Norwegian Dawn To Sail Year-Round Out Of
New York
New Ship’s Tremendous Reception in the Big Apple Drives
Change
 MIAMI
– January 23, 2003 – Last month in New York, Norwegian
Cruise Line (NCL) debuted its newest Freestyle Cruising ship,
Norwegian Dawn, to more than 5,000 travel agents during its
star-studded inaugural events. The ship featured many firsts
for the industry and NCL, including original artwork by 19th
and 20th Century Masters Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Henri
Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a 1930s style steak house
(an NCL first) and a groundbreaking itinerary from New York
City to the Bahamas and Florida. Today, the company announced
another first in the industry – it will base a ship
from New York year-round. The ship will be the line’s
newest and biggest, Norwegian Dawn.
According to President and CEO Colin Veitch,
NCL made the unprecedented change for several reasons including
the tremendous response Norwegian Dawn received from travel
agents and media in New York in December.
“We knew this ship would generate excitement
after the successful launch of her sister ship Norwegian Star
last year, but the response has been incredible,” Veitch
said. “Our travel agent partners are clamoring to have
a brand new ship out of New York year round and we are listening
to them!
“NCL listened two years ago when New
York travel agents asked us to bring a ship to New York sailing
to the Bahamas. Although we hesitated, knowing we could only
call on two ports on a 7-day itinerary, we made the move anyway
and Norwegian Sea was extremely successful. With the brand
new Norwegian Dawn and her innovative four-port itinerary
we expect to be even more successful year round out of New
York. ”
With Norwegian Dawn’s speed of 25 knots,
the ship can sail on seven-day roundtrip cruises out of New
York calling on four ports in the Bahamas and Florida. And
with her great speed she can leave the brisk weather of New
York on Sundays and guests can wake up to sunshine and warm
weather the next morning.
NCL has enhanced Norwegian Dawn’s itinerary
by calling in Orlando (Port Canaveral) first, giving passengers
a 15-hour day to enjoy the area’s theme parks and attractions.
The ship then calls in Miami, Nassau and NCL’s private
island Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas allowing passengers
a full day in each port of call.
After her winter season in Miami, Norwegian
Dawn will begin her innovative New York itinerary of seven-day
sailings on May 18, 2003 and make New York her permanent home.
Norwegian Dawn—perfectly suited
for New York
Norwegian Dawn, NCL’s largest ship accommodating
2,224 guests and 1,112 crew, offers a plethora of amenities
that New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers will love. The ship has10
restaurants; spacious staterooms and suites; unparalleled
original art; high-energy entertainment; a state-of-the-art
fitness center and spa; the largest children’s complex
sailing from New York; a Las Vegas-style casino; and an Internet
café and Wi Fi.
Like her sister ship Norwegian Star, Norwegian
Dawn has more dining options than any other ship in the world,
with the flexibility of 10 different restaurants and 11 different
menus every night. Guests can choose from three main and seven
alternative restaurants offering an unrivaled array of cuisine
including French Mediterranean, Italian, Thai/Japanese/Chinese
in Bamboo, Norwegian Dawn’s Asian complex also featuring
a sushi bar and Teppanyaki table, and traditional American
fare as well as Certified Angus Beef in Cagney’s the
ship’s 1930s steakhouse.
Norwegian Dawn also features NCL’s new
standards in cabins, with rich cherry wood finishing, refrigerators,
tea and coffee makers in every room, and a much larger bathroom
unit than other ships. Seventy percent of cabins are outside
staterooms and over 70 percent of these have balconies. The
ship also offers a large number of cabins (including suites
and mini-suites) that can interconnect to create a two, three,
four or five bedroom area suitable for small or large families.
The ship also boasts the largest suites at sea with its Garden
Villas, positioned atop the vessel with each encompassing
an unprecedented 5,350 square feet of living space.
Most new ships boast a multi-million dollar
art collection. On Norwegian Dawn, however, a single restaurant
features four original works valued at more than the entire
collection of most other ships. In NCL’s signature Le
Bistro restaurant four original oil paintings by Impressionists
- masters Pierre-August Renoir, Henri Matisse, Vincent Van
Gogh and Claude Monet are displayed. Elsewhere on the ship
guests enjoy a collection of original Pop Art featuring original
signed works by Andy Warhol. The artwork is on loan from Star
Cruises Chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay’s personal collection.
The artwork extends to the outside with images
depicting the ship’s innovative itinerary, running on
both sides of the hull with the starboard side featuring dolphins
playing in Technicolor waves signifying its Miami port of
call and the port side featuring NYC’s leading lady
-- the Statue of Liberty -- signifying the ship’s groundbreaking
itinerary from the port of New York.
Guests aboard Norwegian Dawn experience a variety
of entertainment ranging from an authentic Miami South Beach
Rave! to the sensual sights and sounds of India’s Bollywood
to the memorable Broadway standards penned by Sir Andrew Lloyd
Webber, with whom NCL has an exclusive entertainment agreement.
Norwegian Dawn also offers plenty of opportunities
for those passengers who wish to work off any unwanted pounds.
The Sports Deck contains a basketball, volleyball and soccer
court, while a two-deck fitness and spa center boasts state-of-the-art
cardiovascular workout equipment, aerobic and yoga area with
a sprung wooden floor, steam and sauna rooms, a jet-current
exercise pool, an indoor lap pool, whirlpool and hydrotherapy
pool.
Hawaiian-based Mandara Spa, the world’s
leading operator of landside resort spas, pampers NCL guests
with an exotic menu of spa and beauty treatments combing the
best of East and West.
Norwegian Dawn is particularly family-friendly
offering one of the biggest facilities for kids -- almost
5,500 square feet. The ship features the T-Rex Childcare Center,
a supervised facility for children which includes: a jungle
gym; a playroom; a movie theater; a computer learning center;
an arts and crafts area; and a sleeping area. Another highlight
is the Jurassic-themed children’s pool featuring water
slides, a hot tub and a paddling/wading pool.
The casino aboard Norwegian Dawn has a variety
of table games and slot machines including Roulette, Blackjack,
Craps, Let It Ride and Caribbean Stud Poker.
Norwegian Dawn also provides remote wireless
Internet access (also known as Wi Fi) to guests, in addition
to its Internet Café, 24-hours a day, wherever the
ship is located. Guests who bring their personal laptops onboard
can get a wireless network card and will have the ability
to access the Internet and their email in designated locations
throughout the ship. Installing Wi Fi software is simple,
requiring no reconfiguration of the guest’s computer
and taking up no hard-drive space once the guest leaves the
ship. Laptops are also available for rent at Norwegian Dawn’s
Internet Café.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Commitment
to New York
NCL has spent the last few months spreading the
news that Norwegian Dawn is coming to New York through a series
of high profile partnerships and promotions with well-known
artistic, cultural, retail and sporting names in the city.
The company also created an NCL Loves NY umbrella theme that
is being weaved throughout the campaign.
NCL has partnered with the New York Giants and
the New York Philharmonic as the organizations’ preferred
cruise lines. The company also developed promotions with Macy’s,
Bloomingdale’s and Pathmark Grocery Stores, a New York-based
chain with 114 stores. In December, NCL employees donated
toys for the New York City Toys for Tots.
In addition, the company launched a new, multi-million
dollar television advertising campaign to the New York area
market on January 6, 2003 to promote Norwegian Dawn. Three
30-second commercials are running through March 16, 2003 on
a selection of high profile primetime programs as well as
early and late news shows on ABC, CBS and NBC plus the Weather
Channel, Discovery Channel, A & E, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and
History Channel.
“We’re extremely excited about
the New York market and are committed to supporting it not
only through tourism but through partnerships with its arts,
sports, retail establishments and children’s charities.
We look forward to establishing even more partnerships as
NCL becomes more permanently connected with New York by having
a ship deployed there full-time,” Veitch added.
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. To download high
resolution photography visit www.ncl.com/hires.
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