In 1978, Knut Kloster purchased the laid-up France for $18 million, and proceeded to spend over $80 million tranforming the transatlantic liner to a warm-weather cruise ship. Her forward engine room was shut down, two of her four propellors removed and her crew reduced, whilst additional cabins were added. Some of the duplicate facilities for the two-class liner were converted to shops or other new faciltiies; other spaces were filled in with additional cabins, boosting her capacity to 1,944 to 2,181. Her success as a cruise ship far eclipsed that on the transatlantic trade, which was already waning when she arrived on the scene. In 1984, she had the first of three renovations, in which she was given diesel engines for auxiliary power. Then, in 1990, she had two additional decks added atop her superstructure, boosting capacity to 2,565. Many argued that the addition was detrimental to the ship's looks, and of course the public facilities all became that much more crowded. In 1996, a further renovation converted several public spaces to shops, and the former First Class Main Lounge was changed from Checkers, one of the more successful public spaces on Norway, to a Sports Illustrated-themed bar. All these changes were deemed necessary to keep the ship profitable, but by 2000, she was far eclipsed by the new tonnage that was appearing all around, most of it with balconies. The ship departed on what was expected to be her final voyage with NCL on 5th September, 2001. She was in mid-Atlantic when the United States was attacked by terrorists. Shortly after she arrived in Europe, NCL announced that she had been given a reprieve, and would return to her former slow-motion march round the Caribbean. The Norway was sailing fairly full, although at very cheap fares, when a boiler explosion killed several of her crew shortly after the ship docked in Miami in the fall of 2003. She was towed in Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, site of her three prior refurbishments, where she remained for over a year, then was towed to Port Klang for further layup. NCL have announced that they will not be returning her to service; however no further plans have been made public. |
| as France (the names for the lower decks were added on a cruise brochure) | as Norway | |||
| - | - | - | Sun Deck | Cabins, sun deck |
| Observation Deck | Observation Deck | Sky Deck | Cabins, pool | |
| Pont du Soleil | Sun Deck | Sport Centre, 1st Class cabins | Fjord Deck | Cabins |
| Pont des Embarcations | Boat Deck | Open Promenade, 1st Class cabins | Olympic Deck | Open promenade, cabins, gym |
| Pont Veranda | Verandah Deck | 1st Class lounges & promenade theatre balcony, children's playroom, chapel | International Deck | Lido restaurant, lounges, shops, cabin, enclosed promenade |
| Pont Promenade | Promenade Deck | Tourist lounges & promenade, theatre orchestra | Pool Deck | Outdoor pool, lounges, casino |
| Pont Superieur | Upper Deck | 1st Class cabins | Viking Deck | Disco, cabins |
| Pont Principal | Main Deck | 1st class cabins, restaurant tops | Norway Deck | Cabins, restaurant tops |
| Pont Atlantique* | "A" Deck | Cabins (both classes), restaurants | Atlantic Deck | Cabins, restaurants |
| Pont Bordeaux* | "B" Deck | Tourist cabins | Biscayne Deck | Cabins |
| (no name?) | No passenger facilities | Caribbean Deck | No passenger facilities | |
| Pont Deauville* | "D" Deck | Indoor Pool, Tourist cabins | Dolphin Deck | Indoor Pool |
| As France | As Norway |
| 1st Class Smoking Room (later Salon Riviera) |
Club Internationale (largely unspoiled - see pictures below) |
| 1st Class Main Lounge (later Salon Fontainbleau) |
Originally Checkers Caberet, this room was recently remade into a Sports Illustrated theme bar |
| 1st Class Library/Writing Room | Card Room |
| Caberet de L'atlantique (disco) | Upstairs at the Downstairs |
| Salons Ravel et Debussy | Shops |
| 1st Class Card Room (Salon Monaco) | Shop |
| 1st Class Beauty Salon | Windjammer Bar |
| 1st Class Restaurant (Chambord) | Windward Restaurant |
| Tourist Class Smoking
Room (later Cafe Rive Gauche/Left Bank Cafe) |
Casino |
| Tourist Class Main
Lounge (later St. Tropez Lounge) |
North Cape Lounge |
| Tourist Class Restaurant | Leeward Restaurant |
| Photos as the Norway looks today,
courtesy of Richard Paul.
Thumbnail - Click to Expand |
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In this photo, midship between the two funnels, you can see
the pool that was added in the refit. Note the portholes below the
water line. This pool was placed in what was once a small
"land-locked" patio surrounded by First Class rooms which had
doors opening onto it.
In addition, you can see that the tops of the funnels were removed to allow use of more modern exhaust equipment. |
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This photo is inside that former courtyard, the portholes
looking into the pool are at left, the formerly glamourous cabins are at
right. Note the decorative window grates (no, this isn't a bad
neighbourhood!) and knockers remain although the doorknobs have been
removed.
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The builder's plaque on the original main turbine control panel.
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The starboard promenade deck. Originally there were two enclosed promenade decks, one for each class. This was actually the first-class promenade. The former tourist promenade, one deck lower, has been filled with cabins. |
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The main staircase on International (formerly Promenade) deck. |
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At the time of her building, France's theater was the largest at sea. Tourist Class passengers sat in the orchestra which was on their deck (Promenade, now Pool) while First Class had the balcony which was on their deck (Verandah, now International) |
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Club Internationale, the former First-Class Smoking Room, is probably the best-preserved room on the ship. |
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The Windward Restaurant, formerly the Chambord Restaurant for First Class. An unintended phenomenon of the overhead dome is that a whispered conversation can be easily heard directly across the room. |
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