"Exciting news coming very soon"

[Chris_2448]

I happened to see this on the NCL homepage this morning. I'm not sure how long it was there but it does sound promising.

 

READY TO BREAK FREE? SO ARE WE!

We’ve been working non-stop preparing our ships and our crew to welcome you back on board our amazing fleet – and we’ve got some exciting news to share very soon!

Sign up below to be the first to know details about our return to the sea!

[Mary229]

I am glad NCL is finally posting some good news.  Purely speculating - maybe they will be home-porting somewhere besides the US.

[roger001]

Hope they can figure how to get a crew quickly.  Yesterday's news reported that Covid was once again surging rapidly in the PI.  

[Yesimapirate]

"We're excited to announce we'll be giving away free beverage packages on all Haven bookings.   Hurry,  offer expires in 24 hours"

[ColeThornton]

Looks like they are just trying to get people to sign up for their mailing list.

[AstoriaPreppy]

This is not new.

They link to a YouTube video of NCL b-roll that has been up for weeks, if not months. 

[Mary229]

Oh, well, just another way to convince people to pony up a deposit.   That is no more exciting than Macy's announcing a 50% off sale

[HBCcruiser]

This is what appears after you sign up:

Interesting...

[coastcat]

44 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

This is what appears after you sign up:

Interesting...

Yes, that had me wondering as well. It seems unlikely that NCL hasn’t been in discussions with Caribbean governments about home porting a ship there. 
 

I’ll throw out some speculation here: The amount of preparation necessary for Nassau to set up the required infrastructure to host RCI’s Adventure of the Seas sailings seems like a lot of work. It would be more feasible for Nassau to do this if, say, a second ship would also start sailing from there. 
 

And today, NCL cancelled Encore, Jewel, and Jade sailings through October 2021 “as a result of fleet redeployment.” Hmm?

[HBCcruiser]

5 minutes ago, coastcat said:

Yes, that had me wondering as well. It seems unlikely that NCL hasn’t been in discussions with Caribbean governments about home porting a ship there. 
 

I’ll throw out some speculation here: The amount of preparation necessary for Nassau to set up the required infrastructure to host RCI’s Adventure of the Seas sailings seems like a lot of work. It would be more feasible for Nassau to do this if, say, a second ship would also start sailing from there. 
 

And today, NCL cancelled Encore, Jewel, and Jade sailings through October 2021 “as a result of fleet redeployment.” Hmm?

AND if they cancel our B2B Bahama/Caribbean cruises out of Miami in July, I hope they give us priority booking should they create new cruises out of the Bahamas. The flights from LAX to Nassau are about the same as to Miami. We are fully vaccinated and ready to CRUISE! 

[jjkandlak]

6 hours ago, Chris_2448 said:

I happened to see this on the NCL homepage this morning. I'm not sure how long it was there but it does sound promising.

 

READY TO BREAK FREE? SO ARE WE!

We’ve been working non-stop preparing our ships and our crew to welcome you back on board our amazing fleet – and we’ve got some exciting news to share very soon!

Sign up below to be the first to know details about our return to the sea!

I saw that and signed up also. Am cruising Greek Isles in late August and hope they green light things soon.

[BoozinCroozin]

The news is that they are going to offer 30% of cruises and Free At Sea promo.

 

In all seriousness, if they are going to port ships out of Nassau, they are going to have to work some flight deals. It is $500pp for Summer flights there from NC. With the expected demand for those cruises, you can expect $1,500+pp without taxes and port fees. This would be well outside my affordability point.

Edited March 22, 2021 by BoozinCroozin

[bluesea777]

2 hours ago, coastcat said:

 

And today, NCL cancelled Encore, Jewel, and Jade sailings through October 2021 “as a result of fleet redeployment.” Hmm?

 

Encore is now a few hours from Goa India - she is taking crew back home in various ports in Asia.

 

 

[bluesea777]

Now I may have dropped the ball. 

 

Hope this is true that NCL will be one of them .....  😍🤩😎

 

Cruise lines could 'homeport' in Bermuda - Minister - The Royal Gazette | Bermuda News, Business, Sports, Events, & Community |

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by bluesea777

[HBCcruiser]

5 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

Now I may have dropped the ball. 

 

Hope this is true that NCL .....  😍🤩😎

 

Cruise lines could 'homeport' in Bermuda - Minister - The Royal Gazette | Bermuda News, Business, Sports, Events, & Community |

 

 

 

 

 

Now THAT would be an awesome win-win! We Love Bermuda! 

[Seany527]

I noticed this on their website very late Friday night. I believe it was the result of RCI announcement about Nassau. Fingers crossed they will release their itineraries before booking and final payment is due for RCI on Wednesday. 

[Envelope21]

1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

The news is that they are going to offer 30% of cruises and Free At Sea promo.

 

 

HaHaHa! Yes! That was my first thought also! 

[coastcat]

1 hour ago, bluesea777 said:

Now I may have dropped the ball. 

 

Hope this is true that NCL will be one of them .....  😍🤩😎

 

Cruise lines could 'homeport' in Bermuda - Minister - The Royal Gazette | Bermuda News, Business, Sports, Events, & Community |

 

 

 

 

"the Homeporting concept means that a cruise line would use Bermuda as their home base for a cruise to nowhere or their private island to our south, for three or four months; all passengers and crew would be fully immunised and subject to Bermuda’s Ministry of Health COVID-19 protocols. Passengers would fly into Bermuda to pick up their cruise and have the option to book a pre-and/or post-hotel stay and enjoy Bermuda longer."

 

Oh, I'd be lunging for the Book button if NCL announced sailings out of Bermuda. A 3-day cruise to nowhere combined with a few days in Bermuda would be awesome. The only sticking point for me (er, no pun intended) is that I'm so far down the vaccine eligibility list that it could be the end of summer by the time my immune system is ready for travel.

[coastcat]

2 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

The news is that they are going to offer 30% of cruises and Free At Sea promo.

 

In all seriousness, if they are going to port ships out of Nassau, they are going to have to work some flight deals. It is $500pp for Summer flights there from NC. With the expected demand for those cruises, you can expect $1,500+pp without taxes and port fees. This would be well outside my affordability point.

Good point. Celebrity has tackled this issue by locking in airfares to St. Maarten. Their press release indicated that their airfare + cruise package would start at $1999 per person double occupancy, which really isn't that much more than their regular ppdo price for a veranda on those routes. (as a solo cruiser, well, I expect the pricing will be abysmal) RCI hasn't released any info about pricing but I'm assuming they also locked in semi-sane airfare to add to your booking.

[DaCruiseBug]

The most likely port that NCL will use to restart is Nassau. It already has substantial air traffic from the United States (can be increased) and the port can handle 5-6 large ships easily. It's also very close to South Florida and people can literally jump on a ferry and get to Nassau really quick.

 

The thing that irritates me the most is that the CDC and the Biden administration are sitting on their a$$es (in their basement) and watching as revenue and jobs sail away as if it didn't matter at all.

[HBCcruiser]

At last Global Ports Holding is willing to assist in helping the cruise industry get back on its feet. They are looking at other Bahama Islands' ports as well - From article: 

 

"We are extremely excited to participate in the relaunch of cruising in the region,” said Mike Maura, Jr., Global Ports Holding Regional Director, Americas, and CEO of Nassau Cruise Port Ltd. “While home port service may not have been a part of the short-term strategy for Nassau one year ago, we are more than willing to speed up our plans and adapt to ensure the survival of the industry.”

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24616-global-ports-plays-key-role-in-caribbean-restart.html

Edited March 22, 2021 by HBCcruiser

[moto_italia]

22 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

...CDC and the Biden administration are sitting on their a$$es (in their basement) and watching as revenue and jobs sail away as if it didn't matter at all.

Jobs are very important to this administration.  Just look at the specific actions that they have initiated to positively impact job growth.  Like ...  uh ... well ... there was ... uh ... you know, the thing

[IrieBajan54]

33 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

 

The thing that irritates me the most is that the CDC and the Biden administration are sitting on their a$$es (in their basement) and watching as revenue and jobs sail away as if it didn't matter at all.

Normal people would prefer the basement act instead of sedition.

 

Getting away from politics, I bet the CDC director has never taken a cruise. She may think cruises are for the dirty masses. Hopefully, there will be enough pressure to get her to ease up on the requirements for cruise lines.

[hallux]

3 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Now I may have dropped the ball. 

 

Hope this is true that NCL will be one of them .....  😍🤩😎

 

Cruise lines could 'homeport' in Bermuda - Minister - The Royal Gazette | Bermuda News, Business, Sports, Events, & Community |

 

 

 

 

Well, that would work as NCL has the dedicated ferry that could be used to help shuttle passengers from the airport area, right?  That ferry obviously wouldn't be enough for a full ship of passengers, but it would certainly come in handy...

[HowardK]

3 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Now I may have dropped the ball. 

 

Hope this is true that NCL will be one of them .....  😍🤩😎

 

Cruise lines could 'homeport' in Bermuda - Minister - The Royal Gazette | Bermuda News, Business, Sports, Events, & Community |

 

 

 

 

Flights to Bermuda would be super expensive as well as a pre hotel stay. Its a nice idea and I love Bermuda but would have concerns