''Norwegian Bliss'' is a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

for Norwegian Cruise Line, which entered service on 21 April 2018. The ship was built by

Meyer Werft Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have be ...

in Papenburg, Germany. The ship had a schedule of debuting in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, United States in June 2018, and is designed for improved energy efficiency to meet Alaska's environmental regulations.

History

Norwegian Cruise Line placed an order for a third ''Breakaway'' Plus cruise ship in July 2014. Construction started with steel cutting on 28 October 2016. ''Norwegian Bliss'' is the sister ship to , , and . On 29 November 2017, nationally syndicated radio and digital personality Elvis Duran was announced as her sponsor. Duran hosts the morning talk radio show, ''

Elvis Duran and the Morning Show Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

''. On-air, Duran also made the entire morning show (along with himself) "godparents" of the ship. Duran is the third godfather to any Norwegian vessel, only behind

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

and

Wang Leehom Wang Leehom (; born May 17, 1976), sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. Formally trained at Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his music ...

, who sponsored sister ships ''Norwegian Escape'' and ''Norwegian Joy''. ''Norwegian Bliss''

float-out Float-out is the process in shipbuilding that follows the keel laying and precedes the fitting-out process. It is analogous to launching a ship, a specific process that has largely been discontinued in modern shipbuilding. Both floating-out an ...

was on 17 February 2018. The ship was towed from the building dock and berth at the outfitting pier to get her

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...

. The ship was delivered to NCL on 21 April 2018 when the CEO of NCL, Andy Stuart, signed the ship documents where Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings Limited took possession of the ship and started her inaugural voyage later on in the day. She reached North America, approaching New York in the overnight hours of 3 May 2018. The next day, a remote broadcast of Elvis Duran and his morning show took place. While sailing to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

from New York, ''Norwegian Bliss'' passed through the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

and became the largest cruise ship to ever transit it. The ship arrived in Seattle on 30 May 2018, and was officially christened later that same day.

Design

''Norwegian Bliss'' has an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , moulded

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

, and maximum

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

. The ship has gross tonnage of and deadweight of . ''Norwegian Bliss'' has 20 decks and 2,220 cabins, and can carry 4,000 passengers. The hull art for ''Norwegian Bliss'' was designed by marine wildlife artist

Robert Wyland Wyland (born July 9, 1956) is an American artist and conservationist best known for his more than 100 ''Whaling Walls'', large outdoor murals featuring images of life-size whales and other sea life to call attention to the plight of whales thro ...

. Wyland is best known for his "Whaling Wall" murals, in which he painted life-sized whales on 100 buildings all over the world. ''Norwegian Bliss'' sailed on her inaugural cruise on 21 April 2018. ''Norwegian Bliss'' sailed on

Mexican Riviera The Mexican Riviera refers collectively to twenty cities and lagoons lying on the western coast of Mexico. Although there are long distances between these cities, they are often collectively referred to as the ''Mexican Riviera'' because of the ...

cruises from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California and cruises from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida for her 2018 winter/spring season. For her 2019–2020 winter season, ''Norwegian Bliss'' sailed out from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York replacing her sister ship, ''Norwegian Escape'', which moved back to Miami. ''Norwegian Bliss'' will sail to

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

and eastern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, as well as longer cruises to the Caribbean, before repositioning to Seattle to resume cruising around Alaska in the summer of 2020. ''Norwegian Bliss'' has five main engines with total output power of . The vessel has two

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

B&W 14V48/60CR, each with power of and three MAN B&W 12V48/60CR, each with power of . The propulsion system is two ABB Azipod XO units with total power of 40 MW, which allows service speed of , while the maximum speed during trials exceeds . The engines are equipped with scrubbers and a heat recovery systems for improved energy efficiency.

Ship amenities

''Norwegian Bliss'' has various themed dining areas and bars. The

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

nominated musical, ''

Six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

'' and

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

winning musical, ''

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of the ...

'' currently play in repertory on the ship. The Bliss and the Encore each have an

electric go-kart An electric go-kart is a type of go-kart powered by electric motors and batteries, as opposed to a traditional petrol engine. As of 2022, electric go-karts are mostly used for rental go-karts for recreational usage. For serious kart racing, trad ...

track.

Route

Following the christening, she sailed

cruises with the first departure occurring on 2 June 2018, then at New York. On 24 October 2018, on a Diverted Baja Peninsular (Originally Mexican Rivera) cruise, she visited

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

for the first time. Upon docking, she became the largest ship to dock at the port's facilities in terms of passenger capacity and length, superseding the 2013 docking of . The vessel began sailing in November 2018 from

Incidents

Coronavirus pandemic

On 18 March 2020, it was reported that Norwegian Cruise Line had sent a letter to passengers who had booked a cruise on ''Norwegian Bliss'' that "a 2-year-old who traveled aboard the vessel on 1 March 2020 voyage of the Norwegian Bliss tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. Although passengers receiving that letter stated that they wanted to reschedule, Norwegian Cruise Line refused to honor their requests. As a result, some people who decided not to embark on the cruise lost thousands of dollars, while others who chose to risk infection by joining the cruise ended up displaying symptoms of the disease while on the cruise.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Norwegian Cruise Line Ships built in Papenburg Ships of Norwegian Cruise Line 2018 ships