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Norwegian Cruise Line, which is in the midst of a major modernization program, announced May 2nd that it had ordered yet another large new cruise ship, bringing to five the number of new ships that will join its fleet between now and October 2007.

The latest order with the Meyer Werft yard in Germany is for another sister ship to the Norwegian Jewel, which is slated to join the NCL fleet in August of this year. The new ship will be ready in October 2007 and another sister to the Norwegian Jewel is to join the fleet in February 2007.

The first of the five ships on order to be delivered will be Pride of America, which will make an unusual maiden voyage the week of June 18th when becomes a studio for "Live with Regis and Kelly" as it cruises along the Eastern U.S. coast with Regis Philbin, Kelly Ripa and 1,000 of their fans.

After the "Regis and Kelly" cruise, Pride of America will make her way to her homeport of Honolulu, where she will be joined in the spring of next year by new sister ship Pride of Hawaii.

" The modernization of NCL’s fleet has now gained full momentum and we are well on the way to our goal of having the youngest fleet in the industry," said Colin Veitch, NCL’s President and CEO.

The five new ships will join five NCL ships built since 1999 and already in service: Norwegian Sun, Norwegian Star, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Spirit and Pride of Aloha.