Norwegian Spirit (built for 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...

 as SuperStar Leo) is a cruise ship

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...

 currently 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...

.

History

The vessel was constructed by Meyer Werft

Meyer Werft

The Meyer Werft is one of the remaining large German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg. Since 1997, it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Neptun Werft in Rostock.-History:...

 in Germany. Named SuperStar Leo in 1998, the vessel was the first 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...

Leo-class. She was first based in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 for almost five years.

In 2004, Norwegian Cruise Line was planning to launch 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...

. However, just prior to completion, the vessel partially sank when a storm hit the Lloyd Werft shipyards. To meet the already booked cruises for Pride of America, SuperStar Leo was transferred to the NCL fleet, and after only two weeks of refits, emerged as Norwegian Spirit.

In 2005 Norwegian Spirit hit a pier in Juneau, causing minor damage. In 2007, Norwegian Spirit again struck a pier, this time in New York Harbor. In both cases, repairs were made to the ship. On 25 May 2008 at approximately 9:00 am the Spirit contacted Pier 90 in New York City at the end of an eight day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. She damaged the parking garage support columns and the bow of the ship. The incident happened exactly five years to the day since the SS Norway

SS France (1961)

SS France was a Compagnie Générale Transatlantique ocean liner, constructed by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, France, and put into service in February 1962...

 experienced a boiler explosion in Miami.

In January 2006, Norwegian Spirit encountered a rogue wave off the coast of Tortola

Tortola

Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...

.

In March 2011 the Norwegian Spirit was over 12 hours late due to a death on the ship and a collision into the pier in Mexico.

Vessel class

Norwegian Spirit is the first ship of this design. She was followed by SuperStar Virgo

SuperStar Virgo

SuperStar Virgo is a Leo class cruise ship owned and operated by Star Cruises. She was built in 1999 by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.-Concept and construction:...

, her twin sister ship which is with 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...

. No other ships of this particular design were constructed.

Propulsion

Four 14-cylinder

V14 engine

A V14 engine is a V engine with 14 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of seven cylinders. A relatively uncommon cylinder configuration, the V14 layout has been used on large medium-speed diesel engines used for power generation and marine propulsion.- Marine use :MAN B&W offers V14...

 MAN B&W 14V48 medium speed diesels driving ABB (Asea Brown Boveri

Asea Brown Boveri

ABB is a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, and best known for its robotics. ABB operates mainly in the power and automation technology areas. It ranked 143rd in Forbes Ranking ....

) electric propulsion motors (nearly 55,000 horsepower), driving twin propellers.

Cruises

Norwegian Spirit now sails out of New Orleans on cruises to the Western Caribbean. After her last Caribbean season in New Orleans, the Norwegian Spirit will reposition to Europe in April 2012 where she will sail year-round; sailing two different itineraries, 12-night Grand Mediterranean cruise in the summer and autumn, and nine-night tour of the Canary Islands in winter and spring.

External links

• Norwegian Spirit: Overview Norwegian Cruise Line
• CruiseCritic.com review
• Meyer Werft Website
• Norwegian Spirit www.galutschek.at (short video clip of Norwegian Spirit, November 2007)