Despite the extremely tight squeeze, the team at Meyer Werft was able to maneuver their largest crane to carefully and precisely place the signature funnel on top of Norwegian Breakaway! Now that the funnel is in place, only a few centimeters separate the ship from the top of the ship yard in which it is being built.

Here are some fun facts about the ship’s new funnel:

Weight:  85 tons

Length: 18 Meters

Height: 13 Meters

Breadth: 9 Meters

Material: Aluminum

Norwegian Breakaway’s new funnel and the tight squeeze can be seen in the following photos taken at the yard today!

Today at Meyer Werft, block number 68, the stern of Norwegian Breakaway was set into place. This marks another major milestone in the construction of Norwegian’s newest ship!

I am so thrilled to have announced my partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line.  I have always wanted to create a restaurant with a defined focus on seafood that incorporates techniques to pull flavors from fish.  Truly, I feel that I need to pinch myself – superb partners in a pristine setting aboard Norwegian’s pinnacle – and most innovative ship!

 We have been working hard to start formulating the Ocean Blue dining space.  Chairs and barstools have been selected as well as fabrics.   We worked quickly with a genius graphics firm to come up with a logo aesthetic that will start to shape the restaurant’s personality.  I have started putting together a list of all my best purveyors so my choice ingredients will be available for us to cook with on board.   We are crafting a true New York restaurant for this incredible ship!

And as luck would have it, we were able to tour both Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Star.  I was struck by the immaculate nature of both ships. I was in awe that as we toured the ships, 3000 guests had just gotten off and 3,000 more were due back on in just two hours!  Not to mention that the kitchens were enormous, and the storage for everything amazingly organized.  I have to say, I was most impressed by the bakery – astonishingly, the bakeries on board produce every single baked good that is served to guests.

I was also very impressed by each of the ship’s Hotel Directors. They truly manage floating cities, and their front of house and back of house staff couldn’t have been more hospitable. Bottom line, the facilities were fist rate all around. 

I will check back in soon with all of you Norwegian Breakaway fans and provide updates to you on the progress of my new restaurants, Ocean Blue, The Raw Bar and Ocean Blue on The Waterfront.  In the meantime, feel free to chat with me on twitter at @GZChef.  

See you on board soon ~  Geoffrey

Norwegian Breakaway is growing rapidly as the pod cabins are starting to be set into place at Meyer Werft.  These photos show the view of the ship and stateroom “pods” when facing forward.