NCL has announced that Star Cruises will transfer it's second LIBRA Class newbuild to NCL and will be delivered to NCL in October 2002.This is a mixed blessing as it will give NCL a spectacular, state of the art newbuild, but will also wreak havoc creating once again a disparate and disjointed fleet not only in the hardware department but in the service levels and onboard product offered throughout the fleet.
Although unconfirmed, I believe that the new "Freestyle Cruising" concept will lead to massive nickle and diming a la Star where all the alternative restuarants are extra tariff.
See the press release below.
--Tim
Friday April 14, 1:34 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line Announces Next-Generation Newbuild Featuring New 'Freestyle Cruising'
We're Back!
MIAMI, April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Norwegian Cruise Line today announced that a 91,000-ton vessel on order at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany as part of Star Cruises' multi-ship new build program, will instead be built as an NCL ship and enter service in October 2002. The as-yet-unnamed ship will be NCL's largest, accommodating 2,300 passengers and 1,150 crew, and built at the maximum size to fit through the Panama Canal.
``This will be NCL's first 'purpose built' ship for what we are calling Freestyle Cruising, an innovative style of cruising which NCL will introduce progressively aboard our new builds and some of our existing ships over the next two years,'' said Colin Veitch, President and Chief Executive Officer of NCL.
The big picture is to challenge the conventional model of the cruise product in order to broaden its appeal not only amongst seasoned cruisers but also to a new and younger audience-one that is accustomed to a more relaxed, resort-style vacation. These are vacationers with three priorities: complete flexibility, non-intrusive service of the highest standard, and the ability to stay connected even when getting away from it all.
Freestyle Cruising will offer NCL passengers something unique in big-ship cruising: open seating in the main dining rooms. And the two main dining rooms will each offer a different menu. There will additionally be a round-the- clock buffet-style restaurant with bistro service in the evenings. The new ship will boast a la carte specialty dining in five small gourmet and ethnic restaurants with food standards as varied and high quality as the best shoreside restaurants.
``Our passengers will choose when, where, with whom, and of course what they eat, just as they would at a good resort,'' said Veitch. ``The main dining rooms will stay open much longer than on other ships and passengers can stay there enjoying a bottle of wine and talking with friends for as long as they like after their meal. No-one is going to ask them to leave in order to make up the room for the next seating.''
With Freestyle Cruising, NCL will also staff up to the magical top-end resort ratio of one staff per room - or in ship terms one crew member per cabin. With more crew the ship can provide a higher level of service and keep the many public rooms and restaurants open longer. With more crew the ship can dedicate people to operating a more flexible and passenger-friendly checkout and disembarkation procedure on the final morning. NCL's new flexible approach to cruising will also offer passengers the option of having tips automatically added to their bill to do away with the final night merry-go-round of cash in envelopes. This will create the environment for what, in Freestyle Cruising, is being referred to as non-intrusive service.
On the staying connected front, the new ship will continue the innovative design of Norwegian Sky, which entered service last year as the first ship with an Internet Cafe and which is still the only vessel in service today with both an Internet Cafe and computer ports in every passenger stateroom. Every stateroom will feature digital flatscreens which will serve as both TV and computer monitor. This ship will also introduce another Freestyle Cruising feature -- a series of Lifestyle courses and activities on board and ashore aimed at stimulating the minds and challenging the bodies of those passengers who want to do more than sit by the pool for a week. The line is calling this ``Active Decompression.'' Passengers looking for something different on their cruise will be able to leave this ship with a sense of having learned something, or achieved something, or simply regained the balance in their lives.
Special Accommodations
Another unique feature of this new build will be a top of the ship fantasy-world complex of multi-room villas with private gardens featuring open-air dining, massage, Jacuzzis, and totally private sunning and relaxing areas. ``This complex is unlike anything seen on any other vessel today,'' says Veitch.
Thirty-six suites, 372 standard staterooms with balconies, and an entire deck of 107 mini-suites with balconies are among the spacious and well- appointed accommodations located on the 15-deck ship. All cabins will feature large bathrooms, many with bathtubs, and shower compartments will feature a sliding glass door rather than the standard lightweight curtain. Standard cabins will all include a sofa or pop-up trundle bed that converts to a third lower bed, and many will have a fourth, pull down berth. All cabins will be fitted with self-service coffee- and tea-making facilities. The ship will also offer a large number of cabins that can interconnect to create a two, three, four or five bedroom area, suitable for small or large families.
And when it comes to families, this ship will be particularly family friendly with a huge children's center complete with a playroom, outdoor pool, movie theater, computer rooms, video arcade, a nursery and toddlers' nap room. There will even be a special children's area in the buffet restaurant with their own low-level serving counter and kid-sized tables and chairs. A New Direction
``We've looked at all the good things the other cruise lines have been doing but we want to take them considerably further,'' Veitch said. ``If we truly want to challenge land based resort vacations for market share, we have to identify what today's younger, better traveled, more demanding consumer expects when he or she goes on vacation alone or with family. We also have to match resorts in their ability to offer an unstructured, casual, attentive atmosphere in which to decompress from everyday life.
Resorts don't tell people what to wear, when and with whom to eat, and where to go after dinner.``
NCL's new, ``free style'' of cruising will appeal to both existing cruisers who will welcome the change, and to those who have been holding back because they feared cruising would be too regimented and restrictive for their liking.
``We are absolutely delighted that the Star Cruises connection has so quickly resulted in giving us a new ship which will keep us on track with our ambition of introducing a new mega-ship a year from now on,'' said Veitch. ``Innovation and NCL used to go hand in hand, but not in recent years,'' said Veitch. ``Well, with Freestyle Cruising, we're back!''
Further details including deployment, pricing and additional onboard amenities will be announced over the coming months.
For further information on the NCL fleet, contact a travel agent or call NCL in the US or Canada at 800-327-7030; or visit NCL's web site at http://www.ncl.com or AOL keyword: ncl.
SOURCE: Norwegian Cruise Line
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