In a curious East-goes-West journey, Norwegian Spirit was originally built for the Freestyle Cruising concept and launched as SuperStar Leo for Norwegian Cruise Line's Asian parent, Star Cruises. In winter 2004, NCL's Hawaiian venture nearly sunk when a freakish storm filled its almost-completed flagship with water while it was nearing completion in Germany. With a month's worth of bookings and no new ship, arrangements were made to deploy a substitute in Hawaii and transfer SuperStar Leo to fill the gap it left in its wake.