By
Rebecca Gibson |
Norwegian Star is to make Norwegian Cruise Line’s first calls in Asia and Australia since 2002, as well as its inaugural visits to the Gulf and India as part of her 2016-2017 itineraries.
The ship, which will spend summer 2016 in the Baltic, will visit various ports in Asia and Australasia from her homeports in Istanbul, Turkey; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Singapore; Hong Kong, China; Sydney, Australia; and Auckland, New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Star will offer the line’s first Holy Land cruises since 2013 from their European homeports. Norwegian Spirit, which will replace Norwegian Epic as Europe’s year-round ship, will also operate a series of seven-, 10- and 11-day Eastern and Western Mediterranean sailings departing from Barcelona, Spain; Venice, Italy; and Istanbul, Turkey. This marks the first time Norwegian has embarked passengers in Turkey for many years. Norwegian Star will also sail in the Mediterranean and Western Europe in autumn 2016.
Replacing Norwegian Star, Norwegian Jade will sail three-, four-, six- and seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises from Tampa in the winter, while Norwegian Jewel will sail two new 14-day Panama Canal sailings from the US ports of Los Angeles and Miami in February 2016 and two in February 2017.
Norwegian Sun will return to South America for winter 2016-2017, offering seven-, ten- and 15-day sailings from her new Rio de Janerio homeport, as well as Santiago in Chile, and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Guests can also choose to extend their South American exploration with a Cruisetour, enabling them to explore destinations such as Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls and Easter Island.
“We are truly excited to offer these incredible new itineraries to our guests, who now have the opportunity to explore areas of the globe that we haven’t called on in many years and some that we’ve never before visited,” said Andy Stuart, Norwegian’s president and chief operating officer. “Norwegian is taking guests to their dream destinations, where they can indulge in new tastes, new cultures and new experiences, along with the flexibility to unpack once and the freedom to explore many distinct destinations during one vacation-of-a-lifetime.”
Seasonally, Norwegian will also continue to base three ships in Alaska, four in Europe, two in Bermuda and offer various repositioning cruises. In addition, Pride of America will continue to sail year-round, inter-island Hawaii cruises from Honolulu and Norwegian Sky will remain in Miami year-round to offer short Bahamas itineraries.