In March 2008, the cruise line NCL will publish a new special European brochure 2008/09 which will feature new itineraries for the forthcoming winter season and new attractive prices for summer and autumn 2008. The new brochure will showcase Norwegian Jade’s winter deployment in Europe with round trip itineraries from Barcelona to the Eastern Mediterranean as well as to North Africa and Canary Islands sailing between November 2008 and April 2009. Thus, for the first time in its 41-year history, the cruise line will deploy one of its Freestyle Cruising ships in Europe year-round. Norwegian Jade will now remain in Europe full time through to spring 2010.
New winter itineraries aboard Norwegian Jade
With the announcement of the new Norwegian Jade winter programme, the cruise line is introducing three new European itineraries – a series of twelve-night Eastern Mediterranean sailings and nine-night Canary Islands and Morocco sailings, along with a 14-night Eastern Mediterranean Christmas cruise, all roundtrip from Barcelona. Norwegian Jade’s new twelve-night cruise “Highlights of the Mediterranean” takes place on seven sail dates and includes stops in Civitavecchia (Rome) in Italy, Piraeus (Athens/Greece), Izmir (Ephesus/Turkey) and the Maltese capital Valletta as well as an overnight in Alexandria (Egypt). At Christmas, Norwegian Jade will also cruise the Eastern Mediterranean from Barcelona: The 14-night cruise “Christmas in the Mediterranean” starts on December 21, 2008 and includes stops in Valletta, Alexandria (two days), Izmir (Ephesus), Piraeus (Athens), the Greek island of Rhodes, Civitavecchia (Rome) and Naples. In addition, Norwegian Jade the sister ship of the Norwegian Gem, the ship that shall be operating 27 one-week Mediterranean cruises departing out of Valletta from May to November 2008 will sail five nine-night sailings “Canary Islands and Morocco” from Barcelona from mid-December 2008 until mid-March 2009. Ports of call include the Moroccan ports of Casablanca and Agadir, Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria, the Portuguese port of Funchal (Madeira) as well as Málaga in Spain.
“We’ve seen strong growth in Europe and Freestyle Cruising has been a big success with our European guests,” said Colin Veitch, NCL’s president and CEO. “Norwegian Jade has been very well received in her first season, and with our full three-ship fleet in Europe doing so well, we are confident in committing a ship year-round to this strongly growing market. With one of our newest and largest Freestyle Cruising ships in Europe sailing a year-round variety of port-intensive itineraries, we can now offer an exceptional cruise experience any time of the year.”
European soccer championship with NCL Freestyle Cruising
NCL is pleased to announce for all soccer fans cruising aboard the Freestyle Cruising fleet that from June 07 to 29, 2008, during the European Soccer Championship, all matches will be shown live aboard the cruise line’s three ships sailing in Europe – thus even when at sea, soccer fans will not have to miss a single goal.