MSC Cruises is adding two more ships and a fourth homeport to its winter 2025-26 deployment in North America.
The line will sail seven total ships from U.S. ports, up from five this upcoming winter.
MSC will add Galveston to its roster of homeports, in addition to Miami, Port Canaveral and New York City.
The deployment includes doubling up ships sailing out of Port Canaveral by adding the MSC Grandiosa, which will sail seven-night Caribbean itineraries. The MSC Seashore is scheduled to sail three- and four-day cruises from Port Canaveral.
The MSC World America, debuting in Miami in April 2025, will continue to sail from Miami the following winter with seven-night Caribbean itineraries. The MSC Seaside will sail a mix of three- to seven-night itineraries from Miami, and the MSC Divina will sail Caribbean routes up to 11 nights.
MSC will launch its inaugural season in Galveston with the MSC Seascape sailing seven-night Western Caribbean itineraries beginning in November 2025. The line struck an agreement this year for a new terminal there.
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Marriott International will add three high-profile hotels this summer, including one in New York.
The company on June 5 plans to convert a high-end hotel in midtown Manhattan to the Luxury Collection brand.
On July 1, Marriott will take over management of the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, Calif., and the luxury hotel is expected to eventually convert to the St. Regis brand. Known for its residential-style bungalows and villas, the 504-acre resort includes the Pelican Hill Golf Club, which has two 18-hole courses.
Lastly, Marriott confirmed that the 450-room Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu's North Shore will become a Ritz-Carlton resort later this summer. Turtle Bay Resort's new owner, Host Hotels & Resorts, announced the rebranding last week.
The high-profile conversions come as Marriott continues to make luxury expansion a top priority, according to Dana Jacobsohn, Marriott International's chief development officer for U.S. luxury brands and global mixed-use. The company currently has about 510 hotels and resorts across its seven luxury brands.
The luxury segment represents around 10% of rooms in open hotels and hotels in its pipeline, Marriott said, adding that 234 luxury hotels are in its signed pipeline.
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Margaritaville is making its foray into Panama with a resort and condominium project that also is the first development under the Margaritaville Beach Resort & Residences concept.
Slated to debut in mid-2027, the Margaritaville Beach Resort & Residences Playa Caracol will be roughly 70 minutes from Panama City, in Playa Caracol's Chame District.
The property will feature a mix of 80 cottages and 181 high-rise accommodations as well as 261 residences.
Amenities will include Margaritaville restaurant concepts like the 5 o'Clock Somewhere Bar and License to Chill Bar & Grill and a beach club. Guests and residents will have access to a nearby racket club offering tennis and pickleball.
The Margaritaville Beach Resort & Residences Playa Caracol will join Margaritaville's global portfolio of 40-plus lodging options, spanning hotels, resorts, branded real estate, RV destinations and casinos.
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Cruisers with loyalty status on Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises or Silversea Cruises can soon apply that status level to all three lines.
Royal Caribbean Group, which owns the three brands, is rolling out a Loyal Status Match program that incentivizes cruisers to stay loyal to the three brands.
"We want to make sure that if you're going to go on a vacation experience, that it stays within our family of brands, and that you don't need to go outside of our family," said Jason Liberty, CEO of Royal Caribbean Group.
For instance, grandparents who have earned status on Celebrity or Silversea would enjoy their same status level when sailing with their family and grandkids on Royal Caribbean International.
Status is generally attained by the number of nights sailed with one brand, however, the brands will run promotions or feature special stateroom categories that offer additional points to more quickly attain status.
Under the program, once a guest attains a status level, they will automatically have the equivalent tier status on the other two lines. Guests enrolled in multiple status programs will enjoy benefits of the highest tier level. However, any points earned to that sailing would be applied only to the loyalty program associated with that line.
The loyalty programs are Crown & Anchor Society for Royal Caribbean, Captain's Club for Celebrity and Venetian Society for Silversea. When sailing on each sister brand, guests can enjoy the onboard perks offered by each brand for their equivalent tier status, such as discounted drinks and priority waitlist seating.
Guests already enrolled in multiple loyalty programs will be automatically matched across brands within seven days to receive their appropriate loyalty status. Guests enrolled in multiple loyalty programs will have their highest tier status matched across the brands.
Points will not be pooled or combined between the programs.
The program begins on June 5 for guests who have their status matched.
