Tag Archives: Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line Names World’s First Purpose-Built Liner for Chinese Market Norwegian Joy

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‘Norwegian Joy’ pioneers Norwegian’s expansion into ‘world’s fastest growing cruise market’

Internationally-acclaimed Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has unveiled the English and Chinese names for the world’s first purpose-built cruise liner for the China market. The most innovative ship ever styled exclusively for Chinese guests has been named ‘Norwegian Joy’ – translating into Chinese as 喜悦号 (Xǐ Yuè Hào).The name Norwegian Joy emphasizes the experience that the ship will offer — 尽享喜悦  海上乐园, a promise that guests will ‘Experience Paradise on the Sea’.

“After closely studying the Chinese cruise market for several years, we wanted to be clear about what we will deliver to our guests on this spectacular vessel,” said Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Chief Executive Officer Frank Del Rio. “Norwegian Joy will provide the same sense of freedom and flexibility found on all Norwegian Cruise Line ships, but with resort-style vacation experiences and amenities designed specifically with the Chinese guest in mind.” 

 

Norwegian Joy

With a capacity of 3,900 guests, the new Breakaway Plus-class vessel will debut in China in Summer 2017. Norwegian Joy is designed specifically for the Chinese traveler, with cuisine and onboard experiences that cater to the unique vacation preferences of Chinese guests.  This unrivaled customization for the China market has involved detailed consultation with Chinese partners and local experts on the subtleties of Chinese culture and preferences.

The upscale cruise experience especially tailored for modern Chinese travelers extends from world-class entertainment to a wide range of specially curated fine international dining, unrivaled duty-free luxury shopping at sea and a new range of incredible first-at-sea activities onboard.

“Chinese guests will discover an unmatched quality of service, cuisine, entertainment and retail experience onboard Norwegian Joy that is simply not available in the China market today,” said Senior Vice President and Managing Director of China, David Herrera.  “With Norwegian Joy, we will unquestionably offer our Chinese guests a superior product and introduce a new standard of innovation and excellence into what will soon be the world’s second largest cruise market.”

Additional details, including the ship’s homeport, accommodations, dining and entertainment will be shared in the coming months.

 

Nuò Wéi Zhēn

In addition to the ship name, NCL has also revealed a new Chinese name and logo exclusively for the mainland China market. The company’s name will be represented by characters 诺唯真 (Nuò Wéi Zhēn), translating as a ‘Promising, Exclusive and Authentic’ cruise line, which perfectly reflects the company’s dedication to offering the premier cruise product in China. Along with outstanding entertainment, dining and upscale accommodations, Norwegian Cruise Line is renowned for a unique style of cruising known as Freestyle Cruising that offers guests the freedom and flexibility to dine, shop and enjoy entertainment on their own time schedule in a fun, relaxed, and energetic atmosphere. Only on Norwegian can guests enjoy their vacation at their leisure, with no set dining times, a wide array of dining experiences and a variety of award-winning entertainment.

To support NCL’s expansion in China, the company has opened offices in Beijing (Guomao CBD) and Shanghai (Xintiandi), supporting all three brands in the company’s portfolio – Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

With a fleet of 14 liners cruising worldwide, Norwegian Cruise Line was this year voted “Europe’s Leading Cruise Line” for the eighth consecutive year in the prestigious World Travel Awards, as well as “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Line” for the third time and “World’s Leading Large Ship Cruise Line” for the fourth year running.

Norwegian named World’s Leading Large Ship Cruise Line

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Norwegian is named “World’s Leading Large Ship Cruise Line” for the fourth consecutive year, as well as honoured for “World’s Leading Cruise Line Website”

Norwegian Cruise Line has once again been named the “World’s Leading Large Ship Cruise Line” by the World Travel Awards, marking the fourth consecutive year that the company has been honoured with this accolade. In addition, Norwegian also won in the category for the “World’s Leading Cruise Line Website.”

The awards were presented to Norwegian Cruise Line at the 22nd annual World Travel Awards Grand Final Gala, held on 12 December 2015 in El Jadida, Morocco. The annual awards are voted on by thousands of travel and tourism professionals from across the globe and honour travel companies that provide outstanding products and customer service.

In addition to the award for top large ship cruise line worldwide, earlier this year Norwegian Cruise Line was also recognised by the World Travel Awards as “Europe’s Leading Cruise Line” for the eighth consecutive year as well as the “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Line” for the third consecutive year.

“We are overjoyed to once again be honoured as a worldwide leader in the travel industry, and we thank all of the many travel partners, industry professionals and guests who voted for us,” said Andy Stuart, President and Chief Operating Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line. “We are very proud of this incredible achievement, which is a testament to our commitment to excellence across our fleet and our hard-working crew’s dedication to providing our guests with an outstanding vacation experience.”

Large cruise lines increase practice of staggered check-in

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Disney cruise check-in terminal at Port Canaveral Florida

Big cruise lines are increasingly requiring passengers to pick a boarding time in hopes of streamlining embarkation on large ships.

The idea is to offer a smoother, more tranquil first day onboard.

In the past year, Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line have all rolled out staggered check-ins on some or all of their ships.

Norwegian is the furthest along. Last June, it began enabling guests on the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway to select their arrival time when they downloaded documents as part of the online check-in process. Guests select a half-hour window to board between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The line continued to expand the idea to its other ships; by November, almost anyone on a Norwegian ship departing from a U.S. port was able to take advantage of staggered check-in.

The only exceptions are Norwegian’s Hawaii-based Pride of America, due to later departure times, and its Anchorage/Seward itinerary because of cruise-tour complexities.

Carnival says it strictly enforces the staggered times and will ask guests to return to the terminal later if they show up early. Norwegian is less strict.

Carnival’s version started last year in Galveston, Texas. The line extended it to two of its New Orleans-based ships, the Carnival Elation and Carnival Dream, and is targeting Miami next, beginning March 4. The Carnival Triumph, also based in New Orleans, is scheduled to begin staggered check-in this April.

Royal Caribbean’s staggered check-in program is currently limited to the Anthem of the Seas. Royal assigns arrival times, rather than enabling guests to choose.

Andy Stuart, president of Norwegian, said staggered check-in helps break up the “big block” of passengers who tend to arrive around noon.

Stuart said that so far the idea has been a qualified success: “I won’t say it’s perfect; I think it’s improved it. It has started to spread people out a little more effectively.”

One important difference between Carnival and Norwegian is the policing of early arrivals. Carnival says it strictly enforces the staggered times and will ask guests to return to the terminal later if they show up early.

However, if guests show up later than their assigned times, “we allow them to come in and check in,” Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said.

Norwegian is less strict, Stuart said. “We don’t force anyone to sit and wait. People embark as quickly as we can get them on,” he said.

“There are people who are rule keepers,” Stuart continued. “They say ‘OK, I was told to arrive between 11 and 11:30, and that’s what I’m going to do.’ And then there are rule breakers who say, ‘I don’t care what you tell me; I’m going to get there for lunch.’ So we like the rule keepers, but we don’t penalize the rule breakers.”

Stuart said Norwegian is working on other ways to speed the process of embarkation.

“Nobody books the trip to be on the embarkation; they book the trip to be on the ship,” he said. “We think investments in technology and automation to accelerate the process will continue to improve that experience.”