Celebrity chefs, and their signature ocean-going venues, have become increasingly popular in recent years — with cruise lines such as P&O Cruises boasting the like of Marco Pierre White and Atul Kochhar. NCL have decided to get in on the act with Geoffrey Zakarian introducing three fish restaurants onboard the soon to arrive, Norwegian Breakaway.

Ocean Blue by Geoffrey Zakarian, will be the chef's flagship and the most upmarket of his offerings — NCL described Ocean Blue as a "luxury seafood dining experience". The Raw Bar, which is adjacent to Ocean Blue, will offer ocean fare paired with wines by the glass, for a more relaxed feel, with Ocean Blue on the Waterfront the final venue that will offer a casual venue with alfresco dining.

Geoffrey Zakarian, in case you were wondering, is a celebrity chef in the U.S. He has appeared in a variety of TV shows in the U.S. including an appearance as a judge in the Food Network's Chopped. Zakarian's cuisine is often described as modern French, so that Mediterranean influence should come in handy.

NCL are also bringing Broadway's Rock of Ages to the Breakaway, following the success of Epic's Blue Man Group and Royal Caribbean's adaption of Chicago: The Musical among others. The Tony-Award-nominated musical will headline Norwegian Cruise Line's flagship while she sails from New York.

Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian's president and CEO said: "As a lifelong New Yorker, it's critically important to me that Norwegian Breakaway becomes New York's ship. Our goal is to bring elements of New York on board so that guests will feel a real connection to the ship as New York's true flagship."

Norwegian Cruise Line are definitely turning up the heat onboard and are making huge strides forward in an attempt to take on the likes of Royal Caribbean and Carnival. The Norwegian Breakaway is looking set to be a fantastic ship offering great food and entertainment and will no doubt ruffle a few feathers on her arrival.

Written by Charlie Hamilton-Beaufort
© Iglucruise

The NCL have broken with a cruise industry tradition by opting to base the Norwegian Breakaway in New York, they haven't gone completely against the grain, as their newest ship will be offering cruises to the Bahamas, Florida and the Caribbean. The inaugural season will see the ship sailing from New York to Bermuda on a series of seven night cruises, before embarking on 25 seven night cruises to the Bahamas and Florida.

Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Chief Executive Officer, said: "Norwegian Breakaway is one of the most highly anticipated new ships and has seen great demand for her summer sailings to Bermuda. For her winter inaugural season, Norwegian Breakaway will offer guests a chance to experience the tropics of the Caribbean and the Bahamas & Florida from the fascinating metropolis, New York. We are also excited to announce that the ship will stop at our newly enhanced private island, Great Stirrup Cay, offering an exclusive beach experience."

Norwegian Breakaway’s cruises to the Bahamas & Florida will include visit to Nassau and NCL's private island — Great Stirrup Cay — in the Bahamas, Orlando and Florida. There will also be a couple of 12 night Southern Caribbean cruises, that will take in San Juan (Puerto Rico), St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands), Philipsburg (St. Maarten), Castries (St. Lucia), Bridgetown (Barbados), and Basseterre (St. Kitts).

NCL Breakaway will be the cruise line's most modern ship and has been touted to include the most popular venues and innovations from both the Jewel Class ships and the Norwegian Epic, along with boasting a whole host of new Breakaway class signatures, which are yet to be announced.

Written by Charlie Hamilton-Beaufort
© Iglucruise

The newly designed ship, part of Project Breakaway with sister ship, Norwegian Getaway, combines the style of the NCL's Jewel class ships, with the innovations of their largest ship, Norwegian Epic. The ship will combine the cruise line's favourite signature venues, including The Haven, with a whole host of new innovations, lounges and restaurants.

Norwegian Breakaway sets sail on her inaugural season in April 2013, offering seven night sailings from New York to Bermuda. The 144,017 tonne ship will carry 4,000 passengers and almost 1,600 crew making her the largest ever ship to use New York as its home port.

Her inaugural sailing, from Southampton to New York, is now on sale with prices starting at £889pp. The NCL Breakaway's round-trip cruises from New York to Bermuda begin in May 2013 and have also gone on sale today, with prices starting at £1839pp.

The Norwegian Breakaway is part of a growing choice of action-packed ships, but with her unique cruise offering the bright lights of New York either before or after a seven day cruise to the sun blushed beaches on Bermuda, she offers something a little different to the usual Mediterranean and Caribbean itineraries.

Written by Troy McGuire
© Iglucruise

The Norwegian Spirit will go into dry-dock for 13 days on 25th September in Mobile, Alabama, with the Norwegian Jade following suit on 26th November, where she will spend 11 days in Marseille, France.

Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO said: "While we have the youngest fleet in the industry, we still want to continuously enhance our ships... With the dry docks of Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Jade, we will have completed enhancements on four ships this year, a major investment for the company."

The 2,018-passenger Norwegian Spirit is set to receive renovations that include outfitting the entire ship with Wi-Fi, new carpets, the addition of flat screen televisions and upgrading the Stardust Theatre and the ship’s action station restaurant Raffles. The slightly larger, 93,000 tonne, Norwegian Jade will undergo new enhancements that include the addition of NCL's signature restaurant, Moderno Churrascaria, she will also benefit from new carpets and tiles throughout the ship and will have the hull painted among other maintenance updates.

Written by Charlie Hamilton-Beaufort
© Iglucruise

The names were picked from five finalists of NCL's "Norwegian's Cruising for Names" competition which was held in conjunction with US newspaper USA Today. The competition ran from July 18 to August 14, 2011, during which 230,000 entries were received, before the final five were selected for the final. The final names that NCL chose from were, Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Getaway and Norwegian Journey.

"We felt Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway epitomized both our Freestyle Cruising philosophy and our belief that these ships will offer a true respite, whisking our guests away from their everyday routines and delivering the ultimate cruise vacation," said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian's chief executive officer.

The news comes in the same week that NCL also announced more of their plans for the ships in question, with a sneak peak into some of the new cabins that have been designed. The new staterooms will combine the form and function of the cruise line’s Jewel class ships with the modern and contemporary touches of the Norwegian Epic. NCL will also be continuing with The Studio, the award-winning staterooms for single travellers with their exclusive two-story Studio Lounge with a bar, that was first launched onboard the Epic.

There will also be 28 Spa Balcony and 20 Spa Mini-suite staterooms that feature tranquil spa-style decor and will offer easy access to the adjacent spa and fitness centre, along with complimentary access to the Thermal Spa Suite during operating hours.

These two mammoth, 144,000 tonne, ships will carry around 4,000 passengers and will draw from NCL's vast experience of building new cruise liners, having launched ten new ships over the last ten years.

Written by Stephen Adam
© Iglucruise

Norwegian Cruise Line's latest announcement is that smoking will no longer be permitted in cabins or in public areas inside the ships. Smoking on balconies is permitted, however cigar and pipe smoking on balconies is prohibited.

Smoking will still be permitted in the casino, in designated smoking areas, and on deck, where signage permits smoking. Smoking on deck will not be tolerated near to venues serving food and open spaces, such as the jogging track, the sports complex, the children's pool and The Haven. Guests can, however, enjoy the enclosed cigar bars onboard Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Pearl, Norwegian Dawn and Norwegian Spirit for cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking.

The changes have been bought in due to changing guest preferences, according to the cruise line, and will be effective as of January 2012 onboard all 11 of NCL's ships. More information about smoking onboard will be available in the Freestyle Daily, once onboard the ship.

Written by Troy McGuire
© Iglucruise

With their latest cruise liner, the Norwegian Epic, being a one off, the cruise line have enlisted the help of a top design agency Priestmangoode from London, working in conjunction with Tillberg Design of Sweden to design the new staterooms for Project Breakaway. The idea being to take combine the most popular aspects from the Norwegian Jewel along with some the Epic's modern innovations.

Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian’s chief executive officer, says, "The overall design theme for Project Breakaway’s staterooms is ‘modern boutique hotel meets the sea.’ We strongly considered the overall needs of our guests when designing these staterooms and wanted them to be greeted with an ambiance that is warm and inviting, and has a very contemporary feel with clean, modern lines."

"We also want to maximise the use of space within the staterooms, so our guests are as comfortable as possible and storage space is well planned throughout. Ultimately, our goal is to achieve a good balance of form and function – well designed, beautiful, comfortable and sensible living space".

The new ships will each boast 1,024 balcony staterooms and 238 mini-suites. The cabins will be decked out with 26-inch flat screen TVs, LED lighting, King Sized beds that can be separated, a chestnut leather headboard and rich panelling with warm tones and accent colours.

With NCL announcing these new ships for 2013 and 2014, Royal Caribbean announcing Project Sunshine and P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises both having new ships on order, there will be some fantastically new, innovative and very different ships hitting the seas over the next year or so.

Written by Troy McGuire
© Iglucruise

In modern cruising this really is a one off with cruise lines rolling out identikit sister ships. These days cruise lines generally roll out at least two or three identical ships in each class, for example P&O with the Azura and Ventura or Royal Caribbean with Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.. This really does add to the unique charm of the 4,100 capacity Epic.

The 153,000 tonne ship is around 60% larger than NCL's Jewel class ships that sleep around 2,300 passengers. Originally the Epic was planned as one of two ships with an option to build a third ship, but back in 2008 NCL cancelled the order with the STX Europe ship-yard, just as the economic climate fell into free-fall.

Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Lines' CEO, announced; "We will continue to evaluate our business and build when the time is right. Any new ship will not be exactly like this, but will allow us to take on the next generation of Freestyle Cruising."

Written by Troy McGuire

The ship is now officially owned by NCL which basically means the ship is completed and paid for, which is a huge milestone after a two-year-plus construction process.

The latest ship in the NCL fleet is one of the most anticipated of 2010 and the highlights include The Blue Man Show performing in the Epic Theatre, 12 restaurants and 128 solo cabins. The ultimate ship in freestyle cruising the NCL Epic cruise deals are surely not to be missed this summer.

On board the Norwegian Epic the Epic Casino will play home to the largest LED chandelier at sea. The chandelier, 21ft in length, 11ft in diameter and weighing 2 tonnes, is capable is capable of 255 different colours. British based company SMG Architects and Lighting Design are responsible for the stunning design and Austrian company Kalmar will assemble the item and it's 40,000 crystal glass pieces.

Spanning vertically three decks the chandelier can be seen from the casino, Atrium, Malting's Whiskey Bar, Shaker's Martini Bar, Wasasbi Sushi Bar and the Teppanyaki Restaurant. The design consists of 112 suspended crystal encrusted balls and spiraling oval discs, each 30ft in circumference. The chandelier is the most energy efficient at sea, using over 10,000 diodes.

For the rockstars in waiting NCL have teamed up with Gibson guitars to provide a guitar hire service. The Check-Inn-Rock-Out service is available for $10 a day and include a Gibson guitar, companion pod and a private amp with headphones.

"We are so excited about this program," said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line's chief executive officer. "We've brought world class performers to our guests on Norwegian Epic. Now, we're letting our guests be the superstars and play on world class Gibson guitar".

"Our partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line will offer fans from around the world the opportunity to experience music like never before on the high seas," said Henry Juszkiewicz Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. "We are delighted to be part of the global excitement surrounding the launch of Norwegian Epic and share in our mutual goals for world class entertainment."

The pods, form Line 6, come with a whole host of special effects you can choose the type of music you want to are play, whether this be ZZ Top, Metallica or Johnny Cash. The Check-In-Rock-Out program had been designed so you can 'discover your inner rockstar' in the privacy of your own cabin.

Written by Stephen Adam