Norwegian Cruise Line today launched gemitgirl.com (www.gemitgirl.com ), an online site dedicated exclusively to the company's new "It" Girl, Norwegian Gem. The site features fun, engaging features including a blog from the "It" Girl herself, a create-your-own avatar tool, weekly polls, virtual bowling in the Bliss Ultra Lounge, a calendar of events, contests and more.

"Norwegian Gem is the hippest ship to hit the high seas," said Colin Veitch, NCL's president and CEO. "It's only fitting that our new "It" Girl would have her own dedicated, interactive space where everyone can truly get a feel for her personality and share in the excitement about her upcoming arrival."

The site gives the 411 on the glamorous life of the "It" Girl, including a list of her vital stats and favorite things, including her favorite color: leopard and her favorite food: escargot from Le Bistro. In addition, there are deck plans and detailed information on her staterooms, public rooms and itineraries.

Every "It" Girl has an entourage, so here visitors can join Norwegian Gem's circle of friends by creating their own avatar, a virtual representation of themselves that lives on line. After doing so, they are automatically entered into a drawing to win a seven-day cruise on Norwegian Gem. They are also entered into a weekly drawing to be the "It" Girl's BFF of the week. The weekly prize is a $50 American Express gift card and the winning avatar is displayed prominently on the site.     

In the "It" Girl's blog, the ship and her assistant, Marli, will post entries chronicling noteworthy happenings in Norwegian Gem's progression from the shipyard to welcoming her first guests and visiting exotic locales around the globe. An RSS feed is available for those who want to be notified of the latest blog entries as they are posted. 

In the virtual Bliss Ultra Lounge, an online version of the lounge found on board Norwegian Gem, visitors can bowl and compete against others for a spot on the leader board where the highest scores are posted. All those participating in the bowling game can enter a monthly drawing to win a Nintendo Wii" game system.

Dancing is one of Norwegian Gem's favorite activities, so visitors can get into the "It" Girl groove by perusing a list of her favorite tunes. Her musical taste runs the gamut from dance music and pop to jazz and hip hop. Through a partnership with iTunes, visitors can instantly purchase the songs and add them to their own iTunes playlist.

Like any globe-trotting "It" Girl, Norwegian Gem's social calendar is filled with a bevy of fabulous, A-list activities. An events section gives an insider's glimpse into these activities.  A "Share the Love" feature allows visitors to send e-postcards to their BFFs, inviting them to visit the site.

NCL Corporation Ltd. is an innovative cruise company headquartered in Miami, Florida, with a fleet of 14 ships in service and under construction.  The corporation oversees the operations of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America and Orient Lines.  The company is currently building Norwegian Gem for delivery in October of 2007.  In addition, NCL plans to build up to three new third generation Freestyle Cruising ships for delivery between 2009 and 2011. 

NCL is on target to have the youngest fleet in the industry by the end of 2007 with the introduction of Norwegian Gem, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy the flexibility of Freestyle Cruising on the newest, most contemporary ships at sea.

For high resolution, downloadable images, please log onto NCL's Web site at www.ncl.com/pressroom.  For further information on NCL Corporation, contact a travel agent or NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (866) 234-0292.