Norwegian Cruise to Expand in Europe
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.
Announcing the news at a press conference in London, Harry Sommer, EVP International Business Development, said: "Part of this is a response to market demand, part of this is the growth in the company."
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.
Marking the first time that Norwegian will homeport a ship in Hamburg, Germany, Norwegian Jade -- one of the company’s four Jewel-Class vessels -- will offer new cruises from Hamburg in 2017.
Three other ships will sail European waters in 2017, including the recently refurbished Norwegian Epic on its seven-night Western Mediterranean itinerary, where guests can choose to depart from Barcelona, Civitavecchia (Rome) or Marseille; Norwegian Spirit sailing alternating 10- and 11-night Grand Mediterranean cruises between Barcelona and Venice; and Norwegian Star, which after its return from Australia, will spend the summer cruising from Venice to the Greek Isles as well as the Adriatic, Greece & Turkey.
The Getaway's new itineraries will feature calls in Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and St. Petersburg, Russia.
Andy Stuart, president and chief operating officer of Norwegian Cruise Line said: “With these exciting new summer European itineraries, we are offering our guests a wider variety of adventurous itineraries that span the continent, while also bringing one of our newest and most innovative ships to Europe”
In addition to the European sailings, Norwegian announced details on Norwegian Escape’s 2017 summer cruises to the Caribbean from Miami. The ship will spend summer 2017 sailing alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises year-round from Miami, starting on May 6, 2017.
