Royal Caribbean International announced its short cruise program for 2009-10, offering 18 two- to five-night itineraries on 306 departures. Cruises are available from Tampa, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and Miami aboard Navigator of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas.

Falkland Islands Tourist Board Manager Jake Downing confirmed that over 67,700 cruise ship passengers were cleared to land in the Falklands between October 2007 and April 2008, up a staggering 32 percent from the 2006/2007 season.

As part of its new Freestyle 2.0 initiative, Norwegian Cruise Line is adding a guest feedback tool, the NCL Guest Experience & Loyalty Scorecard, which collects and analyzes passenger feedback regarding their cruise experience.

Royal Caribbean “Splendor of the Seas” with 800 passengers and a crew of 760 left Buenos Aires this week officially ending another successful cruise season which attracted 185.000 visitors who spent an estimated 110 million US dollars in Argentina’s capital.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ new 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor underwent final sea trials in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Sicily. Currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri, Italy, the 3,006-passenger vessel is slated to debut July 2 with an eight-day voyage from Genoa to London (Dover), after which it will begin a series of 12-day Northern Europe cruises July 13.

Celebrity Cruises will ban smoking in cabins and on balconies, beginning October 1. Also, the line will offer less public smoking areas.