Norwegian Spirit News

The plight of the cruise ship off Japan with more than 200 coronavirus infections and the shunning of another by five ports despite no known cases has led to a sharp change in tack for an industry in shock: avoid Asia.To that end, many cruises in the region are being cancelled while others currently sailing are being re-routed, skipping originally scheduled stops in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd on Thursday canceled 18 cruises in Southeast Asia after calling off eight trips to China last week.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s first ship custom-designed specifically for the Chinese cruise market will be repositioned to sail from the United States starting in 2019.The nearly 4,000 passenger cruise ship Norwegian Joy is slated to sail seasonally from Seattle to Alaska in summer 2019 before making voyages to the Mexican Riviera and Panama Canal from Los Angeles in winter 2019/2020.Built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in 2017, the 1,094-foot-long, 167,725 gt Norwegian Joy was designed with finishes and amenities tailored specifically to the tastes of Chinese guests.

Valletta Cruise Port welcomed Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Norwegian Star on Friday, October 14. The ship was greeted by the lively tunes of a Maltese village band courtesy of Valletta Cruise Port plc. In an address onboard the ship, Minister Michael Farrugia welcomed the return of Norwegian Cruise Line to Malta in 2017 with an itinerary of regular calls throughout the season. He thanked all the stakeholders involved in making this return a reality. He particularly thanked Norwegian Cruise Line’s Vice President International Marketing & Operations…

The Miami-based cruise operator Norwegian Cruise Line has announced its ground-breaking summer 2017 deployment for Europe with for the first time in company history five ships sailing in European waters as well as regular cruises out of Hamburg, with embarkation also available in Southampton and Amsterdam. Norwegian has launched three huge ships in the past three years – the aforementioned Getaway, sister Breakaway and last year, Norwegian Escape. The company has long promised a return to the U.K. – which it left in 2008 – once it had more ships. Norwegian said one of its newest ships, the 3,969-passenger Norwegian Getaway, would reposition to the Baltic for the summer from its current home in Miami, operating eight- and nine-night voyages out of Copenhagen.

Port Canaveral will homeport Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) largest ship and currently the third largest in the world—the Norwegian Epic—starting in November 2016, offering seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, as well as three- and four-day vacations to the Bahamas in 2017. “As a regular port of call for NCL ships, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to homeport the Norwegian Epic and welcome NCL guests into our community,” said Port Canaveral CEO John E. Walsh.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH.O) said it would buy Prestige Cruises International Inc from its owner Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N) in a $3 billion deal to expand its high-end luxury cruise offerings. Shares of Norwegian Cruise, the world's third-largest cruise operator, were up 13 percent at $37.57 in early trading. Prestige, which in January registered with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering, owns upper-premium cruise operator Oceania Cruises and luxury cruise operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The company operates eight ships, with about 6,500 berths.

Rolls-Royce has installed the Promas Lite propulsion system on SuperStar Virgo, the first vessel in Southeast Asia to be equipped with this efficient and fuel saving system. Promas Lite is an integrated propeller and rudder system that increases efficiency and is designed specifically for retrofitting to existing ships. Norwegian Spirit operated by Star Cruises’ subsidiary Norwegian Cruise Line was the first vessel in the fleet to be installed with Promas Lite in 2011. The efficiency gains and fuel saving benefits from the first upgrade has resulted in this subsequent order from Star Cruises.

U.S. Coast Guard and State of Hawaii pollution investigators determined this morning there is no threat of marine pollution after a U.S. Navy ship was freed from a grounding site off Honolulu International Airport's reef runway. The USS Port Royal ran aground a half mile off the runway Feb. 5 and was pulled free by the Navy. A Coast Guard air crew aboard an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter was airborne for an investigation at sunrise. Coast Guard and state pollution investigators aboard the HH-65 reported a sheen of approximately one mile by 100 yards wide.

Beginning next year, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Spirit will join Norwegian Dawn in weekly stops at Port Canaveral. In addition, the Norwegian Majesty will make a call in Port Canaveral next year, bringing the total number of port calls for Norwegian Cruise Line to 45 in the next two years. “Port Canaveral offers a wide variety of options to our guests. The shore excursion program we’ve introduced with Norwegian Dawn has been very successful and we’re looking forward to offering those options and more to our passengers onboard Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Majesty next year,” says Andy Stuart, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Passenger Services for Norwegian Cruise Line.

Two new cruise ships will be making their way to Bermuda in 2006 including the Norwegian Spirit and a true giant of the ocean, the Crown Princess, which boasts over 3,000 passengers, Reuters reports. But 2006 will also hold the new all-time record on the cruise ship calendar, with 190 cruise visits booked for the 2006 season; compared to 165 in 2005,161 in 2004 and 158 in 2003. The Norwegian Spirit has a passenger capacity of 1,966 (double occupancy), 965 crew and comes in at 77,000 gross tonnage with a cruise speed of 24 knots. The second new caller to Bermuda is the Crown Princess which comes in at a whopping 116,000 gross tonnage and has a passenger capacity of 3,100. She has a cruise speed of 21 knots. Source: Reuters