Over the weekend, the MSC Cruises fleet got a bit bigger. At a ceremony at the STX France shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, the 139,400-ton, 3,502-passenger MSC Divina was officially handed over to the line, becoming the current fleet's 12th ship.

During the traditional flag ceremony, the shipyard’s pennant and the French flag were lowered as "La Marseillaise" played, at which point STX France General Manager Laurent Castaing formally handed the ship over to MSC Cruises’ owner, Gianluigi Aponte. Mr Aponte then gave command of the ship to Captain Giuliano Bossi, and the flags of Italy and MSC Cruises were raised as "Il Canto degli Italiani," the Italian national anthem, was played.

“I am very proud of MSC Divina, the 12th addition to our wonderful fleet and our third Fantasia-class ship," said MSC Cruises CEO Pierfrancesco Vago in a media statement. "I believe she is the most beautiful ship in our fleet and that her innovations and polished features bring this successful class to perfection."

Said STX's Laurent Castaing, "MSC Divina is the 11th ship in just over 10 years that our shipyard has built which is operated by MSC Cruises. Her sister ship MSC Preziosa, currently under construction, will become the 12th ship. Throughout our 150-year history never before have so many vessels been built for one ship builder, and this is a record which deserves to be highlighted today."

MSC Divina is already sailing her pre-christening cruise from Saint-Nazaire, calling at Lisbon (Portugal) and Cadiz and Valencia (Spain). On Friday she'll sail into the port of Marseille, where actress Sophia Loren will, as she has for every other recent MSC ship, do the godmother honors during a gala ceremony.

Following her christening in Barcelona late last week by celebrity chef Cat Cora (with a 15-liter bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, no less), Oceania's newest vessel, the 65,000-ton, 1,258-passenger Riviera, set sail this week on her maiden voyage, a 10-night cruise from Venice to Athens.

A sister ship to last year's Marina, Riviera is more or less identical in layout and tone, though a few details have been changed.

“When asked, I've repeatedly said that it was going to be hard to improve on Marina's perfection," said Frank J. Del Rio, the line’s founder and chairman, "but I didn't say it would be impossible. And we have done just that — improved on perfection.”

Like Marina, Riviera features a Bon Appétit Culinary Center (the cruise world's only hands-on teaching kitchen, with cooking stations for 24 guests), a Canyon Ranch SpaClub, suites created by noted designer Dakota Jackson, Owners Suites designed and appointed by the folks at Ralph Lauren Home, and a Lalique staircase in her understated atrium. Changes from Marina to Riviera included the addition of a Thalassotherapy pool in the spa, higher ceilings in the Toscana and Polo Grill specialty restaurants, and the inclusion of a large collection of Latin American art throughout the ship.

From May 16 through November 29, 2012, Riviera will be sailing a total of 20 Mediterranean voyages, calling at ports in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Israel, Croatia, Cyprus, Montenegro, Morocco, Monaco, and the Canary Islands.

Got an iPhone? If so, chances are you've already got an app like Instagram or Hipstagram that allows you to take a picture, run it through one of many included filters to make it look like a photo from the 1930s, '50s, '60s, or '70s, then post it on Facebook or e-mail it to friends. Late last week, Crystal Cruises jumped on that bandwagon with The Storyteller by Crystal Cruises, a new photo app that lets you snap, filter, add captions, then post your pix to social media, e-mail them, or send them to Postcard on the Run and have them printed up into a real postcard to mail home.

Designed with an aesthetic to match Crystal's current "Begin a New Story" ad campaign, the app is free; compatible with the most recent generations of iPhones, iTouches, and iPads; and includes an option to share your photos in a section of the line's Facebook page called "Never Ending Journal," which will categorize photos by cruise date so you'll be able to see your own cruise through your fellow passengers' eyes.

"This app provides the perfect venue for contemporary storytelling, combining photography, technology and creativity in an easy and intuitive way," said Nitsa Lewis, Crystal's VP of Marketing, in a press release. "It's also a lovely nod to classically vintage travel correspondence and photos past, while celebrating the modern era of vacation storytelling . . . not to mention the added benefit of expanding communication channels for our loyal Crystal community."

In case you need it, there's a "how to" video for the app on Crystal's website and Facebook page.

Since its Solstice-class ships became such an immediate hit in 2008, Celebrity Cruises has had in place a plan to "Solsticize" its older Millennium-class vessels, retrofitting them with Solstice-class features, venues, and amenities to create a uniform onboard feel across the brand. This week, the process was completed as Celebrity Millennium, the very first of the Millennium-class ships, became the fourth and last to get her Solsticizing upgrades.

Completed during a three-week dry dock, Millennium's new and improved venues include:

• Qsine: A restaurant serving eclectic international cuisine with a theatrical twist: Menus are loaded onto iPads; decor is Alice in Wonderland quirky, and dishes are artfully prepared and presented. One is delivered in a kind of open-sided suitcase with individual slots containing twelve small plates, another is a wire tower that holds five different cones of French fries, and the "Disco Shrimp" come in a bowl with a built-in strobe light.
• AquaClass staterooms: Extra-pampering digs where the cabin experience is tied to an overall wellness aesthetic, with niceties like extra-large balconies, pillow menus, jetted body-wash showers, and special music/sound and aromatherapy options tied to specific vacation goals. AquaClass guests also get special perks around the ship, including unlimited access to the spa's Persian Garden aromatherapy steam room and relaxation room, special wellness classes and invitations to VIP events, and the option of dining at . . .
• Blu: A restaurant for the exclusive use of AquaClass guests (plus suite guests based on availability), serving cuisine that emphasizes healthful ingredients and preparation.
• The Celebrity iLounge: The cruise industry's first Authorized Apple Reseller. You can lounge, buy an iPod or other gadget, take a computer class, or surf the web.
• Celebrity's "eXhale" bedding program: Featuring mattresses designed for Celebrity by Reverie, each hand-made in the U.S. with natural raw materials such as bamboo and sustainable natural rubber. "Almost entirely recyclable and biodegradable" (says Celebrity), the mattresses feature removable, hypo-allergenic, antibacterial, and dust-mite-resistant covers and a breathable plush pillow top, and are wrapped in Egyptian cotton sheets.
• Michael's Club 2.0: A re-do of the line's perennial Michael's Club, which was once a cigar lounge, then a piano bar, and has now morphed into a gourmet beer and whiskey bar with 50 international brews in bottles (and a few on tap as well).
• Martini Bar and Crush: Two stylish venues with ice-topped bars.
• Bistro on Five: A casual creperie.
• Cellarmasters wine bar: Where you can buy wines by the glass, poured  by a machine.
• Cafe al Bacio and Gelateria: For coffees and frozen desserts.
• New art: An expanded collection of original, contemporary art.

"Solsticizing has been such an exciting initiative for us — and more importantly, for our guests, as indicated by their response to each of our Solsticized ships," said Celebrity's President & CEO, Dan Hanrahan, in a press release. "Our Millennium Class ships . . . served as significant inspiration for the design of the Solstice Class. So now, we're bringing it full circle, incorporating on the entire Millennium Class what our guests enjoy most on the Solstice Class. It ties our whole fleet together in a very powerful way."

Millennium is currently sailing a Panama Canal voyage from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego. Following a 5-night wine-themed cruise from San Diego to Vancouver on May 27, the ship will begin her Alaska season, sailing 7-night north- and southbound cruises between Vancouver and Seward/Anchorage.

Carnival's newest, the 130,000-ton, 3,690-passenger Carnival Breeze, is one step closer to her public debut, having just completed a series of sea trials on the Adriatic.

Sea trials are a series of tests performed to judge the new vessel's maneuverability, speed, sea-keeping abilities, comfort (for example, evident vibration while underway), and the performance of her propulsion systems, navigational equipment, safety equipment, etc. Officers, technicians, and engineers from Carnival and Fincantieri shipbuilders were aboard for the trials, which looked something like this:

Breeze's debut will be one of the more closely watched launches in the cruise business this year, as the ship will be the first Carnival vessel to break with the line's signature, over-the-top interior decor style, which has been in place (with the designer responsible, Joe Farcus) since 1975. With Farcus stepping down as Carnival's go-to guy, Breeze was designed by German firm Partner Ship Design, which—judging from the renderings I've seen—designed the ship to have a more clean-lined, open, and contemporary look. We'll see soon. I'll be aboard the ship June 15, and reporting back.

Following her debut, Breeze will operate a summer schedule of Mediterranean voyages from Barcelona through October 25. From there, she'll sail a 15-day transatlantic crossing from to Miami, which will be her home port for year-round 6- and 8-night Caribbean departures beginning November 24, 2012.

Yesterday, we looked at renderings of some of the outdoor spaces being planned for NCL's next ship, the 144,000-ton, 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway. Today, let's break out the can-opener and look inside, where—in typical NCL fashion—Breakaway is being jam-packed with dining, socializing, and entertainment options. First, the restaurants . . .

Completely new to NCL is Ocean Blu, a seafood restaurant offering seating and service both indoors and . . .

. . . on The Waterfront, an open-air section of the promenade deck.

Norwegian Breakaway will have three complimentary main dining rooms: Savor, Taste and the very chic-looking Manhattan Room. Check 'em out:

Savor


Taste


The Manhattan Room

La Cucina, a casual, family-style Italian restaurant . . .

Le Bistro, a fancy French eatery serving suitably rich cuisine in an intimate, high-end space . . .

Moderno Churrascaria, a South American–style steakhouse where servers keep bringing slices of grilled meats to you until you keel over or tell them to stop . . .

Shanghai's Noodle Bar, serving a variety of casual noodle dishes, and . . .

The Teppanyaki Room, where knife-wielding chefs slice, dice, and grill your Asian specialties right in front of you on hot grills.

The Raw Bar is a new option, serving seafood with traditional accompaniments.

After dinner, maybe a little gelato?

On the bar side, Breakaway will offer a mix of old NCL faves spiced up with some new looks and new options. This one, Maltings Beer and Whiskey Bar, typically offers one of the cruise industry's best beer-and-whiskey lists. Other options will include . . .

O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar & Grill, first introduced aboard Norwegian Epic, and offering a great bar atmosphere along with games and bar food.

Mixx, for cocktails and live piano music.

Shakers Cocktail Bar—for, y'know, cocktails.

Taste Bar in the Atrium, serving cocktails and coffee in a space with three-deck vertical views and a two-story Wii wall.

The Prime Meridian Bar, located between two steakhouses (Cagney’s and the Moderno Churrascaria).

The Bliss Ultra Lounge, a clubby, moody space.

Let's leave it there for today. For a look at Breakaway's staterooms and suites, check out another recent post of mine.

Norwegian Breakaway will debut in April 2013 and homeport year-round in New York, sailing 7-night Bermuda cruises in summer the spending the winter doing cruises south to Florida, the Bahamas, and the southern Caribbean.

All renderings courtesy NCL.

In the spirit of "a picture's worth a thousand words," here're about a thousand pictures (renderings, actually) of NCL's new, 144,000-ton, 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway, which is currently under construction at Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard, with expected delivery in April 2013. For today, we'll concentrate only on areas of the ship that are out in the open air — which, on Breakaway, is a whole lot of areas.

Come back tomorrow for a look at some of Breakaway's indoor features, include a ton of restaurants, a few good-looking bars/lounges, and some really nice stateroom designs.

There are now officially two new, giant Norwegian Cruise Line ships under construction at Papenburg, Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard. Last Friday, workers laid the first keel block for the 144,000-ton, 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway, while elsewhere in the yard, plasma torches cut the first steel for what will become Breakaway's sister-ship, Norwegian Getaway.

Like all cruise ships built today, Breakaway and Getaway are being built in the modular style, which involves constructing the ship one piece at a time. These large "blocks," comprising hull plating, ribs, decks, bulkheads, and all other structural elements that will appear on the finished vessel, are built independently around the shipyard, then craned into position in dry dock and welded to their predecessors. Eventually, all that steel ends up assuming the form of a ship, but right now, in Breakaway's case, it looks like this:

In the building dock, NCL CEO Kevin Sheehan laid the traditional lucky coin before the first block—a 350-ton section of the bottommost part of Breakaway's hull—was moved into place by an 800-ton crane.

All told, 73 blocks will be welded together to form Breakaway's hull and superstructure. The construction process will take approximately 12 months, leading up to the ship's expected delivery in April 2013. Breakaway will homeport year-round in New York, sailing 7-night Bermuda cruises in summer the spending the winter doing cruises south to Florida, the Bahamas, and the southern Caribbean. You can see renderings of her cabin here and of her cool outdoor restaurants here.

As for sister-ship Getaway, the steel that was cut last Friday—a plate that will eventually form part of Block 40—represented the ceremonial start of the ship's construction, beginning a nearly two-year process that will culminate in the handover to NCL in April 2014. Norwegian Getaway will homeport in Miami, year-round.

Me, personally, I'm looking forward to these ships. Though their immediate predecessor, Norwegian Epic, had a handful of niggling problems, she's still a fun vessel with some of the best entertainment at sea. Also, judging by the tea leaves NCL's executives have been leaving around for us to read, I think we can expect that Epic's problematic features will most definitely not be repeated this time around.

Good news for Northern Californians: Beginning in May 2013, Princess Cruises will be positioning the 2,600-passenger Grand Princess in San Francisco year-round, the first time the line has homeported a ship there full-time.

"Princess ships have been cruising from San Francisco for more than 40 years, and we greatly appreciate the company's longstanding partnership with our city," said Monique Moyer, executive director of the Port of San Francisco, in a media statement. "We are delighted to now have our first year-round ship based here, and it is a natural fit that the vessel is the caliber of Grand Princess. Having this ship sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and berth at the foot of Coit Tower will be spectacular, both for the guests on board and the people of San Francisco."

For her 2013–14 season, Grand Princess will sail round-trip from San Francisco to:

• Alaska (13 departures between May 10 and Sept. 7, 2013): 10-day Inside Passage sailings, visiting Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria, and either Glacier Bay National Park or Tracy Arm Fjord.
• Mexico (Sept. 17, 2013 and Mar. 5, 2014): Grand Princess will offer two 10-night sailings visiting Loreto, La Paz, and Cabo San Lucas (all on the Baja Peninsula) and Puerto Vallarta on the mainland.
• California Coastal (Sept. 27 and Oct. 19, 2013; Mar. 15 and Apr. 6, 2014): 7-night cruises visiting Santa Barbara, Los Angeles (Long Beach), and San Diego, plus Ensenada (Mexico).
• Hawaiian Islands (12 departures between Oct. 4, 2013, and Apr. 28, 2014): A 15-night voyage visiting the Hilo (Big Island), Honolulu (Oahu), Nawiliwili (Kauai), Lahaina (Maui), plus Ensenada (Mexico).

Recently renovated, the 1998-vintage Grand Princess now offers several new restaurants and snack spots (Alfredo's Pizzeria, the Crown Grill, and a specialty tea lounge called Leaves), a more fun "Piazza-style" atrium, a Crooner's Martini Lounge, and a new nightclub called "The One5." Many areas were also spiffed up, including the casino, art gallery, boutiques, buffet restaurant, Lotus Spa, and wedding chapel.

This one's a little bit last-minute, but I thought you'd find it interesting anyway: This coming Sunday, MSC Cruises will be offering a chocolate theme cruise in the Baltics aboard the midsized MSC Opera.

Offered in collaboration with Gerry Wilton, founder of the Chocolate Boutique Hotel in Bournemouth, UK, the 10-night cruise sails round-trip from Southampton, UK, visiting Amsterdam (Netherlands), Tallinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg (Russia), and Copenhagen (Denmark). On each of the trip's four days at sea, Wilton will host two-hour, hands-on classes where participants will learn about chocolate history, learn how chocolate is made ("from bean to bar"), taste samples of chocolate from around the world, and learn how to make molded chocolates and Belgian truffles.

The four-session series can be booked on board at a cost of $44 per person.