Norwegian cruises back to the Far East

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) will return to the Far East for the 2016-17 winter season, for the first time in more than a decade.

On 31 October 2016, the recently renovated Norwegian Star will depart from Istanbul for the company’s first ever voyage to the Gulf region. This 20-day itinerary will travel through the Suez Canal to Dubai, including stops in Jordan and Oman.

The ship will then continue onwards to the Far East, marking NCL’s first sailings in the region since 2002.

On 20 November 2016, Norwegian Star will embark on a 21-day ‘Journey to the East’ from Dubai to Singapore. This itinerary will feature the brand’s first visit to India, with stops in Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore and Kochi. It will then call at Colombo, Phuket, Penang, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur, before arriving in Singapore.

Once based in the Far East, Norwegian Star will spend December 2016 and January 2017 sailing a series of 11- and 14-day itineraries from Singapore and Hong Kong. The 11-day voyages will depart from Singapore on 11 December 2016 and 5 January 2017, with calls at Koh Samui, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Sanya and Hong Kong.

The ship will then depart Hong Kong on 22 December 2016 for a 14-night cruise to Singapore, with stops Kaohsiung, Hanoi, Danang, Ho Chi Minh City, Sihanoukville, Bangkok and Koh Samui.

Then on 16 January 2017, NCL will embark in the next stage of its Far East season, with a 21-day cruise from Hong Kong to Sydney, via Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Singapore, Bali, Komodo, Darwin, Cairns, Airlie Beach and Brisbane. Once in Sydney, the vessel will operate a 12-day cruise to Auckland, before returning from New Zealand to Singapore on a 19-day voyage.

Finally, Norwegian Star will head back to Europe for the summer 2017 season with an 18-day ‘Southeast Asia and India’ sailing from Singapore to Dubai, with many of the same port calls as the outbound journey.

“We are truly excited to offer these incredible new itineraries to our guests, who now have the opportunity to explore areas of the globe that we haven’t called on in many years and some that we’ve never before visited,” said Andy Stuart, Norwegian’s president & chief operating officer.