Norwegian Cruise Line has named the first of its Project Leonardo ships Norwegian Prima, in a nod to her chic styling and the Italians shipyard at which she is being built.
Norwegian Prima is the first of six near-identical ships being built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy and will debut in 2022.
The Project Leonardo ships will now be known as the Prima-class
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Norwegian Cruise Line hasn’t launched a new class of ship in almost ten years, its last was the Breakaway class with Norwegian Breakaway in 2013, but the wait has been worth it.
These 140,000-ton, 3,300-passenger vessels will be in the same size range as the original Breakaway vessels (Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway), just beneath the Breakaway-plus ships (Norwegian Escape, Joy, Bliss and Encore).
The tapered stern of the Prima-class ships is similar to that of Virgin Voyages and MSC Cruises’ Seaside ships
They’ll have among the most unique designs in the Norwegian fleet, with an axe box, masses of upperdeck space, and a tapered stern area, providing an expanded waterfront promenade, which was introduced to great affect aboard the Breakaway and Breakaway-plus ships.
Not much else has been revealed about the design or amenities of the Prima-class (as they’re now known), but Norwegian Cruise Line did reveal where the first of the ships will be cruising.
“In terms of homeporting, we love Miami and we continue to base some of our newest ships in Miami, Encore, Bliss, Joy will come here depending on the year, but we’d like to show some love to Port Canaveral,” NCL President and CEO Harry Sommer told the Orlando Sentinel.
Norwegian Prima will sail from a dozen ports during her inaugural season in 2022
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“It’s been a while since we got a new ship out there. We think it’s a market that we can expand – very popular destination from all of the U.S,” he added.
Norwegian Prima will sail initially in Northern Europe and the United Kingdom after her summer, 2022 delivery. She’ll then cross the Atlantic and sail short cruises from New York, Galveston, and Miami beforehomeporting in Port Canaveral from December 11th, 2022 for the winter.
Norwegian Prima will sail 15 roundtrip Western Caribbean cruises of five-, seven- and nine-nights through March 19th, 2023.
Port calls include Cozumel, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, and NCL’s private island, Great Stirrup Cay, in the Bahamas.
Norwegian Prima will be joined by Norwegian Encore at Cape Canaveral, where Norwegian Cruise Line shares Cruise Terminal 10 with Disney Cruise Line.
“We think this itinerary where we spend a little bit of time in different areas will really allow us to expose the ship to many, many different markets,” Sommer said. “Remember we have six of them coming, so we want as many guests to see them as possible.”
When it debuts, the line will have grown to 23 ships in the fleet. Sales for Norwegian Prima’s inaugural sailings will open May 12th, when the line plans on announcing more details about spaces on the ship.
Full run-down of Norwegian Prima’s inaugral itineraries:
Norwegian Prima will debut with an August 17th-September 13th series of 10-night voyages from Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Copenhagen, Denmark, calling in Northern Europe, the Norwegian Fjords and the Baltic.
On September 23rd, Norwegian Prima will sail a 12-night transatlantic voyage from Southampton, UK to New York, calling in Lerwick, Scotland; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On October 10th, she’ll sail roundtrip from New York to Bermuda, and then reposition to Galveston, Texas on October 15th on a 12-night Caribbean voyage.
From Galveston, Prima will sail on October 31st to Miami where she will then sail from November 19th to December 3rd, on three- and seven-night voyages.
Norwegian Prima will spend four months in Port Canaveral before migrating back to New York for a mini-season of sailings to Bermuda and Norfolk, Virginia through May 7th, 2023.
Norwegian Prima will then head back to Europe, offering a mix of 10- and 11-night Norway and Iceland sailings from Reykjavik, Iceland, and Southampton, UK from May 25th to September 7th.
Finally, Norwegian Prima will sail September 17th from Southampton on a 14-night roundtrip voyage with stops to Dublin, Ireland; Isafjordur and Akureyri, Iceland, with an overnight in Reykjavik; and visits to Geiranger, Olden, and Stavanger, Norway.
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