Last week’s successful blast-off of Artemis II focused the world’s attention on Cape Canaveral, but it wasn’t the only moon shot recently launched from Florida. I adored my first experience with Norwegian Cruise Line last year aboard the Norwegian Aqua, so when they invited me back for last month’s inaugural Miami sailing of its sister ship, the Norwegian Luna, I’d have had to be a lunatic to turn it down. And even though the christening ceremony didn’t have quite the star power of its predecessor’s — with street artist ELLE following actor Eric Stonestreet as the new ship’s godparent — the NCL Luna shines just as brightly as its elder sibling in the categories that count most to me: attractions and entertainment.
Unlike the megaships that NCL’s competitors have been building lately — such as the new Disney Adventure or Royal Caribbean’s just-announced Hero of the Seas, which are essentially floating theme parks — the 1,056-foot-long Luna has a relatively restrained carrying capacity of 3,565 passengers in 1,809 staterooms; its successor, 2027’s Aura, will only be about 10 percent larger. But these “Prima Plus”-class ships’ comparatively compact design feels cozy (as opposed to claustrophobic) while still allowing space for more activities than I could squeeze into my three-day cruise.
Much like on the Aqua, the first stop aboard Luna for any thrillseeker should be the Aqua Slidecoaster, the Wiegand-made launching water slide that circles the ship’s top decks. It uses the same roller coaster-style launch carriage to powerfully propel riders’ rafts uphill, but the transition into the twisting tubes has been subtly tweaked to maintain more momentum until the splashdown, making this worth lining up for multiple times.
While you are up on top of the ship, play a round of internationally themed high-tech mini-golf; clamber through the Moon Climber multi-story ropes course, which conveniently requires no safety equipment; or knock down some cans in the old-fashioned Midway. When your clothes are sufficiently dry, shortcut 10 stories down using The Drop dry slide — another improved Wiegand product that doesn’t hit the brakes quite as abruptly as Aqua’s installation — and then celebrate your survival at the complimentary Indulge Food Hall with the best Indian tandoori chicken and Texas barbecue brisket at sea.
After all that exertion, you’ll probably want to sit back and enjoy a show, so it’s a lucky thing that Luna lives up to Norwegian’s reputation for world-class onboard entertainment. Although NCL pioneered bringing established titles from Broadway and London’s West End to their ships’ stages, they’re now committed to creating their own original productions that compare to shows you might see on the Las Vegas Strip.
Following in the footsteps of Aqua’s fabulous Prince tribute, ELTON is the Luna’s headlining show, and it may be reason enough alone for Elton John superfans to book passage.
Director Katy Tate spent seven years as dance master of The Beatles LOVE (my all-time favorite Cirque du Soleil show), so it’s little surprise that ELTON generates a similar nostalgic euphoria as it fuses fresh arrangements of iconic tunes like “Tiny Dancer” and “I’m Still Standing” with emotionally complex choreography and impactful MTV-influenced visuals. The climactic rendition of “Rocket Man,” featuring an astronaut aerialist gyrating in front of a ginormous ultra-hi-def video wall, combines Universal’s Bourne Stuntacular with Project Hail Mary and was worth returning to see twice in one night; I only wish this 45-minute spectacle was a couple of songs longer, since they leave out “Levon.”
After seeing ELTON, the theatrical highlight of my trip was my extensive behind-the-scenes media tour of the high-tech Luna Theater, led by director of creative for NCL entertainment Kai Alan Carrier. After seeing the setup for that evening’s concert by Syd Norman’s Pour House band, who have added a crowd-pleasing Eagles set to their repertoire, we were led from the catwalks high above the stage — where automatic systems lift scenery and performers into the fly loft, and technicians aim spotlights remotely — down to the hydraulic pits underneath, where stagehand have mere minutes to assemble enormous U-shaped trampolines for the signature scene in HIKO, an anime-styled acrobatics show that’s long on projection mapping and monochrome costumes, but short on identifiable characters or an intelligible story.
The scope and sophistication of Luna’s entertainment facilities rival anything you’d find in Orlando outside the Dr. Phillips Center, with the added challenge of repairing props and primping wigs without being able to walk down the street for supplies.
Luna’s launch comes at a crucial turning point for Norwegian Cruise Lines, which has seen a new CEO and leadership team installed since Aqua debuted. During a briefing, executives spoke proudly about “doubl[ing] down on revenue management,” which I fear is corporate code for cutting labor costs, based on the under-staffing and inconsistent service I experienced aboard Luna relative to Aqua, despite our sailing being below one-third capacity.
NCL’s new “It’s Different Out Here” marketing campaign emphasizes the freedom and flexibility of their “Free at Sea” bundles, but I noticed an unfortunate number of nickel-and-dime gotchas and new upcharges (like the adults-only Lunatique, a Temu version of Virgin Cruise’s vulgar cabarets) that will become friction points for guests. Add up enough of them, and they’ll start to eclipse the shows and water slides, no matter how out-of-this-world they are.
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This article appears in April 8-14, 2026.