50 Fun Facts About Norwegian Cruise Line

Ted Arison co-founded NCL in 1966, then left after a bitter split to start which rival cruise brand?

Carnival launched in 1972, a year after Arison and Norwegian shipowner Knut Kloster fell out. Arison's own company had managed and marketed the first ship the partners ran together.

Which dance troupe from Norwegian Breakaway's first home port served as the ship's godmothers in 2013?

The Rockettes suited a ship themed on their own home city, where the naming took place after the vessel's first Atlantic crossing from Southampton.

Norwegian Getaway became a floating hotel named for which beer brand during Super Bowl week in 2014?

Bud Light took over the brand-new ship to house 4,000 people during the week of Super Bowl XLVIII, just before she began her regular sailings.

Which American First Lady is godmother of Norwegian Jewel, the ship she formally named back in 2005?

Melania Trump is the ship's godmother, and an episode of The Apprentice later had Donald Trump's contestants make a 30-second commercial for the vessel.

Which rapper became the first godfather of an NCL ship when he christened Norwegian Escape in 2015?

Pitbull was the first man the line gave the role, and two more godfathers followed on the sister ships Norwegian Joy and Norwegian Bliss.

Which electric-powered thrill attraction is found aboard both Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore?

A go-kart track with electric karts runs on both ships, sisters of the Breakaway Plus class that also includes Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Joy.

Which Bahamian island did NCL take over from an oil company in 1977 as cruising's first private island?

Great Stirrup Cay had been a pirate hideout and a wartime listening post before the cruise ships came, and Franklin D. Roosevelt fished off its reefs in 1935.

Which veteran American rock band began holding its annual fan cruise aboard Norwegian Pearl in 2012?

Kiss chose the ship for its annual Kiss Kruise, and the same vessel has hosted Paramore's Parahoy! event and the Americana music cruise Cayamo.

Which American Idol alumna christened Norwegian Encore in 2019, singing at the naming ceremony herself?

Kelly Clarkson got the job on air: the line's chief executive announced it on The Kelly Clarkson Show about ten weeks before she named the ship.

Pride of America, the only US-flagged ship in the NCL fleet, sails around which state or territory?

Hawaii has been the ship's home since 2005, worked by a mostly American crew under US labor laws, while every other ship in the fleet flies the flag of the Bahamas.

NCL created the giant cruise ship Norway in 1979 by buying and rebuilding which laid-up transatlantic liner?

SS France had sat idle for about four years when Knut Kloster paid $18 million for her; the conversion that followed cost more than $100 million.

Harvest Caye, an NCL private island with a blue morpho butterfly house, belongs to which country?

Belize has the caye off its southern coast, and the island drew protests in 2017 when a young scarlet macaw was taken from a local bird rescue for its wildlife exhibits.

What name does NCL give the concept it launched in 2000 that scrapped fixed dining times and formal dress?

Freestyle Cruising arrived with the ship Norwegian Sky, offering several restaurants and relaxed attire, and the change had a ripple effect across the whole industry.

Which pop artist, famous for psychedelic 1960s posters, painted the hull art of Norwegian Breakaway?

Peter Max was chosen in 2012 to paint the New York-themed ship, decades after he began his long-running series of Statue of Liberty paintings in 1976.

In 2018 Norwegian Bliss became the largest cruise ship yet to pass through which waterway, bound for Seattle?

The Panama Canal transit came as the brand-new ship moved to the Pacific coast, and she was officially christened on the very day she reached her new home port.

Which country music star is godmother of Norwegian Epic, christening the ship at a 2010 ceremony?

Reba McEntire named the ship two days before the Fourth of July, when NBC broadcast its telecast of the Macy's fireworks show from on board.

Which pop star christened Norwegian Prima, first ship of the Prima class, at a 2022 ceremony in Reykjavik?

Katy Perry did the honours in Iceland in August 2022, the same month the vessel entered service as the first of six ships planned for her class.

After a 2016 deal with its government, Norwegian Sky became the first NCL ship to visit which Caribbean nation?

Cuba received the ship on weekly runs from Florida to Havana from May 2017 until June 2019, when new American travel restrictions brought the route to a halt.

What disaster in port in May 2003 ended the long career of the NCL flagship SS Norway?

A boiler explosion killed eight crew members shortly after the ship docked, and investigators blamed deficient operation, maintenance and inspection of the boilers.

Which German shipyard, based in Papenburg, built Norwegian Breakaway and her sister ship Norwegian Getaway?

Meyer Werft floats each new ship out of a covered dock and sends it down the River Ems to reach the sea, a passage that draws thousands of spectators.

From her 2013 debut, Norwegian Breakaway spent her summers on seven-night cruises to which island destination?

Bermuda was the ship's weekly run from May to September, with the Bahamas and Florida taking over for the winter months.

Which winner of The Next Iron Chef created Ocean Blue, a restaurant that debuted aboard Norwegian Breakaway?

Geoffrey Zakarian won the television contest in December 2011, months after work began on the ship, and his restaurants later went aboard the sister ship Norwegian Getaway too.

Which improv troupe, Chicago's oldest, supplied the comedy club company when Norwegian Breakaway debuted?

The Second City took its self-mocking name from a 1952 New Yorker series about its home town, and one of its companies performed in the ship's comedy club.

What kind of storm did Norwegian Breakaway sail through in 2018, flooding cabins as 30-foot waves struck?

A blizzard, the great North American winter storm of January 2018, caught the ship on her way home, and some passengers slept in public rooms after their staterooms flooded.

What name does NCL give the outdoor dining promenade first unveiled aboard Norwegian Breakaway?

The Waterfront lets guests eat in the open air at most of the restaurants along it, and the idea was carried over to the larger Norwegian Escape.

In June 2022 Norwegian Sun was pulled from service for repairs after striking what near Hubbard Glacier?

A small iceberg of the kind known as a growler did the damage; after a Coast Guard inspection in Juneau the cruise was cut short, and repairs took over two weeks.

Norwegian Star was built in 2001 without which usual cruise ship feature, banned by law on her first route?

A casino covering 10,000 square feet was fitted only when the ship moved to the Pacific coast of North America, away from the home waters whose law forbade gambling.

Which Sex and the City star christened Norwegian Dawn at an elaborate ceremony in December 2002?

Kim Cattrall named the ship in Manhattan nine days after its maiden voyage, which had taken place on the other side of the Atlantic in Europe.

Which Modern Family actor christened Norwegian Aqua as the ship's godfather in April 2025?

Eric Stonestreet named a ship whose headline ride is a slidecoaster, a hybrid of water slide and roller coaster on which riders reach about 30 miles per hour.

After a long court fight over asbestos, the former SS Norway was broken up on a beach in which country?

India's Supreme Court cleared the scrapping at Alang in 2007, after Bangladesh had refused the ship entry because of the asbestos on board; by then she was called Blue Lady.

Which Asian cruise company took over NCL in 2000 and funded a wave of new ships?

Star Cruises, part of Malaysia's Genting Group, even handed over two ships it had ordered for its own fleet, which entered service under the NCL flag in 2001 and 2002.

The Prima class are the first NCL ships built by Fincantieri, a shipbuilder based in which country?

Italy became the birthplace of the class when Fincantieri won an order first placed in 2017, with each ship expected to cost about $850 million.

Which famous laid-up ocean liner did NCL buy in 2003, later selling her to a conservancy for $3 million?

SS United States, the fastest liner ever to cross the Atlantic, was costing about $800,000 a year just to keep afloat when the plan to return her to service was dropped.

A 2014 deal for Prestige Cruise Holdings gave NCL's parent company Regent Seven Seas and which other brand?

Oceania came with a deal worth just over $3 billion, and within months its co-founder Frank Del Rio was running the whole group as chief executive.

Which NBA team, a 1980s expansion franchise, had NCL co-founder Ted Arison as its founding owner?

The Miami Heat began play in 1988, bringing professional basketball to South Florida, and Arison's son Micky took over the franchise in 1995.

Sunward, the first ship of the future NCL, was built in 1966 for which job between Southampton and Gibraltar?

Car ferry work collapsed within months when Spain closed its border with Gibraltar and Britain limited the money travellers could take abroad, so the ship went to Florida to cruise.

What happened to the unfinished Pride of America in January 2004 when a storm struck her shipyard?

She sank at her berth and lay partly submerged for more than a month, which pushed her delivery back a year and forced the line to rush another ship into her place.

What struck Norwegian Dawn off the coast of Georgia in April 2005, smashing windows on two decks?

Rogue waves about 70 feet high hit the ship three in a row; the third broke windows on the ninth and tenth decks, yet only four passengers were slightly hurt.

Norwegian Pearl's 2006 trip down a German river beneath overhead cables is blamed for what across Europe?

A power blackout that hit Germany and then much of Europe late on 4 November 2006 is said to have begun with the ship's first attempt to pass the line over the River Ems.

Norwegian Joy spent her first two years, from 2017, based in which country before moving to Seattle?

China was the market the ship was designed for, with a second name in Mandarin and singer Wang Leehom as godfather; a $50 million refit then prepared her for Western guests.

What code name did NCL give the six-ship order that became the Prima class?

Project Leonardo began with four ships ordered in February 2017, and the option for a fifth and sixth was confirmed in July of the following year.

Norwegian Sky began as an unfinished hull that which rival cruise brand had ordered and then declined to buy?

Costa had ordered her as Costa Olympia, but work stopped with the ship about a third built when the shipyard ran into financial trouble, and NCL bought the hull in 1997.

Norwegian Getaway carried a venue themed on which music prizes, displaying items from their own museum?

The Grammys lent pieces from the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, and the tie-up made NCL the official cruise line partner of the awards.

SS Norway, NCL's flagship from 1980, was the longest passenger ship ever built until which liner arrived in 2004?

Queen Mary 2 measures 345 metres against the older liner's 316, ending a record that had stood for more than forty years.

Which Jamaican marine wildlife artist, known for paintings of marlin, designed the hull art of Norwegian Escape?

Guy Harvey covered the bow with his sea creatures, and the following year he signed a deal to sell his work in the art gallery on board the same ship.

Which Puerto Rican singer served as godfather of Norwegian Viva, the second ship of the Prima class?

Luis Fonsi blessed the ship shortly before she reached his home island in December 2023 to begin a season of seven-day cruises from the capital.

Which American private equity firm paid $1 billion for half of NCL in August 2007?

Apollo Management bought Regent Seven Seas for the same sum six months later, and it stayed a shareholder in the cruise group until selling its last shares in December 2018.

Under what brand name did NCL run cruises out of Australia between 1997 and 2001?

Norwegian Capricorn Line lasted four years, in a decade when the company also took over a ship from its Royal Cruise Line arm and bought Majesty Cruise Line.

How were the names of sister ships Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway chosen before their launch?

A public naming contest produced both names: Kimberly Powell submitted the first, announced in September 2011, and Dennis Hultman of Vienna, Virginia, the second.

NCL co-founder Knut Kloster originated the idea for which residential ship, whose apartments are owned by residents?

MS The World is run like a condominium complex at sea, and in 2017 it carried its residents to what was then the southernmost point any ship had reached.