The Spirit of Adventure, the second of two cruise ships being built for the British shipping company Saga Cruises, was floated out from Meyer Werft’s covered building dock I on Friday, July 24.
The luxury liner has a structurally identical sister ship, Spirit of Discovery, which was delivered to the company in 2019.
The Saga sisters are characterised by their eco-friendly and resource-saving design, according to Meyer Werft.
During the float-out, the funnel was lifted onto the ship by crane and mounted. In the afternoon, the ship was moved to the outfitting pier for different tests.
In the following days and weeks, more tests will be executed at the outfitting pier of the shipyard. In August the ship is scheduled to start its passage on the River Ems to the port of Emden to start seas trials later on.
The 58,250 GT cruise ship has an overall length of 236 metres and a breadth of 31.2 metres. It has 554 cabins for 999 passengers and reaches a speed of more than 18 knots.
Saga is expecting to take delivery of Spirit of Adventure in autumn ahead of the ship’s planned inaugural sailing.
For the first voyage, Spirit of Adventure will leave Southampton on the 5th November to sail the Mediterranean, before returning to the UK, Saga Cruises said.
“This is a very exciting day as it brings us another step closer to being able to welcome Spirit of Adventure to our fleet. Over the past 18 months, we have been focused on creating a British boutique cruising experience for our guests that is not available elsewhere on the market, ” Nigel Blanks , Managing Director of Saga Cruises, said.
“The arrival of Spirit of Discovery last year was the first milestone in this plan and the ship has been extremely well received by our guests. I’m confident that Spirit of Adventure will see an equally warm welcome.”
The company said that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been working closely with the relevant government departments and industry trade body CLIA to ensure it has in place “the most stringent health and safety measures to ensure a safe return to cruising once advice from the FCO changes.”