Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has unveiled plans for the development and construction of the Norwegian Cruise Line Centre of Excellence.
This will be a shipboard team member training facility, to be located near Manila in the Philippines.
The 200,000 sq ftcentre will serve both new and existing shipboard team members across the company and will provide training for various on board service segments.
A training campus will enable NCLH to fully immerse trainees in their coursework, reduce onboard training time and further improve service levels.
The facilities have been designed to provide trainees with realistic work and living experiences on board a cruise ship, which will include replicas of staterooms, a shipboard galley, a casino floor, a full service bar, as well as safety and security training areas. The centre will provide annual training for as many as 8,000 each year.
“As the company continues to grow and execute on our disciplined newbuild pipeline with 11 ships on order through 2027, the Centre of Excellence will enable us to train and develop shipboard staff to meet the growing demand for top talent and to provide our guests with the high level of service and best-in-class vacation experience they have come to expect,” said Frank Del Rio, NCLH president and CEO. “With our global fleet of 26 ships carrying over 2.5 mill guests a year, this new facility will give us the ability to fully immerse shipboard team members in their coursework and ensure we continue to provide exceptional vacation experiences for our guests.”
The company has secured a 7.2 acre parcel of land near Manila, where it plans to develop the centre. Construction is scheduled to begin this year with the centredue to open its doors in late 2020.
NCLH currently sources around 65% of its shipboard talent from Southeast Asia and anticipates an even higher demand for personnel from the region in the coming years.
