Norwegian Pearl – Norwegian Cruise Line

Although christened in December 2006, NCL’s Norwegian Pearl
will make its debut in 2007. Norwegian Pearl is the third in the Jewel
class of ships for NCL, joining sister ships Norwegian Jewel and
Pride of Hawaii. Pearl carries 2,380 passengers and weighs
93,000 tonnes. Designed for NCL’s Freestyle Cruising concept, it is the
first ship to feature a bowling alley.

Carnival Freedom – Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Freedom will be launched in March, in Venice, Italy. It is
the fifth of the Conquest-class ships for Carnival, and will be joining
Conquest, Valor, Glory and Liberty in the Carnival fleet. At
110,000 tonnes and carrying 2,974 passengers, Carnival Freedom is too
large to pass through the Panama Canal. It will sail the Mediterranean in the
spring, summer and autumn of 2007 before crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean
for the winter. It will return to the Mediterranean in 2008.

Royal Princess – Princess Cruises

The 710-passenger Royal Princess was first launched in 2001 by
Renaissance Cruises as the R8. After Renaissance ceased operations, the
ship sailed as the Minerva II for Swan Hellenic. In March 2006, Carnival
Corporation, the parent company of both

Swan Hellenic and Princess announced that Minerva II would move to
Princess and sail as the Royal Princess. In April, the vessel will enter
service for Princess, and will sail five new Mediterranean itineraries in late
2007.

Emerald Princess – Princess Cruises

The 116,000-tonne Emerald Princess will join the Princess fleet as a
new build and member of the Grand class of ships, carrying from
2,600 to 3,100 passengers. Emerald Princess will embark on its first
cruise in April from Venice, Italy, and will be christened along
with the Royal Princess in Santorini, Greece, in May. Emerald
will sail the Mediterranean until autumn 2007, when it will head
to the Caribbean for the 2007/08 winter season.

Liberty of the Seas – RCI

The largest cruise ship afloat, Freedom of the Seas, will have some
competition in May 2007 when Liberty of the Seas joins the RCI
fleet. At 160,000 tonnes and carrying 3,600 passengers, Liberty
is the same size as Freedom and offers the same amenities.
It will sail the eastern and western Caribbean on seven-day cruises.

MS Fram – Norwegian Coastal Voyage

The 12,700-tonnes 318-passenger MS Fram is scheduled for its maiden
voyage in April 2007. The naming ceremony will take place in Oslo
in May. Fram is an expedition ship sailing the North Atlantic
to Greenland and Iceland in the summer, and Antarctica in the
winter. Fram will have a pole-to-pole world cruise in its first
season, starting in Greenland in September, ending in Antarctica
66 days later.

Celebrity Journey – Celebrity Cruises

Princess is not the only cruise line adding one of the former R-class ships
to its fleet in 2007. The 30,000-tonne, 710-passenger Celebrity Journey
(originally the R6) joins the Celebrity fleet in May 2007. Recently,
Celebrity Journey sailed as the Blue Dream of Pulmantur, which was
acquired by Celebrity’s parent company RCI in late 2006. Journey
will sail a series of Bermuda cruises from Cape Liberty in New Jersey, US, in
the summer and autumn of 2007 before repositioning to South America and
Antarctica for the winter of 2007&ndash:08.

Costa Serena – Costa Cruises

The 112,000-tonne,
3,000-passenger Costa Serena will be the second ship in
the Concordia class to join the Costa fleet when it is christened
in May 2007. Its Samsara Spa will spread over two decks and all
Samsara suites will have direct access to the spa. Serena will
sail the Mediterranean during 2007.

Norwegian Gem – NCL

NCL will add another vessel to its Jewel class, the 93,000-tonne
Norwegian Gem, which will carry 2,380 passengers. Gem will also
feature a bowling alley, NCL’s Freestyle Dining range of restaurants as
well as other amenities found on its sister ships. The Norwegian Gem
joins the NCL fleet in October 2007 in the Mediterranean, cruising there before
moving on to New York in early December 2007.

Queen Victoria – Cunard Line

The 90,000-tonne, 2,000-passenger Queen Victoria is the last new ship
of 2007, and will be christened in Southampton, UK, on December
2007. Queen Victoria is similar to the Holland America Line
Vista-class vessels. Cunard plans some special touches to
Victoria, including private viewing boxes in the Royal Court
Theatre, al fresco dining for Grill guests, Cunardia, a floating
museum display of Cunard memorabilia, and a two-storey library
with nearly 6,000 books. The Queen Victoria can sail the
Panama Canal, and will embark on its first world cruise in
January 2008.