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MSC World America vs Norwegian Prima
The MSC World America is a fairly new ship, being built in 2025. The World America was built specifically for the American market with customized venues like MSC's first sports bars and an onboard brewery. The ship is split into seven districts that provide unique restaurants, bars, and attractions; helping to reduce crowding. It's 3 years newer than the Prima, which was built in 2022. The Prima is the first of six in a brand-new class of ship.
Comparison Overview
- Ship Size
- Number of Passengers
- Food and Restaurants
- Bars and Drinks
- Pools and Hot Tubs
- Ship Features and Activities
- Cruise Costs
- Onboard Costs
- See Our Detailed Cruise Blog
Ship Size
The World America is considered an extra large size ship. Coming in at 1,092 feet long and 155 feet wide, it's roughly the length of 3 football fields, as wide as 2.9 tractor-trailers and the same height as a 16-story building. Compared to the Norwegian Prima, the World America is 50% larger in terms of overall tons.
Number of Passengers
The MSC World America holds more than double the amount of people as the Prima based on double occupancy (two people per room). When you look at the "Space Ratio," or the total tonnage of a ship compared to the number of passengers, the World America has less space per person compared to the Prima.
The World America uses a district layout to break up large crowds across the ship, often making it feel less crowded.
| MSC World America | Norwegian Prima | |
|---|---|---|
| Class | World | Prima |
| Gross Tonnage | 215,863 | 143,535 |
| Length | 1,092 | 965 |
| Beam/Width | 155 | 133 |
| Passenger Decks | 16 | 15 |
| Passengers (double occupancy) | 6,762 | 3,099 |
| Crew | 2,138 | 1,506 |
| Passenger to Crew Ratio | 3.2 | 2.1 |
| Space Ratio (tons of ship per passenger) | 32 | 46 |
Food and Restaurants
Food is a big part of any cruise, and the ship you choose can make a huge difference in your food experience.
The World America has eighteen different dining options like Butcher's Cut, Luna Park Pizza & Burger, and HOLA! Tacos & Cantina. Of those options, twelve are complementary, or included with your cruise fare. The other twelve options have an additional fee.
The Prima has one fewer dining venues. Some of its popular venues are Food Republic, Surfside Grill, and The Commodore Room. Six of these restaurants are complementary and the other twelve have an additional fee.
The MSC World America has about the same number of dining options as the Norwegian Prima.
If you're looking to avoid extra money while on board, the World America might be a better choice then the Prima. More of the dining options are included in the base cruise fare, potentially saving you money.
| MSC World America | Norwegian Prima | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Dining Options | 18 | 17 |
| Complimentary Dining Options: | 12 | 6 |
| Additional Fee Dining Options: | 12 | 12 |
| % of Included Options | 33% | 29% |
| See the options | See the options |
In terms of drinks and cocktails, you have a variety of choices. Both ships serve the Coca-cola family of products. That means Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Barqs Root Beer, although the selection can vary by ship.
There are also plenty of bars available on these ships. You can check out recent the bar menus for the Prima below.
Pools and Hot Tubs
Nothing beats relaxing by a pool with a nice drink in hand as you feel the fresh sea breeze pass by you. The MSC World America has a total of 7 pools and 13 hot tubs. 1 of the pools and 3 of the hot tubs are exclusive access, which means there's either an extra charge to access them or you need to book a certain class of cabin to have access to them.
Norwegian Prima has fewer pools than the World America and fewer hot tubs. There are more exclusive pools and hot tubs on the Prima. If you don't mind paying for exclusive access to areas in order to have less crowds, this might be a better choice.
Tired of loud kids and splashing? Two of the pools are adults only on World America.| MSC World America | Norwegian Prima | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Pools | 7 | 4 |
| Pools - General Access | 4 | 3 |
| Pools - Adults Only | 2 | |
| Pools - Exclusive | 1 | 1 |
| Total Hot Tubs | 13 | 6 |
| Hot Tubs - General Access | 10 | 2 |
| Hot Tubs - Adults Only | ||
| Hot Tubs - Exclusive | 3 | 4 |
Ship Features and Activities
Both ships have lots of activities to keep you busy throughout your cruise. Below you'll see a list of some of the major features on these ships. On the World America, 55% of the activities below are included in the cruise fare. On the Prima, only 50% of the activities are included, meaning you might spend more money while on board.
| MSC World America | Norwegian Prima | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Only Relaxation Area | ✓ | ✗ |
| Adult Only Relaxation Area (extra fee) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Adventure Trail | ✓ | ✗ |
| Arcade | ✓ | ✗ |
| Basketball | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bumper Cars | ✓ | ✗ |
| Casino | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cigar Lounge | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cliffhanger | ✓ | ✗ |
| Comedy Club | ✗ | ✓ |
| Comedy Show | ✓ | ✗ |
| Dart Lounge | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dueling Pianos | ✓ | ✗ |
| Escape Room | ✗ | ✓ |
| F1 Simulator | ✓ | ✗ |
| Fitness Center | ✓ | ✓ |
| Golf Simulator | ✗ | ✓ |
| Interactive XD Cinema | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mini golf | ✗ | ✓ |
| Production Shows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Race Track | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ropes course | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shows - musical review | ✗ | ✓ |
| Spa | ✓ | ✓ |
| Splash park | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Stadium Game Area | ✗ | ✓ |
| Thermal Suites | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thrill Slide | ✓ | ✓ |
| VR Arcade | ✓ | ✗ |
| Virtual Arcade | ✗ | ✓ |
| Water slides | ✓ | ✓ |
| Learn more | Learn more |
Cruise Costs
MSC and Norwegian are both considered "Mainstream" cruise lines. Mainstream cruise lines cater to a variety of guests, hoping to provide something for everyone. These typically cost about $100 - $350 per person per day.
Cruise pricing is dynamic and varies for each specific sailing based on factors such as departure point, ports of call, and time of year. Typically newer ships cost more, so a cruise on MSC World America will likely be more expensive than on Norwegian Prima.
Onboard Costs
Another way to gauge the cost of a cruise is to consider how much you'll spend on board. Even though a lot is included in the base cruise fare, you may still spend money on things like spa treatments, specialty dining, drinks, and excursions. In addition, guests can also have to pay for things like gratuities and tips.
Typically guests can expect to spend about 25 - 40% of the cost of the cruise on onboard expenses. In other words, if the cruise fare is $1,000 per person, you might spend between $250 and $400 on extra expenses.
The table below will help you compare onboard prices to see if you might spend more on a specific ship.
| MSC World America | Norwegian Prima | |
|---|---|---|
| Base Daily Gratuities* (Per Person Per Day) | $17.00 | $20.00 |
| Tip added to drinks & services | 18% | 20% |
| Soda Price | $3.50 | $3.50 |
| Domestic Beer Price | $9.00 | $9.99 See drink menus |
| Drink Package Price | $46 - $85 | $28.50 - $32 Learn more |
| Internet Plan | $17 - $27 per device per day | $29.99 - $39.99 per cabin per day, with $5 for each extra device |
| *Daily gratuities for a standard cabin. Suites or specialty rooms may have higher rates. | ||
Norwegian Cruise Line offers a Free at Sea fare. Through this program, guests receive open bar, a discount on excursions, some free internet, and some meals at specialty restaurants. If you book using this promotion, you'll be responsible for the gratuities on the dining and drink package. If you won't be using these options, booking a "sail away" rate that doesn't include the Free at Sea benefits is considerably cheaper. Also, most of these benefits are the base packages; you can spend more to upgrade to better alcoholic drinks or faster/more wifi.
We sailed aboard the Norwegian Prima
Follow along on our sailing on the Norwegian Prima. We take you through every aspect of our sailing, from getting to the port to debarking the ship. See the schedule of events, menus, what excursions we did, and what we really thought about the ship.
Norwegian Prima - Cruise Blog - Day 1 - NYC
Norwegian Prima - Cruise Blog - Day 2 - Sea Day
Norwegian Prima - Cruise Blog - Day 3 - Halifax
Norwegian Prima - Cruise Blog - Day 4 - Final Sea Day
5 Hits and Misses on the Norwegian Prima
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