The new Norwegian Prima cruise ship finally arrives in Port Canaveral, Florida, where the vessel will be homeported during the winter season. It comes as the ship completed a busy inaugural welcome touring the U.S. with sailings out of New York, Miami and Galveston.
Norwegian Prima Arrives in Port Canaveral
One of the most popular new cruise ships to begin sailing in 2022 has reached its homeport for the winter season. Norwegian Prima arrived at Port Canaveral on December 11 for the very first time, marking the completion of the ship’s inaugural season, which included a series of sailings in Europe, along with cruises out of other popular U.S. homeports.
“We are thrilled to bring our newest ship, Norwegian Prima, to Port Canaveral with the opportunity to introduce her to the tens of millions of travelers that visit the Orlando area every year,” said Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line.
“The city offers the ultimate family vacation destination, given its accessibility to attractions, the cruise port and easy airlift from almost anywhere in the world. There is fun for everyone, making it one of the best pre-and-post cruise cities,” Sommer added.
Norwegian Prima is already sailing out of Port Canaveral with the December 11 departure. The first voyage out of Port Canaveral is a round-trip Caribbean itinerary, including calls to Costa Maya on December 13 and Cozumel on December 14, before returning home to the second busiest cruise port in the world, Port Canaveral.
The new-class Norwegian cruise ship will continue to offer Caribbean voyages through March 2023. On March 28, the ship will return to New York City, offering cruises to Bermuda. In the summer season, the ship will head back across the Atlantic with a return to Iceland and Southampton, UK.
“We are thrilled to welcome home Norwegian Prima to Port Canaveral, the first ship in an all-new class for Norwegian Cruise Line,” stated Port CEO, Captain John Murray.
“We have a great partnership with NCLH and this important decision to homeport their newest, most innovative ship at our port underscores our commitment to support the expectations of our valued cruise partners,” Murray added.
With Port Canaveral being so popular in recent years, it comes as no surprise that it is also welcoming other NCL-operated ships this year, including Norwegian Joy, Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Getaway and Norwegian Gem.
Completion of Inaugural Season
Norwegian Prima has been busy since being delivered by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in July 2022. The ship started by becoming the first to be christened in Reykjavik in Iceland, which also featured godmother and superstar Katy Perry. The vessel offered a series of sailings out of Iceland, along with departures from Southampton, Copenhagen and Amsterdam before heading for the U.S.
With the arrival of Norwegian Cruise Line’s new ship in New York in October 2022, it kickstarted the U.S. tour. Following some sailings out of the Big Apple, there were also cruises out of Miami in Florida and Galveston in Texas.
The cruise line got to show off some impressive new features for the U.S. guests, including the world’s first three-level racetrack, nine new dining and beverage options, the thrilling The Drop and Rush slides, and the cruise industry’s first sustainable cocktail bar. Port Canaveral is the final U.S. homeport for Prima in 2022 and completes the ship’s busy inaugural season.
Read Also: Norwegian Prima Cruise Ship – Overview and Things to Do
Norwegian Prima is the first in its class at 142,500 gross tons and with a passenger capacity of over 3,000 at double occupancy. An identical sister ship named Norwegian Viva, which is still under construction, will debut in 2023.
