Carnival Cruise Line Brings Some Star Power To 2017 Carnival LIVE Lineup

CRUISE LINE & CRUISE SHIP | CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE | PATRICK CLARKE | www.travelpulse.com  

PHOTO: Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Valor will host a pair of notable country music performances in 2017. (Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line).

Carnival Cruise Line's 2017 Carnival LIVE experience will be a star-studded affair.

The cruise line revealed next year's lineup Wednesday, which is headlined by country music stars Tim McGraw and Little Big Town as well as beloved comedians Jay Leno and Jeff Foxworthy.

Together, the stars will perform on as many as seven Carnival cruise ships departing from five U.S. homeports next year. The events will take place inside of the ships' main show lounges, which can seat anywhere between 900 and 1,300 guests.

This winter, McGraw will kick things off by bringing his biggest hits to the Caribbean, where he'll perform back-to-back concerts aboard the Carnival Breeze and Carnival Valor while the ships are docked in Nassau, The Bahamas on March 2 and March 3, respectively.

The Carnival Victory and Carnival Vista, which is Carnival's newest ship, will play host to Television Hall of Famer and "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno in Cozumel, Mexico on May 3 and May 4, respectively. 

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One week later nine-time CMA Award winners Little Big Town will perform back-to-back concerts in Nassau aboard the Carnival Dream and Carnival Valor. The shows will take place May 11 and May 12, respectively. 

Foxworthy will also take the stage in Nassau, performing consecutive shows aboard the Carnival Freedom and Carnival Ecstasy while their docked in Nassau on June 21 and June 22.

General admission tickets to see all four acts range from $30 to $80, while VIP tickets — which guarantee guests seating in the first five rows and include a photo opportunity with the performer(s) and a commemorative concert pass — are available for between $100 and $300. 

Although travelers will have to wait to see the aforementioned performers, stars like country artist Sam Hunt and comedians Jim Gaffigan and Chris Tucker are slated to perform aboard Carnival cruise ships later this year.

Travelore Cruise News: Royal Caribbean Simplifies Cancellation Policy

PHOTO: Oasis of the Seas. (Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)

In an effort to simplify the cancellation process, Royal Caribbean International will now require passengers who book voyages with the cruise line to cancel the trip farther out then previously mandated.

The new cancellation policy applies to all bookings made on or after March 7.

According to Dori Saltzman of CruiseCritic.com, Royal Caribbean has simplified the cancellation policy’s penalty fee schedule by breaking it into two categories—sailings of one-to-four nights and any cruise five nights or longer—instead of the existing five categories.

The first tier of the new cancellation policy is for voyages of one-to-four nights, including holiday savings trips. Customers who cancel their trip at least 75 days in advance will receive no penalty, but travelers who cancel between 74 and 57 days out will lose their deposit.

For those canceling their trip of one-to-four nights closer to the departure date, the penalty fees get even steeper, as customers who cancel between 56 to 29 days out pay a fee of 50 percent of the total price, those who cancel between 28 to 15 days out pay a fee of 75 percent and travelers who cancel two weeks or less before a voyage will receive no refund.

WATCH: Royal Caribbean Invites You to 'Come Seek'

The second tier includes cruises of five nights or longer, holiday savings trips and cruise tours. No fee will be applied for trips canceled at least 90 days from sailing date, but customers who cancel between 89 to 57 days out will lose their deposit.

The passengers who cancel their second-tier trips between 56 to 29 days before the voyage will be penalized a fee of 50 percent of the total piece and those who cancel between 28 to 15 days out will be penalized a fee of 75 percent. As with the first tier, customers who give 14 days of notice or less will receive no refund.

Under the old cancellation policy, the penalty fee schedule was broken into five categories, including trips of one-to-five nights, six nights or longer, one-to-five nights with holiday savings, six nights or longer with holiday savings and cruise tours.

Source: DONALD WOOD 

www.travelpulse.com