Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is offering a series of book-inspired cruises for readers interested in exploring the real-world settings behind well-known novels. As literary tourism grows, these itineraries provide a way to engage directly with the locations that shaped the stories, from European cities to the Pacific and Alaska.
A Mediterranean cruise departing October 9, 2025, from Venice (Trieste), Italy, visits 11 ports including Barcelona and Naples – key settings in The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Travellers can explore Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter or walk through Naples’ piazzas, with further stops in Rome, Florence, Messina, Palma and the Croatian coast.
Another itinerary, a 10-day cruise from Rome (Civitavecchia) to Greece and Italy, departs August 22 and October 1, 2025. It includes Messina, where To Sicily with Love by Jennifer Probst unfolds in markets and fishing ports, and Argostoli in Kefalonia, the setting of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis De Bernières.
Hawaii provides the backdrop for The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. A seven-day round-trip cruise from Honolulu runs year-round, stopping at four islands with overnight stays in Maui and Kaua‘i, visiting locations that echo the novel’s romantic setting.
Alaska, the setting of Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone, features on a seven-day round-trip cruise from Seattle, operating July through September 2025. Ports include Ketchikan, Sitka and Icy Strait Point, offering landscapes that reflect the novel’s themes of isolation and survival.
A 14-day cruise from Tokyo aboard Norwegian Jade, departing October 29, 2026, visits both Busan and Osaka, central to Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. The itinerary explores the markets and neighbourhoods featured in the novel, alongside additional ports including Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Kyoto.
These cruises offer a way for readers to connect with the places behind their favourite stories, with prices starting at approximately US$1,500 per person.
For more information, visit Norwegian Cruise Line.
