danny6514

13750

On our Spain itinerary the outdoor seating was fully utilized, it was always pretty busy at dinner time.

I did infact completely missed talking about the layout of the cabin! I got too carried away with the smell... But the layout is great and much larger than we expected. The washroom is also almost on the mini-suite level on their breakaway class ships. Definitely an upgrade in this department. Speaking of indulge food hall during dinner time, they had great curry but for some reason they never offered any rice other than plain rice for some reason. It was almost perfect. During lunch time they offered more types of rice though without the variety for curry.

I completely missed it but the cabin on the Prima is superb. I mean, other than the smell and creaking door. The decor is nice, washroom is some of the largest I've stayed in. We used to pay extra for mini suites for their larger washroom, but with the new ones on the Prima, there no longer is a point. Regardless, I'm sure you'll still have a great cruise!

I wrote the review before I went to bed and after reading the comments, realized I missed a bunch of stuff. Yes we did have breakfast at Hudson's, just for the smoked salmon infact. That and the avocado wrap that the buffet did not have. It definitely was a nicer dining environment, though we frequently just wanted to eat something fast and get on with our day.

We just got off the Prima this morning and overall had a decent cruise. This was our 5th NCL cruise, but first time on the Prima. I don't think I need to repeat others that this ship looks absolutely beautiful. The furnitures, lighting, the waterfront, everything just feels so much nicer than any of their other ships, or any other ships I've been on even. I unfortunately had to work during the cruise, but instead of being in a boring library, I was able to find high tables on the waterfront and work there. Ironically, that was one of the highlights of my cruise. Now onto the not so good parts of the ship, the layout is just not great. Dead ends everywhere, walkways where you would expect to bring you to the ends of the ship, ends up with either a wall or a restaurant. The atrium used to be a place where shows happen, and felt like the heart of the ship. That's no more, as now it is just a confused space where people are constantly walking through it, yet they try to hold classes there. When singers sing, they are sometimes hidden under an area so no one above could see them. Many times we can hear what's happening, but can't seem to pinpoint what exactly is happening as we can't see it. This ship to me brings upcharging to a whole new level. It is my personal opinion that this ship was designed strictly based on this business model. They boast this ship provides the best passenger to space ratio, but what they don't mention is the passenger to FREE space ratio, because that isn't going to look that great. More and bigger specialty restaurants, better Vibe Beach Club, larger thermal suites, larger race tracks & VR areas, larger Haven presence. More than ever, the enjoyment of NCL cruises depend on those extra dollars you'll need to spend. Nothing wrong with it, just not for everyone. I'm unsure if I can agree with the Free at sea motto, a more fitting one might be Upcharging at sea. The condition of the ship is also somewhat alarming. For such a new ship, we saw more defects than ever. Aside from our room smelling like urine, which isn't related to the ship, the washroom smelled like the septic system for the whole cruise. At first we thought it might just be a cleaning issue, but after cleaning and disinfecting the washroom again, it never changed. It was only when we started smelling the same smell walking down certain hallways that we realized it might be a ship wide issue. The shower head in our room was also broken when we entered. The soap dispenser in the thermal suite was broken. The shower in the thermal suite was also broken, where no hot water came out (this was fixed after reporting it). Our balcony door had obviously been patched up before with wooden pieces inserted between the frame, but still creaked like crazy when the ship was barely rolling. The rubber seal was also breaking, causing wind to whistle into our room. I know I might sound like I'm nitpicking, but out of all the cruises I've been on, almost all being older than the Prima, they just simply didn't have any of these issues. None of these are dealbreakers, but it is simply concerning for such a new ship. We dined at almost every restaurant onboard (minus Haven restaurant and the sushi place), and for the most part, I only have great things to say about the specialty restaurants. We weren't big fans of La Cucina on previous NCL ships, but Onda onboard the Prima is much better. In my opinion, it is very comparable with a good italian place on land. Palomar is also a new addition, and them bringing a whole fish prepared table side is quite impressive. Cagney's, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, Los Lobos were all consistent with other ships and tasty as usual. Indulge food hall is a new addition to the Prima class, and we enjoyed it. What's preventing me from saying we REALLY enjoyed it is due to the inconsistency of the food. One day it'll be really salty, and the next day it won't, you never really know what it's going to be like. Regardless, the quality of the food served here is well above other complementary options across different cruise lines. If there's one differentiator about the Prima and others, it would definitely be the indulge food hall. We also dined at Hudson's, Prima's MDR, and the food (IMO) is subpar as usual. Our friends dined exclusively at the Hudson's and complained that the food was very bad. I just wished they paid a bit more for specialty restaurants because I feel the quality is just night and day different and they would've enjoyed the cruise more. To hear them say MSC's food is better than NCL really goes against what I have ever known about them. Onto the buffet, I'm not sure how else to describe that place other than an active war zone, especially during breakfast. The buffet is now about 1/3 of the size compared to the previous ship, but yet it's basically the only place people eat at. Sure they could justify that Indulge food hall has some grab to gos, but let's be honest here, it's not their first day running a cruise line, and they well knew what they were doing. To add to it, the selection at breakfast has been reduced. With just the small footprint it now covers, they manage to repeat the same dishes up to 3 different stations, with no changes for our 12 night cruise. Compared to previous ships, this is a downgrade. For lunch and dinner, the selection also decreased, likely due to post COVID cost cutting, but also because Indulge food hall now took over some of the dishes. The indian station used to be our favourites, but it has now been removed from the buffet, so if you want that, you now have to eat at the buffet first then move over to the indulge food hall. Anyways, we enjoyed our time on the Prima, though for our next NCL cruise, we will likely be looking at the breakaway-plus class again, as that remains our favourite class in the NCL fleet.

Thanks all for the responses! They are currently selling it for $399 for our upcoming 12-night sailing.

Hello all, we are going on the Prima soon and still contemplating whether the thermal suite is worth the cost. We have been on the Escape and Bliss and enjoyed the thermal suite on both. One thing we do like is sitting in the hydrotherapy pool, but for the Prima, is that still a possibility? I do see the pool but no seats in it. If someone could confirm, that would be awesome, thanks!

Just got off the Majestic yesterday and I felt quite bad for the aft facing balconies right under the Lido deck. The people standing on their balconies basically became part of the view for the hundreds of people standing right above.

Covid is still real and alive, but practically everyone on the ship no longer care about it. Mask wearing is rare, coughing is common, and I wouldn't be surprised that people who test positive continue to roam about the ship.

No worries at all! Enjoy your cruise! Reviews can come later 🙂

Would love to hear about your experience comparing your previous Princess sailing with your current Celebrity sailing, especially in dining.

Oh hello neighbour! We just got off the Solstice this morning and saw your ship yesterday!

We were supposed to cruise last Oct but had to cancel due to contracting COVID. We submitted our covid test report to NCL and was told FCC would be issued within 30 days. Months go by and all emails to them were ignored, until finally in January, 3 months later, they admitted to have closed our case as they haven't heard back from us. My TA had to send them proof of us sending multiple follow up emails for them to agree to reopen and escalate the case. Well, many weeks have gone by again and all they can say is to tell us to wait more as it's up to the "another department" to issue it. I've always heard of horror stories like these, but it's getting very ridiculous, especially when they set a 1 year limit (from the sail date) to use the FCC. Do any of you have any suggestions what I can do to actually get the FCC issued? Thank you!

Just an extra option for you to consider: rapid test kits are free in all major pharmacies in Vancouver, you basically go get one of those yourself, and use very cheap telehealth services that video calls with you to see you do that test on yourself. They will then send you a certified test result in pdf within 15-30 minutes. Cost is around 25 dollars per person. Link: https://www.medionerx.com/covid-19-testing/telehealth-virtual-rapid-testing/#have

I've seen countless people get upgraded with bare minimum bids. (including myself with near minimum bids) It really depends on the supply and demand. Hope she gets it!

Got it, thanks both for the replies, as long as I get it refunded in one form or another, I'm good.

Just wondering, how long before sailing were you able to cancel the pass? Online it seems to suggest the refund policy of anything we buy online is the same as the booking itself, meaning not refundable after final payment.

Hi all, I read on NCL's website that if I were to cancel my cruise due to contracting COVID, the cost paid to NCL will be converted to FCC. Will cost like extra dining package, spa pass, that I purchase myself afterwards online, be part of that FCC? I asked NCL in chat and they were quite insistent on quoting the website without answering straight up that extra packages will be converted to FCC. That reluctance is making me doubt what the actual policy is. If anyone unfortunately had to cancel their cruise, could you please confirm? Thank you!

Did a PCR test on the bliss back in December and it definitely did not go all the way back. Infact, it was in and out in literally 1 second, made me feel like they purposely didn't want a positive.

Oh don't get me wrong, I simply posted here because it was controversial, not that NCL is bad or anything, if I was to pick between the 2 cruise lines, I would still go with NCL as of now. All cruise lines have their strengths and weaknesses, but if one wants to place themself above others, then it would make sense they would need to do better than others. I believe in their latest call, they did quote on quote call their newest ships "upper-level premium" and "a contemporary category vessel that if I blindfolded you and dropped you in you’d be hard-pressed to know if you were on an Oceania upper-premium ship or on a Regent ultra-luxury ship." The pricing is reflecting their intention to place the Prima and later ships well in the premium category. I did mock bookings of Celebrity Beyond and NCL Prima for a similar Caribbean cruise and NCL came out to be over 300 USD more expensive. (balcony, free drinks, what not, etc) I'm definitely the type to go for value normally, I don't care for presentation as long as it tastes good, and that's also why I don't take premium cruise lines or go to Michelin star restaurants. If NCL wants to tailor the company towards that direction, I was simply stating a point that they would need to do a bit more than just "tasting good". Again, as a mainstream cruise line, there's no argument that NCL is very competitive and does many things right, but if they want to enter the premium market, they still have some work to do.

That NCL is quite a huge gap away from being a premium cruise line. Don't get me wrong, I love NCL and cruise with them, but things like dining, entertainment, I find pales in comparison to even RCL, whose not even trying to be premium. RCL's specialty dining gives me the wow factor, from the concepts to the presentation. The shows are over the top like the water show and the ice skating shows. Both of which I feel NCL lacks. That being said, I cruise with NCL for the thermal suite and the overall feeling of not being bounded by a schedule, and absolutely love them for that.