Europe's new cruise hub: Southampton, England

[Jason]

Europe's new cruise hub: Southampton, England

Move over, Barcelona. Southampton, England is taking the crown as Europe's number one cruise port.

By Gene Sloan, USA Today

England's Southern Daily Echo reports that Norwegian Cruise Line's decision to move the Pride of Hawaii (soon to be renamed the Norwegian Jade) to the famed English shipping center will catapult Southampton ahead of Barcelona as a hub for cruisers.

The historic English port town now will host ships from almost all the major lines, including Cunard, Royal Caribbean and Princess, and offer more than 300 cruise departures a year, a record. It expects more than 1 million cruisers to stream through its port.

Norwegian announced Monday that it would send the Pride of Hawaii to Europe next March for an eight-month season that will be dominated by sailings from Southampton to the Mediterranean, North Cape, Western Europe and the British Isles. As with other lines putting ships in Southampton, Norwegian will market the trips heavily to British vacationers, who are cruising in ever greater numbers. Still, the trips are open to Americans, too, and likely will carry a mix of people from the U.S., the U.K. and Europe.

Norwegian's plans for transforming the Pride of Hawaii into the Norwegian Jade, also announced Monday, includes the addition of a casino and the repainting of the hull (now adorned with Hawaiian-themed tropical flowers). The 2,224-passenger vessel, which was flagged in the U.S. and carried a U.S. crew so it could sail full-time in Hawaiian waters, was launched with much fanfare in Hawaii just last year. But financial troubles have forced the line to move it to more profitable waters.

Southampton, long a home port for Cunard, has been growing fast as a cruise hub as U.S.-based lines such as Royal Caribbean tap into the growing demand among British vacationers for cruises as well as growing demand by Americans for voyages in Europe. Strong demand for European cruises has kept fares high in the region even as prices slip in the ship-glutted Caribbean and Hawaii.

[TheSkipper]

Southampton is a fine port for Cruisers. A bit of a haul from the London Airports, but it is a great jumping off spot for the British Isles, Northern Europe and the Med.

We usually spend a few days in London and then head down to the ship.