New Ships for 2006

Here's a quick rundown of the ships expected to enter service in the upcoming year:
Costa Cruise Lines newest ship the Costa Concordia will weigh 112,000 tons and carry 3,780 passengers in 1,500 cabins. One of it's more unique features will be the 55 staterooms and 12 suites that will have direct access to the ship's two deck spa.

The ship's Samsara spa will be the largest spa afloat measuring 20,500 square feet, inside you'll find a gym, thalassotherapy pool, several treatment rooms, a Turkish bath, and a solarium.

You'll also find a Formula 1 driving simulator, and two swimming pools with retractable roofs. One of the pools will even have a 194 foot video screen over it.

The Costa Concordia is expected to offer Mediterranean sailings in July.

Holland America Cruise Lines will introduce the Noordam this February. The Noordam will feature all of Holland America's new Signature of Excellence improvements which includes things like flat panel TV's, DVD players and complimentary fruit baskets in all 924 staterooms.

The Noordam's Culinary Arts Center is part of a parnership with Food & Wine magazine and will feature cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs and culinary experts in it's state of the art kitchen. Plasma screens will offer passengers an up close view of the cooking area, however passengers can also view the action from their cabin televisions.

The line partnered with The New York Times to create a modern internet cafe with listening stations, an extensive library, and of course New York Times crossword puzzles.

The Noordam will offer New York departures starting in February.
MSC Cruises will introduce the largest member of it's fleet, the 2,550 passenger MSC Musica which will have 1,275 staterooms with 65% of them having private verandahs.

Passengers will find a 13,000 square foot spa and fitness center featuring aerobics, a variety of therapies, and a Turkish bath. In addition there will be a 7,000 square foot casino, three deck theater, and a variety of ondeck activities including a golf simulator, a tennis court, a jogging track and a minature golf course.

While there will only be two main restaurants, the ship will also offer a seperate specialty restaurant, a pizzeria, and even a sushi bar.

The MSC Musica will enter service in Venice this July offering summer and fall cruises to Greece, Turkey, and Croatia. In November the Musica will move to the Caribbean.This summer NCL American will add a third ship to it's fleet, the Pride of Hawaii. Like it's sister ships, Pride of Hawaii will feature NCL's signature Freestyle Dining program which doesn't assign passengers to set seating times for meals, instead passengers can choose when they would like to eat and in which restaurant. Passengers will have a variety of dining options onboard including a sushi bar with teppanyaki area, Tex-Mex, tapas, and an Italian restaurant that will resemble a village trattoria. NCL will even be installing plasma screens where passengers will be able to check the restaurant wait times and make reservations.

At the ship's NCL Golf Hawaii pro shop passengers will even be able to book golf rounds on a variety of golf courses.