The port of Batumi in the Republic of Georgia will see 14 cruise ships visit it this year, with 8 confirmed and the other 6 in the negotiations.  All the cruises will visit the brand new cruise terminal that Royal Caribbean has been designing.

Four days before the Costa Concordia cruise ship sank off Italy's west coast, killing 32 people, emails from the liner's technical director reveal that the vessel had a faulty black box data recorder, according to new documents leaked to an Italian newspaper this week.

Earlier this year, Royal Caribbean announced they would transfer Monarch of the Seas out of their fleet and into sister company Pullmantur Cruises in April 2013. Now it is official that Monarch of the Seas will be home based year round in Curacao when that transfer is complete.

Valencia, Spain is becoming one of the top tourist spots in the Mediterranean due to the developing port for cruise ships. The city will be one of the main stop overs for tourists, especially those in a Spain’s east coast cruise, since new terminals will be in place this year for several large ships to dock all in one time.

Disney Cruise Line in 2013 will operate sailings from Miami for the first time starting Dec. 23. The company offers one six- and one seven-night sailing with a schedule of three-, four- and five-night cruises from Miami to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean.