Norwegian sells its Majesty ship

By MICHELLE DEAL-ZIMMERMAN December 21, 2008

Thanks to a reader, I recently became aware that Norwegian Cruise Line sold its Majesty cruise ship earlier this year. The cruise ship, which has been making runs from Baltimore to Bermuda for the past year or so, was sold for $162 million to Louis Group, a hotel and cruise business based in Cyprus. Norwegian plans to continue to operate cruises using the ship through October 2009.

So if you already have a booking aboard the Majesty for 2009, there should be no problem with your trip and you probably won't notice any difference. The ship's final trip from Baltimore will be a repositioning cruise next August. Sometime next fall, the ship likely will be redeployed to an area, such as the Mediterranean, where Louis Group Cruises operate.

This all raises the question: Will Norwegian Cruise Line shuffle its lineup to deploy another, possibly newer, ship to Baltimore for 2010? (Although recently refurbished, the smallish Majesty ship was starting to show its age.) Or will Norwegian simply sail away? And if it does, will it matter, since Baltimore's port has gained two new cruise lines, Celebrity and Carnival?

A representative for Norwegian said the cruise line was still working on its forthcoming assignments, but a schedule for summer 2010 released last week did not list any cruises from Baltimore to Bermuda or anywhere else. According to Richard Scher, a port spokesman, discussions with Norwegian about future cruises are continuing. Still, Scher concedes it is a "possibility" that Norwegian will not offer cruises from Baltimore in 2010.

Bermuda fans need not worry; Royal Caribbean continues to offer cruises from Baltimore to the island aboard the Grandeur of the Seas.

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Personally, this is the last ship I would recommend going out of Baltimore. The Celebrity Mercury will be leaving from Baltimore next year, which is a great addition. The Carnival Pride will now be doing year-round out of Baltimore, and the RCCL Grandeur of the Seas is also a nice ship.

But quite frankly, I've not heard anything good from any of my clients who have sailed on the NCL Majesty. In fact, when we were in Bermuda, the Majesty was there and I talked to several passengers who said the same thing - they all had nothing good to say about it.

Pete

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I have been on the Majesty twice, Boston to Bermuda both times.

We chose to leave out of NYC in subsequent years because we liked the newer and bigger ships.

I would not go back on the Majesty again. We enjoyed our cruises on her but there were things that we really did not like so much.

We are happy the the NCL Spirit is now coming to Boston and can do Boston to Bermuda again.

Sounds like Baltimore has some really nice choices for ships in the near future.

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