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Billed as an upscale "ship within a ship" and aimed at luxury travelers, The Haven is located at the very top of vessels and often comes with private lounges, pools, sunning areas and even restaurants. The line's ships are designed to offer a little something for everyone, and thus they appeal to a wide demographic, including couples of all ages and even solo travelers (the line has been a leader in adding solo cabins to ships in recent years). Norwegian ships are also loaded with bars, lounges and nightclubs, including always-busy casinos. Put it all together, and you have vessels with a very lively atmosphere — particularly at night. If you had to compare Norwegian ships to something on land, you'd probably say they were like floating versions of the casino resorts you find in Las Vegas.
Cabin Type
This is a more draconian policy than you'll find at most lines. Most lines allow passengers to bring at least a bottle or two of their own wine on board at no charge. This pricing is quite a bit higher than what some other lines, such as Carnival or Princess, charge for Wi-Fi. Princess recently was charging just $14.99 per person per day for a WiFi package. Norwegian ships also all have Mandara Spas, which can be quite big on the bigger vessels, and there are fitness centers on every ship. There's nothing quite like Galaxy Pavilion in the cruise world.
Caribbean, from Port Canaveral (Orlando)
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Instead of a few big main restaurants with fixed seating times, Norwegian ships offer a wide range of eateries and no assigned seating times — just make a reservation. Leave all your cares on land and slip away for a weekend cruise. Enjoy dinner and dancing, take in a show, win big in the casino, party the night away or spend some time in the spa to relax and rejuvenate. We've got weekend getaways from home ports around the country, so get on board. ● If your itinerary is flexible, compare the port fees and taxes, which can vary dramatically. In Alaska, where port fees can be exceptionally high, we found the fees ranged from $235 to $322 for 7-night cruises.
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Norwegian designs its ships to appeal to a broad mix of people, in part by offering a wide range of cabin types at varying price points. On a typical sailing, you might find an entry-level cabin for around $100 a night while a high-end suite is five to 15 times that amount. A passport is required for all cruises leaving from a non-U.S. Port and all Panama Canal sailings (regardless of departure port).
Alaska, from Seattle
Walk through Greece's enchanting, sun-bleached streets, or find your own paradise in a secret beach in The Caribbean. Our award-winning ships are designed for you to enjoy as you choose while cruising to the most beautiful destinations around the world. No matter where your dream vacation takes you, feel free to cruise your way.
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- 2025 Caribbean Cruises
Our partners who list cruise pricing on Cruise Critic are required to provide prices for cruise only, per person, double occupancy, and are based on specific cabin types and sailing dates, and may not be available for all cabin types/sailings. Rates are in USD and valid for US and Canadian residents only. When you book with one of our partners, please be sure to check their site for a full disclosure of all applicable fees as required by the U.S. Unlike many cruise vessels, Norwegian ships do not have self-serve launderettes on cabin decks for passenger use. Instead, the line offers extra-charge laundry and dry cleaning services.
Norwegian Cruise Line loyalty program
If you're a U.S. citizen, you don't need a passport for most sailings from U.S. ports (including sailings to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, the Mexican Riviera and Alaska). The top decks of a few Norwegian ships — mostly the bigger ones — also have a ropes course, a climbing wall or both. On the line's Breakaway-, Breakaway Plus- and Epic-class ships, you'll find giant waterslides and kiddie splash zones and, in some cases, even more over-the-top attractions such as go-kart tracks and laser tag arenas. All but one Norwegian ship (Pride of America) has a casino, and on the line's bigger vessels, they are huge operations.
Other interior attractions and activities
At around 143,000 to nearly 170,000 tons, all eight currently rank among the 50 biggest cruise ships in the world (although their rankings will shift downward as more big ships debut). Some of the extra-charge restaurants come with a flat fee (the teppanyaki outlets are $59 per person, not including the cost of drinks). One thing you need to know upfront about going on a Norwegian cruise is that there are a lot of extra charges — and sometimes quite high extra charges — on the line's ships, particularly for things like restaurants. On more than half of Norwegian's ships, many of the top suites are part of The Haven.
The parent or legal guardian must be on board and sign a waiver at guest services. The lower drinking age in international waters does not apply during sailings in Alaska and Hawaii. Norwegian also has rooms on its ships for babies and toddlers ages 6 months to 3 years. Called Guppies, the program offers parents a place to play with their youngest children, with occasional youth staff-led activities and games. You'll find an exclusive, extra-charge, adults-only VIP sunning area on seven Norwegian ships called Vibe Beach Club.
Few lines offer as broad a range of entertainment and activities on their ships as Norwegian. The line's biggest vessels offer multiple entertainment venues, from theaters to comedy clubs; a wide range of deck-top attractions; large casinos; full-service spas; and even virtual reality attractions. You'll also find a seemingly endless array of bars, lounges and nightspots. The exclusive, keycard-accessed suite complex called The Haven (found on 13 of Norwegian's 19 ships) comes with private lounges, pools and other tony features. It's essentially a small, luxury vessel that has been planted atop otherwise middle-class, mass-market megaships. These complexes appeal to well-heeled travelers who want a luxury cruising experience while also getting all the fun attractions, entertainment and dining venues only a mass-market megaship can offer.
Called Entourage, the teen zone is a place for teens to hang out, dance and play games, and it's supervised by counselors who plan activities and challenges. As is typical for big-ship cruise lines, Norwegian has an extensive children's program, with programs and activities for children as young as 6 months through the age of 17. For those with money to burn (pricing on Norwegian Encore recently was $99 per person for a day pass), the Vibe Beach Clubs are lovely, secluded deck-top hideaways. However, there's a downside for everyone else on board the ships that have them, which is that they take away from the deck-top lounge space available to everybody else. Every vessel has two or three main restaurants and a casual buffet where meals are included in the fare — the latter is usually called the Garden Cafe.
In general, Norwegian's newer ships including Norwegian Viva, Norwegian Prima and the Breakaway-class and Breakaway Plus-class vessels will be more expensive than the line's older, smaller ships. However, there are many factors that go into pricing for any given cruise, including the popularity of the specific itinerary, the time of year when the cruise is taking place and changing demand trends. At the time of this story's posting, A The Haven two-bedroom family villa on Norwegian Jewel for a seven-night Alaska cruise in August 2024, for example, was going for $13,978 per person, based on double occupancy. That's more than 13 times the cost of the least expensive inside cabin (which was starting at $1,058 per person, based on double occupancy).
Norwegian is also a mass-market brand, not a luxury cruise operator. Still, as we'll explain below, it offers a wide range of accommodations, some of which fall squarely in the luxury segment. In some cases, its ships have an exclusive area full of high-end cabins and suites called The Haven that comes with its own private pools, lounge areas and even restaurants. Like the ships of the Breakaway and Breakaway-plus classes, the Prima Class ships have a lively zone that mixes casino space, bars, eateries and entertainment that sprawls across decks 6, 7 and 8. These vessels also have outdoor eating space in an area called Ocean Boulevard. At their core, Norwegian ships are mass-market ships, with entry-level cabins that are affordable to middle-class travelers.
The Galaxy Pavilion on Norwegian Encore is the biggest of them all. Among added features, it includes a 45-minute escape room experience laced with special effects. Themed around a Spanish galleon, it's designed to be played by up to six people at a time.
On Norwegian's recently built Breakaway Plus-class ships, there are up to 20 places to grab a bite, ranging from high-end French restaurants and steakhouses to casual pubs. Like Royal Caribbean ships, Norwegian vessels have an inordinate amount of teen- and tween-friendly attractions — everything from some of the largest waterslides at sea to the only go-kart tracks on the ocean. That makes them particularly appealing to families, including multigenerational groups. However, unlike Royal Caribbean, Norwegian hasn't retained any of the trappings of old-style cruising. There are no formal nights, as you'll still find on Royal Caribbean ships, or dress codes. Norwegian has also thoroughly done away with the concept of big main restaurants with fixed seating.
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