Thread: Bermuda gets BIG NCL Committment

Bermuda is a great cruise destination, and those living in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern USA can easily drive to an embarkation port.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and the Bermuda Government recently announced that they have reached a long-term agreement that calls for two of NCL's ships to be deployed to Bermuda for the next 10 years, commencing 2009 and running through 2018.

These ships will predominantly depart from New York and Boston and will each sail at least 22 cruises per season, making extended calls in Bermuda.


Since NCL first began sailing to Bermuda, it has been one of our most popular itineraries, and we have developed a truly unique relationship with the community and government of our host destination," said Colin Veitch, NCL's president and CEO. "Over the past 15 years, we have deployed ships from more US homeports to meet the growing demand from US travelers to visit Bermuda. Our new 10-year agreement with Bermuda confirms NCL's position as the leader in Bermuda cruising, plus we now have a solid basis on which to commit two of our fleet of brand new purpose-built Freestyle Cruising ships long term - a significant upgrade from our perspective and from Bermuda's."

Norwegian Spirit

In 2009, Norwegian Spirit, with a double occupancy capacity of 2,000 guests, will sail from Boston to Bermuda, departing on Fridays, calling in Bermuda from Sunday through Wednesday.


Norwegian Dawn
Norwegian Dawn, with a guest capacity of more than 2,200, will sail from New York on Sundays, calling in Bermuda from Wednesday through Friday.


Norwegian Majesty
Also in 2009, Norwegian Majesty (the ship which has served NCL's Boston-Bermuda business for 15 years) will sail to St. George's, Bermuda from Charleston, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

"NCL has been a loyal and productive partner in helping us rebuild the reputation of our tourism product. I am proud to say this ongoing partnership will continue now for at least another ten years," said Bermuda's Premier, Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown. "This proves once again that major players in the global tourism industry are bullish on Bermuda - and they are bullish for the long term."


As part of the agreement, NCL will partner with Bermuda's Department of Tourism and Chamber of Commerce to contribute to the Bermuda experience. This includes becoming one of the sponsors for the annual Bermuda Music Festival, supporting the St. George's Foundation and the Bermudian Heritage Association, and developing a new program to continue encouraging cruise guests to dine in restaurants ashore.



-- FROM Welcome to NCL

Seems like Bermuda will become THE place to cruise to in the next few years. Especially now that Costa will be sailing there from Florida. The east coast will be pretty well covered for embarkation ports sailing there, not just the northeast.

Costa makes ONE trip there from Ft Lauderdale, in April of next year.

Sure wish some line would decide to sail there from Port Canaveral on a regular, or even semi-regular, basis!

MSC is sailing ONCE in April of 2009 from Ft Lauderdale.

Geez! I didn't realize that those 2 only had single cruises there! Those will sail full, I'm sure. Are they round trip or part of a repositioning cruise

They're not repos. And both from Ft Lauderdale.

RCL also has a lot of Bermuda cruises scheduled, but none out of Florida.
They are from Baltimore, Bayonne, and Norfolk.

Wonder how many of our members will sail to Bermuda in 2008, and which lines they will sail?