Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966. The company's headquarters are in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and incorporated in the Bahamas. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6% of the total worldwide share of the cruise market by passengers as of 2021. It is wholly owned by parent company Norwegian Cr
Overview
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966. The company's headquarters are in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and incorporated in the Bahamas. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6% of the total worldwide share of the cruise market by passengers as of 2021. It is wholly owned by parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
History
The cruise line was founded in 1966 by Norwegian Knut Kloster and Israeli Ted Arison, with the 8,666-ton, 140 m (460 ft) long cruise ship/car ferry, Sunward, which in 1966 operated as a car ferry between Southampton and Gibraltar, for that one short season only. The Sunward was first managed under the Arison Shipping Company, and marketed as Ensign Cruises. Arison soon left to form Carnival Cruise Lines, while Kloster acquired additional ships for Caribbean service, with the line renamed and marketed as Norwegian Caribbean Lines.
Norwegian Caribbean Lines
Norwegian pioneered many firsts in the cruise industry, such as the first exclusive private island, Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas; the first combined air-sea program (marketed as "Cloud 9 Cruises"), which combined low-cost air fares with the cruise; Freestyle Cruising, which is a form of relaxed and informal cruising; and first shipline to develop new ports in the Caribbean, such as Ocho Rios in Jamaica.
First new builds
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)'s second and third ship, Starward and Skyward, were the first newly built ships designed for the cruise line. Like the original Sunward of 1966, they had the capability to carry automobiles through a well-concealed stern door. Later, this area was turned into cabins and a two-deck movie theater, later to be used as a casino. NCL was responsible for many of the cruise innovations that have now become standard throughout the industry. NCL would order two additional ships, that would be their first true cruise ships without any car carrying capacity. This would be the Southward in 1971, and an intended identical sister, Seaward, that would never be delivered to the line, and would be completed for P&O Cruises instead. The line would sell its original ship, Sunward, in 1973, being too small and inadequate for the modern cruise market. They would purchase the former Cunard Adventurer in 1977, refitting her with the trademark NCL funnels, and renamed Sunward II.
SS Norway
NCL made headlines with the acquisition of the liner SS France in 1979, rebuilding the liner as a cruise ship and renaming her Norway. The conversion cost more than US$100million. At 1,035 ft 8 in (315.67 m) long and displacing 52,000 tons, the Norway was at the time significantly larger than any existing cruise ship, and exploited the extra space available by adding a greater-than-usual variety of onboard entertainment. Her success paved the way for a new era of giant cruise ships.
Further newbuilds and acquisitions
With an aging, small ship fleet by the late 1980s compared to the larger modern ships being built for competitors Carnival and Royal Caribbean, Norwegian attempted to catch up with an order of a new ship in 1987, the new Seaward, NCL's first new build since 1971. Norwegian parent company Kloster would transfer two of the recently acquired Royal Viking Line ships to Norwegian, which became the Westward and Sunward (III). Kloster would acquire Royal Cruise Line in 1989–90, and would eventually transfer the Westward to their fleet. Norwegian would also continue with further orders of new ships in the early 1990s, not competing with large-sized cruise ship building trend of competitors, but with the smaller with the Dreamward and Windward to offer better flexibility with itineraries. The line would continue to acquire second hand ships in the mid-1990s, with the addition of the Leeward in 1995. In 1996 the Crown Odyssey, which was part of NCL's subsidiary line Royal Cruise Line, was transferred and became the Norwegian Crown. In 1997 Norwegian acquired Majesty Cruise Line, and added their two ships, which became the Norwegian Majesty and Norwegian Dynasty. During this time Norwegian would rename all its ships with the "Norwegian" prefix (excluding SS Norway), and change its livery for the second time to a dark blue funnel with gold NCL logo. Norwegian has expanded to other parts of the world, including Alaska, Europe, Bermuda, and Hawaii. Between 1997 and 2001, the company also operated cruises out of Australia under the name Norwegian Capricorn Line and acquired Orient Lines in 1998.
Acquisition by Star Cruises & Freestyle Cruising
Norwegian was sold by Kloster to Star Cruises in 2000, a subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong, part of the Malaysia-based Genting Group. Under the new ownership a new concept, freestyle cruising, was introduced with the newly completed ship, Norwegian Sky. This concept freed passengers from fixed formal dining times, instead there was relaxed attire, several distinct dining options, relaxed disembarkation and more lounges, bars, theatres and other entertainment and activity options, a change that would have a ripple effect across the cruise industry.
Fleet modernization
With the financial backing of Star Cruises, the struggling Norwegian Cruise Line was able to begin to replace much of its older and second hand fleet with new ships. In addition to the Norwegian Sun, Star Cruises had ships already on order for their own fleet at Meyer Werft, which would be transferred to Norwegian during construction, with the first two debuting as the Norwegian Star in 2001 and Norwegian Dawn in 2002. These would be followed by an accelerated new build program, adding four more new ships over a five-year period.
NCL America
In 2002, Norwegian purchased the half-complete hull of the first Project America ship, at the time under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, US, which was towed to Germany to be completed at the Lloyd Werft shipyard. Subsequently, Norwegian acquired the rights to move two ships built entirely outside the United States under the US flag, making it possible to start a US-flagged operation under the brand name NCL America. In 2003, the company announced the purchase of the American-flagged liners United States and Independence. In their July 2007 fiscal report, Norwegian noted the sale of Independence, renamed Oceanic some time before. On July 1, 2010, the SS United States Conservancy struck a deal to buy United States for $3 million. On February 1, 2011, the ownership was officially transferred to the SS United States Conservancy.
Departure of SS Norway
A boiler explosion in May 2003 forced Norwegian to withdraw the Norway from service, later being laid up in Bremerhaven, Germany, until 2005, when she was towed to Port Klang Malaysia with the claimed intent to use her as an anchored casino or slow overnight casino cruises on her remaining boilers. Instead, she was sold for scrap and renamed the Blue Lady and later beached at Alang, India, in August 2006 with claims that she had not been cleaned of toxic materials. On September 11, 2007, the India Supreme Court issued an order permitting her to be broken up at Alang, despite the presence of large amounts of hazardous asbestos remaining on board.
Apollo Management and reorganisation
In August 2007, Star Cruises sold 50% of Norwegian for $1 billion to US-based Apollo Management to strengthen Norwegian's financial position. In 2007, Star Cruises sold Orient Line's Marco Polo to Transocean Tours, and Orient Lines ceased operations in early 2008. Following an initial public offering and corporate reorganisation in 2013, Norwegian was made a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), while Norwegian's previous owners Genting Hong Kong, Apollo Management and TPG Capital exchanged their stakes in Norwegian for shares in the newly listed NCLH.
Further new builds and fleet changes
Norwegian reported in February 2008 that the Pride of Aloha, one of the two remaining NCL America ships, would be withdrawn from service in May of the same year. Initial reports suggested she would be transferred to the fleet of Star Cruises, but it was later announced that she would return to the Norwegian international fleet as the Norwegian Sky, while the Norwegian Majesty and Norwegian Dream would be sold to Louis Cruise Lines.
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