PRESS RELEASE

NCL Names F3 Norwegian Epic
Announces inaugural season itineraries

Largest Freestyle Cruising ship to sail year-round to the Caribbean from Miami.

Miami 27 January 2009...Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) today announced that it has selected the name for its new F3 ship: Norwegian Epic. Just as the name implies, the ship will be the largest and most innovative Freestyle Cruising ship to date.

The 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic is scheduled to sail year-round to the Caribbean from Miami, beginning in summer 2010. Following a series of inaugural events in Europe and the U.S., the ship will homeport in Miami and will sail year-round to the Caribbean offering alternating seven-day Western and Eastern Caribbean voyages through April 2011. These cruises are scheduled to go on sale to the public later this spring. NCL will open Norwegian Epic’s sailings for group block bookings exclusively for travel partners in mid-March 2009.

“The F3 experience will take our already successful Freestyle Cruising to the next level, affording our guests the ultimate freedom and flexibility. Norwegian Epic, denoting a ship that is very impressive on a grand scale, is the most fitting name,” said Kevin Sheehan, NCL’s president and CEO. “The combination of the ship’s exciting new features, along with the tropical allure of these Caribbean destinations, will provide an extraordinary cruise vacation for our guests.”

The ship’s Western Caribbean itinerary includes stops in Costa Maya, Mexico; Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras; and Cozumel, Mexico. Norwegian Epic’s Eastern Caribbean itinerary includes stops in Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands and Nassau, Bahamas.

Norwegian Epic represents the next generation of Freestyle Cruising – a ship that incorporates a wide range of new features and amenities, including curved New Wave staterooms and unique nightlife options. To date, the company has revealed five unique nightlife venues that rival the experiences of Las Vegas, Ibiza, the Riviera and South Beach. The five venues include the industry’s first true Ice Bar; POSH Beach Club, a first of its kind beach club at sea that offers an exclusive, adults-only setting at the top of the ship; Halo, the Über Bar, a private bar and lounge in the ship-within-a-ship villa complex; Bliss Ultra Lounge, NCL’s all-day entertainment and nightclub complex with four-lane bowling alley; and Spice H20, an adults-only aft pool deck experience.

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Manta is at SeaWorld Orlando

This year Manta is at SeaWorld Orlando - a roller-coaster which aims to give passengers the chance to experience what life is like for a manta ray.

It marries theme park thrills with the chance to see marine life as the ride skims along an underwater section full of real rays and other sea creatures. Carriages, shaped like giant mantas, reach speeds of around 60 miles per hour as they glide, swoop and dive on a track that reaches heights of 140 feet.

Manta is on track to open May 2009

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Cruising for Single Travellers

Taking a cruise always used to be joked about as the ideal hunting ground to track down rich widows looking for romance. In fact, cruising has long been held up as an ideal option for single travellers wanting to meet like-minded souls in social and safe surroundings. With shared tables at mealtimes, group activities onboard and ashore, and even gentleman hosts to ensure that no one is stuck for a dance partner, it’s easy to see why cruise ships are such a magnet for today’s Bridget Jones’s.

Some cruise lines cater more strongly for single cruisers than others, with popular choices including Fred Olsen, Cunard and Swan Hellenic. P&O Cruises also caters for singles, though it’s most popular ships for this market are Oriana, Aurora and Artemis where up to 5% of passengers can be lone travellers. Cruises which tend to attract a higher proportion of single cruisers include longer voyages, northern Europe sailings and transatlantic crossings.

The market has grown beyond more mature single cruisers to include family groups where one or tow of the party might require their own cabins. Steady demand from solo customers – a market which some cruise lines feel is destined to grow – has prompted P&O Cruises to build its first single cabins in recent years on its new ship Azura, to be launched in 2010, would have 18 outside and inside single cabins, which would be 25% smaller than standard two-berth cabins. They will measure 120 square feet, as opposed to 160sq ft for two-berths, but will be designed to be more comfortable for single customers with a wider single bed. P&O had been prompted to add single cabins by demand from customers.

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