Pride of Aloha
Encyclopedia
Norwegian Sky is a Sky class cruise ship
owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line
. She was originally ordered by Costa Cruises
as Costa Olympia from the Bremer Vulkan
shipyard in Germany
, but she was completed in 1999 by the Lloyd Werft
shipyard in Bremerhaven
, Germany
for the Norwegian Cruise Line under the name Norwegian Sky. Between 2004 and 2008 she sailed as Pride of Aloha for NCL America.
from the Bremer Vulkan
shipyard in Bremen
, Germany
as the second in a pair of sister ships. The first sister, Costa Victoria
, was delivered in July 1996. Construction of the second sister, Costa Olympia, had started several months before, but by July 1996 Bremer Vulkan was experiencing severe financial difficulties, and work on the Costa Olympia was suspended when only 35% of the ship was completed. On 1996-10-06 the incomplete hull was floated out of drydock and subsequently laid up.
Costa Cruises decided not to purchase the unfinished ship, and the Costa Olympia remained laid up at Bremer Vulkan until December 1997, when Norwegian Cruise Line
(NCL) purchased her. The Costa Olympia was redesigned as the Norwegian Sky by Tillberg Design (who had also been responsible for her original planned design as Costa Olympia). On 1998-03-08 the ship was towed to Lloyd Werft
in Bremerhaven
, Germany
where her construction was completed. In 1998 NCL ordered two additional ships of the Norwegian Sky design. The first of these was delivered in 2001 as the Norwegian Sun
while the order for the second one was cancelled. The Norwegian Sky underwent her sea trials on 1999-06-17, and was delivered to NCL on 1999-06-28.
on 1999-08-09 with a cruise from Dover
, United Kingdom
to Norway
. The ship's crew acted as her godparents at her christening. After a period of financial difficulties, she was the first new ship to enter service with NCL in six years. On 1999-09-24 the Norwegian Sky ran aground at the juncture of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Saguenay River
. She was subsequently repaired in Quebec City
, with the repairs taking over a month As a result three cruises had to be cancelled.
After fours years of service NCL announced she would be moved to their new NCL America division as Pride of Aloha in October 2004. Originally she was planned to be preceded by the purpose built Pride of America
in NCL America service, but a rogue storm damaged Pride of America during construction at Lloyd Werft
and Pride of Aloha had to be rushed into service instead. In May 2004 the Norwegian Sky entered drydock in San Francisco, re-emerging as the Pride of Aloha on 2004-07-04. The Pride of Aloha was re-christened by Mrs. Margaret Awamura Inouye (wife of Hawaiian senator Daniel K. Inouye).
Being a U.S. flagged vessel, Pride of Aloha required a crew of U.S. citizens. This made for a difficult launch as there was no established labor market to tap into. The first few months of sailings were plagued by poor service, crewmembers quitting and walking off the ship while in port, and an enormous number of customer complaints. NCL initiated a new and aggressive training program to better prepare newly hired employees for life aboard a cruise vessel. Subsequently the training for all employees took place at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education
, a Maritime School in Piney Point, Maryland. Passenger satisfaction improved substantially since the introduction of the new training program.
On February 11, 2008, NCL announced that the Pride of Aloha would be withdrawn from the Hawaiian market as of 2008-05-11. Initially it was reported that she would be transferred to the fleet of Star Cruises
. During April 2008 Lloyd's List
reported that NCL were looking to sell her to the Spain
-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
subsidiary Pullmantur Cruises
instead, but Pullmantur Cruises later withdrew their offer. In May 2008 NCL reported that instead of transferring to Star Cruises, the ship would return to the Norwegian Cruise Lines and be re-flagged to the Bahamas while reverting to her original name Norwegian Sky with the first sailing July 14, 2008.
On Saturday April 18, 2009 at 3:30 AM, a 39 year old man went overboard in the Bahamas. A search party consisting of three cruise ships and two U.S. Coast Guard Helicopters searched for the man for twelve hours before calling off the search. It is unclear whether or not the man committed suicide.
. Following the acquisition by Norwegian Cruise Line
she was radically redesigned. Design changes included two decks of balcony cabins (opposed to no balcony cabins in the original plans), three additional restaurants, entirely altered decor and moving the bridge
down by one deck to accommodate an observation lounge/spa complex on the topmost deck. Both the original and revised plans were the work of Tillberg Design.
Initially the Norwegian Sky utilized a standard dining program with set meal seating times for passengers. One year after she entered service, NCL introduced their "Freestyle Cruising" (a 'dine where you want, when you want') program. As a result, the ship had to be retrofitted with additional restaurants.
When the ship was refitted for service as Pride of Aloha, a Hawaiian theme was adapted for the decorations of all public areas and cabins. At the same time she received hull art consisting of colorful Hawaiian lei
s.
Prior to being rechristened, the Pride of Aloha was not allowed to have a casino given the fact that it was mainly in US waters. Instead of a casino, the ship had the Kumu Cultural Center. This focused on 3 main themes - Everyday life in Ancient Hawai`i, the Hawaiian Kingdom and Contemporary Hawai'i.
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line is a company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. It began operations in 1966 under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line. The company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or...
. She was originally ordered by Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises is a British-American owned Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy.Founded in 1924, the company originally operated cargo ships, until the introduction of passenger services in 1947, with regular services between Italy and South America...
as Costa Olympia from the Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan AG was a great German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement....
shipyard in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, but she was completed in 1999 by the Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven, established in 1857 by Norddeutscher Lloyd. The yard employs 500 workers in an area of 260. 000 m². Ships with a draught down to 11,5 m can be accommodated.-External links:* website...
shipyard in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for the Norwegian Cruise Line under the name Norwegian Sky. Between 2004 and 2008 she sailed as Pride of Aloha for NCL America.
Concept and construction
The ship that eventually became known as Norwegian Sky was originally ordered in December 1993 by Costa CruisesCosta Cruises
Costa Cruises is a British-American owned Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy.Founded in 1924, the company originally operated cargo ships, until the introduction of passenger services in 1947, with regular services between Italy and South America...
from the Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan AG was a great German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement....
shipyard in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as the second in a pair of sister ships. The first sister, Costa Victoria
Costa Victoria
Costa Victoria is a Sky class cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Cruises. She debuted in 1996 and was refurbished in 2004. She was designed to reflect the spirit of Italy. Features include the panoramic Concorde Plaza, an indoor pool, the ultramodern Pompei Spa, and the seven deck Planetarium...
, was delivered in July 1996. Construction of the second sister, Costa Olympia, had started several months before, but by July 1996 Bremer Vulkan was experiencing severe financial difficulties, and work on the Costa Olympia was suspended when only 35% of the ship was completed. On 1996-10-06 the incomplete hull was floated out of drydock and subsequently laid up.
Costa Cruises decided not to purchase the unfinished ship, and the Costa Olympia remained laid up at Bremer Vulkan until December 1997, when Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line is a company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. It began operations in 1966 under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line. The company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or...
(NCL) purchased her. The Costa Olympia was redesigned as the Norwegian Sky by Tillberg Design (who had also been responsible for her original planned design as Costa Olympia). On 1998-03-08 the ship was towed to Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven, established in 1857 by Norddeutscher Lloyd. The yard employs 500 workers in an area of 260. 000 m². Ships with a draught down to 11,5 m can be accommodated.-External links:* website...
in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where her construction was completed. In 1998 NCL ordered two additional ships of the Norwegian Sky design. The first of these was delivered in 2001 as the Norwegian Sun
Norwegian Sun
Norwegian Sun is a Sky class cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. She entered service in 2001 in a dual christening ceremony at the Port of Miami with the Norwegian Star. She was constructed at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany...
while the order for the second one was cancelled. The Norwegian Sky underwent her sea trials on 1999-06-17, and was delivered to NCL on 1999-06-28.
Service history
The Norwegian Sky entered service for Norwegian Cruise LineNorwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line is a company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. It began operations in 1966 under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line. The company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or...
on 1999-08-09 with a cruise from Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The ship's crew acted as her godparents at her christening. After a period of financial difficulties, she was the first new ship to enter service with NCL in six years. On 1999-09-24 the Norwegian Sky ran aground at the juncture of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Saguenay River
Saguenay River
The Saguenay River is a major river of Quebec, Canada.It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east, and passes the city of Saguenay. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River at Tadoussac....
. She was subsequently repaired in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, with the repairs taking over a month As a result three cruises had to be cancelled.
After fours years of service NCL announced she would be moved to their new NCL America division as Pride of Aloha in October 2004. Originally she was planned to be preceded by the purpose built Pride of America
Pride of America
MS Pride of America is a cruise ship partly built in the United States, now a member of the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet. Inaugurated during the 2005-2006 cruise season, she is the first new U.S...
in NCL America service, but a rogue storm damaged Pride of America during construction at Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven, established in 1857 by Norddeutscher Lloyd. The yard employs 500 workers in an area of 260. 000 m². Ships with a draught down to 11,5 m can be accommodated.-External links:* website...
and Pride of Aloha had to be rushed into service instead. In May 2004 the Norwegian Sky entered drydock in San Francisco, re-emerging as the Pride of Aloha on 2004-07-04. The Pride of Aloha was re-christened by Mrs. Margaret Awamura Inouye (wife of Hawaiian senator Daniel K. Inouye).
Being a U.S. flagged vessel, Pride of Aloha required a crew of U.S. citizens. This made for a difficult launch as there was no established labor market to tap into. The first few months of sailings were plagued by poor service, crewmembers quitting and walking off the ship while in port, and an enormous number of customer complaints. NCL initiated a new and aggressive training program to better prepare newly hired employees for life aboard a cruise vessel. Subsequently the training for all employees took place at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education
Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education
The Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education is an educational facility in Piney Point, Maryland which is affiliated with the Seafarers International Union...
, a Maritime School in Piney Point, Maryland. Passenger satisfaction improved substantially since the introduction of the new training program.
On February 11, 2008, NCL announced that the Pride of Aloha would be withdrawn from the Hawaiian market as of 2008-05-11. Initially it was reported that she would be transferred to the fleet of Star Cruises
Star Cruises
Star Cruises , a member of Genting Hong Kong, is the sixth largest cruise line in the world behind companies such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises...
. During April 2008 Lloyd's List
Lloyd's List
Lloyd's List is one of the world's oldest continuously-running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. Now published daily, a recent issue was numbered 59,200...
reported that NCL were looking to sell her to the Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a Norwegian / American company based in Miami, Florida. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corporation & PLC. As of March 2009, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd...
subsidiary Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in 2006.- Overview :Pullmantur Cruises is the...
instead, but Pullmantur Cruises later withdrew their offer. In May 2008 NCL reported that instead of transferring to Star Cruises, the ship would return to the Norwegian Cruise Lines and be re-flagged to the Bahamas while reverting to her original name Norwegian Sky with the first sailing July 14, 2008.
On Saturday April 18, 2009 at 3:30 AM, a 39 year old man went overboard in the Bahamas. A search party consisting of three cruise ships and two U.S. Coast Guard Helicopters searched for the man for twelve hours before calling off the search. It is unclear whether or not the man committed suicide.
Design
As originally planned, the Costa Olympia would have had an exterior and interior design identical to the Costa VictoriaCosta Victoria
Costa Victoria is a Sky class cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Cruises. She debuted in 1996 and was refurbished in 2004. She was designed to reflect the spirit of Italy. Features include the panoramic Concorde Plaza, an indoor pool, the ultramodern Pompei Spa, and the seven deck Planetarium...
. Following the acquisition by Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line is a company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. It began operations in 1966 under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line. The company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or...
she was radically redesigned. Design changes included two decks of balcony cabins (opposed to no balcony cabins in the original plans), three additional restaurants, entirely altered decor and moving the bridge
Bridge (ship)
The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is underway the bridge is manned by an OOW aided usually by an AB acting as lookout...
down by one deck to accommodate an observation lounge/spa complex on the topmost deck. Both the original and revised plans were the work of Tillberg Design.
Initially the Norwegian Sky utilized a standard dining program with set meal seating times for passengers. One year after she entered service, NCL introduced their "Freestyle Cruising" (a 'dine where you want, when you want') program. As a result, the ship had to be retrofitted with additional restaurants.
When the ship was refitted for service as Pride of Aloha, a Hawaiian theme was adapted for the decorations of all public areas and cabins. At the same time she received hull art consisting of colorful Hawaiian lei
Lei (Hawaii)
Lei is a Hawaiian word for a garland or wreath. More loosely defined, a lei is any series of objects strung together with the intent to be worn. The most popular concept of a lei in Hawaiian culture is a wreath of flowers draped around the neck presented upon arriving or leaving as a symbol of...
s.
Prior to being rechristened, the Pride of Aloha was not allowed to have a casino given the fact that it was mainly in US waters. Instead of a casino, the ship had the Kumu Cultural Center. This focused on 3 main themes - Everyday life in Ancient Hawai`i, the Hawaiian Kingdom and Contemporary Hawai'i.