Carnival Corp. says it will eliminate the existing fuel supplements for all new bookings of 2010 departures made starting Oct. 31, 2008, on six of its brands: Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Holland America, Princess, and Seabourn. Instead, the lines will raise their fares for 2010 sailings. Here’s the Carnival Corp. release that describes the procedures for issuing refunds to passengers who paid the supplements already for upcoming 2008 and 2009 departures. A Carnival spokesman said the changes were made to try to avoid charging separate fuel supplements on future cruises, in light of declining fuel prices.

TravelPulse.com reports that Regent Seven Seas Cruises will announce this week that it will no longer operate the 330-passenger ship “Paul Gauguin” in French Polynesia after the 2009 season.

Holland America Line will send the “Veendam” to South America for the fall 2009 and winter and spring 2010 seasons. The ship will join the “Prinsendam” in that region after major refurbishings that will include cabin renovations, a new resort pool, and other changes. The “Veendam” will offer 10 16- to 20-day cruises in South America, with numerous pre- and post-cruise land tour options. 

Crystal Cruises is taking waitlist reservations on its 108-day world cruise in 2010. This voyage will depart Miami on Jan. 10, 2010, aboard the “Crystal Serenity” for stops in 41 different ports, including inaugural port calls in Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. You can book the full cruise or any of seven 13- to 21-day segments at fares starting from $6,118 ppdo. 

MSC Cruises is promoting its trans-Atlantic crossings for the fall and winter seasons, including the 19-night Nov. 20 sailing of the “MSC Armonia” from Genoa (from $1,349 ppdo), the 21-night Oct. 28 cruise of the “MSC Melody” from Genoa (from $1,379 ppdo), the 18-night Nov. 2 sailing of the “MSC Musica” from Venice (from $1,299 ppdo), the 18-night Nov. 30 sailing of the “MSC Opera” from Venice (from $1,299 ppdo), and the 17-night Nov. 9 depature of the “MSC Sinfonia” from Genoa (from $1,149 ppdo). These fares are cruise only. 

Families choose cruises because the price is right, the values are outstanding, and cruising offers advantages compared to similarly priced land trips, says a new survey by CLIA and CruiseCritic.com. In the survey, almost half of the more than 1,000 households surveyed said they have taken two to four cruises with kids under the age of 18. Here’s a link to the survey results.

Starting tomorrow, U.S. airline passengers will not have to remove their laptops for airport security screening if they’re using an approved “checkpoint-friendly” laptop case. These new bags – which are on sale now – were designed to allow airport X-ray machines to see through them easily. Federal officials have issued guidelines for bag manufacturers to follow, but there’s no official seal that goes on approved bags, so you should urge your clients to ask questions when they buy these bags to insure that they’re truly ready to go through airport X-ray machines. See www.tsa.gov for more information.

CruiseCritic.com reports that Costa Maya -- the Mexican cruise port heavily damaged by Hurricane Dean last year – will indeed re-open in July (three months earlier than planned) with two cruise ship berths. A third berth will be ready by November. The new berths can accommodate the largest cruise ships expected to sail in the near future, including NCL’s F3 class and Royal Caribbean’s Genesis class. The port will also offer a new boardwalk to a nearby fishing village and a new zip-line tour through the adjacent jungle. More than a dozen cruise lines have committed to return to Costa Maya already.

Norwegian Cruise Line made headlines this month by rescuing Snickers, an eight-month-old cocker spaniel puppy that had been abandoned on Fanning Island in the Pacific Ocean. The dog was traveling with its owners at the time on a small boat that ran aground on the island after suffering problems with its mast. The owners secured passage back to the United States on a cargo ship, but the vessel did not allow pets, forcing Snickers to stay behind. A Nevada man read about the incident in a boating journal and began working with NCL and the Hawaiian Humane Society to rescue the dog, who was in danger of being euthanized (as it’s illegal to bring animals onto Fanning Island). The “Pride of Aloha” made arrangements to pick up the dog from the island during a port call just in time. (The sailing couple also left behind Gulliver, their pet parrot, who’s due to be sent to Los Angeles soon via Christmas Island for a quarantine period before being adopted.) Snickers is currently in quarantine in Honolulu before his transfer to Las Vegas and his new owner’s home. (Hawaiian Airlines has reportedly offered to fly Snickers at least to Los Angeles for free.)

U.S. regulators have announced new rules governing the compensation airline passengers must receive for being bumped from flights. Passengers rescheduled to arrive more than two hours to their domestic U.S. destination may now receive twice the cost of their ticket, up to $800 maximum. Passengers delayed one to two hours may get up to $400. (These amounts come in addition to the ticket’s value, which the passenger may re-use or get refunded.) Here’s a great article that summarizes them.

United Airlines raised its ticket change fee from $100 to $150. Also, it added a Saturday-night-stayover requirement for many tickets on routes where it competes heavily with other legacy airlines.

British Airways will begin daily service on Oct. 27 connecting London/Gatwick and New York/Kennedy using Boeing 777s. That same month, BA will end daily flights between New York/Kennedy and Manchester (U.K.).

An Italian discount carrier called Eurofly posted new roundtrips from New York/Kennedy to numerous cities in Italy (including Rome, Naples, Bologna, and Palermo) starting in early May at fares from $499.

US Airways and Swiss International posted new codeshare flights between Philadelphia and Zurich (with ongoing connections either way) starting April 26.

Air France will now offer late-night daily nonstops (June 23-Sept. 28) connecting New York/Kennedy and Paris/Charles de Gaulle.

Carnival Cruise Lines debuted a new onboard program for “tweens” (kids ages 12 to 14) called “Circle C.” These young passengers will now have their own dedicated Circle C lounges with dance floors, big TVs, video games, and other age-appropriate amenities. Also, they will enjoy their own tween activities such as pool parties and late-night movies, under the supervision of a dedicated tween director on the ship. Four vessels – “Carnival Legend,” “Carnival Pride,” “Carnival Valor,” and “Carnival Victory” (pictured) – already have the program in place, with six more ships getting the program this year. It will be available across the entire fleet by 2010.

Norwegian Cruise Line will transfer the “Pride of Aloha” (pictured) to Star Cruises (its parent company) on May 11. The vessel will be reflagged for new operations in the Asia market.

In a statement, NCL said it will keep the “Pride of America” in the Hawaii market.

The line is switching passengers booked on the “Pride of Aloha” on or after May 11 onto the “Pride of America” (which offers Hawaii sailings that typically depart a day before the schedule followed by the “Pride of Aloha”), with an onboard credit of $100 per person ($200 max per cabin). If your clients booked air and hotel stays through NCL, the line will rebook those arrangements and cover any change fees. For passengers who book their own airfare, NCl will pay up to $100 per person to cover fare increases and up to $75 for change fees (and up to $25 per person for hotel change fees).

Meanwhile, passengers who want to switch to a different NCL cruise by March 7 will get the $100 per-person onboard credit, up to $75 in airline change fees, and up to $25 in hotel change fees. Finally, if your clients cancel by March 7, they’ll get the full refund plus up to $75 in airline change fees and up to $25 in hotel change fees. (After March 7, regular cancellation fees apply.)

The “Pride of America” will enter drydock in late April for “Freestyle 2.0” refurbishments. When it re-enters service on May 10, it will operate a reshuffled route: an overnight call in Nawiliwili (Kauai), a pass along the Napali Coast, a stop in Hilo, an evening pass by Mount Kilauea, a stop in Kona, and an overnight stop in Kahului (Maui).

MSC Cruises held a ceremony last week in a French shipyard for its new ship “MSC Fantasia” (shown in this artist’s rendering). Though the ship wasn’t quite ready for floating out, the company offered a sneak peek at the vessel – the biggest ship ever built by a European-based cruise line (3,959 passengers in 1,637 staterooms). It will be christened in Naples on Dec. 18. Meanwhile, the 3,013-passenger “MSC Poesia” will begin sea trials this week. It will be christened in Dover on April by Italian actress Sophia Loren. (It’s the fifth MSC vessel for which Loren has served as godmother.) MSC plans two more vessels in the future: the “MSC Splendida” in the spring of 2009 and the “MSC Magnifica” the following year.

Silversea set June 12 as the departure date for the inaugural voyage of its new expedition ship. The former “World Discoverer” vessel is being refitted now in an Italian shipyard, with a complete overhaul of its cabins and public spaces and a new set of Zodiac boats. (Reportedly, the ship will be renamed “Silver Dawn,” but there’s no confirmation of that from the cruise line.) The 132-passenger vessel will offer sailings to the Arctic Circle, Greenland, and Iceland this summer before heading to South America and Antarctica later this year. In other news, Silversea released details on 13 new “Elegant Explorations” cruises for 2009. These 24- to 92-day sailings will combine traditional ports of call with exotic destinations that aren’t usually visited by cruise ships. You can lock in savings and onboard credits by booking ahead of time.

The Hawaii Superferry will send its vessel “Alakai” into drydock Wednesday, ahead of its annually scheduled maintenance session, to fix its auxiliary rudders. The ferry will resume service on March 3. Passengers on the canceled voyages during drydock will be re-accommodated or receive refunds.

TravelWeekly.com reports that Norwegian Cruise Line has sent the famed ship “Independence” from its berth in San Francisco to a scrap yard in Singapore. NCL bought the vessel in the spring of 2003 for “a reported $4 million,” and renamed it “Oceanic.” Its sister ship, the “Constitution,” sank in 1997 while being towed to Asia for scrapping.

ModernAgent.com reports that the parent company of Regent Seven Seas Cruises approved plans to begin discussing a newbuild vessel with shipyards. The new ship would debut in 2011, with a likely design similar to the line’s current all-suite, all-balcony vessels but with larger suites and more dining options.

Celebrity Cruises debuted new incentive gift certificates that can be used by companies to reward employees, suppliers, and customers. The certificates come in ranges from three- to seven-night cruises for two, with six different levels at fixed prices so that buyers can budget their incentives for the year.

Princess Cruises unveiled a new disembarkation process aimed at streamlining the traditional cruise line farewell for passengers. Now, Princess passengers will be given an assigned time and place to assemble on the last morning of their sailings, and they’ll be escorted to the gangway by a crew member. Princess says the new system will give guests a more gracious sendoff, eliminate guesses about where and when to meet for disembarking, and cut down on the crowds surrounding the gangway entrance. The new procedures will be rolled out across its fleet as soon as possible.