Norwegian Cruise Line Profile

For the latest issue of The Log, the official journal of the Navy League of the United States, New York Council, I wrote an article profiling Norwegian Cruise Lines (“NCL”) with a focus on its operations in New York. A copy of that article is posted at http://beyondships.com/NCL-Freestyle.html

In the article I looked at NCL’s history, which grew out of a partnership between Ted Arison, who would go on to found Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian marine businessman Knut Kloster. The venture proved a success but the personalities apparently did not mix and the two went their separate ways in a not very amicable split.

Kloster kept NCL and for a time, it was the top cruise line. One of its most innovative moves was refurbishing the majestic ocean liner, the SS France, into the largest cruise ship seen up to that point, the SS Norway. This step not only vastly increased NCL’s passenger capacity but paved the way for the mega-cruise ships that we see today.

By the turn of the millennium, however, NCL had lost its former position in the industry and appeared to be headed downwards. A new owner, Star Cruises, was able to inject fresh capital into the line and also new management ideas. The line realized that in order to compete, it could not simply follow the model that all of the other cruise lines used. Accordingly, it abandoned the traditional model and introduced Freestyle Cruising, which is best known for replacing the traditional assigned time and place dining system with a system that allows guests to decide when and where to eat. It has been so successful that the other lines have or are introducing similar systems.

Another innovation was homeporting its ships in ports outside of the traditional Florida cruise ports. One such port is New York, which had been all but abandoned by the cruise lines in the winter months until NCL deployed a ship there on a year-round basis. Once again, it proved a success and other lines have followed suit.

My article also describes the three ships that NCL has been using in New York recently, Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Dawn. Each of these ships is profiled on the site complete with photo tours. The profiles can be accessed from my NCL page http://www.beyondships.com/NCL.html