The Latest Cruise News-Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival

Are you planning a summer cruise? Perhaps a holiday cruise is on your agenda or you plan to sail in 2018! No matter when your next cruise is you will want to know about the latest cruise news-including changes and updates to popular cruise policies. As I am researching a Fall cruise I decided to see what has changed fora few of the major cruise lines-both for good and not so good! Here is a list of some current cruise news:

Royal Caribbean-

*As of June 15, 2017 cruisers on Royal who book ship sponsored excursions who choose to cancel or modify their booking must do so 48 hours prior to the port. Before this change cruisers had up until 24 hours before the ship arrived at its destination to make any shore excursion changes without losing money. This new change may lead to folks waiting until the last minute to book ship sponsored tours on shore. 

*As of July 1, 2017 another change regarding deposits will take effect fleet wide for RC ships. The implementation of Non-Refundable deposits will be offered for all ships when booking at least six months prior to cruising. The advantage of this promotion is that guests who opt for this will qualify for up to $100 per stateroom of on board credit. The non-refundable deposit can be combined with other offers as well. Piggybacking on this new offer... Certain guests will only have the non refundable deposit as an option for booking-specifically those in the following categories:
Grand/Upper Suites and higher
Guarantee Categories including W/WS, X/XB, XN, Y/YO and  Z/Z.
Should a guest modify or cancel their reservation a fee of $100 per guest will be assessed to all reservations booked under the nonrefundable fare rate. Multiple adjustments to the sailing or ship will incur a $100 per guest change fee equaling each qualifying change made to the reservation, with no limit on the number of change fees that may be incurred. 

*As of June 23, 2018- which is perfect for anyone already planning next summer's trip-RC will be home porting in Galveston, Texas. The Enchantment of the Seas will be the ship in the port of Galveston. 

*As of December 15, 2018 RC will add the Vision of the Seas to the port of New Orleans, which will sail on seven night journeys.  

Norwegian-

*Effective June 5, 2017 guests in a suite or the Haven will no longer receive the UBP perk without paying gratuities on the package. Gratuities for the Unlimited Beverage Package are roughly $200 for a seven day cruise for two adults, which is calculated based on the total package value. Prior to this change guests in a suite or Haven cabin would automatically receive all offered "perks" and be exempt from paying the gratuities that passengers in all other cabin classes paid if they chose the UBP as a perk. You can opt out of the UBP-or any of the perks as a suite/Haven guest. Anyone who booked a suite or Haven before June 5th is grandfathered in for any future cruises (with a deposit paid) and will not be charged the gratuity.

*Beginning this summer NCL will employ certified lifeguards at all of the family pools across their four largest ships -the Escape, Getaway, Breakaway and  Epic. The rest of the ships in Norwegian's fleet will attain certified lifeguards by early 2018. 

 Carnival-

*The first week of June 2017 Carnival announced the implementation of EasyPay.
Coined a "hassle-free vacation payment option"  guests’ may have their cruise payments  automatically deducted from the credit card on file, and applied to their balance interest free for three months. After a guest makes his/her deposit, the remainder of the balance is divided and taken out in three equal payments on the same day of the month, each month.
If you have a travel agent they can also sign up for Carnival EasyPay to process payments for you. 

What do you think of the changes RC, NCL and Carnival have implemented? Will this change your future cruise plans? I will be on a Suite on the NCL Sky in August, and I am happy I booked this trip well in advance of the gratuity increase Norwegian ordered in the Spring of this year. I am excited to do a full review of the ship and the "suite life" in two months! :)