Welcome to The Deck Briefing — your quick daily read for everyone who loves ships, sea days, and stories from the decks. Here’s what’s making waves on August 26, 2026.
Today's cruise news roundup covers Disney Wish's 2027 New York deployment, Margaritaville at Sea's planned Galveston service, a Carnival Paradise itinerary change, Regatta's departure from Oceania Cruises and new cruises to nowhere from Tianjin.
Disney Wish Adds New York Sailings for 2027
Disney Wish will sail from New York City for seven departures between September 29 and October 31, 2027, Cruise Hive reports. The 4,000-guest ship will offer cruises of four to seven nights, with itineraries visiting Bermuda, Canada and New England.
The opening voyage is a four-night cruise to King’s Wharf in Bermuda. Other sailings include a Canada and New England itinerary with calls at Saint John and Boston, a six-night Bermuda-and-Canada cruise visiting Halifax, and a seven-night Canada voyage stopping at Charlottetown, Sydney and Halifax.
Disney Wish will leave New York on October 31 for a five-night, one-way sailing to San Juan that includes Bermuda. Two Puerto Rico departures follow: a seven-night Southern Caribbean cruise calling at Aruba, Bonaire, Dominica and St. Maarten, followed by a four-night Bahamas sailing to Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point and Disney Castaway Cay before returning to Port Canaveral. The reservations were listed as “Coming Soon” on Disney Cruise Line’s website on August 25, and bookings are not yet open.
Source: www.cruisehive.com
Margaritaville at Sea Plans Weekly Galveston Cruises
Margaritaville at Sea will begin weekly Friday departures from Galveston, Texas, in October 2027, according to Cruise Hive. The service will operate from Cruise Terminal 28 and visit destinations in the Caribbean and Central America, making the cruise line Galveston’s seventh cruise operator.
The Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees unanimously approved the agreement on August 25, 2026. The initial term is one year, with options to renew for two additional five-year terms, while the specific ports and itineraries have not yet been announced.
Margaritaville at Sea also has not identified the ship that will be based in Texas. The line currently operates Paradise and Islander, and Beachcomber is scheduled to debut from PortMiami in January 2027 after a transformation of the former Costa Fortuna. Ship and itinerary details are expected at a Port of Galveston event in September.
Source: www.cruisehive.com
Carnival Paradise Replaces Princess Cays Call
Carnival Paradise will visit RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay instead of Princess Cays on its November 9, 2026 sailing from Tampa, Cruise Hive says. The six-night cruise will still call at Celebration Key and Nassau, with no other itinerary changes reported.
The replacement visit is scheduled for Thursday, November 12, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the same day and time originally assigned to Princess Cays. The two private destinations are about 15 miles apart, and Carnival Paradise will retain the same planned time in port.
Prepaid Princess Cays shore excursions will be canceled and refunded to the original form of payment. Guests can arrange excursions for RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay before sailing or onboard through the Carnival Adventures desk. Carnival has not given a reason for the change, and there is no indication that technical problems with the ship prompted it.
Source: www.cruisehive.com
Regatta Completes Final Oceania Cruise
Regatta is completing its final cruise for Oceania Cruises before moving to Explorations by Norwegian, Cruise Industry News reports. The 684-passenger ship left Dubrovnik on August 17, 2026, and is scheduled to finish the ten-night voyage in Istanbul on August 27 after visiting ports in Croatia, Montenegro, Greece and Turkey.
The farewell itinerary includes Kotor, Igoumenitsa, Katakolon, Santorini, Mykonos, Piraeus, Kusadasi and Bozcaada. Regatta, which was built in 1998 and was among the first ships to sail for Oceania, is completing a 23-year career with the brand.
Under a charter deal with My Cruises, Regatta is scheduled to begin a 368-night world cruise from Civitavecchia, Italy, on September 1. The voyage is planned to visit 220 ports across seven continents, including destinations in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Far East, Alaska, the West Coast, Central America, the Caribbean, the Amazon, Greenland, Iceland, the British Isles and Ireland. A second year-long world cruise is scheduled to begin in late 2027 after the charter contract was renewed for another 365 days.
Source: cruiseindustrynews.com
Tianjin Oriental Adds Three-Day Cruises to Nowhere
Tianjin Oriental Cruises’ Visio will operate two three-day round-trip cruises without port calls from Tianjin on August 29 and August 31, Cruise Industry News reports. Both sailings will depart Tianjin International Cruise Homeport at 3 p.m., with pre-sale fares ranging from RMB 500 to RMB 1,200 per person depending on the stateroom category.
The cruises follow China’s pilot launch of the “nowhere cruise” model. The Ministry of Transport classifies the route as a special international voyage, allowing exit-entry procedures for staff and crew to follow international-sailing rules and permitting travelers to board with either a passport or an entry-exit permit based on a resident identity card.
The two sailings have been added to Visio’s regular schedule of six-day round trips to Busan, Jeju and Incheon. The Tianjin pilot is the first commercial deployment of the model in northern China, while the port said the weekend cruises would be benchmarked against international standards.
Source: cruiseindustrynews.com
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