Norwegian Cruise Line has added its 20th ship, Norwegian Aqua, to the fleet, as Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has completed the build and finalized the delivery.
The 3,500-passenger capacity vessel is the first Prima Plus class ship to be built for the cruise line, with another coming in 2026 (Norwegian Luna). The new ship is 10% larger than the Prima-class vessels (Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva) which are about 142,000 gross tons in volume.
This new ship has a gross tonnage of 156,000 and is 1,056 feet long.
Norwegian Aqua’s inaugural voyage will be a transatlantic 7-day sailing out of Southampton that is scheduled to leave the English port on March 28 and will arrive in Boston on April 4, 2025.
Following this transatlantic sailing, the ship will transition to shorter itineraries. Specifically, Norwegian Aqua will offer short 5-night cruises from Miami to the Bahamas, featuring stops at Great Stirrup Cay and Bimini.
Then Norwegian Aqua will reposition to Port Canaveral. From this Florida port, it will embark on 7-night Caribbean cruises starting April 26th, 2025. These cruises will visit destinations such as Great Stirrup Cay, Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, and Tortola.
Later in the year, specifically in September 2025, the ship will reposition to New York City. From there, it will provide 7-night cruises to Bermuda, with extended stays in King’s Wharf.
Finally, as the winter season approaches, starting October 12th, 2025, the Prima-Plus ship will return to Miami. During this period, it will offer 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruises that include familiar ports of call like Great Stirrup Cay, Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, and Tortola.
In addition to handing over Norwegian Aqua to Norwegian Cruise Line, Fincantieri will also be having a launching ceremony for Norwegian Luna, the next ship to be delivered to the cruise line.
The cruise line has shown a strong commitment to working with the Italian ship builder, as recently it was announced that Norwegian had ordered its largest ships on record. Just last month, Fincantieri announced it had received an order from Norwegian for four new cruise ships that were around 226,000 in gross tonnage. The size of these ships puts them among the largest in the world, competing with the megaships of Royal Caribbean.
