NCL Ships By Age & Size

Norwegian Cruise Line has 19 ships, ranging from new mega-ships that accommodate over 4,000 guests to ships that were built in the 1990s and are less than half the size.

I’ve been lucky enough to experience both the oldest and newest and the biggest and smallest NCL ships and honestly, they’re worlds apart in many ways.

So, to help you decide which of Norwegian’s cruise ships to choose for your next cruise, read on for a guide to NCL ships by age, size and class along with photos of each.

NCL ships in order of age

The following table lists all of the ships in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet, ordered from newest to oldest. It includes the ones that are currently on order, too

Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ships

Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship currently sailing is Norwegian Viva. This new ship is the second of the Prima-class cruise ships to be built for NCL, having launched in August 2023.

She’ll also be the last Prima-Class ship, unless plans drastically change. The next four ships due to be built will be Prima Plus ships, and then a new class is being built – the biggest ever for NCL.

Read more: The Newest Norwegian Cruise Line Ships (In Order)

Norwegian Viva is one of the most spacious new cruise ships at sea, with expansive outdoor deck spaces, an infinity pool designed to blend into the ocean, outdoor firepits and a glass bridge walkway.

Prior to the launch of Norwegian Viva and her sister ship Norwegian Prima in 2022, the most recent addition to the fleet had been Norwegian Encore. Launched in November 2019, this Breakaway Plus-class ship is also the largest in the NCL fleet, with an internal volume of 169,116 GRT and the capacity for almost 4,000 guests at double occupancy.

Norwegian Encore boasts a selection of family-friendly facilities including a virtual reality arcade, open-air laser tag arena, thrilling waterslides and a go-kart track.

Suggested read: My Norwegian Encore Review

Norwegian Cruise Line’s oldest ships

Norwegian Cruise Line’s oldest ship is Norwegian Spirit. Launched over 25 years ago in 1998, this ship has undergone a $100 million refit that saw the addition of 14 new venues including an additional main dining room and an expanded Spa.

I visited Norwegian Spirit just before the makeover. Take a look at what she looked like previously in this Tour of Norwegian Spirit.

The other older ships in the NCL fleet include the Sun-class and Dawn-class ships which were all built before 2012.

As you can see in this photo of the Sun-class Norwegian Sky that I took in Nassau, these older ships are relatively small and do not have many balcony staterooms compared to more modern cruise ships.

NCL ships ranked by size

The following table lists the Norwegian cruise ships by size from largest to smallest – just the ones currently sailing, for now.

The biggest ship

Norwegian Cruise Line’s biggest ship is Norwegian Encore with a gross tonnage of 169,116 GT and the capacity for 3,998 guests at double occupancy. This Breakaway Plus-class ship has 20 decks, of which 16 are accessible to guests and a length of 1,094 feet.

The NCL ship that can accommodate the most guests is Norwegian Escape with a capacity for 4,266 guests when each room has two people in. This ship is slightly smaller than Norwegian Encore but has space for more staterooms as it doesn’t have the laser tag arena, the race track or the splash park.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s biggest ships aren’t that big when compared to the biggest ships from other cruise lines. In fact, NCL’s Breakaway Plus-class ships are around 25% smaller than Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class and 7% smaller than MSC Cruises’ Meraviglia Plus-class ships.

And the smallest…

Norwegian Cruise Line’s smallest ship is Norwegian Spirit. The oldest ship in the fleet, this mid-sized cruise ship has the capacity for 2,018 guests at double occupancy and an internal volume of 75,904 gross tonnes.

Around half of the NCL fleet consists of medium-sized cruise ships that accommodate fewer than 2,500 guests. These ships were all built before 2008 when the fashion for bigger cruise ships took off.

NCL ship classes explained

Norwegian Cruise Line has grouped its ships into nine classes. Interestingly, the two ships remain unclassed as they are different from all others in the fleet.

Unclassed ships

These ships are unique and do not belong to any class:

• Norwegian Spirit
• Pride of America

Norwegian Spirit was originally built for the Asia-based cruise company Star Cruises under the name SuperStar Leo.

Pride of America is the only US-flagged cruise ship in the world and was specifically designed to sail around Hawaii all year round.

The best NCL ships

Are the bigger, newer ships actually better than the smaller older ships? Having experienced both, I must say that the answer depends on what you want from a cruise.

The newest NCL ship Norwegian Viva and her sister Norwegian Prima are great for teenagers. You’ll probably never see them all week as they’ll be so excited to visit the virtual reality arcade, laser tag and race track.

However, all of these activities aren’t included in the price of your cruise, so you could easily rack up a large bill. Plus, they take up a lot of space, meaning that there isn’t that much room left on the open decks for sunbathing.

Even the oldest ships in the NCL fleet have been refurbished recently, so these ships no longer feel like they’re 20+ years old. Ticket prices are much cheaper than the newer ships, and they have better itineraries, making them a good choice for couples without kids and those on a budget.

However, my favourite NCL ship has to be Norwegian Breakaway. I loved the amazing waterslides on this ship and had a lot of fun on the high ropes course and watching the amazing entertainment – all of which were complimentary.

Read more: Norwegian Cruise Line Ships Ranked Best To Worst

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

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