Monday, April 30, 2012

Norwegian Breakaway to Debut Free-Fall Water Slides, Ropes Course

Norwegian Cruise Line new 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway will feature a three-story sports and recreation center with five water slides, including two with free fall sections. The facility also will include a large ropes course -- with a plank extending over the side of the ship -- a nine-hole miniature golf course, a basketball court and a rock climbing wall. "It’s really extensive," said Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan at press conference at CLIA’s cruise3sixty conference. "It’s like going to camp." The two free-fall slides start with guests standing up and then the floor drops from underneath, propelling them into a loop. Two additional side-by-side twister slides (called The Whip) plunge guests through a spiral. For a more relaxing ride, there is an open-flume slide. The five slides can accommodate 1,000 people per hour. Norwegian Breakaway, which will launch in April 2013, also will feature a Nickelodeon-themed Aqua Park for kids with a kid-sized pool and slide, multiple water features, bungee trampoline and spider web, a 24-foot enclosed climbing cage with a spiral slide. A pool for parents is adjacent so they can keep an eye on their offspring. The ropes course, billed as the largest at sea, will have more than 40 elements, including a zip track. The Plank will evoke memories of pirate ships with a platform that extends eight feet over the side of the ship. Those who brave it can have their photo taken. Of course, guests will be tethered to a safety harness.

Currently under construction at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenberg, Germany, Norwegian Breakaway will arrive in its year-round homeport of New York City in early May 2013. The ship will begin weekly summer seven-day cruises to Bermuda on May 12, 2013. From October 2013 through April 2014, the ship will offer sailings to the Bahamas and Florida and the Southern Caribbean from New York. Exclusive bookings are being handled by TheCruiseOutlet.com in Hamden, CT (203)-288-1884

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