New NCL ships

[NorthernNeighbour]

I have read that NCL will be getting two more new ships soon and phasing out all the older ships more than 6 years old.

 

Does anyone have an idea when the new ships will roll out? What will they be named?

[mbisson]

you might want to check out this CC page:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=167

 

and

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=481

[Hockey19]

Ugh - two 4200 pasenger mega ships. I understand economies of scale pretty well but I prefer the 2k passenger ships. Showing my age a bit by saying that we sailed the Sea when it was the Seaward (1995). At 1.5k when new, that was a lot of people. At some point size does not matter. At 4,200- you can have it.

[Dolphins]

I fail to see any attraction in a ship that can hold 4,200 passengers, more than any other ship I can think of. I have enough trouble embarking and debarking on a ship with 2,000 passengers. I have seen pictures of the ship and it looks like a boxy, fully loaded container ship. I have heard NCL officers express similar distaste of its appearance.

 

I appreciate the fact that NCL sails year round out of New York and what we need is a Dawn sized ship with a retractable roof over the pool. That would be perfect.

[Retired not Expired]

I fail to see any attraction in a ship that can hold 4,200 passengers, more than any other ship I can think of. I have enough trouble embarking and debarking on a ship with 2,000 passengers. I have seen pictures of the ship and it looks like a boxy, fully loaded container ship. I have heard NCL officers express similar distaste of its appearance.

 

I appreciate the fact that NCL sails year round out of New York and what we need is a Dawn sized ship with a retractable roof over the pool. That would be perfect.

I've had them talk to me too, and not about how they look , but the problems with that many passengers on one ship.

 

Think about some of the ports if two of those things are there with over 8000 jamming the port.

[cruise4kicks]

Mom went on RCI's FoS last year and absolutely loved it. To each his own, I suppose. But I have a hard time seeing me enjoying being on a ship with 4,200 other passengers (or even 3,600 like the FoS). Come the day that's my only choice, it'll be back to the AIs for me.

[Retired not Expired]

Mom went on RCI's FoS last year and absolutely loved it. To each his own, I suppose. But I have a hard time seeing me enjoying being on a ship with 4,200 other passengers (or even 3,600 like the FoS). Come the day that's my only choice, it'll be back to the AIs for me.

I doubt I'll wait that long until those are my only choice. I've been in a port with 2 smaller ships when the FoS came in. It over taxed the port facilities with that many people. Even if you don't cruise on them, they will affect your cruise experience.

[coaster]

Larger is not better... Smaller ships is why we cruised NCL in the past because that is what set them apart. Suggestions for new ship names is something I believe should be based on the heritage of previous ships.

 

Norwegian Sea

Norwegian Sky

Norwegian Dynasty

Norway II (it is a stretch I know...)

[NorthernNeighbour]

Larger is not better... Smaller ships is why we cruised NCL in the past because that is what set them apart. Suggestions for new ship names is something I believe should be based on the heritage of previous ships.

 

Norwegian Sea

Norwegian Sky

Norwegian Dynasty

Norway II (it is a stretch I know...)

 

Or maybe if a really large ship, Norwegian Monster. Just kidding!

[Dolphins]

I've had them talk to me too, and not about how they look , but the problems with that many passengers on one ship.

 

Think about some of the ports if two of those things are there with over 8000 jamming the port.

 

I've been in St. Thomas when seven ships were there at the same time, several tendering. Ironically, each ship present was the largest in the current fleet of all the lines represented. I didn't even bother to go ashore.

[Retired not Expired]

I've been in St. Thomas when seven ships were there at the same time, several tendering. Ironically, each ship present was the largest in the current fleet of all the lines represented. I didn't even bother to go ashore.

I know. It's not so much being on these ships that will be the problem. It will be changing these small ports into major resorts to handle all the people that comes off of them. No more quaint little places to visit.

[rsinj]

I fail to see any attraction in a ship that can hold 4,200 passengers, more than any other ship I can think of. I have enough trouble embarking and debarking on a ship with 2,000 passengers. I have seen pictures of the ship and it looks like a boxy, fully loaded container ship. I have heard NCL officers express similar distaste of its appearance.

 

Looks of the ship? Who cares? When we go on a cruise, we go for the amenities, the itinerary, the cabin, the price - how appealing the ship looks, or what officers think of it's looks has to be among the very last things we consider.

 

Further, this ship won't even be close to being the biggest as RCCL's Genesis will be delivered around the same time.

 

Personally, I don't disagree with you about being on-board with so many passengers. However, I'd be willing to give it a try before simply writing it off. With the amount of extra space on-board, it may not even feel that there are more passengers. Additionally, when you have ships that large, you have the ability to do things and provide activities which are simply not possible on a smaller ship - think ice-skating rink - what would top that? I'm certain both RCCL and NCL have things in the plans that will.

 

Embarking and debarking issues...I am also certain that appropriate accommodations will be made and they'll come up with solutions. If Airbus can sell the A380 seating up to 800 passengers, and airports have upgraded their runways, terminals, and everything else to accommodate the airplane, you can be sure that ports and cruiselines will be able to deal with larger ships.

 

Howard

[electricron]

Ships have been getting larger since the early 1990s.

I'm afraid they will always be getting larger and larger.

 

Whereas I will agree larger isn't always better, I will also state smaller isn't always better either.

 

Many ports will always be limited upon the number of ships that can dock. If ships remained small, more and more ships will crowd the ports, like in your example, more ships than the docks can handle, causing some to have to tender their passengers ashore. Larger ships may mean there will be fewer ships at the port, not necessarily fewer or more passengers.

 

For example,, last year Bermuda had five docks that could handle ships, two at Hamilton, two at St. George, and one at King's Wharf. Next year, only three docks will be in use, the two at St. George and one at King's Wharf. By 2009, there will just be two ducks at King's Wharf and only one dick at St. George available for cruise ships.

Although the number of ships in Bermuda for a day has dropped from five to three, the number of passengers each day remains approximatley the same.

 

Some math, for example Bermuda:

4 x 2000 = 8,000 passengers at Hamilton and St. George. King's Wharf = 4,000 passengers. Total =12,000 passengers.

 

In 2009, 2 x 4,000 = 8,000 passengers at King's Wharf.

1 x 2000 = 10,000 passengers total - 2,000 less passengers ashore in Bermuda than what could be found this past summer. So, larger ships don't always mean more crowded ports. But that assumes the ports control the number of ships stopping in their port for the day.

 

Ports can managed the number of ships and passengers entering a port on any specific day.

[DAGVBSB]

I too am of the belief that I won't like the new mega ships. My travel agent calls them "floating cities" and agrees with us that much of the "personal" touches may be gone.

 

I had never thought of the additional taxing of ports. I know there were four ships in Ketchikan when we were there and it was very crowded. I can't imagine if one of those had been a mega ship instead of four ships the size of the Star.

 

Which ships will NCL lose? The Majesty & Dream are obvious, but which will be the third? The POA was built in the 90's as the Norweigan Sky and refurbished to the POA in 2004, so I doubt she would be the third choice.

 

The Sun and Star are the next oldest having launched in 2001....can't believe either of them would be up for "retirement."

[electricron]

I too am of the belief that I won't like the new mega ships. My travel agent calls them "floating cities" and agrees with us that much of the "personal" touches may be gone.

 

I had never thought of the additional taxing of ports. I know there were four ships in Ketchikan when we were there and it was very crowded. I can't imagine if one of those had been a mega ship instead of four ships the size of the Star.

 

Which ships will NCL lose? The Majesty & Dream are obvious, but which will be the third? The POA was built in the 90's as the Norweigan Sky and refurbished to the POA in 2004, so I doubt she would be the third choice.

 

The Sun and Star are the next oldest having launched in 2001....can't believe either of them would be up for "retirement."

 

The third old ship left to go will be the Marco Polo, which is sailing it's last season for NCL owned Orient Cruises.

 

Back in late 2004, when NCL bought the Spirit from Star Cruises outright, NCL also sold the Sea, Wind, Dream, Majesty, Crown, and Marco Polo to Star Cruises.

 

Since then, Star Cruises has leased these ships to NCL. The Sea and Wind have already transferred back to Star Cruises, the Crown and Marco Polo have been sold to other cruise lines (NCL leasing them until turnover), and the Dream and Majesty are still sailing for NCL. The Dream's NCL schedule ends next fall, it's safe to assume it will be sailing for Star Cruises either late 2008 or very early 2009. The Majesty's NCL schedule lasts until spring 2009, as do all other remaining NCL ships. But we already know that the Majesty will have a Bermuda season for NCL during the summer 2009. We don't know how long afterwards the Majesty will continue to sail for NCL. Keep in mind, the first F3 class new build should arrive very late in 2009, or early 2010. NCL will need the Majesty's crew to help staff the new ship.

[Don Haynes]

I was under the impression that NCL/NCLA will keep in their fleet all of the newer ships including the Spirit. Currently, that would include all of the ships since 1998 which have balconies in at least two decks. This includes the Spirit, Pride of Aloha ex-Sky, Sun, Star, Dawn, Pride of America, Jewel, Jade ex-Pride of Hawaii, Pearl, and Gem. Plus the new two F-3 class arriving during 2010.

 

The Sea, Majesty, Wind, and Dream, along with the Marco Polo will be either sold or transferred. None of these ships have two decks of balconies. So, its having at least two decks of profitable balconies that are the deciding factor.

[shark_bait]

I know. It's not so much being on these ships that will be the problem. It will be changing these small ports into major resorts to handle all the people that comes off of them. No more quaint little places to visit.

 

 

Good Point!!!