It’s official. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has finalized its contract with the Fincantieri shipyard to build four mega-ships for its Norwegian Cruise Line brand.
The order was first announced in April 2024, when NCLH signed a letter of intent for the construction of four 226,000-gross ton ships. While still subject to financing, the construction agreement is essentially a done deal.
In a February 5, 2025 statement from Fincantieri, the shipyard said the order falls into its “very important” category, meaning the value of the finalized agreement exceeds 2 billion euro (nearly $2.1 billion USD). The four vessels will be built at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard, near Trieste.
The new ships will represent the largest ever constructed for Norwegian Cruise Line. With about 5,100 total berths, the vessels will have capacity for 8,300 passengers, including more than 5,000 guests and an unconfirmed number of crew members.
For comparison, the line’s Breakaway-Plus class ships, currently the largest the brand operates — Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Joy, and Norwegian Bliss, are 164,998, 167,725, and 168,028-gross tons, respectively. The three ships accommodate between 4,000 and 4,300 guests each.
Fincantieri also built the line’s Prima and Prima-Plus class ships, with the latest, Norwegian Aqua, set to debut in April 2025. All told, the shipyard is responsible for building six Prima-class ships. After the launch of Norwegian Aqua, three additional vessels are scheduled to enter service through 2028.
Under the newly finalized order for four additional ships, deliveries are slated for 2030, 2032, 2034, and 2036. Norwegian has not revealed whether the newly-ordered ships will represent a new class of vessel, nor has it indicated that they will feature some of the popular spaces that some of its ships are known for, such as go-kart tracks, thrill rides, and multi-story theaters.
Sister Brands Also to Receive New Cruise Ships
When NCLH revealed its plan to further expand the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet, its letter of intent also included new ships for the company’s other two brands, Oceania Cruises and ultra-luxe line Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Read Also: Norwegian Cruise Ships By Size (Biggest to Smallest)
The finalized order for Norwegian Cruise Line does not extend to Oceania or Regent, but those agreements are likely to be confirmed soon.
Under the new-build strategy, Oceania Cruises will receive two 86,000-gross tons ships, each with a capacity to accommodate 1,450 guests. Deliveries are slated for 2027 and 2029. The premium line currently operates seven ships, with one new-build, Oceania Allura, set to enter service in July 2025.
The 1,200-guest Oceania Allura celebrated a construction milestone in July 2024 when she was floated out of her construction bay at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Genoa, Italy. The ship is currently in her final stage of outfitting and interior design.
For Regent Seven Seas Cruises, the parent company signed letters of intent for two new-builds, with delivery dates in 2027 and 2029. The luxury brand operates smaller ships than its sister lines.
The newest in the Regent fleet is Seven Seas Grandeur, a 55,500-gross ton ship that was introduced in 2023. One other ship, Seven Seas Prestige, is under construction at Fincantieri’s Marghera, Italy, shipyard and is scheduled for delivery in 2026. It is larger than Grandeur, at about 77,000-gross tons.
With all the new-builds combined across the three brands, the new ship orders will increase NCLH’s total berths by about 25,000.
Beyond the multiple orders announced in 2024, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings also confirmed it would make a significant investment into the development of a multi-ship pier at the company’s private island of Great Stirrup Cay, in the Bahamas.
Once completed, the pier will simultaneously host two of the company’s biggest ships. Construction began in January 2025 and is expected to be finished in late 2025.
