Carnival Hasbro the Game Show at Home

Images courtesy of Hasbro & Carnival Cruise Line

Fun Ship 2.0 

Carnival Cruise Line took family fun to new heights in 2012 when they introduced Fun Ship 2.0 which included Hasbro the Game Show on their ships. This all night entertainment event brought several of your favorite family games to life on stage. Families were pitted against each other on stage while the rest of the passengers watched. This took family game night to a new level. 

You can read more about their introduction in our old blog post: Hasbro The Game Show Coming Soon to Sea.

Additional ships were added to the fleet and the popular game show theme remained one of the featured entertainment options.

Fun Ship 2.0 at Home

When the pandemic locked families inside their homes, many had time to get reaquainted with the old pastime of playing board games. We are certain that some Hasbro favorites were among the games played. Carnival's ships were grounded during this time, but the imagation wheels were not idle. Earlier this year they introduced a Carnival Branded Monopoly game and now have introduced a Carnival Branded Family Feud offering. Both of these can be purchased on their Fun Shop website (individually or in a bundle).

Monopoly Carnival Fun Edition

In this cruise-themed version of the classic board game that people around the world seem to either love or hate: Monopoly Carnival Fun Edition, popular elements of the game are present with a sea-going twist. 

Mardi Gras, their latest ship, is prominently featured on the cover and throughout the game. Features highlighted include the brand-new BOLT roller coaster that will debut on Mardi Gras, the Cherry on Top ice cream and candy story, the Lido Marketplace, and JavaBlue Café — all of which will serve as landing spots for players.

Just like the traditional Monopoly game, players purchase properties when they land on them if desired. However, they pay the designated amount with money emblazoned with the cruise line’s iconic funnel. There are also Cruise Director Announcements and Funnel Chest Cards with challenges and directions for players, while game pieces (of course) include a cruise ship. Test your cruise vacation knowledge with this fun land edition of their Hasbro the Game Show Monopoly game.

Family Feud Carnival Edition

Inspired by the hit television show and in anticipation of audience participation show Family Feud Live! that’s debuting on Mardi Gras, Family Feud: Carnival Edition introduces a fun new spin on the popular game. 

Over 150 questions test players’ knowledge of ‘America’s Cruise Line’ and cruise vacations in general. Sample questions include “Name a Famous Captain” and “Name Something You’d Hate to Forget When Packing for a Cruise.” Popular game features like “Fast Money,”Pass or Play,” “What Ifs,” and “Face Offs” are all included, allowing players to recreate their favorite elements of the game at home. 

Are you planning a cruise on Mardi Gras this year or next?  Maybe you need to purchase one or both of these games to sharpen your skills for the onboard versions.   However, don't count on the questions being the same onboard - we wouldn't anyone to have an advantage - would we?

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Search for Cruises on Mardi Gras

Introducing Mardi Gras

These games highlight features you will find on the brand new Mardi Gras. She is quite different than her name sake which debuted in 1972.

This ship introduces Zones — six themed areas packed with brand-new experiences for eating, drinking and spectacularly getting down to fun. There's BOLT™, the first-ever rollercoaster at sea, Emeril's Bistro 1396™ from yes-that-Emeril, Family Feud™ Live for everybody... plus incredible new bars like The Brass Magnolia and Fortune Teller. Everybody can enjoy Mardi Gras, sailing this year. Come on down!

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MSC Summer Cruises Announced

 Sail the Mediterranean This Summer

Cruise lines continue to announce itineraries originating from non-U.S. homeports as CDC continues to impose different rules on the cruise industry.  The latest announcement will have half of their fleet sailing over the next three months and has already been safely sailing since August.

MSC Cruises today announced new and updated itineraries in the Mediterranean and across Europe for this coming summer, offering guests plenty of options for the upcoming holiday season. The ships offering these now fully confirmed itineraries will operate under the same industry-leading health and safety protocol that has been safely protecting over 60,000 MSC Cruises guests sailing on the line’s ships in the Mediterranean since August 2020.

Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises, said, 

“Today we have clarity on which European destinations and ports will initially be open this summer and we have fully reflected this into a first set of new and updated itineraries for the upcoming season so that guests can book their holidays with us with confidence. The entire MSC Cruises team and I look forward to welcoming both returning and new guests on board one of our ships that will be at sea this summer and to provide them with a memorable, relaxing and, above all, safe holiday.

 “Plus, I am confident that in the coming weeks we will be able to further enrich some of these itineraries as well as add more ships with new ones, as more ports and tourist destinations, in particular in Spain and France, become available to receive ships and visitors.”

Three ships in the West Mediterranean, calling Italy and Malta

• MSC Grandiosa. The 4,842-passenger ship will extend its current seven-night sailings out of Genoa, Italy, that feature calls at Civitavecchia (the port for Rome), Naples and Palermo, Italy, as well as Valletta, Malta. The Spanish ports of Valencia and Barcelona eventually will be added to the ship’s itinerary as soon as these destinations confirm their availability. 
• MSC Seaside. The 4,132-passenger ship will sail out of Genoa starting May 1 with calls at Siracusa, Taranto and Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) in Italy; Valetta, Malta. The ship’s itinerary will then be enriched with calls to the French port of Marseille as soon as its availability is confirmed. MSC Cruises will introduce a special private beach experience in Taranto, exclusively for the ship’ guests.
• MSC Seashore. The 4,132-passenger vessel will sail out of Genoa starting on Aug. 1 on a seven-night itinerary featuring calls at Naples and Messina, Italy, Valletta; Barcelona; and Marseille.

Three ships in the East Mediterranean, calling Italy, Greece, Croatia and Montenegro 

• MSC Orchestra will now depart on 5 June offering guests embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Saturdays, Bari on Sundays and then call at the Greek Islands of Corfu, Mykonos as well as Dubrovnik in Croatia. 
• MSC Splendida will commence sailing from 12 June with embarkation in Trieste, Italy on Saturdays and in Bari on Tuesdays, calling at Dubrovnik in Croatia, Corfu in Greece and Kotor in Montenegro. 
• MSC Magnifica  will sail from 20 June with embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Sundays, Bari on Mondays and Piraeus for Athens on Wednesdays, then calling at the Greek Island of Mykonos and Split, Croatia.

UK Domestic Cruises (British Residents Only) 

• MSC Virtuosa will perform her inaugural season in the UK and offer mini cruises from Southampton calling at Portland in Dorset on the Jurassic coast. From 12 June she will operate 7-night cruises from Southampton with embarkation in Liverpool, Greenock for Glasgow and also calling at Portland and Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Germany, Northern Europe 

• MSC Seaview will homeport in Kiel, Germany starting on 19 June replacing MSC Virtuosa 
• MSC Preziosa is planned to depart on 21 June from Hamburg, Germany 
• MSC Musica will depart on 20 June from Warnemunde, Germany, if the German ports are open

Mr Onorato added, 

“We are extremely proud to be in a position to offer our guests and travel agent partners for the coming summer a growing choice of cruise holidays to a range of different destinations across the Mediterranean and Europe. We will be featuring some of our most innovative and more modern vessels in our fleet. And to make it even easier and safer for our guests to reach our ships from closer to their homes, all our itineraries will feature additional ports of embarkation. In the Mediterranean alone, MSC Cruises will offer its guests up to 15 ports of embarkation."

 “Albeit these ships represent only an initial portion of our fleet, they include our two latest jewels, MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, both of which will have come into service for the first time in 2021. Their presence in this next phase of the return at sea of our fleet in the coming weeks represent our belief in the continued attractiveness for consumer of cruises as a holiday option. This is why we have confirmed our plans of new builds for the coming years and are looking forward to a gradual return at se of our full fleet in the coming months into the winter season."

MSC Cruises also confirmed the cancellation of its Caribbean sailings from ports in the USA up to and including 30 June, like many other cruise lines.

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Additional Homeport Announcements

 

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) on Tuesday announced that it would kick off its return to service in July with itineraries in both Europe and The Caribbean with deployment of three ships -  Jade, Joy, and Gem.

Norwegian Jade will sail from Athens, offering seven-day Greek Isles cruises beginning July 25

Norwegian Joy follows with weeklong cruises from Montego Bay, Jamaica, starting Aug. 7

Norwegian Gem will sail from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Aug. 15

Minors who have not yet been eligible to be vaccinated will not be permitted to sail on these voyages. Minors who have been fully vaccinated are welcome to sail.

“Over a year after we initially suspended sailings, the time has finally come when we can provide our loyal guests with the news of our great cruise comeback," said Norwegian Cruise Line's President and Chief Executive Officer Harry Sommer.

 
"We have been working diligently towards our resumption of operations, focusing on the guest experience with health and safety at the forefront. The growing availability of the COVID-19 vaccine has been a game changer. The vaccine, combined with our science-backed health and safety protocols, will help us provide our guests with what we believe will be the healthiest and safest vacation at sea."

On Tuesday, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, submitted its plan to the CDC to return to service in the U.S. in July. Norwegian will also sail these cruises with those same set of protocols (Sail Safe) which includes universal testing, a staggered embarkation process, a face mask requirement for all guests while indoors, contactless foodservice ship-wide, and more.

 

We continue to monitor changes in cruise itineraries, cancellations, requirements to sail, etc. Follow us on any of our social media and this blog to stay informed.   We hope to be sailing on the high seas soon.

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Cruise Pause Extensions

U.S. Ports Impacted by CDC CSO

While cruising has resumed in other parts of the world, it is still paused in the U.S. due to the Conditional Sail Order issued by the CDC last October.   Recent CDC announcement didn't lift the CSO, so cruise lines are still playing a waiting game to find out how they can proceed safe and responsible resumption of cruising. 

Since it takes 60-90 days to stand up a ship once they get the OK, cruise lines have begun announcing additional cancellations as they extend the pause through June 30th.  Several lines have announced departures from non-U.S. homeports for Summer sailings.  The industry is hopeful that resumption can occur sometime in the Summer.

Carnival Corporation

Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy's on Tuesday said the line may be forced to pull the line's vessels from their U.S. homeports if the agency continues to prevent the restart of domestic cruising and is extending the suspension of U.S. operations through the end of June. 

 “While we have not made plans to move Carnival Cruise Line ships outside of our U.S. homeports, we may have no choice but to do so in order to resume our operations which have been on 'pause' for over a year,” Duffy said in the statement. “We appreciate the continued patience and support from our loyal guests, travel advisors and business partners as we work on a return-to-service solution."

Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald said he was "very disappointed" in the CDC's guidance released last week on the company's business update call on Wednesday morning. He asked CDC for fair treatment. 

 “Today,” he said, “you (referring to Americans) can fly and cruise in Europe and return home without being vaccinated. But even if you are vaccinated you cannot cruise out of the United States. “We are standing by the CDC, but we want to be treated similarly to other travel industries, tourism and entertainment.”

 Royal Caribbean Group

"Royal Caribbean has made the tough decision to further extend our operational pause through June 30, 2021. Exceptions to this include our Singapore sailings onboard Quantum of the Seas, China sailings departing after May 27, 2021, Israel departures on our newest game-changer - Odyssey of the Seas, and also Adventure of the Seas from The Bahamas and Vision of the Seas from Bermuda"

See Royal Caribbean Health & Travel Alerts for latest information including important dates for cancelling / rebooking your cruise.

Celebrity Cruises

 Celebrity Cruises announced today that it is extending the suspension of some sailings, including all sailings from the United States until June 30, while continuing its measured return to service with more sailings scheduled from different regions around the world. 

While we continue to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States and government authorities around the world, we have made the following adjustments to upcoming 2021 itineraries: 

• Suspending sailings through June 30 
• Excluding all ships which have recently announced many new homeports around the globe 

See Celebrity Cruises Cruising Suspension page for latest information.

Disney Cruise Line

US Departures through June 2021 are Suspended 

We are carefully reviewing the recently released guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and working toward resuming operations. As we continue to refine our protocols for our eventual return to service, we are cancelling all Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder sailings departing through June 2021. 

Disney Magic European Season 

We have canceled Disney Magic sailings through September 18, 2021. The Disney Magic will set sail in the United Kingdom for a limited time this summer on short voyages limited to UK residents, pending the issuance of UK Government guidelines and authorizations.

See Disney Cruise Line Important Travel Information page for complete details.

Norwegian Cruise Line

In conjunction with our return to service announcement, we have extended our voluntary temporary suspension through August 31, 2021 for the following ships; Norwegian Breakaway, Dawn, Escape, Getaway, Sky, Spirit, Star and Sun. In addition, Norwegian Epic through Sept. 1; and Norwegian Pearl through Nov. 7, 2021 have also been canceled.

Norwegian Joy, Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Gem now boast new homeports in Greece and the Caribbean for three new and exciting itineraries sailing in July.

See NCL's Suspended Sailings page for complete details.

Princess Cruises

Like so many facets of life, travel has been hit hard by recent events. It is with a heavy heart that Princess Cruises has made the extremely difficult decision to temporarily pause our global ship operations. We know you were looking forward to sailing with us, and we apologize and share in your disappointment over these cancellations. You don’t need to take any action to receive the default compensation offer. You can find out details of your compensation by clicking the link that matches your sail date: 

Information on Impacted & Cancelled Cruises

Alaska, Canada/New England, & Land+Sea Journeys resume in 2022

Alaska sailings out of Seattle resume on/after June 28, 2021

 Australia/New Zealand resume on/after May 31, 2021

Cruises out of Southampton for U.S. passengers resume Sept. 2021

All cruises 7+ days in and out of U.S. ports through Nov. 1, 2021

 Cruises departing in and out of Japan resume on/after Nov. 8, 2021

Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages has cancelled its summer inaugural season out of Miami aboard the Scarlet Lady.

"As we continue to navigate what’s going on in the world, we’ve made the decision to cancel our sailings from July 4th through September 17th, 2021 on Scarlet Lady," the company said. "If your voyage has been impacted by this, please take a look at the details below so you can choose an offer that works best for you."

Details on Impacted Sailings on Scarlet Lady

Your Voice Matters:  Express you desire to see Cruising Resume out of U.S. Ports via CLIA's Action Center.  https://cruising.org/en/clia-action-center

We continue to monitor changes in cruise itineraries, cancellations, requirements to sail, etc. Follow us on any of our social media and this blog to stay informed.   We hope to be sailing on the high seas soon.

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I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

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