Moves afoot for NCL's Majesty & Dream and POH may not be off to Star afterall

[mjsshipboy]

I doubt very much that there will be tonnage transferred from Star to NCL.

 

Star need to have newer tonnage to comete against new competition in their home ports from western lines such as RCI. Up until now they have pretty much had the monopoly on Asia.

 

I am shocked though that POA is going over to Pullmantur - that ship would have been great for the Star fleet.

 

Everyone knows that NCL is desperate for cash though!

[Atomica]

NCL stated that they felt it was not viable for the company to invest anymore money into the Pride of Aloha/Norwegian Sky. I wonder if the format on the ship does not perform as well as they would like with Freestyle Cruising...

 

BKB

 

That's probably very much the case. The Sun had enough modifications made to it in the shipyard to allow Freestyle to work, but the POA was supposed to be a sister ship to Costa Victoria before NCL bought the hull and finished it as Norwegian Sky.

 

The Pride of Aloha will probably do very well in Europe for Pullmantur - at only 9 years old, it (as well as the Dream/Majesty combo going to Louis) is a huge leap over a lot of the ships there at the moment, most of which are at least 20 years old.

[electricron]

Since NCL will be losing these three ships, and not have any coming online until 2010...what do you think the chances of Norwegian Spirit's sister-ship, SuperStar Virgo, will transfer to NCL? I think this would be a great addition to the NCL fleet...

 

Also, if you look through the old press-releases...NCL stated that they felt it was not viable for the company to invest anymore money into the Pride of Aloha/Norwegian Sky. I wonder if the format on the ship does not perform as well as they would like with Freestyle Cruising...

 

BKB

 

Slim to none. The Superstar Virgo is Star's "Flagship".

 

NCL, when in the pinch in 2004 over flooding of the Pride of America in dry dock, was lucky to get the Spirit (ex- Superstar Leo).

 

If anything, Star probably would like to get the Spirit back.

[electricron]

That's probably very much the case. The Sun had enough modifications made to it in the shipyard to allow Freestyle to work, but the POA was supposed to be a sister ship to Costa Victoria before NCL bought the hull and finished it as Norwegian Sky.

 

The Pride of Aloha will probably do very well in Europe for Pullmantur - at only 9 years old, it (as well as the Dream/Majesty combo going to Louis) is a huge leap over a lot of the ships there at the moment, most of which are at least 20 years old.

 

Yes, the Pride of Aloha's (ex-Sky) shortcomings of being a Freestyle ship had some effect on the decision to hand it over to Star. But the major reason why NCL decided to do so probably was because NCL didn't wish to refinance a paid for ship again to pay Star approximately $250 million on December 31st.

NCl will also have to pay Star approximately $350 million on December 31st too. But, since the America still owes $250 million on its lien, will actually only pay Star $100 million.

As a part of the Apollo buy-in deal, the remaining two NCLA ships were not included. Since Star financed the continuing presence of NCLA, Star maintained ownership. For NCL to keep the last Prides, NCL would have to pay cash to Star at the end of this year.

 

Apparently, NCL decided to keep the America and pay the $100 million, and to let the Aloha go and not pay $250 million. If NCL kept both ships, NCL would have been paid Star $350 million at the end of this year.

 

Therefore, from NCL's prespective, they saved $250 million.

 

The other two ships, the Majesty and Dream, are already owned by Star. They have been since late 2004, in the same deal when NCL bought the Spirit from Star outright. Since late 2004, NCL has been leasing (chartering) the Crown, Dream, Majesty, Marco Polo, Sea, and Wind from Star.

 

The Crown was sold to Fred Olsen and the Marco Polo was sold to Global Cruise and will be chartered to Transccean.

The Sea is now the Superstar Libra and the Wind is now the Superstar Aquarius.

If the rumors are true, the Dream and Majesty will be sold to Louis Cruise Lines and the Aloha (ex-Sky) sold to Pullmantur.

 

Therefore, of the six ships leased by Star to NCL, Star is only going to keep two. Also, Star has recently sold the Gemini to another cruise line too, rumors suggest the Danish bulk carrier operator Clipper Group.

Star has sold more cruise ships, a total of six, in the past two years than what they will own at the end of this year.

Star will have four cruise ships, the Virgo, Libra, Aquarius and Pisces at the end of this year. One could argue whether the Pisces should be considered a cruise ship?

[FIRELT5]

http://www.cruise-community.com/ShowStory.asp?ID=14073

[Goldryder]

NCL/Star/Genting Group will not confirm the sale before the contract is inked as it would be very bad business sense, so why they are being asked to confirm or deny is crazy.

 

The sale is probably going to go through more than it won't. NCL are up the swanny without a paddle or two and Apollo have their corporate nuts in a vice...so stands to reason the older 'Cinderella' ships have got to go and where better than European operators where they will earn a decent living til retirement.

[Atomica]

Yes, the Pride of Aloha's (ex-Sky) shortcomings of being a Freestyle ship had some effect on the decision to hand it over to Star. But the major reason why NCL decided to do so probably was because NCL didn't wish to refinance a paid for ship again to pay Star approximately $250 million on December 31st.

NCl will also have to pay Star approximately $350 million on December 31st too. But, since the America still owes $250 million on its lien, will actually only pay Star $100 million.

As a part of the Apollo buy-in deal, the remaining two NCLA ships were not included. Since Star financed the continuing presence of NCLA, Star maintained ownership. For NCL to keep the last Prides, NCL would have to pay cash to Star at the end of this year.

 

Apparently, NCL decided to keep the America and pay the $100 million, and to let the Aloha go and not pay $250 million. If NCL kept both ships, NCL would have been paid Star $350 million at the end of this year.

 

Therefore, from NCL's prespective, they saved $250 million.

 

The other two ships, the Majesty and Dream, are already owned by Star. They have been since late 2004, in the same deal when NCL bought the Spirit from Star outright. Since late 2004, NCL has been leasing (chartering) the Crown, Dream, Majesty, Marco Polo, Sea, and Wind from Star.

 

The Crown was sold to Fred Olsen and the Marco Polo was sold to Global Cruise and will be chartered to Transccean.

The Sea is now the Superstar Libra and the Wind is now the Superstar Aquarius.

If the rumors are true, the Dream and Majesty will be sold to Louis Cruise Lines and the Aloha (ex-Sky) sold to Pullmantur.

 

Therefore, of the six ships leased by Star to NCL, Star is only going to keep two. Also, Star has recently sold the Gemini to another cruise line too, rumors suggest the Danish bulk carrier operator Clipper Group.

Star has sold more cruise ships, a total of six, in the past two years than what they will own at the end of this year.

Star will have four cruise ships, the Virgo, Libra, Aquarius and Pisces at the end of this year. One could argue whether the Pisces should be considered a cruise ship?

 

Thanks for the information, electricron - I wasn't aware of all the financial considerations NCL faced. It's tough to argue with a savings of $250 mil!