Norwegian Aura vs Norwegian Luna

The Norwegian Aura is a fairly new ship, being built in 2027. The Norwegian Aura is the 21th ship in the NCL fleet and their largest ship yet. It's an evolution of the Prima Class design with 20% more space than the Prima and all new attractions. It's 1 year newer than the Luna, which was built in 2026. The Norwegian Luna is be the 21st ship in the NCL fleet. It's very similar to its twin sister ship, the Aqua.

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

Ship Size

The Aura is considered a large ship. Coming in at 1,130 feet long and 133 feet wide, it's roughly the length of 3.1 football fields, as wide as 2.5 tractor-trailers, and the same height as a 15-story building. The Aura and the Luna are in the same class, which means they're sister ships. For the most part, they're similar in terms of size and layout; although they may have different features and attractions on board.

Number of Passengers

Norwegian Aura holds about the same number of passengers as the Luna based on double occupancy (two people per room). At full capacity, Norwegian Aura holds 12% more passengers than the Luna.

When you look at the "Space Ratio," or the total tonnage of a ship compared to the number of passengers, the Aura has less space per person compared to the Luna.

	Norwegian Aura	Norwegian Luna
Class	Prima Plus	Prima Plus
Gross Tonnage	172,000	156,300
Length	1,130	1,056
Beam/Width	133	133
Passenger Decks	15	15
Passengers (double occupancy)	3,840	3,550
Passengers (maximum occupancy)	4,714	4,224
Crew	1,388	1,388
Passenger to Crew Ratio	3.4	3.0
Space Ratio (tons of ship per passenger)	36	37

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 Aura has sixteen different dining options like Onda by Scarpetta, Cagney's Steakhouse, and Los Lobos. Of those options, six are complimentary, or included with your cruise fare. The other eleven options have an additional fee.

The Luna has the same number of dining venues. Some of its popular venues are Cagney's Steakhouse, Nama, and Indulge Food Hall. Six of these restaurants are complimentary and the other eleven have an additional fee.

The Norwegian Aura has about the same number of dining options as the Norwegian Luna.

Both ships have a similar number of paid versus included dining options.

Restaurants on Norwegian Aura & Luna

Restaurant	Norwegian Aura	Norwegian Luna
Included
Hudsons	✓	✓	Learn More
Indulge Food Hall	✓	✓	Learn More
Surfside Cafe	✓	✓	Learn More
Surfside Grill	✓	✓	Learn More
The Commodore Room	✓	✓	Learn More
The Local	✓	✓	Learn More
A la carte
Starbucks	✓	✓
Flat fee
Cagney's Steakhouse	✓	✓	Learn More
Hasuki	✓	✓	Learn More
Le Bistro French	✓	✓	Learn More
Los Lobos	✓	✓	Learn More
Nama	✓	✓	Learn More
Onda by Scarpetta	✓	✓	Learn More
Palomar	✓	✓	Learn More
Sukhothai	✓	✓	Learn More
Exclusive (open to select guests only)
The Haven	✓	✓	Learn More

Bars and Drinks

The Norwegian Aura and Norwegian Luna both have 16 bars to choose from during your sailing.

	Norwegian Aura	Norwegian Luna
Belvedere Bar	✓	✓
Improv at Sea	✓	✓
Luna Bar	✓	✓
Metropolitan Bar	✓	✓
Observation Lounge Bar	✓	✓
Penrose Bar	✓	✓
Proof Whiskey Bar	✓	✓
Soleil Bar	✓	✓
Starbucks	✓	✓
Swirl Wine Bar	✓	✓
Syd Norman's Pourhouse	✓	✓
The Haven Bar*	✓	✓
The Local Bar	✓	✓
The Bull's Eye Bar	✓	✓
Vibe Beach Club Bar*	✓	✓
Waves Pool Bar	✓	✓

* = this bar is exclusive and not open to everyone.

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 Barq's Root Beer, although the selection can vary by ship.

You can check out the recent bar menus for the Aura and the Luna below.

Pools and Hot Tubs

	Aura	Luna
General-access pools	3	3
Adults-only pools
Exclusive pools	1	1
General-access hot tubs	5	2
Adults-only hot tubs
Exclusive hot tubs	4	4

Nothing beats relaxing by a pool with a nice drink in hand as you feel the fresh sea breeze pass by you. The Norwegian Aura has a total of 4 pools and 9 hot tubs. 1 of the pools and 4 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.

The Norwegian Luna has the same number of pools as the Aura and fewer hot tubs.

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. Both ships have about the same share of included activities: 61%

	Norwegian Aura	Norwegian Luna
Adult Only Relaxation Area (extra fee)	✓	✓
Arcade	✓	✓
Basketball	✗	✓
Casino	✓	✓
Cigar Lounge	✓	✓
Climbing Wall	✓	✗
Comedy Club	✓	✓
Dart Lounge	✗	✓
Escape Room	✗	✓
Fitness Center	✓	✓
Horizon Park	✓	✓
Kid's Play Area	✓	✗
Midway	✓	✓
Moon Climber	✗	✓
Pickleball	✗	✓
Ropes course	✓	✗
Shows - musical review	✓	✓
Slidecoaster	✗	✓
Spa	✓	✓
Splash park	✓	✓
The Stadium Game Area	✗	✓
Thermal Suites	✓	✓
Thrill Slide	✓	✓
Virtual Arcade	✓	✓
Water slides	✓	✗
	Learn more	Learn more

Cruise Costs

Norwegian is a mainstream cruise line. 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.

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 may 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 understand what you might spend onboard a Norwegian ship.

	Norwegian
Base Daily Gratuities* (Per Person Per Day)	$20.00
Tip added to drinks & services	20%
Soda Price	$3.50
Domestic Beer Price	$9.99 See drink menus
Drink Package Price	$28.50 - $32 Learn more
Internet Plan	$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.

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