Costa Cruises took delivery of its 15th cruiseship, the $625 million Costa Deliziosa in Venice on Saturday. Sister ship to the Costa Luminosa the 92,600-ton Costa Deliziosa carries 2,826 guests in 1,130 staterooms – including 52 Samsara, 718 veranda cabins, 50 suites and four Samsara suites inside the 11,000 square foot Samsara Spa. There are a host of leading-edge innovations on board including a 20-seat 4D cinema that takes guests on a wild sensory ride, a golf and Grand Prix simulator, Playstation World.

Deliziosa It will sail from Savona, Italy with paying passengers on February 5, on a 20-night inaugural cruise to Dubai where it will be based for the winter season along with the Costa Luminosa and Costa Europa. ExpertCruiser will be in Dubai on February 23 to cover the Deliziosa’s extravagant christening. Stay tuned for more details.

The pirate attack on Oceania’s Nautica has the cruise industry re-thinking it’s Middle Eastern cruise schedule.

German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd is so concerned about a pirate attack on one of its ships that it is unloading passengers in Hodeidah, Yemen. Instead of sailing onboard the MS Columbus passengers will now spend three days in Yemen and then fly to Salalah, Oman to reconnect with the MS. Columbus and finish their journey into Dubai. The report comes from the son of a passenger onboard the MS Columbus who posted the account on iReport.com.

MS Columbus was on a scheduled 19-day voyage from Genoa, Italy to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In the past week the vessel had transited the Suez Canal and stopped a various ports of call along the Red Sea. The 15,000-ton MS Columbus carries 420 passengers and 190 crew. The vessel is now transiting the Gulf of Aden with 50 crew. Good luck to them!

Stay tuned for more info.

If you haven’t read the passenger account of what occurred during the pirate attack on Oceania Cruises’ Nautica go read the story on Yahoo News. (Warning: Make sure you aren’t drinking near your keyboard while reading the story because you won’t believe what some passengers did.)

In reading this story a few things really stand out.

One, this pirate attack was more up close and personal than the details Oceania put in their official statement on the incident. Passenger accounts say the pirates were a lot closer than Oceania’s account of 300 meters — one passenger says it was a very large speedboat running alongside the Nautica. Passengers also contradict Oceania’s statement that vessel was not hit by bullets. “I couldn’t see them shooting, but I heard them hitting the ship, ‘Pop! Pop! Pop!’” said Oregon resident Clyde Thornberg.

Second, I can’t believe some of the passengers were totally stupid. When the ship was being attacked the captain made an announcement for all passengers to get inside and keep their heads down. “We heard the announcement, and of course we went straight out on the balcony to have a look,” says Lynne Pincini of Australia.

Is this a cultural thing? Captain says “get down” you get down. Most Americans, who are well-versed in drive-by shootings, would hit the floor without hesitation. Not the Aussies let’s get cheeky and go out on the balcony! Is it a kangaroo thing – you gotta jump up and see a pirate pointing an AKA 47 assault weapon right at you?  This wasn’t Captain Jack Sparrow people! Are you stupid or something?

Talk about “Darwin Awards” (pun intended)

What do you think?