The Norwegian Dawn, as the 10th ship in the NCL fleet to resume cruises, welcomed guests back on December 8, with cruises from Tampa in Florida. Adding NCL to the choice list for those wishing to sail from Tampa, makes four major US-based cruise lines: Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Despite the strict measures and immunization policies against the COVID-19, NCL’s cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway, returned to New Orleans with 17 positive cases, including one “probable case” of the Omicron variant in a South African crew member. The ship departed from New Orleans on the 28th of November visiting Belize, Honduras and Mexico, with 3,200 passengers onboard.
Norwegian Cruise Line announced cancelations of five South Africa sailings on the Norwegian Jade with embarkation dates from December 3, 2021, through January 26, 2022. An NCL spokesperson said that the reason for the latest cancelation is the safety of the guests, crew and communities they visit, as the company’s highest priority.
This past weekend, Norwegian Joy, the Norwegian Cruise Line’s ninth ship to resume cruise operations, started sailing from Miami to the Caribbean.
After Crew Center published two letters sent by crew members on board Norwegian Cruise Line ships, (Can you imagine how it feels not being able to get off in ports? and NCL Crew Demand Shore Leave Restrictions to be Lifted
Norwegian Cruise Line announced changes of the COVID-19 testing policy for guests boarding cruise ships from the U.S. and non-U.S. ports. Starting January 17, 2022, guests will be allowed to board with one negative COVID-19 antigen or PCR test result.
Some important changes in the management were announced this week by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. Oceania Cruises co-founder, president and CEO Bob Binder, is transiting to another role, vice chairman of NCLH. To be more specific, he will now report to Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of NCLH.
Norwegian Epic is NCL's first cruise ship that will experience the beauty of Haifa for the first time in the history of the company. The ship has been most popular among the Israeli market, for Mediterranean cruises to the port of Civitavecchia in Rome. Its first cruise is scheduled for November 2022, 11-day-itinerary, visiting Limassol, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Patmos, Piraeus, Naples, Livorno and Rome.
A week ago Crew Center published a letter sent by a crew member from the Norwegian Breakaway seeking information when NCL will allow its crew shore leave. Crew Center received a subsequent letter, this time from a crew member aboard the Norwegian Epic.
Several cruise ships had to adjust itineraries after Panhellenic Maritime Federation (PNO) announced a 48-hour general strike beginning November 10. The strike by the port workers is expected to put all major Greek ports on hold suspending ferry service and cruise ship arrivals.
