23 FEB: An ambitious plan by the world’s biggest river cruise company to stage a simultaneous christening of four new vessels has been frustrated by a construction delay.

23 FEB: Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia found four more bodies yesterday, including that of a five-year-old Italian girl, authorities said.

22 FEB: Norwegian Cruise Line has agreed to pay $526,602 in back wages to over 2000 employees following an investigation by the US Department of Labour, US trade magazine Travel Weekly reports.

17 FEB: An Italian consumer group has formally requested that the operator of Costa Concordia should be held criminally accountable for the loss of 32 lives in last month’s grounding.

20 FEB: Interest in the Titanic appears to be waning as cruise lines prepare to set sail for the point where the liner hit an iceberg and sank early on 15 April 1912 with the loss of 1500 lives.

17 FEB: A Texas company specialising in cruises for gays and lesbians says it has chartered a Star Clippers sailing ship for its first European venture.

8 FEB: A major cruise agency in the USA is making headlines by allowing clients to book cruises without paying a deposit. It’s paying the deposit for them.

30 JAN: Costa Cruises offered uninjured passengers 11,000 euros (about $14,000) each on Friday to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after Costa Concordia ran aground and capsized off Tuscany.

30 JAN: Six years after Hurricane Katrina drove the cruise industry from New Orleans, the city has reported a remarkable comeback, attracting 736, 908 cruise passengers in the year to December - a 12-month record and 2265 passengers more than the previous best year, 2004.

27 JAN: Costa Cruises has reportedly clarified its compensation policy for passengers who were aboard Concordia when it grounded on 13 January.