South Africa - Sunset Off the Coast of Cape Town Viewed from the Norwegian Spirit

Norwegian Spirit is a cruise ship currently operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. She was built for Star Cruises as SuperStar Leo. The vessel was constructed by Meyer Werft in Germany. Named SuperStar Leo in 1998, the vessel was the first of Star Cruises' Leo class. She was then homeported in Singapore in 1998 and operated 2–5 night cruises to Malaysia and Thailand. One year later, SuperStar Virgo arrived in Singapore. She was then based in Hong Kong in 10 September 1999 and offered 1–5 night cruises to China, Hainan, Vietnam and the South China Sea. In 2003, SuperStar Leo was transferred to Australia due to SARS in Asia and she returned to Hong Kong afterwards. In 2004, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) was planning to launch Pride of America. However, just prior to completion, the vessel partially sank when a storm hit the Lloyd Werft shipyards. To meet the already booked cruises for Pride of America, Norwegian Sky was immediately rushed into service as Pride of Aloha. To compensate for the unexpected events, SuperStar Leo was immediately transferred to the NCL fleet, her planned cruises cancelled (thus forcing Star Cruises to refund or re-book passengers), and after only two weeks of refits, the vessel emerged as Norwegian Spirit, ready to assume the planned cruises of Norwegian Sky. Cape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa after Johannesburg and also the legislative capital of South Africa. Colloquially named the Mother City, it is the largest city of the Western Cape province and forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The Parliament of South Africa sits in Cape Town. The other two capitals are located in Pretoria (the executive capital where the Presidency is based) and Bloemfontein (the judicial capital where the Supreme Court of Appeal is located). The city is known for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is home to 64% of the Western Cape's population. The city was named the World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by both The New York Times and The Daily Telegraph., Cape Town was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town, as the oldest urban area in South Africa, was developed by the United East India Company (VOC) as a supply station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India, and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on 6 April 1652 established VOC Cape Colony, the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa.