LA Times Highlights Summer Cruise Developments

Havana is one of many new summer cruise destinations. 

The LA Times recently published a list of 16 developments in the cruise industry that could affect you and your clients, from new ships to new routes to new trends.

Author Fran Golden talks about how the new 5,500-passenger Harmony of the Seas offers the Ultimate Abyss, a water slide from the top of the ship to the Boardwalk neighborhood 100 feet below. (Travel Market Report editor Cheryl Rosen will be checking that out this weekend!)

The article also highlights the 750-passenger Seven Seas Explorer, the “world’s most luxurious cruise ship,” which Regent Seven Seas Cruises is launching in July, and the 2,650-passenger Koningsdam from Holland America Line (Travel Market Report’s James Shillinglaw will be covering that one).

Meanwhile, the article reports, Cuba and the Arctic are hot, but Turkey not so much. Norwegian Cruise Lines president Frank del Rio infers he is close to matching Fathom’s history-making route to the island, while Crystal Cruises’ 1,070-passenger Crystal Serenity embarks on a 32-day itinerary through the Northwest Passage. At the same time, several lines have taken Istanbul off their summer itineraries, concerned with security.

On board ship, there is faster internet service, craft beer, celebrity chefs, and robots, the article points out.