What to Know About Norwegian Prima, NCL’s New Ship and New Ship Class

Norwegian Cruise Line this week announced its new ship class, Prima-class, and debut ship, also called Prima, will debut in August 2022. On Wednesday, Norwegian unveiled even more about Prima, including what guests can expect once they get onboard.

“This is a gorgeous new class of vessels and it is an excellent example of an elevated experience and the evolution of our brand,” Katina Athanasiou, the chief sales officer at NCL, told Travel Market Report this week.

The first of six ships in its class, Prima, the first ship in Norwegian’s first new ship class in more than a decade, is raising the bar for Norwegian, and for the cruise industry in general, Athanasiou said.

“It is an elevated ship class and evolution of our brand, but there are going to be things that guests know and love aboard Prima,” she said

For Norwegian, Prima will offer more wide-open spaces, the largest variety of suite categories at sea (13-suite categories total), the largest three-bedroom suites of any new ship, along with Norwegian’s largest-ever inside, oceanview, and balcony staterooms. Prima will also have the most outdoor space of any new cruise ship, including more total pool deck space, multiple infinity pools, and vast walkways that are designed to connect guests to the sea.

While there’s a lot that’s new with Prima, Athanasiou told TMR that there are also things that aren’t going to change. “At the heart of it remains our service, the consistency of our service, the magnificent crew and heart of our crew,” she said.

Italian influence
The class, and the debut ship, is named for the Italian word meaning “first.” The ship is currently being built in Marghera, Italy at the Fincantieri shipyard, with a design built by a team including Italian designer Piero Lissonia and architectural firms Rockwell Group, SMC Design, Tillberg Design of Sweden, YSA DESIGN, and Miami’s Studio Dado.

The hull artwork on Prima will be designed by Italian graffiti artist Manuel Di Rita, commonly known as Peeta. It will extend all the way to the forward superstructure of the ship, a first for Norwegian.

While the ship is being built in Italy and sports an Italian-inspired name with artwork by a Peeta, the ship-class will not be strictly Italian.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a full theme across but there’s definitely Italian influence,” Athanasiou said. “Norwegian Prima means the first in Italian and for us, it was a lot about the feeling of being the first in its class of ships and being the first for us to deliver its beautiful wide-open spaces. There’s a lot of firsts for us which ties into the name and really allows us to take this as an evolution from our brand.”

What is new?
With Prima, Norwegian is introducing Ocean Boulevard, an evolution of the brand’s The Waterfront. On deck 8, Ocean Boulevard will run 44,000 square feet long, wrapping around the entire deck, and sporting double the space of The Waterfront.

The Waterfront will include Indulge Food Hall, an upscale open-air marketplace, and Norwegian’s first-ever food hall that includes some Norwegian staples and some new eateries such as Q Texas Smokehouse, Starbucks, Seaside Rotisserie, noodle dish stop Nudis, Indian restaurant Tamara, The Latin Quarter, Tapas Food Truck, salad station Garden Kitchen, and Just Desserts.

Also on Ocean Boulevard will be three additional sit-down dining venues offering both indoor and outdoor seating for guests—Onda by Scarpetta, Los Lobos, and The Local Bar & Grill.

“Ocean Boulevard for us is really truly spectacular,” Athanasiou said. “It really starts to connect more than ever the guest experience to the ocean, to the outdoors, and to the sea.

Elsewhere on the ship, Prima will debut with The Concourse, Norwegian’s first outdoor sculpture garden that features wall art by David Harber and six installations from Alexander Krivosheiw. The Concourse will feature seven sculptures total valued at over $2 million.

An elevated Haven
The Haven, Norwegian’s ship-within-a-ship concept, will return on Prima, but Norwegian promises that it will be “elevated to offer the Brand’s most exclusive and centralized suite complex.”

That includes eight decks of suites and public areas, with all 107 Haven suites moved to the aft of the ship, close to private elevators exclusively for Haven guests.

Every public area in the Haven will offer guests sea and destination views and instead of Norwegian’s traditional Haven Courtyard, Prima will sport a Haven Sundeck that includes an infinity pool overlooking the ship’s wake and a new outdoor spa with a glass-walled sauna and cold room.

The Haven is also NCL’s answer to guests who are looking for an all-inclusive fare, which has been one of the biggest selling points for first-time sailors. 

The biggest questions coming from first-time cruise guests pre-COVID-19 have all traditionally revolved around pricing, according to TMR’s debut Outlook on New to Cruise, an inside look at the market for first-time cruisers from the perspective of the front-line sellers, the travel advisors (The report, sponsored by Royal Caribbean Group, which includes Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, and Silversea, is now live on TMR here).

What do advisors need to know?
Athanasiou and her team will be hosting multiple webinars to fully introduce advisors to Prima. The first will be today and will be available on NCL’s Partner’s First program.

Advisors can also “definitely connect with their BDM to really have the personalized training based on their customer set,” Athanasiou said, adding “let us help you how to tailor the presentation to our clients.”

Norwegian is also going to be running a “Be the First to Experience Norwegian Prima” travel advisor incentive and giveaway. Through June 30, all bookings made by travel advisors on Prima will receive one entry.

Itineraries
Prima will initially launch from Northern Europe on Aug. 17, 2022, sailing 10-day itineraries from Amsterdam and Copenhagen to Northern Europe, Norwegian fjords, and the Baltic. The ship will continue to sail in the region until Sept. 13.

Prima will then head to North America, offering some one-off sailings out of New York to Bermuda; from Galveston, Texas; and then a month of Caribbean sailings out of Miami.

Then, starting in December, the ship will homeport in Port Canaveral, sailing five-, seven, and nine-day itineraries to the Western Caribbean through March 2023. Those sailings will include stops in Cozumel, George Town, Ocho Rios, and Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian’s private island.

Following that, Prima will head to New York City, sailing five- and seven-day cruises out of the Big Apple to Bermuda through May 2023 before heading back to Northern Europe.

All departures will go on sale today.