Royal Caribbean International took delivery of its newest ship -the 160,000-ton, 3,634-passenger Independence of the Seas -on Thursday during a ceremony at Aker Yards in Turku, Finland. Independence of the Seas, the third of the line’s Freedom class of ships, will be the largest cruise ship ever to be homeported in Europe.

Princess Cruises has released its 2009-2010 schedule of exotic itineraries which include passenger favorites along with some new, emerging destinations. The new lineup includes more than 110 sailings on 10 ships to all seven continents with six new itineraries and calls at more than 180 destinations including 11 new ports.

Chile receives 2 percent of the world’s cruise tourists, according to a report port experts presented this week to Chile’s System of Public Companies (SEP). The researchers recommended Chile take action in order to attract more cruisers to the country’s shores.

In 2009, Carnival Cruise Lines will offer an eight-day eastern Caribbean cruise from New York aboard the 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle. The cruise will visit Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos; Carnival’s Half Moon Cay private island; and Nassau, Bahamas.

Princess Cruises’ Tahitian Princess, one of the small vessels in the fleet, will be renamed Ocean Princess in 2009 to reflect the ship’s new deployment on worldwide itineraries.

MSC Cruises’ newest addition, MSC Poesia, was christened in Dover on April 5. Among the ship’s highlights are four restaurants-Le Fontane, Il Palladio, La Cafeteria Villa Pompeiana and l’Obelisco, the a-la-carte restaurant.