Norwegian Ships by Size Biggest to Smallest

By Mike Jirout

From the Shipmate Archives. Originally Published November 11, 2016.

Below you’ll find all Norwegian Ships by Size, from the smallest that they offer to NCL’s biggest ship.

Here at Shipmate, we see cruise-goers ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other. Many of you like an intimate feel to their ships. You prefer to see the same people throughout the week. You’re content going to the same ship venues on a daily basis. You cruisers typically prefer the smallest ships. Those also tend to be Norwegian’s older ships.

On the opposite end, we have cruise-goers who want the newest, biggest cruise ship out there. Norwegian seems to be catering to this crowd recently with the development of their most recent, largest cruise ships yet. These newest ships are over twice the size of their first couple of vessels.

In the infographic below, we’ve analyzed all Norwegian ships by size. From biggest to smallest, you’ll see a visual representation of the following for each.

Gross Tonnage: the internal volume of permanently enclosed spaces in cubic feet of the ship minus certain spaces above the main or tonnage deck, which are called “exemptions.” This sounds incredibly confusing. But, just know that it’s a standard unit of measurement used across all cruise ships. While its meaning might be annoyingly complex, it can be helpful to compare ships of different sizes.

Passenger Capacity: this can also be a good proxy for “cruise ship size.” The amount of passengers is relevant because it could determine the size of the line to get to the Lido Bar. It’s also interesting to compare the passenger capacity to the gross tonnage to see which Norwegian ships have more passengers stuffed into a smaller space.

Norwegian Ships by Size [Infographic]

We hope that the infographic above gives you a great visualization of Norwegian ships by size. We consider “size” to be one of the most important factors in deciding on a cruise vacation and want to make it as easy as possible for you to understand the differences!

You can see there’s quite a range there. One of Norwegian's largest ships, the Escape, is a whopping 165k gross tons and holds over 4,200 passengers. The smallest in the fleet, the Spirit, is less than half that size at 75k gross tons and a capacity of 1,996 passengers.

Here’s more detail on each Norwegian Ship by Size:

Norwegian Escape

Year Built: 2015
Cost:               $950 million
Passengers:   4.238
Crew: 1,731
Tonnage: 165k
Length:           326 meters (1,069 feet)
Speed:            22 knots (25 mph)

Norwegian Epic

Year Built: 2010
Cost:               $700 million
Passengers:   4,100
Crew: 1,708
Tonnage: 156k
Length:           329 meters (1,081 feet)
Speed:            22 knots (25 mph)

Norwegian Getaway

Year Built: 2014
Cost:               $900 million
Passengers:   4.000
Crew: 1,595
Tonnage: 147k
Length:           326 meters (1,069 feet)
Speed:            22 knots (25 mph)

Norwegian Breakaway

Year Built: 2013
Cost:               $840 million
Passengers:   4.000
Crew: 1,595
Tonnage: 147k
Length:           326 meters (1,069 feet)
Speed:            22 knots (25 mph)

Norwegian Gem

Year Built: 2007
Cost:               $700 million
Passengers:   2,394
Crew: 1,154
Tonnage: 94k
Length: 294 meters (965 feet)
Speed:            25 knots (29 mph)

Norwegian Jade

Year Built: 2006
Cost:               $390 million
Passengers:   2,402
Crew: 1,100
Tonnage: 94k
Length: 294 meters (965 feet)
Speed:            23 knots (26 mph)

Norwegian Pearl

Year Built: 2006
Cost:               $390 million
Passengers:   2,394
Crew: 1,154
Tonnage: 94k
Length: 294 meters (965 feet)
Speed:            25 knots (29 mph)

Norwegian Jewel

Year Built: 2005
Cost:               $390 million
Passengers:   2,376
Crew: 1,150
Tonnage: 94k
Length: 294 meters (965 feet)
Speed:            25 knots (29 mph)

Norwegian Dawn

Year Built: 2002
Cost:               $400 million
Passengers:   2,340
Crew: 1,126
Tonnage: 92k
Length: 292 meters (958 feet)
Speed:            25 knots (29 mph)

Norwegian Star

Year Built: 2001
Cost:               $400 million
Passengers:   2,348
Crew: 1,100
Tonnage: 92k
Length: 294 meters (965 feet)
Speed:            25 knots (29 mph)

Pride of America

Year Built: 2002
Cost:               $450 million
Passengers:   2,500
Crew: 935
Tonnage: 80k
Length: 260 meters (853 feet)
Speed:            22 knots (26 mph)

Norwegian Sun

Year Built: 2001
Cost:               $330 million
Passengers:   2,400
Crew: 968
Tonnage: 78k
Length: 258 meters (846 feet)
Speed:            23 knots (26 mph)

Norwegian Sky

Year Built:   1999
Cost:               $330 million
Passengers:   2,002
Crew: 800
Tonnage: 77k
Length: 260 meters (853 feet)
Speed:            23 knots (26 mph)

Norwegian Spirit

Year Built:   1998
Cost:               $350 million
Passengers:   1,996
Crew: 965
Tonnage: 75k
Length: 260 meters (853 feet)
Speed:            21 knots (24 mph)

To see just how big of a difference NCL’s biggest ship is versus the smallest, check out this mini infographic below.