Cruise News: Is Freestyle Cruising Going Away on NCL, Adding Starlink & a New Princess Port

Editorial Summary

Doug Parker reports on several updates within the cruise industry, beginning with a new entertainment pre-booking program from Norwegian Cruise Line. This program allows guests to reserve shows in advance based on their cabin category and loyalty status. Guests in the Haven or those with Platinum status or higher can book shows 26 days ahead, while other guests can book 21 days in advance. This change is expected to be implemented fleet wide by March 5th. Princess Cruises is set to visit Yorktown, Virginia, next summer, marking a first for a major cruise line at this East Coast destination. The itineraries will include calls on the Island Princess and Emerald Princess, offering access to Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown. Additionally, American Queen Voyages has partnered with SpaceX Maritime to implement Starlink satellite internet and 5G cellular backup across its entire fleet. High speed Wi-Fi is already included for guests on these voyages. The report concludes with a photo of a Carnival vessel undergoing maintenance in the Bahamas and a brief overview of recent stock market movements for major cruise corporations including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian.

Written by TripBacon from this video's transcript.