Sandy has passed, but her aftermath lingers on. While New Jersey and New York's very first climate refugees contend with massive loss and damage, another, less ill-affected group of refugees floats off the coast, unable to return to their homeport.

Translation: Due to the closure of the Port of New York, cruise ships that would normally have ended their cruises there have been forced to make alternate plans.

NCL's Norwegian Gem made port today in Boston, giving passengers the option of debarking there or continuing on. Gem will depart Boston tonight, sailing south in anticipation of the New York port's expected reopening on Friday. Gem was to have begun her next cruise on Monday; instead, she'll sail an abbreviated cruise from New York on Friday, assuming the port reopens.

Princess's Caribbean Princess is also currently in Boston, and is expected to arrive back in New York on Friday, pending re-opening of the port. That cruise was to have ended today. The 10-night "Caribbean Islander" cruise that had been scheduled to depart New York today has been tentatively rescheduled to depart Friday on a shortened schedule.

Are you a member of Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society? If so, this January you'll start getting some offers that don't involve ships and sea.

Earlier today, Royal Caribbean announced that it has formed a "strategic relationship" with MGM Resorts International — the gambling and hospitality company that owns Las Vegas's MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, and The Mirage casinos, plus a slew of others in the U.S. and internationally — that will extend loyalty-program benefits to customers of both companies. Cruises aboard RCI's ships will be awarded during special MGM Resorts' promotions and slot tournaments, and RCI Crown & Anchor Society members will receive MGM Resorts "M life" offers and benefits that include room upgrades, VIP services, priority reservations, priority hotel check-in, and pre-sale access to tickets for concerts and championship boxing matches held at MGM properties.

Like cruise line loyalty programs, MGM's program awards points based on patronage, and that count toward future benefits. In MGM's case, points accrue based on dollars spent at any of the15 MGM Resorts destinations in Las Vegas, Mississippi, and Detroit.

As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the U.S. East Coast, one of its impacts — a relatively minor one, considering the host of major ones that remain as possibilities — is the storm's effect on cruise shipping.

As of now, all eyes are on the New York / New Jersey metropolitan area, which is expected to see the worst effects of the storm. At this writing, the Port of New York — the homeport for many cruises currently operating New England/Canada fall foliage cruises — was closed, with no announced re-open date. The following ships are affected by this closure and other storm-related concerns:

• Carnival's Carnival Sensation, whose scheduled Sunday departure from Port Canaveral was delayed by one day. The move also cut the length of the cruise from four to three days.
• Carnival's Carnival Miracle, which sailed one day early (Sunday instead of Monday) from the Port of New York to avoid the storm and the port closure. Due to the short notice, the ship was not able to be resupplied, necessitating a change in schedule so that it can be reprovisioned at Port Canaveral, Florida.
• Carnival's Carnival Dream, which sailed from Port Canaveral on Sunday instead of Saturday, on a revised six- (instead of seven-) day itinerary that will be skipping its planned call to Roatan, Honduras.
• Carnival's Carnival Ecstasy, which sailed from Port Canaveral on Sunday instead of Saturday, on a revised four- (instead of five-) day itinerary that will be skipping its planned call to Key West.
• Carnival's Carnival Glory, whose planned Sunday sailing from Norfolk, VA, was cancelled entirely due to the fact that the Norfolk cruise terminal is positioned behind a major flood gate that was expected to close, cutting off access to the cruise terminal.
• Carnival's Carnival Pride, whose planned Sunday departure from Baltimore was cancelled outright by order of the U.S. Coast Guard.
• NCL's Norwegian Gem, which will remain at sea today rather than sailing into NYC for turnaround. Guests scheduled to sail on Gem's next cruise are advised to stay at home and not try to reach the terminal. At the moment, NCL is making tentative plans for the ship to embark guests on Wednesday, October 31, though that will depend on the storm and its aftermath.
• NCL's Norwegian Dawn, which is planning to overnight tonight in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• Princess's Emerald Princess, whose 12-day sailing from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale has been thrown into flux. Port calls to Bar Harbor, Boston, and Newport have been cancelled, while calls to Port Saguenay and Corner Brook have been added.
• Princess's Ruby Princess, which has cancelled its call to the private island of Princess Cays.
• Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, which has cancelled its planned October 30 call to Bar Harbor, Maine, and will instead remain at port in St. John, New Brunswick, where it's currently docked.
• Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, which will skip its planned call to Kings Wharf, Bermuda, and instead remain at sea, where it will seek out the calmest waters possible.
• Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas, which will remain docked in Boston until tomorrow. The ship had originally been scheduled to sail yesterday, October 28. Due to the delay, Jewel will sail a revised, shorter itinerary.
• Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas, which will visit CocoCay, Bahamas, on Thursday, November 1, instead of on Tuesday, October 30, as originally scheduled.

Cruise lines are also reporting storm damage to some of the private islands in the Bahamas. Among the ships rocked at sea by the storm, Disney's Disney Fantasy has gotten into the news via YouTube, where passengers have posted a number of videos detailing the ship's passage through stormy seas. Reportedly, Fantasy spent 12 hours being buffeted by 30- to 50-foot waves and winds of up to 80 mph.

These folks caught the storm from the outside:

These folks caught it from their cabin:

These folks were in the public areas:

And this kid reports on post-storm damage:

The cruise lines will all be reimbursing passengers for cancelled or shortened cruises.

More information as it's available . . .

New shipbuilding has been pretty fallow over the past few years, so today's news from mega-cruise-operator Carnival Corp. comes as a nice shot in the arm. To wit: The mega-brand — which owns Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Seabourn, P&O, P&O Australia, AIDA Cruises, and Iberocruceros — announced this morning that it has ordered two new vessels for its Carnival and Holland America brands.

The company has signed a memorandum of agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for construction of a 99,000-ton, 2,660-passenger ship for Holland America Line (scheduled for delivery in fall 2015) and a 135,000-ton, 4,000-passenger ship for Carnival Cruise Lines (scheduled for delivery in winter 2016). Both vessels will represent new ship classes (i.e., new designs) for their respective lines — a fact that hints, however subtly, at additional ship orders in the future, based on the same blueprints.

The total cost for the two ships will be approximately $195,000 per lower berth, which works out to some $1.3 billion.

“Today’s order continues the company's strategy of introducing two to three ships per year across the corporation’s 10 brands," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corp.'s chairman and CEO, in a media statement. "We have strategically timed the introduction of these new ships to allow ample time for those brands to further grow their passenger base and absorb the new capacity while minimizing revenue yield dilution in the remainder of their existing fleets,” Arison also noted that the new ships are expected, "to some extent," to replace older Carnival and HAL ships, which could be sold. Anybody want to buy a Fantasy-class or Statendam-class ship? Do I have any bidders?

As part of a press release reporting its third-quarter financial results, Royal Caribbean today revealed that it is in negotiations with a shipyard for "possible construction of an Oasis-type newbuild that would be delivered in middle to late 2016." Translation: A third sister (or near-sister) to the revolutionary, biggest-in-the-world Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, which were built and launched at Turku, Finland's STX shipyard in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Royal's press release cautions that it has not definitively entered into any agreement "at this time," but that it hopes to do so before year's end. Further, it projects that the new vessel should cost less on a per-berth basis than either Oasis or Allure.

"The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have proven themselves to be exceptionally attractive ships by generating the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the fleet coupled with very compelling financial returns," said Richard D. Fain, Royal Caribbean's chairman and CEO. "Ordering another such ship for delivery in 2016, at a lower cost, with better energy efficiency is very consistent with our balanced goals of prudent growth, return improvement and debt reduction."

Measuring in at 225,282 gross tons and carrying 5,400 guest, Oasis herself cost some $1.4 billion to design and build, but it was money well spent: Along with sister-ship Allure, she's the most innovative large cruise ship in decades (who knows, maybe ever), boasting a revolutionary layout that splits her massive superstructure in two along much of her length, creating an open-air "canyon" down her center, part of it filled with a tropical garden, the other with a boardwalk-style entertainment complex. End-to-end, both Oasis-class ships are major five-star winners, and among the finest cruise ships at sea today. With that track record, we can comfortably expect the new, potential "Oasis-type" sister to be a superstar, too.

If she happens.

Which she probably will.

Holland America's lovely 1997 midsizer, ms Rotterdam, has some new eats: a special once-per cruise meal that mimics the full dining experience at three-star Michelin chef Johnny Boer's De Librije restaurant in Zwolle, Netherlands — from the cuisine to the wine list, the restaurant's table set-up, and even the wait staff's uniforms.

Appropriately called "Taste of De Librije," the meal will cost $69 per person, including wine parings, and he held in the ship's Pinnacle Grill alternative restaurant. The five-course meal starts with an amuse bouche of North Sea Scallops served to all diners. From there, guests can select from among three appetizers, two soups, four entrees, and three desserts. Dishes include "Oysters on the Beach" (oysters and micro greens); chilled tomato gazpacho with black olive and celeriac mousse; venison loin and beef tenderloin with bulgur wheat and smoked olive oil foam; duo of lamb loin and crusted lamb neck with lentil sprouts, watercress, carrot coulis, and lamb jus reduction; and deconstructed apple pie with vanilla gelato and chantilly-style cream. The meal ends formally when guests return to their stateroom and find a memento gift from the restaurant.

"De Librije is one of the finest restaurants in the world, and we are thrilled to highlight Jonnie's recipes onboard ms Rotterdam," said Richard Meadows, HAL's executive VP of marketing, sales, and guest programs, in a press release. In addition to his Michelin distinction, Jonnie Boer holds the Relais & Chateaux "grand chef" designation and is a member of Holland America's five-chef Culinary Council, which advises the line on dining innovations.

The new "Taste of De Librije" program is available exclusively aboard ms Rotterdam.

Hurricane Sandy soaked Jamaica today as it headed north at 14 mph, pointed toward Cuba and possibly Florida. Landfall was expected near Kingston this afternoon, with the storm currently packing 80 mph winds.

In response, several cruise lines have scrambled the itineraries of in-progress and upcoming cruises:

• Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas skipped its planned call at Falmouth, Jamaica, today, and substituted a day at sea.
• NCL's Norwegian Jewel skipped its planned call to NCL's private island, Great Stirrup Cay, today, and is instead calling at Freeport, Bahamas. On Friday, the ship will visit Charleston, SC, instead of Nassau.
• NCL's Norwegian Sky will skip its Friday call to Great Stirrup Cay and substitute a day at sea.
• NCL's Norwegian Pearl will skip its scheduled calls to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica, today and tomorrow, and substitute calls to Cozumel and Costa Maya.
• Carnival's Carnival Valor is skipping planned calls to Grand Cayman and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and will substitute visits to Cozumel and Costa Maya.
• Carnival's Carnival Pride is skipping planned calls to Freeport, Bahamas, and the private island of Half Moon Cay, and will substitute a day at Port Canaveral, FL.
• Carnival's Carnival Glory is also skipping its planned call to Freeport, and will add a call to Port Canaveral on Friday.
• Disney Dream's October 25 sailing will skip its planned Friday call at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, and will substitute a day at sea. The ship's Saturday call to Nassau is currently listed as "pending weather conditions."

It's been a little over four years since luxury line Silversea dipped its toes into expedition cruising with the 132-passenger Prince Albert II, now renamed Silver Explorer. This week, the line announced that a second explorer it purchased in June, the 100-passenger Galapagos Explorer II, will be renamed Silver Galapagos and offer 7-night Galapagos itineraries beginning in September 2013. The all-suite Silver Galapagos will undergo a major refurbishment earlier that month.

The ship's 2013 Galapagos voyages, which will go on sale in mid-November of this year, look something like this:

• Western, southern and eastern Galapagos: Sailing Saturday to Saturday, round-trip from Baltra Island, Silver Galapagos will trace a path across the western, southern, and eastern Galapagos islands, including Santiago, Bartolomé, Isabela, Fernandina, Floreana, San Cristóbal, and Santa Cruz.
• Northeast, central and southeast Galapagos: Sailing Saturday to Saturday, round-trip from Baltra Island, this itinerary encompasses the northeast, central, and southeast Galapagos islands of Santa Cruz, Genovesa, Seymour Norte, San Cristóbal, Española, and Plazas Sur.

Like Silver Explorer's cruises, those aboard Silver Galapagos will offer fare-inclusive expeditions ashore guided by experienced expedition teams, with life on board following the luxury template of gourmet cuisine, perfectly outfitted suites, impeccable service (including butler service in every accommodation), complimentary wines and spirits, and other high-toned extras.

With two ships already on order and scheduled for delivery in 2013 and 2014, Norwegian Cruise Line today upped the ante by ordering one and possibly two even bigger vessels for 2015 and 2017.

At 163,000 gross tons and a 4,200 passenger capacity (at double occupancy), the new "Breakaway Plus" ships will be enlarged versions of the "Project Breakaway" ships already on order, the 144,017-ton, 4,000 passenger Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway. All four are being built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft, whose deal with NCL this week constituted a firm order for one plus-size vessel and an option for a second.

An architectural rendering of "Breakway Plus" (courtesy NCL)

The "Plus" ships will incorporate many of the Breakaway ships' features (presumably including their great outdoor-promenade dining and bar options, their multi-story sports complex, and their studio cabins for solo travelers) and will be the largest in the Norwegian fleet. According to Norwegian's statement, the contract price for "Breakaway Plus" #1 is approximately 700 million euro (US$918 million) and the company has export credit financing arranged and underwritten by Germany's KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH.

In Italy, hearings began this week in the case of Costa Concordia, which capsized last January 13 off the coast of Isola del Giglio, killing 32.

Interest in the pre-trial hearing has been intense, drawing hundreds of Concordia survivors as well as world media. The hearing is being held in Grosseto, a Tuscan city approximately 30 miles north of Giglio.

Some revelations and developments from the hearing, and related Concordia news:

• While admitting to mistakes, Francesco Schettino, Concordia’s captain at the time of the disaster, contends that Costa Cruises itself shares the blame for its alleged mishandling of the disaster response. Costa rejects the charge.
• Schettino is also seeking to sue Costa, citing unfair dismissal in July, six months after the disaster.
• According to witness testimony, an echo sounder used to track water depth had been turned off before Concordia made her fatal sail-by of Giglio, colliding with submerged rocks and tearing a 160-foot hole in her hull.

Concordia herself still lies on her side off Giglio, where a complex salvage operation is gearing up to refloat her and remove her from the site. According to recent news reports, the wreckage has been looted by thieves, who gained access through holes cut by search-and-rescue teams in the hours and days following the capsizing.

This week’s hearing aims to establish who should be indicted in the incident. Francesco Schettino and eight others face charges, with Schettino himself accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before passengers and crew were evacuated.