Ahoy! New Cruise Ships!

Following a construction period of a mere 18 months, the “Norwegian Breakaway”, the twelfth ship in the fleet of US-based Norwegian Cruise Line (cp. EAP 4/2012), was officially handed over by Papenburg, Germany’s shipbuilder Meyer Werft to NCL at the end of this past April. At 39.7 meters in width, 324 meters in length and 146,000 gross tonnage, the Norwegian Breakaway is the largest cruise ship ever built in Germany. Aside from its contemporary, luxurious features, this ship’s other distinguishing special characteristic is the wide range of recreational and entertainment facilities it houses. Along with an aqua park which was planned and equipped by WhiteWater West in cooperation with Hartwigsen/Aquarena with two freefall slides fitted with loops and two twister slides, there is also a climbing garden, a mini-golf course (from Adventure Golf Services) and the first salt therapy room ever on a cruise ship. Following its transatlantic sojourn from Southampton to New York, the Breakaway set off this past May 12^thon its weekly 7-night cruise schedule for Bermuda.

And another cruise ship furnished with special recreational features also headed out this spring in the Mediterranean region. The new “MSC Preziosa” has been underway with a water slide and a water park on its deck since late March of this year. According to Preziosa’s operator MSC Cruises, the “Vertigo” slide featuring a height of 13 meters, a diameter of 90 centimeters and a length of 120 meters is the longest body slide on board a cruise ship anywhere in the world. Similar to comparable slides on other ships, a nine meter long transparent section of the slide extends out over the ship’s railings. The attraction was supplied Italy’s Piscine Castiglione. “Doremi Castle Aqua Park” is the name of the children’s adventure water park created by Art & Project and installed on the 16^th deck of the ship. The MSC Preziosa, the cruise line’s thirteenth ship, sails in the western Mediterranean from Genoa to Naples, Messina, Tunis, Barcelona and Marseille. (eap)