Grand start! 

Construction has begun on the 3,690-passenger Carnival Breeze at Fincantieri's Monfalcone, Italy shipyard. The new 130,000-tonner, which will be commissioned in spring 2012, will be the 24^th ship in the Carnival Cruise Lines' fleet.

Quiet Excitement!

There are some very quiet rumors "bubbling " about that there might be a fourth Queen, joining the very successful Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria & the brand new Queen Elizabeth. Business has been booming these days for Cunard & we hear that it is one of Carnival Corporation 's very best holdings. Digging deeper, "intelligence reports " hint that such a new ship just might be the Queen Anne.

FINLAND

Preservation! The small, boutique cruise ship Kristina Regina has begun her conversion her conversion to a museum & restaurant at Turku. Built in 1960 and then made over as a unique, twin-funnel, almost toy-like specialty cruise ship, the 3492-ton ship was built originally as the Baltic ferry Bore. She 'll now be renamed Bore and restored in her initial livery of the Bore Steamship Co. 

Reunion Time! 

    Off the beaten track!

The 14,900-ton specialist cruise ship Columbus is returning to Great Lakes cruising in 2011. Her schedules include a 13-night voyage from Toronto to Chicago and then continues with an 18-day itinerary along the US East Coast to Miami. 

New York Visits!  

Two P&O liners will visit the Port in 2011 as part of longer cruises. The Arcadia will visit twice, in June and in September; the Aurora will also call in September. 

Ocean Liner Collectibles

Hugely popular, the large poster of the celebrated 1930s liner Normandie by famed French artist

Cassandre sold recently for $12,000.

In April 1970, Diners-Fugazy Travel Corp, based in New York City, announced plans to reactivate the liners Independence and later the Constitution. Both former American Export liners were laid-up, but the plan of the day was to refit the 1,110-passenger Independence by June & use her in US-Caribbean service. Troubled from the start, the plan never came to pass and years later both 1951-built ships were sold to Taiwanese shipping tycoon C Y Tung.

Cast Change!     

The  114-passenger Sea Spirit, the former

Spirit of Oceanus, has been chartered to Quark for expedition cruising, beginning with the Antarctic in Dec 2010. The 4,200-grt ship was built originally back in 1991, as the Renaissance Five. Sold off in '97, she became the Sun Viva for Southeast Asian cruising, but then passed over to Malaysian-based Star Cruises in 2000 and changed to Megastar Sagittarius. She joined Seattle-based Cruise West soon afterward, however, and one of her last planned itineraries was to have been the longest world cruise on record, 335 days in all.

Godmothers!

Addition to the fleet! 

Saga has bought the 33,500-ton Bleu de France, joining the Saga Ruby (ex-Vistafjord, ex-Caronia) and the Saga Pearl II (ex-Astor, ex-Astoria). But there are rumors that the 38-yr old Saga Ruby might be nearing the end of her long career. Saga specializes in the over-50 market & has had great success. The 655-ft long Bleu de France has an interesting & diverse career, built in 1981 as Hapag-Lloyd 's Europa, then considered one of the finest liners afloat. One cruise guide actually called her "the most luxurious ship afloat ". She was replaced in '98 by a new Europa and so the older, 752-berth ship went off to Star Cruises of Malaysia, becoming the Megastar Asia but briefly before changing to Superstar Europe. Asian cruising was her mainstay, but then there were shortlived plans to sail as the Ocean Odyssey for Royal Cruise Lines, then a holding of Norwegian Cruise Lines, which itself was owned by Star. But in Feb 2000, her name was changed yet again, to Superstar Aries, and later plans included a possible transfer to Orient Lines, joining the very popular Marco Polo, but then that plan was also shelved. She seemed a misfit, unable to find a proper place. By late 2003, the 21-knot ship was sold to Spain 's Pullmantur Cruises and was eventually renamed Holiday Dream. She tended to sail the Mediterranean in summer & in the Caribbean or from Brazil in winter. But soon switching ships about, Pullmantur (through its parent, Royal Caribbean) moved her over to a new firm, Croisieres de France, who started sailing her as Bleu de France. Now, however, in the growing French cruise market, she has been replaced by the newer, larger Pacific Dream, the former Horizon of Celebrity Cruises.

 Preparation!

Two Silversea ships will be moored along the Thames in 2012 for the London Olympics. The 296-bed Silver Cloud will be docked alongside the HMS Belfast at Tower Bridge while the 382-passenger Silver Whisper will be berthed at Greenwich

On troubled waters!

On troubled waters! The 4,770-ton Clellia II has had a rough time. Last summer, the 100-passenger ship lost power & grounded while on a Great Lakes cruise. It also dropped an anchor, but then was able to resume power. But just out of Sault Ste Marie, it lost power again and dropped that anchor again. It soon resumed sailing, but then lost power again and this time dragged both anchors while colliding with a channel marker to avoid plowing into a marina. A tug soon took charge of the troubled ship. The 1990-built Clellia II is the former Renaissance Four. 

Laid-up for 41 years at location such as Newport News, Norfolk, Tuzla (that's near Istanbul), in the Ukraine and, since 1996, at Philadelphia, ownership of the 53,000-grt super ship of the 1950s, the brilliant SS United States, has passed from the Genting Group (one of the parents of Norwegian Cruise Lines, who had long planned to revive the 990-ft long ship) to the SS United States Conservancy. Transfer took place in sight of the 1952-built speed champion of the Atlantic on the afternoon of Feb 1^st. Underwritten by billionaire Gerry Lunfest, the Conservancy has, however, less than two years to raise the considerable capital (estimates running upwards from $200 million) to develop the otherwise stripped-out, onetime flagship of the American merchant marine as a moored attraction, most likely a museum, hotel & possibly combination casino. Investors in New York, Philadelphia & Miami are said to be interested. But rather hushed wishes "overheard" in December were that the Conservancy as well as Mr Lunfest would very much like to see the liner moored at Pier 86, at the foot of West 46^th Street in Manhattan, her onetime United States Lines' terminal & adjacent the USS Intrepid, the popular air & space museum.

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