Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line now has six vessels in operation worldwide after Norwegian Breakaway sets sail today from the Manhattan Terminal in New York City. It marks an important step for the cruise line, which has been steadily building its restart operations.
Norwegian Breakaway will be operating cruises to Bermuda until early November, after which the vessel will be repositioning to New Orleans, Louisiana, which will become the ship’s homeport until April 2022.
Bermuda Bound
Norwegian Breakaway becomes the second large cruise ship to sail from the New York port area. Oasis of the Seas has been operating Bahamas cruises from Bayonne, New Jersey, for a while now, so cruise passengers in the New York area now have an even wider choice of epic cruise ships to choose from.Â
The 146,000 gross ton Norwegian Breakaway is the first ship in the Breakaway class; the second ship is Norwegian Getaway. The vessel sailed on her maiden voyage on April 30, 2013.
Norwegian Breakaway’s Bermuda cruises will give guests an in-depth experience of the Island. The vessel will be at sea for the coming two days and stay at King’s Wharf in Bermuda for three days before she sets sail once again to New York City.
The 3,963-passenger, 2013-built Breakaway-class ship will sail on six cruises to Bermuda before she embarks on her repositioning cruise to New Orleans on November 7, which will call in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba, Colon in Panama, Puerto Limon in Costa Rica, the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. From New Orleans, the ship will sail on an itinerary calling in Cozumel, Belize, Roatan in Honduras, and Costa Maya, Mexico.
Health and Safety Onboard Norwegian Breakaway
When guests boarded Norwegian Breakaway today at the Manhattan Terminal, they were sure that the experience would be a safe one. Norwegian Cruise Line has been extremely strict with implementing health and safety protocols that protect the ship and the crew members onboard.
All guests will need to be 100% vaccinated before boarding; unvaccinated individuals cannot sail onboard the Norwegian Cruise Line ships. When guests arrived at the terminal today, they also underwent additional testing at the cruise line’s expense.
The measures mean that although the risks for infections are ever-present, guests will be able to enjoy their cruise in a relatively standard setting. All NCL sailings are mask-free, with no social distancing, no restrictions on capacity, no access or capacity limits to restaurants, shore visits, saunas, water slides, etc.
Six Ships Operating- More To Come
With the departure to Bermuda for Breakaway, Norwegian Cruise Line now has six cruise ships operational worldwide. The company now has three ships in the United States and three ships operational in Europe sailing in the Mediterranean.
Also Read: Which Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships Have Resumed Operations?
Norwegian Jade was the first ship to become operational again this year, sailing from Piraeus, Greece. Norwegian Epic has her homeport in Barcelona, Spain, and Norwegian Getaway is operational from her homeport of Civitavecchia in Italy.
In the United States, Norwegian Encore is currently sailing between Seattle and Alaska, and Norwegian Gem became the first ship to set sail for the company from Miami, Florida. In the coming weeks, the company plans to sail with Norwegian Bliss from Los Angeles on October 24 and Norwegian Escape from Port Canaveral on November 13.
