Cruise News Update: Cruises Cancelled, Technical Issues, New Ships
Don’t miss a thing happening across the cruise industry with Cruise Hive’s weekly news recap. Stories this week cover the delivery of Royal Caribbean’s newest Icon-class ship and two Norwegian Cruise Line ships swapping homeports.
We also got stories on two Royal Caribbean-owned ships with technical issues, Celebrity Xcel, Star of the Seas delivery, and Carnival Breeze cancellations.
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Two Norwegian Cruise Line Ships Swap Homeports
Cruise watchers were left scratching their heads after Norwegian Cruise Line recently cancelled more than 40 voyages on two ships, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Prima, during the winter 2026-27 season.
But this week, the cruise line explained its future plans for both vessels. Basically, the line has simply swapped the two ships’ homeports, sending Norwegian Breakaway from her originally planned San Juan, Puerto Rico, base to Norwegian Prima’s New Orleans deployment, and vice versa.
Rather than sail from San Juan, Norwegian Breakaway will switch to the Big Easy and Norwegian Prima will operate from the Caribbean island. Itineraries remain the same, just the ship changes.
Norwegian Breakaway accommodates 4,000 guests versus Norwegian Prima’s 3,100. It could be that the cruise line believes it has a better chance of filling berths on the bigger ship from New Orleans.
Guests booked on each ship’s original itineraries are receiving automatic refunds and a 10% future cruise credit. They can rebook on the newly deployed ships if they wish.
Dry Dock Schedule Upends Five Carnival Breeze Voyages
A dry dock schedule has forced the cancellation of five voyages aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Breeze, all with 2027 departure dates.
The ship will enter dry dock for routine maintenance in early 2027, nixing the scheduled cruises from Galveston. Impacted cruises are a 4-night sailing departing on January 11; an 8-night cruise departing on March 5; two 4-night cruises departing on March 13 and 18; and a 5-night sailing leaving on March 22.
The cancellations indicate a longer-than-normal dry dock stay, possibly pointing to the ship needing more fixes than usual. Cruise ships typically enter dry dock for routine maintenance every three to five years.
The Dream-class ship accommodates 3,700 guests and entered service in 2011.
Cruise fares and any pre-purchased packages will be refunded and the line is offering some incentives for guests who decide to rebook on another sailing. Onboard credits are among the incentives and range from $50 to $100 per stateroom.
Those who want to rebook should contact the cruise line or their travel advisor by July 21, 2025. Cruise fares will be protected and applied toward a comparable sailing in similar stateroom categories.
New Venues, Services Detailed on Celebrity Cruises’ Latest Ship
Sitting poolside will take on a whole new meaning when Celebrity Cruises’ new Celebrity Xcel debuts in November 2025.
Among new onboard destinations just revealed is the Celebrity Pool Club, with sun-beds guests can stretch out on and a pool valet to keep everyone cool with chilled towels. The pool deck heats up at night, too, with a Shine the Night poolside party held on the last sea day of each voyage.
As the countdown continues to the ship’s launch on November 9, 2025, the cruise line detailed more of her new spaces and amenities.
Along with the pool club and events, Celebrity Cruises is enhancing the ship’s spa with a new hydra room, with hot tub, and heated lounge chairs. An outdoor deck, Vitamin D, will be offered to Thermal Suite guests and provide sea views and wait staff service.
The ship, fifth in the line’s Edge class, will also introduce the Celebrity Flagship store, where guests can buy branded clothing, water bottles, keychains, and lots of other items.
The 3,260-guest new-build is under construction at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France and will homeport at Fort Lauderdale following her launch.
Celebrity Cruises Ship Departs Following Technical Issues
Following a small electrical fire in the engine room on Celebrity Infinity on July 7, 2025, the ship has now finally departed Kusadasi, Turkey. The vessel was forced to remain in port for days, which resulted in the cancellation of all the ports of call.
Guests could only enjoy the time on the Millennium-class vessel or by spending a lot of extended time exploring the port of call. According to passengers onboard, around 10% of their fellow guests had chosen to disembark the ship, rather than remaining until the issue was repaired.
The good news is that the Celebrity Infinity is now repaired and set sail from Kusadasi on July 11. According to the cruise ship tracker, the ship is currently heading more for the Port of Piraeus, the main homeport for Athens. Celebrity Cruises will finally be able to disembark the remaining passengers on July 12.
Star of the Seas Delivered to Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean has officially taken delivery of its second Icon-class cruise ship, Star of the Seas. Shippbuilder Meyer Turku in Finland handed over the giant vessel during a ceremony held onboard at the shipyard.
It now means that many crew members are already onboard, making final preparations for the first guests in August 2025. There are also some final outfitting being completed, which is normal for a massive new cruise ship!
It will set sail for southern Spain later in the month, spending July 24 through 26, 2025, at the Alegeciras shipyard before beginning its transatlantic sailing to its homeport in Port Canaveral.
A series of preview cruises is set for early August 2025, when travel advisors and media outlets will get their first look at the new ship. Star of the Seas will sail her maiden voyage on August 31, 2025, a 7-night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day at CocoCay cruise.
Port calls will be made to the CocoCay private destination, plus Costa Maya, Cozumel, Mexico, and Roatan, Honduras. Following the inaugural voyage, the ship will sail alternate Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises.
Royal Caribbean Ship Suffers Technical Issue
Royal Caribbean has also been dealing with some technical issues this past week with Serenade of the Seas out of Vancouver, Canada.
The vessel developed an issue on its June 29 sailing, forcing the ship to sail at reduced speed and skip a call at Icy Strait Point. This also had a knock-on effect for the following July 6 cruise, also to Alaska.
Serenade of the Seas was forced to turn around, just two hours after departure, due to further work needing to be done. Serenade of the Seas was to have arrived in Sitka, Alaska, for a visit from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8. However, that never took place with the ship remaining in Vancouver.
The Royal Caribbean ship eventually set sail on July 7 on a revised itinerary. If all goes to plan, Serenade of the Seas is set to return home on July 13.
More Cruise Headlines
Check out more news on Cruise Hive, including Panama eliminating incentives for homeporting cruise ships, port congestion prompting a Norwegian Cruise Line ship to alter its itinerary, and the cruise industry’s most expensive suite nearly selling out.
Also, Cunard is seeing a huge jump in bookings after opening 2027 sales, and the world’s oldest cruise ship is arriving at the scrapyard.
Cruise News Update: Cruises Cancelled, Technical Issues, New Ships