Norwegian Cruise Line
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50 free Norwegian Cruise Line trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Norwegian Cruise Line began with a single ship and a partnership that ended in a feud, and it went on to change how people holiday at sea. Its ships have been named by pop stars, painted by famous artists and, more than once, caught up in strange headlines. This quiz covers the whole story: the founders, the giant liner that became the first mega cruise ship, the private islands, the ship built for American waters, and the modern fleet. Norwegian Breakaway gets its own run of questions, from her godmothers to her hull art. It is written for cruise fans getting ready for a sailing, for anyone running a trivia game on board or at home, and for the curious who simply like ships.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Ted Arison co-founded NCL in 1966, then left after a bitter split to start which rival cruise brand?
Carnival
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.
Q 02Which dance troupe from Norwegian Breakaway's first home port served as the ship's godmothers in 2013?
The Rockettes
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.
Q 03Norwegian Getaway became a floating hotel named for which beer brand during Super Bowl week in 2014?
Bud Light
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.
Q 04Which American First Lady is godmother of Norwegian Jewel, the ship she formally named back in 2005?
Melania Trump
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.
Q 05Which rapper became the first godfather of an NCL ship when he christened Norwegian Escape in 2015?
Pitbull
Pitbull was the first man the line gave the role, and two more godfathers followed on the sister ships Norwegian Joy and Norwegian Bliss.
Q 06Which electric-powered thrill attraction is found aboard both Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore?
A go-kart track
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.
Q 07Which Bahamian island did NCL take over from an oil company in 1977 as cruising's first private island?
Great Stirrup Cay
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.
Q 08Which veteran American rock band began holding its annual fan cruise aboard Norwegian Pearl in 2012?
Kiss
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.
Q 09Which American Idol alumna christened Norwegian Encore in 2019, singing at the naming ceremony herself?
Kelly Clarkson
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.
Q 10Pride of America, the only US-flagged ship in the NCL fleet, sails around which state or territory?
Hawaii
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.
Q 11NCL created the giant cruise ship Norway in 1979 by buying and rebuilding which laid-up transatlantic liner?
SS France
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.
Q 12Harvest Caye, an NCL private island with a blue morpho butterfly house, belongs to which country?
Belize
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.
Q 13What name does NCL give the concept it launched in 2000 that scrapped fixed dining times and formal dress?
Freestyle Cruising
Q 21From her 2013 debut, Norwegian Breakaway spent her summers on seven-night cruises to which island destination?
Bermuda
Bermuda was the ship's weekly run from May to September, with the Bahamas and Florida taking over for the winter months.
Q 22Which winner of The Next Iron Chef created Ocean Blue, a restaurant that debuted aboard Norwegian Breakaway?
Geoffrey Zakarian
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.
Q 23Which improv troupe, Chicago's oldest, supplied the comedy club company when Norwegian Breakaway debuted?
The Second City
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.
Q 14Which pop artist, famous for psychedelic 1960s posters, painted the hull art of Norwegian Breakaway?
Peter Max
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.
Q 15In 2018 Norwegian Bliss became the largest cruise ship yet to pass through which waterway, bound for Seattle?
The Panama Canal
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.
Q 16Which country music star is godmother of Norwegian Epic, christening the ship at a 2010 ceremony?
Reba McEntire
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.
Q 17Which pop star christened Norwegian Prima, first ship of the Prima class, at a 2022 ceremony in Reykjavik?
Katy Perry
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.
Q 18After a 2016 deal with its government, Norwegian Sky became the first NCL ship to visit which Caribbean nation?
Cuba
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.
Q 19What disaster in port in May 2003 ended the long career of the NCL flagship SS Norway?
A boiler explosion
A boiler explosion killed eight crew members shortly after the ship docked, and investigators blamed deficient operation, maintenance and inspection of the boilers.
Q 20Which German shipyard, based in Papenburg, built Norwegian Breakaway and her sister ship Norwegian Getaway?
Meyer Werft
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.
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.
Q 24What kind of storm did Norwegian Breakaway sail through in 2018, flooding cabins as 30-foot waves struck?
A blizzard
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.
Q 25What name does NCL give the outdoor dining promenade first unveiled aboard Norwegian Breakaway?
The Waterfront
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.
Q 26In June 2022 Norwegian Sun was pulled from service for repairs after striking what near Hubbard Glacier?
A small iceberg
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.
Q 27Norwegian Star was built in 2001 without which usual cruise ship feature, banned by law on her first route?
A casino
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.
Q 28Which Sex and the City star christened Norwegian Dawn at an elaborate ceremony in December 2002?
Kim Cattrall
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.
Q 29Which Modern Family actor christened Norwegian Aqua as the ship's godfather in April 2025?
Eric Stonestreet
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.
Q 30After a long court fight over asbestos, the former SS Norway was broken up on a beach in which country?
India
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.