One of the small ships of Princess Cruises, the 710-passenger Royal Princess, will depart the line’s fleet in spring 2011, transferring to sister company P&O Cruises in the U.K. The ship will be renamed Adonia. As a result, five sailings in April and May 2011 will be cancelled, and instead a 26-day “South Pacific and Andes Explorer” cruise will be offered prior to the transfer. The ship’s 2010 cruise program includes sailings to the Amazon, Caribbean, Panama Canal, Alaska, Hawaii and French Polynesia. With the transfer of Royal Princess there will be one less Princess ship in Alaska for the 2011 season, though full details are not yet available. During summer 2010, the ship will sail on 14-day roundtrip “Connoisseur” cruises from Seattle to Alaska.

The cruises being cancelled are 10-day “Tahiti & Polynesia” departing April 6 and April 16, 2011; 12-day “Hawaii & Tahiti” departing ?April 26, 2011; 10-day “Hawaiian Islands” departing May 8, 2011; and a one-day coastal departing May 18, 2011. The new 26-day cruise will depart April 6, 2011, and sail from Papeete, Tahiti, to Fort Lauderdale. Ports of call will include Bora Bora, Moorea, Pitcairn Island (for scenic cruising), Easter Island, Pisco (San Martin), Lima (Callao for Machu Picchu overland excursion), Quito (Manta), Panama Canal transit, San Blas Islands and Limón. Fares begin at $4,145 per person, double occupancy. The ship will then go into a dry-dock in the Bahamas to change its livery prior to joining the P&O Cruises fleet in May 2011. Royal Princess joined the Princess fleet in 2007, having originally been built in 2001. For more information, call 800-PRINCESS or visit www.princess.com.

Princess Cruises said passengers aboard Ruby Princess experienced a live art event as famed marine life artist Wyland painted dolphins on the bottom of the ship’s Neptune Pool. Known worldwide for his works featuring sea animals, Wyland is aboard the ship for art events and meet-and-greets with passengers. However, painting the ship’s pool was not on his original agenda. Ruby Princess Captain Tony Draper suggested the idea to the artist after watching crew members painting the Princess “seawitch” logo on the bottom of the ship’s other main pool. A first for the cruise line, Wyland agreed to paint a mother dolphin and her baby as a way to increase awareness of his conservation message. Passengers were invited to follow along with a live top-deck event hosted by the cruise director, including live video of the painting in progress broadcast on the ship’s Movies Under the Stars screen. Photos of Wyland at work are available at www.flickr.com/photos/princesscruises/sets/72157621962996169. For more information, call 800-PRINCESS or visit www.princess.com.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. on Friday suspended its fuel supplement for Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises sailings that leave on or after Jan. 1. The company cited lower fuel prices as the reason.

Effective Monday, anyone booking a cruise that departs on or after Jan.1, will not be charged the fuel supplement. Those who are already booked, and who have paid in full, will receive a refund in the form of an onboard credit.

Passengers who have booked their cruises, but who have not paid in full, will have the surcharge removed from their outstanding balance.

The company (NYSE: RCL) said it could reinstate the fuel charge if prices go back up.

Norwegian Cruise Line is following in the footsteps of Carnival in getting rid of the last of its fuel surcharges.

The 11-ship line says it no longer will collect fuel surcharges for 2009 bookings, effective immediately, and anyone who already has paid a surcharge for 2009 will get a refund.

Carnival Corp., the parent company of Carnival, Princess, Holland America and Cunard, made a similar announcement early Thursday.

"NCL will refund the fuel supplement in the form of an on-board credit for all 2009 bookings within the final payment period," the line says in a statement. "All existing 2009 bookings outside of the final payment period will be adjusted to remove the fuel supplement and NCL will revise the final payment amount."

Like Carnival, NCL cites the rapid fall of oil prices over the past three months from $147 to $44 a barrel.

NCL partially eliminated its fuel surcharges in late October when oil dropped below $70 a barrel. At the time the company said it would stop collecting the fees for 2010 voyages but continue to collect them for 2008 and 2009 voyages with the caveat that it would refund the money if oil stayed down.

In its statement announcing the change, NCL says it reserves the right to re-instate its fuel surcharge -- currently $11 per person per day -- if oil jumps back up above $65 a barrel.

Carnival Corp. & PLC said on Thursday that it will suspend fuel supplements for its six North American brands, effective Dec. 17.

In addition, the Miami-based cruise operator said it will refund the surcharge in the form of shipboard credits for those cruises leaving on or after Dec. 17.

"As the price of oil has dropped to $46 per barrel, it has now reached a level where we are able to suspend the fuel supplement," said Bill Harber, director of marketing for Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL and NYSE: CUK).

However, he also cautioned that the fuel supplement could be reinstated if oil prices increase significantly.

The fuel supplement suspension applies to the following brands: Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and the Yachts of Seabourn.