Norwegian Cruise Line sees strong demand for 2023/24 out of Cape Town

Norwegian Cruise Line has reported stronger than expected demand for its first cruise season out of South Africa, with more South African passengers than ever before in its history.

This prompted the cruise line to announce a second cruise season out of Cape Town for the coming 2023/24 cruise season as well, which is now also seeing very high demand according to Norwegian.

Harry Sommer, CEO & President, Norwegian Cruise Line, said the upcoming 2023/24 South African itineraries are already among the cruise line’s fastest-selling cruises, with demand coming from more than 60 countries.

Sommer told Seatrade Cruise News these more immersive itineraries combine “bucket-list locations such as Cape Town and Mauritius with hidden gems like Pomene and Maputo in Mozambique or Fort Dauphin in Madagascar.”

The port calls average around 12 hours, although in Cape Town the ship stays in port overnight.

During December, 2022 and January, 2023 Norwegian Jade has sailed 12-night roundtrip voyages from Cape Town visiting Mossel Bay, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Richard’s Bay, Luderitz, and Walvis Bay.

For the next cruise season, Norwegian Cruise Line is staying longer, from January until March, 2024, and will homeport Norwegian Dawn in Cape Town instead.

The cruise line is also switching up the itineraries a little, with voyages between Cape Town and Port Louis, Mauritius, as well as roundtrip cruises from Cape Town.

Norwegian Dawn will cruise from Mauritius to Cape Town on January 20th, 2024. The 12-night cruise will call in Pointe des Galets, Réunion; Fort Dauphin (Toalagnaro), Madagascar; Pomene and Maputo, Mozambique; Richard’s Bay; Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth); Mossel Bay and Cape Town.

The ship will then sail a 12-night roundtrip cruise from Cape Town on February 1st, 2024, visiting Mossel Bay, Richard’s Bay, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), and Durban, in South Africa, and Luderitz, and Walvis Bay in Namibia.

On February 13th, 2024 she’ll depart Cape Town on a 12-night voyage to Mauritius again, following the same itinerary as before, but in reverse order, with a cruise of the same length then scheduled from Mauritius to Cape Town on February 25th, 2024.

This will be followed by another 12-night roundtrip cruise from Cape Town on March 20th, before Norwegian Dawn departs the city on her most extensive itinerary, a 21-night repositioning voyage from Cape Town to Barcelona, Spain.

The 21-day voyage along Africa’s west coast will visit ports in Namibia, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Senegal, Cape Verde, Canary Islands and Morocco.