Norwegian Cruise Line places order for its largest ships yet
In April 2024, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings shared plans for the most comprehensive new-build order in the company's history.
The long-term fleet expansion plan includes new classes of ships for each of its three brands — Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Eight next-generation vessels will be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for delivery over a ten-year period, between 2026 and 2036.Along with expanding the Oceania and Regent Seven Seas fleets by two ships each, the new plan doubled the number of ships in development for Norwegian Cruise Line. Following the delivery of four Prima-Plus class ships from 2025 through 2028, the cruise line will add four additional ships to its fleet in 2030, 2032, 2034 and 2036. This will boost the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet size to 27 ships by 2036.
The initial announcement noted that the new class of ships for Norwegian would be approximately 200,000 gross tons each with a capacity of nearly 5,000 passengers. But new details just released by Fincantieri reveal that Norwegian has decided to go even bigger.Norwegian Cruise Line will follow up its Prima-Plus class with its largest ship class to date. Fincantieri has received a firm order for the construction of four new Norwegian cruise ships each with a gross tonnage of approximately 226,000, which will make this new class of ships the largest ever built for the cruise line.
In terms of tonnage, the new class of Norwegian cruise ships will be nearly as large as some of Royal Caribbean's Oasis class ships, which are among the largest cruise ships in the world.
With more than 5,100 berths, the new class of Norwegian mega-ships will be able to accommodate more than 8,300 people, including crew. The ships will be designed according to the highest standards of comfort and technology and also include sustainability features.The four ships will be built at the Fincantieri Monfalcone shipyard, with the first vessel to be delivered in 2030 and the others to follow in 2032, 2034, and 2036. Fincantieri has already built two Norwegian cruise ships, Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva, and will soon deliver Norwegian Aqua, the first ship of the Prima-Plus class, which launches in April.
The new class of ships will follow Norwegian Aqua and Norwegian Luna, debuting in April 2026, and two additional Prima-Plus class ships planned for delivery in 2027 and 2028. Norwegian Aqua and Luna are 156,300 gross-ton ships with a passenger capacity of 3,571. The final two Prima-Plus class ships will be 169,000 gross tons with a capacity for 3,650 passengers, according to the Cruise Industry News Global Cruise Ship Index.As it levels up its fleet, Norwegian Cruise Line is also enhancing its private island destination in The Bahamas, Great Stirrup Cay, to accommodate its increased capacity and improve the passenger experience.
Currently, passengers must board a tender boat to reach the destination, but accessing the Great Stirrup Cay will soon become easier.A new multi-ship pier is now under construction and expected to open in late 2025. It's designed to simultaneously accommodate two large vessels of the cruise line's current and future ship classes.
In addition to Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian also offers its passengers a private destination experience in the Western Caribbean at Harvest Caye, the cruise line's private resort-style destination in Southern Belize. Harvest Caye is the only destination in the country of Belize with a pier able to accommodate cruise ship berths.
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