Norwegian Cruise Line has released deployment details for another eight cruise ships across different homeports around the world including from the US. The additional deployments follow NCL’s previous announcement on resuming cruises to Alaska out of Seattle starting in August 2021.
Eight NCL Cruise Ships Restarting This Fall
As the cruise industry plans its long-awaited return from this summer, Norwegian Cruise Line has now announced its restart plan for an additional eight vessels starting this fall. The new details cover a total of 11 homeports globally, including US ports of New York, Port Canaveral, Los Angeles, PortMiami, and even Honolulu.
The new deployments include the newer Breakaway-Plus class vessels of Norwegian Encore out of Miami, Norwegian Bliss from Los Angeles, and Norwegian Joy also out of Miami:
- Norwegian Joy will cruise from Miami beginning Oct. 19, 2021 with five to 11-day Caribbean voyages.
- Norwegian Breakaway will cruise seven-day itineraries to Bermuda from New York beginning Oct. 24, 2021.
- Pride of America will offer seven-day Hawaii interisland voyages from Honolulu beginning Nov. 6, 2021.
- Norwegian Bliss will cruise from Los Angeles for seven-day Mexican Riviera voyages beginning Nov. 7, 2021.
- Norwegian Encore will offer seven-night itineraries from Miami to the Caribbean beginning Nov. 14, 2021.
- Beginning Nov. 20, 2021, Norwegian Escape will cruise for the first time from Orlando (Port Canaveral), Fla., offering seven-day itineraries to the Caribbean.
- Norwegian Pearl will sail from Miami offering Panama Canal, Bahamas and Caribbean cruises beginning Dec. 23, 2021.
- Beginning Jan. 20, 2022, Norwegian Jewel will be the first ship in the fleet to offer roundtrip Panama Canal cruises from Panama City (Colón and Fuerte Amador).
- Norwegian Sun will sail for the first time in Asia beginning Jan. 28, 2022, offering a five-day Japan itinerary from Hong Kong, before sailing a variety of 11-day cruises from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
- Norwegian Spirit will cruise 12-day Australia and New Zealand voyages from Sydney, and Auckland, New Zealand beginning Feb. 9, 2022.
Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, said:
“When we first welcome our guests aboard Norwegian Jade this July, it will be exactly 500 days since our ships last sailed.”
“I am so happy that we’re finally getting back to what we love the most, and I’m very proud that we continue to redeploy our fleet methodically. We always said we wouldn’t rush to sail again, but that we’d get back to it when we felt we could do so safely while maintaining our incomparable guest experience.”
“Our efforts to resume cruising safely will continue to be slow and steady, guided by the science-backed protocols of our SailSAFE health and safety program and in collaboration with our destination partners as well as with a variety of governing bodies. We cannot wait to see our guests rediscover the world and make memories with their loved ones again.”
This news follows Norwegian Cruise Line’s previous release on resuming cruises out of Seattle, Washington with Norwegian Bliss to Alaska. Norwegian Bliss will operate these sailings as long as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approves by issuing a Conditional Sailing Certificate.
Norwegian Bliss Cruise Ship: Overview and Things to Do
All other departures from the US also depends on the CDC as cruise lines will need to follow the requirements setout as part of the Conditional Sailing Order.
The Downside
Even though cruises are returning this year, other departures are being canceled including all voyages on Pride of America through Oct. 30, 2021; Norwegian Escape through Nov. 2, 2021; Norwegian Jewel through Jan. 9, 2022; Norwegian Pearl through Dec. 7, 2021; Norwegian Spirit through Jan. 28, 2022; Norwegian Sun through Jan. 18, 2022; and the Oct. 24, 2021 itinerary aboard Norwegian Bliss.
The Norwegian Joy will no longer be sailing out of Montego Bay, Jamaica as the cruise line mainly focuses on restarting from the US. Crew members on the vessel will be transferred to Alaska as NCL works to take advantage of what remains of the 2021 Alaska cruise season.
Also Read: Things to Do on a Norwegian Joy Cruise
Norwegian Cruise Line still has the cancellation policy in place for those guests impacted by any further cancellations with departures through October 31, 2021.
As part of the Peace of Mind program, guests can choose to cancel their voyage 15 days prior to departure. They can recive a full refund in the form of a future cruise credit which can then be used on a future cruise that departs through December 31, 2022.
The final payment date has been extended through December 31, 2021. this will be a 60-day payment requirement rather than the standard 120 days which allows further flexibility in this very fluid situation of the cruise restart.
