Tag Archives: Papenburg Germany

Video: Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea

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Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea (2)

Norwegian Escape, soon to be the largest ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet, departed Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany on Friday, September 18, for her approximately 24-hour long conveyance along the Ems River.

Measuring 1,069 feet in length and 136 feet in width, the ship is the first in the line’s Breakaway Plus class, with three additional Breakaways on order at Meyer Werft.

Sailing backwards, Norwegian Escape left Meyer Werft at approximately 2:00 pm local time, and made a narrow passage through the shipyard’s locks, with only 1.2 meters of clearance separating the ship from the “bumpers” that were specially installed along the starboard side of the locks. This maneuver took approximately 2 hours at a maximum speed of 0.2 knots.Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea3After passing through the locks, Norwegian Escape continued along the river, stern first. Before reaching her final destination in Eemshaven, Netherlands at approximately 12:30 pm on Saturday, September 19, Norwegian Escape navigated through additional narrow passages including the Weener Bridge in Weener; Jann-Berghaus Bridge in Leer; and Ems-Barrier in Gandersum.Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea4Following her arrival in Eemshaven, she will head to the North Sea for sea trials later this month.

Norwegian Escape will sail weekly seven-day cruises from her year-round homeport of Miami to the Eastern Caribbean beginning on November 14, 2015.

The 164,600 gross ton ship will be the largest ever to home port year-round in Miami, carrying 4,200 guests to Caribbean destinations including St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Tortola, British Virgin Islands and Nassau, Bahamas.

Watch below the Video of the Conveyance, this was filmed by HD1080ide in fantastic HD.

Norwegian Escape

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Norwegian latest Mega-ship berthed for 5 days at Eemshaven to take onboard her life boats, provisions and the final materials required to finish her fit out. Friday 25th September 2015 she steamed out of the port Eemshaven on her own power for her sea trials. Below is the the exact location and mapping of the sea trial which ended on Saturday night, after the trials she made for the port of Bremerhaven, she docked at 22:19 hours for a well earned rest.
 

The Escape a step forward for Norwegian Cruise Line

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Part of the Guy Harvey hull painting on the Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst

PAPENBURG, Germany — The Norwegian Escape will be a bigger, and improved, version of the two ships that preceded it in the Norwegian fleet.

On a tour here, Norwegian executives showed off the line’s 14th ship, which is about six weeks away from its debut in Miami in early November.

Although it is based on the same platform as Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway, the Escape will be notably different in its details and carry more passengers.

Escape, designated Breakaway Plus in early discussions, will have one more deck of cabins, giving it a capacity of 4,270 at double occupancy, up from 3,969 for its predecessors.

The extra deck also allowed for a two-story design in the deluxe Haven area, which now has an elegant glass-enclosed curving staircase connecting the two levels. The Haven also has an indoor-outdoor restaurant, a feature from Norwegian Epic that was skipped on Breakaway and Getaway but is being resurrected.

The pool area of Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
The pool area of Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst

On almost every deck, Escape has something that distinguishes it as new. On the top deck, the ropes course has been expanded to three levels and has 99 elements, including five zip tracks. The Plank, a balance beam that extends out over the side of the ship, is now on either side of the ship, doubling the opportunity for passengers to try it.

The Aqua Racer water slide has been given a bigger diameter and can accommodate 1,000 riders an hour, up from less than 500 previously.

Breakaway/Getaway’s ice bar has been deep-sixed in favor of The Cellars, Norwegian’s first wine bar. Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville replaces the more generic Flamingo bar near the Spice H2O entertainment area, and his 5 O’Clock Somewhere bar will use the space occupied by the Fat Cats jazz and blues club on preceding ships.

At the new Food Republic, guests will order dinner on iPads. “These ships come out with ever-more innovative features with every ship we build,” said Norwegian President Andy Stuart.

Stuart said that the outdoor dining area in The Haven and the ropes course are among his favorite additions on Escape. “The ropes course is going to blow people away,” he said.

Norwegian Bliss- first steel cutting at Meyer Werft

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Meyer Werft’s Bernard Meyer joins Norwegian’s Andy Stuart and Christer Karlsson

PAPENBURG, Germany — Construction of Norwegian Bliss began here with the push of a large red button, sending automated plasma steel cutters into action on the first plates for the ship, due for completion in 2017.

Among the first items cut was a 2-foot outline of the ship, inscribed Norwegian Bliss. Executives from Norwegian Cruise Line and the Mayer Werft shipyard signed the commemorative plate, mounted on an easel outside the cutting room.

“To be cutting the steel for our next new ship is very exciting,” said Norwegian President Andy Stuart. “Norwegian has gone through a lot of changes over the last year and this will be the first ship delivered for the new Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.”

Meyer Werft managing director Bernard Meyer noted that Bliss will be the 10th ship built for Norwegian at Meyer Werft, which has become one of the most advanced cruise ship construction operations in Europe.

He said the yard expects to deliver the new ship, designated 694 at the yard, in the spring of 2017. “It will be a surprise for the market again,” Meyer predicted.

Norwegian’s latest ship, the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Escape, is scheduled to begin its conveyance from Papenburg down the Ems River to the North Sea on Friday. Plans call for the Escape to enter service in Miami in early November.