Norwegian Cruise Line to home port ship in Venice

Norwegian Cruise Line will home port a ship in Venice in 2010 — a first for the 42-year-old line.

Norwegian Cruise Line will home port a ship in Venice in 2010 — a first for the 42-year-old line.

The company today announced it is sending the 2,466-passenger Norwegian Gem to the famed Italian city in April, 2010, and the ship will spend a good part of the year there sailing seven-night cruises to the Adriatic, Greek Isles and Turkey.

NCL also announced plans to deploy two other ships in Europe in 2010 as it continues an expansion in the region. The 2,376-passenger Norwegian Jade will homeport in Barcelona and sail seven-night voyages in the Mediterranean; the 2,376-passenger Norwegian Jewel will sail 12-night voyages out of Dover, England to the Baltic.

NCL also announced plans today to position three ships in Alaska in 2010. The Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Star will sail seven-night itineraries out of Seattle while the Norwegian Sun will sail seven-day voyages between Vancouver, British Columbia and Whittier, Alaska. Norwegian Sunโ€™s itinerary will feature two new ports for the ship — Icy Strait Point and Sitka, Alaska.

NCL also will continue sailing to Bermuda in 2010 with the Norwegian Dawn offering seven-night cruises out of New York that include three full days in Bermuda. The newly renovated Norwegian Spirit also will sail seven-night cruises to Bermuda out of Boston, and the line says it plans to continue its one-ship Hawaii program with the Pride of America sailing seven-night inter-island cruises throught at least January 2012.

Notably absent from today’s announcement are itineraries for the two “F3” vessels the line has ordered for delivery in 2010. NCL has been caught up in a dispute over the vessels with the shipyard building them that industry watchers say soon could end with an agreement to finish just one of the ships.

The first of two new Norwegian Gem itineraries out of Venice will include stops in Split, Croatia; and Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos and Iraklion (Crete) in Greece (available in 2010 on April 24; May 8 and 22; June 5 and 19; July 23, 17 and 31; August 14 and 28; September 11 and 25; and October 9 and 23).

The second Norwegian Gem itinerary out of Venice will include calls in Dubrovnik, Croatia; Nafplion and Athens (Piraeus), Greece; and Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey (available in 2010 on May 1, 15 and 29; June 12 and 26; July 10 and 24; August 7 and 21; September 4 and 18; and October 2 and 16).

Norwegian Jade’s itinerary out of Barcelona, a seven-night trip, will include stops in Monte Carlo, Monaco; Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Rome (Civitavecchia), and Naples, Italy; and Palma, Majorca, Spain.

Norwegian Jewel will sail 12-night Baltic cruises to Copenhagen, Denmark; Berlin (Warnemรผnde), Germany; Tallinn, Estoria; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm (Nynashamn), Sweden.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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