Norwegian Spirit up for biggest refurbishment in NCL history

Additional staterooms

The 1998-built ship is scheduled to enter drydock in Marseille on Jan. 2 for a nearly 40-day renovation that will install 14 new venues, additional staterooms and an expanded Mandara Spa.

New complimentary dining venues will be introduced including an additional main dining room, Taste; the 24-hour eatery, The Local Bar and Grill; the all-day dining outlet, Garden Café; the Great Outdoors Bar; and Waves Pool Bar.

Onda by Scarpetta

In addition, Onda by Scarpetta will be added to Norwegian Spirit, following the introduction of that venue on the new Norwegian Encore and the critically acclaimed Scarpetta restaurants in New York City, the Hamptons, Miami, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Newport (Rhode Island) and London.

Making their debut are Bliss Ultra Lounge and Spinnaker Lounge, which features the Humidor Cigar Lounge. Splash Academy, the children’s water park, will be replaced with the adults-only retreat Spice H2O, a daytime lounge featuring two new hot tubs and a dedicated bar, which transforms into an after-hours entertainment venue.

Spa doubling in size

Mandara Spa will double in size to nearly 7,000 square feet and include a relaxation area with heated loungers, a new Jacuzzi room, a sauna, steam room and water therapy experience. Pulse Fitness Center will be expanded, too.

Norwegian Spirit will also get new, contemporary hull art.

‘As we continue to introduce new innovative ships to our fleet, with Norwegian Encore making her debut next month, we are committed to ensuring that the experiences our guests have come to enjoy are available on even our most storied ships,’ NCL President and CEO Andy Stuart said.

Extended routes and new ports

Norwegian Spirit is set to sail out of drydock in February to begin extended itineraries of eight to 24 days calling at destinations in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Ten new ports will be visited. Norwegian Spirit will become the first in the fleet to visit Celun Bawang (Bali), Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia; Beppu, Kumamoto, Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan; Keelung (Tapei) Taiwan; and Yangon, Myanmar.

Following two, 20-day voyages, the first to Greece, Israel, Egypt and Abu Dhabi from Civitavecchia (Rome) and the second to Seychelles, Madagascar and South Africa from Dubai, the ship will operate a series of destination-rich voyages to Southeast Asia, China and Japan from Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Yokohama through 2020.