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Kelly Clarkson fêtes teachers at Norwegian Prima Galveston debut cruise

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Kelly Clarkson performed chart-topping hits including 'Miss Independent,' 'Stronger' and 'Since You’ve Been Gone'
Kelly Clarkson performed an exclusive concert for teachers in Norwegian Cruise Line's 'Giving Joy' celebration on Norwegian Prima's Galveston debut.

The Grammy Award-winning singer and NCL recognized 100 teachers with a free cruise and nearly $170,000 for the top three grand prize winners and their schools.

Norwegian’s Giving Joy is a month-long campaign which launched during National Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2-6, 2022) to recognize deserving educators.

Harry Sommer and Elvis Duran

Besides Clarkson, the godmother of Norwegian Encore, the Norwegian Prima festivities included NCL President and CEO Harry Sommer and Norwegian Bliss godfather Elvis Duran, radio personality and host of 'Elvis Duran and the Morning Show.'

The grand prize winners are Patricia Hosmer from Bayonne High School in Bayonne, New Jersey ($25,000), Theresa Schrager from Falcon Cove Middle School, Florida ($15,000) and Anthony Stirpe from New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York ($10,000).

Plus $40,000 for each from NCL suppliers

In addition to the expected donations to their schools, each of the grand prize winners received a big surprise — nearly $40,000 each thanks to NCL partners, including De Wave Group, Independent Maritime Advisors, Apollo Export Warehouse, Clifford Paper, Matermoll/Global Resources Registry, Sangiorgio Export, Viking Life Saving Equipment, Lasvit, Scanship, SubSea Global Solutions, Chantier Naval de Marseille, Dometic and Fire Aid International.

The list goes on, including Gerolamo Scorza, RGB, San Bernardo Ice Cream, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Alfa Laval, AtmosAir, Bourne, SGDP, SRC, Interglobo International Freight Forward, Sysco South Florida, Freedom Fresh, Armstrong Produce, Freshpoint Connecticut, Sazerac, Michael J. Devine & Associates and Moet & Hennessy.

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Norwegian Prima in Galveston

In addition to winning a balcony stateroom during Norwegian Prima’s five-day round-trip voyage from Galveston that wraps up Oct. 31, each teacher walked away with an AMEX gift card sponsored by American Express, and one randomly selected winner was awarded with a trip to San Francisco with two VIP Adrenaline Lounge Passes to any one of the SailGP Season3 events taking place May 6-7, 2023, donated by Survitec Group.

230 teachers recognized since 2019

This year Norwegian's Giving Joy drew participants from across the US and Canada. Their stories are here.

To date the program has awarded 230 teachers across with free cruises and donated over $350,000 to schools and educators since 2019.

Following Norwegian Prima's inaugural Galveston cruise, the ship will embark on an 11-day Caribbean itinerary before heading to its PortMiami debut. Prima will return to Galveston for a season of Caribbean voyages in winter 2023/24.