BLISS-FUL CEREMONY

Norwegian Cruise Line and Meyer Werft celebrated the keel laying of the Norwegian Bliss at the yard’s state of the art facility in Papenburg on 24th May (above). During the ceremony, one of the keel blocks of the 167,800gt vessel was lifted into the covered building hall, signifying a major milestone in the ship’s construction. The Norwegian Bliss is due for delivery in April 2018 and will be the first cruise ship custom built with features and amenities for the ultimate Alaska cruise experience. The third ship in the line’s Breakaway Plus-Class, the Norwegian Bliss will accommodate 4,000 guests and will be the 12th ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet to be built by Meyer Werft. During her inaugural summer 2018 season, the Norwegian Bliss will sail weekly seven-day Alaska cruises each Saturday from the recently expanded Pier 66 Cruise Terminal in Seattle, offering guests the premier way to see America’s last frontier, while also providing all of the innovative features, entertainment, signature dining and on-board experiences that NCL is known for around the globe. The ship’s itinerary will feature calls in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria, British Columbia, along with scenic glacier cruising. The ship will sail her inaugural Winter season beginning in November 2018, offering seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruises each Saturday from Port Miami, featuring calls in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Tortola, British Virgin Islands and Nassau, Bahamas.

MILESTONE FOR PORTSMOUTH

On 9th June Crystal Cruises’ 51,044gt/1995 built Crystal Symphony (above) became the largest cruise liner to call at Portsmouth International Port. Recent berth extensions at the port have enabled a greater range of cruise ships to be welcomed to the port. The ship arrived at the end of a cruise around the British and Irish coastline. It is also the first time that Crystal has chosen Portsmouth International Port, either as a port of call or as a turnaround facility. Guests spent their last night of the cruise alongside at Portsmouth International Port, before disembarking for the journey home. The Crystal Symphony departed Portsmouth International Port on 10th June bound for Zeebrugge.

NEWBUILDS FOR AIDA

In May AIDA Cruises announced a number of details for its next class of ships, the so-called 180,000gt, 5,000 passenger capacity and LNG powered Helios-class newbuilds. AIDA will unveil 21 cabin categories on the new ships, ranging from penthouse suites to family and veranda staterooms, plus single cabins. There will be 17 restaurants including the traditional German self-service options, ala- carte restaurants and five speciality options. Among the speciality options will be French Kiss, Casanova and the Brauhaus. AIDA promises new a-la-carte options and will also have five self-service options that are popular with German passengers. Deck 16 will be an activity deck with a waterslide, water park, mini golf and a ropes course. The pool deck will have a lightweight retractable glass roof, giving the ships the deployment option of Northern Europe in the winter. This will also bring back AIDA’s trademark beach-club which has been a solid hit on the AIDAprima. The keel laying for the first of the two newbuilds is set for September 2017. The first of the two ships will be named AIDAnova The newbuilding will be the world’s first cruise ship that can be operated solely on LNG. The keel laying will take place in September 2017 at the Papenburg yard, and the float-out is scheduled for August 2018. The AIDAnova will be the company’s 13th ship and will offer 7-day cruises to Madeira and the Canary Islands from December 2018 for the inaugural season. The new 125,572gt/2017 built AIDAperla made her first call at Barcelona on 7th June during her maiden season. 

CELEBRATIONS ON THE THAMES

The 63,786gt/1989 built Columbus was delivered to CMV in Singapore on 12th April and proceeded to Rotterdam for refit. Upon completion of her transformation at Damen Shipyard’s facility the vessel departed for Tilbury, where she arrived on 5th June. The ship was formerly P&O Australia’s Pacific Pearl and the Ocean Village before that. The new flagship was unveiled at London International Cruise Terminal, Tilbury, on 5th June and christened there on 8th June by godmother Angela Rippon CBE. With a broadcast career of over 50 years and presenter of numerous prime time programmes, Angela currently presents Rip Off Britain, How To Stay Young, Health, Truth or Scare and Holding Back the Years. The ceremony took place in the Palladium Lounge on board the Columbus. The Columbus has an exciting year ahead as she sails to Cuba, Central America and the Caribbean and at the start of 2018 in true tradition of her name sake she will set off round the world. The refurbishment of the ship included newly decorated lounges, a library, a crafters studio and a traditional style Taverner’s Pub. The Columbus was built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint- Nazaire, France, and launched in 1988 as the Sitmar Fair Majesty. Originally ordered for Sitmar Cruises, she was sold and made her service debut with Princess Cruises as Star Princess in 1989. From 1997 to 2003 she served in the P&O Cruises fleet as the Arcadia before being renamed Ocean Village in 2003 when the shortlived Ocean Village brand was established. The Columbus set sail from the London Cruise Terminal at Tilbury on 11th June, on her maiden three night cruise to Amsterdam and Antwerp as a brass band played and confetti cannons showered the scene in colourful confetti as seen above.

MSC DELIVERY

MSC Cruises officially took delivery of the 171,589gt/5,714-passenger MSC Meraviglia from STX France on 31st May, marking the occasion with a flag ceremony in St. Nazaire, France. The vessel is the first of six new MSC ships to come into service between 2017 and 2020, four of which will be built by STX France. During the event, the shipyard’s pennant and the French flag were lowered, accompanied by the French national anthem, before Laurent Castaing, ceo of STX France, handed the ship over to MSC Cruises. Godmother of the ceremony, Zoe Africa Vago, cut the ribbon, followed by the traditional breaking of the bottle of champagne and three blasts from the ship’s siren, signalling the end of the ceremony. The MSC Meraviglia then departed for Le Havre to prepare for her naming ceremony. During the flag ceremony it was confirmed that MSC had signed letters of intent worth €4.5bn to build two 200,000gt LNG-powered cruise ships at STX France, with options for two more, securing thousands of French jobs for many years. The order is part of the company’s €9 billion investment programme, with building slots now confirmed. The first pair will be delivered between 2022 and 2024, with the options scheduled for 2025 and 2026 completion. With guest capacity of 6,850, they will be the largest in the world. The MSC Meraviglia is both the biggest ship to ever be built by a European ship owner and the largest to come into service in 2017 plus becomes the 13th cruise ship to join MSC Cruises’ fleet since the company’s inception in 2003. The ship is 315m long, 43m wide, 65m high and has a speed of 22.7 knots. The christening ceremony was performed by international screen legend and godmother of all of MSC Cruises’ ships, Sophia Loren, on 3rd June and, once the celebrations had concluded, the ship began her first sailing along the Atlantic coast, calling at Vigo and Lisbon prior to the Mediterranean ports of Barcelona, Marseille and Genoa. The ship’s first regular 7-night itinerary departed Genoa on 11th June with calls at Naples, Messina, Valletta, Barcelona and Marseille.