New cruise ships for 2010

If you’re an aficionado of the new ships, often called ‘new ship syndrome’ in the cruise industry, then you’re one of those people who just has to sail on the first trip, or during the first season, of a newly launched cruise ship, and there are plenty to choose from in the next few months.

540 passenger Silver Spirit started service during the Christmas holidays and she’s the biggest ship in the Silversea line to date. She has all suite accommodation, a massive spa and some excellent dining options so that you can dine fully formal one night and completely casual the next. She, like all the Silversea vessels, offers a butler to each suite, so everybody is spoilt equally and she’s sailing the Mediterranean this summer.

Costa Deliziosa will be named on 5th February and is very Italian in feel, as is to be expected from this Italian cruise line. She carries 2800 passengers and is highly styled, with the famous Murano glass featuring throughout the ship, plus marble and mother of pearl details in all the public rooms. She’s sailing the middle East from February to late May but then moves to offer a series of Northern European sailings.

Celebrity Eclipse will be turning up in April, to sail alongside her sister vessels Solstice and Equinox – she’s going to carry 2800 passengers and has balconies on 85% of her cabins, so just about everybody gets a sea-view. Those cabins will also have flat-screen TVs and wireless Internet access and she’ll have the same Hot Glass Show and Lawn Club as her sisters.