Third U.S. Flagged and U.S.
crewed ship for NCL America
2400-passenger Pride
of Hawai`i to launch in summer of 2006
Honolulu -- July 6, 2004 – On Independence Day, NCL
America announced the addition of a third U.S. Flagged ship
to Hawai`i to be delivered in the summer of 2006. The Pride
of Hawai`i is the second ship in the original Project America
program and the third ship of the brand’s U.S.-Flagged
fleet, joining Pride of Aloha and Pride of America.
“This announcement completes our plan
of bringing three ships to Hawai`i by 2006 and creating more
than 3,000 U.S. seafarer jobs,” said Colin Veitch, NCL
America’s president and CEO. “Pride of Aloha is
already a clear commercial success and we are keen to get
all three ships into service as quickly as possible. We are
proud to be the company to revive modern U.S. Flagged passenger
shipping and developing a new and exciting cruise destination
for consumers and travel agents alike.
"Consumers will now have the choice to
sail inter island Freestyle cruises on three different NCL
America ships, all sharing one important element – a
U.S. crew hailing mainly from Hawai`i.”
On July 4, Pride of Aloha, the first of the
three ships, began sailing her seven-day inter island cruises
roundtrip from Honolulu. Two days prior to that, on July 2,
the company announced that the second ship, Pride of America,
would be delivered on June 6, 2005. Construction work on Pride
of America had been set back by an accident in the shipyard
in January but has now been recommenced.
Details on both Pride of America’s and
Pride of Hawai`i's deployments will be announced soon.
Pride of Hawai`i will be the twin sister of
the recently announced Bahamas-flagged Norwegian Jewel. She
will be a 92,000-ton vessel and the seventh new Freestyle
Cruising ship to be added to the NCL fleet in a five-year
period. Like Norwegian Jewel, Pride of Hawai`i will feature
10 restaurants, dynamic public rooms, two Garden Villas and
10 courtyard villas with a private courtyard and sundeck.
Her 10-restaurant lineup will include Cagney’s
Steak House, Blue Lagoon and NCL’s signature restaurant,
Le Bistro as well as an Asian complex featuring a sushi bar,
a teppaynaki table and a Pacific Fusion restaurant.
The ship will feature NCL’s new concept
– a “Bar Central” -- featuring a martini
bar, a champagne and wine bar, and a beer and whisky pub all
connected but with three distinct personalities.
The interior design scheme will highlight many
of the key aspects of Hawai`i's history and culture.
Pride of Hawai`i will have 1188 staterooms
and accommodate just under 2,400 guests (double occupancy).
She will also feature NCL’s latest standards in cabins,
with rich cherry wood finishing, refrigerators, tea and coffee
makers in every room, and a much larger bathroom unit than
other competing ships, containing separate WC, shower, and
washstand compartments separated by sliding doors in the outside,
balcony and suite cabins.
The ship will also be family friendly with a
large number of cabins (including suites and junior-suites)
that can interconnect to create a two, three, four or five
bedroom area suitable for small or large families and an expansive
kids and teen center. Other amenities include a spa and state-of-the-art
fitness center, an Internet café and a 1,000-seat theater.
Further information on the design of the vessel
and artist’s renderings will be available in the coming
months.
For more information on NCL and NCL America,
agents in the U.S. and Canada may contact NCL at (800) 327-7030;
visit NCL’s website at www.ncl.com
or on AOL at keyword: NCL.
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