| Richard
I think it's lousy that they bumped you off your cruise. I mean,
you put alot of time, planning, and $$$$ into a trip and I think
it stinks that they can just say "sorry, somebody else booked the
whole ship". But...
Just thought I'd let you know. I've sailed with NCL twice - 1st
on the Norway, and just recently (July) on the Seaward. The Seaward
is a BEAUTIFUL ship and we had a fantastic time on our cruise.
I'm not nuts about the western carribean either, but since we got
such a good deal on the trip, I figured why not. I LOVED the ship,
food was great, nice big rooms, etc, but I wasn't crazy about the
ports of call. It's just I prefer the eastern carribean.
Also, the western carribean is "famous" for water sports (especially
snorkeling on Grand Cayman Island).
Hope this helps!
Linda
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| Reading the trade magazines, I came across a couple of articles on NCL's
future plans and they mentioned the Skyward. The Skyward will leave
the NCL fleet this November on a long-term charter to Constantine Ltd. of
Singapore, which will deploy it on seven-day cruises from the Southeast
Asian port.
Here is an article (printed without permission) from this trade magazine.
NCL CANCELS SAILINGS OF SKYWARD
New York - Norwegian Cruise Line has cancelled 12 Caribbean cruises of the
Skyward, scheduled to depart Nov. 2 through Jan. 18, 1992 including holiday
sailings.
NCL parent Kloster Cruise Ltd. has chartered the 730-passenger ship to
Constantine Ltd. of Singapore, which will operate it on seven-day cruises
from Singapore. It's not known if the ship will be marketed in North
America.
The Skyward currently sails Saturday from San Juan on seven-day, roundtrip
cruises to Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas and Tortola/Virgin Gorda.
NCL's Starward will replace the Skyward on alternating weeks, beginning
Jan. 26, 1992. That ship now sails every Sunday from San Juan on seven-day,
roundtrip cruises to Barbados, Martinique, St. Maarten, Antigua and
St. Thomas.
Passengers booked on cancelled cruises of the Skyward will be offered
alternate seven-day cruises on other NCL vessels. Refunds will be made on
paid and deposited bookings.
NCL will have one less ship in the Caribbean from this Novembers through
Dec. 6, 1992, when the 1,246 passenger Dreamward begins service from
Port Everglades to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.
That's the end of the article - but in reference to the Dreamward, NCL is
planning on two new cruise ships; The Dreamward and The Windward.
The Dreamward is scheduled to begin sailing on Dec. 6, 1992. In
the winter months, The Dreamward will be sailing from Port Everglades,
alternating weeks, the Eastern and Western Caribbean. The Dreamward
will be taking over the Bermuda route from the Westward on May 1, 1993
for the summer months (NCL has not decided how it will re-deploy the
Westward).
The Windward is scheduled to begin sailing on May 23, 1993. She will sail
from San Juan on alternating weekly roundtrip cruises to the southern
Caribbean. On one week, the ship will visit Barbados, Martinique, St.
Maarten, Antigua and St. Thomas. The other week, she will visit Aruba,
Curacao, Tortola/Virgin Gorda, St. John and St. Thomas. Passengers will
be able to combine the Windward's two cruise itineraries into a 14-day
voyage.
So essentially, the Windward is taking the place of both the Skyward and
Starward and The Dreamward will replace the Westward. Both new ships will
be built for 1,246 passengers.
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