SuperStar Libra 

Asian pioneer, the SuperStar Libra is blazing a trail in developing new cruise markets in Asia. The big boys of the Caribbean might be making inroads into Asia but Star Cruises is not sitting idly by. Using the SuperStar Libra, they are going where no cruise ship has gone before.

History

The SuperStar Libra was built by Wärtsilä shipyard in Finland for Norwegian Cruise Lines and delivered as the Seaward in 1988. NCL had last taken delivery of a new vessel in 1971 when they received the forth ship in their "white fleet", the Southward of 1971. To understand how the Seaward came to be the SuperStar Libra, we first need to take a short look at the history of Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL).

NCL - a brief biography. During the 1970's, NCL was the dominant player in the Caribbean. Radical and innovative, NCL took a big step in 1979 in their bid to again, maintain their control of the Caribbean cruise trade as Royal Caribbean and Carnival emerged as challenging players. NCL's answer: the Norway. Although most cruise lines started their operations with former transatlantic liners that had been refurbished for cruising, no one had done it on such a massive scale. The Norway was twice the size of her nearest competitor when she hit the Caribbean scene in May of 1980. NCL thought the Norway was the silver bullet to solve all their problems but she was a poison pill. The Norway was a money pit for NCL from the beginning to her very end.

In the mid-eighties, NCL knew that growth was imperative if they hoped to keep up with Carnival and Royal Caribbean. To expand their portfolio into the international and luxury cruise markets, NCL went on an acquisition campaign. This led to the purchase of two premium brands, Royal Viking Line in 1988 and Royal Cruise Line in 1989.

During this time of frenetic period of change, NCL decided to order their first newbuilding, the Seaward which was delivered in 1988. As part of an overall fleet harmonization program to integrate all of NCL brands under one umbrella, the Seaward became the Norwegian Sea in 1997.

Continuing to add new ships to their fleet including the Dreamward, Windward (now SuperStar Aquarius) and Leeward, NCL was not able to keep up with the new mega-ships built by her competitors as advanced responses to the Norway. NCL never made it out of its financial difficulties and in (2000), the line was bought by Star Cruises of Malaysia. Star systematically began to supplement NCL's fleet with its own newbuildings and transferring NCL's ageing tonnage to Asia.

In 2005, the Norwegian Sea was transferred to Star Cruises as the SuperStar Libra.

Design

NCL was clearly lacking focus during the late 80's when they placed the order for the Seaward and it shows in her final design.

The hull up to the main line of the deck is robust. Nearly 100 feet wide and 700 feet long, the Seaward's original dimensions could easily support a ship of 55,000 tons but she finished out at just above 40,000. The superstructure from the Deck 6 and above seems completely out of place. As if one naval architect designed the hull and the other designed the superstructure (out of Lego blocks no less). The architects seem to have lost the plot halfway up the ship. Perhaps this shift in construction was a result of the systemic funding problems facing NCL or perhpas just poor design. When comparing the Seaward to other ships built as part of the Class of 1988, she was not going to win any beauty pageants.

Further examination of the design does show some similarities to other Northern European ships of the time. The bow of the Seaward has a resemblance to the Prinsendam (ex-Royal Viking Sun) which was also built by Wärtsilä at Turku. In the photo below, notice the multiple holes in the upper lip of the bow. This same design is featured on the bow of the Prinsendam. Both ships have an extreme raked clipper bow reminiscent of the original Royal Caribbean or Royal Viking Line trios. All 6 ships were built in Finland but at the Wärtsilä shipyard in Helsinki.

The only forward viewing area on the Seaward is afforded to passengers via a narrow continuation of the promenade on Deck 6 that tightly wraps around the front of the ship. This thin type of viewing gallery can be similarly found on the Balmoral although any similarity is purely accidental as the Crown Odyssey (as she was originally named) was built in Germany.

Various satellite and communication equipment crowds the top of Deck 10, which is inaccessible to passengers. The viewing area is a good 4 meters behind the equipment and is further obstructed by tall wind deflecting glass.

Angular and abrasive, the bridge juts out over the superstructure.

Vital Statistics

When transferred from NCL to Star in 2005, the Norwegian Sea emerged as the SuperStar Libra with a new paint job and modifications to suit her new Asia customer base. Casino space was significantly expanded to include private VIP gambling areas as well as a dedicated Karaoke lounge and Asian themed restaurants. Not everything got the updated when the Norwegian Sea was transferred to Star as shown by the life vest below still holding the former name in 2007.

Owned by the Genting gambling group in Malaysia, Star Cruises is a true Asian cruise line. Star Cruises is a super low cost provider and is in no way comparable to Western cruise products. No tipping is standard policy but there is a clear result in disinterested staff. Make sure you take your cabin key card with you if you want to eat. While food may be included, it is not unlimited. You are carded when you enter a restaurant and you are not allowed to eat more than once at one sitting. Try going to another restaurant for dessert and you will be turned away - forcefully. Room service, if offered at all, is not included and comes at an extra charge.

Current & Future

Star Cruises has used the Libra as a new market pioneer. She has spent time dedicated in India and Taiwan building inroads to those markets. Additionally, she has spent time running Star's bread & butter cruises out of Malaysia and Singapore. The economic crisis has been tough on Star. They have sold off 2 of their ships and have intermittently laid-up 2 others including the Libra on 2 different occasions.

Star is introducing the Libra back into the highly competitive Singapore market this fall. Singapore already has Star's own SuperStar Virgo, Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas, and Costa's new entry the Costa Classica. With 4 ships calling home to this tiny island nation of less than 5 million, it is interesting to see what happens.