It has been a busy week in cruise news, and we’re here to ensure you don’t miss any of the major stories!
A shore excursion in Nassau ended in a federal lawsuit, Carnival and Holland America have both pulled out of Tracy Arm Fjord for the Alaska season, and a passenger death aboard Anthem of the Seas brought New Zealand Police to the pier.
Here’s everything you need to caught up on:
Passenger Sues Carnival After Bench Collapses on Tour Boat
Not everyone has had a great time sailing with Carnival lately. Karolrae Knight certainly has not, and now she is taking the cruise line to federal court over it.
Knight had booked the “Swimming with the Pigs” express tour through Carnival ahead of her Nassau port call. She never made it to Pig Beach. About ten minutes into the boat ride, the bench she was sitting on collapsed without warning. She was thrown to the floor and came close to going overboard.
She was taken back to the Fantasy-class Carnival Elation, where medical staff diagnosed her with a fractured tailbone. Further treatment on land also revealed spinal injuries, including a bulging disc and tears at L4-L5 and S1. She filed suit against Carnival Corporation in federal court on March 20, 2026, seeking compensation for medical costs, lost wages, lost vacation expenses, and pain and suffering.
Her legal team argues Carnival was not upfront about the tour being operated by a third party, and that the cruise line should be held accountable since it marketed, sold, and profited from the excursion.
However, Carnival’s position, stated on its website, is that all shore excursions are run by independent operators and the cruise line accepts no responsibility for incidents that happen off the ship. The tour still holds a 4.4-star rating on Carnival’s website and remains available to book.
Carnival Cancels Rare Cruise for a Full-Ship Charter
Some Carnival Splendor guests planning a trip to New Zealand in October 2027 have had their plans pulled from under them. Their sailing has been cancelled, and the reason is a full-ship charter.
The affected voyage is the October 12, 2027 departure from Sydney, a 10-night round-trip that was set to take passengers all the way around New Zealand’s North Island, calling at Napier, Tauranga, Auckland, and the Bay of Islands before returning on October 22. However, the ship will still sail, just not for the public.
Guests who want to rebook can have their cruise fare protected in a comparable cabin on a different sailing, plus a $100 AUD onboard credit per stateroom. Those who would rather have their money back will also receive a full refund, with processing starting April 4, 2026.
So finding a true like-for-like replacement will not be easy. The next 10-night North Island sailing does not depart until January 3, 2027, and after that it is January 17, 2028. Everything else heads to South Island. With 19 months until the original departure date, there is at least some breathing room to figure it out.
New Terminal Won’t Be Finished Before Its First Ship Arrives
Philadelphia is getting cruising back after a 15-year absence, but the new terminal will not quite be ready to greet its first ship.
Norwegian Jewel is still departing from the new PhilaPort cruise terminal on April 16, 2026, as planned. However, the terminal itself is still a construction site. A brutal February brought back-to-back snowstorms and weeks of bitter cold that halted outdoor work entirely. Passengers on the first sailings will embark from a temporary facility on site instead.
Both PhilaPort and Norwegian Cruise Line have confirmed sailings are going ahead on schedule. Norwegian also said it is finalising the logistics and will update affected guests with embarkation details shortly.
Once fully open, the terminal will serve the 2,368-passenger Norwegian Jewel on 7-night Bermuda round trips through early September, before the ship switches to New England and Canada sailings. Norwegian Pearl also arrives in November to take over Bermuda duties.
Royal Caribbean Guests Buried in Welcome Emails Due to a Glitch
Most passengers are happy to get a welcome email from Royal Caribbean after booking their cruise. However, getting the same one every single day for a month is a different story.
That is exactly what thousands of guests have been dealing with since at least February. The emails are the standard booking confirmation, identical every time, nudging passengers to download the app and pre-book packages. Guests on Harmony of the Seas, Star of the Seas, and Independence of the Seas have all reported the issue, and more ships are also likely affected.
Those who called customer service were told it is a known glitch being worked on. Some passengers theorised it was a deliberate push to drive pre-cruise spending. However, that seems a stretch given Royal Caribbean has been posting record bookings throughout 2025 and into this year.
It is also not the first time the cruise line has had a technical wobble. A wave of repeated app notifications went out in May 2025, and in February 2023 a safety briefing reminder was accidentally sent to every booked guest, whether they were sailing that day or months away.
Carnival Cancels Tracy Arm for the 2026 Alaska Season
Tracy Arm Fjord was already off the schedule for Holland America this Alaska season. Now Carnival has made the same call, and for the same reason.
A landslide on August 10, 2025 sent debris crashing into the fjord near the South Sawyer Glacier and triggered a tsunami warning. The area has been under close observation since, and geological conditions remain too unstable for cruise ship navigation. So Carnival confirmed the change in a letter to booked guests, and will switch all affected itineraries to Endicott Arm Fjord instead.
The two fjords share an entrance at Holkham Bay, around 50 miles south of Juneau. Endicott Arm is wider, carries far less risk, and also offers views of the Dawes Glacier, known for its vivid blue ice and dramatic calving. Not a bad consolation prize.
All three Carnival ships deployed to Alaska this year are affected. Carnival Spirit from April 28 through September 15, Carnival Luminosa from April 27 through September 10, and Carnival Miracle from April 27 through September 17.
Passenger Dies Aboard Anthem of the Seas
It has been a difficult sailing for Anthem of the Seas. The Quantum-class ship departed Sydney on March 22 on a 12-night New Zealand voyage, and within days, a passenger had died on board.
New Zealand Police were notified at around 1:45 a.m. on March 25 as the 4,180-guest ship made its way to Bay of Islands. Officers were waiting at the pier when she arrived that morning and launched a formal investigation on behalf of the coroner.
Royal Caribbean also confirmed the death and said it is cooperating fully with authorities. However, no details about the circumstances have been made public.
The sailing was also hit by a separate, weather-related itinerary change. A subtropical low-pressure system brought heavy rain and strong winds across the North Island, forcing the ship to skip Tauranga on March 26. She headed straight to Napier instead, arriving around 10:30 a.m.
So whether ports further along the route will also be affected is not yet clear. The remaining itinerary includes Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin, and Fiordland National Park. She is due back in Sydney on April 3.
Seven-Year-Old Harmony of the Seas Video Is Making Waves Again
Some videos refuse to stay buried on the internet, and this one about Harmony of the Seas is a perfect example.
Footage of the Oasis-class ship leaving Port Everglades that first appeared seven years ago has gone viral all over again. Filmed from the Fort Lauderdale Jetties Public Beach, it shows the shoreline visibly receding as the ship passes by. Then the water comes rushing back in a surge that had beachgoers running and screaming.
So what is actually going on?
It comes down to Bernoulli’s Principle. As the ship moves through the channel, water is forced into a tighter space, speeds up, and creates lower pressure that pulls the sea surface down. Once the ship clears the area, pressure normalises and the water surges back. The bigger the ship, the more dramatic the effect.
At 226,963 gross tons and 1,188 feet long, Harmony of the Seas is about as big as it gets. She is also currently mid-transatlantic, heading to Barcelona to kick off her Mediterranean season. However, for anyone keen to see it for themselves, fifteen Royal Caribbean ships still sail from Fort Lauderdale, including Oasis-class sisters Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, and Symphony of the Seas.
More Cruise Headlines
There was plenty more happening this week, including A passenger being arrested following an alleged incident in a sauna aboard a Celebrity Cruises ship; Princess Cruises also revealed its South America season with multiple Antarctica sailings; and more cruises have been cancelled as ships remain stranded at Persian Gulf ports due to ongoing regional tensions. MSC Cruises also dropped new details on the Harbour Park and Aqua Deck for the upcoming MSC World Asia.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cruisehive.com ’
