Norwegian Cruise Line Debuts 2003-2004 Homeland Cruising Brochure, the Most Comprehensive Guide to Cruises From The U.S. and Canada

Miami, January 16, 2003 - Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has introduced its 2003-2004 Homeland Cruising brochure, the largest, most comprehensive cruise brochure in company history. Highlighting NCL’s roundtrip departures from 12 U.S. and Canadian ports, the colorful 192-page directory is the definitive guide to NCL’s breakthrough Homeland Cruising concept, and features complete details on the company’s fleet expansion and convenient new itineraries departing from Baltimore, Houston and New Orleans. In all, NCL is offering 68 Freestyle Cruising voyages to Alaska, Bermuda, Canada & New England, the Caribbean and Bahamas and Hawaii in 2003 –2004.

NCL, which offers regularly scheduled round-trip cruises from more U.S. and Canadian ports than any other cruise line, recently expanded its popular Homeland Cruising program, announcing the transfer of Crown Odyssey from the NCL Group’s Orient Lines brand to the NCL brand in the fall of 2003. With Crown Odyssey’s transfer, NCL ships will sail on seasonal roundtrip itineraries departing from Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Orlando (Port Canaveral), San Juan, Seattle and Vancouver, and year-around sailings from Miami, Houston and Honolulu.

With the expansion, NCL is the leader in some of the most popular cruise destinations including:

The leading cruise line in Hawaii
The leading cruise line in the Northeast
The leading cruise line in Alaska’s Inside Passage
The leading cruise line sailing from Seattle to Alaska
The leading cruise line in Bermuda

We’re proud to introduce the largest brochure in our history, which appropriately focuses on our innovative Homeland Cruising program,” said Andy Stuart, senior vice president of marketing and sales for NCL. “NCL was the first line to popularize close-to-home departures in late 2001 when we introduced Homeland Cruising. Today, roundtrip departures from close-to-home ports have become the preferred method of cruise vacationing for millions of travelers in the U.S. and Canada. We’ve brought the ships to vacationers instead of asking them to fly across the country to get to the ships, and they've responded.”

New Homeland Cruising Ports
NCL’s newest Homeland Cruising ports are highlighted by the company’s first-ever regular departures from Baltimore and New Orleans and NCL’s return to Houston, where the company pioneered Texas-based cruising in 1997.

NCL’s Homeland Cruising 2003-2004 brochure also offers complete information on NCL’s fascinating ports of call in Alaska, Bermuda, Canada & New England, the Caribbean and Hawaii, plus NCL’s nine Freestyle Cruising ships, including the new 2,224-passenger Norwegian Dawn, the recently introduced sister vessel to NCL’s Norwegian Star. NCL’s innovative Freestyle Cruising concept does away with fixed restaurant seatings, standardized meal times and restrictive dress codes that are the norm on other cruise lines, and instead offers guests a resort-style experience where they can do what they want, wear what they want and dine where they want.

In addition to its exciting Homeland Cruising voyages, NCL will offer seasonal sailings to the Mediterranean, Western Europe, Russia and Scandinavia; the Panama Canal and Colonial America (including Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.; Norfolk, Va. and Charleston, S.C.) during 2003-2004.

Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line is an international cruise company and industry innovator that currently operates a fleet of 10 ships sailing to more than 140 ports around the world.

For further information on NCL, contact a travel agent or NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (800) 327-7030; in Miami-Dade County, Florida, (305) 436-0866; visit NCL’s web site at www.ncl.com; or to download high resolution photography visit www.ncl.com/hires.

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