Heidi BucoloNorwegian Aqua offers an impressive array of dining options that cater to every taste and budget. From complimentary venues like the two main dining rooms, the reimagined Indulge Food Hall with seven unique stations, and the 24-hour Local Bar & Grill, to specialty restaurants including the new Thai venue Sukhothai and Mediterranean-inspired Palomar, this Prima Plus-class ship has elevated the culinary experience at sea.
Whether you’re looking to enjoy included dining or indulge on specialty restaurants with Norwegian’s More at Sea package, this comprehensive guide breaks down every restaurant on Norwegian Aqua—complete with menus, hours of operation, cover charges, and what to expect at each venue. Let’s dive into where you’ll be dining during your cruise.
Norwegian Aqua Complimentary Restaurants
There are several dining options on the list of Norwegian Aqua restaurants that are included in your cruise fare. These include the two main dining rooms, the Surfside Cafe and Grill (aka cruise buffet), the popular Local Bar and Grill, and other casual spaces like the Indulge Food Hall.
With so many great offerings, you certainly do not have to pay extra for dining (if you don’t want to). Though, this new ship also offers a plethora of specialty restaurants that are worth a try, especially if you have Norwegian’s More at Sea package.
The Commodore Room (Deck 6)
When it comes to complimentary main dining on Norwegian Aqua, there are two venues. The Commodore Room on Deck 6 and Hudson’s on Deck 7 feature the same rotational menus for dinner.
The menus feature a section of appetizers, featured entrees, classic entrees, and desserts. The classic entrees are New York strip steak (or spiced brisket), breaded flounder fillet, rotisserie chicken, shrimp alfredo, and baked ziti; these remain the same each evening. The featured entrees change each evening with selections like spare ribs, vegetable pad thai, pork chop, chicken cordon bleu, pork belly, and lemon pepper shrimp, among others.
The Commodore Room is open nightly for dinner only from 5/5:30 to 9/9:30 PM and no reservations are necessary.
Hudson’s (Deck 7)
Located completely aft on Deck 7, Hudson’s allows guests to admire the 270-degree views from floor-to-ceiling windows while enjoying a variety of global cuisine. This larger main dining room serves the same dinner menu as The Commodore Room and is open from 5 to 9 PM. It is also open for breakfast from 7:30/8 to 9:30/10 AM and for lunch on select days from around 12 to 1:30 PM. No reservations are required.
For breakfast, guests can enjoy typical selections like eggs your way, omelets, pancakes, and waffles. There’s also daily features like huevos rancheros and up-charge items like steak and eggs ($10) or lobster eggs benedict ($15). For lunch, guests can choose from a variety of appetizers, entrees, and desserts, along with handhelds like a philly cheesesteak sandwich, a cheeseburger, or chicken flautas.
It’s important to note that while guests can enjoy multiple starters and desserts, there’s now a $5 fee for additional entrees in the main dining rooms.
Breakfast | Lunch 1 | Lunch 2 | Lunch 3 | Dinner 1 | Dinner 2 | Dinner 3 | Dinner 4 | Dinner 5 | Dinner 6 | Dinner 7 | Wine List
The Local Bar & Grill (Deck 8)
Located on Ocean Boulevard on Deck 8 (think Waterfront), there is the NCL favorite, the Local. This bar and grill has been revamped on Prima-class ships featuring a seaside atmosphere with both indoor and outdoor seating. The bar and restaurant area are also separated, with the bar now featuring a much larger seating area and a smaller menu of select food items.
The Local offers all your classic pub fare, along with cocktails and a large beer selection. This complimentary venue is open 24 hours a day serving up slightly different menus depending on what time of day you choose to dine here. Breakfast is typically available from 5 AM to 10:30 AM, and the late night menu is served from 10:30 PM to 3:30 AM.
The menu features favorites like chicken wings, nachos, pretzel bites, burgers, sandwiches, and fish and chips. For breakfast, you can enjoy omelets, an American breakfast, and even breakfast sandwiches.
The Local Breakfast Menu | Lunch & Dinner Menu | Late Night Menu
Indulge Food Hall (Deck 8)
Our personal favorite restaurant addition to Prima-class ships is the Indulge Food Hall. This food hall on Norwegian Aqua is home to seven unique stations plus dessert. The food stalls offer international cuisine in small plate sizes so you can sample a variety of dishes.
The diverse culinary options are available at Indulge Food Hall during lunch (typically noon to 2:30 PM) and dinner (5:30 to 9 PM). The lunch and dinner menus are similar with a few differences, mainly additional options are available for dinner.
While open for breakfast (typically 8:30/9 to 10:30/11 AM), NCL has changed the breakfast format from unique grab-and-go items to a standard buffet, which was a bit disappointing as we really enjoyed the breakfast options on our Prima cruise back in 2022.
Arrive early and prepare to hunt for seats if you want to dine inside. Unlike other food hall concepts like The Galley on Virgin Voyages, you must order your food from tablets set on the tables, and the food is delivered to you. You can not just walk up to a stall and grab something. And sometimes, it can take 30 minutes or more to receive your items.
Indulge Food Hall stations on Norwegian Aqua
- Q Texas Smokehouse, a specialty restaurant on a few other NCL ships. This now complimentary spot serves up a selection of its Southern comfort food and barbecue favorites like chili and pulled pork sandwiches.
- Seaside Rotisserie features a wide array of rotisserie-cooked dishes like kabobs, chicken legs, and sausage.
- Nudls serves noodle dishes from around the world, from Italian to Thai cuisines. It features dishes like Dan Dan noodles, gnocchi, and more.
- Tamara serves classic Indian dishes and multiple vegetarian food options. Some menu options include chicken tikka, naan, papadum, and more.
- The Latin Quarter serves classic Latin food with a twist like guacamole, totopos, and tostadas.
- The Tapas food truck serves up Spanish-inspired snacks like chorizo and manchego.
- Planterie is a new food stall on Norwegian Aqua. This spot serves plant-based items like a Hawaiian bowl or a Mediterranean Goddess bowl.
- Just Desserts features a variety of dessert options. However, unlike Prima, there’s no upcharge Coco’s here.
Indulge Food Hall: Breakfast | Lunch Menus | Dinner Menus
Surfside Cafe (Deck 17)
The Surfside Cafe is NCL’s latest rendition of the cruise ship buffet. This venue, located on the pool deck of Norwegian Aqua, serves up selections for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with indoor and outdoor seating available.
While rather small for a ship of this size, Surfside Cafe features a variety of food options. For breakfast, you’ll find typical items like eggs, breakfast meats, fruit, continental pastries, and a custom omelet station. Lunch and dinner feature rotating international selections with some standard offerings. Items include a salad bar, pizza, freshly grilled vegetables, grilled chicken, Mexican favorites like tacos, a pasta station, Indian dishes, Asian specialties, and a variety of sweet treats.
PRO TIP: If you love pizza, there are two different varieties offered. Lunch features a French bread-style pizza, whereas dinner features a more traditional crust option.
Breakfast typically runs from 6:30 to 10:30 AM, lunch from 11:30 AM to 2/2:30 PM, and dinner from 5 to 9 PM. If you’re having trouble finding a seat, Sukhothai serves as overflow seating during breakfast and lunch hours.
Surfside Grill (Deck 17)
The even smaller Surfside Grill is tucked around the corner from Surfside Cafe, near the entrance to the Vibe Beach Club. Here, you will find grilled favorites like hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. This basic station lets you build custom burgers or hot dogs with standard toppings. But don’t expect anything near the level of Guy’s Burger Joint on Carnival Cruise Line.
Surfside Grill is typically open from 11:30 AM to 5 PM.
Observation Lounge (Deck 17)
The Observation Lounge, located all the way forward on Deck 17, is a great spot to relax and enjoy the ocean views. In addition to a full bar, air conditioning, and plenty of comfy seating, this venue features light snacks at select times during the day. Food items are typically available from 9 to 11:30 AM and 2:30 to 5 PM. Options include cookies, small sandwiches, flatbreads, quiche, breakfast pastries, and more. In fact, this was the ONLY place we could find cookies on the ship!
While these snacks are a nice touch, Norwegian Aqua does lack a complimentary cafe offering grab-and-go food throughout the day like the International Cafe on Princess or Cafe Promenade on Royal Caribbean.
Norwegian Aqua Specialty Restaurants
While Norwegian Aqua does offer a number of complimentary dining venues, it also features a number of specialty restaurants. These include some familiar favorites and some that are brand new to NCL’s Prima-class ships. These specialty restaurants do all have up-charges. Though, they are certainly worth it in our opinion.
If you plan to dine at any of these restaurants, you should make reservations as soon as possible, as popular dining times do fill up quickly. Given system updates, dining reservations were unavailable pre-cruise for our Norwegian Aqua sailing. However, guests should make them immediately upon boarding either in the NCL app or at the kiosks set up in the Aqua Theater on embarkation day.
With changes related to NCL’s new More at Sea, specialty dining packages are no longer available. The pricing at these venues has also changed from a la carte to a flat-fee cover charge. This puts NCL in line with most other cruise lines now.
Hasuki (Deck 6)
Larger and relocated to Deck 6 on Norwegian Aqua, Hasuki is a teppanyaki-style restaurant. Here, a skillful chef sears up shrimp, steak, and chicken dishes alongside fried rice and veggies on a large steel grill. The meal also comes with a soup, salad, and dessert for a cover charge of $60 per person.
This dinner and a show hibachi experience never disappoints. Hasuki is open from 5 to 9 PM nightly.
Cagney’s Steakhouse (Deck 7)
Also relocated, Cagney’s Steakhouse is now on Deck 7 on Norwegian Aqua. Cagney’s serves up premium cuts of beef alongside delicious starters, side dishes, and desserts.
While the venue might feature brighter décor on the Prima class, Freestyle cruisers will feel right at home at Cagney’s on Norwegian Aqua. This specialty restaurant has a $60 cover charge and serves dinner nightly from 5:30 to 9:30 PM. For this price, guests can enjoy three starters, one entree, and three desserts. Menu items include a crab cake, lobster bisque, rib eye, filet, NY strip, and lamb chops, among other dishes. You’ve also got to save room for the OMG caramel butterscotch cheesecake.
Le Bistro (Deck 7)
NCL’s signature French restaurant, Le Bistro, is an upscale specialty dining venue. Inspired by the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, this intimate setting makes for a romantic night out. Le Bistro is open nightly for dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 PM and has a cover charge of $60.
The menu features favorites like escargot, baked onion soup, coq au vin, lamb chops, and lobster thermidor ($25 supplement).
Nama Sushi (Deck 7)
Across the way from Le Bistro on the starboard side of the ship is the sushi bar, Nama. This venue offers elevated sushi and sashimi dishes along with other select appetizers prepared by master chefs.
Nama is only open for dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 PM and has a cover charge of $50 which includes four menu items.
Onda by Scarpetta (Deck 8)
Onda by Scarpetta is the newer Italian restaurant on Norwegian Cruise Line ships. This specialty venue showcases rich and bold flavors from the award-winning Scarpetta restaurants. It also features both indoor and outdoor seating on Ocean Boulevard.
Onda by Scarpetta is open nightly for dinner from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM as well. With a $40 cover charge, this is one of the best deals on the ship. The menu features a variety of pizza, antipasti, pasta, entrees, and desserts. The pizza, antipasti, and pasta are all considered appetizers, which means you can order one of each along with an entree and dessert. Though, be prepared to leave extremely stuffed if you do!
Los Lobos (Deck 8)
Adjacent to Onda on Ocean Boulevard is Los Lobos. Los Lobos is a premium Mexican restaurant offering traditional flavors with a modern twist. For instance, the venue offers guacamole prepared tableside, queso fundido, fajitas, cochinita pibil, churros, tres leches, and more. Couple the menu with some margaritas, and you have one festive night out.
Los Lobos is open nightly for dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 PM as well with a cover charge of $40. However, it would be nice to see certain specialty restaurants like Los Lobos open for lunch too, especially given the venue has outdoor seating on Ocean Boulevard.
Palomar (Deck 17)
Located off the pool deck on Deck 17 is a new-to-class specialty restaurant, Palomar. This is NCL’s first Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, where fresh seafood and ocean views come together for one epic evening.
Like the other Norwegian Aqua specialty restaurants, Palomar is only open for dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 PM. This restaurant has a cover charge of $60 and a very seafood-centric menu. The menu features starters like grilled prawns and octopus, along with entrees like Mediterranean sea bass, scallops, or grilled lobster ($25 supplement). Unfortunately, there are no vegetarian entrees on the menu.
Sukhothai (Deck 17)
The biggest new addition on Norwegian Aqua when it comes to dining is Sukhothai, NCL’s first-ever Thai specialty restaurant. Unfortunately, this restaurant took the place of Food Republic, one of our favorites, on Deck 17. This new specialty dining venue features dishes like salt & pepper prawns, chicken satay, Thai spring rolls, curry, cashew chicken, pad thai, and more. While the food was tasty, we did think it was a bit overpriced.
Honestly, the menu could benefit from a recategorization similar to Onda where noodles and rice count as one of the allotted appetizers. Currently, pad thai and fried rice count as entrees and incur a $25 additional entree supplement.
Sukhothai is open nightly for dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 PM and has a cover charge of $50 per person.
Room Service
Room service is available 24 hours a day on all Norwegian Cruise Line ships. Continental breakfast is available from 6:30 to 10 AM for a $4.95 room service delivery fee. All other orders have a $9.95 service charge (plus 20% gratuity).
As part of a recent policy update, guests may order two items per person, per delivery from the all-day menu. Ordering additional items requires placing a separate order with additional delivery fees.
Comments
Do you have plans to cruise on the new Norwegian Aqua? What is your favorite from the list of Norwegian Aqua restaurants? Drop us an anchor below to share your dining preferences on Norwegian Cruise Line ships.
