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Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is a company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.^[1] 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 (a public company partially owned by the Genting Group based in Malaysia) and Apollo Management, with both companies owning 50% of NCL.^[2] Norwegian Cruise Line controls approximately 8% of the total worldwide share of the cruise market.^[3]

History[link]

NCL headquarters in Miami

The cruise line 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 boilers. Instead, she was sold for scrap and renamed the SS Blue Lady^[4] and later beached at Alang, Gujurat, India in August 2006 with claims that she had not been cleaned of toxic materials.^[5] 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.^[6][7]

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.^[8][9] 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. On July 1, 2010, the SS United States Conservancy struck a deal to buy the SS United States for $3 million. On February 1, 2011, the ownership was officially transferred to the SS United States Conservancy.

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.^[2] 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.^[10] In January 2007 the Norwegian Wind was transferred to the fleet of Star Cruises, becoming their SuperStar Aquarius.^[11] 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,^[12] but it was later announced that she would return to the NCL international fleet as the Norwegian Sky,^[13] while the Norwegian Majesty and Norwegian Dream would be sold to Louis Cruise Lines.^[14] The sale of the Norwegian Dream was subsequently cancelled.^[15]

Future[link]

On October 25, 2010, Meyer Werft and NCL reached an agreement for the construction of two new vessels, slated for delivery in Spring 2013 and 2014.^[16] These ships - to be named Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway - will be the largest ever built in Germany, at 143,500 tons. Each ship will have a capacity of 4,000 passengers. Additional details will be unveiled as the construction progresses. The contract price for the two vessels reached €1.2 billion.^[16]

Kevin Sheehan, NCL's CEO, was featured on the January 2, 2011 episode of Undercover Boss. He was also the first boss to be nearly "outed" by a co-worker (Silvia, a waitress in the Manhattan Room aboard the Norwegian Epic, recognized him as she had served him previously).

It was announced on June 1, 2012 NCL announced the signing of a memorandum of agreement to exercise its option to purchase Norwegian Sky. The transaction is expected to close shortly. The purchase price is approximately $260 million, financing is being provided by the seller. ^[17]

NCL[link]

Sky Class[link]

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL	Last Refurbishment	Tonnage	Class	Flag	Notes	Image
Norwegian Sky	1999	1999/2008	2009[18]	77,104 tons	Sky Class	Bahamas	Previously Pride of Aloha and Norwegian Sky	200px
Norwegian Sun	2001	2001	2011[19]	78,309 tons	Sky Class	Bahamas

Libra Class[link]

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL	Last Refurbishment	Tonnage	Class	Flag	Notes	Image
Norwegian Star	2001	2001	2010[20]	91,740 tons	Libra Class	Bahamas	Originally ordered as Superstar Libra	200px
Norwegian Dawn	2002	2002	2011[21]	92,250 tons	Libra Class	Bahamas	Originally ordered as SuperStar Scorpio	200px

Leo Class[link]

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL	Last Refurbishment	Tonnage	Class	Flag	Notes	Image
Norwegian Spirit	1998	2004	2011[22]	75,338 tons	Leo Class	Bahamas	Previously SuperStar Leo

[edit] Jewel class

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL	Last Refurbishment	Tonnage	Class	Flag	Notes	Image
Norwegian Jewel	2005	2005	N/A	93,502 tons	Jewel Class	Bahamas
Norwegian Pearl	2006	2006	N/A	93,530 tons	Jewel Class	Bahamas
Norwegian Gem	2007	2007	N/A	93,530 tons	Jewel Class	Bahamas
Norwegian Jade	2006	2008	2011[23]	93,558 tons	Jewel Class	Bahamas	Originally Pride of Hawaii

F3 Class[link]

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL	Last Refurbishment	Tonnage	Class	Flag	Notes	Image
Norwegian Epic	2010	2010	N/A	155,873 tons	F3 Class	Bahamas	Third Largest Cruise Ship in The World

NCL America[link]

Ship	Built	Entered service for NCL America	Tonnage	Flag	Notes	Image
Pride of America	2005	2005	80,439 GRT	United States	First large, newly built US-flagged cruise ship in nearly 50 years.

Future ships[link]

Ship	Class	Inaugural Run	Gross Tonnage	Flag	Notes
Norwegian Breakaway[24]		30 April, 2013	144,017 GT[24]	Bahamas	This ship will be delivered in April 2013 and will also be homeported in New York City. Largest ship to be based year-round out of New York[25]
Norwegian Getaway[24]		2014	144,017 GT[24]	Bahamas	Scheduled for delivery in April 2014[24] and will also be homeported in Miami, FL

Former ships[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Norwegian Cruise Lines

• Norwegian Cruise Line homepage

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships. Cruise lines have a dual character; they are partly in the transportation business, and partly in the leisure entertainment business, a duality that carries down into the ships themselves, which have both a crew headed by the ship's captain, and a hospitality staff headed by the equivalent of a hotel manager.

Among cruise lines, some are direct descendants of the traditional passenger shipping lines, while others were founded from the 1960s on specifically for cruising. The business is extremely volatile; the ships are massive capital expenditures with very high operating costs, and a slight dip in bookings can easily put a company out of business. Cruise lines frequently sell, renovate, or simply rename their ships just to keep up with travel trends.

A wave of failures and consolidation in the 1990s has led to many lines existing only as "brands" within larger corporations, much as a single automobile company produces several makes of cars. Brands exist partly because of repeat customer loyalty, and also to offer different levels of quality and service. For instance, Carnival Corporation owns both Carnival Cruise Lines, whose former image were vessels that had a reputation as "party ships" for younger travellers, but have become large, modern, and extremely elegant, yet still profitable, and Holland America Line, whose ships cultivate an image of classic elegance.

Currently the five largest cruise line operators in the world are Carnival Corporation & plc, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Star Cruises, MSC Cruises and Louis Cruise Lines.

See also[link]

• List of cruise ships
• List of cruise lines
• List of ocean liners
• Cruising (maritime)

External links[link]

• Cruise line at the Open Directory Project