New Norwegian ships 'Escape' and 'Bliss' results of 100,000 votes in five countries – Vitaluna.net

As the number of cruise ships in the world grows, naming them becomes an issue. Every cruise line wants to come up with something unique, catchy and consistent with the brand it is trying to establish. Is any cruise line doing a better job of that than Norwegian, which yesterday announced its next two ships would be called Escape and Bliss?

Until now, these ships were simply identified as Breakaway Plus because that's the ship class into which they will be slotted. The names comes from a two-week Facebook contest Norwegian conducted last month, among customers from five countries. The results were based on 100,000 votes, one of which landed a cruise for two on the first ship's (Escape) inaugural, including airfare.

The winner, also announced on Facebook, was Nicole Cannon.

While cruise lines search for names that are different, since 2010 this aggressive line has built or committed to build five new ships. If nothing else the names are all unique to the industry: Epic (2010), Breakaway (2013), Getaway (2014), Escape (2015) and Bliss (2017). This fleet expansion will take Norwegian from 10 ships to 15, barring any sales of older ships.

There are no other major cruise lines with ships of those names, and the last four all fit the branding of "getting away" or "escaping" on a "blissful" cruise. Meanwhile, here are the names of other new ships since 2010:

Royal Caribbean: Allure (2010), Quantum (2014), Anthem (2015), "Oasis 3" and to be named later (2016)

Carnival: Magic (2011), Breeze (2012) and Sunshine (rebuilt Destiny, 2013)

Disney: Dream (2011), Fantasy (2012)

Oceania: Marina (2011), Riviera (2012)

Princess: Royal (2013), Regal (2014)

Holland America: Nieuw Amsterdam (2010)

So, which cruise line do you think is most unique, catchy and consistent in the name department?