck
and find structural issues that
require an extra three days of welding.
And supply chain issues are ramped
into. Right. If the custom marketry
timber for that dance floor gets
delayed at a border crossing, the
entire project stalls. Delays are
just a structural reality of this
kind of heavy maintenance. So for
the listener mapping out their next
vacation calendar, how should they
approach a post dry dock sailing?
Is the reward of stepping onto a
freshly polished ship with a brand
new spa worth the risk of, you know,
losing your Amsterdam trip at the
last minute? Well, you have to book
it with a flexible mindset. If you
book the very first revenue sailing
out of a shipyard, you are actively
absorbing some of the cruise line's
schedule risk. If they run long,
your vacation is the collateral
damage. You essentially become the
beta tester for the new plumbing.
In many ways, yes. But the payoff
is that you get to experience a
unique hybrid. Older ships like
Ventura often have fantastic classic
layouts, wider promenades, more
spacious public flow that some of
the modern mega ships actually lack
because they are so crammed with
attractions. That's a great point.
When you take those classic bones
and inject modern amenities, you
get a highly superior product. You
get the fresh carpet smell and the
modern Japanese head ritual, but
you just have to accept that your
departure date might require a little
grace. Exactly. And when you look
at all these moving pieces today,
a fascinating picture emerges. It
really does. Costa is pulling ships
out of the Middle East because the
geopolitical map is too complex.
Portland and other ports are fundamentally
increasing the cost of dropping.
anchor, and P &O is pouring millions
into a 2008 ship. to keep it highly
profitable on a 35 -night route.
It feels like the actual ocean and
the ports of call are becoming the
hostile elements of the vacation,
while the ship itself is the heavily
fortified, heavily polished safe
haven. Which brings up a question
for the listener to consider as
they browse the shifting 2026 and
2027 itineraries. As destinations
become significantly more expensive
due to tariffs and entire regions
become impossible to navigate due
to risk, will we reach a point where
the massive, newly upgraded ship
is a primary destination. Are we
approaching an era where the actual
ports on the itinerary are entirely
secondary to the hardware you were
sailing on? Something to think about
the next time you are deciding between
a ship with a new Japanese spa and
an itinerary with expensive port
fees. Thanks for listening to Cruise
News. Visit CruiseNews .io to catch
up on the latest updates and sign
up for free email alerts.