Norwegian Cruise Line Safeguards the Holiday Dream
MUMBAI (16 September 2020): Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the innovator in global cruise travel with a 53-year history of breaking boundaries, is providing travellers who are dreaming of a return to cruise with new thrilling journeys, safeguarded by absolute Peace of Mind.
In addition to curating a collection of brand new, immersive itineraries for sailing through to 2023, NCL is reaffirming its position as an industry leader through the introduction of a raft of enhanced
health and safety measures, ensuring that cruising with NCL continues to be one of the safest and most exciting ways to explore the world.
“Norwegian Cruise Line remains committed to the health, safety, and wellbeing of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit around the world. We have invested significant resources in recent months, further enhancing our already robust health and safety protocols,” said Ben Angell, Norwegian Cruise Line Vice President, and Managing Director, APAC.
As an innovator in global cruise travel, we want to ensure that valued NCL guests sail with steel-clad Peace of Mind whether through our ongoing work with a council of leading health and safety experts, through our collaborative health and safety work with local operators at each and every port of call, or through the provision of flexible booking policies. Our number one goal is to deliver the safest sailing experience, both at sea and ashore when the time is right to cruise again,” added Mr. Angell.
NCL’s core Peace of Mind initiatives include:
Healthy Sail Panel
NCL recently announced its participation in a “Healthy Sail Panel” to develop enhanced cruise health and safety standards to address the challenges posed by the global pandemic. The “Healthy Sail Panel” is comprised of top experts in public health, infectious disease, biosecurity, hospitality, and maritime operations, and is tasked with collaboratively developing recommendations for cruise lines to advance their public health response to the pandemic, improve safety and achieve readiness for the safe resumption of operations.
The recommendations developed by the “Healthy Sail Panel” will be open-source, and are available for sharing with the cruise industry as a whole, as well as other sectors that may benefit.
The “Healthy Sail Panel” is anticipated to offer its initial recommendations soon. The work of the panel will be shared with the entire industry and regulators.
Enhanced Health and Safety Protocols
NCL has created a “Sail Safe” program, which includes six key areas of health and safety, which will be implemented fleetwide onboard and onshore, with more initiatives to come:
Upgraded medical-grade air filters:
Strategic installation of medical-grade air filters to provide cleaner air for guests. The upgraded H13 HEPA air filters are capable of removing 99.9% of airborne pathogens and are fine enough to catch particles of COVID-19.
Enhanced screening protocols:
All guests and crew will undergo a pre-embarkation health screening. Once onboard, touchless temperature checks and monitoring of guests and crew throughout the voyage will help identify potential health issues, offering an additional layer of prevention and protection.
Increased sanitation measures:
All ships are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected prior to every voyage, in accordance with company protocols, which are developed in partnership with the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program. Embarkation terminals will be sanitized continuously and, where possible, sanitized with electrostatic sprayers before and after each embarkation and disembarkation. Furthermore, all staterooms, suites and public areas will be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected at an increased frequency.
Responsible social distancing:
NCL are reducing guest capacity onboard all ships in its fleet to enable responsible social distancing measures. NCL continues to work with port and government authorities to determine procedures that are in accordance with CDC and global health agencies’ guidelines, to implement protocols that allow for proper social distancing during the embarkation process, including staggered embarkation and advanced check-in procedures.
Enhanced medical resources:
Onboard medical centres will be fully equipped with the latest testing kits and medical supplies. NCL is also increasing its medical team fleetwide, including introducing the newly created onboard position of a Public Health Officer on every ship. Additionally, each ship has dedicated isolation accommodations should the need arise.
Extended ship to shore safety:
Norwegian Cruise Line is collaborating with its local tour operators at each port of call to ensure its industry-leading health and sanitation protocols extend to the shoreside experience. Embarkation terminals, tour coaches, and the attractions visited must have appropriate health and safety protocols in place.
NCL’s ”Sail Safe” program is ever-evolving, with its enhanced health and safety protocols being just the start of a range of new technologies and improvements to be announced. Please find further details here.
Extended Peace of Mind Policy To provide guests with even more freedom and flexibility, NCL recently extended its Peace of Mind cancellation policy. Guests sailing on cruises booked by 30 September 2020 with embarkation dates from 1 January 2021 to 31 October 2021 now have the flexibility to cancel their cruise 15 days prior to departure and receive a Future Cruise Credit, which may be applied to any sailing through 31 December 2022, or a full refund when they cancel up to 120 days before their holiday. In addition, for all voyages through 31 March 2021, guests can provide final payment 30 days prior to embarkation versus the standard 120 days.
NCL’s recently unveiled new 2021 through 2023 itineraries
NCL recently unveiled a year’s worth of wish-list worthy sailings for 2021 through 2023, featuring voyages to over 20 new destinations across all seven continents to inspire guests to make their next travel dream a reality. This included the release of a range of exciting Australia and New Zealand itineraries onboard the recently refurbished Norwegian Spirit. Norwegian Spirit will offer a series of 10 and 12-day voyages to and from Sydney and Auckland from December 2021.
“Whether you are looking to explore the surreal landscapes of Iceland, cruise the scenic glaciers of Antarctica, or experience the majesty of Japan during its famous cherry blossom season, our immersive new itineraries provide our guests with the opportunity to explore some of the most beautiful ports of call in the world from the comfort of our innovative fleet,” said Ben Angell.
“For those looking to embark on closer to home sailing, we are excited to be bringing Norwegian Spirit to Australia and New Zealand in 2021.
She underwent the most extensive bow-to-stern renovation in the company’s history earlier this year and features 14 new venues that can be enjoyed by local cruisers – including the second Onda by Scarpetta restaurant at sea, a doubled-in-size
Mandara Spa and an expanded Pulse Fitness Center. Her reimagined and refined adult-centric experiences are truly remarkable,” added Mr. Angell.
Itinerary highlights include:
The newly refurbished Norwegian Spirit will be sailing Australia and New Zealand for the first time for her 2021/2022 local sailing season, departing from ports including Sydney and Auckland. Her 12-day
Australia and New Zealand from Sydney to Auckland itinerary, departing 23 December 2021, will take travellers to some of the region’s most stunning destinations including Eden, Burnie, Milford Sound, and Napier and makes NCL’s debut voyage into Timaru, New Zealand.
Norwegian Star will sail an 11-day roundtrip from Reykjavik, Iceland departing 14 July 2022, where she’ll visit scenic ports in Iceland and Greenland. Norwegian Star will be the first ship in the company’s history to sail to Nuuk, Qaqortoq, and Nanortalik, Greenland.
Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Gem will both be sailing the Greek Isles for the first time:
Norwegian Escape will sail an 11-day Greek Isles roundtrip from Rome on 21 October 2022 visiting iconic Mediterranean ports including Santorini, Athens, and Florence.
Norwegian Gem’s 9-day Greek Isles roundtrip from Venice departing 20 May 2022 will sail bucket-list destinations including Mykonos, Corfu, and Dubrovnik.
Norwegian Sun will make her Asia debut in 2021, sailing a variety of voyages including a 12-day
Asia from Tokyo to Tokyo: Osaka, Sapporo, Busan & Hakodate itinerary departing 28 October 2021, where she’ll visit some of Japan’s and South Korea’s most iconic ports including Sapporo, Kanazawa, Busan, and Sasebo, with guests also able to enjoy an overnight stay in Kyoto (Osaka).
Guests sailing with NCL can relish in the brand’s spirit of freedom and flexibility; having access to diverse culinary experiences both onboard and ashore, award-winning Broadway entertainment and more than 40 restaurants, bars, and lounges, as well as accommodation options catering to everyone from solo travellers and couples, through to families and multi-generational groups.
For a complete list of NCL’s new 2021 to 2023 itineraries, visit www.ncl.com.
For more information about Peace of Mind, visit
https://www.ncl.com/au/en/why-cruise-norwegian/book-with-confidence.
For more information or to book a cruise with NCL, please contact a travel professional; call NCL in Australia on 1300 255 200 or in New Zealand on 0800 969 283; or visit www.ncl.com.
