Oceania Cruises’ Insignia, which was damaged in an engine room fire on Dec. 11, will not return to service until March 22, parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. announced on Dec. 23.

A newly formed company, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, is tentatively set to begin two-night cruises from the Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island in February. The 1,800-passenger Grand Celebration will replace the damaged Bahamas Celebration, which remains out of service.

Carnival Corporation has announced new cruise ship orders for two of its brands with Fincantieri, the world’s largest cruise ship building company. The new cruise ships will be constructed by Fincantieri for Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line, two of Carnival Corporation’s nine industry-leading brands.

During a brief welcome reception on the bridge of the MS Hamburg, Chairman of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Alvin Jemmott, thanked Captain Joao Simoes and his crew for choosing Barbados as a port of call on its Caribbean itinerary.

Executive Chairman of Cool Corp, Joe Issa, who once led the chamber of commerce which looks after the affairs of Ocho Rios, says the fate of the former cruise ship capital of Jamaica needs to be address immediately, according to the lead story in The Gleaner newspaper.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has built as big or bigger ships than rivals two to four times its size, and with bells and whistles second to none. The most recent is its 4,000-passenger Getaway that set off from Miami in January.