Norwegian Cruise Line has just announced a new order for a next generation of ships, with four officially confirmed.
The ships will accommodate around 3,300 guests, and are scheduled for delivery in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
All four ships are worth €800 million and there could even be an additional two ships delivered in 2026 and 2027.
Parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has stated that the new class of vessels will build on the line’s most recent Breakaway–Plus class ships and will feature “innovative designs”.
The line announced on the 16th February that they have reached an agreement with Fincantieri that the next generation of newbuild ships will in fact be fuel efficient.
The company stated that a “priority of the prototype design” was energy efficiency, with the aim of “optimising fuel efficiency and reducing the ships’ impact on the environment”.
President and chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Frank Del Rio, has stated: “This new class of ships will continue Norwegian Cruise Line brand’s legacy of introducing meaningful innovation to the cruise industry”.
“This order continues to highlight our disciplined new-build programme, extends our growth trajectory well into the future, enhances our already attractive earnings profile, and drives expected long-term returns for our shareholders.”
NCL announced last year that its next new vessel, Norwegian Bliss, will be the first cruise ship custom built for Alaskan cruising. It’ll be the third ship in the line’s Breakaway-Plus class and is approximately 167,800 gross tonnes, accommodating 4,000 guests. It is scheduled for delivery in Spring 2018.
More details of the new features to the four new ships on order will be announced at a later date.
What are your thoughts on today’s news? Are you waiting for NCL’s newest ships on order? If you could choose one new feature for the ships, what would it be? Which is your favourite current vessel in the fleet? Leave us your thoughts and comments!
