In The News: Norwegian Cruise Line Orders 4 New Ships

On February 16th 2017, Norwegian Cruise Line announced the company had ordered four new ships expected to be delivered over the next eight years, with an option for two additional vessels.

In a press release, Norwegian Cruise Line said that it expects the four new 3,300-passenger ships to be delivered in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and the two optional ships it could add to its order would be delivered by 2026 and 2027.

Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky. (photo courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line)

The deal was struck with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri S.p.A.

Each of the four ships is expected to be 140,000 gross tons and cost Norwegian an estimated $851 million. The new vessels will be designed based on the cruise line’s Breakaway-Plus Class ships, but they will be smaller overall, holding 1,000 fewer passengers.

Norwegian’s fourth Breakaway Plus ship will debut in winter 2019.

“This new class of ships will continue Norwegian Cruise Line brand's legacy of introducing meaningful innovation to the cruise industry,” Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Frank Del Rio said in a statement. “This order continues to highlight our disciplined newbuild program, extends our growth trajectory well into the future, enhances our already attractive earnings profile and drives expected long-term returns for our shareholders.”

As a corporation, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Limited is also sending its Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands to Cuba but only on three dates on Marina in March 2017 and two on Seven Seas Mariner in April respectively. The weekly frequency of Norwegian’s departures will be more akin to what Fathom has been offering every other week but will stop beyond May when its approval expires.

According to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc., Richard D. Fain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., referred to the originally scheduled April and May sailings to Cuba as a “trivial part of [its] business.” Of course, only three sailings would have been, but now with closer to three dozen in the pipeline, the company has a longer term strategy matched only by Norwegian and smaller operator Pearl Seas Cruises to a lesser degree, at least as far as convenient roundtrip sailings from the U.S. are considered. Others, like Celestyal Crystal, sail American travelers intra-island.

Call Rawhide Travel and Tours and start planning that special vacation or event today. 602-843-5100 or visit our website rawhidetravel.com. 

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