After years of market testing and product evolution, Norwegian Cruise Line executives think they have hit a sweet spot with regard to number of passengers (half as many as some of the megaships coming out today) balanced with variety and passenger comfort. NCL’s latest ship, Norwegian Aqua, is an example of what mainstream cruise ships feel like when they’re designed to optimize their corporate owners’ current pricing strategies in an appealing visual package.
In Norwegian’s case, the winning formula now centers on a long list of restaurants that serve a range of global cuisines but have been tweaked to present a cohesive upscale personality—NCL’s concept consistently gives customers a visual sense of luxury for free even though the truly luxury-level experiences lie behind a paywall.
In fact, Norwegian’s current marketing message is simply the word “more”—as in, the brand intends to offer passengers so much stuff on each ship that they’ll always feel like there are more things to do, drink, and eat. Even the stage shows now last just 45 or 50 minutes so that you can get back to the rest of the ship to keep spending.
Cramming in more is good news for cruise vacationers who aren’t satisfied by mere bridge tournaments and sunbathing. But as Aqua shows, more can have an opportunity cost when it comes to budget and placemaking.
Norwegian Aqua quick facts:
Launched: 2025
Passenger cabins: 1,659
Passengers: 3,571 (at double occupancy)
Crew: 1,597
Number of decks: 20
Size: 156,300 gross tons, 1,056 feet (322m) long, 133 feet (41m) wide
Booking: Norwegian Cruise Line; NCL.com
Aqua doesn’t have many anchor spaces that passengers could count as principal gathering spots. One exception is the Atrium, which spans three levels and links upscale boutiques, a brightly lit bar, and a Starbucks. There aren’t many other places on board that invite passengers to hang around on a couch; on this ship, it’s mostly chairs.
This is the Commodore Room, one of the fine restaurants where anyone can dine without paying a surcharge. A modern evocation of Art Deco style, it’s one of many gorgeous spaces on Aqua. This is a ship that spent much of its meticulous design process being perfected inside a computer, and the tasteful eyes of a small army of land-based interior design contractors have succeeded in creating lots of attractive public spaces in contemporary looks with warm lighting and earthy tones. The décor gives an appealing sense of luxury without exclusivity—although if smooth jazz had a visual look, this might be it.
Back for another round after appearing on previous ships: Metropolitan, a stylish midship cocktail bar where some of the concoctions are made by recycling other types of food, such as croissants. At night, there’s usually a singing pianist here, but there are other shipboard options for entertainment, too, including the Improv for comedy and the ever-popular Syd Norman’s Pour House for that classic interactive cruise ship music experience (“Sweet Caroline” will be sung).
There’s also the Aqua Theater, which, contrary to its name, is not for swimmers but is a hybrid performance space shared by production shows (like Revolution: A Celebration of Prince) and concert shows (like a tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours that was confined to a tiny club space on previous ships). Later on, the theater transforms into a temporary nightclub situation—incongruously, crew members wheel a booze cart onto the dance floor to sell drinks to dancers.
If you corner the executives at Norwegian, they admit there isn’t a whole lot on Aqua that’s truly new. Rather, it’s considered, even internally, to be another iteration of what was launched last year and the year before on other ships. According to the company, that means customers already respond to what’s on offer.
The next ship to be launched, the Norwegian Luna in 2026, will be very similar, too. There are now 17 restaurants on board, most of them surcharged and some with a capacity of only a few dozen seats at a time, adding to the sense of variety and intimacy, though reservations can be challenging to secure. Restaurants include Cagney’s Steakhouse, Nama for sushi and sashimi, and Hasuki for teppanyaki.
One of the few bona fide debuts on the Aqua is Sukhothai, a Thai restaurant. Execs brag that Thai food did so well in past ships’ complimentary Deck 8 food hall that the cuisine has graduated to its own restaurant on Deck 17. Your wallet might notice that this upgrade means a popular genre of food that used to be easy to get anytime for free will now require a surcharge and a reservation.
Surcharges are now a pillar of Norwegian’s business model, which is a big reason why the brand works so hard to promote its More at Sea add-on packages for extras like meals at speciality restaurants and drinks. If you add one of those More at Sea packages to your cruise fare, you won’t notice the sting of the incessant fees and à la carte menu pricing quite as much. But if you aren’t the type to spring for one of those add-ons, you’ll swiftly notice how restricted your included options are and how Aqua prioritizes mini restaurants above large vacation gathering places like pool decks.
Frommer’s advice: If you know you want to sample the specialty restaurants, buy a Specialty Dining Package (SDP) ahead of time. That will add roughly $30 to $50 per meal in additional costs. Keep in mind, though, that as more guests purchase packages, the more reservations you’ll need—book your seats as soon as you can.
Norwegian has retained one very successful custom in its ships for well over a decade now. The line celebrates the sea with one carefully considered, outward-looking deck. On Aqua, it’s Deck 8, which is carved into pleasant segments like Ocean Boulevard, noted for alfresco dining in the sea breezes at the Italian Onda by Scarpetta (surcharged), Los Lobos (surcharged), and The Local Bar & Grill (included).
Other segments of Deck 8—which despite its inviting character is still underutilized—include the loungey shapes and free sightseeing binoculars of La Terraza (pictured above), the side-facing glass-sided tub pools of Infinity Beach along both sides, and the Indulge Outdoor Lounge and Soleil Bar, both of which go round the stern, connecting both sides of Deck 8 to each other.
Norwegian tells us that Aqua is 10% larger than its immediate predecessor, the Norwegian Viva. Most of that addition has been absorbed into areas that were a little shortchanged last time—especially the somewhat stark public pool area, which is noticeably less hemmed into its midship slot on Deck 17 than on the two prior ships.
It’s still not enough deck space to allow everyone on board to get poolside, though. That’s why you’ll find lots of additional lounge chairs scattered over various decks, including the promenades located as far down as Deck 8. The ship’s designers promise that everyone who wants a chair should be able to find one, and that seems like it’s probably true, although it’s worth pointing out that along the sides of Deck 8, half the ship will be in shadow at any given moment.
Too much of the prime, shadow-free real estate on the actual top deck has been given over to bulky entertainments and surcharged velvet-rope areas like Vibe (mentioned below) and the restricted-access Haven suite zone. As proof that NCL is betting more on its exclusive and high-priced ship-within-a-ship concierge product, Aqua‘s Haven section now has 123 units, or about 20% more than on the previous ships.
The kids’ splash zone is found a flight of stairs above Deck 17, separating the children’s wet area from the main adult pool. You can see how tightly the feature is squeezed into this pocket of space. There are lounge chairs nearby for watchful parents.
One thing that designing a cruise ship in a computer can’t quite predict: collisions between worlds. Take Vibe Beach Club, an adults-only zone with a bar that Norwegian sets aside as an upcharged deck area. Vibe (which costs between $99 a day and about $250 for the cruise, depending on your departure date; it sells out early) receives more theming than the complimentary pool area gets and comes with perks such as nicer loungers. Although it has hot tubs, it doesn’t have a pool of its own.
But just because kids aren’t allowed into Vibe doesn’t mean it’s always peaceful. Jangled sound effects from an arcade space positioned on a balcony above often waft into this area, disrupting the mood. These bits and pieces might have coexisted unremarkably in the pre-construction design process, but in real life, there’s sound bleed, so the ship’s assorted spaces are not always harmonious neighbors.
Another case of the pieces not working together is the fitness club, which for the third Norwegian ship in a row (following Prima and Viva) has been placed directly above the Mandara Spa and Salon. When gym-goers at Pulse Fitness Center use heavy machinery or step in unison in a scheduled class, the people trying to zen out in the spa below can often hear the thumping. What might have seemed like a victory of organization on a screen has a different result when people are added. But if you’re not the type to use the spa or the gym, then I guess it wouldn’t be your problem.
The marquee attraction on Norwegian Aqua, the one you might tell your kids about to convince them to get excited about the vacation, is the Aqua Slidecoaster. The cruise line bills this as “the world’s first hybrid roller coaster and water slide.” Seems like a dubious claim. How can you have a roller coaster without wheels?
What actually happens during the ride: A mechanical arm gives your raft a jolly good push up the first hill, and then you spend the rest of the time floating back to the load zone in a twisty tube where you can’t see the ocean below you.