Helsinki, Finland - Norwegian Breakaway Maiden Departure from Helsinki (2018)

Norwegian Breakaway is a cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. Construction of Norwegian Breakaway began on 21 September 2011, when the first piece of steel was cut at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. She was delivered to NCL on 25 April 2013. Following the handover, Norwegian Breakaway left the port of Bremerhaven, heading for Rotterdam. Following several inaugural events, she started her transatlantic cruise from Southampton to New York City, where the naming ceremony took place. On 12 May 2013 she headed to Bermuda to start her seven-day cruises. She is 146,600 GT in size, and has capacity for 3,963 passengers, double occupancy. The ship has a total of 1,024 staterooms and 238 suites, designed by Priestmangoode and Tillberg Design. Norwegian Breakaway is home ported at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal in Manhattan, making seven-night cruises to Bermuda (May thru Sept) and seven-night cruises to the Bahamas & Florida (October thru April). She is the largest cruise ship homeported year-round from New York City. The ship, along with her sister Norwegian Getaway, was named through a public contest; Kimberly Powell submitted the name Norwegian Breakaway, which was announced on 14 September 2011. The ship's godmothers are the New York dancing troupe The Rockettes. Onboard features include a restaurant, Ocean Blue, by Geoffrey Zakarian, and a comedy club, named Headliners, where a Second City company performs. Peter Max designed the hull art. At launch Norwegian Breakaway was the world's ninth largest cruise ship. Helsinki is the capital city and most populous municipality of Finland. Helsinki is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of 642,045, the Helsinki urban area has a population of 1,231,595, and the Helsinki metropolitan area has a population of over 1.4 million, making it the most populous municipality and urban area in Finland. Helsinki is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 km (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 390 km (240 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Helsinki has close historical ties with these three cities. The Helsinki metropolitan area includes Helsinki's urban core and Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter towns. It is the world's northernmost metro area with over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of an EU member state. Helsinki is the third largest city in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Oslo. Helsinki is Finland's most important political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center. The neighboring city of Vantaa is the location of the Helsinki Airport, which has frequent service to many destinations in Europe and Asia. Helsinki was the World Design Capital for 2012, the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the host of the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest. Helsinki has one of the highest urban standards of living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki the world's most liveable city in its liveable cities index. In the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 liveability survey, Helsinki scored ninth place among 140 cities.