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Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line

Type	Private
Founded	1966
Headquarters	Miami, Florida, USA
Key people	Kevin Sheehan, CEO Roberto Martinoli, President & COO
Industry	Transportation
Products	Cruises
Website	http://www.ncl.com

NCL America logo

NCL headquarters in Miami

The Norwegian Sun in Seattle, Washington (before hull art application)

The Norwegian Gem in Freeport, Bahamas

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is a company operating cruise ships, headquartered in Miami, Florida. It began operations in 1966 under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line. The company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or seating arrangements for meals, nor is formal attire required. Norwegian Cruise Line has a sister company, NCL America. NCL itself is jointly owned by Star Cruises (who in turn are owned by the Genting Group based in Malaysia) and Apollo Management, with both companies owning 50% of NCL.^[1]

History

The company was founded as Norwegian Caribbean Line in 1966 by Knut Kloster and Ted Arison, with just one 830-ton cruise ship/car ferry offering low-cost Caribbean cruises. Arison soon left to form Carnival Cruise Lines, while Kloster acquired additional ships for Caribbean service. NCL pioneered many firsts in the cruise industry like: the first Out Island Cruise, the first combined air-sea program (marketed as "Cloud 9 Cruises") which combined low cost air fares with the cruise, first shipline to develop new ports in the Caribbean, like Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Like the original Sunward of 1966, NCL's second ship, the Starward had the capability to carry automobiles through a well concealed stern door. Later, this area was turned into cabins and a two deck movie theater, which is now a casino. NCL was responsible for many of the cruise innovations that have now become standard throughout the industry.

NCL made headlines with the acquisition of the France in 1979, rebuilding the liner as a cruise ship and renaming her Norway. The conversion cost more than $100 million USD. The Norway was at the time significantly larger than any existing cruise ship, and exploited the extra space available by adding a greater than usual variety of onboard entertainment. Her success paved the way for a new era of giant cruise ships. A boiler explosion in May 2003 forced NCL to withdraw the Norway from service, later being laid up in Bremerhaven, Germany until 2005 when she was towed to Port Klang Malaysia with the claimed intent to use her as an anchored casino or slow overnight casino cruises on her remaining boiler. Instead, she was sold for scrap and renamed the SS Blue Lady^[2] and later beached at Alang, Gujurat, India in August 2006 with claims that she had not been cleaned of toxic materials.^[3] On September 11, 2007, the India Supreme Court issued an order permitting her to be broken-up at Alang, despite the presence of large amounts of hazardous asbestos remaining on board.^[4][5]

NCL has expanded to other parts of the world, including Alaska, Europe, Bermuda, and Hawaii, (NCL America, Inc.). Between 1997 and 2001 the company also operated cruises out of Australia under the name Norwegian Capricorn Line.

Its subsidiary Orient Lines, founded in 1991 to run the Marco Polo, was acquired in 1998. NCL itself was acquired by the Star Cruises, subsidiary of Malaysia-based Genting Group, in 2000. In 2007 Star Cruises sold the Marco Polo to Transocean Tours, to be delivered in early 2008. Orient Lines will cease trading when the ship is delivered to its new owners.

In 2002 NCL purchased the half-complete hull of the first Project America ship, at the time under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA, which was towed to Germany to be completed at the Lloyd Werft shipyard. Subsequently NCL acquired the rights to move two ships built entirely outside the United States under the US flag, making it possible to start a US-flagged operation under the brand name NCL America.^[6][7] In 2003 the company announced the purchase of the famed American flagged liners SS United States and SS Independence for use on the NCL America -brand. Although it has promised to restore the United States back to service, the future of the great ship remains uncertain to this day. In their July 2007 fiscal report, NCL noted the sale of the Independence, renamed SS Oceanic some time before.

In August 2007 Star Cruises took the market by surprise when it sold 50% of NCL for $1 billion to US-based Apollo Management (owners of Oceania Cruises) in order to strengthen NCL's financial position.^[1] The NCL America brand stays solely under Star Cruises ownership for the next 16 months, after which a decision will be made either to liquidate the brand or to continue operations if the brand can be made profitable.^[8] In January 2007 the Norwegian Wind was transferred to the fleet of Star Cruises, becoming their SuperStar Aquarius.^[9] Subsequently NCL reported in February 2008 that the Pride of Aloha, one of the two remaining NCL America ships, would be withdrawn from service in May of the same year. Initial reports suggested she would be transferred to the fleet of Star Cruises,^[10] but it was later announced that she would return to the NCL international fleet as the Norwegian Sky,^[11] while the Norwegian Majesty and Norwegian Dream would be sold to Louis Cruise Lines.^[12] The sale of the Norwegian Dream was subsequently cancelled.^[13]

Fleet

NCL

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL	Gross Tonnage	Flag	Notes
Norwegian Majesty	1992	1997	40,876 GT	Bahamas	Originally 32,396 GT, lengthened 1999. Due to leave NCL fleet in October 2009[14]
Norwegian Sky	1999	1999/2008	77,000 GT	Bahamas	Operated as Pride of Aloha (2004-2008) and Norwegian Sky (1999-2004)
Norwegian Sun	2001	2001	78,309 GT	Bahamas
Norwegian Star	2001	2001	91,740 GT	Bahamas	Ordered as SuperStar Libra for Star Cruises
Norwegian Dawn	2002	2002	92,250 GT	Bahamas	Ordered as SuperStar Scorpio for Star Cruises
Norwegian Spirit	1998	2004	76,583 GT	Bahamas	ex-SuperStar Leo transferred from Star Cruises (1998-2004)
Norwegian Jewel	2005	2005	93,000 GT	Bahamas
Norwegian Pearl	2006	2006	93,500 GT	Bahamas
Norwegian Gem	2007	2007	93,500 GT	Bahamas
Norwegian Jade	2006	2008	93,500 GT	Bahamas	Originally Pride of Hawaii (2006-2008)

Future ships

• Norwegian Epic (yard number C33, also known under the project name F3), a 150,000 GT ship under construction at STX Europe's Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, France. Due for delivery in July 2010.

NCL America

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL America	Gross Tonnage	Flag	Notes
Pride of America	2005	2005	81,000 GT	United States	First large, newly built US-flagged cruise ship in nearly 50 years.

Stored ships

• SS United States (Currently laid up at Pier 82 in Philadelphia)

Former ships

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Norwegian Cruise Lines ships

• Norwegian Cruise Line homepage