A newly formed company, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, is tentatively set to begin two-night cruises from the Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island in February. The 1,800-passenger Grand Celebration will replace the damaged Bahamas Celebration, which remains out of service.

Carnival Corporation has announced new cruise ship orders for two of its brands with Fincantieri, the world’s largest cruise ship building company. The new cruise ships will be constructed by Fincantieri for Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line, two of Carnival Corporation’s nine industry-leading brands.

During a brief welcome reception on the bridge of the MS Hamburg, Chairman of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Alvin Jemmott, thanked Captain Joao Simoes and his crew for choosing Barbados as a port of call on its Caribbean itinerary.

Executive Chairman of Cool Corp, Joe Issa, who once led the chamber of commerce which looks after the affairs of Ocho Rios, says the fate of the former cruise ship capital of Jamaica needs to be address immediately, according to the lead story in The Gleaner newspaper.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has built as big or bigger ships than rivals two to four times its size, and with bells and whistles second to none. The most recent is its 4,000-passenger Getaway that set off from Miami in January.

Could a Cuban beach vacation be the next big thing for American travelers? Certainly, it appears more Americans will have the opportunity to visit the island nation as a result of the newly announced trade and political agreement between the U.S. and Cuba.