It’s time for some “new ship” announcements…Carnival is adding three but none will have the familiar funnel design…The newbies are going to less familiar members of the Carnival family — Costa and AIDA, the latter a little-known branch of the family residing in Germany…Costa will get a 3,700-passenger ship in 2014, its 17th and largest vessel…AIDA will have two new ships, increasing its fleet to 10, by March 2016…Both will hold 3,250 passengers and be bigger than any of its eight siblings…Here’s a cruise for fans of the 
Grand Ole Opry: January 28 on the Voyager of the Seas, (right) from New Orleans to the Western Caribbean…The host is long-time country music broadcaster and historian Ralph Emery and the performers include Jean Shepard, Jan Howard, Jeannie Seely, T.G. Sheppard and Mandy Barnett…New to Norwegian followers: booking shore excursions and reserving specialty restaurant dining as part of the reservation process…Part of Celebrity’s culinary commitments includes publishing a 400-page book, Excite The 
Senses…Inspired by Master Chef Jacques Van Staden (left) it’s filled with recipes, photos, entertaining tips and how to be a host the Celebrity way…The book sells for $60…A sign of the financial times: the 4-and-5-day Carnival cruises from Jacksonville proved to be more popular than two 7-day itineraries, so Carnival cancelled four more week-long trips and kept its Fascination running the 4-and-5-day variety…Vacations budgets have been shrinking, perhaps?…For the eighth year, MSC will run “Baseball Greats” cruises from Fort Lauderdale during the off-season 
(baseball)…Among the ex-players recruited by tour operator Stan Bahnsen, a one-time Yankee pitcher, are: Ferguson Jenkins, Tommy Davis, Amos Otis, Jack Billingham, Vida Blue, Jesse Barfield and Frank Howard (right)…The first of five cruises on the Poesia (below) is in November, the last in early March — just when spring training starts…As our colleague Phil Reimer reported yesterday at Ports and Bows, cruising growth exceeded 10% in 2010, although part of it’s due to the arrival of two mega ships, Allure of the Seas and Epic…The figures come from a report undertaken by Cruise Lines International Association, to which most major lines belong…The stage show Saturday Night Fever has been running on Liberty of the Seas since April, and don’t be surprised if it becomes the most successful of Royal Caribbean’s Broadway productions…Maybe on Allure or Oasis one day?