Barcelona has banned all passenger ships from its central port effective October 22, sending them instead to terminals farther from the popular La Rambla district.

The new regulation, designed to control cruise ship emissions, will send smaller ships from AIDA Cruises, Azamara, Oceania, Regent and Virgin to the Moll Adossat Pier, where large ships dock. Passengers then will have to take a 30-minute shuttle ride.

Barcelona also has cut the number of cruise ships that can visit its ports at one time, from 10 to 7.

The move follows protests against tourism by Barcelona residents over the past six years.

“The closure of the Barcelona northern docks for cruise operations is a new step to comply with the agreement signed in 2018 with the Barcelona municipal government to eliminate the negative impact that this activity could produce for citizens,” said Lluís Salvado, president of the Port of Barcelona.

While many cities have been looking to cut the number of ships arriving on their shores, business owners in Palma, Majorca, this month called on the government to scrap the cruise ship limits set there. They cited an 18% fall in passengers since legislation limited cruise ships to three a day.

“Don’t demonize cruise ship passengers, it is family tourism with a high spending power,” eight local business organizations, including bar and restaurant owners, shopkeepers and tour guides, said in a statement.

American Cruise Lines continues to provide US river cruising with a look at their 2024 cruise season. With a total of 125 US ports of call and nine new itineraries, ACL has big announcements out.

Leading the announcement is two new 100-passenger ships, Coastal Cats, American Liberty and American Legend. These are the 3^rd and 4^th ships of the American series which will include 12 total. The first two coastal cats already in operation are American Eagle and  American Glory. Slated to sail New England, Chesapeake Bay, Hudson River and Florida, the American Liberty is set to cruise in June 2024 while American Legend is set for October 2024.

Adding to the 19 ships they will have in operation by October of next year are new itineraries. Including longer cruises like the 60-day itinerary exploring 20 states (August 16^th to October 14^th) and the 35-day Civil War Battlefields cruise exploring 20 Civil War battlefields (May 3^rd to June 6^th).

They’ve also announced new 2024 cruises at National Parks. Including Denali Fjords and Glacier Bay National Parks in Alaska, and Smoky Mountains National Park. Also available is the multi-national park cruise of Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton along the Colombia and Snake Rivers.

With new departures, new ships, more itineraries than featured here, and a maximum range of 90-180 guests per cruise, American Cruise Lines looks to be growing into the booming interest in cruises.

It takes a village to launch a new cruise ship. Last week, 1,000 travel advisors, reporters, financiers and cruise-industry executives were joined by Jay Leno, Emeril Lagassi and Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy to welcome the new Carnival Venezia to its homeport at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

It’s a traveler’s dream vacation, and a travel advisor’s dream commission—even a sign of hope that one day soon the world will be open and the seas free to roam.

So, of course, Royal Caribbean’s announcement of its first-ever world cruise, the longest in the industry at 274 nights, made some headlines this past week. And for some travel advisors, it actually did get clients calling.

While some said it was too long (especially for customers with pets) and some said it was too expensive for the traditional RCCL cruiser, Royal Caribbean SVP Vicki Freed said that in just the first couple of days “hundreds of bookings have been created” as “people are moving their ‘bucket list’ trips into their ‘to do list’” and travel advisors tell me that indeed some categories are almost sold out.

The “Ultimate World Cruise,” sailing round-trip Miami on the mid-sized Serenade of the Seas beginning December 10, 2023, is broken down into four legs Read the rest of this entry »