The Sun Class, in one read
Norwegian Sky (1999) and Norwegian Sun (2001) are the two oldest ships Norwegian sails, and this guide comes with a date stamp attached. Both are on ten-year charters to Cordelia Cruises, an Indian operator — Sky leaves the NCL fleet after a final voyage departing Piraeus on 9 September 2026, and Sun follows in 2027. If you are reading this to book a cruise, check your sail date against those first.
Fit scores, not review scores — these measure who the ships suit, not how good they are.
Travellers with a specific itinerary in mind and a keen eye on fares, sailing before each ship's departure date — and anyone who wants a genuinely small ship at Norwegian prices.
You're booking beyond September 2026 for Sky or 2027 for Sun. Neither will be in the NCL fleet. Sky is also currently named the lowest-rated ship in the fleet by Cruise Critic members.
What defines this class
An abandoned hull, a purpose-built sister, and a well-managed exit.
Sky started as somebody else's ship
Ordered by Costa Crociere in December 1993 as Costa Olympia from Bremer Vulkan in Bremen. The correction that matters: the shipyard went bankrupt in 1996, not Costa. Work stopped at around 35 percent complete, Costa declined the unfinished hull, and NCL bought it in December 1997 for roughly $30 million, towing it to Lloyd Werft in March 1998 for completion.
Sun is the purpose-built repeat
Delivered in 2001, she is essentially Sky's design executed properly from the start rather than rescued mid-build — which shows up directly in the reviews, where her cabins score highest of NCL's eight older ships and Sky's score lowest. Her hull is reported by German-language sources to have been built at Aker MTW in Wismar and towed to Lloyd Werft, though we could not verify that independently.
No Haven, and no Garden Villas either
Neither ship has a Haven — no enclave, no private restaurant, no butler tier. And unlike the Dawn and Jewel classes, they carry no Garden Villas either: Sun's ladder tops out at an Owner's Suite of around 828 square feet. These are the most straightforward accommodation products in the fleet.
Both are leaving, and it is capacity discipline rather than distress
NCLH announced in April 2025 that both would go on ten-year charters to Cordelia Cruises, each with a nominal purchase option at the end of the term. NCLH has signalled removing more than 5,000 berths by 2027; these two account for roughly three-quarters of that. The company's own filings describe it as a ship disposal strategy for older vessels.
The rule book Norwegian threw out — starting here
Mark the spot. Freestyle Cruising went live aboard Norwegian Sky on 28 May 2000, which makes this class the actual birthplace of the idea the rest of our Norwegian coverage keeps referencing. Dinner seatings, formal nights and cash-envelope tipping all died on these decks first. The industry then copied flexible dining so thoroughly that NCL stopped selling “Freestyle” as a difference and folded it into “It's Different Out Here” — but the operating model never went anywhere, least of all here. Tap a rule to tear it up.
What Norwegian did: On 28 May 2000, aboard Norwegian Sky, it became a negotiation — the first major-line ship to abolish fixed seatings outright.
On this class: Sun was then the first ship designed for Freestyle from the keel; Sky was the retrofit that proved it. Between them, they are the reason no mainstream line dares assign you a table time today.
What Norwegian did: Resort casual, from 2000 onward — with today's refinement adding a little intentional polish in the top specialty rooms and The Haven fleet-wide. Refinement, not repeal.
On this class: On the fleet's two most informal ships the standard remains exactly what it was on day one: whatever you'd wear at a good resort.
What Norwegian did: Freestyle's least glamorous, most durable invention: the automatic service charge. No envelopes, no last-night arithmetic, no hunting down your waiter at the gangway.
On this class: Now $20 per person per day in standard cabins — automated, adjustable at guest services, and copied by essentially everyone afloat.
What Norwegian did: NCLH wrote ten-year charters with purchase options and called it fleet optimisation — an unusually orderly exit for two 1990s hulls.
On this class: Sky leaves in September 2026, Sun in 2027. If this class is on your shortlist, the calendar is the first filter; everything else on this page is second.
The revolution these two ships started — and what it cost the cash-envelope industry — is the opening act of our essay: Why Norwegian Cruise Line threw out the rulebook →
From a bankrupt shipyard to an Indian operator
Twenty-seven years, three intended owners, and one ship that was nearly never finished. Tap through.
Feature explorer
Two ships at the end of their Norwegian careers, and one clear winner between them. Tap through.
Seven ships got a 4.0. One didn't.
The sharpest verdict in the older fleet isn't ours — it's the only marked-down editor score Norwegian carries.
Norwegian Sky is the one ship of the eight the editors mark down — and the one Cruise Critic members currently rank last in the entire fleet. Her sister Sun, built properly from the keel to the same design, holds the 4.0 and the best cabins of the octet. Same blueprint, opposite report cards.
Sky versus Sun
The sharpest divide in NCL's older fleet, and it is editorial rather than member-driven. Cabins decide it.
| Norwegian Sky | Norwegian Sun | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Abandoned Costa Olympia hull, completed by Lloyd Werft | Purpose-built repeat of the same design |
| Entered service | 1999 | 2001 |
| Gross tonnage | 77,104 | 78,309 |
| Guests / crew | 1,944 / 899 | 1,878 / 906 |
| Cruise Critic editor rating | 3.5 / 5 — the only one of the eight marked down | 4.0 / 5 |
| Member rating | 3.6 / 5 | 3.7 / 5 |
| Cabin score | 3.8 — lowest of the eight | 4.1 — highest of the eight |
| Embarkation score | 4.4 — best of the eight | — |
| Fleet ranking | Named the single lowest-rated NCL ship in Cruise Critic's current member feature | Appears on neither the best nor worst list |
| Leaves the NCL fleet | September 2026 | 2027 |
| 2026 deployment | British Isles from Southampton — her farewell season | Copenhagen to Helsinki open-jaw Baltic; PortMiami from November |
This is the most decisive gap between any two sisters in the NCL fleet, and it is editorial rather than member-driven: Sky is the only one of NCL's eight older ships whose editor rating is marked down, to 3.5, and Cruise Critic's current members' feature names her the single lowest-rated ship in the Norwegian fleet. Sun draws a 4.0 and appears on neither list. Cabins are the discriminator — Sun's score highest of the eight, Sky's lowest.
The two ships, and what's left of their Norwegian careers
Both are on their way out. Tap between them.
Full ship guides: Norwegian Sky · Norwegian Sun.
| Ship | In service | Gross tonnage | Guests (2x) | Editor rating | Cabin score | Leaves NCL | 2026 deployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian Sky | 1999 | 77,104 GT | 1,944 | 3.5 / 5 | 3.8 — lowest of eight | September 2026 | British Isles from Southampton |
| Norwegian Sun | 2001 | 78,309 GT | 1,878 | 4.0 / 5 | 4.1 — highest of eight | 2027 | Baltic, then PortMiami |
Which Sun Class ship fits you?
Three questions — though the departure dates may answer this before we do.
How the Sun Class is actually received
This is the sharpest divide between any two sisters in the NCL fleet, and it runs decisively in Sun's favour. Norwegian Sky is the only one of NCL's eight older ships whose Cruise Critic editor rating is marked down — she carries 3.5 out of 5 where the other seven all carry 4.0 — and Cruise Critic's current members' feature names her the single lowest-rated ship in the entire Norwegian fleet. Norwegian Sun draws a 4.0 and appears on neither the best nor the worst list.
Members separate them far less than editors do — 3.6 against 3.7 — which tells you the gap is about professional assessment of the product rather than a wildly different guest experience. But Sky's review distribution is also the most polarised of the eight, so individual reviews will swing harder than the average suggests.
Cabins are the discriminator, and the contrast is remarkable. Sun's cabins score highest of all eight older ships at 4.1, praised specifically for space and ample storage. Sky's score lowest at 3.8, criticised for size by editors and members alike. Two ships of the same era and the same basic design, opposite verdicts on the same attribute — and it is the clearest illustration of the difference between a hull built properly from the start and one rescued at 35 percent complete.
Sky's faults as cited by Cruise Critic are specific: age, design oddities, cramped spaces, buffet crowding, and deck 6A cabins lacking elevator access. Members add plumbing, rust and maintenance complaints, food described as limited and unimpressive, and the sharpest upselling criticism in the whole older fleet — one reviewer describing feeling treated as a walking ATM rather than a guest. Her genuine strength is embarkation, where she posts the best score of the eight.
Sun's complaints are milder and more cosmetic: stained carpets, weak maintenance, a limited and congested buffet, poor signage, and no water slides or water park. Her praise is about the cabins, about Asia itineraries specifically, and about refurbished spaces described as clean and modern.
Book Sun Class
For the lowest fares in the fleet on a genuinely small ship, on a specific itinerary, before each ship's departure date.
Book something else instead
For a Haven, for modern facilities, or for any sailing beyond September 2026 on Sky or 2027 on Sun — neither will be in the fleet.
Ask Seabound about Sun Class
Tell us about your trip.
Tell us your sail date first — on these two ships that determines whether they are even an option.
Instant answers from our guides · always verified against current Norwegian information before you book.
Quick answers
When do Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun leave the NCL fleet?
Norwegian Sky's final NCL voyage departs Piraeus on 9 September 2026, an 18-night sailing, after which she is delivered to Cordelia Cruises — she is the first ship to leave the Norwegian fleet in seventeen years. Norwegian Sun follows in 2027, with reporting pointing to a final European season and an autumn handover, though no exact last sailing date has been published.
Why is Norwegian selling these ships?
It is capacity discipline rather than a distress sale. Both are on ten-year charters to Cordelia Cruises, each with a nominal purchase option at the end of the term, as part of a four-vessel announcement in April 2025. NCLH has signalled removing more than 5,000 berths from its fleet by 2027, and these two account for roughly three-quarters of that. The company's own filings describe it as a ship disposal strategy for older vessels.
Was Norwegian Sky originally a Costa ship?
She was ordered by Costa Crociere in December 1993 as Costa Olympia, but never sailed for them. The important correction is that the shipyard — Bremer Vulkan in Bremen — went bankrupt in 1996, not Costa. Work stopped at roughly 35 percent complete, Costa declined the unfinished hull, and NCL bought it in December 1997 and had Lloyd Werft complete it.
Which is better, Norwegian Sky or Norwegian Sun?
Sun, decisively, and this is the sharpest gap between any two sisters in the fleet. Sky is the only one of NCL's eight older ships with a marked-down editor rating at 3.5, and Cruise Critic's current members' feature names her the single lowest-rated ship in the Norwegian fleet. Cabins are the discriminator: Sun's score highest of the eight older ships, Sky's lowest.
Do the Sun Class ships have The Haven?
No — neither has a Haven, verified on NCL's own stateroom pages. Unlike the Dawn and Jewel classes they also have no Garden Villas. Norwegian Sun's accommodation ladder tops out at an Owner's Suite of around 828 square feet.