Cruise lines often count down the days until a new ship is launched. When the countdown starts is always subjective.
For the Norwegian Breakaway, it started yesterday.
That's when the people other than shipbuilders in Papenburg, Germany first had a look at the latest of cruise ships, to be the new flagship in a Norwegian fleet that will soon number a dozen. Yesterday was "float-out day."
Final delivery will be made on April 25. Arrival in New York, Breakaway's permanent home, will be May 7. A two-day inaugural cruise is scheduled for May 10. Her crew begins taking up residence next week. Passage in the "inaugural 7-day sailing" to Bermuda starts at $999 for an inside stateroom.
The Breakaway will replace the Epic as the flagship. She's not quite as long, as wide or as heavy as the Epic but she's the biggest cruise ship ever built in Germany (the Epic's roots are French) and will carry 100 or so fewer passengers (4,000). Meyer Werft's Managing Partner Bernard Meyer claims she has "the latest safety standards, meets all environmental regulations" and has "a lot of unique design elements and technical innovations."
So the Countdown to the Breakaway Inaugural is underway…74 days to go.
Holland America Eurodam
11 nights
May 10, 2013
Rome, Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Vigo, Channel Islands, Zeebrugge, Copenhagen
Inside: $999
Cost per day: $90
www.hollandamerica.com