First new builds

Starward and sister Skyward were the first purpose-built ships for NCL

Norwegians's second and third ship, the Starward and Skyward, were the first newly built ships designed for the cruise line.^[5] Like the original Sunward of 1966, they had the capability to carry automobiles through a well-concealed stern door. Later, this area was turned into cabins and a two-deck movie theater, later to be used as a casino. Norwegian was responsible for many of the cruise innovations that have now become standard throughout the industry.

Norwegian would order two additional ships, that would be their first true cruise ships without any car carrying capacity. This would be the Southward in 1971, and an intended identical sister the Seaward, that would never be delivered to the line, and would be completed for P&O Cruises instead.^[5] The line would sell its original ship the Sunward in 1973, being too small and inadequate for the modern cruise market. They would purchase the former Cunard Adventurer in 1977, refitting her with the trademark NCL funnels, and renamed Sunward II.^[6]

SS Norway

SS Norway arriving at Southampton

Norwegian made headlines with the acquisition of the liner SS France in 1979, rebuilding the liner as a cruise ship and renaming her Norway.^[7] The conversion cost more than US$100million.^[8] At 1,000 ft (305 m) long and displacing 52,000 tons, the Norway was at the time significantly larger than any existing cruise ship, and exploited the extra space available by adding a greater-than-usual variety of onboard entertainment. Her success paved the way for a new era of giant cruise ships.

Further newbuilds and acquisitions

Norwegian Dream (former Dreamward)

With an aging, small ship fleet by the late 1980s compared to the larger modern ships being built for competitors Carnival and Royal Caribbean, Norwegian attempted to catch up with an order of a new ship in 1987, the new Seaward, NCL's first new build since 1971.^[9] Norwegian parent company Kloster would transfer two of the recently acquired Royal Viking Line ships to Norwegian, which became the Westward and Sunward (III).^[10] Kloster would acquire Royal Cruise Line in 1989–90,^[11] and would eventually transfer the Westward to their fleet. Norwegian would also continue with further orders of new ships in the early 1990s, not competing with large-sized cruise ship building trend of competitors, but with the smaller with the Dreamward and Windward to offer better flexibility with itineraries.^[12]

The line would continue to acquire second hand ships in the mid-1990s, with the addition of the Leeward in 1995. In 1996 the Crown Odyssey, which was part of NCL's subsidiary line Royal Cruise Line, was transferred and became the Norwegian Crown.^[12] In 1997 Norwegian acquired Majesty Cruise Line, and added their two ships, which became the Norwegian Majesty and Norwegian Dynasty.^[13] During this time Norwegian would rename all its ships with the "Norwegian" prefix (excluding SS Norway), and change its livery for the second time to a dark blue funnel with gold NCL logo.^[13]

Norwegian has expanded to other parts of the world, including Alaska, Europe, Bermuda, and Hawaii. Between 1997 and 2001, the company also operated cruises out of Australia under the name Norwegian Capricorn Line and acquired Orient Lines in 1998.^[14]

Fleet Modernization

The Norwegian Star – first new build under Star Cruises ownership

With the financial backing of Star Cruises, the struggling Norwegian Cruise Line was able to begin to replace much of its older and second hand fleet with new ships.^[12] In addition to the Norwegian Sun, Star Cruises had ships already on order for their own fleet at Meyer Werft, which would be transferred to Norwegian during construction, with the first two debuting as the Norwegian Star in 2001 and Norwegian Dawn in 2002.^[16] These would be followed by an accelerated new build program, adding four more new ships over a five-year period.^[17]

NCL America

In 2002, Norwegian purchased the half-complete hull of the first Project America ship, at the time under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, US, which was towed to Germany to be completed at the Lloyd Werft shipyard.^[16] Subsequently, Norwegian acquired the rights to move two ships built entirely outside the United States under the US flag, making it possible to start a US-flagged operation under the brand name NCL America.^[18][19] In 2003, the company announced the purchase of the American-flagged liners United States and Independence. In their July 2007 fiscal report, Norwegian noted the sale of Independence, renamed SS Oceanic some time before. On July 1, 2010, the SS United States Conservancy struck a deal to buy SS United States for $3 million.^[20] On February 1, 2011, the ownership was officially transferred to the SS United States Conservancy.^[21]

Departure of SS Norway

A boiler explosion in May 2003 forced Norwegian to withdraw the Norway from service, later being laid up in Bremerhaven, Germany, until 2005, when she was towed to Port Klang Malaysia with the claimed intent to use her as an anchored casino or slow overnight casino cruises on her remaining boilers. Instead, she was sold for scrap and renamed the Blue Lady^[22] and later beached at Alang, Gujarat, India, in August 2006 with claims that she had not been cleaned of toxic materials.^[23] On September 11, 2007, the India Supreme Court issued an order permitting her to be broken up at Alang, despite the presence of large amounts of hazardous asbestos remaining on board.^[24][25]

Apollo Management and reorganisation

In August 2007, Star Cruises sold 50% of Norwegian for $1 billion to US-based Apollo Management to strengthen Norwegian's financial position.^[26] In 2007, Star Cruises sold Orient Line's Marco Polo to Transocean Tours,^[27] and Orient Lines ceased operations in early 2008.^[28]

Following an initial public offering and corporate reorganisation in 2013, Norwegian was made a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH),^[29][30] while Norwegian's previous owners Genting Hong Kong, Apollo Management and TPG Capital exchanged their stakes in Norwegian for shares in the newly listed NCLH.^[31]

Norwegian Epic

Two ships in this Epic class were ordered by NCL in November 2006, with an option for a third vessel that was not exercised. A dispute between NCL and STX initially resulted in the construction of both ships being placed on hold until a new agreement was reached.^[16] The agreement called for completion of the first ship; the second ship was cancelled in 2008.^[35] The sole remaining ship, Norwegian Epic, was delivered to NCL on 17 June 2010.

Breakaway class

The first two Breakaway-class ships entered service in 2013 and 2014 as Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway. On October 17, 2012, Meyer Werft and Norwegian reached a second agreement for the construction of two new vessels,^[36] slated for delivery in October 2015 and 2017, respectively. The project was under the code name "Breakaway Plus Class", with the vessels expected to be 163,000 gross tons and hold 4,200 passengers. The Norwegian Escape entered service in November 2015 and Norwegian Joy in 2017.^[37] Two more vessels were ordered on July 14, 2014, and they entered service in 2018 and 2019 as the Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore, respectively.^[38] Dream Cruises ordered two modified Breakaway Class ships in 2015, they were launched in 2016 and 2017 as Genting Dream and World Dream.

The sale of the Norwegian Dream was subsequently cancelled.^[39] The Norwegian Dream became the Superstar Gemini for Star Cruises, from January 2013.^[40]

On June 1, 2012, Norwegian announced the signing of a memorandum of agreement to exercise its option to purchase Norwegian Sky. The purchase price was roughly $260 million, financing being provided by the seller.^[41]

In December 2016, Norwegian Cruise Line announced it had reached an agreement with the Cuban government.^[42] In May 2017, the Norwegian Sky was the first Norwegian Cruise Line vessel to ever visit Cuba. The Norwegian Sky made weekly trips from Miami to Havana, making Norwegian the only line sailing that route weekly.^[43] Norwegian continued operating Cuban routes until June 2019, when they came to a halt following new restrictions from the Trump Administration.^[44]