Cruise Safety, Mega Ships, and Galveston Growth

MSC Cruises has dismissed a lifeguard arrested at PortMiami after a seven-night Western Caribbean sailing aboard MSC World America, where a 17-year-old passenger was allegedly involved in unlawful sexual activity; the line says it contacted law enforcement immediately on discovering the breach of conduct. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has laid out a nearly $20 billion fleet plan running through 2037, adding 16 ships across Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises while five older vessels leave the fleet between 2026 and 2028, among them Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun, both bound for Cordelia Cruises. And in Texas, Galveston Wharves directors are weighing a memorandum of understanding with Royal Caribbean Group for Cruise Terminal 14, an Icon-class berth projected to handle about two million passenger movements a year under a ground lease valued at roughly $479 million over a possible 60-year term.