In the coming months, Norwegian Cruise Line welcomes not just a new ship, but an entirely new class of vessels when Norwegian Prima — the first of six planned Prima class ships — sets sail.
The new class is a departure from the previous builds in the NCL fleet. Whereas Norwegian Encore of the Breakaway Plus class topped the scales at roughly 170,000 gross tons and the ability to carry 4,000 passengers, Prima is actually smaller in both tonnage and capacity.
And while there are still plenty of fun things to do onboard the ship (including a karting racetrack), the focus seems to be more on luxury with the new Prima class. Even the look of the new ship is completely different than anything else in the fleet.
What we know about the new line of ships is that there are six planned vessels. The first two ships have been announced at 142,500 gross tons and the ability to carry around 3,200 guests. This includes Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva. Norwegian Prima sets sail in 2022 and Norwegian Viva is planned for 2023.
Beyond that, NCL has four more ships planned, with debut dates between 2024-2027. And they have said these four ships will be in the Prima Plus class, with a slightly larger capacity of 3,550 berths.
Little is known about these ships — not even what they will be called. However, a trademark application could have let slip names that NCL is considering. It’s not a sure thing, but there’s reason to wonder if these trademarks are planned names for the upcoming Prima Plus vessels.
Trademarks Registered at Same Time as Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva
It’s common for businesses to file trademarks for common phrases or product names that will be tied to their organization. For cruise lines, that means filing trademarks for the names of ships so that they can have protection afforded from registering.
Search for the name of any cruise ship in the United States’ trademark service, and you’re sure to find it.
But cruise lines will often file for trademarks that aren’t in use yet. It’s a pre-emptive move for ideas they might use.
When we recently searched the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office listings for trademarks associated with NCL, we found many names that you’d expect. Ship names like Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore are there. So are names of NCL’s newest upcoming ships, Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva.
But there were also some other possible names — filed at the same time as those for Prima and Viva — that have yet to be announced for anything. Take a look:
Norwegian Vela, Luna, Aqua, Bella, Ultima, and Ombra are all listed and were registered on either October 17/18, 2019. These are the same dates as when Prima and Viva were registered. (This means the names have been trademarked for some time, but we just noticed the move and wanted to share with readers.)
And while there isn’t anything definitely identifying these as potential ships names, the structure certainly follows with the already announced vessels in the class.
If you’re wondering what those words mean, they are Italian. A translation for each is below:
- Prima: First
- Viva: Hooray/long live
- Vela: Sail
- Luna: Moon
- Aqua: Water
- Bella: Beautiful
- Ultima: Last
- Ombra: Shadow
To be sure, there’s no guarantee that these are vessel names or that they will be used on the new Prima class at all. In fact, while there are six remaining “names” on the list, there are only four more unnamed Prima ships. That would seem to mean even if they are names, at least a couple would be left out.
Still, for Norwegian Cruise Line fans eager for more on the newest class of ships, this could be a clue to what they will be called.
Norwegian Prima — the first ship in the new class — sets sail later this year.
I think Norwegian Ultima will be last, as that is the literal meaning of Ultima, and they used Prima, which means first, as the first ship in the class