I sailed Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship and second in their Prima Plus class, the Luna, on its 7-day inaugural voyage out of Miami in April 2026. I stayed in a Studio stateroom, their interior rooms for solo guests. The Luna has many restaurants onboard; some included and some specialty (meaning you pay extra to dine there). However, most people sailing on the Luna will have Free at Sea that allows them to have some included speciality dinners.
Free at Sea
Before I go over the restaurants on the Luna, it is important to understand NCL’s Free at Sea program.
Currently NCL has a program called Free at Sea and Free at Sea Plus. Free at Sea gives you unlimited alcohol (up to $15 per drink) and soda (does NOT include Starbucks), $50 off excursions booked through NCL, 150 minutes of wifi, and three dinners at the speciality restaurants on seven night cruises. Free at Sea may be included in your cruise fare. I booked my cruise through a casino offer and Free at Sea was not included. For my seven night sailing, to add Free at Sea cost me $259.50 to cover $199.50 in drink gratuities plus $20 per specialty dinner gratuities ($60 total).
Free at Sea Plus includes all of the above plus covers the daily service charges which are $20 per day (or $25 in the Haven), unlimited high speed (for streaming) wifi, drinks up to $25, bottled waters, unlimited Starbucks drinks, and 50% off any additional specialty restaurants. When booked ahead, it is an extra $50 per person per day. However, it really is only $30 per day because it covers the $20/day service charge. $40 is the cost for unlimited streaming wifi, so if you are planning on getting wifi anyway, it is definitely worth upgrading to Free at Sea Plus and it will save you money.
Here is the info from April 2026 (of course this will likely change, so check NCL’s website directly).
Specialty Restaurants
There are eight speciality restaurants on the NCL Luna. If you don’t have the included dinners with Free at Sea, these range from $40-$60 per person plus gratuity. I’ll start with the three where I dined and then will give a quick recap of the other five. I should also preface this to say I don’t eat steak or seafood, which is what the typical cruise passenger is most excited about; so my experience may seem strange to some!
Sukhothai
Located on Deck 17 next to the Buffet, Sukhothai serves Thai and Thai-inspired foods. At night it is a dimly lit space and one of the smaller restaurants.
With speciality dining you typically can order up to three appetizers, one main, and three desserts. It’s a lot of food if you want it! For my appetizers I had the chicken satay with peanut sauce, spring rolls, and papaya salad. For my main I had chicken pad thai and for dessert I had the mango sticky rice.
The appetizers were all good and could have been a meal by themselves. The pad thai wasn’t the best I have had but it was fine. The dessert was small (thankfully) and average.
Thai food is my favorite type of cuisine so I might be a bit harsh with my ratings. The food was likely what you could find at most any Thai restaurant which isn’t a bad thing. It just didn’t blow me away.
Los Lobos
Located on Deck 8 across from The Local, Los Lobos is the Mexican restaurant on the Luna. It has both a nice indoor space and also outdoor dining on the “Ocean Boulevard” outdoor area. I dined inside and, like so many of the spaces on the ship, it was a lovely setting.
One of the signature appetizers at Los Lobos is the table side guacamole cart. If you order it as one of your appetizers, they’ll make it to your specification at your table.
I also had the salad as an appetizer, which was basic but the lettuce was very fresh (much better than salads in the main dining room or The Local). For my main I had the chicken fajitas and for dessert I had the churros and chocolate tart.
I loved the appetizers and desserts. The fajitas were fine (what you might get at Chilis), but the rice and tortillas served with it were dried out. The highlight had to be the churros with the Dulce de Leche Caramel dipping sauce.
Onda by Scarpetta
Located just off the main atrium, and also on Deck 8, is Onda by Scarpetta, the Italian restaurant. It also has both indoor and outdoor seating. I believe it is on almost every NCL ship. I ate at Onda a few years back on the Spirit and loved it then. It was also quite good on the Luna, however the service was not as good as the other restaurants. I’m not sure what was going on, but it seemed very rushed.
Three types of bread and spreads are included to start off your meal. For my appetizers I had the burrata and market salad. I went with the mezzelune for my main and the butterscotch budino for my dessert (which, looking back on my post about the Spirit, was nearly identical to my dinner three years ago).
I liked all my dishes, however only after dinner did I find out that the mezzelune is the one pasta dish not made fresh on the ship (I was told it was made on land and put into bags and then cooked on the ship). It was still good, but I wish I had known ahead of time so I could order one of the fresher options.
Cagney’s Steakhouse
Cagney’s Steakhouse is located on Deck 7 not far from the main dining room. If I were to guess, I’d say that Cagney’s is the most popular specialty restaurant on just about an NCL ship because people love steak (especially when it is “free”). I heard mixed reviews from other passengers.
Le Bistro
Located near Cagney’s, Le Bistro is the French restaurant onboard. I ate at Le Bistro on my previous NCL cruise and thought it was good; but it isn’t necessarily my favorite type of cuisine.
Palomar
Located next to Sukhothai on Deck 17, Palomar is Mediterranean themed with lamb, fish, and steak. It also has an outdoor dining area just off the pool deck.
Hasuki
Hasuki is the ship’s teppanyaki restaurant where the chefs make the food on a grill at your table. It is located on Deck 6 across from The Commodore Room and near the Whiskey Bar. It seems like most cruise ships have a teppanyaki restaurant — I suppose it is fun for families and includes a show during the cooking process. People I spoke with said it was very good and provided large portions.
Nama
What looked to be the smallest restaurant on the ship, Nama is located outside the main dining room on Deck 7. Serving sushi, you get to pick four items off the menu. For example, you could get an appetizer, two sushi rolls, and a dessert. Or you could just get four sushi rolls.
Complimentary Dining
I would argue that there are five complimentary dining options on the Luna (with a sixth venue if you are sailing in the ship-within-a-ship area of the Haven). I’ll start with the one that I avoided my entire cruise.
Surfside Café and Grill
NCL classifies the buffet as two separate venues — the Café being the buffet and the Grill being the burger bar. They aren’t different. The grill is just off to one side but is just another station in the buffet. I tend to avoid buffets on ships, but Luna’s buffet, located near the pool on Deck 17, was especially unappealing. First — it is extremely small for a ship the size of Luna. I heard multiple guests complain about how crowded it was. I’ve been on smaller ships, including every Holland America ship I’ve sailed, that has a buffet twice the size. Surfside only takes up the port half of the ship, while Palomar and Sukhothai take up the starboard side.
They had all the usual stations including pizza, noodles, carving, salad, and desserts. Additionally there is a soft serve ice cream station outside the buffet near the pool (in addition to another soft serve station on Deck 8).
I walked through the buffet three times (trying to get to other locations) and it was always packed and completely chaotic.
Indulge Food Hall
The more civilized cousin of the buffet is the Indulge Food Hall located on Deck 8. It is very similar to The Galley on Virgin Voyages. There are mini restaurants throughout the space, each serving a different food. Think of it as a food court. But instead of going to each counter, you order your dish from a tablet on your table and it is delivered to you when it is ready.
If you want to order a beer, wine or premixed cocktail, you tap your card on the tablet to charge it to your room or drink package.
The different stations include BBQ, noodles, Indian, vegetarian, small plates, Mexican, tapas (Spanish), and a rotisserie. Each dish is small and comes as it is ready, so be prepared for your dishes to come at various times and if you are eating with others, know you might get your food before or after them.
I found the dishes to all be very good. Most of the portions are small so you can order four or five to make a meal.
Seating is both inside and outside. Inside there are booths, small tables, large tables, and counters. It was busy but I never had trouble finding an open table. I highly recommend it over the buffet; it’s a great spot on embarkation day. Note that most days it doesn’t open until 1pm for lunch. It is also open as a buffet for breakfast and has a separate menu at dinner.
The Local
The 24 hour diner on the Luna is The Local located on Deck 8, just forward of Indulge Food Hall. Half of The Local is a bar and the other half is a sit down casual restaurant. Breakfast is a limited version of what you will find in the main dining room. Lunch and dinner are a set menu that doesn’t change. They also have the only late night snacks on the ship.
I had breakfast a couple of times in The Local when the main dining room had closed. I had lunch there once (and only once) and found the quality subpar. I ordered a salad and it was iceberg lettuce with a few toppings. Breakfast, on the other hand, was nearly identical to the main dining room in quality; I’m guessing they use a share kitchen.
Hudson’s
The first, and biggest, of the main dining rooms is Hudson’s, located on Deck 7 aft. It is a wide open space with huge picture window views of the wake. To me it felt packed in. I suppose they didn’t want dividers to obscure the views, but to me it was an odd space. Like dining in a ballroom.
NCL has a casual dress code, so shorts and t-shirts are fine even at dinner. They just say no swim wear, short shorts, or inappropriate logos on shirts.
The service was average to bad. At a particularly busy breakfast I had a server that seemed absolutely annoyed to be working. When I asked for some ketchup she rolled her eyes at me (and then never brought it). I don’t typically report negative service, but I did this time via the feedback survey that is advertised by QR code on each table. The maître d’ found me later and profusely apologized and made sure to always check in with me and take care of me for the rest of the sailing. It was a nice recovery.
I only ever had breakfast and lunch in Hudson’s, choosing to have dinner instead at the secondary dining room. I thought the food was good, but a step down from either Holland America or Celebrity.
The Commodore Room
The second main dining room is a smaller space on Deck 6. While it doesn’t have the same views, it is darker space and feels more intimate. It may actually have the same number of tables, but it feels much more divided up.
The menus for dinner are identical in Hudson’s and The Commodore Room. However The Commodore Room is only open for breakfast and lunch for suite guests.
I found the service better at Commodore and overall preferred the space. Again, I would say the dinners were a step down from both Holland America and Celebrity. It’s clear that it is made in huge batches and plated when an order comes in. Completely edible, but better food is found at the speciality restaurants.
A note that there is also food served in the Observation Lounge on Deck 17 Forward. At breakfast there are egg bites and scones, and at other times there are sandwiches. If you just wanted a quick bite with a view, it is a nice space.
Without a doubt there is food for everyone on the Luna. I never had to wait for than a minute or two to be seated at any restaurant; and was never asked to share a table as a solo traveler. I don’t typically do speciality dining on cruises but the included dinners with Free at Sea make it so you can have the elevated food without much added cost. You can turn down the speciality dining included with Free at Sea and save $20 per meal per person, but I think the value is worth keeping it, at least as a solo traveler.
What do you think of the dining on Luna or other NCL Prima class ships?