Oceania Cruises took delivery of its first newbuild, Marina, on 19 January at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard near Genoa. The 66,000gt 1,250-passenger ship is the first of a pair of sisters, with Riviera due to enter service in April 2012 and joins the line’s existing three ex-Renaissance sisters, Insignia (1998), Regatta (1998) and Nautica (2000), which are almost half the size, each measuring 30,277gt and having a passenger capacity of 684.
Marina set off on her maiden voyage from Barcelona on 22 January and arrived in Miami on 4 February. After four days of USCG and USPH inspections, as well as events to introduce the ship to the trade and a formal naming ceremony, she departed on 8 February on two 18-day trans-Panama Canal cruises to San Francisco, and was back in Miami on 16 March. After a 12-day Caribbean cruise, Marina repositioned across the Atlantic to Barcelona, arriving there on 16 April for an inaugural European season.
As reported in last month’s SM, Insignia (1998/30,277gt) is being chartered for two years to Hapag Lloyd in April 2012 as Columbus 2.
