By
Rebecca Gibson |
Norwegian Cruise Line is to deploy five ships in Europe in summer 2017, marking the first time the company has had so many ships in the region.
Returning to Europe for the first time since her 2014 delivery, Norwegian Getaway will sail eight- and nine-night Baltic Capitals cruises from Copenhagen, Denmark. Guests will be able to explore UNESCO World Heritage sites and visit cities such as Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and overnight in St. Petersburg, Russia.
In another first, Norwegian will homeport a ship in Hamburg, Germany for a full season next summer. Following an extensive drydock in spring 2017 as part of the new Norwegian Edge initiative, Norwegian Jade will arrive in Hamburg on 14 May and offer a series of different itineraries until 9 October. Guests can choose from seven- and nine-day Western Europe cruises; nine- and ten-day Norwegian Fjords cruises; 12-day Norway and North Cape sailings; as well as a 14-day Norway, Iceland and UK cruise.
During these cruises, Norwegian Jade will call at Southampton, England, marking the first time the line has embarked passengers in the country since 2010. Norwegian Jade will call in Southampton between 12 May and 20 June, and 7 August and 16 October, enabling guests to embark from the port for either seven- and nine-day Western Europe cruises or nine- and ten-day Norwegian Fjords cruises. Guests can also choose to embark from Amsterdam, Netherlands on select dates for seven-day Western Europe cruises.
Three further ships will sail European waters in 2017, including the recently refurbished Norwegian Epic with her seven-night Western Mediterranean itinerary, where guests can choose to depart from Barcelona, Spain; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; or Marseille, France. Meanwhile, Norwegian Spirit will operate alternate 10- and 11-night ‘Grand Mediterranean’ cruises between Barcelona and Venice, and Norwegian Star will return from Australia to spend the summer offering itineraries from Venice to the Greek Isles as well as the Adriatic, Greece and Turkey.
“With these exciting new summer European itineraries, we are offering our guests a wider variety of adventurous itineraries that span the continent, while also bringing one of our newest and most innovative ships to Europe,” said Andy Stuart, president and COO of Norwegian Cruise Line.
In addition to the European sailings, Norwegian also revealed details about Norwegian Escape’s 2017 summer cruises to the Caribbean from Miami. Launched last October, Norwegian’s newest ship will sail alternate seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises year-round from Miami form 6 May. The Eastern Caribbean itinerary includes stops in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; and Nassau, Bahamas. The Western Caribbean cruises visit Roatán, Honduras; Norwegian’s private destination Harvest Caye, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico and Cozumel, Mexico.