Countdown To Norwegian Cruise Line’s First Homeport Season
Just One Year Until NCL’s Inaugural
Cruise To Alaska From Port Of Seattle
SEATTLE – It’s exactly one year to May 7, 2000.
On that day - the M/S Norwegian Sky will launch its first
cruise to the glaciers of Alaska, using the Port of Seattle’s
Bell Street Pier as its homeport. It will be the first time
ever a cruise line uses Seattle as a seasonal home base for
Alaska cruises.
Last Sunday, the Port, the community and Norwegian Cruise
Line marked the one-year countdown with festivities aboard
the M/S Norwegian Wind at Bell Street Pier. Under a deal announced
on Sept. 15, 1998, NCL has agreed to use the pier as a homeport
for at least four years, creating 400 new jobs and generating
$74 million in business revenues, and $8.4 million in state
and local taxes.
"I am still pinching myself to make sure this is real,"
said Patricia Davis, President of the Port of Seattle Commission.
"But in a year from now, Seattle’s first homeporting
cruise ship will arrive and bring those economic benefits
with it."
Art Sbarsky, NCL’s executive vice president, said advance
sales are strong for the Norwegian Sky’s May 7, 2000,
inaugural Alaska cruise, as well as subsequent voyages. The
Norwegian Sky will make 21 vessel calls at the Bell Street
Pier terminal during its first season next year.
The Norwegian Sky, currently under construction at the Lloyd
Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany, will be completed
in August. Her maiden voyage on a European cruise will be
Aug. 9. The vessel will carry 2,000 guests and will have a
crew of 750. The Sky’s features include a glass-domed,
mid-ship atrium, a two-level main show lounge, casino, full-service
spa and exercise gym, two swimming pools, children’s
playroom and a wide variety of restaurants, bars and lounges.
"We are both proud and excited to be the first cruise
line to homeport a vessel at the Port of Seattle," Sbarsky
said. "We are confident this partnership will prove successful
and have chosen to base our newest vessel in Seattle for the
entire 20-week Alaska season. NCL has built its reputation
on offering new product innovations and itineraries, and this
is one more step to opening a new market."
"There are many advantages to homeporting at the Port
of Seattle," Sbarsky continued. "With significant
weekend airlift into Seattle, we have more flight options
to offer our guests. Additionally, it is a relatively short
transfer from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to the
Port of Seattle’s Bell Street Pier."
With the historic event on the horizon, everyone on the waterfront
is busy preparing to host tens of thousands of cruise passengers
who will come through King County next summer on their way
to and from Alaska.
The Port of Seattle Commission on Jan. 26 approved the construction
of a premier, multi-purpose cruise terminal at Bell Street
Pier. It’s design has been underway and the build-out
is expected to begin in September, Davis said.
"With this decision, the Port makes it clear to the
community and to other players in the cruise industry that
our city is serious about the industry and is willing to invest
in the future," she said.
The first phase of the $12.9 million terminal build-out is
scheduled to be done before NCL’s first cruise season.
It includes features that the Port hopes will attract other
cruise lines such as a mechanical, covered passenger bridge,
ticketing centers, escalators, a weather canopy, a large and
efficient baggage claim area, and Customs and Immigration
inspection stations. The facility will be built so it can
also be used as a conference and exhibition space in partnership
with the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.
The second phase will create a grand entrance to Bell Street
Pier and provide a large concourse for embarkation. In addition,
the terminal entrance will be tied to the conference center
and to the Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center.
"With the schematic and construction designs near completion,
we’re now ready to enter the permitting process,"
said Marla Kempf, the Port’s general manager for central
waterfront piers and properties.
"Most of the construction will take place inside the
existing facility and will not have much impact on traffic
or people who live near, work around or visit the waterfront
area," she said.
The private sector too has been gearing up for Homeport 2000.
Aside from the retailers and provisioners that will cater
to cruise passengers or supply the ship, service providers
are getting ready.
Quay Cruise Agencies USA and the International Patient Service
division of Swedish Medical Center have agreed to work together
to provide health-care services to the Norwegian Sky’s
guests and crew. The alliance ensures that anyone needing
medical attention – from a prescription to urgent care
– will be cared for immediately.
The Port of Seattle later this spring plans to launch a newsletter
as a way to keep everyone in the burgeoning local cruise industry
informed about the project’s progress.
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