Norwegian Cruise Line celebrated over the weekend as it marked two exciting milestones: resuming cruises from Florida and setting sail from its new terminal at PortMiami.
Norwegian Gem set sail from Miami on Sunday following a 17 month cruising suspension. This makes it the third ship in the fleet to resume operations following Norwegian Jade from Greece on July 25 and Norwegian Encore from Seattle on August 7.
The vessel is now on a seven-night itinerary that will visit Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Roatán, Honduras; and Harvest Caye, Belize — a private Norwegian Cruise Line destination.
Gem is scheduled to sail a series of week-long cruises to the Caribbean and four-night cruises to Bahamas through October 17 before repositioning to New York City for five to 11-night cruises to the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Bermuda.
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“It has been an exhilarating few weeks as we relaunch our fleet, reunite with our shipboard families and welcome our guests back for their long-awaited cruise vacations,” said Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line.
“Today is even more special as it is the first time we are relaunching from our hometown and from the new NCL Terminal at PortMiami. After many months, we are ready to deliver a safe and memorable experience for our guests at every step of their cruise journey.”
Norwegian Cruise Line’s new Miami terminal can accommodate cruise vessels carrying up to 5,000 passengers. The building was built to LEED Gold standards for optimizing energy, water efficiency, air quality, and utilization of local materials and resources.
The terminal is around 188,000 square feet, and was designed by the Miami-based firm Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc. and constructed by NV2A Group and Haskell.
Its spiraled and multi-level façade draws inspiration from a nautilus, and has around 122,000 square feet of glass features for ocean and city views.
Recently, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced a partnership with Miami-Date County to make the new state-of-the-art cruise terminal “Shore-Power Ready” by fall 2023.
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