Norwegian Cruise Line – What Do They Have to Offer?

What comes to mind when you think about Norway? The band A-Ha? The good-natured, friendly Norwegian people, who speak English unerringly well, better in fact than many native speakers can manage? The cool Scandinavian climate? For most people it will be at least one of the above – finding someone who has met an unpleasant Norwegian is like finding hen’s teeth. They’re a very rare thing. And then there’s Norwegian Cruise Line. Don’t let the name fool you – these guys go everywhere you could possibly want to go.

The name is actually something of a curve ball. The company was founded in 1966 by Knut Kloster and Ted Arison. Arison was an Israeli-American born in Tel Aviv, Kloster his Norwegian-American friend. And Kloster’s heritage is, in a nutshell, how NCL got its name. The company was founded in Miami and, although certain of its fleet do sail to Norway from time to time, they are equally likely to take you to the Caribbean, Hawaii or South America. What marks Norwegian Cruise Line out is nothing to do with the nationality of either of its founders, but its “Freestyle Cruising” philosophy.

The Freestyle ethos is quite simple, and best explained by comparison to other cruise lines. Whereas the majority of cruise ships have always been somewhat tied to a formal dress code and dining arrangements, there is no such restriction on an NCL cruise. There is no set time for meals, you can sit wherever you like (although it is still polite to ask before you sit next to anyone) and you can turn up in casual dress. This is a practice that is catching on, but before NCL started doing it, all hell would have broken loose had you turned up for lunch in t-shirt and shorts.

Such perceived stuffiness contributed to a lot of people deciding that they could be perfectly happy not going on a cruise for the rest of their lives, but among some it was an unfortunate sticking point. The more liberated approach taken by NCL had contributed to several of these people deciding that actually, they quite like the idea of going on a cruise, and they will do so with the company that allows them to feel like their custom is welcomed whatever they happen to be wearing. A simple matter, you might think, and many would agree, but it is an approach that has won the company many friends and a whole lot of business, so there was a lot of wisdom behind it.

When founded, the company’s name was actually Norwegian Caribbean Line – appropriate given that most of its initial sailings were to Caribbean locations. Indeed, most of its fleet was built in the Bahamas, with the Pride of America, launched in 2005, being remarkable in that it was the first newly built large cruise ship to sail under the US flag for almost half a century. NCL have never done things the straightforward way and, as discussed, this is in no small part why they find themselves a popular company today.

Author: Caterina Christakos
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets