Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line are two of the biggest mainstream cruise lines in the world. While the two brands have always had their differences, the contrast has become even more apparent in recent years.
While Royal Caribbean is thriving financially and seeing massive success, Norwegian Cruise Line has struggled to keep up. More specifically, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ stock prices have been trailing compared to Royal Caribbean’s, especially in the post-pandemic cruising era.
Over the past few years, Royal Caribbean’s stock has surged, but the same hasn’t been true for Norwegian. The cruise line has struggled to find the same momentum. Even as the cruise industry has experienced increased demand and NCL has introduced brand-new ships, the company hasn’t seen the same level of growth.
In 2025 alone, Royal Caribbean shares climbed about 39%, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ stock declined roughly 9% during the same period. Investors have taken notice, with Norwegian’s shares down about 20% over the past year.
Adding to the pressure, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has also seen significant leadership changes and growing investor scrutiny. In February 2026, the company replaced CEO Harry Sommer with John Chidsey, a longtime board member and former Subway CEO.
Around the same time, activist investor Elliott Investment Management revealed it had taken a stake of more than 10% in the company and began pushing for major changes to the board and overall strategy.
Elliott argues that Norwegian has fallen behind competitors due to inconsistent strategy, weak execution, and poor cost discipline. Now, Elliott is calling for a new business plan for Norwegian to help close the gap with rivals like Royal Caribbean.
As a longtime Royal Caribbean fan, I’ve also enjoyed cruising with Norwegian over the years. In fact, I’ve often preferred Norwegian’s more port-intensive and unique itineraries compared to Royal Caribbean’s sailings. Overall, I’ve taken six cruises with NCL, with another one actually planned next month. My Norwegian sailings have included various destinations around the world, including Africa, New England, Europe, and the Caribbean.
But in many ways, I’ve found that NCL pales in comparison to Royal Caribbean — and it’s easy to see why Norwegian is under pressure to make changes.
Norwegian offered itineraries it couldn’t execute
Personally, one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line is their itinerary variety.
Over the past decade, Royal Caribbean has increasingly prioritized short Caribbean getaways to its private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. On the other hand, Norwegian shifted its strategy towards destination-focused sailings with longer, more port-immersive itineraries around the world.
This was one of the reasons I started booking Norwegian cruises, as I found Royal Caribbean’s destination list had noticeably dwindled over the last decade. For instance, if I wanted to cruise to Africa for a bucket-list safari trip, I couldn’t book that with Royal Caribbean, even if I wanted to. On the other hand, Norwegian offered unique sailings to places like South America, Asia, the South Pacific, and even Antarctica.
Unfortunately, Norwegian Cruise Line offered many itineraries it simply couldn’t execute. For instance, the cruise line came under fire in 2024 when its Antarctica voyage was rerouted after passengers had already boarded the ship.
The cruise had originally been marketed as visiting Paradise Bay on mainland Antarctica, but passengers later learned the itinerary had changed. Instead of visiting the planned destination, the ship sailed to Admiralty Bay, located on King George Island more than 200 miles north of the originally advertised location. Passengers were outraged by the last-minute change, sharing their disdain on social media and with national media outlets.
Many passengers felt misled after booking what they believed would be a mainland Antarctica experience. However, Norwegian said the change was due to new regulatory requirements and reduced sailing speeds in the region.
This isn’t the only example of Norwegian offering itineraries they couldn’t execute. Throughout 2025, Norwegian Cruise Line made an unusually large number of itinerary changes, canceling dozens of cruises and redeploying multiple ships across its fleet.
Entire seasons in regions like Africa, Asia, South America, and Antarctica were scrapped as vessels were reassigned to more profitable Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries, forcing thousands of passengers to rebook or cancel their vacations. Instead of risking my vacation with Norwegian, I returned to booking more reliable itineraries with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises.
Great Stirrup Cay doesn’t compare to Perfect Day at CocoCay
I visited Norwegian’s private island, Great Stirrup Cay, for the first time while cruising aboard Norwegian Viva in 2024. In all honesty, I was shocked at how it compared to Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay, but not in a good way!
Great Stirrup Cay was beautiful, but it was very bare bones. The day started with a short tender ride to the island, which was one of the island’s biggest weaknesses. Unlike CocoCay where you can dock, Norwegian’s tendering operations often led to cancelled ports of call during adverse weather.
And while there was plenty of space to relax on the beach, the entire experience was quite boring. In addition, I was surprised by the lack of dining options available, especially compared to Royal Caribbean’s complimentary Snack Shacks available throughout the island. And if you didn’t want to swim in the ocean, there were no pools to enjoy.
Unfortunately, investors have identified this as one of Norwegian’s biggest failures as a company. While Royal Caribbean’s private island has been a huge source of revenue, Norwegian has failed to capitalize on the same success at Great Stirrup Cay.
Activist investor Elliott Management also pointed to Great Stirrup Cay as an underutilized asset, arguing that competitors have transformed their private destinations into powerful revenue drivers and brand differentiators. In contrast, Elliott says Norwegian has been slower to capitalize on its own island, with missed opportunities and delayed execution contributing to weaker performance compared to rivals like Royal Caribbean.
In response, Norwegian Cruise Line has announced major upgrades for Great Stirrup Cay. The cruise line has already opened a brand-new pier that allows ships to dock instead of tender. Other improvements include a new waterpark, a heated pool, and expanded dining options. The cruise line hopes these improvements will help the island compete better with destinations like Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Whiplash policy changes
As Norwegian has struggled in recent years, the cruise line has rolled out a series of unpopular policy changes, many of which appear tied to cost-cutting efforts. The frequent adjustments often felt reactive rather than part of a long-term strategy.
One example is the new fee introduced in Norwegian’s main dining rooms. Starting in late 2025, guests are now charged $5 for a second entrée in the main dining room. While some cruise lines have implemented similar policies to reduce food waste, such as Carnival Cruise Line, the change was not well received.
Many loyal NCL cruisers felt the policy change diluted the cruise line’s dining experience, along with the ability to try multiple dishes without worrying about extra charges.
Another unpopular change came shortly after when Norwegian restricted its room service. The cruise line introduced a policy limiting each guest to just one hot item and one cold item per delivery, even though the same service fees still apply. Previously, passengers could order multiple items under the flat delivery charge.
One of the most controversial changes came when Norwegian announced that drink packages could no longer be used at Great Stirrup Cay. For years, Norwegian allowed guests to use their beverage packages on the private island, similar to Royal Caribbean’s policy.
But, the cruise line later announced that drink packages would no longer be valid ashore, and a separate package would need to be purchased for its private island. As expected, this created immediate backlash from cruisers who had already purchased their drink package under the assumption they could use it ashore.
After the criticism, Norwegian delayed the policy implementation and temporarily allowed drink packages to continue working on the island throughout March 2026 while it reevaluates the change.
Individually, these policy changes might seem minor. But taken together, the frequent adjustments create a sense of inconsistency and whiplash for cruisers. Not to mention, all of these policy changes have dampened the onboard experience with more nickel-and-diming for cruisers.
Bait-and-Switch itinerary changes
For me, one of the biggest frustrations with Norwegian Cruise Line has been the bait-and-switch itinerary changes. This issue has been widely documented across social media and online forums, and it’s something I’ve never experienced with Royal Caribbean.
For my booked sailings, Norwegian would alter the itineraries immediately after final payment. As someone who booked sailings because of the ports of call, this was particularly frustrating. My itineraries would often be altered with shortened time in port, dropped ports of call, and added sea days.
Most of the time, Norwegian used the excuse that the itinerary changes were necessary for “fuel optimization” or to “improve the customer experience”.
This kind of poor itinerary planning has also been criticized by investor Elliott Management. The firm argues that the cruise line has developed a pattern of reactive strategy for deployments by pursuing initiatives misaligned with demand and then scrambling to correct course. The investor specifically pointed to frequent last-minute deployment changes and shifting itineraries as examples of inconsistent execution.
Unfortunately, this often leaves cruisers dealing with disappointing and frustrating itinerary adjustments. As someone who books a cruise based largely on the destination, it creates a sense of reduced transparency. I’ve found it increasingly difficult to book Norwegian itineraries knowing they may change after my final payment locks me into the sailing.
Diluted onboard experience and lack of entertainment
Royal Caribbean has some of the best entertainment at sea, especially aboard their newest and biggest cruise ships. Oasis and Icon class vessels feature entertainment that you can’t find on land, let alone on other cruise lines.
In comparison, I’ve often been disappointed by the entertainment offerings when cruising with Norwegian over the years. Some of my cruises lacked entertainment entirely during several nights onboard. And after cancelled ports created more time onboard, this lack of entertainment was especially noticeable.
Part of that shift may be tied to recent cost-cutting decisions. In recent years, Norwegian Cruise Line has scaled back many of its large Broadway-style productions that once helped define the brand’s entertainment lineup.
Several major shows were discontinued across the fleet, and the company has increasingly moved toward shorter, in-house productions rather than licensing expensive Broadway musicals.
While Norwegian has introduced new original shows in place of those productions, the experience often feels less impressive than what competitors are offering. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean has continued investing heavily in large-scale entertainment with elaborate theaters, dedicated venues, and productions specifically designed for its biggest ships. This is one of the biggest draws for Royal Caribbean, and it truly differentiates the brand from others.
Beautiful new ships that are too crowded and small
Norwegian’s newest ships are undeniably beautiful, but they don’t feel properly designed to handle the number of passengers onboard.
I sailed on Norwegian Viva in 2024, and while the ship was stunning from a design standpoint, it often felt extremely crowded. The pool deck was one of the biggest pain points. There was essentially one small main pool for everyone to use, and it quickly became packed with guests trying to find a spot. Most of the surrounding deck chairs were filled early in the morning, leaving very little space to relax.
Crowding wasn’t limited to the pool deck either. Popular venues like the buffet frequently had long lines, and it often felt like we were constantly battling crowds to grab food, find seating, or navigate busy areas of the ship. For a brand-new vessel, the overall layout felt surprisingly tight and poorly executed.
Moreover, Elliott Management specifically pointed to Norwegian’s newer Prima-class ships, including Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva, as examples of questionable strategic decisions.
The investor group argued that Norwegian prioritized smaller ship designs at a time when competitors were building larger vessels capable of carrying more passengers and generating higher onboard revenue. According to Elliott, the smaller size of the Prima class limits Norwegian’s earning potential compared with the mega-ships being deployed by competitors like Royal Caribbean.
Elliott also criticized what it described as excessive spending tied to the launch of the Prima Class. This included a lavish christening event in Reykjavik, where more than 2,600 guests were flown to Iceland for a ceremony featuring pop star Katy Perry. At a time when Norwegian was already struggling with years of weak financial performance, the extravagant media event raised questions about the company’s priorities.
Norwegian Cruise Line agreed with many of these missteps in its latest earnings call
Ultimately, many of the issues I’ve experienced while sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line mirror the concerns now being raised by both investors and the company’s own leadership - especially when compared to competitors like Royal Caribbean.
During a recent earnings call, new CEO John Chidsey acknowledged that Norwegian has suffered from “execution missteps” and internal misalignment in recent years. Leadership admitted the company expanded Caribbean capacity too quickly, before key infrastructure like upgrades at Great Stirrup Cay and supporting pricing strategies were fully in place. The result has been lower cruise fares and increased pressure on revenue despite strong demand for cruising overall.
Executives also acknowledged that Norwegian invested heavily in new ships while underinvesting in technology and revenue management systems that help optimize pricing and bookings. These decisions have limited the company’s ability to fully capitalize on demand compared to competitors.
Norwegian still has many strengths, including a loyal customer base, modern ships, and globally diverse itineraries. But with investors demanding faster improvement and leadership acknowledging past missteps, the cruise line now faces a critical moment.
In an industry where Royal Caribbean has managed to refine its strategy, Norwegian must now prove it can tighten execution and refocus its direction without losing the elements that once made the brand stand out.
