Top Cruise Stories of 2023

If 2022 saw the cruise industry still crawling its way back to fully up and running after the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 saw the industry take off in a sprint. By year’s end, nearly every cruise line will be back to 100% or greater occupancy, and future bookings are higher than they’ve ever been.

There was plenty of cruise news throughout the year, some great for advisors and their clients, some not so great, but the biggest news stories can be rounded up into nine categories, ranging from the excitement of new ships to the erosion of mainstream cruising’s value proposition to the shockwave caused by violence in the Middle East.

New Ships
Some of the biggest cruise news of any year regards new cruise ships – and, sometimes, even new cruise lines. This year saw both, with the official launch of Explora Journeys and Riverside Cruises, along with next-in-class ships from Norwegian Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages, Celebrity Cruises, and first-in-class ships from Silversea Cruises, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Additionally, some cruise lines also added new ships (not newbuild-ships) to their fleets – Carnival Venezia to Carnival Cruise Line and Celestyal Journey to Celestyal, for example.

Fare inclusion changes
As part of their efforts to regain profitability, several cruise lines trimmed down their value propositions by cutting back on what was included in the base cruise fare. Princess Cruises, for instance, began charging for previously complimentary items including pre-cruise Medallion shipping and dining at Alfredo’s. Royal Caribbean axed its entire Classic Dishes section of the main dining room menu. The line even asked cruisers if it should start charging for Sorrento’s, ultimately deciding to keep the venue free, but prompting TMR to ask, are cruises going the way of airlines.

Celebrity Cruises, which has touted its All Including Pricing as part of its overall value proposition for years, removed gratuities from the program, making it considerably less valuable.

On the plus side, Oceania upped its value proposition with its all new ” MORE” fares.

Gratuity Increases
It’s a rare year that passes without at least one cruise line hiking gratuities and 2023 was no exception. In fact, the year started off with an increase from Carnival Cruise Line, which also jacked up the cost of its onboard Wi-Fi. In July, Celebrity Cruises raised its gratuities (not long before it axed included gratuities from its All Included fare pricing), with sister line Royal Caribbean following suit in November.

Cruise Ship Bans, Limits, Fees & Taxes
Passengers flocked back to cruise ships in larger numbers than ever in 2023, but not everyone was happy about it. Destinations across the globe enacted bans, limits, and new fees and taxes to either deter ships from visiting or take greater advantage of the higher numbers of visitors.

On the ban side of things, Barcelona finally closed its North Terminal at the World Trade Center, and at the same time put a limit on how many cruise ships can dock at its remaining port (Moll d’Adossat). Amsterdam announced a ban on cruise ships in the city center, though that ban hasn’t yet gone into effect and the timeline for when it might is unclear.

In Alaska, the city of Juneau set limits on how many large ships can visit in a single day, starting in 2024, with no more than five “large” ships on any given day. While the new limit will likely not change the total number of port calls in a summer, it should distribute them more evenly throughout the week.

Finally, cities and countries that imposed new fees and taxes on cruise ship visits (most starting in 2024, but some not until 2025) included Scotland, New York City, Amsterdam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Quintana Roo (Mexico), and the Bahamas.

Vantage Travel
In April, Vantage Travel unexpectedly began canceling numerous departures of upcoming cruises, most within days of sailing. At the same time, its main website disappeared and a replacement site cited a “data security incident” as the cause of all its troubles. By June, the company was up for sale and by the end of the month had declared bankruptcy, but it wasn’t until August that Pacific Travel Partners, an affiliate of Australia-based Aurora Expeditions, purchased the company during a public auction and promised to credit previous customers for canceled cruises.

Israel
Sadly, world politics and unrest hit again in 2023 when Hamas carried out a violent attack in Israel and starting an armed conflict that continues to rage. In the days and weeks that followed, cruise lines canceled port calls and made massive itinerary changes that are still having a ripple effect throughout the industry. Cancellations included port calls, full seasons (including Windstar’s much-anticipated first-ever full season in the Middle East), and post-river cruise extensions.

The Return of Crystal (Cruises)
The demise of Crystal Cruises in 2022 sent shockwaves around the cruise industry, with many past cruisers celebrating later that year when Abercrombie & Kent purchased the line’s two ocean-going vessels, along with the Crystal Cruises name. But cruisers and advisors had to wait for the cruise line’s actual return – now simply called Crystal – in August of this year.

High Speed Communications
If there was one non-cruise company that go more cruise-related coverage than any other in 2023, it was SpaceX’s Starlink. Starting in early January with one of the industry’s most niche cruise lines (American Cruise Lines), Starlink started its journey to eventually taking over the high-speed Wi-Fi needs of the entire cruise industry. By the end of the year, the list of cruise lines fully or partially transitioning to Starlink included Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America, Windstar Cruises, Cunard, Lindblad Expeditions, Scenic Group, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and American Queen Voyages.

But Wi-Fi wasn’t the only means of communication that got a push this year. Carnival Cruise Line also began to rollout 5G wireless service, starting with its newest ship, Carnival Jubilee.

Retirements
This was a year for the books when it came to retirements, even if some – well one – of the retirements didn’t quite stick. One of the most notable was the retirement of Frank del Rio, who founded Oceania Cruises in 2002, and had led Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Ltd. since 2015.

Even more surprising was the sudden retirement of travel advisor-favorite Dondra Ritzenthaler. Her retirement didn’t last long though, and she’ll be joining Azamara in the summer of 2024 as its CEO.

Other longtime industry executives to hang up their hats this year included American Cruise Lines’ Susan Shultz-Gelino, Silversea’s Mark Conroy, and the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s Douglas Prothero.