On Oct. 24, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Bliss set sail from the San Pedro World Cruise Terminal in Los Angeles, ticking box No. 7 in Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet redeployment, with 10 more ships to go. (By the end of 2021, that number will be down to six.)
In terms of new hardware, Bliss — which originally debuted in 2018 — is second only to Norwegian Encore, which launched in late 2019 and kicked off the cruise line’s U.S. comeback from Seattle in August 2021. When Norwegian Prima launches next summer, it will sail from Galveston, Texas, which means that all three of Norwegian’s newest vessels will set sail from western ports.
The deployment process following the COVID-19 pandemic has been “fluid,” according to Brian Holmberg, director of sales for Norwegian. But putting the shiniest hardware in LA, Seattle and Galveston is a direct bid to go toe-to-toe with lines who have dominated those departure ports, including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line — all under the Carnival Corporation umbrella.
While Royal Caribbean International is also using San Pedro as its homeport for Navigator of the Seas’ three- and four-night sailings from Los Angeles next year, Holmberg believes that weeklong sailings will be Norwegian’s sweet spot. Guests on our seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise onboard Bliss had the chance to spend three days in port (in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico) along with three days at sea.
Personally, I believe the sea days truly allow passengers the chance to fully take advantage of the product, which offers exciting amenities such as a top-deck racetrack and a laser tag arena; waterslides and a splash park for kids; more than a dozen restaurants; a massive spa with a thermal suite; and a sprawling, forward space called the Observation Lounge, which invites cruisers of all ages to unwind in a comfy, serene space with plenty of ocean views.
Sail to Los Cabos on Bliss.
Credit: 2021 Brittany Chrusciel
According to Holmberg, advisors based on the West Coast should have an easier time than ever selling Norwegian, based on great airlift into Los Angeles, Seattle and Houston; the line’s newest products on offer in the region (including Broadway breakout hit “Six,” onboard Bliss); and a healthy drive market, which is how many families are getting back onboard ships following the height of the pandemic.
In our conversation with Holmberg, he assured us that a recent restructure of Norwegian’s entire sales and trade departments means that subject matter experts are now on hand, in areas like IT and marketing, to specifically aid advisors on Norwegian Central. It’s a move that should expedite resolutions to agent issues and requests.
And, according to a representative from Norwegian’s trade management organization: “Regarding NCL Central, our agent portal and the platform itself, behind-the-scenes process improvements were implemented that streamlined experiences. Probably the most profound are the enhancements to all facets of the NCL Help feature, with a massive expansion of written help articles that support policy and procedure implementation and updates. Building on our existing NCLU foundations and revitalizing the content of our learning paths from associates to PhD level, we will be adding more just-in-time tools to help keep our travel partners ‘in the know’ and focused on being experts in the connect, learn, promote and book NCL ethos.”
Norwegian Bliss will continue to sail seven-night Mexican Riviera cruises from LA’s San Pedro terminal until it repositions to Seattle in spring 2022 for the Alaska season.
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Norwegian Cruise Line
