Second “BREAKAWAY Plus” Ordered
Norwegian Cruise Line announced today that it has ordered a second “Breakaway Plus” cruise ship to be built at Meyer Weft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany for delivery in the spring of 2017. The first “Breakaway Plus” ship is already scheduled for delivery in October 2015. The two new vessels will be the largest in Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet at approximately 163,000 gross tons and with 4,200 passenger berths each. The combined contract cost of the two new ships on order is approximately €1.4 billion.
These ships are described as similar in design and innovation to the line’s current Breakaway-class, the first of which, the 146,600 gt NORWEGIAN BREAKAWAY was delivered on April 25, 2013. In mid-January 2014, she will be followed by the structurally identical NORWEGIAN GETAWAY.
In a release today: “The incredible response we’ve received from guests, travel agents and media regarding Norwegian Breakaway only reinforced our decision to add a second Breakaway Plus vessel to our fleet,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s chief executive officer. “With groundbreaking elements, yet to be announced, and an additional deck to incorporate further innovations, our two Breakaway Plus ships will provide guests even more ways to experience all that the new Norwegian has to offer.”
These two new “Breakaway Plus” vessels on order will be the 10th and 11th that NCL will have built with Meyer Weft.
The 4,000-passenger NORWEGIAN BREAKAWAY is the largest vessel to homeport year-round in New York City, sailing to Bermuda for the summer.
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Looks like a block of apartment flats sitting on a ships hull.
Yawn. I am trying to think why I bother even reading about these new “ships” anymore. And honestly cannot come up with a reason. Is there a website on new public housing projects I can visit, they might be more interesting and better looking than these Big Box Bores.
This might just be the current winner in the never ending quest to build the ugliest ship of all time.
Don’t they all!!!
The prospect of classic ships, such as QE-2 and Canberra etc., ending their lives through old age, would not be so bad, were their replacements of similar handsome appearance and proportion.
The modern obsession with balcony-cabins is largely responsible for the unremitting ugliness of every new-build that now rolls off the production lines of Fincantieri, Meyer-Werft etc.
When this trend began, ships had one or, maybe, a couple of decks of balconies and this arrangement did not look at all bad, or out of place. P&O’s Oriana (II) is a good example of where this has been well done. It seems sensible to have just a few special cabins of this type and sell them as up-market accommodation for a premium fare, rather in the way the old Verandah cabins in ships such as Canberra and Oriana (I) were priced. To have all the accommodation arranged with balconies simply devalues the concept, in my opinion.
Incidentally, before someone comes along and reminds me, yet again, that all considerations are now based on making maximum profit, I am fully aware of this, but doesn’t stop me regretting that every last aesthetic is now sacrificed to Mammon!
With that investment NCL should also improve their onboard atmosphere…their product s truly ” classless”. It is a case of Jersey Shore meets Las Vegas. The Freestyle concept is anything but….just as regimented as that which it purported to replaced. You have to make reservations for dining/entertainment. So why is that a good deal. If you don’t use their ” kiosks” for reservations you likely will have to wait for eating/shows and possibly loose out. Having only one major adult pool for that many people is a drawback. Of course if you want to pay for The Haven then you’ll have exclusivity. Almost all the public venues on the ship ” have to pay their own way” and NCL doesn’t give much away for free. You know they’ve even discontinued the chocolate on the bed unless you have, I believe, at leat sailed with them 3 + times…how cheap is that? I’m far from impressed with the Breakaway and indeed NCL as a whole. Caveat emptor holds true.
Placement of balconied cabins, and enormous suites in likely and unlikely places on a ships superstructure is commonplace to be sure.
Aside from the extra money made from passengers booking these types of accommodation, it is what the passenger wants, period, monies aside.
A while back when I saw these balconied cabins en masse on the earlier ships to sport them in number, I was not impressed, until, I was upgraded to one on the GRAND PRINCESS, upgrade was “book an inside cabin, get a balcony for $99.00 extra, I guess that is an upgrade, and I now would never book a cabin without one, even on a transatlantic run in near winter weather.
Ugly they may seem, but, that’s what the traffic will bear.
As for multiple and off putting themed additional restaurants, not my thing.
For NCL – never sailed it, never will.
NCL is your classic ticket price as “entry fee” cruise line, rather like Spirit Airlines or Ryan Air (“now sir, would you like a buckle on your seatbelt, that’s a $75 ‘courtesy fee’, please”) and the whole thing is such a turn off, I’d rather have a colonoscopy than sail with them. Who the heck wants to spend the time (and money) on-line picking and choosing through this maze of dining and entertainment options each day each costing this or that extra. I thought the whole point of cruising was being rid of having to decide much of anything? Too many “choices”, too much confusion and cost. It sounds like filling out a Schedule D on your income tax to me. But at least if you sail in it, you don’t have to look at it from the outside, no? NORWEGIAN GETAWAY.. you betcha… just go away, please!
I know the engineers have given their approval for the incredible freeboard on these vessels but it still sends chills up my spine when I see them in heavy weather. I wish Wm. Francis Gibbs, the greatest naval engineer of the 20th century was alive to render his opinion it would be interesting and I would respect it to the utmost. I realize the high fixed costs of operation and the need for high capacity, but the responsibility for the safety of over 4000 souls is hard to comprehend.