Le Norwegian Bliss commence son voyage sur l'Ems

The sixteenth ship of the Norwegian fleet is on her way to completing another milestone and closer to her delivery on April 19, 2018.

Norwegian Bliss, the first cruise ship custom-built with features and amenities for the ultimate Alaska cruise experience, departed Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany last night local time, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 for her conveyance along the Ems River, and is arriving to Eemshaven, Netherlands today, Wednesday, March 14, 2018. 

Norwegian Bliss completed another key milestone with only two months until her highly-anticipated arrival to Seattle, Washington where she will offer seven-day Alaska cruises throughout the summer.

"Today marks another historical moment for Norwegian Bliss, the most highly anticipated ship of the Norwegian Breakaway Plus class, the most successful class of our company's history" said Andy Stuart, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line. "When she arrives into Seattle in June, guests will be excited to experience many new first-at-sea activities, including the largest two-level race track at sea, new dining experiences, such as Q Texas Smokehouse and Coco's a chocolate and treat shop, the Tony Award®-Winning Broadway Show Jersey Boys and much more for guests to explore."

Measuring 994 feet long, 136 feet wide, and at a gross registered tonnage of 168,028, she embarked on her journey down the Ems River and up to the North Sea in reverse, making the narrow passage through Meyer Werft's sea lock, with less than four feet clearance. This very careful maneuver took about two hours at a speed of only 0.2 knots. The precise navigation included a team of experienced Ems River pilots, navigation officers, the yard captain and the local German waterway authorities.

After passing through the sea lock, Norwegian Bliss continued along the river stern first, which helps with the maneuverability of the ship and is a key component when navigating her through such narrow passages.  Her journey to Eemshaven included cruising through the narrow passages of the Friesenbrücke Bridge in Weener; Jann Berghaus Bridge in Leer; and Ems-Barrier in Gandersum. 

When she arrives to Eemshaven, she will take on additional provisions and crew members, before heading toward the North Sea for technical and nautical sea trials. This will be one of the final phases, before Norwegian Cruise Line takes delivery of their sixteenth ship on April 19, 2018 in Bremerhaven, Germany.  Norwegian Bliss will then begin her passage across the Atlantic Ocean on April 21 and will arrive to the US on May 3, where she will begin her inaugural tour, the most extensive of any ship in Norwegian Cruise Line history.  Events will take place in New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles, and then will conclude with a christening ceremony on May 30 at the new Pier 66 at the Port of Seattle in Washington State, followed by her inaugural cruise.

Following the preview events and christening, Norwegian Bliss will offer cruises to Alaska beginning June 2.  She will spend her summer sailing seven-day cruises to Alaska, and fall season cruising to the Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles.  In winter of 2018 she will sail to the Caribbean from Miami, and in the 2019 fall/winter season she will cruise from New York City to Florida, the Bahamas and Caribbean.

To learn more about Norwegian Bliss, please visit www.bliss.ncl.com. To book a cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line, contact a travel professional or call Norwegian at 888-NCL-CRUISE (625-2784), or visit www.ncl.com.

À propos de Norwegian Cruise Line 

Norwegian Cruise Line fait figure d'innovateur en matière de croisières, avec plus de 51 ans passés à repousser les limites des croisières conventionnelles.  Plus concrètement, Norwegian a révolutionné le secteur des croisières en offrant aux clients la liberté et la flexibilité de concevoir leur croisière à leur guise, sans les heures de restauration fixes ni codes vestimentaires formels et avec une variété d'options de divertissement. Aujourd'hui, Norwegian invite ses passagers à profiter d'une croisière de détente de style centre de villégiature sur certains des navires les plus modernes de l'océan avec une large gamme d'options de cabines, dont The Haven by Norwegian®, une luxueuse enclave comportant des suites, une piscine privée et des restaurants, un service de conciergerie et des maîtres d'hôtel personnels. Norwegian Cruise Line navigue tout autour du monde et offre à ses passagers la liberté et la flexibilité d'explorer le monde à leur rythme et de découvrir jusqu'à 27 options de restauration, des divertissements primés, un service supérieur et bien plus encore sur chacun des 15 navires de la flotte.

 La compagnie a récemment été élue « Meilleur croisiériste d'Europe » pour la dixième année consécutive, ainsi que « Meilleur croisiériste à grands navires du monde » pour la sixième année consécutive par les World Travel Awards, « Meilleur croisiériste des Caraïbes » pour la cinquième année consécutive, « Meilleur croisiériste du monde » et « Meilleur croisiériste d'Amérique du Nord » pour la deuxième année consécutive par World Travel Awards. Le prochain navire de Norwegian, le très attendu Norwegian Bliss, sera livré en avril 2018 et offrira de nouvelles expériences inédites en mer pour le marché mondial, y compris la plus grande piste de course en mer, des spectacles de Broadway primés, deux salons d'observation pour que les passagers puissent admirer les superbes vues sur l'océan et le glacier, et plus encore.  Norwegian will introduce Norwegian Encore in 2019, completing the Breakaway Plus Class series.  Four additional Norwegian ships are on order for delivery beginning in 2022, with an option to introduce two more ships in 2026 and 2027.