Norwegian Cruise Line Plans More Voyages Out Of New York City

Norwegian Cruise Line is expanding its offerings again out of New York City.

The mass-market line announced it will place a second ship, the 2,376-passenger Norwegian Jewel, in the Big Apple during the winter of 2010-2011, doubling its winter capacity out of the growing cruise hub. The Jewel will join the 2,380-passenger Norwegian Gem, which already sails out of New York during winters.

NCL says both ships will sail a series of 10-day Eastern Caribbean cruises from New York that will call in San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; St. John’s, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten and Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

The ships also will sail seven-day Bahamas & Florida cruises with stops in Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida; Great Stirrup Cay (NCL’s private island) and Nassau, Bahamas.

The last time NCL had two ships in New York for a winter was in 2006, when the Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Dawn sailed 10- and 11-day voyages to the Caribbean.

NCL today also announced plans to keep the 2,402-passenger Norwegian Jade in Europe through the winter of 2010-2011. The line says the ship will spend the winter of 2010 sailing alternating 12- and nine-day cruises from its homeport of Barcelona.

The Jade's 12-day Eastern Mediterranean sailings include the following ports of call: Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy; Athens (Piraeus), Greece; Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey; an overnight in Alexandria, Egypt; and Valletta, Malta. The nine-day Canary Islands & Morocco sailings include stops in Casablanca and Agadir, Morocco; Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands; Funchal, Madeira; and Granada (Málaga), Spain. The line notes there is no port repetition between the two itineraries and they can be booked as a combined 21-day sailing.