Cruise News Update: Captain Jumps Ship, Pirates, Muster Drill
Are you on top of the big cruise developments? Don’t worry, we have it all covered for you on Cruise Hive. In this week’s exciting recap, read about Four Seasons Yachts, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard, and Roatan Island.
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Captain Kate Is Headed to an Ultra-Luxe Ship
Captain Kate McCue, perhaps the most popular cruise ship captain on the high seas today, announced she will soon be at the helm of the ultra-luxe Four Seasons I, the first ship in the soon-to-launch Four Seasons Yachts fleet.
McCue, who has worked for Royal Caribbean Group for the last 22 years, most recently as captain of Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Beyond, was the first woman to captain a large cruise vessel, having worked her way up from cadet to deck officer to master mariner and, finally, captain.
The news earlier this month that she would depart Celebrity Cruises came as a surprise to the industry. McCue, a social media celebrity in her own right, revealed she would join Four Seasons Yachts in a joint announcement with the luxury travel brand on March 18, 2025.
Four Seasons I, which will accommodate just 190 guests, is under construction at a Fincantieri shipyard in Italy and due to launch in January 2026. The ship will sail the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
New Icon-Class Ship to Launch Earlier Than Expected
Under Construction Star of the Seas (Photo Credit: Finmiki)
Royal Caribbean added another preview, or showcase, cruise to the schedule of its new-build Star of the Seas, set to debut in summer 2025. The ship will now depart on her first cruise on August 20, 2025 from her homeport of Port Canaveral, adding to two earlier announced preview sailings on August 23 and 27.
The August 20, 2025 cruise will take guests to Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in the Bahamas.
Maiden voyages are high-demand itineraries. Guests who already have reservations for either the August 23 or 27 sailings can switch to the earlier cruise if they act quickly, or add a new reservation if they wish. If no action is taken, booked guests’ existing reservations will remain unchanged.
The timeline for the launch of the giant new cruise ship, the line’s second Icon-class ship after Icon of the Seas, has been in flux.
The ship was originally scheduled to debut with a maiden voyage on August 17, 2025. However, a delay in the delivery of the ship forced the cancellation of that cruise.
In January 2025, the line announced that ship would be ready to sail on August 23, 2025, and scheduled the original two preview voyages.
Peeved Guests Say Art Auction Was a Scam
Guests sailing on the industry’s biggest cruise ships are accustomed to seeing artwork for sale and receiving invitations to art auctions. For one family sailing on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, the intended purchase of a piece of art turned out to be a big disappointment.
The art auction was organized by Park West Gallery, which leases space from the cruise line to hold its art displays and auctions. The gallery has no other affiliation with the cruise line.
The story that unfolded indicates a bait-and-switch situation. The family posted on social media that they successfully bid $650 for a piece of artwork they loved.
However, when finalizing the deal after the auction ended, they were told there had been a pricing error and that the actual cost of the artwork would be $2,700.
Making matters worse, they were told that the piece of art they had bid on was sold out, and another artwork was offered in its place. The family backed out of the deal altogether and contacted the ship’s Guest Services department.
Guest Services staff, however, told the guest that the cruise line is not responsible for Park West’s actions.
Wildlife Officials in Honduras Say ‘Hands Off’
Local officials in Honduras have put the kibosh on the practice of cruise guests handling and holding wildlife such as monkeys and sloths, and the new policy is impacting some shore excursions.
As of March 1, 2025, wildlife authorities on Roatan Island, home to the hugely popular Mahogany Bay destination owned by Carnival Corporation, implemented a ban on cruise guests physically interacting with local animals.
Visitors can observe wildlife, but not touch them anymore, the authorities said. The policy change was made, according to the National Institute of Forest Conservation, in an effort to stop illegal trafficking and over-manipulation of wildlife.
The new rule impacts several shore tours that previously featured wildlife interactions, such as the “Pirates, Birds & Monkeys of the Caribbean” excursion and the “Canopy & Gumbalimba Park” tour, for instance, both of which had offered opportunities for guests to hold wildlife. The tours are still offered, but without the handling of animals.
World Cruise Keeps an Eye Out for Pirates
Guests sailing on a Cunard world cruise aboard the 3,000-guest Queen Anne experienced some heightened security precautions as the ship sailed the Sulu Sea, a region of the Philippine Archipelago known for . . . gulp, pirates.
There was no reason to worry, ship Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge told passengers on March 14, 2025, however, he issued several actions designed to thwart any possible interaction with pirates.
The precautions called for all guests to avoid the external promenade deck from 9 p.m. on March 14 to 5 a.m. on March 15. Also, external lights on the ship were to be dimmed, and all guests were told to keep stateroom curtains closed and to dim or turn off cabin lights.
The overnight hours passed without any issues as the ship sailed from Darwin, Australia, to Manila. Queen Anne, Cunard’s newest ship that debuted in 2024, is continuing on her 111-night world voyage, roundtrip from Hamburg, Germany. The cruise ends on April 29, 2025.
Cruise Line Pulls a Favorite Fruit Off the Buffet
There are no more grapes in the Lido Marketplace buffet on Carnival Cruise Line ships these days, and one guest wanted to know why.
Posting the question on the popular Facebook page of cruise line brand ambassador John Heald, the guest said he noticed that there were no grapes in the buffet or in restaurants, but did see them in individual fruit baskets delivered to guest cabins.
Heald replied that, yes, grapes have been removed from the buffet because having guests pull grapes off the vine is not a hygienic action. The policy could be changed in the future, he added.
Touching food items, along with utensils, plates, and other surfaces, comes with a risk of spreading germs. Indeed, the past few months have seen multiple cases of gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships across cruise lines.
Guests are routinely reminded to wash hands frequently, especially before dining at any cruise ship venue.
Cruise Line Clarifies Safety Drill Requirement
Cruise guests have become accustomed to the digital form of muster drills that have emerged across the industry, where guests typically watch a safety video in their cabin rather than report in person, wearing their life vest, to their muster station.
But somehow rumors have surfaced that certain Carnival Cruise Line ships were returning to the in-person drill requirement. Some guests turned to brand ambassador John Heald to explain what’s happening.
On his Facebook page, Heald confirmed that, no, the line is not reverting to in-person drills, however, to conform to safety regulations, each ship in the fleet must hold one in-person drill every six months.
The in-person requirement is usually announced to guests shortly before departure day, so it won’t be a surprise. All cruise ships must hold a safety briefing before leaving the dock.
Digital drills can be done at the guests’ convenience once they enter their cabin, while the in-person drills take about a half-hour.
More Cruise Headlines
Cruise Hive has plenty more cruise news stories you won’t want to miss, including MSC Cruises bringing its new “Dirty Dancing” show to another ship; a Maine port limiting visiting cruise ships to 50 guests; Villa Vie Residences adding another world cruise booking option; another viral outbreak impacting a Holland America Line ship; and Carnival Corporation adding solar power to two Caribbean ports.
Cruise News Update: Captain Jumps Ship, Pirates, Muster Drill