The weather in the Northern Hemisphere is starting to heat up¡ªand so is cruise season.

The summer season kicked off in Montreal, on the Great Lakes and elsewhere. Meanwhile, cruise lines celebrated a variety of big milestones this month¡ªfrom construction progress on new ships to initial public offerings. Read on for the biggest cruise news stories you might have missed in May 2024.

With the launch of Queen Anne this month, Cunard debuted its 249th ship since its founding in 1840¡ªand its first new vessel in 14 years. The 2,996-guest ship set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton.

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Celebrity Cruises is now calling at Perfect Day at CocoCay, a private island destination in the Bahamas that was previously reserved exclusively for guests of Royal Caribbean International. TravelPulse was onboard Celebrity Reflection for one of the first visits to Perfect Day at CocoCay.

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In April, American Cruise Lines?bought four vessels at auction that used to belong to the now-shuttered American Queen Voyages. This month, American Cruise Lines revealed that it had scrapped two of those ships and is still trying to decide what to do with the third.

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Since the cargo ship Dali collided with Baltimore¡¯s Key Bridge in late March, this popular domestic port has been closed to cruise lines. This month, the first cruise ship departed from Baltimore since the bridge¡¯s collapse: Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas left the port on May 25 for a five-night voyage from to Bermuda.?

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Viking went public with the biggest U.S. initial public offering so far this year. The company¡¯s shares are now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ¡°VIK."?

Initially, Royal Caribbean planned to keep visiting its private island destination in Haiti, despite the United States Department of State issuing a Level 4 Travel Advisory (Do Not Travel) due to increasing violence in March. But, a few days later, the cruise line said it was temporarily canceling all calls to Labadee.

This month, Royal Caribbean took it a step further and said it was canceling all calls at Labadee for the entire summer.

It¡¯s been 30 years since Carnival Cruise Line started sailing from the Big Easy. Since 1994, the cruise line has transported nearly 7 million guests from New Orleans. The cruise line celebrated the milestone with a big party on Carnival Liberty¡ªincluding a special anniversary cake-cutting by Emeril Lagasse.

After American Queen Voyages shut down in February, a familiar face emerged to buy two of the shuttered company¡¯s vessels, Ocean Navigator and Ocean Voyager. John Waggoner, who founded American Queen Voyages, plans to relaunch Victory Cruise Lines on the Great Lakes next year. He will restore the vessels¡¯ original names, too, Victory I and Victory II.

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Royal Caribbean International¡¯s newest ship, Utopia of the Seas, reached a key construction milestone this month as it began sea trials. The 5,668-guest vessel is scheduled to debut in July from Port Canaveral.

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An elite U.S. Air Force team swooped in with two helicopters and two aircraft to airlift a sick passenger from the Carnival Venezia. The ship was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean roughly 350 nautical miles away from the U.S. mainland as the dramatic rescue unfolded.?

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Margaritaville at Sea Paradise failed a recent health inspection conducted by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The vessel needed to score an 86 to pass the test but only received a grade of 83.

Carnival Cruise Line celebrated another big milestone this month when it welcomed its 10-millionth passenger to depart from Galveston. Houston resident Marsha Taulton boarded Carnival Breeze and helped the cruise line make history.

A new Indigenous-owned cruise port, Port Klawock, opened to cruise tourism this month. The port is owned by Na-Dena, a joint venture between Huna Totem Corp., Doyon Ltd. and Klawock Heenya, the Native village corporation of Klawock.??

Port Canaveral, located just outside of Orlando, Florida, will build a new multi-user cruise terminal at its existing North 8 berth. It will be open to ships by the summer of 2026 and will be able to accommodate the?biggest cruise ships in the world.

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Silversea welcomed its newest ship this month, Silver Ray, which is the second vessel in Silversea¡¯s Nova Class. The ship will welcome guests onboard for its first voyage from Lisbon on June 15.

Savannah Buffett, the eldest daughter of the late Jimmy Buffett, will be the godmother of the new ship Margaritaville at Sea Islander. The 2,600-guest vessel is slated to set sail for the first time from Tampa on June 14.?

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