Norwegian Cruise Line announced their newest cruise ship that is scheduled to begin sailing in May of 2013, the Norwegian Breakaway, will have the first water park at sea. The Breakaway promises to be a revolutionary new ship and take the cruise industry to a whole new level.
The aqua park, located 17 decks above sea level, will have 5 multistory water slides including The Whip and Free Fall. The park will also 2 main pools, 4 hot tubs, and will feature Nickelodeon in the kids area.
While water slides are not new to cruise ships, the Breakaway will feature new twists that have never before been done on a cruise liner. Two of the water slides will have a trap door that passengers will stand over. When the door opens, they will be sent down a steep drop and loop. While the 3rd slide will be a standard water slide found on most ships and water parks, the 4th and 5th slides will be side by side that plunge passengers down a multi story spiral.
Along with the water park, NCL announced that the Breakaway will have a 3 story sports complex that will have a 9-hole miniature golf course, 24′ high Spider Web climbing cage, and the largest ropes course at sea with more than 40 activities. The sports complex will also have a basketball court, rock climbing wall, and a bungee trampoline. Topping off this area will be The Plank. The Plank will be an extension of the ropes course that will extend 8 feet over the side of the ship. This will let passengers (who will wear a harness) “Walk the Plank”.
Norwegian is slowly giving out more details about the features that the Breakaway will have. They previous announced the ship will have an area called the Waterfront, a restaurant themed boardwalk facing the ocean. The ship will also have newly designed staterooms and will not have the same bathroom setup that the Norwegian Epic has. The bathrooms on the Epic have had some controversy so NCL decided to go back to the more traditional bathroom layout on their new ships.
The Breakaway, a 4,000 passenger cruise ship, is currently under construction in a shipyard in Germany. The ship is scheduled to debut in April of 2013 and will be the largest cruise ship to call the Port of New York home. The ship will begin with week long voyages to Bermuda for the first 6 months. The ship will then change itineraries and begin week long Bahamas, Florida and Caribbean sailings out of New York.