NCL Corp. will
restructure its North American fleet rotation in 2007.
In the fall, the
line will shift the Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sun from New
Orleans to Miami, take the Norwegian Spirit out of New York and
move it to New Orleans, and put NCL America's Pride of Aloha on
longer inter-island Hawaii itineraries. In addition, the Norwegian
Gem, which will debut with Europe cruises in October, will replace
the Spirit in New York beginning in December sailing to the Bahamas
and Florida.
Meanwhile, in April
2007 it will remove NCL's Norwegian Wind from its Hawaii route and
the NCL fleet, and send it to parent company Star Cruises' Asia
fleet.
The Norwegian
Wind's removal from the Hawaii rotation will reduce NCL Corp.'s
Hawaii fleet to three American-flagged ships: NCL America's Pride
of Aloha, Pride of America and Pride of Hawaii.
Andy Stuart, NCL
executive vice president of sales and marketing, made the
announcement about the Hawaii itineraries during the Norwegian
Pearl's inaugural sailing and said that guests on NCL's Hawaii
ships typically stay in the islands for more than one week and have
asked for the port-intensive itineraries to also include
days-at-sea to relax during, which the longer itineraries
allow.
The Pride of Aloha
will begin 10- and 11-day inter-island itineraries in September,
including one that stops in Fanning Island in the Republic of
Kiribati, and includes two days-at-sea built in. The 11-day Fanning
Island itinerary will sail less than once a month, departing only
five times in seven months between October 2007 and April
2008.
The Norwegian Sun
will begin sailing from Miami on Oct. 27 and offer seven-day
western Caribbean cruises, calling at the Bay Islands in Honduras;
Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Great Stirrup Cay in
the Bahamas.
The Norwegian
Spirit, meanwhile, will begin its New Orleans sailings Nov. 18,
offering a western Caribbean itinerary featuring port calls in
Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Santo Tomas De Castilla, Guatemala;
and Belize City.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Johanna
Jainchill at [email protected].