Norwegian Sun is a Sun-class cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. She entered service in 2001 in a dual christening ceremony at the Port of Miami with Norwegian Star. She was constructed at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.
 Norwegian Sun near Seattle, 2022
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Bahamas | |
| Name | Norwegian Sun |
| Owner | Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings |
| Operator | Norwegian Cruise Line |
| Port of registry | Nassau,  Bahamas |
| Builder | |
| Launched | 23 September 2000 |
| Sponsored by | Brooke Burke |
| Christened | 17 November 2001 |
| Maiden voyage | 10 September 2001 |
| In service | 2001–present |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sun-class cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 78,309 GT |
| Length | 848 ft (258.47 m) |
| Beam | 123.1 ft (37.52 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft (7.92 m) |
| Decks | 13 |
| Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Capacity | 1,976 passengers (2,400 maximum) |
| Crew | 906 |
Vessel class
editNorwegian Sun is the third and final ship of this design. She was preceded by Norwegian Sky (entered service in 1999, relaunched as Pride of Aloha in 2004); and Costa Victoria of Costa Cruises (entered service in 1996). NCL defines both Norwegian Sun and Norwegian Sky as Sun class ships.[1]
Cruising areas
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Beginning October 2010, she was homeported at Port Canaveral, later Miami, Florida.[2]
In 2017 Norwegian Sun sailed from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Seward, Alaska. On 5 October 2017, she went from San Francisco to Miami. She continued to Los Angeles on a fourteen-night voyage. After returning to Miami she served the month of November sailing round-trip voyages in the Caribbean from Miami. Her 2017 calendar ended with two-week voyages along the Western South American coast to Valparaiso, Chile.
In May 2018 the ship repositioned to Port Canaveral to operate cruises to Havana with Key West Florida, and to the Bahamas to either Freeport or Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay.[3]
Between 9 September and 14 October 2018, Norwegian Sun operated cruises from Miami to Havana, Great Stirrup Cay, Costa Maya, Mexico and Harvest Caye, Belize.[3]
In June 2019, it was announced that, following the travel ban preventing U.S. cruise ships from visiting Cuba, Norwegian Sun would no longer be offering their "open bar" service and would instead transition to the traditional way for charging for onboard drinks.[4][failed verification]
Beginning in 2026, Norwegian Sun will no longer sail from Seattle to Alaska during the summer cruise season in the northern hemisphere. Its new homeport will be Helsinki, and it will sail the Baltic Sea, also offering cruises from Copenhagen. It will visit ports in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Lithuania and Poland.[5]
Incidents
edit2022 iceberg collision
editOn June 25, 2022, while cruising near Alaska's Hubbard Glacier, the ship collided with a small iceberg known as a "growler". The ship docked in Juneau, where it was inspected by the Coast Guard. There was some damage found, but the ship was allowed to continue on a shortened itinerary. After the passengers disembarked, the ship was taken out of service for over two weeks for repairs.[6][7]
References
edit- ^ "Building Boom Ushers in New Class System". Cruise Travel. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
- ^ "Canaveral Chosen as Norwegian Sun's New Homeport". Canaveral Port Authority. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Norwegian Sun". CruiseMapper. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "Seven Seas Navigator refreshed: Travel Weekly". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ Fox, Alison (27 August 2024). "Norwegian Cruise Line to Launch New Homeport in Europe: The cruise line will launch sailings from Finland in 2026". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Shocking footage shows cruise ship crash into iceberg in Alaska | 9 News Australia". YouTube.
- ^ Oliver, Jorge (11 July 2022). "Norwegian Sun To Resume Service July 14 Following Iceberg Impact". Cruise Critic.
External links
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Media related to IMO 9218131 at Wikimedia Commons