Pride of Aloha, nay "Norwegian Sky"

Anyone heard any rumors/news about NCL opting not to transfer Pride of Aloha to Star, and instead renaming her back to her original name, Norwegian Sky, and having her sail 3-4 day Miami-Bahama cruises? This story was rumored on http://www.cruisebusiness.com but I can't find any other sources of information.

Anyone heard any rumors/news about NCL opting not to transfer Pride of Aloha to Star, and instead renaming her back to her original name, Norwegian Sky, and having her sail 3-4 day Miami-Bahama cruises? This story was rumored on www.cruisebusiness.com but I can't find any other sources of information.

Check out the other threads here. All rumors but one poster just off the Sun posted the Captain said he is moving to the "Sky" and it would be doing 3/4 day from Miami.

That said others have posted links to other sites that still show the ship for sale.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=767460

We're hearing, at Cruise Critic's news desk, that the ship is going to have a major refurb -- something like five weeks in a shipyard -- before heading to Miami to sail, as noted here, three and four day cruises. "Norwegian Sky" will obviously be getting a casino and losing the Kumu Cultural Center.

We could have gone with this on Cruise Critic's news on Friday afternoon but have to give NCL the courtesy of time to reply and there was no immediate response to my request for info (though in light of the Norway news that came out Friday, I suspect they were swamped). But it's true -- and if we don't get a response by Monday morning we'll go with it based on our other sources.

I'm thinking that NCL doesn't want the news to come out before its sales systems are set up to handle bookings? Alas, companies can no longer just sit on info any more....

Stay tuned.

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

Thanks for the quick reply. I sailed on the Aloha in 2005 and had a very enjoyable time.. yes, it was possible to enjoy this ship! I was disappointed to hear that she was going to transfer to Star, but this news certainly makes me optimistic. It will be interesting to see what changes during the course of the refurb.

I think this ship will do well out of Miami where her competition will be the Fascination and Majesty of the Seas. She's newer, competitively sized, will have a refurb before entering the market, and will have the Freestyle dining option.

The only part of Freestyle 2.0 that I wonder about on the NCL Sky is the buffet area. The NCL Sun's buffet area was small as it was but to put action stations in there would take away from places for people to sit during high food consumption times (eg breakfast, lunch & dinner rushes). Otherwise, I'd love to see the POA back on the East Coast. The NCL Sun is an awesome ship. Just right for cruisin'! Her sister Sky would be an awesome addition. Maybe they could switch the ships and stick Spirit down there and have Sky sail from Boston to Bermuda next year. That'd be AWESOME! (I'm just dreaming here...)

Okay, I'm getting my hopes up more and more and will say again, it's about time NCL had short cruise options.:D I've always thought they were missing the ship on this one by not offering short cruises. The 1 or 2 night cruises just isn't enough to justify airfare. Guess we'll just have to have a little patience for official word and when we can book.:D

We're hearing, at Cruise Critic's news desk, that the ship is going to have a major refurb -- something like five weeks in a shipyard -- before heading to Miami to sail, as noted here, three and four day cruises. "Norwegian Sky" will obviously be getting a casino and losing the Kumu Cultural Center.

 

We could have gone with this on Cruise Critic's news on Friday afternoon but have to give NCL the courtesy of time to reply and there was no immediate response to my request for info (though in light of the Norway news that came out Friday, I suspect they were swamped). But it's true -- and if we don't get a response by Monday morning we'll go with it based on our other sources.

 

I'm thinking that NCL doesn't want the news to come out before its sales systems are set up to handle bookings? Alas, companies can no longer just sit on info any more....

 

Stay tuned.

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

Carolyn ~

From your keyboard to NCL's ears! I, for one, am really hoping this story is true. We loved the Sky and would love to see her back where she belongs ... with NCL. :) Just wish NCL would put a 3/4 or a 4/5 out here on the West Coast. :o

~d

...is terrific and NCL needs it. But I've cruised twice on Pride of Aloha and I have to say -- I have adored the ship. So I"m personally excited about the possibility of this rumor.

My other fave NCL ship is Spirit. It's probably time to try Jewel/Gem/Pearl, LOL....

CSB

Okay, I'm getting my hopes up more and more and will say again, it's about time NCL had short cruise options.:D I've always thought they were missing the ship on this one by not offering short cruises. The 1 or 2 night cruises just isn't enough to justify airfare. Guess we'll just have to have a little patience for official word and when we can book.:D

Cruise Critic as always is on the ball... I am very happy as 4 out of 5 of my cruises on NCL have been 4 nighters from Miami. I love cruising, but 7 nights is not my thing. Just to have year round cruises out of Miami is something to be thankful for. The summer cruises have not been around since the Norway last did them in 2002. Look forward to reading the news article from Cruise Critic.

I just got off the Pearl yesterday and also heard this information discussed by the Hotel Director at the VIP party. It was news to me when I heard it!

A rumor I heard while on the Dawn regarding the Sky is possibly doing Bermuda runs.

I hope the Sky remains sailing from North America cities.

Whether it's Houston, Charleston, New Orleans, New York, or Miami.

But, a to be settled later part of the Apollo Management buy-in to NCL was the final accounting of the remaining Pride ships in Honolulu, both POAs. If NCL or Star wanted to keep both ships in NCLA, NCL would have had to pay Star Cruises approximately $550 Million by December 31st.

If either or both ships were pulled from NCLA, the Aloha ownership transferred to Star while the America remained with NCL. The Aloha has been pulled, and per NCL's previous press release, ownership of the Aloha will transfer to Star. NCL would only have to pay approximately a net of $200 million to keep the Pride of America.

Here's a link to the Reimbursement and Distribution Agreement.

http://www.secinfo.com/dsVsf.t1Q3.b.htm

POAmerica worth being $450 milliion minus its debt of $250 million

POAloha worth being $350 million with no debt.

Therefore, I believe Star will get ownership of the Aloha-Sky.

If the rumors prove true and the Sky will be sailing from Miami under NCL colors, I believe NCL will just lease her from Star for a sum significantly smaller than $350 million in cash.

Note: Star has the Aloha-Sky up for sale. I believe this rumor is a fall back plan if Star can't sell the Aloha-Sky to another cruise line.

I wonder where a dry or wet dock will be? Singapore, USA, or Bahamas? Where the dock occurs might suggest how the Aloha-Sky will be refurbished, and where and with whom it will be sailing. As Star and NCL would refurbish it differently.

Electricon - You forgot Boston! I would love Sky to be up this way. The NCL Sun is an awesome ship and her sister would probably be the same (although I've never sailed on her). Good job with the figures on the ships. They're expensive little buggers aren't they? :)

CSB - Have you heard of any ships in NCL's Fleet not getting the full 2.0 enhancements? There's rumors floating around here about the Dawn and Majesty not getting all the enhancements (some make sense not to do and I realize that but is there anything formal that you have from them saying exactly what they will be doing with those two ships sold to Louis? Maybe an idea for a story for you? :) )

~J

Electricon - You forgot Boston! I would love Sky to be up this way. The NCL Sun is an awesome ship and her sister would probably be the same (although I've never sailed on her). Good job with the figures on the ships. They're expensive little buggers aren't they? :)

 

CSB - Have you heard of any ships in NCL's Fleet not getting the full 2.0 enhancements? There's rumors floating around here about the Dawn and Majesty not getting all the enhancements (some make sense not to do and I realize that but is there anything formal that you have from them saying exactly what they will be doing with those two ships sold to Louis? Maybe an idea for a story for you? :) )

 

~J

Boston is getting the Spirit next summer. I was thinking about the cities that don't have a ship, or will not have a ship, and wish they had two ships at times.

Historically, NCL has had one ship sailing from Boston during the summer Bermuda season. The Dream this year and the Spirit next year meets that traditional NCL commitment.

Can NCL get a dock in Miami every 3 to 4 days for the Sky?

Assuming NCL uses the smae cruise terminalks

There's a brand new cruise terminal in Houston that's free.:D

Electricron - I know we're getting the Spirit next year and I'm actually excited about the arrival of some decent balcony cabins for the Boston run. You can take the Spirit and we'll take the Sky. Fair trade? :D

It would be interesting to see what NCL would do for pier space in MIA since all the other lines are there with numerous ships on most weekend turnaround days (including RCI & Carnival). It'd be nice to see NCL sail from Fort Lauderdale too but not with those big butt beasts from RCI pulling in there. FLL airport will be a disaster area on turnarounds after those ships are put to sea. Maybe you could have a ship in Houston after all!! :D

The only part of Freestyle 2.0 that I wonder about on the NCL Sky is the buffet area. The NCL Sun's buffet area was small as it was but to put action stations in there would take away from places for people to sit during high food consumption times (eg breakfast, lunch & dinner rushes). Otherwise, I'd love to see the POA back on the East Coast. The NCL Sun is an awesome ship. Just right for cruisin'! Her sister Sky would be an awesome addition. Maybe they could switch the ships and stick Spirit down there and have Sky sail from Boston to Bermuda next year. That'd be AWESOME! (I'm just dreaming here...)

Why? I only sailed on Spirit, but my DH sailed on both Sun and Spirit, and while he liked Sun very much, he thought Spirit was even better. More special and unique. Ship was so nice that we had a great time despite some definite shortcomings (smal cabins, superlong and bad embarcation, very crowded pool area). Btw pool areas on Spirit are better.

It would be interesting to see what NCL would do for pier space in MIA since all the other lines are there with numerous ships on most weekend turnaround days

Simple with 3/4 night cruises no turnaround on the weekend. Fridays (3 night) and Mondays (4 nights)

Why? I only sailed on Spirit, but my DH sailed on both Sun and Spirit, and while he liked Sun very much, he thought Spirit was even better. More special and unique. Ship was so nice that we had a great time despite some definite shortcomings (smal cabins, superlong and bad embarcation, very crowded pool area). Btw pool areas on Spirit are better.

I guess it has to do with what each individual cruiser looks for in a ship. Sailing from Boston and being out on the open ocean means you will not be warm that much sunning yourself or in the pool as the temperature really never climbs. I'm not much of a pool person.

The hangouts on NCL Sun / NCL Sky are much more intimate yet spacious whereas the newer ships have tons of little places but small. I hope this makes sense! :o Either way, it'd be nice to have a "newer" ship sailing from Boston with more amenities than the NCL Majesty and Dream offer.

Simple with 3/4 night cruises no turnaround on the weekend. Fridays (3 night) and Mondays (4 nights)

Duh! :o I always think in terms of weekends for one of the turn arounds like NCLs current 9 day / 5 day rotation out of Miami where at the end of that rotation and the start of it (same day) would be on a weekend if you were taking them B2B. With the cost of airline tickets I wonder if that would actually be a much better idea or worse since flying during the weekdays is generally higher than the weekends. :cool: Things to ponder for sure!

Electricron - I know we're getting the Spirit next year and I'm actually excited about the arrival of some decent balcony cabins for the Boston run. You can take the Spirit and we'll take the Sky. Fair trade? :D

 

It would be interesting to see what NCL would do for pier space in MIA since all the other lines are there with numerous ships on most weekend turnaround days (including RCI & Carnival). It'd be nice to see NCL sail from Fort Lauderdale too but not with those big butt beasts from RCI pulling in there. FLL airport will be a disaster area on turnarounds after those ships are put to sea. Maybe you could have a ship in Houston after all!! :D

Let's make the deal if Houston gets a NCL ship. ;)

The only problem is, I don't think Houston will. :(

Assuming the Sky sails for NCL, whether owned outright by NCL or leased from Star Cruises, that gives NCL only four small ships (mega-sized or smaller than Panamax), not including the Dream and Majesty that will be gone by December 2009. Isn't it strange to be discussing ships as being small when all four are larger than the SS Norway in gross tons?

Here's the four mega-sized ships remaining into 2010:

Pride of America > Honolulu year 'round.

Sun > South America (winter) and Vancouver (summer)

Sky > Miami (winter) and possibly Charleston/New York (summer)

Spirit > New Orleans (winter) and Boston (summer)

Even if the Sky were to replace the Spirit in Boston during the summer months, it's not going to help Houston, 'cause Houston's cruises are winter cruises. So, I don't think we can make that deal. :(

I would think Bostonian would prefer having more balcony cabins available on the Spirit than what's aboard the Sky. The Sky also has more and smaller Inside cabins.

Spirit..................Sky

18........Suites.......14

392.....Balcony.....257

564...Oceanview...572

354......Inside......427

Bringing up another discussion point, if NCL sails the Sky for a while, what do you think it's new bow art should look like?

Sky Blue with wavy while clouds, or pitch dark with the moon, many stars, and an aurora streaks?

I think my second suggestion could be opposite but complimentary to the Sun's bow art.

The hangouts on NCL Sun / NCL Sky are much more intimate yet spacious whereas the newer ships have tons of little places but small. I hope this makes sense! :o Either way, it'd be nice to have a "newer" ship sailing from Boston with more amenities than the NCL Majesty and Dream offer.

May be it will make you happy: Spirit (1999) is actually older than Sun (2001), but you would never guess it by it's condition! Spirit was built for Asian market, it's supper cozy. They are both equal in tonnage.

Still would like to see the Sky depart Port Canaveral or Tampa, but beggars can't be choosers. I believe in sharing though. It would be fine for the Sky to go elsewhere after the other NCL ships arrive in Florida in November. Just to be able to board a NCL ship from late April to early November from some port in Florida would be nice. Houston has been a great NCL supporter in the past and it would be wonderful if they got at least the winter sailings.

Thus we have our answer! We all lose out (that is unless you're in Miami)! :(

Maybe when I get that last cruise booked with Princess I can hop on NCL and enjoy the short cruise. Too bad it wasn't home porting in Fort Lauderdale though. FLL is a much better airport to fly into!

Either way... welcome NCL Sky! :D

Well, it could be a nice option for la and/cruise vacation in Florida. Will she call Nassau?

My mom always wanted to go to Atlantis, and doesn't want long cruise, so may be I'll convince her to try Sky. :)