Norwegian Cruise Lines

Norwegian Cruise Lines - Final Grade: "D+"

Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) was founded in 1966 as the Norwegian Caribbean Line. Incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Florida, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is the third largest cruise company in the world behind Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Group. All of NCL’s 18 ships were built within the last 23 years, and 17 of its 18 ships have a carrying capacity of more than 3,000 passengers and crew. The Norwegian Encore carries more than 6,000 passengers and crew.

All of NCL’s 18 cruise ships have installed advanced sewage treatment systems, resulting in a grade of C for the company’s 60 percent sewage treatment score. Seven of NCL’s 18 ships are plug-in capable and four dock at a port with shoreside power giving NCL a grade of D- for air pollution reduction. Between 2010 and 2021, six different NCL ships traveled to Alaska and Alaskan authorities cited five ships with a total of 33 water quality violations. Eleven of NCL’s 18 ships have scrubbers installed. Together these factors give NCL a D- for water quality compliance since scrubber use merely converts air pollution into toxic water pollution.

Norwegian is one of the cruise lines that responded to our inquiries about its environmental practices with specifics, awarding them an A for transparency.

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Norwegian Cruise Lines - Cruise Ship Fleet

Ship Name Cruise Line Total Persons on Board Destinations Sewage Treatment

Sewage Treatment

Has the cruise line installed the most advanced sewage and wastewater treatment systems available instead of dumping minimally treated sewage directly into the water? In determining a cruise line’s Sewage Treatment grade, we compared the number of cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed advanced sewage treatment systems against the total number of ships in the cruise line. Ships with AWTS were downgraded in 2020 since no companies publicly report on the performance of those advanced systems.

 Air Pollution Reduction

Air Pollution Reduction

Has the cruise line installed shorepower or adopted cleaner fuel worldwide? In determining the Air Pollution Reduction grade for each ship in a cruise line, ships that dock at a port and plug in to available shoreside power hookups were graded. In addition, ships were given credit if they utilize low sulfur fuels continuously worldwide at levels lower than required by international law. Use of scrubbers is not considered since the scrubbers in use by the cruise industry simply convert air pollution emissions into water pollution through their scrubber wastewater discharges.

 Water Quality Compliance

Water Quality Compliance

To what degree did cruise ships violate water pollution standards designed to better protect the Alaskan coast? In determining the Water Quality Compliance grade for cruise ships, we used notices of violation issued for individual cruise ships to each cruise line by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation from 2010 to 2019. In addition, we downgraded ships for their use of scrubbers since scrubbers convert air pollution emissions into water pollution.

 Final Ship Grade
Curved Grading Scale
A 100-85 Excellent
B 84-70 Satisfactory
C 69-50 Needs Work
D 49-25 Poor
F 24-0 Unacceptable
N/A Not Graded No Discharge in Alaskan Waters or Scrubber Use

**For the 2021 Cruise Ship Report Card, we graded 18 cruise lines and 202 cruise ships of those 18 lines operating around the world. All cruise ships from each cruise line were included in this report card. Friends of the Earth relied on data gathered from the internet, government sources, the cruise line industry, and other public sources in order to determine the grades assigned to the cruise lines. Friends of the Earth did not independently verify that the technology graded in the report card was installed on the individual cruise ships.
Norwegian Spirit Norwegian Cruise Lines 2,930 Africa, Alaska, Australia, Hawaii, Mediterranean, Middle East, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands 05 00 01
Norwegian Encore Norwegian Cruise Lines 6,098 Alaska, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mexico, U.S. West Coast, Florida 05 07 00 03
Pride of America Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,113 Hawaii 05 00 00 00
Norwegian Escape Norwegian Cruise Lines 5,999 Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean, Mexico, New England, U.S. East Coast, Florida, Transatlantic 05 07 00 03
Norwegian Joy Norwegian Cruise Lines 5,704 Alaska, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, New England, U.S. West Coast 05 07 00 03
Norwegian Star Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,379 Antarctica, Arctic, Europe, Mediterranean, South America 05 07 03
Norwegian Gem Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,464 Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mediterranean, New England, U.S. East Coast, Florida 05 00 00 00
Norwegian Dawn Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,372 Africa, Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East, Southeast Asia 05 00 01
Norwegian Sun Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,306 Asia, Alaska, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Hawaii, U.S. East Coast, Vancouver 05 00 00 00
Norwegian Jade Norwegian Cruise Lines 4,627 Alaska, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, New England, South America, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast, Florida 05 00 00 00
Norwegian Sky Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,349 Africa, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East, Florida 05 00 01
Norwegian Epic Norwegian Cruise Lines 5,824 Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mediterranean, Florida, Transatlantic 05 07 00 03
Norwegian Viva Norwegian Cruise Lines 4,721 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, U.S. East Coast 05 07 00 03
Norwegian Bliss Norwegian Cruise Lines 5,718 Alaska, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mexico, U.S. West Coast, Florida 05 07 00 03
Norwegian Getaway Norwegian Cruise Lines 5,609 Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, New England, U.S. East Coast, Florida, Transatlantic 05 00 00 00
Norwegian Pearl Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,493 Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mediterranean, Florida 05 00 00 00
Norwegian Jewel Norwegian Cruise Lines 3,476 Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, New England, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast, Florida 05 07 00 03
Norwegian Breakaway Norwegian Cruise Lines 5,620 Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, New England, U.S. East Coast, Florida, Transatlantic 05 00 00 00
Norwegian Prima Norwegian Cruise Lines 4,605 Caribbean, Europe, U.S. East Coast 05 07 00 03

 

Grading Methodology For The 2024 Cruise Ship Report Card

Friends of the Earth’s Cruise Ship Report Card ranks 21 major cruise lines and 243 cruise ships — AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Hurtigruten, HX|Hurtigruten Expeditions, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises, P&O Cruises, P&O Australia, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Int’l, Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, Viking Cruises, and Virgin Voyages—according to four environmental criteria: Sewage Treatment, Air Pollution Reduction, Water Quality/Scrubber Use and Transparency.

Sewage Treatment
To determine a cruise line’s Sewage Treatment grade, we compared the number of cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed advanced sewage treatment systems (AWTS) against the total number of ships in the cruise line. Ships with AWTS have been downgraded from As to Cs since 2020 because no companies publicly report on the performance of those advanced systems.

Air Pollution Reduction
To determine the Air Pollution Reduction grade for each ship in a cruise line, ships that dock at a port and plug in to available shoreside power hookups were graded. In addition, ships were given credit if they utilize low sulfur fuels continuously worldwide at levels lower than required by international law. Ships were downgraded if they have adopted the use of liquified natural gas which emits significantly more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions over the short-term than low sulfur fuel. Use of scrubbers is not considered since the significant majority of scrubbers in use by the cruise industry simply convert air pollution emissions into water pollution through their scrubber wastewater discharges.

Water Quality Compliance
To determine the Water Quality/Scrubber Use grade we only grade cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed exhaust gas scrubbers. Many cruise ships have installed exhaust gas scrubbers to reduce smoke-stack emissions and comply with cleaner fuel rules in the US and worldwide. However, while scrubbers reduce some air pollution, most discharge contaminated, toxic wastewater–trading one dirty pollution source for another. We fail ships for their use of scrubbers since scrubbers convert air pollution emissions into wastewater pollution.

Transparency
To determine the Transparency grade for each cruise line we graded each cruise line based on whether it responded to our 2024 requests for information regarding their environmental practices. Companies that responded with full specifics were given As, those that didn’t received failing grades.

The grades for each of the four criteria were averaged to calculate the Final Grade for each cruise line.

Grades In Comparison: Report Cards From Previous Years

2024 Cruise Ship Report Card
2022 Cruise Ship Report Card
2021 Cruise Ship Report Card
2020 Cruise Ship Report Card
2019 Cruise Ship Report Card
2016 Cruise Ship Report Card
2014 Cruise Ship Report Card
2013 Cruise Ship Report Card
2012 Cruise Ship Report Card
2010 Cruise Ship Report Card
2009 Cruise Ship Report Card

**For the 2024 Cruise Ship Report Card, we graded cruise lines and 243 cruise ships of those 21 lines operating around the world. All cruise ships from each cruise line were included in this report card. Friends of the Earth relied on data gathered from the internet, government sources, the cruise line industry, and other public sources in order to determine the grades assigned to the cruise lines. Friends of the Earth did not independently verify that the technology graded in the report card was installed on the individual cruise ships. The grades are based on information understood to be accurate as of September 18, 2024. It is possible that changes in practices by a company since that date would warrant a different grade.