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As Norwegian Cruise Line works to elevate its brand, the line is moving away from short cruises and embracing longer ones.
At the same time as NCL prepares to launch its first new cruise line in a decade, the brand is finding that the mindset of travelers is changing. According to Todd Hamilton, senior vice president of sales, customers are willing to travel longer distances to get the experiences they want after two and a half years of relief due to the pandemic.
Time “is no longer a limitation. People are willing to put in the time to do this and really get the best experience they can,” he said. “When we put long itineraries up for sale, they sell like hotcakes.”
NCL will launch its first ship in the Prama class this month, the 3,215-passenger Norwegian Prima, sister ship Norwegian Viva due for completion in 2023. The ships feature premium-level upgrades, including new specialty dining, larger outdoor spaces and $6 million in artwork.
The ships offer itineraries ranging from seven to 12 days, interspersed with a few five-day cruises. However, NCL is moving toward a longer cruise experience on its ships, Hamilton said, adding that the seven-day voyage is the sweet spot. Customers can knock off as many bucket list destinations as possible and get the full product experience.
What we offer is not a mass market, three-day cruise. “We’re offering a total vacation package, and Prima and Viva are the next logical step toward that.”
Travel advisors love the activity
Travel consultants have welcomed the move, noting that their customers are more interested in longer cruises.
“I think this is a smart thing [NCL is] “It’s a recognition that a cruise line today can satisfy premium longings if they do it right,” said Karin Todd, senior vice president of sales and service at Cruise.com.
Norwegian Prima presents the three-story Penrose Atrium. Photo credit: Norwegian Cruise Line
With the bells and whistles of today’s cruise ships, passengers need more time to get used to the ships, said Henry Dennis, Frosch travel consultant in Charlotte, N.C. Longer itineraries prompt passengers to spend more.
“You have to balance the length of the trip with the fact that your target market is likely to be away on vacation,” he said. Passengers on mass-market cruise lines have less time to travel and may have children or other obligations that limit their ability to be gone for 10 or more days, he said.
“I think nine days is about as far as you can go for a mass-market itinerary,” Dennis said. “That would be a full five-day work week and then a two-day weekend on either side.”
When deciding where to send Prima and Viva and for how long, Hamilton points to emerging trends in where people want to go. Norway and Iceland are trending, “so we went with that,” he said. Prima will sail eight-, nine-, 10- and 11-day cruises in 2023 and 2024.
The line has added high-demand destinations such as the Mediterranean, Croatia and the Greek Islands to Viva’s plans with eight, nine and 10-day itineraries, most notably in the summer of 2024.
She also weaved the ship’s “bread and butter,” including the Caribbean, Hamilton said. Prima sails five-, seven-, nine-, 11- and 12-day itineraries in the Caribbean and Bermuda, and Viva sails seven- and nine-day Caribbean itineraries from San Juan.
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