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Add a wide range of superb dining options and spectacular entertainment and you’ll experience your best vacation ever. If you're looking for a romantic vacation, perhaps you'll want a smaller ship or a cabin in The Haven, which is a hotel-within-a-hotel concept with more personalized service. The Haven is only available on select Norwegian ships, including Encore, Viva and Prima. Its loyalty program, onboard amenities and variety of cabin types offer something for every type of traveler. If you’re scrolling through endless Norwegian Cruise Line reviews, let this complete guide to the cruise company give you the larger overview of what sets this brand apart from the rest. There are some interesting innovations from Norwegian that other cruise lines have since adopted, but they started here.
What is the newest class of Norwegian Cruise Line ship?
You'll also find multiple pools on each of the ships, along with whirlpools, basketball courts and golf driving nets. The first NCL ship that was built specifically for NCLs (versus being built for another cruise line before being transferred over to NCL) was Norwegian Jewel. The first Dawn-class ship, Norwegian Star, like Norwegian Dawn, was built for Star Cruises before being transferred over to NCL. The first Jewel-class ship, Norwegian Jewel premiered in 2005 after being built by Meyer Werft in Germany. Similar to sister ship Norwegian Pearl, Norwegian Jewel has connections to several pop culture figures; the ship’s godmother is former First Lady Melania Trump and the ship appeared on an episode of The Apprentice. The first Breakaway-class ship, Norwegian Breakaway was actually named by the public, via a contest that NCL hosted in 2011.
Norwegian Cruise Ships By Size
Scheduled drydocks in 2016 were for Pride of America, NCL Dawn, NCL Sun. These dry docks were longer than usual for NCL ships (some up to 3 weeks). Pride of America is the largest US-flagged passenger ship homeported in Honolulu for year-round roundtrips to the Hawaiian Islands. Due to financial considerations, the other NCL America ships in Hawaii - Pride of Aloha (now Norwegian Sky) and Pride of Hawaii (now Norwegian Jade) - were later transferred to the company's international fleet. On July 30, 2018, following the industry's "eco-trend", NCL announced banning fleetwide single-use plastic straws.
Pacific Coastal Cruises
A look inside Norwegian Cruise Line's exclusive ship within a ship - Stuff
A look inside Norwegian Cruise Line's exclusive ship within a ship.
Posted: Sun, 21 Apr 2024 02:12:37 GMT [source]
We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Note that all Norwegian ships are regularly renovated and upgraded every few years, so even the oldest Norwegian cruise vessels have newer carpeting, updated furniture, modern decor in cabins and other updates.
Norwegian executives have said the smaller size of the new Prima Class ships would give the line more options in designing itineraries; the vessels are able to access smaller ports around the world than the bigger Norwegian ships can. Measuring 143,535 gross tons and carrying 3,099 passengers at double occupancy, it's almost identical to Norwegian's last new ship, Norwegian Prima. Both ships are part of the line's new six-ship Prima Class series, which will be rolling out through 2028. Norwegian Cruise Line's fleet consists of 19 ships that come in a wide range of sizes and feature differing mixes of venues and activities.
Norwegian also has rooms on its ships for babies and toddlers ages 6 months to 3 years. Called Guppies, the program offers parents a place to play with their youngest children, with occasional youth staff-led activities and games. As is the case with the Galaxy Pavilion attractions mentioned above, the go-kart and laser tag experiences on Norwegian ships don't come cheap. Pride of America notably operates with a mostly U.S. crew, in keeping with regulations governing cruise itineraries that only include U.S. ports. Norwegian's 10 smaller vessels break down among five classes, but many are roughly the same size and offer similar amenities.
Norwegian Epic
The "Norwegian Edge" project covered 11 vessels - all older ships launched before NCL Breakaway (2013). On all these ships NCL added new venues, and did extensive restaurant makeovers (La Cucina Italian, Cagney's Steakhouse, Le Bistro French, Moderno Churrascaria Brazilia). Most public spaces (including all lounges, bars, complimentary food bars) received new furniture and flooring, some were completely re-designed. Newer Norwegian Cruise Line ships are generally bigger than older Norwegian ships — sometimes much bigger. As a result, they have room for many more onboard venues and attractions than the line's older vessels.
- 2025 Caribbean Cruises
The line also operates smaller vessels that barely crack the top 100 list of biggest cruise ships. These ships generally have fewer venues and attractions than the bigger ships. Norwegian is a line known for packing oodles of restaurants, bars and entertainment on its vessels — even its smaller ones. As is typical for cruise lines, Norwegian charges on a per-person basis, not per room, and it prices most cabins based on two people occupying a room. It does offer some cabins for solo travelers on some ships that are priced based on single occupancy. Norwegian Viva and Norwegian Prima are notably smaller vessels than other new Norwegian cruise ships unveiled over the past 15 years.
So, even if you took a cruise on Norwegian Spirit, for example, you’d still be able to take advantage of refurbishments that occurred as recently as 2020. Lastly, the oldest class for NCL is the Sun Class, which debuted in 1999 and includes Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun. No, but you can pay for a Wi-Fi package, which starts at $29.99 per day per device. As you accrue nights, you earn elite status that delivers onboard benefits that grow with each status tier. Norwegian Viva launched in the summer of 2023, making it the newest ship for NCL. It has special features like a three-tier race track, the fastest slides at sea, a food hall with 11 complimentary eateries and a sustainable cocktail bar.
That means it has the most space for the many over-the-top family fun zones that are at the core of the four Breakaway-Plus vessels — a series of ships that was specifically designed with families in mind. The first two Breakaway-class ships entered service in 2013 and 2014 as Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway. On October 17, 2012, Meyer Werft and Norwegian reached a second agreement for the construction of two new vessels,[36] slated for delivery in October 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Cruise week report: Cruise tourist traps to avoid, NCL's best-kept secret, what you need to know about sharing ... - Cruise Blog
Cruise week report: Cruise tourist traps to avoid, NCL's best-kept secret, what you need to know about sharing ....
Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:13:41 GMT [source]
Regardless of their US citizenship status, Cuba-born Americans were denied booking on itineraries visiting ports in Cuba. However, the situation changed in April 2016, after Carnival Corporation negotiated with the Cuban government for allowing ships with Cuban-born passengers, as such US citizens are allowed to visit the country on USA-Cuba charter flights. Both NCL's first vessels - Sunward (1966) and Starward (1968) - were car ferries, but later their car decks were refitted into cabin decks (housing staterooms) and a 2-deck high theatre lounge. Few lines offer as broad a range of entertainment and activities on their ships as Norwegian.
In 2023, NCL had its ever-biggest Europe-Meditarranean itinerary program by deploying in the region 10 ships (Breakaway, Dawn, Epic, Gem, Getaway, Jade, Prima, Sun, Star, Viva). Due to the COVID pandemic, NCLH's entire fleet (all vessels of the brands NCL-Norwegian, RSSC-Regent, Oceania) is with an expanded cancellation policy. All bookings on pre-scheduled itineraries (departures March 14, 2020, through April 30, 2021) were given the option to cancel (up to 48 hours prior departure) without penalties. Previously, for itineraries 6 to 9 nights long, booked customers had to put down a USD 250 pp (per person) deposit. After January 2016, that was changed to USD 250 pp for itineraries 7 to 9 days, and USD 100 pp for itineraries 2 to 6 nights long. Daily gratuity is an automatic service charge added to the passenger's onboard account each day.
There's also an always-busy casino, which opens when the ship is out to sea. Norwegian ships also typically hold several themed nights (glow party, '70s or '80s, etc.) during a typical sailing. You might want to bring a few appropriate items, such as white clothing for the glow and white parties or bell bottoms for '70s night. Norwegian Epic was the first Norwegian ship with an exclusive solos zone, and it was such a hit the line later added them to eight more vessels. That said, Norwegian Sky has its allures, one of which is that it has a much more intimate feel than the line's bigger vessels.
Deck-top attractions on Norwegian Spirit include several pools, whirlpools, waterslides, a basketball court and a jogging track. On average, the line comes out with about one new ship every 18 months, and it typically keeps vessels in its fleet for around 20 to 30 years before retiring them. The oldest Norwegian Cruise Line ship, Norwegian Spirit, is 25 years old. Other relatively new Norwegian Cruise Line ships include Norwegian Encore, Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Joy. You'll find plenty of young families onboard Norwegian ships, especially during holidays and school breaks. However, the line's newest ship, Norwegian Bliss, is less family-friendly than the line's other ships, with all the kids clubs on the lowest levels of the ship and onboard entertainment that is decidedly adult.
Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva were built with a higher ratio of space to passengers than earlier Norwegian vessels, which itself is an upscale touch. The ships also have a higher crew-to-passenger ratio than many Norwegian ships, leading to better service. Other Norwegian cruise ships, such as Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Sun, have specific features that might make them better options for solo travelers or retirees. Certain Norwegian ships are best for budget travelers, while others are best for luxury travelers.
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