Liberty of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean InternationalFreedom-classcruise ship which entered regular service in May 2007. It was initially announced that she would be called Endeavour of the Seas, however this name was later changed. The 15-deck ship accommodates 3,634 passengers served by 1,360 crew. read more…
Costa neoRomantica (formerly Costa Romantica) is a cruise ship for Costa Crociere completed 1993 as a sister ship to Costa neoClassica and was refurbished in 2003. Her public rooms are decorated with rare woods, Carrara marble, and millions of dollars in original works of art. Costa neoRomantica‘s homeport is Genoa in Italy. read more…
MS Pride of America is a cruise ship built in the United States and is operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines. Inaugurated during the 2005/2006 cruise season as the first new US-flagged cruise ship in nearly fifty years, Pride of America was designed to pay homage to the spirit of the United States of America, from the patriotic artwork on the hull to the American-themed public spaces. Pride of America is a one-off ship design. She was originally designed for United States Lines under the class name Project America. Project America was originally to have two ships in the class. read more…
Celebrity Solstice is the lead ship of the Solstice-class of cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises. Built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, she was floated out on August 10, 2008, and christened by ocean scientist Professor Sharon L. Smith at a ceremony at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale in Florida on November 14, 2008. She began commercial service on November 23, 2008. Her homeport is Valletta on Malta. The first post-Panamax vessel in the Celebrity fleet, she features innovative interior design and onboard amenities, including an ocean-going live grass lawn, a glassblowing studio, and a 12 deck-high atrium. read more…
MS Costa Luminosa is a cruise ship, owned and operated by Costa Crociere. Costa Luminosa entered service on May 5, 2009. The ship’s design is a hybrid, taking the best elements of Spirit-class and Vista-class cruise ships. A sister ship, Costa Deliziosa, was launched in February 2010 and is based on the same design. Costa Luminosa departed Civitavecchia in Italy on June 3, 2009, on her 13-night maiden voyage, with ports of call in Savona, St. Tropez, Barcelona, Lisbon, Le Havre and Amsterdam. Costa Luminosa is the thirteenth ship of Costa Crociere, part of their five-ship expansion program, which include Costa Pacifica, Costa Deliziosa, Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa. Costa Luminosa and her sister ship, Costa Deliziosa, was ordered in the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard on 12 June 2006. The two ships have a gross tonnage of 92,700 and are 292 metres (958.01 ft) long. The keel of Costa Luminosa was laid on 10 October 2007 in the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard in Venice. She floated out of drydock on 30 June 2008 and completed her sea trials on 30 March 2009. At a period of 18 months, the ship was handed over to Costa Cruises on 1 May 2009. read more…
Norwegian Sky is a Sun-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. The ship that eventually became known as Norwegian Sky was originally ordered in December 1993 by Costa Cruises from the Bremer Vulkan shipyard in Bremen, Germany as the second in a pair of sister ships. The first sister, Costa Victoria, was delivered on July 10, 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 Costa Olympia was suspended when only 35% of the ship was completed. On October 6, 1996, the incomplete hull was launched, floated out of drydock and subsequently laid up. Costa Cruises decided not to purchase the unfinished ship, and Costa Olympia remained laid up at Bremer Vulkan until December 1997, when Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) purchased her. Costa Olympia was redesigned as Norwegian Sky by Tillberg Design (who had also been responsible for her original planned design as Costa Olympia). On March 8, 1998, the ship was towed to Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany where her construction was completed. In 1998 NCL ordered two additional ships of Norwegian Sky design. The first of these was delivered in 2001 as Norwegian Sun while the order for the second one was cancelled. Norwegian Sky was launched in early June 1999, underwent her sea trials on June 17, 1999, and was delivered to NCL on June 28, 1999. read more…
