NCL Confirms New Ship Contracts 150,000 Tons

[RSWBADGER]

NCL Confirms Contracts for New Third Generation Freestyle Cruising Ships NCL Corporation Ltd. announced today that it has confirmed the contracts with Aker Yards S.A. of France to build two new third generation Freestyle Cruising cruise ships, with an option for a third, by lifting all subjects in the contracts, including financing, completion of the design specification, and Star Cruises shareholder approval.

The vessels will be delivered from Aker Yards in Saint Nazaire, France in 2009 and 2010, with the optional third sister ship for delivery in the first quarter of 2011. As announced on September 7, 2006, the contract price, comprising two firm ships and one option, is €2.17 billion, or approximately $2.8 billion at today's exchange rate.

The ships, totaling 12,600 berths, will be built for the company's Norwegian Cruise Line brand (NCL) and will each be approximately 150,000 Gross Tons and 4,200 passenger berths. The contract price for each of the first two ships is ¬735 million, and for the optional third ship is €700 million.

Commenting on the confirmation of the contracts, NCL's President and CEO Colin Veitch said, "With the confirmation of the contracts with Aker Yards, we are one step closer to our vision of introducing the new third generation of Freestyle Cruising ships and to satisfying our goal of having the youngest, most modern fleet in the industry by 2010."

With the project name "F3", the new ships will incorporate a world of new features and will represent NCL's third generation of Freestyle Cruising ships, a further evolution of NCL's progressive dismantling of the structure, regimentation, and constraints of the traditional cruise experience. Details of the ship's design will be released closer to delivery. The cabin mix will be the richest of any NCL ship to date, and will include the feature that 100% of outside staterooms will have private balconies. In total, the ship will have 1,415 balcony staterooms and suites.

NCL's unique Freestyle Cruising offers vacationers a less structured, more relaxed, more resort-style experience than traditional cruising. It is characterized, in particular, by having no fixed dining times, no formal dress codes, up to ten different restaurants and even more lounges, bars, theatres and other entertainment and activity options. The new ship design will offer 60% more passenger space than the largest ships built so far by NCL, and will use that space to introduce a major leap forward in the flexibility and variety of the cruise experience, entirely in keeping with the Freestyle Cruising philosophy already established. The unique use of space on these new ships is designed for optimal cost efficiency per capacity day, as well as being highly attractive in terms of cabin revenue mix and onboard revenue generation. The design is a unique blend of cruise industry best practice, offering both an exciting, high quality product, and a space efficient, cost efficient framework in which to deliver that product.

 

Taken from "Cruise News", Dated 11/6/2006

[jp2001]

thank you for the info :)

[Stillfloatin']

Sounds intriguing:cool: Wonder what new features will be incorporated?

[above sea level cruiser]

Sounds like NCL is getting pretty big in terms of ship sizes. I think maybe freestyle can accommodate "bigger" as there would not be a first or second seating arrangement for dinning.

[above sea level cruiser]

my first double post! I'm ecstatic.

[uneamie]

Hmmm.....4,200 passenger berths. That could equal 8,400 people if you keep it at 2 per cabin.:eek:

I don't even want to think about what it will be like to get a deck chair. :eek: :D

[cruisingrandy]

They said berths not cabins so it would be 4200 passengers not 8400. Some of RCCl new ships are about the smae size in terms of tonnage and passenger capacity

[uneamie]

They said berths not cabins so it would be 4200 passengers not 8400. Some of RCCl new ships are about the smae size in terms of tonnage and passenger capacity

 

 

Hmmm....still a lot of people looking for deck chairs, reservations, theater seats, tender tickets, etc. etc. etc. I'm sure it works out somehow, but I am not so sure I like ships this size.

BTW....can someone tell me what a "berth" is? :confused: I always thought it was a space where the ship docks but that can't be right. Then as I was reading the info on this new ship it sounded like it was "cabin space"....but now "cruiseingrandy" has corrected my mistake.....and now I am really confused! :confused: :eek:

[Cosmopolitan]

Hmmm....still a lot of people looking for deck chairs, reservations, theater seats, tender tickets, etc. etc. etc. I'm sure it works out somehow, but I am not so sure I like ships this size.

 

BTW....can someone tell me what a "berth" is? :confused: I always thought it was a space where the ship docks but that can't be right. Then as I was reading the info on this new ship it sounded like it was "cabin space"....but now "cruiseingrandy" has corrected my mistake.....and now I am really confused! :confused: :eek:

 

Oh, but you are right;)

 

From encarta:

berth [ burth ]

 

noun (plural berths)Definition: 1. bed on ship or train: a bed, usually built-in, on a ship or a train

 

2. nautical dock for ship: a place, usually alongside a quay or dock, where a boat ties up or anchors

 

3. nautical room to maneuver at sea: sufficient room between a boat and the shore, another boat, or an object to allow safe maneuvering

 

I agree, a lot of passengers:eek:

[uneamie]

Oh, but you are right;)

 

From encarta:

berth [ burth ]

 

noun (plural berths)Definition: 1. bed on ship or train: a bed, usually built-in, on a ship or a train

 

2. nautical dock for ship: a place, usually alongside a quay or dock, where a boat ties up or anchors

 

3. nautical room to maneuver at sea: sufficient room between a boat and the shore, another boat, or an object to allow safe maneuvering

 

I agree, a lot of passengers:eek:

 

 

Thank you Cosmo..... I knew it couldn't be 4,200 places to park. Can you imagine the itineraries? LOL! :eek:

[RSVE821]

Did you know that "gross registered tons" or GRT is not a measure of weight? It is actually a measurement of interior space available and accessible to passengers on board the ship. Passenger cabins, dining rooms, lounges and promenade decks are included in the GRT; the galley, bridge, crew quarters, and the engine room are not.

 

One GRT equeals 100 cubic feet of enclosed passenger space. It doesn't mean very much to describe the size of a ship only in terms of GRT. What is important is the space ratio, or the ratio of GRT to the standard passenger capacity on board the ship. Standard passenger capacity is reached if all cabins are occupied with two passengers

 

Space ratio equals GRT divided by the standard passenger capacity. So in this case: 150,000 divided by 4,200 = 36(ish) which is considered spacious by the guide below.

 

A space ratio of..... Is...

 

Below 20 Below average (very crowded)

21-28 Average

29-38 Spacious

38+ Very Spacious

 

Interesting, eh? (facts came from a book I read on cruising)

 

Bob

[Giorgi-one]

Hmmm....still a lot of people looking for deck chairs, reservations, theater seats, tender tickets, etc. etc. etc. I'm sure it works out somehow, but I am not so sure I like ships this size.

[/color]

 

We were on RCL Freedom of the Seas (160,000 GRT) in August. Never had any problems with crowding except for the Buffet restaurant - mainly because it was a stupid design and too small. Beautiful ship and never felt crowded, no problems with tendering and we tendered three ports. Biggest problem was lousy food, but that's another issue!

[RSVE821]

Even though the space ratio on these 150,000 GRT ships is considered "spacious", it's still a LOT of people. Call me old fashioned, but give me new or updated 90,000(ish) GRT ships any day for a more intimate feel. Just my humble opinion.

[Dolphins]

Even though the space ratio on these 150,000 GRT ships is considered "spacious", it's still a LOT of people. Call me old fashioned, but give me new or updated 90,000(ish) GRT ships any day for a more intimate feel. Just my humble opinion.

 

Not looking forward to these mega-ships. It's tough enough getting on and off a ship with 2,000 passengers. I dread doubling that amount. The theatre will have to seat almost 2,000 people. I thought the size of the Jewel class ships was ideal and as big as I care to go.

[electricron]

I read many expressing the same when Mega ships with 2000+ capacity were introduced. Today, almost all the new ships are 90,000 gross tons or larger, vs ships 50,000 gross tons or less, with 1000+ passengers. Ships are doubling in capacity once again.

Even cruise lines known for intimacy and smaller ships are in the process of building their largest ships. Let's review just a few cruise lines:

Royal Caribbean's new "Genesis" class at 220,000 gross tons.

NCL's new "F3" class at 150,000 gross tons.

MSC's new "Fantasia"class at 133,000 gross tons.

Carnival's new "?" class at 120,000 gross tons.

Celebrity's new "Solstice" class at 118,000 gross tons.

Princess' "Caribbean" class at 116,000 gross tons.

Costa's new "Concordia" class at 112,000 gross tons.

Holland America's "Noordam" class at 82,000 gross tons.

 

Although the Noordam class can still sail through the Panama Canal, it's still Holland America's largest ever cruise ship.