– Girls’ trips leave women feeling refreshed (80%), closer to their friends (55%) and inspired (51%) –
– In honour of Galentine’s Day (13 February 2024), NCL is encouraging women to take the time to sail away together to top girl’s trip destinations, including Italy, Greece, France and the United States
Johannesburg – 12 February, 2024 – Love is in the air, but this Galentine’s Day, Feb. 13, 2024, it’s all about celebrating the unsung heroines of our lives – our gal pals! Founded by the legendary, but fictional Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation over a decade ago, Galentine’s Day is a reminder to the importance of the extraordinary connections women share with their female friends and family.
A recent survey of adult women by OnePoll on behalf of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)1, the innovator of global cruise travel, reveals that 61% of women feel they are caught in the whirlwind of daily life and struggle to find enough time to nurture their relationships, leaving them on average with less than an hour of ‘quality time’ per week with the women in their lives. Yet, the majority of women (86%) appreciates Galentine’s Day as a reminder to foster meaningful connections, with more than a third of women (35%) dedicating time to celebrate this occasion.
Furthermore, almost nine out of ten (87%) of women agree that an all-girls getaways are a fantastic way to toast to their friendships.
Sailing to nearly 450 destinations around the world across its 19-ship fleet, NCL provides a variety of experiences to cater to women everywhere and their preferred travel options, like spa weekends (46%), beach breaks (41%) or culinary tours (33%). During an all-girls trip, most women love to explore the sunny sights of the Mediterranean, including Italy, Greece, and France. This summer, NCL will feature 9 ships in the Mediterranean, including its newest additions, Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva, offering a variety of itineraries from bucket-list destinations including Lisbon, Portugal; Barcelona, Spain; Trieste and Civitavecchia, Italy and Piraeus, Greece.
When travelling further afield with their female friends, women also opt to discover Maldives, Seychelles or the United States as exotic, long-haul destinations. Departing from more than ten homeports in the U.S., NCL takes female travellers and their friends a breadth of destinations including Hawai’i and Alaska with the opportunity to add a few days exploring pre- or post-cruise. What’s more, NCL has recently opened additional Caribbean sailings in fall 2024 from New Orleans, Louisiana and Port Canaveral, Florida for sale.
“We take great pride in delivering a variety of experiences for all of our guests, to provide them with memory-making holidays at great value for money,” says Nirosha Sidat, Country Manager Africa for Norwegian Cruise Line. “The survey has revealed that women long to travel and connect with their female friends and family members, and cruising is the perfect solution to that! A trip at sea embodies all the ‘feel-good elements’ – the ability to ‘switch off’, relax in the spa, savour cuisines from all four corners of the globe and of course, discover new destinations together. The celebration of Galentine’s Day should not be limited to just one day but enjoyed all year round.”
According to the research, three quarter of women (76%) have already taken a holiday with their female friends before and 73% intend to go away on an all-girls trip in 2024. Findings show that for these women, an all-girls trip isn’t simply a holiday. It gives them the chance to get away from day-to-day worries (64%), let their hair down (38%) and have a real catch up (37%), leaving them feeling refreshed (80%), closer to their friends (55%) and inspired (51%).
Although Galentine’ Day is widely observed on Feb. 13, the overarching message of honouring female friendships and dedicating time for all-girl getaways is relevant all year long. NCL’s year-round offerings provide the perfect platform for ladies to sail away together anywhere in the world and create memories they can cherish for a lifetime:
- Explore bucket-list worthy destinations in one trip: When planning a girls’ getaway, research showed most women opt for discovering a new city, a spa weekend or a sun-kissed beach getaway. Sailing to over 450 destinations across the globe, NCL offers cruises for every girls’ trip dream destination, including cruises to the incredible sights of the Western Mediterranean with time to explore Rome, Barcelona, Cannes and Ibiza; a 7-day roundtrip to the blue and whitewashed Greek Isles; Caribbean voyages onboard Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Getaway sailing to fun-in-the-sun island destinations in the region; as well as the industry’s only inter-island Hawaii cruises from Honolulu on NCL’s Pride of America, sailing to five islands in seven days.
- Share a room or go solo – it’s up to you: When going on an all-girls trip, 82% of women are willing to share a room with their travel companions, whereas 16% would prefer to stay in their own room. From inside staterooms for the value-seekers to luxurious multi-bedroom suites in The Haven by Norwegian®, NCL offers a broad variety of stateroom categories for every taste and travel style. Moreover, the cruise line has recently more than doubled the capacity of solo accommodations and expanded its offerings to include Solo Inside, Solo Oceanview and Solo Balcony stateroom categories, providing more options than ever before for women who prefer to have their own accommodations while traveling with friends.
- Indulge at your pace: Research shows that popular girls’ trip activities include spa treatments (45%) wine tasting (27%), shopping (26%) and fine dining (22%). As part of its freedom and flexibility product offering, female travellers can enjoy NCL’s breadth of onboard activities. All ships in NCL’s award-winning fleet feature a Mandara Spa® with thermal suite experiences, saunas and signature treatments. Most notably, Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva, the first two ships in the ground-breaking Prima Class, debuted the first charcoal sauna at sea and other brand-first experiences like an ice room, experiential showers, a flotation salt pool and infrared sauna.
- Value-for-time and money travel: Cruising offers one of the best values to exploring multiple destinations, unpacking once and waking up in a new destination nearly every day. For female travellers looking to maximise their time and travel budget, NCL’s popular Free at Sea offering delivers additional amenities to further design their dream holiday, including Speciality Dining and Beverage packages, complimentary Wi-Fi, shore excursion credits, free companion airfare and more.
For more information about NCL’s award-winning 19-ship fleet and worldwide itineraries, or to book a cruise, please contact a travel professional, or visit www.ncl.com.
1The survey was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Norwegian Cruise Line from January 25 – 30, 2024 polling 1,000 women in South Africa aged 18 and above.
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About Norwegian Cruise Line
As the innovator in global cruise travel, Norwegian Cruise Line has been breaking the boundaries of traditional cruising for 57 years. Most notably, the cruise line revolutionised the industry by offering guests the freedom and flexibility to design their ideal vacation on their preferred schedule with no assigned dining and entertainment times and no formal dress codes. Today, its fleet of 19 contemporary ships sail to 400 of the world’s most desirable destinations, including Great Stirrup Cay, the company’s private island in the Bahamas and its resort destination Harvest Caye in Belize. Norwegian Cruise Line not only provides superior guest service from land to sea, but also offers a wide variety of award-winning entertainment and dining options as well as a range of accommodations across the fleet, including solo-traveller staterooms, club balcony suites, spa-suites and The Haven by Norwegian®, the company’s ship-within-a-ship concept. For additional information or to book a cruise, contact a travel professional, call 021 200 6586 or visit www.ncl.com For the latest news and exclusive content, visit the NCL Newsroom and follow Norwegian Cruise Line on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube @NorwegianCruiseLine; and Twitter @CruiseNorwegian.
Norwegian Cruise Line is a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH). To learn more, visit https://www.nclhltd.com/.
Locally Issued By:
Kim Taylor, Big Ambitions