6 Big Cruise Changes Coming to NCL in 2025

Norwegian Cruise Line is making big changes to cruising in 2025, and we cover them all in our latest video. That way, you will be one step ahead of everyone else on board your next @norwegiancruiseline ship, and your next cruise will be smooth sailing.

💬 Comment below: What do you think of the cruise changes coming to Norwegian Cruise Line in 2025?

CHANGES TO CRUISING IN 2025 WITH NCL
0:00 Changes to Cruising With NCL in 2025
0:46 Changes to Drink Packages
3:00 No More Specialty Dining Packages
4:15 Pricing Changes at Specialty Restaurants
5:45 What is Included at Specialty Dining Restaurants
7:14 No More Free at Sea
10:15 Launching of Norwegian Aqua with New-to-Fleet Features

CRUISE CHANGES IN 2025

Get ready, cruise enthusiasts! Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is making waves with some major updates in 2025. 🌊 From new onboard perks to exciting additions to the fleet, these changes to NCL in 2025 will redefine your cruising experience. Here's a full breakdown of what to expect:

🌟 More at Sea – A New Era for Perks
Say goodbye to the familiar Free at Sea program and hello to More at Sea, launching for sailings starting January 1, 2025. This new package retains perks like unlimited open bar, specialty dining, WiFi, and shore excursion credits, while introducing improved options such as premium spirits with no price cap and WiFi for all stateroom guests. However, the perks now come with fixed fees, so budgeting for your cruise might look a little different!

🍹 Changes to Drink Packages
Big updates are coming to NCL’s drink offerings. While the Premium Beverage Package now includes 45% more premium brands and eliminates the $15 drink limit, some favorites like bottled water and specialty coffee remain excluded. Plus, NCL is eliminating its Premium Plus upgrade option, meaning guests will need to purchase separate plans for additional amenities. These changes to NCL in 2025 could impact how you plan your onboard indulgences!

🍽️ Specialty Dining Overhaul
Specialty dining on NCL is undergoing a significant shift. Dining packages are being discontinued, replaced with a fixed cover charge for specialty restaurants. While this simplifies pricing, casual diners may find it less flexible. The new structure includes three meals for balcony staterooms on 7-night sailings—an improvement—but additional specialty dining will now require an à la carte payment. This is one of the most impactful changes to NCL in 2025, particularly for foodies.

🚢 Introducing Norwegian Aqua
The highly anticipated Norwegian Aqua is set to debut in April 2025 as the first in the Prima Plus class. Packed with innovations, this ship will feature the world’s first Aqua Slidecoaster, expanded recreational areas like a two-level mini-golf course and pickleball court, and a new Thai specialty restaurant, Sukhothai. These exciting additions promise to make Norwegian Aqua a standout in the NCL fleet and highlight how NCL continues to evolve with the times.

💡 Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first voyage, these changes to NCL in 2025 are essential to know. From pricing adjustments to brand-new ship features, understanding these updates will help you get the most out of your Norwegian Cruise Line experience.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE CHANGES IN 2025

---TRENDING VIDEOS FROM EAT SLEEP CRUISE------

Join us on Social Media as we “Sea the World, One Port at a Time.”

[m.s.]

It should be called "Pay More at Sea" 😂

[andaanda]

Did you hear about the debacle on Encore on the cruise before drydock. Since people arrived by 9:30 (or earlier) for set embarkation times and it was closer to 3pm or 3:30pm when embarkation actually started, there had to be at least 2-3 thousand people in and around the terminal (around the terminal since as the hours passed, the terminal was packed to the gills, and I imagine that some people were not allowed inside), people with disabilities standing since all benches were occupied; the big hallway had people sitting on benches, as well as on the floor behind benches and around posts and many, many, many more people standing as there was nowhere to go and nothing else possible. When finally someone said that embarkation would finally start, and asked those disabled, using aids, crutches or wheelchairs come to the entrance ways, the question was HOW??? The crowd was almost cheek to jowl; there was some cautious movement, followed by jostling, and also pushing and shoving. One high level passenger I spoke to actually called the NCL offices from inside the terminal to ask if Management knew what was happening in their terminal, and that she DID NOT FEEL SAFE in the NCL terminal, and NO ONE should experience such a start to a cruise, where a fight developed right in front of her. There were also issues with drinking water made available if you could get to it, plus the minimal number of washrooms, since the terminal is meant to deal with passengers moving constantly through it, rather than the thousands stuck inside, resulting in flooding, cleaning, and possibly more. BUT I felt the most for the lower level Encore staff dealing with the water, washrooms, etc, who had to face the growing anger of frustrated passengers, without any support from higher levels of management in terms of them if not explaining the situation to passengers, at least acknowledging that there was a problem, or guiding staff on what to say if asked. Unfortunately this continued once we were on board, since many felt the need to express their frustration at someone... in the bars, the restaurants, the customer service desks and long lines everywhere. IMHO What would have lessened the frustration would have been an acknowledgement by management that we were "inconvenienced", NCL was not responsible for the delay but was doing all it could to help to resolve the issues at hand. There would not have been the same resentment build up, the booing that rose to a seriously ominous level in the terminal, followed by the pushing and shoving that in at least one place resulted in fists flying and police being called. Instead we got a regularly repeated cheery message welcoming us to the wonderful port of Miami, and that they were still involved in the disembarking of the last cruise, which delayed embarkation. It was SO cheerful, it became more than annoying and I would say was one of the last straws for many passengers - maybe costing them in future business as well.

[williamwatson]

Cruise lines are slowly killing their businesses. All of the downsides being implemented are the ones that brought them cruisers because they made cruisers feel special and pampered at a fair price.

[bingo]

It’s one thing to change a promotion. To do so and enforce the new terms on people paid full within the cancellation penalty is scummy. Between that and bait and switching itineraries like crazy, again without ability to cancel within 120 days we will be canceling our 2026 bookings and looking elsewhere for our family vacations.

[jackredmond]

More reasons to prefer other cruise lines - just about any other cruise line. Check out JJ Cruises post today about dealing with NCL as a travel agent.

[luvtravel]

It’s seems like we need to take an NCL course to understand “more at sea”

[pensacola]

I'm Sapphire and getting tired of NCL. Less fun, less entertainment, more expensive.
I'm getting tired of the whole cruise hassle.

[francescabaca]

Muchas gracias, seguro que me serán muy útiles!! 👍🏻

[Hayabusa]

Carnival dosen't include water anymore either. And they now stopped all personal bluetooth speakers also. 😤😡😠

[lisampb]

I'm so confused as to why 3 starters and 3 desserts are OK. Unless the starters are going to be smaller or less expensive to make?

[lorigrimaldi]

So we will be spending more money with this new "more at sea", ? I really don't need top shelf liquor, for now thing, and an extra specialty restaurant is not important to me either. And the gratuities will come out to more. I booked a May 2025 Alaskan cruise in July, and I understand that I will automatically get the more at sea, but not have to pay the extra fee and gratuities. Is that correct? Thank you for explaining this better than a previous video I watched.

[alyssasimon]

So we booked I'm April for July 2025. So no specialty dining with our " old free at sea"?

[jeffreylevin]

Do you have to pay for O' Sheehan's foods now or is that still free? I was on The Escape, my first cruise.

[CruiseDude]

It's nice to see a cruise video with original content - not mentioning the latest onboard fights. I'll mention that Norwegian Cruise Line stock is up 63% the past 12 months and it's good to see another strong competitor to Carnival, RCL, MSC etc., in the U.S., which is good for all cruisers.

[melvinjacobs]

With the cancellations and itinerary changes, I won't take a chance on NCL.

[iOB]

Every time I watch a video about NCL, I get pissed at the idea they seem to nickel and dime vacationers. I’ll stick to Celebrity and Virgin!

[pensacola]

Time to get rid of some of the old ships. Tired and lacking.