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All text and photographs (unless stated otherwise) © Paul Timmerman At last, after six years another newbuilding for Norwegian Cruise Line entered service, marking the start of a new beginning for the company that has had more than her share of problems recently. NCL has been selling off ships that didn't fit in her fleet the past few years and the result is a standardised, homogeneous fleet. In short, with the introduction of the Norwegian Sky, NCL -famous for having pioneered Caribbean cruising with the Sunward in 1966 and later for having converted the former idle transatlantic liner France into the highly successful cruise liner Norway- is back! On November 12, 1999, Norwegian Sky was christened in a most spectacular way. All 1200 shoreside employees of NCL in Miami, along with officers and department managers of the ship itself participated in the christening. Along with musicians, fireworks etc. a real spectacle was created!
Pool deck area Norwegian Sky should have been Costa Olympia, ordered in 1995 by Costa Crociere from Bremer Vulkan in Germany. Alas, Bremer Vulkan went bankrupt and the ship was only partly built. In 1997, the unfinished hull was acquired by NCL. Another German yard, Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven was given the order to complete the vessel. For delivery in 2001, a sistership has been ordered from Lloyd Werft, the Norwegian Sun. The hull of this ship was built by Aker-MTW in Wismar. There are some small differences between Norwegian Sky and her near-sister Costa Victoria, as Norwegian Sky has more balconies. The bridge of the Sky has been lowered one deck. The design differences give the Sky a lower profile.
When Norwegian Sky entered service, on her first voyage in Western European waters, her passengers were in for a surprise: they were able to experience the last solar eclipse of the century! During her first year in operation, two cruises had to be cancelled in October 1999 as some damage had to be repaired at a shipyard in Quebec. This was necessary because she had been grounded for a four-hour period at the juncture of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Saguenay River on September 24. Two local pilots were on board when the incident happened. The Norwegian Sky sustained some minor damage.
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