Disabled Facilities

Guests who have mobility impairments should travel with someone who will take responsibility for any assistance needed during the cruise and in the event of an emergency. A number of staterooms per ship are wheelchair accessible with grab rails in the bathrooms, lower sinks and toilets, shower seats, raised beds, adjustable hanging rods in wardrobes, tilting mirrors and extra wide doors for easy access. If you do use a wheelchair, you must bring your own and it must be collapsible. All guests who require medical equipment to be brought on board must advise Norwegian Cruise Line before sailing. Failure to do so may result in equipment not being cleared before departure.

For hearing-impaired guests, some staterooms with vibrating alarm clocks and an indicating light system alerting guests to fire alarms. For the vision- impaired, a registered guide dogs are allowed on all Norwegian Cruise Line ships. Many Norwegian Cruise Line ships have Braille indicators and audio deck announcements in the lifts, as well as stateroom numbers in Braille and closed captioning TV.

Guests who need oxygen or require oxygen therapy are welcome on all Norwegian Cruise Line ships; however, you must supply your own oxygen.Any physical challenge or medical condition that requires special treatment or attention must be reported to Norwegian Cruise Line at the time of booking. 

Special Dietary Requirements

If you are on a low calorie diet, breakfast, lunch and dinner menus feature low calorie, haute cuisine dishes. Sugar-free and fat-free desserts are also available. Gluten-free, lactose-free, sodium-free, Kosher and dairy-free diets can also be catered for and must be requested at least two months before your cruise.

Age Restrictions

Guests must be 21 years of age or older to purchase or consume alcohol. Norwegian Cruise Line permits young adults between 18 and 20 years of age to purchase and personally consume wine and beer only while on board and with the consent of an accompanying parent. Guests must be 18 or over to gamble and claim any winnings.

Smoking Policy

Public areas throughout all ships are smoke-free. If you smoke cigarettes, you can do so on your balcony, in the casino or in the Cigar Bar (where available). If you prefer pipes or cigars, you can smoke in the Cigar Baror designated smoking lounge. Also,you can smoke cigarettes, pipes and cigars in outdoor public guest spaces and open decks where designated by the appropriate signage. Please be aware that electronic cigarettes cannot be used in public areas where there is a no smoking policy in force. 

Dress Code

When it comes to what to wear, you can go resort casual or get decked-out and look your best - it’s your call. That’s the freedom of Freestyle Cruising. We even have special “Dress-Up or Not Night.” It’s the perfect opportunity to get your portrait taken with your family, that special someone or even with the ship’s Captain. Dress cruise casual anytime during the day, in the buffet and in most specialty restaurants. For women, it includes summer and casual dresses, skirts, regular or capri pants, shorts, jeans and tops. Khakis, jeans, shorts and casual shirts are fine for men. Swimwear is acceptable at the buffet and outdoor restaurant, but a shirt or a cover-up and footwear are required. Cruise casual is also allowed day and night on embarkation day. Wear smart casual if you are eating dinner in the aft main dining room (our more formal dining room) and in Le Bistro on cruises longer than five days. For women, it includes slacks or jeans, dresses, skirts and tops. For men, it’s jeans or slacks with a collared shirt and closed-toed shoes. Traditional Bermuda shorts along with long socks, loafers and a blazer are all acceptable on a Bermuda cruise. They want you to be comfortable, but tank tops for men, flip flops, baseball caps, visors and jeans that are overly faded, with holes or tears and worn below the hips are not permitted in main dining rooms or specialty restaurants. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear nice shorts in all our restaurants. You may want to pack a sweater too—air conditioning can be chilly. Since your suitcases are collected the night before you return home, don’t forget an overnight bag for prescriptions and need-to-have items.

Sail & Sustain - Our Commitment

We understand that protecting our environment and our oceans is not only vital to our industry but also to our planet. Our Safety, Security, Health and Environmental Protection policy establishes our commitment to conduct our operations safely, securely and with sensitivity to the environment around us. Preserving our oceans and protecting our environment is one of our core company values that we strive to meet through our daily goals:

• Prevent accidents and incidents involving pollution of the environment
• Reduce the environmental impact of our operations
• Dispose of rubbish and materials in accordance with national and international rules and regulations
• Recycle and reuse materials
• Continually improve our ISO 14001 certification objectives and targets

Across our fleet, we have implemented many of the most innovative environmental policies and technologies in the cruise industry. As such, we meet or exceed all international, national, state and local port regulations, including those set by MARPOL, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We are also accredited to the international ISO 14001 standard for Environmental Management Systems. This achievement recognises that we utilise a core set of standards for an effective environmental management system that reduces our environmental impact and increases our operating efficiency.

Water Conservation & Management

Onboard Production

Onboard our vessels, water is primarily used by our guests and crew in their staterooms for showers, bathtubs and sinks but is also used for galleys, laundry, pools, whirlpools, spas and cleaning public spaces. We have focused our efforts on increasing water production on board with sophisticated plants that use seawater as the source, which reduces the need for the bunkering of fresh water. This is particularly important in countries where fresh water is limited and best reserved for local communities.

• Reverse Osmosis (RO) produces fresh and technical water from seawater using high-pressure pumps and sophisticated water filters and treatment components.
• Evaporators produce fresh water from seawater utilising heat sources such as Exhaust Gas Boilers, Oil Fired Boilers or Wasted Heat recovered from the main engine high-temperature cooling system.
• Bunkered Water is potable water acquired in port for use on board.

Wastewater Treatment Systems

To treat wastewater onboard, all Norwegian Cruise Line's ships are equipped with Advanced Wastewater Purification systems (AWPs). Wastewater is run through these systems and treated prior to discharge, resulting in effluent that meets or exceeds international regulations and many municipal wastewater facility standards. Our newest ships are equipped with the leading AWP technology that meets the stringent Baltic Standards. Every ship's wastewater is tested quarterly by a third-party, and our environmental officers also conduct weekly water quality tests to ensure we continue to meet all standards.

Bilge Water

Wastewater collected in machinery and engine spaces is known as bilge water. Collected bilge water is held in storage tanks and can only be discharged after meeting international, national and company regulations. To ensure compliance, all ships are equipped with an automatic stopping device and an oil content metre, which work to confirm the ship's compliance. This equipment will analyze and record the oil content of the bilge. If the bilge water does not meet these requirements, discharging is automatically stopped and the bilge water is recirculated until these standards are met. The remaining bilge water that cannot be discharged is collected and landed ashore to an approved vendor.

Ballast Water

To operate safely and comfortably, ships perform an operation known as ballasting, which helps to ensure trim, stability and structural integrity. Filling ballast tanks with ocean water helps stabilise ships, providing comfort to guests and crew. As water is discharged or as fuel is consumed, ships take on seawater to assist with stabilisation. During this operation, some species are able to "hitch a ride" on ships and transfer to many areas of the world, including areas where they are non-native or invasive. Treating ballast water before release removes tiny organisms that may have been picked up in transit in order to safeguard local ecosystems.

Waste Mitigation

Our ships call on sensitive areas of the world, and we strive to lead by example as we strive to continue to be effective stewards. Norwegian enforces a zero-tolerance policy for any items thrown overboard. If an environmental incident is observed, guests, crew and shoreside employees are encouraged to use our environmental hotline.

Proper implementation of a progressive waste management programme lessens the environmental impact of our operations, reduces pollution, promotes diversion of material from landfills, conserves natural resources, saves energy and lowers ship fuel use. Waste is reduced through reusing and recycling, with clear benchmarks serving as our measurement for waste minimisation.

We have pioneered recycling of used oil and it is often offloaded for use at shoreside installations as bio-fuel, with our vessels recycling over 95% of the cooking oil that is landed ashore.

Over the past decade, as the availability of recycling programmes and options has increased, we have taken advantage of these programmes wherever possible. One example is when Norwegian partnered with Waste Management in 2010 to develop an industry-first Live Load offload operation. This partnership reduces offload time of waste, truck on-site time, port congestion, transportation costs and the use of pier-side containers. Our ships that used the Live Load model in 2017 were able to conserve the following:

Norwegian Employees Working To Mitigate Waste

• Both shoreside and shipboard employees have been involved in food and clothing drives
• Our shoreside employees and various crew members participate in beach clean-ups and community clean-ups throughout the year
• During ship refurbishment, options to recycle and donate both technical equipment and hotel furniture are always explored

Fuel & Energy Efficiency

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. How governments, organisations and individuals choose to respond to it will have lasting effects for not only our lifetime, but future generations. Knowing this, we believe it is our obligation as leaders in the cruise industry to do our part and help mitigate actions that may influence changes to our climate on a large scale. We are always focused on continuous improvement and are ready to explore new opportunities as our fleet grows.

Emission Abatement

One innovative technology our ships use to decrease exhaust emissions is the Exhaust Gas Cleaning System (EGCS). This technology reduces the amount of sulfur oxide and particulate matter emitted from the ship by cleaning, or scrubbing, the emissions before being released from the stack. Ships equipped with this technology are able to reduce SOx emissions by up to 99 percent. As of April 2019, the following ships have been equipped with this technology: Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Jade, Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Joy, Norwegian Pearl, Norwegian Sun and Pride of America

Whilst in port, our cruise ships continue to generate their own power, providing heat, air conditioning, lighting and hot water for guests and crew, similar to a hotel.

A small number of ports around the world have installed infrastructure for cruise ships to connect to the onshore electrical power grid to supply much of the power needed when the ship is docked. This is known as Cold-Ironing, which can reduce emissions from a ship whilst docked. Out of the 450-plus ports we visit, less than 1% are equipped with this technology. As of April 2019, Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Joy and Norwegian Star are equipped with cold-ironing capabilities.

Energy Savings

Data is collected from all our ships to track the largest energy consumers on board and to assist in establishing Key Performance Indicators to identify where energy efficiency improvements can be made. Our goal is to focus on the large energy consumers and explore solutions to optimise operations and lower consumption.

During Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Star's 2018 refurbishments the lighting instruments in all onboard guest entertainment areas were upgraded to more energy-efficient LEDs. This change resulted in a lower heat output, lower power usage and a longer bulb life.

One of the most successful programmes implemented on our ships is Wasted Heat Recovery (WHR). This process works by recovering heat from the engines and transferring it to freshwater piping, which allows us to utilise a free source of energy for improving water production and saving fuel.