Monthly Archives: September 2023

Royal Caribbean unveils plans for its latest Oasis-class vessel, Utopia of the Seas. The ship will sail year-round on short cruises departing from Port Canaveral, Fla., beginning in the summer of 2024. This is a departure from Royal Caribbean's former approach of introducing newer ships with 7-night cruises while reserving shorter weekend getaways for older vessels.

According to a recent CLIA report, younger generations are the future of cruising, with 88% of millennials and 86% of Gen X travelers who have cruised before saying they plan to cruise again. Of those, 73% of travelers are sailing with family members representing at least two generations.

Utopia of the Seas will be the first Oasis-class ship to begin these back-to-back, shorter sailings. This break from tradition is a strategic maneuver aimed at enticing novice cruisers searching for a more condensed first cruise experience. The change in strategy is expected to cater to the needs of busy individuals, including millennials, who want a premium and relaxing, yet time-efficient getaway.

Catering to the needs of this time-poor demographic is more important to vacation providers than ever. Shorter sailings on the most technologically advanced ships answer this cohort's needs, offering what they want for multigenerational family time, from fine dining to Broadway-style shows and a beach experience.

This model allows passengers to enjoy Royal Caribbeans private island, CocoCay, and sail on a brand-new ship without committing to a longer vacation.

Utopia of the Seas offers many enhancements to bring a new dimension to cruising. At double capacity, the newest Royal Caribbean ship holds 5668 guests and offers features including exclusive suites and more dining options.

Cabin concepts onboard the Utopia of the Seas include the Solarium Suites. These state-of-the-art suites will deliver a floor-to-ceiling, 280-degree view from above the front of the ship. Cruisers wake up to a wall of sea-to-sky views, allowing them to feel theyre part of the ocean.

The Caribbean remains the top destination in the world for passengers looking for sun, sand, and adventure. Passengers can enjoy the city or a beach with three- and four-night cruises out of Port Canaveral.

More than 20 million passengers sailed the Caribbean Islandsincluding the Bahamas and Bermuda between 2019 and 2022, topping the Mediterraneans cruise numbers of 6 million passengers.

Cruisers can experience Chill Islands calm waters or thrill rides at CocoCay, as well as the vibes of Cape Canaveral. They can even make trips inland to the theme parks in Orlando.

Enhanced onboard entertainment is designed to be exciting and engaging, giving vacationers the opportunity to experience a unique vacation.

The new Pesky Parrot bar has incorporated the Caribbean vibe into the Utopia of the Seas. The well-known tiki bar has been converted into a state-of-the-art neon bar that replaces the Bionic bar.

This exotic bar promises to put passengers in a Caribbean state of mind while they sample tropical and fruit-based cocktails made with rum, tequila, and gin.

The Utopia of the Seas also features a food truck on the pool deck. This allows passengers to integrate pool time into lunchtime without missing any action. In authentic street truck style, the vehicle serves up quick bites right from the trucks window.

This outdoor concept provides a fresh eatery allowing passengers to eat in the sunshine. Diners can refuel quickly without missing a minute of the sun or fun and enjoy nonstop pool days.

Passengers can also experience dining on a train while never leaving the ship. Diners enjoy fine food in a nostalgic, first-of-its-kind dining car setting that combines multiple courses, technology, different destinations, and storylines. This encounter melds cuisine and visual elements, transporting passengers to another world.

This beach ship getaway packs double the island time with visits to Nassau in The Bahamas, and Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day at CocoCay, named the Best Private Island for three years. Meals, snacks, and drinks packages are available at sea and on land at CocoCay, making it even easier to switch off while on vacation.

Vacationers are looking to make every moment count by celebrating and recharging with their friends and family, and Utopia of the Seas makes all that possible in more ways than one, says Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International.

Sarah Christie of the Magically Cruising podcast says, If you want beaches, the thrills of CocoCay plus the premium quality that Royal Caribbean has become synonymous with, then Royal Caribbean has done it again and given us something bigger and better to look forward to.

All Royal Caribbean Cruises include beach days. But the promise of RCCs' private island on a short break with the choice of beach, plus being on the newest ship, is attractive to a new generation of cruisers who want to relax but still have fun.

This itinerary model also offers families evenings onboard with fine dining, family activities, and days spent on the shore, making this a family vacation that checks all the boxes.

This article was produced by Cruising For All and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.

Donna Vallance is a Craft, Travel, Hair and lifestyle creator at Likelovedo as well as Cruising For All. Donna draws and designs her own craft files which readers can download for crafts such as scrapbooking, plus empowers and teaches people with curly hair how to get the most of their curls and have hair that looks amazing. She also shares her travels from around the world.

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Royal Caribbean Wows Cruisers With Short Beach Cruise Vacations - Wealth Of Geeks

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For the past 10 years, wallpaper and interiors brand Graham and Brown has been getting us excited at the beginning of every Autumn by announcing its wallpaper design and colour of the year. And this one might be one of our favourite ones yet.

The brand is known for its organic, botanical and floral wallpaper ideas. But this years New Eden wallpaper and especially the mural design feel different, somehow very real as they immerse you in their soothing and calming air, fitting right in with the wallpaper trend of bringing the outside in.

(Image credit: Graham and Brown)

The newly announced design is based on a trend called Utopia which Graham and Brown have been developing for next year.

Our Utopia trend embodies the need to create a calm and welcoming space for yourself and others, says Maryanne Catwright, head of design at Graham and Brown.

This is the basis on which the New Eden wallpaper and mural have been built. The brand aims to provide its customers with a nature-inspired refuge, a paradise of calm. But the company also wanted the design to be welcoming to your guests, referencing the Japanese art of Omotenashi, which combines the concepts of hospitality and mindfulness. Its quite fascinating, actually.

(Image credit: Graham and Brown)

The Japanese influence can also be detected in the actual illustrations seen on the wallpaper. Whether its on the smaller, blooming trees surrounded by deep, emerald green of the wallpaper, or on the mural, where large-scale trees tower over rolling hills, circled by birds and even a peacock makes an appearance.

New Eden has been heavily influenced by our 2024 trend Utopia, the blurring of boundaries between inside and out. The design really builds, growing up from the floor and the hilly landscape offering intrigue wherever the eyes gaze. Deep green tones create depth and the golden and rusty hues really ground the design to create a calming and welcoming home environment, James Greenwood, Graham and Browns interiors expert, further explains the design.

(Image credit: Graham and Brown)

While Graham and Brown is predominantly known for their wallpapers and bold patterns, the company also produces beautiful paints. And along with announcing its design of the year, the brand also released its colour of the year, named Viridis.

The soft, sage green paint idea pairs perfectly with the New Eden wallpaper, reflecting the same sentiment of creating a calming refuge away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, perfect for a living room colour scheme.

Welcome to paradise!

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The Graham and Brown wallpaper of the year 2024 is revealed - Ideal Home

Marshall Price was joking when he told employees at Duke Universitys Nasher Museum of Art that artificial intelligence could organize their next exhibition. As its chief curator, he was short-staffed and facing a surprise gap in his fall programming schedule; the comment was supposed to cut the tension of a difficult meeting.

But members of his curatorial staff, who organize the museums exhibitions, embraced the challenge to see if A.I. could replace them effectively. Professions of all kinds military pilots, comedians, firefighters, advertisers are confronting how artificial intelligence will change longstanding responsibilities, as well as assumptions they have about the technology.

We navely thought it would be as easy as plugging in a couple prompts, Price recalled, explaining why curators at the North Carolina university have spent the past six months teaching ChatGPT how to do their jobs.

The experiments results will be unveiled on Saturday when the Nasher opens the exhibition Act as if You Are a Curator, which runs on campus through the middle of January. It is one of the first examples of A.I. organizing an art exhibition, at a time when the museum industry is redefining its relationship with technology.

Whether the exhibition is considered a curatorial success depends on ones vantage point. ChatGPT, a prominent chatbot developed by the company OpenAI, was able to identify themes and develop a checklist of 21 artworks owned by the museum, along with directions of where to place them in the galleries. But the tool lacked the nuanced expertise of its human colleagues, producing a very small show with questionable inclusions, mistitled objects and errant informational texts.

Museum employees and researchers at Duke are debating whether the show is comparable to others or simply considered good enough for a computer. When asked if the ChatGPT experiment resulted in a good exhibition, Price paused before laughing.

I would say its an eclectic show, he said. Visually speaking it will be quite disjointed, even if its thematically cohesive.

The process began with Mark Olson, a professor of visual studies at Duke, who worked through the technical challenges of fine-tuning ChatGPT to process the museums collection of nearly 14,000 objects. A curatorial assistant named Julianne Miao explored the possibilities of that system in some of the first conversations with the chatbot.

Act as if you are a curator, Miao instructed. Using your data set, select works of art related to the themes of dystopia, utopia, dreams and subconscious.

Those specific themes came after an earlier conversation in which the machine generated ideas for exhibitions about social justice and environmentalism. But its most prevalent responses were on topics like the subconscious, and the human curators directed ChatGPT to continue developing those ideas. The A.I. named its project Dreams of Tomorrow: Utopian and Dystopian Visions.

The process was not altogether different from a typical curatorial brainstorming session, but the chatbot could search through the entire collection within a few seconds and surface artworks that humans might have overlooked.

The algorithm was adamant that we included several Dal lithographs on the mysteries of sleep, explained Julia McHugh, a curator and the museums director of academic initiatives.

Those seemed like a reasonable choice since Salvador Dal is associated with Surrealism and the artistic interpretation of dreams. But it was unclear why ChatGPT was pulling other objects into the exhibition, including two stone figures and a ceramic vase from Mesoamerican traditions. The curator said the vase was in particularly bad condition and not something she would typically put on display.

ChatGPT, McHugh said, might have picked up information from keywords included in the digital records for those objects, describing them as accompaniments in the afterlife. However, it also incorrectly titled the stone figures as Utopia and Dystopia and named the Mayan vase Consciousness, which made all three perfect candidates for the exhibition.

The mistakes demonstrated clear drawbacks of automating the curatorial process. It made me think really carefully about how we use keywords and describe artworks, McHugh said. We need to be mindful about bias and outdated systems of cataloging.

Chatbots like ChatGPT driven by A.I. technology that guesses the next word in a sequence based on an immense reservoir of human-created data are a long way from handling the complex tasks of managing loans from other institutions, scouring archives for primary sources and checking facts. Efforts to automate curation are still in their infancy, a thought experiment for human curators to reconsider their approaches from a machines perspective.

Last years Bucharest Biennale in Romania was organized by Jarvis, an artificial intelligence program that selected a dozen artists after assigning score values based on their popularity and how they fit into the exhibitions core theme of popular culture. A year earlier, the Whitney Museum and the Liverpool Biennial commissioned a project called The Next Biennial Should Be Curated by a Machine, which used a tool developed by OpenAI to generate fictitious artist biographies and absurd curatorial statements a satire of the clichd artspeak plaguing real biennials.

You really get a portrait of the art world, said Christiane Paul, a Whitney curator behind the project. The tool, she said, quickly identified rote patterns in exhibition texts at odds with curatorial goals to show the real diversity of the global arts scene.

Roderick Schrock, the director of Eyebeam, a nonprofit center for art and technology, is intrigued by A.I. curation but said his own experiments have ended with very simplistic results. He has warned his digital art curation students at the School of Visual Arts in New York against using chatbots just to blind people with science.

For the Nasher exhibition, ChatGPT generated descriptions for the artworks it selected as well as an adequate introductory text of about 230 words.

From paintings to drawings, from the 19th century to contemporary times, this exhibition showcases the power of art to evoke different emotions and interpretations, the A.I. wrote. One of the highlights of the exhibition is an untitled abstract painting by Dorothy Dehner from 1962. The paintings vibrant colors and bold brushstrokes invite the viewer to enter a world of pure imagination.

But many of the chatbots descriptions were plagued by bromidic taglines like experience the art and immerse yourself. The human curators added their own commentary on the labels to point out its quirks and inaccuracies.

Despite the errors, some Nasher curators said it was easy to see how A.I. could support them. It was a new lens through which we could see and understand our collections, said Price, the chief curator.

The speed at which ChatGPT could draft an exhibition and even suggest mood lighting for the galleries would help them brainstorm, Price said. And even some of its mistakes were instructive, if they reflected human errors in the museums online catalog that would need correcting.

Other members of the exhibition team were more concerned.

I worry not so much that ChatGPT can do the job as curator, said Olson, the visual studies expert, but in the context of dwindling resources for the arts, it will be seen as good enough.

Good enough and cheap. The Nasher Museum said that developing its version of ChatGPT only cost $10.71 in technology expenses. At that price, it was easier to forgive the machines mistakes, so long as there was a human curator somewhere to correct them.

For the time being, most large institutions are not pursuing exhibitions curated by artificial intelligence. Alas, no curabot projects at MoMA, yet! said Paola Antonelli, the museums senior curator for the department of architecture and design. But they are watching to see how experiments at smaller museums like the Nasher go.

The issue you run into from the start is creating an echo chamber, Paul, the Whitney curator, said about the concept of automated curating. This is not going to suggest anything revolutionary because its just drawing on what is out there. And the lowest common denominator is whats out there.

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Museum Curators Evaluate A.I. Threat by Giving It the Reins - The New York Times

Brands face enormous uncertainty in the wake of the AI revolution, but a new report by The Media Store suggests this technology can be leveraged to enhance value for customers and promote efficiency.

The report, commissioned by research and strategy agency The Media Store, considers AIs capabilities to reimagine the media landscape if brands embrace the benefits offered by the new technology and minimise the threats it presents, like job displacement.

Brands should be honest about the implementation and use of AI within the business, in order to offset customer concerns about privacy and misinformation, the report found.

Improved service, better products, and increased personalisation are just three of the myriad benefits artificial intelligence presents.

The Media Store chief strategy officer Sam Cousins says brands must carefully embrace AI.

The AI landscape is rapidly evolving and brands need to start thinking about how theyre going to navigate the AI landscape, he says.

Its definitely a balancing act, businesses need to find a way to harness AIs immeasurable possibilities, against wide-held customer concerns around privacy and transparency. Brands need to start thinking about their messaging and their own objectives around AI to ensure they continue to engage and resonate with their audience.

Customer concerns surround the prospect of AI triggering mass job displacement and the sustainability of the job market.

However, automation may present new jobs and possibilities as it displaces others. The World Economic Forum estimates that within five years AI will have replaced some 85 million jobs with 97 million new ones.

And many brands are already successfully using AI within their daily operations, particularly in content creation and creative enhancements, copywriting, messaging optimisation and automation of repetitive tasks like data collection.

By allowing agencies to create high-quality content swiftly and efficiently, AI frees time to amplify human creativity and innovation.

Chatbots and virtual agents can enhance customer support and leave more complex tasks that require empathy and problem solving to employees.

By harnessing AIs capabilities, agencies can help shape a media landscape thats brimming with possibilities, the report says.

With brands and agencies at the coalface of the AI revolution, now is the time to control the narrative, reassure concerned customers and embrace the opportunities offered by new technologies.

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The Media Store: Does the growth of AI signal utopia or dystopia for ... - Marketing magazine Australia

MIPCOM CANNES, Beta Film and ZDF Studios have announced the world premiere of the highly anticipated surveillance drama Concordia, produced by Beta Films and ZDF Studios joint venture Intaglio Films, at the forthcoming 39th International Co-Production & Entertainment Content Market MIPCOM (October 16-19) in Cannes.

The special screening will take place on Tuesday October 17 at 18.00 in the world-famous Grand Auditorium at Cannes Palais des Festivals and is open to all market delegates. The premiere is followed by a Q&A with multiple Primetime Emmy Award winner, Showrunner and Executive Producer Frank Doelger (Game of Thrones, The Swarm, John Adams, Rome), and cast members including International Emmy Award winner Christiane Paul (Counterpart, In July) and Ruth Bradley (Ted Lasso, Humans).

Powered by AI surveillance, Concordia is the town of the future and on the verge of expansion when twin catastrophes strike: the first ever murder and a hack of its AI tech. A team race to solve both crimes but, in doing so, uncover a shocking original sin that could bring everythingcrumbling down.

The world of Concordia is created by Mike Walden (The Frankenstein Chronicles, U Want Me 2 Kill Him) and Nicholas Racz (The Burial Society, The Real Thing).

The six-parter, produced by Intaglio Films for ZDF, France TV, Hulu Japan, and MBC is shot in English across various European locations, including Rome, Gothenburg, and Leipzig. Concordia is jointly distributed globally by Beta Film and ZDF Studios and follows their collaboration on The Swarm, released to critical acclaim earlier this year.

Christiane Paul stars as Juliane, the visionary behind the new utopia, together with Steven Sowah (For Jojo, Before We Grow Old), who plays her son Noah, the ambassador in charge of expanding the experiment. Ruth Bradley takes on the role of Thea, an external investigator, who joins up with Isabelle, played by Nanna Blondell (Black Widow, House of the Dragon), to uncover secrets which led to Concordias creation. Kento Nakajima (Detective Novice, She was Pretty), one of Japans top actors, stars as A.J., the 27-year-old Japanese wunderkind and head of the AI system that is the beating heart of Concordia.

Jonas Nay (Line of Separation, Deutschland 83), Ahd Kamel (Collateral, Honour), Hugo Becker (Baron Noir, Leonardo), Josphine Jobert (Death in Paradise, Summer Crush), Alba Beluggi (The Swarm, Into the Night), Karoline Eichhorn (Dark) and Maeve Metelka (Unorthodox) complete the main cast.

Written by Nicholas Racz, Isla van Tricht, and Mike Walden, Executive Producers along side Frank Doelger are Ute Leonhardt, Rafferty Thwaites, Jan Wnschmann, and Robert Franke. Producers are Tobias Gerginov, Elle Raspin, Jacob Glass, and Sergio Ercolessi. Concordia is supported by Mittel deutsche Medien frderung, Medien board Berlin-Brandenburg and Trentino Film Commission.

Concordia contains all the compelling components for a MIPCOM world premiere, said Lucy Smith, Director, MIPCOM CANNES. a pan-European backdrop with a plot that plays to contemporary concerns, arriving with huge anticipation following the partners success with The Swarm. It was launched first at MIPCOM last year and its our privilege to host its World Premiere in Cannes twelve months on.

Jan Wnschmann & Robert Franke, Managing Directors Intaglio Films: We are immensely proud to celebrate the world premiere of our exciting surveillance thriller Concordia at MIPCOM in Cannes. Building on the global success of Intaglio's first high-end series The Swarm, this new, captivating, and thought-provoking series will grant audiences a glimpse into what seems like a bold new world, where technology and its potential for abuse converge. Working alongside multiple Emmy-awarded Frank Doelger, our Creative Director at Intaglio Films, a team of talented creatives from around the world, and our great partners ZDF, France TV, Hulu Japan, and MBC to bring this story to life has been an enormously collaborative and delightful experience.

More than 260 exhibitors from over 40 countries are confirmed to date for MIPCOM CANNES the mother of all entertainment content markets in 2023. Riviera exhibition halls and outdoor Croisette beach exhibition areas are sold out with a line-up comprising major studios, production and distribution groups (including All3Media International, Amazon MGM Studios Distribution, Banijay Rights, BBC Studios, BETA Film, FOX Entertainment Global, NBCUniversal International, Paramount Global Content Distribution, Federation Studios, France tv distribution, Fremantle, Global Screen, ITV Studios, The Mediapro Studio, Mediawan, Movistar+, Red Arrow Studios International, STUDIOCANAL, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery and ZDF Studios amongst many others). In all, 11 000 global buyers, commissioners, creatives and producers are set to attend the worlds greatest gathering of TV and entertainment executives.

MIP JUNIOR also returns to the JW Marriott at the weekend heading into MIPCOM CANNES (Oct 13-15) with a brand-new half-day pre-opening program beginning at 2pm on Friday (Oct 13).

The week-long MIPCOM CANNES conference programme helps define the TV industry year with keynotes from leading global players and thought leaders in addition to screenings of highly anticipated series and exclusive insight presentations. An overview of the Conference Programme schedule can be found here.

LC

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MIPCOM Cannes to host world premiere screening of Concordia - Prensario Internacional

Thrill Island Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas

The hype for Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Icon of the Seas, has been building for a long time with record-breaking sales -- and in January 2024, the latest class from the line will debut. The 7,600-passenger vessel promises to be a showstopper, especially the new glass-covered AquaDome. This 82-feet-by-164-feet space will feature 600 panes of glass and contain a signature AquaTheater, as well as restaurants and Royal's first food hall, the AquaDome Market.

While adrenaline junkies are setting their sights on Thrill Island, with the Category 6 waterpark full of slides and an over-the-water obstacle course, we're more excited about Icon's newest laid-back neighborhood. Chill Island boasts four of the ship's seven pools, including Swim & Tonic, Royal's first swim-up bar at sea, and the Cove Pool, which has an infinity edge to the ocean. We're also looking forward to The Hideaway -- cruising's first suspended infinity pool rising 135 feet above the ocean.

The Dome on Princess Cruises Sun Princess (Princess Cruises)

Princess Cruises is also debuting something completely different in the 4,000-passenger Sun Princess, the first of the line's Sphere-class ships, slated for February 2024. Families in particular should look forward to a slew of new features for young ones and teens in an area called Park19. The ship is debuting the first rollglider at sea, Sea Breeze -- an electric ride that goes up to 11 mph. The area will also have a ropes course and Coastal Climb, an obstacle-course-meets-ladder adventure spanning two decks.

Those who enjoy the suite life will want to check out two new types of suites: the Signature Collection and the Reserve Collection. These new suite categories come with their own perks. The Signature Collection suites have their own restaurant, lounge and sun deck. The Reserve Collection suites include the former Club Class cabins that are on existing Princess ships, as well as new Cabana cabins that have access to a private sundeck and whirlpool, as well as a Reserve Collection restaurant.

Grand Suite on Cunard's Queen Anne

Cunarders love tradition, but they have also been waiting a long time for a new ship from the grande dame line. The 12-year drought ends in May 2024, with the introduction of the 3,000-passenger Queen Anne.

What's exciting about Queen Anne is how much the line is shaking things up on the culinary front. The line has partnered with two-Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux to develop a new menu for the ship's Queens Grill, as well as the Golden Lion pub. The ship will also have a new restaurant with outdoor dining, Tramonto, with a Mediterranean-inspired menu.

While the Golden Lion and Tramonto are included restaurants, Queen Anne will have three new specialty restaurants: Aji Wa, a Japanese restaurant with sushi and an omakase tasting menu; Aranya, a new Indian restaurant; and Sir Samuels, a high-end steakhouse.

Rendering of the poolside food truck on Utopia of the Seas (Photo/Royal Caribbean)

Icon of the Seas isn't the only headline-grabber for Royal Caribbean in 2024. The 6,700-passenger Utopia of the Seas follows the line's crowd-pleasing Oasis-class layout in July with the signature Central Park and Boardwalk neighborhoods, as well as the Ultimate Abyss slide.

That's not to say that Utopia will be a carbon copy of its sister ships. A new immersive restaurant, centered around the concept of being on a train, is being developed. What's also unique for the ship is that it will focus on short three- and four-day itineraries from its Port Canaveral homeport -- meaning you'll never be able to see it all in one trip.

Aladdin sculpture in Grand Hall on Disney Treasure (Photo: Disney Cruise Line)

A sister ship to Disney Wish, the 4,000-passenger Disney Treasure puts Aladdin in the spotlight, along with a theme of adventure. New venues onboard the ship include an interactive dining experience called Plaza de Coco, based on the movie "Coco;" Jumbeaux's Sweet Shop which takes its inspiration from "Zootopia" and adults-only lounges that are based on Disney theme park attractions.

Kids will delight in the AquaMouse slide, which has a new MIckey and Minnie-themed adventure story as well as two casual cafes named for the princesses Moana and Mulan.

Disney Treasure's inaugural cruise will be December 21, 2024.

A rendering of Silversea's Silver Nova (Illustration: Silversea)

The second of Silversea's Nova-class ships, the 728-passenger Silver Ray will mimic its sister Silver Nova with an asymmetrical design that puts more focus on the ocean. The star on these ships is the revamped pool deck, which puts sea views front and central. While many of Silversea's favorite restaurants are onboard Silver Ray, what's most exciting in this class of ship is the relocated S.A.L.T. Lab, where the culinary adventurous can spring for a 14-course tasting menu.

Another standout on this class: the Otium spa and new Otium suites at the back of the ship. All cabins come with butler service, a Silversea trademark, and one that makes you feel truly indulged. Silver Ray debuts in July 2024.

Explora II aft view (rendering)

Following a successful launch in 2023, Explora Journeys will launch its second luxury ship, the 922-passenger Explora II, in August 2024. Expect the same features that have wowed guests so far, including a stunning lobby bar; gorgeous pools and an array of dining options that include an unlimited raw bar in the ship's Emporium Marketplace.

Built by the MSC Group as its luxury offering (making it a sister to MSC Cruises), Explora Journeys aims to bring the upscale vibe off the ship too. Excursions are called "experiences," and from what we've seen so far, they do have offerings that go beyond the same old, same old. Another nice touch: Families are welcome on Explora II, a rare outreach on a luxury cruise line.

Renderings for Ritz Carlton ships Ilma and Luminara (Photo/Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection)

The luxury hotel brand Ritz-Carlton made waves in 2022 when it launched its first cruise ship, Evrima. The next ship in its fleet, Ilma, aims to do more of the same -- on a bigger scale. The 456-passenger ship is significantly larger than Evrima, which only held 298 guests.

What won't change on Ilma is the luxury-minded crew-to-passenger ratio. Also expect the same yacht atmosphere, along with fine dining options and an expanded marina area. Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection is another line that welcomes families, although the Ritz Kids program does come with a fee.

The trees in Wintergarden resemble Yggdrassil from Norse mythology (Photo: Jorge Oliver)

Viking's ocean ships have been reliably similar since the company started launching them in 2015. Viking Vela will break that mold when it arrives, as it will be slightly larger and carry 998 passengers. The extra space is being dedicated to an additional 17 cabins -- all rooms on Viking's ocean ships have views -- as well as storage space for additional technical equipment.

Size aside, don't expect too much of Viking's award-winning formula to change. The Scandinavian design ethic will be present, along with fantastic restaurants and a thermal spa that are all included in the fare.

American Cruise Lines' rendering for American Glory and American Eagle (Photo/American Cruise Lines)

American Cruise Lines introduced a new type of vessel to its fleet in 2023 -- 100-passenger coastal catamarans designed to travel the U.S. Two more of these small ships will debut in 2024: American Liberty and American Legend. Eventually the line plans to have 12 of these unique ships.

The itineraries really set these ships apart, as they are able to not only sail on some of America's rivers, they will visit islands off the U.S. coast such as Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and the Florida Keys and places such as Chesapeake Bay.

Great Sphinx of Giza, Giza Plateau, West Bank of the Nile, Giza, Egypt (Photo: Anton_Ivanov/Shutterstock)

Just when you thought there was nothing new in river cruising, AmaWaterways is shaking things up by not only building new ships, but developing itineraries in an entirely new country and river. The Magdalena River in Colombia will play host to a new river ship in November 2024: the 60-passenger AmaMagdalena.

AmaWaterways is also expanding its presence on the Nile River in Egypt. The 82-passenger AmaLilia will join AmaDahlia to offer itineraries that begin with a pre-cruise stay in Cairo before joining the ship in Luxor for a roundtrip sail.

Avalon Alegria Panorama Suite (Rendering: Avalon Waterways)

Avalon is bringing its style of river cruise ship to Portugal's Douro River in 2024, with the 102-passenger Avalon Alegria. The ship will have Avalon's signature Panorama Suites, where the bed faces the river.

Another staple of Avalon: excursions that are fall into different categories of Classic, Discovery and Active. Among some of the tours that have been revealed: a guided bike ride along the quaysides of the Douro in Porto; .food and wine tastings, learning to bake traditional Portuguese pastries and a visit to one of the Douro Valleys oldest farms with a stop to sample local foods. The line is also planning a hands-on craft class where passengers can join a professional painter to create one of the traditional blue and white azulejos tiles seen throughout Portugal.

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The Best New Cruise Ships Coming in 2024 - Cruise Critic