Damen Completes Breakaway Refurbishment

Norwegian Breakaway at Damen Shiprepair Brest

Damen Shiprepair Brest completed an 11-day program of scheduled maintenance and refurbishment on the Norwegian Breakaway in April and May as the 146,000-ton ship drydocked.

Laurent Salou, Project Manager at Damen Shiprepair Brest, commented: “I truly believe that all the personnel at Damen Shiprepair Brest really appreciated the opportunity to work on Norwegian Breakaway as the collaboration with the ship’s staff was more than excellent during the entire dry-docking period. I’m personally really proud of the work which has been achieved by my colleagues and honoured to have worked on such a notable project.

“The client chose us for this project not only because we are capable of handling a ship of this size, but also because we are close to the major cruise terminal at Southampton, which was its last port of call. They were also very satisfied with the works that we performed on the Norwegian Epic in 2015 and I am pleased to be able to report that the client was very happy with the performance of the DSBr workers and the yard on this project as well.”

The primary objective of the visit was mechanical workson the ship’s two ABB azipods, Damen said.

The shipyard’s team worked alongside ABB service engineers on both azipods to repair the shaft bearings and replace the slewing seals. This work required the removal of both propellers and took place in very close coordination with the other teams working on the vessel to ensure that no dust and other contaminants entered the complex systems within the azipods.

At the same time, technicians worked with personnel from Brunvoll on the ship’s bowthrusters, as well as dismantling, maintaining and then refitting the two Fincantieri stabilizers. The hull was also repainted.

While the Norwegian Breakaway was in Damen’s 420-meter drydock, large quantities of the carpets inside the cruise ship were removed and replaced by a specialist contractor as part of a rolling program. The yard managed the 24/7 logistical flow, ensuring that old carpets were removed on time and the new rolls available for fitting.

The Norwegian Breakaway left Damen Shiprepair Brest on May 8 at 12:00 p.m. local time, six hours ahead of schedule.

Copenhagen Set for New Terminal in 2020

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth in Copenhagen

Cruise ship calls continue to increase on an annual basis in Copenhagen as the Danish city has gone from 325 calls in 2017 to 346 in 2018, and expects 355 calls and 900,000 guests next year, according to Arnt Moller Pedersen, COO cruise and ferries.

The 2018 season kicked off in late March with the Astoria and will go to the end of October when the AIDAmar calls on Halloween. That is a full month longer than the 2017 season, with 2018 featuring nine new ships.

There are also nine off-season Christmas and New Years call, an all-time high.

Among the highlights, the biggest ship to call was the Norwegian Breakaway, while May 20 saw the port handle six ships, 24,000 cruise passengers and 8,000 crew in a single day, said Pedersen.

“We are building a new cruise terminal in Copenhagen with capacity for 5,000 guests and with a quay length of 370 meters and a water depth of 12 meters,” he said, noting it will be ready by April 2020. “The terminal building will have two floors, totalling 10,000 square meters and two gangway bridges.”

Overall more than 1.1 million cruise passengers are expected to visit Danish ports this year, with an economic impact of 200 million euro, according to a statement.

In addition to Copenhagen’s strong numbers, Aarhus will welcome 100,000 passengers for the first time; and business is also expected to double for the port of Skagen.

And in Visby, a new cruise quay opened earlier this year and was inaugurated by a call from the AIDAdiva in April.

Pitbull And Norwegian Cruise Line Celebrate Norwegian Escape’s Arrival To NYC In Spring 2018

Norwegian Escape’s Godfather and international music star, Pitbull, made a special appearance with Norwegian Cruise Line President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Stuart at PHD Rooftop Lounge at Dream Downtown in New York to celebrate Norwegian Escape coming to homeport in the Big Apple in Spring 2018. 
 
The afternoon kicked off with guests enjoying delicious bites from Norwegian Escape’s culinary outposts, sipping on cocktails crafted from Pitbull’s very own vodka, Voli, and sampling a selection of Michael Mondavi Family Wines. Guests were able to “walk the plank” in a virtual reality segment of the largest ropes course at sea and pose for sharable photos with the ship’s celebrity Godfather Mr. Worldwide. 
 
The exclusive afternoon was topped off with an electrifying performance from For the Record: The Brat Pack™, one of Norwegian Escape’s award-winning Broadway-style shows. Norwegian Cruise Line President and CEO Andy Stuart and Pitbull took to the mic to say a few words to the guest and toast to the beautiful ship, Norwegian Escape, as well as discuss their joint support for Hurricane relief efforts in the Caribbean. 
 
Click the image for Mr WorldWide (Pitbull) interview.
Image result for andy stuart and Pitbull in new york
 
When Norwegian Escape arrives to her new homeport in Manhattan next year, she will sail seven-day cruises to Bermuda during the summer months and seven-day cruises to Canada & New England and the Bahamas & Florida as well as a selection of longer cruises to the Western and Southern Caribbean during the fall/winter 2018/2019 season.
 
Norwegian Escape will be the brand’s largest ship to ever homeport from New York City at 164,600 gross tons and 4,266 guests. Norwegian Cruise Line has been homeporting year-round from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal since 2003.
 
Click the image to watch PitBull’s Freedom Video filmed on Norwegian Escape.
Image result for andy stuart and Pitbull in new york


About Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line is the innovator in cruise travel with a 50-year history of breaking the boundaries of traditional cruising.  Most notably, Norwegian revolutionized the cruise industry by offering guests the freedom and flexibility to design their ideal cruise vacation on their schedule with no set dining times, a variety of entertainment options and no formal dress codes. Today, Norwegian invites guests to enjoy a relaxed, resort-style cruise vacation on some of the newest and most contemporary ships at sea with a wide variety of accommodations options, including The Haven by Norwegian®, a luxury enclave with suites, private pools and dining, concierge service and personal butlers. Norwegian Cruise Line sails around the globe, offering guests the freedom and flexibility to explore the world on their own time and experience up to 28 dining options, award-winning entertainment, superior guest service and more across all of the brand’s 15 ships.

Recently, the line was named “Europe’s Leading Cruise Line” for the tenth consecutive year, as well as “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Line” for the fifth time and “North America’s Leading Cruise Line” for the second straight year by the World Travel Awards. Norwegian’s next new build, the highly anticipated Norwegian Bliss, will be delivered in April 2018 featuring many firsts-at-sea for the global market including the largest race track at sea, award-winning Broadway entertainment, two observation lounges for guests to enjoy stunning ocean and glacier views and more.  Norwegian will introduce an additional new “Breakaway Plus” Class cruise ship in 2019 and has four additional ships on order for delivery beginning in 2022, with an option to introduce two more ships in 2026 and 2027.