Prima-class cruise ships, formerly known by the project name Project Leonardo, are a class of cruise ships built for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). These are the first NCL ships to be built by Fincantieri. Each ship is expected to cost about $850 million.[1] The modifications that are to be made to the design for the future Prima-class ships would result in an extra 1.2 billion euros in shipbuilding costs — about $1.27 billion.[citation needed]
 Norwegian Prima, the lead vessel of the Prima class
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Fincantieri |
| Operators | Norwegian Cruise Line |
| Preceded by | Breakaway class |
| Subclasses | Prima-plus class |
| Planned | 6 |
| Building | 1 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Active | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 142,500−172,000 GT |
| Length | 300 m (984 ft 3 in) |
| Height | 69.3 m (227 ft 4 in) |
| Capacity | 3,300–3,550 |
The first ship, Norwegian Prima, entered service in 2022, with the second, Norwegian Viva, in 2023.
The third and fourth Prima-class ships will debut in 2025 and 2026 and will be around 10 percent bigger in gross tonnage than the Norwegian Prima, the first in the NCL's new class of ships. The fifth and sixth Prima-class ships will be 20 percent larger, making them the largest in the entire fleet, and they will debut in 2027 and 2028.[2] The ships will be wider and longer than Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva.[3]
History
editNorwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ordered four ships in February 2017, with an option for two more ships, under the project name "Project Leonardo".[4] The ships should be delivered in the years 2022 to 2026, the optional ships up to 2028.
In July 2018, the cruise line confirmed its order for the fifth and sixth cruise ships under Project Leonardo. They are expected to join the NCL's fleet in 2026 and 2027 respectively.[5][6]
Design
editThe ships will measure 140,000 gross tonnage (GT) and accommodate approximately 3,300 guests.[7]
In 2022, Norwegian Cruise Line announced that the third to sixth vessels would have a higher passenger capacity of 3,550 guests.[3]
Ships
edit| Built | Ship | Tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Norwegian Prima[8] | 142,500 GT |  Bahamas
|
| |
| 2023 | Norwegian Viva[9] | 142,500 GT | Bahamas
|
| |
| Prima Plus-class ships | |||||
| 2025 | Norwegian Aqua[10] | 156,300 GT[11] | Launched in April 2024[12][13][14] | ||
| 2026 | Norwegian Luna | 156,300 GT[15] | Will sail out of Miami[16] | ||
| 2027 | Unnamed | 172,000[17] | |||
| 2028 | Unnamed | 172,000[18] | |||
References
edit- ^ "Cruise Ship Orderbook". 2016-06-26. Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
- ^ Zelinski, Andrea (2023-02-28). "NCL will make future Prima-class ships bigger and greener". Travel Weekly. Rutherford, New Jersey. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ a b "Norwegian Cruise Line Adding More Capacity to 4 Prima Class Ships". Cruise Industry News. New York. 2022-05-10. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
- ^ "Fincantieri: A New Class of Ships For Norwegian Cruise Line" (PDF). Fincantieri. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line to Build More Leonardo-Class Cruise Ships". Needham, Massachusetts: The Independent Traveler. Archived from the original on 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line Confirms 2 Additional "Leonardo"-class Ships". Trieste: Fincantieri. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Confirms Orders for Fifth and Sixth Ships in Next Generation of Newbuilds for Norwegian Cruise Line". Southampton: Norwegian Cruise Line. 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "Norwegian Reveals New Norwegian Prima". Cruise Industry News. New York. 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line Introduces New Norwegian Viva; Sailing Summer 2023". Cruise Industry News. New York. 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "Norwegian Aqua to Debut in 2025 Out of Port Canaveral". Cruise Industry News. New York. 2023-11-02. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
- ^ Pratesi, Gwen (2024-10-19). "Many pluses on the upcoming Norwegian Aqua". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
- ^ Norwegian Cruise Line and Fincantieri celebrate float out of all-new Norwegian Aqua, Retrieved on 4 April 2024.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line and Fincantieri Celebrate Float Out of All-New Norwegian Aqua". Norwegian Cruise Line. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ New Norwegian Aqua Floats Out At Fincantieri, Retrieved on 24 April 2024.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line Unveils its next Cutting-edge Vessel - the all-new Norwegian Luna". Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. 2024-09-18. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line Reveals Upsizing Strategy on Prima Class". Cruise Industry News. New York. 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line Modifies Future Ships for Methanol". The Maritime Executive. 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
- ^ "Norwegian Cruise Line Modifies Future Ships for Methanol". The Maritime Executive. 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2024-10-28.