Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager of the Seas called in Manila for the first time on Friday, becoming one of the largest cruise ships to call at a Filipino port. The ship was on a 4-night cruise from Shenzhen, carrying over 3,600 guests. Ovation of the Seas is the largest cruise ship to visit the Philippines, having arrived last month.

To celebrate the maiden call at Manila, a traditional plaque exchange ceremony was held onboard between Voyager of the Seas’ Captain Sindre Borsheim and local officials including Francisquiel Mancile, port manager of Philippine Ports Authority and Patrick Chan, vp, operations of Asian Terminals Inc.

Shorex from Manila included the ‘Enchanting Hidden Valley’ Tour – a secluded and private resort featuring rare collections of orchids at the crater of an extinct forested volcano in Laguna, with secluded waterfall, followed by traditional Filipino buffet lunch and snacks.

Spanish colonial-era landmarks

On the ‘A Glimpse of History’ Tour, guests experienced the rich heritage of the Philippines by visiting Spanish colonial-era landmarks such as Fort Santiago; Casa Manila, the exact reproduction of a Spanish 'Ilustrado' home; and the centuries-old 'Walled City' of Intramuros that consists of fortified walls, church ruins and relics from Spain’s Conquistadores.

Voyager of the Seas is currently sailing a 5-night cruise from Shenzhen to Okinawa (Naha), followed by a 9-night cruise from Hong Kong to Kochi visiting Okinawa (Naha), Kyoto (Osaka) and Kobe on August 10; and an 8-night cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore with calls at Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) and Bangkok (Laem Chabang) on August 29.

Longest ever season in Southeast Asia

The ship will then embark on her longest ever season in Southeast Asia with over 70 sailings out from Singapore until next June, which includes 4-night cruises to Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang) and Phuket, 5-night cruises to Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Penang and Phuket, and 5-night sailings to Bangkok (Laem Chabang) with an overnight stay.

Next Monday Queen Elizabeth will sail into Liverpool on her seventh visit to the port and Cunard’s spiritual home.

Her latest call marks the 80th anniversary of the launch of Cunard’s second Mauretania at Cammell Laird’s shipyard in Birkenhead in July 1938.

To mark the occasion a special sail away show will take place on the cruise berth, at Princes Dock at 16.30. The show will have a variety of musical performances including opera singer Joanne Dennis, followed by a confetti show as she sails onto Dublin and Guernsey before returning to Southampton on July 27.

Cunard founded in Liverpool

A Cunard visit always plays a highly significant role in Liverpool’s cruise season, as Cunard was founded in Liverpool in 1839 and the city was home to its head office for nearly 130 years.

The second Mauretania was the first ship to be built for the newly formed Cunard White Star Line and was laid down on May 24, 1937. She was the largest ship ever to be built in an English shipyard at the time.

Head of cruise & maritime operations at Cruise Liverpool, Peter Murney said: ‘To have Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth visiting us on the anniversary of the Second Mauritania launching at Cammell Laird shipyard is extremely special for us. We’re incredibly proud of our maritime heritage and our strong connection to Cunard.’

It sounds like Virgin Voyages isn't stopping at three ships, and it's possible the fourth could be of a different design.

'It's great to be involved in this new venture. It's ridiculously exciting,' Richard Branson said Friday at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente yard on the occasion of the steel-cutting for the second ship. The third will follow soon and 'We're pushing. Hurry up with the fourth!' Branson said.

To which Virgin Voyages president and CEO Tom McAlpin responded: 'I feel your pressure.'

McAlpin elaborated there might be a fourth ship in the series or 'opportunities for a different class of ship as well ... We don't know yet.'

Meanwhile, Scarlet Lady is taking shape, and the company unveiled its innovative 'Vitamin Seas' wellness program.

All the tables must be strong enough to stand on

'We love to create real quality products which are fun, fun, fun—and make sure all our tables on the boat are strong enough to stand on,' Branson quipped. Virgin Voyages' product will be 'cool and fun' with every little detail thought through—in the same way that made the Virgin Hotel Chicago Condé Nast Traveler's No. 1 US hotel (and it's the first one stateside) and how the airline has won many awards.

'Everything's going to be five-star, really, really great quality and not five-star prices,' he said.

Branson expressed distaste for the little things people hate being charged for, like a bottle of water. 'You bought the cruise—you don't want to be ripped off,' he said.

Pricing will be more inclusive than that of others in the marketplace but shore excursions won't be bundled in, according to McAlpin, who added the tours will be curated and very different.

Some day, a Virgin ship for kids

The first three ships are likely to stay adults-only, but 'at some stage we'll definitely have cruise ships with kids,' Branson told reporters.

He compared the no-kids policy to Virgin Atlantic's no-smoking flights decades ago: 'People thought we were mad ... [but] everyone all over the world came to fly on us.'

For its cruise venture, 'We wanted to do something fairly radical,' hence the 'adult by design' concept. On Virgin Voyages, people will 'like to go off on their honeymoon or meet other people and fall in love and party.'

'By not having children, it really allows us to elevate the product,' McAlpin added. Virgin can deliver a much more sophisticated experience in a child-free environment. No screaming kids in the pool or 'gangs of teenagers running around.'

'If you're not having kids, your nightclub can be oriented to adults,' Branson chimed in. 'The experiences when you come to cities can be more adult-oriented.

'In a few years' time,' he added, 'we'll have a lot of fun creating a kids' ship: Virgin Kids.'

While he may have been joking, Branson did seem serious about going beyond three Lady Ships. As he put it: 'We want to keep this yard busy for decades to come.'

Virgin Voyages is not a millennials' cruise line, as many have speculated. Rather, it's for the young at heart. 'We're for people who want an elevated, premium experience that's a bit edgier,' McAlpin said.

Bain Capital's research determined 'We can open the market for cruising massively to millions and millions who'd never consider going on a cruise ship,' Branson stated.

Second ship to the Mediterranean

It's likely the second ship will be deployed seasonally somewhere other than the Caribbean—probably the Mediterranean—and return to Miami in the winter.

'We have a lot of different options,' McAlpin said. 'We're looking at the Med, the Baltic, the Southern Caribbean. We've looked at Barcelona. The Mediterranean is a fun place to go.'

He added that sailors (passengers) want to visit the big-name places but also places off the beaten track. 'Hidden gems' are going to be in the itineraries.

Scarlet Lady will be a 'sunshine ship,' though, sailing in warm-weather destinations so sailors can get the most of the 85% balcony cabins.

Following Scarlet Lady's delivery, Virgin might show her off in the UK—popping up the Thames (a bit) or maybe in Southampton—but probably won't cruise from there.

'I think most people in the UK would rather get out of the UK and go somewhere else, whether Italy or Spain,' Branson said. Unfortunately, he noted, the collapsing pound and Brexit make it more costly for Britons to cruise abroad. (As an aside, Branson views Brexit as a 'dreadful mistake' because it will impact people's earning power: 'The pound is below $1.20. We had the strongest GDP in Europe; now it's the weakest.')

Imitators expected

As the newly announced 'Vitamin Seas' programming shows, Virgin Voyages intends to stand out in every area. Competitors will certainly be looking to copy some aspects, but that doesn't bother Branson.

'We'll have five or six years when our cruise ships are unique, then other people will start copying them, and by then we'll have reinvented it,' he said.

With reporting from Italy by Luca PeruzziVirgin

Fincantieri signed a memorandum of agreement with Princess Cruises for the construction of two next-generation, 175,000gt ships which will be the largest built so far in Italy, with deliveries scheduled in Monfalcone in late 2023 and in spring 2025.

The vessels will accommodate approximately 4,300 guests and will be based on a next-generation platform design and the first Princess Cruises ships to be dual-fuel powered, primarily by LNG.

The delivery schedule from late 2023 makes the first vessel also the first LNG cruise ship to be delivered at an Italian shipyard (subsidiary Vard is building a hybrid ship for Ponant in Romania for delivery in 2021) as the first (of two) TUI Cruises’ LNG-powered ships inked at Fincantieri announced recently is due in 2024.

First LNG-powered cruise ships built by Fincantieri for Carnival

The pair are also first LNG-powered cruise ships built by Fincantieri for Carnival Corp & plc.

‘This revolutionary platform for next-generation, LNG-powered cruise ships will introduce innovative design and leisure experiences driven by the future vacation and lifestyle trends of our guests – further evolving the already best-in-class Princess Cruises experience we deliver today. We look forward to collaborating with Fincantieri to bring our vision for this next- generation premium cruise ship into service,’ said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.

Giuseppe Bono, ceo of Fincantieri, stated: ‘We are proud to further extend our long-established partnership with Princess Cruises, a brand we are indeed tied to since our comeback to the cruise ship industry in 1990. After so many years, we are getting ready to enter, together, into a new era of our industry, increasingly aimed at reducing environmental impact.’

Carnival group - the largest foreign investor in Italy

Bono concluded on the news said, ‘this allows us to keep a solid partnership between our country and the Carnival group - the largest foreign investor in Italy - and at the same time to maintain know-how and increase employment.’

Fincantieri has built 85 cruise ships since 1990 (62 from 2002), 65 of which for Carnival’s different brands, while other 49, including agreements, are currently being designed or built in the Group’s yards.

 Additional reporting from Italy by Luca Peruzzi.

When it comes to river cruises, most Americans look to Europe for storybook waterways like the Danube, Rhine and Seine. Lots of rivers, lots of ships, lots of itineraries.

But the Mississippi River, right here at home, is getting a fresh look from travelers who want to experience a cruise without having to fly to another continent.

When I cruised on the 436-passenger paddle-wheeler American Queen in July, I had tamped down my expectations. How, after all, could St. Louis compare to Paris? How would rows of high corn and lush green tobacco fields measure up to terraced vineyards that produce some of the world's finest wines? Seriously, grits or gougeres?

RELATED: TRENDING LIFE & STYLE NEWS THIS HOUR

All questions to ponder during the seven-night cruise — a span of 680 miles that Mark Twain helped put on the map with ports of call including Cape Girardeau, Mo.; Paducah, Ky.; and Madison, Ind. We sailed south from St. Louis, then took a hard left onto the Ohio, winding up in Cincinnati. By the time American Queen tied up across the street from the Cincinnati Reds stadium, ablaze in neon just before dawn, I got it.

No wonder European giant Viking River Cruises announced plans last year to build six ships that will ply the waters of Big Muddy and its tributaries. It's a big deal from a big brand and would mark Viking's foray in the U.S. river boat market.

Meanwhile, American Cruise Lines added a second ship, the 185-passsenger America, to the river this year. A new company, French America Line, will launch the boutique-style Louisiane on its inaugural cruise in October. And Memphis-based American Queen Steamboat Co. executives say they want to enhance their position on the river with a high-end, suites-dominant ship that will be far different than the steam-powered American Queen, the world's largest paddle-wheeler.

"The Mississippi River is where so much of America's history was written," said Gary Seabrook, the firm's senior vice president of operations. "We don't have castles to take you to. Our boat and our itineraries are a little more homespun. But the Mississippi is our Nile, and it runs right down the middle of the country. There's a sense of rediscovering our own antiquity."

Remember, too, that the Mississippi River Valley was settled by European immigrants, whose influence is still on display today in everything from cultural traditions to cuisine. There's the riverside Oktoberfest every fall in La Crosse, Wis.; the Norwegian Norskedalen settlement just outside of La Crosse; the French Quarter in New Orleans; mansions on the lower Mississippi that easily rival some of Europe's chateaux; and Dutch windmills in Clinton, Iowa. American Queen has even developed Christmas market cruises modeled after those in Europe.

There's nothing wrong with a shipboard menu that features regional favorites like sweet potato poutine; confit of duck with fig and lemon preserves over dirty rice; cornmeal-crusted Mississippi catfish; and fried green tomatoes.

As with river boats in Europe, the six-deck American Queen, because of its nimble size, can dock in the center of town — within easy walking distance of the iconic Gateway Arch in St. Louis, as an example. The day we pulled into Cape Girardeau, we were greeted by musicians performing "Basin Street Blues" — a nice touch. Other pluses: The ship has bicycles passengers can use onshore and onboard lecturers, and, unlike anything I've experienced in Europe, American Queen features robust evening entertainment in the Engine Room Bar and the Grand Saloon, a venue patterned after Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. The ship has a sense of humor, too; each cabin is named after a real waterway: Mosquito Creek, Raccoon River, Dog Tooth Bend.

The ship also offers something I really like — guided hop-on, hop-off tours. Buses meet passengers at the dock and stop at various points of interest. Passengers hop on and off as they wish. Without "ho ho," as the crew calls it, I would never have appreciated the thriving arts scene in Paducah or enjoyed the expanse of one of the country's largest National Historic Landmark districts, consisting of 2,000 structures across 133 blocks in the Ohio River town of Madison.

Then there's the river system itself. The Mississippi and the Ohio remain hardworking waterways. The scenery during my cruise wasn't all pretty — fertilizer plants, rock quarries, refineries, granaries. But things don't have to be pretty to be interesting. Watching a towboat pushing as many as 40 barges downriver — now that's something you don't see every day.

Half of the passengers onboard had already cruised Europe, and many expressed concern about the threat of terrorism overseas. And I heard this comment, over and over: "We were looking for something different."

There's also a lot to be said for the ease of travel on a cruise like this — a short flight, no currency to exchange and, in my case, the pleasure of waking up in Ohio on disembarkation day in my own time zone.

Donna and Jim Pratt, honeymooners from Maryland, chose the American Queen as their first river cruise. She didn't want to leave the U.S. because of the long-haul flights and global unrest. "Plus there's so much to see here," she said.

He, meanwhile, was reveling in the history of the river valley that Mark Twain called America's heart. "It's easy to reimagine what early America looked like, to see what the pioneers must have seen," Pratt said. "Use your imagination and you can just take yourself back in time."

When I talked to the Pratts again in early August, they were making plans to book a cruise next summer on the upper Mississippi, a St. Louis-to-St. Paul itinerary popular in part because of the region's limestone bluffs, waterfowl and waterways that are a bit wilder than the lower stretches of the river. This time, they plan to take along family and friends.

Created for Celebrity Edge, the new Terminal 25 at Port Everglades features a sleek design, cutting-edge technology, a posh suite lounge and a dedicated crew lounge.

$114m complete makeover

Port Everglades is investing $114m into a complete makeover of T25, with $80m to $90m going into the actual terminal and additional costs to take out the neighboring 22/24 building to make space, Steven Cernak, chief executive and port director, told Seatrade Cruise News.

'Frictionless Arrival'

Designed by Bermello Ajamil & Partners, T25 melds gorgeous design with technology, such as 'Frictionless Arrival,' to make the check-in process seamless, and an interactive light wall art installation. T25 will also offer Suite Class guests their own lounge, elevator lobbies, screening areas and even a private rooftop terrace along their path to The Retreataboard Celebrity Edge.

T25 is a 'perfect home' for Celebrity Edge, according to Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. It's also Celebrity’s first brand-designed cruise terminal, which 'not only represents a milestone for Celebrity, but also presented us with the opportunity to set yet another standard in design and create the perfect guest experience,' she added.

Port Everglades' largest cruise terminal investment

'This is the largest financial investment that Port Everglades has made in a cruise terminal, and we fully anticipate that Terminal 25’s iconic design will be a showcase for Broward County and Celebrity Cruises as we strive to create an inviting and fun environment for the millions of cruise passengers who visit here,' Broward County Mayor Beam Furr said.

The terminal springs from a long-term agreement finalized with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in 2017.

'The time was right to build a new Terminal 25 that uses cutting-edge technology, such as electronic Mediamesh for innovative messaging, to attract contemporary travelers who want to explore the world,' Cernak added.

Glass walls, crew lounge, LEED certification

He's referring to the 1,463-square-foot GKD Mediamesh that will wrap the terminal’s exterior, juxtaposing the more than 18,000 square feet of exterior glass.

The first purpose-built crew lounge of any Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. terminal will have free Wi-Fi, television access, optimized storage, quiet places for seafarers and more.

The terminal will be LEED-certified and able to accommodate a ship up to 1,150 feet in length.

Also home to Celebrity Infinity, Reflection and Silhouette

T25 is scheduled for completion in late October, ahead of Celebrity Edge's debut. The terminal will be the new home to several Celebrity ships during their winter deployment, including Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Reflection and Celebrity Silhouette.

Port Everglades currently handles an average of approximately 335,000 Celebrity passengers annually, about 9% of its overall traffic. Once the new terminal is completed, it is anticipated Celebrity will generate nearly 500,000 passengers a year, 14% of the port’s projected traffic.

When Celebrity is not using T25, the facility will be open to other cruise lines.

Featured in Seatrade Cruise Review

T25 is featured in Seatrade Cruise Review's June cover story, 'Futuristic Terminals: Coming soon to the world's Big 3 cruise ports.'