Norwegian Cruise Line
From its inception in 1966 Norwegian Cruise Line has set the pace for modern cruising. The line started out as Norwegian Caribbean Lines, formed after Oslo-based shipping company Klosters Rederi A/S acquired Sunward and repositioned her from Europe to Miami - a virtually unknown port at the time.
On starting out in Miami, Norwegian Cruise Line implemented an entirely new concept that would have two major effects on the future of world cruising: the ship would become a destination in itself rather than a means of transportation, and Miami would become the world's number one port of embarkation.
This concept was regular, scheduled cruises to the Caribbean and in a single-class of informal luxury. Following Sunward's success, other lines followed suit and NCL led the growing market by introducing a fleet of sleek "white ships" - Starward (1968), Skyward (1969), Southward (1971) and Sunward II (1971).
NCL continued to expand, acquiring the former France in 1979, which was reconstructed and renamed Norway. At 76,049 tons the ship was the largest and longest afloat.
In 1987, Norwegian Caribbean Line changed its name to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to reflect an expansion of its itineraries. One year later, Seaward was launched: at 42,000 tons and carrying 1,518-passengers, the new ship signalled a changing of the guard from NCL's then smaller, retired "white ships". Seaward was followed in 1992 by Dreamward, which became the first NCL ship to operate cruises from Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
Norwegian Cruise Line's cruising routes were expanded into Alaska with the launch of Windward in 1993, and by the acquisition of Norwegian Crown (formerly Crown Odyssey) in March 1996 NCL was able to offer its first European and South American cruises.
It was in the late nineties that the line decided to strengthen its brand identity by adding the prefix "Norwegian" to most of its ships. In 1997, Seaward became Norwegian Sea and in 1998, Windward and Dreamward became Norwegian Wind and Norwegian Dream.
The fleet underwent considerable growth at this time with the purchase of Orient Lines (Marco Polo and Crown Odyssey) and the debut of the 77,104-ton Norwegian Sky in August 1999, which was created from the hull of a ship intended to become Costa Olympia. Norwegian Sky was to become the first ship based in Seattle.
NCL also purchased the 1,050-guest Royal Majesty (built in 1992) from Kvaerner ASA, renaming her Norwegian Majesty, and contracted the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany to stretch three of its vessels. Prefabricated midsections were inserted into sister ships Dreamward and Windward, which were re-introduced to the marketplace in 1998 with an increased capacity of 40 percent. In 1999, Norwegian Majesty was also lengthened, increasing the ship's capacity from 1,056 to 1,462 guests, and its gross registered tonnage from 32,400 to 40,876 tons.
In February 2000, Norwegian Cruise Line's parent company - NCL Holdings - was acquired by Star Cruises of Malaysia. The acquisition expanded Star Cruises' combined fleet to 20 ships, making it the fourth largest cruise line in the world. Although NCL and Orient Lines consolidated their shore-side operations in October 2001, the two brands maintained independence under Star.
In November 2001, the 77,000-ton Norwegian Sun and the 91,740-ton Norwegian Star were simultaneously christened in Miami, and Norwegian Star's sister ship, Norwegian Dawn, entered full time service in November the following year.
In addition to its new four-star ships, the new millennium saw NCL introduce a new style of cruising that would, once again, revolutionise the industry. The cruise line's market analysis revealed a changing desire among passengers: they no longer wished to be contained by set schedules but wanted choice - in activities, shore excursions and dining. And this is precisely what NCL introduced on May 28, 2000 under the brand name of "Freestyle Cruising". The key elements of this more relaxed, resort-style approach to cruising is open seating and extended hours in the main restaurants, "resort-casual" dress each night, an increased crew-to-guest ratio and "casual disembarkation".
The most important aspect of the Freestyle Cruising programme is an increase in dining options. Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Asian, American and countless other choices are available in addition to the traditional dining restaurants on board NCL ships. The line also introduced a mix of table sizes in all restaurants and flexible dining times with no reservations necessary. Overall, Freestyle Cruising has evoked a mixed response from passengers. Many remain undecided, sighting a lack of "community" and tradition on board, while a great number of avid cruisers relish the "no rules" motto and regard it as an overall positive experience.
Today Norwegian Cruise Line operates a fleet of 13 ships cruising to more than 140 ports around the globe. Looking to the future, it is preparing to launch its newest programme: Homeland Cruising. "Our aim is to be the leader in popular cruise destinations like Hawaii, Alaska's Inside Passage and Bermuda and to offer the widest possible variety of innovative itineraries in the Caribbean," said Colin Veith, President and CEO of NCL.
The cruise line will deploy four cruise ships in Alaska - its largest number of ships in one cruise region: Norwegian Star, Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Dream will be based in Seattle and Norwegian Sun will sail out of Vancouver. Pride of Aloha, Norwegian Wind and Pride of America will operate out of Hawaii for weekly inter-island cruises. Because NCL will be focusing its attention on strengthening its North American market it will not deploy a ship in Northern Europe for 2005.
Written by: Keltie White - 17 Spring 2004
