ABOARD THE NORWEGIAN AQUA -- It can be hard to pinpoint what to call the third ship in a cruise class, especially when it is actually the first vessel in a subset of that class and has been upsized and given new features.
It's no longer technically a "sister" ship. I think Travel Weekly's former cruise editor Andrea Zelinski had the perfect term for it: a cousin ship.
A view of the Aqua Slidecoaster from The Haven on Norwegian Aqua. Photo Credit: Johanna Jainchill
The Norwegian Aqua, cousin to the Norwegian Cruise Line's first two Prima-class vessels (Prima and Viva), has some new features that stand out: The Aqua Slidecoaster's ship-topping tubes come to mind, along with the LED lights of the top-deck Glow Court and two new restaurants.
What passengers who were onboard the ship in New York for a two-night preview remarked most often about, though, was how much more spacious the Aqua felt than its cousins. The Aqua is 10% bigger than the first two Prima ships.
During an interview with NCL president David Herrera, he said the expansion makes a real difference, especially in specific areas. He's been hearing the feedback about how size matters, too.
"The moment you get on, one of the areas that was most impacted, literally, where the ship was stretched, is the atrium, and that's your first impression," he said.
On the Aqua, the atrium is not only larger, but a retail outlet on the first Prima ships was removed, giving it much more seating. (It's also home to a giant Starbucks, which is backlit by an enormous wall of windows.)
"Even if you've never been on Prima and Viva, you would say, 'Wow, this is a really impressive space,'" he said. "But for those who have, it feels bigger."
Another part of the ship where the space is significantly different, Herrera said, is the top deck, where that 10% addition means more space for loungers around the pool and the addition of a splash pad. By replacing the go-kart racetrack from the first two Prima ships with the Aqua Slidecoaster, which takes up less room, designers were able to add other features. That includes the Glow Court, which is a digital sports complex, as well as a standalone pickleball court and an expanded Tee Time mini-golf course (12 holes instead of nine).
"What I love about that space now is it has been repurposed to have multiple options and more things for people to do," Herrera said.
A sitting area on the Norwegian Aqua. Photo Credit: Johanna Jainchill
While some cruisers might miss the go-karts, the 10-plus-minute experience has a much lower throughput than the one-minute Aqua Slidecoaster ride, Herrera said, so more people can ride it more times.
And while not a huge amount of people were taking the Slidecoaster ride on the windy, 44-degree day in New York, one travel advisor who braved the elements said it was worth it.
"It's fun and thrilling," she said. "My clients will love it."
The goal with any new ship, Herrera said, is to make it "a little bit better," something that's hard to do within a ship class.
"But when you jump up in a class, you have the ability to leverage the learnings from the prior class," he said. "You know the moment that you take delivery of a ship there are things you wish you could change."
Dining at Planterie and Sukhotai
The two culinary additions on the Aqua both came as a result of guest feedback, said Christian Pratsch, NCL's vice president of food and beverage operations.
Green curry chicken served at Sukhothai, a Thai specialty restaurant on Norwegian Aqua. Photo Credit: Johanna Jainchill
Planterie, a plant-based eatery in the Aqua's Indulge Food Hall, serves Hawaiian, Mediterranean and Southwest bowls with tofu, tempeh and jackfruit for protein.
"Guest feedback was we need more plant-forward offerings, and we listened," he said, adding that the jackfruit cake resembles a crabcake in texture — which I agree with. A favorite from Planterie is the lemon lentil soup, which a fellow diner said was a "must order." He wasn't wrong.
Sukhothai, which Pratsch said means "happiness" in Thai, replaced the global offerings of Food Republic as a specialty restaurant on Deck 17 after NCL found that the most popular dish at Indulge on the Prima and Viva was the pad thai. Items include a selection of curries and house specialties such as Pla Yum Mamuang, a red snapper topped with mango and toasted cashews, and of course pad thai. Diners raved about the gluay kag (fried bananas) dessert.
"Indulge has somewhat become an incubator to come up with the next great concept that is Sukhothai," Pratsch said.