The cruise industry has adopted a passenger bill of rights that promises, among other things, to provide a partial refund for voyages that are terminated early due to mechanical failures and allow cruisers to disembark a docked ship if essential provisions run out. Drawn up in the aftermath of the Carnival Triumph disaster earlier this year in which passengers were stranded in the Gulf of Mexico following an onboard fire, the bill of rights has been signed by the CEOs of major cruise lines belonging to the Cruise Lines International Association.

The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship will go on trial from July 9 for manslaughter over the January 2012 disaster in which 32 people lost their lives, an Italian judge ruled Wednesday. Francesco Schettino has also been accused of abandoning the giant vessel before all 4,229 people on board had been evacuated. Judge Pietro Morino dismissed a request for Schettino's acquittal on this charge, as well as a request for new evaluations. The documentation provided by the prosecution contains "more than enough" indications of guilt to justify a trial, Morino said.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Viking Cruises, a company known for offering river cruises, on Friday announced that it was launching a new cruise line for ocean-going trips. Viking's first ocean-going ship, Viking Star, will make its first voyages in 2015 to Scandinavia, the Baltic region and the Mediterranean. Viking has expanded rapidly in recent years, christening 10 new river ships in March of this year with 12 more new river ships planned to launch in 2014.

By Silvia Ognibene GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian judge began hearing a request on Monday to send the former captain of the Costa Concordia and five other ship's officers to trial over the accident which sank the liner with the loss of 32 lives in January 2012. Prosecutors are seeking to have the 52-year-old captain, Francesco Schettino, tried on charges including manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.