There was a storm of biblical proportions in Lisbon the night before Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship was to collect its first ever guests. Big enough, at least, that it had a name: Martinho.
On my one night at the Marriott Lisbon hotel, Martinho set off the fire alarm, chucked the loungers into the pool and ripped a 100-year-old tree up by the roots. By dawn, he was taking a breather but meteorologists knew he’d be back and the authorities closed the port. Somewhere out on the Tagus Estuary, where the eponymous river meets the Atlantic, shiny new Norwegian Aqua floated in her party dress, all dolled up with nowhere to dock.
While it wasn’t the emotional rollercoaster her parents had planned, it felt right in its way. Picture a montage of phone calls and special permissions and the chief pilot of Lisbon going out to steer her in, and Aqua did debut in the end — in the most head-turning way possible. When the buses finally ferried us seaward, there she sat, steady as a lighthouse at sunset, coy as a Southern belle feigning ignorance of the hearts she almost broke. “Little ol’ me? I do declare!”
Though she isn’t “little” by any stretch, she certainly is a lady in a class of her own — the first, in fact, in NCL’s new Prima Plus class. Founded in Norway in 1966, the now US-based line has an active fleet of about 20 spanning several classes.
Prima Plus, it says, marks a whole new world of cruising — a sleeker, more spacious, design-forward approach that took feedback about the 2022-launched Prima class and returned with even more room, more dining and entertainment options and a sharper focus on upscale experiences across the board. With a passenger capacity of 3,500, Aqua is 10% larger than her predecessors and, notably, offers the most outdoor space per passenger of any contemporary ship.
Indeed, there is much to do outdoors. Though Martinho’s lingering cold and clouds weren’t the best conditions in which to test them, no-one was about to miss Ocean Boulevard’s wraparound views; the glass bridge soaring over water; or the ultra-cushy loungers at the Vibe Beach Club. The latter, an adults-only hideout from the main pool mayhem, has been enlarged and upgraded on this ship, and the new infinity-style hot tubs proved a handy spot from which to stay warm and take it all in — bubbles in hand, of course.
The cold was no match either for one of Aqua’s hottest topics. The Slidecoaster is the longest and fastest waterslide at sea as well as “the world’s first hybrid roller coaster and waterslide”. I joined the queue of influencers risking influenza to try it, with a K-Way over my costume until the last second before chucking them aside to hop into a supertube-style raft. A mechanical arm pushes the raft up a steep slope, reaching speeds of 50km/ph before hurtling it into the slide portion, where gravity and swishing water do the rest. The goosebumps on my goosebumps were probably part chill, mostly thrill.
Diligent adrenaline nuts also made sure to stop by The Drop, a 10-storey slide so steep that it’s as close to free-fall as one can get without a parachute. It’s dry, too, so you can keep your clothes on.
There are tons of games to play, both indoors and out, with many putting a hi-tech twist on old favourites. There are digital darts at the Bull's Eye Bar, plus virtual-reality and classic games like Pac-Man in the arcade. The “Wonders of the World” minigolf course is a delight, with each hole themed around a country or city where NCL ships call. With sensors in the balls and different shots being worth different scores, the machines do all the maths, so all you need to do is thwack.
Of course there is a gym, but the new Glow Court seems a happier way to warm up, exercise and indulge in some friendly competition with friends. The walls and floor on this LED court light up for interactive games including basketball, soccer and Stomp, in which players race to reach glowing targets while avoiding laser beams. At night, the court becomes a neon-lit dance floor.
Cruise calories don't count
A cruise just isn’t a cruise without a bit of eating. OK, a lot of eating. If you have never been on one, an important thing to know is that ships typically have “complimentary” restaurants, included in the fare, and “speciality” restaurants, which are optional but cost extra. The included restaurants usually have revolving set menus, and there is pretty much always a buffet somewhere. Fair warning: Aqua’s buffet, the Surfside Café, has miles of stations where your willpower is sure to abandon you for a lounger at the Vibe Beach Club while you “only live once” over the stir-fries, pizzas, pastas and puddings. Just take a note out of a Southern belle’s book and think about that tomorrow.
The speciality restaurants, meanwhile, usually themed on some global cuisine, are a “fancy occasion” kind of treat. Aqua has so many that you’ll struggle to fit them all in in a week. There are some familiar favourites from the fleet, including Onda by Scarpetta with its upscale Italian and the French Le Bistro. The Thai restaurant Sukhothai is brand new to the line and definitely worth an evening. Crowd pleaser Cagney’s Steakhouse is also there, with prime cuts in a classy setting, but I was most mad for Los Lobos’s modern Mexican.
Think handmade tortillas, enchiladas with rich sauces and slow-cooked meats. I can’t recall a better margarita anywhere. Handcrafted with premium tequila, they’re served “regular” or with a spicy jalapeño or fruit-infused twist. I’ve definitely never had fresher guacamole, made with flourish from scratch — right down to the avocado peeling — at your table.
There is another “free” eating option that really raises the fast-food bar. Indulge Food Hall is a kind of food court, with several menus to pick from including Indian, Asian, Mexican and a new vegan/vegetarian spot called Planterie. But instead of ordering at counters like it’s the ‘80s, you order from a tablet on your table — however many dishes from whichever restaurant you please. Almost instantly after “checkout”, a waiter appears with the food. It’s a great evolution of the buffet idea, bringing the same variety and volume that cruisers adore but with the hands-off element lending a neater, more sophisticated feel.
You can go your own way
Aqua won’t be the new girl on the block for long. There are two more Prima Plus ships in the works, with Luna and a yet-to-be-named third sister arriving in 2026 and 2027 respectively. The line, in fact, has eight new ships scheduled for delivery by 2036. This, of course, is testament to the growing bankability of cruising — and it’s backed up by numbers. The Cruise Lines International Association, for example, expects 39.7 million people will take a cruise in 2027 — up from 29.7 million in 2019.
A huge part of the pull, I’m sure, is the convenience of having so much variety packed into one place. Yes it’s moving, and the port stops are great but the ships are destinations too, true floating resorts with so much going on that everyone can do exactly as they like. A schedule posted to your cabin nightly lists the options for the next day. On Aqua, there are exercise classes and lectures, quizzes and murder mysteries from morning till night. From cocktail hour, there are crooners and piano players, dance lessons and comedy shows in cosy bars and lounges across the ship. Syd Norman’s Pour House competes almost nightly for karaoke competitors with the “I wanna dance with somebody” bodies at the disco — which on some nights just happens to be the ship’s jaw-dropping theatre too.
Theatre has long been something at which NCL excels. For more than a decade, it’s been staging major theatrical productions — shows such as Jersey Boys and Beetlejuice — but lately has been backing off the Broadway based on what research says the people want: music they recognise, visual spectacle and easy-to-follow narratives. And shorter shows.
It certainly delivers in the main theatre shows. A standout was Rumors, in which the excellent cast work through the legendary Fleetwood Mac album, storytelling in-between about how the songs laid bare the band’s crumbling relationships even as they recorded them. Even if you’re not a Fleetwood Mac fan (I wasn’t especially), chances are you’ll put Rumors on heavy rotation after seeing the show (I did).
Aqua also debuts a much-hyped new show, Revolution: A Celebration of Prince. Developed by NCL in collaboration with "the Purple One’s" estate, it’s a show that also replicates a “real concert” experience. While traditionalists can sit in their seats as usual, there is a space in front for spectators to stand — ideally, dance — as they take it in golden-circle style. With stunning performers backed by an ultra-tech, super-slick production, it would fit in on any of the world’s best stages — or stadiums.
After the show, an entire section of the seating mechanically disappears into the floor — and voila, a giant dance floor for you to party like it’s 1999.
Luxurious and spacious as the whole thing already feels, those who crave life’s finest should look at The Haven, NCL’s five-star ship-within-a-ship where suite residents get private lifts and butlers plus exclusive areas including a restaurant, lounge and outdoor deck.
A stop at the bar seemed a good way to experience the premium vibe of it all with a man meticulously mixing old-fashioneds. You can get these stirred and served by bartenders across the ship, but The Haven’s come with premium bourbon and the theatrics of a smoke machine. Bonus point for me was that the affable mixologist, who clearly knows his stuff, was from Cape Town.
In the spa later with a friend for mani-pedis, the two nail techs came off like a comedy duo on the subject of the weather. They hadn’t stuck their heads outdoors for days, they said, not because of their work schedule but because they didn’t want to. “We’re from Jamaica,” one said. No further explanation needed.
The good news for them was that they were about to cross the Atlantic for Aqua’s christening in Miami on April 13, after which she’d sail her first seasons to the Caribbean and the Bahamas through March 2027. She’s cruising right now, in other words, in the kind of sunny conditions she was born for, Martinho just a memory. Now the sound of thunder is all applause; the winds are people whooshing down the waterslide. The clouds are surely billowing — over the old-fashioneds. And there’s a 100% chance of rain. It’s just purple.
The Norwegian Aqua offers a seven-night round trip from Miami with stops in Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's private island in the Bahamas from $749 (about R14,000) pps. Includes accommodation, entertainment and all complimentary dining.
For more information and bookings, visit ncl.com
Sleith was a guest of Norwegian Cruise Line.
