NCL is mass-market cruising. They used to be one of the “Big 3”, but they have been surpassed by MSC in size. As NCL has not become smaller, it should probably be the Big 4 now. NCL doesn’t have as big of ships as Royal Caribbean. They don’t have as many ships as Carnival. NCL is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world. NCL offers “Freestyle Cruising”. What that means is that they don’t schedule your dinner, which isn’t saying a lot, but here is what makes NCL a good cruise option:
- Solo cruising taken seriously
- NCL has lots of solo stateroom options. This means that you save on the solo supplement, leaving more money for shore excursions and souvenirs.
- Budget-Friendly
- NCL tends to be slightly cheaper than Royal Caribbean and Carnival
- You want to cruise Hawaii
- Due to government restrictions, NCL has the only large cruise ship allowed to sail between US ports without stopping in a foreign port. This means that they have the only major 7-day Hawaii cruise. All other Hawaii cruises are with small (expensive) lines or have many sea days.
Summary
There really aren’t a lot of unique traits to NCL, but they offer a good experience at a reasonable price. They are also great for solo travelers. There are also few, if any downsides. An NCL cruise will be a good cruise.
| Ship | Passengers | Tonnage | Tons to Passengers Ratio |
| Viva | 3195 | 142500 | 45 |
| Prima | 3195 | 143535 | 45 |
| Aura | 3840 | 172000 | 45 |
| Joy | 3776 | 167725 | 44 |
| Aqua | 3565 | 154140 | 43 |
| Luna | 3565 | 154140 | 43 |
| Encore | 3958 | 169116 | 43 |
| Sun | 1878 | 78309 | 42 |
| Bliss | 4010 | 168028 | 42 |
| Jade | 2352 | 93558 | 40 |
| Star | 2298 | 91740 | 40 |
| Sky | 1944 | 77104 | 40 |
| Pearl | 2344 | 93530 | 40 |
| Dawn | 2290 | 92250 | 40 |
| Gem | 2344 | 93530 | 40 |
| Escape | 4218 | 164998 | 39 |
| Jewel | 2368 | 93502 | 39 |
| Epic | 4070 | 155873 | 38 |
| Spirit | 1972 | 75904 | 38 |
| Breakaway | 3903 | 145655 | 37 |
| Pride of America | 2180 | 80439 | 37 |
| Getaway | 3903 | 145655 | 37 |
To Book:
If you want to book a cruise with NCL, and you aren’t sure where to start (or you just want someone else to deal with the details), we can help. Go to the travel advising or max-service travel advising pages and fill out the form there. We will reach out shortly.
Theory Contact:
If you just want to have a theoretical conversation, put your email here and we will send you a questionnaire from our host agency, then we will get back to you in the next few weeks.