graphicguy

ENTERTAINMENT In short, there was enough entertainment on board that I could not possibly see/hear it all. I tried to see Donna but my sloppy acrobatics kept me from making it to the show. But, there were other performances that I could have gone to, and just ended up finding something else to do. Went to two Syd Norman's shows. I have seen all of the shows at Syd's on other ships. They are excellent. No difference this time. The game shows are not my cup of tea. I did go to the Price is Right. I was amused. But, the crowd seemed to be really into it. Prizes were sometimes "janky" (an alarm clock? Really?). But, mentioned they did give away a pretty nice big screen TV and a $500 espresso maker. The showcase prize was a new Corvette. So, that would have been sweet. The Motown review was excellent, also. Plus, there was a duo and a guitar player performing in the bars around the ship. Both were quite good. I didn't participate in any of the GLOW party and other late night and/or pool parties. But, from the other guest comments, people loved them. If you couldn't find something to do, or were not entertained, the fault would be yours. There was plenty, all the time. PORTS Done 'em all...a lot.....seems a lot of folks stayed on board when we were in port because they had too. PERSONNEL Not going to beat a dead horse, so will forego Security and Medial staff. But, the Captain was more engaged than any I've ever encountered on any cruise ship save for Capt Kate on Celebrity. Plus, he set the tone for the rest of the crew. A smile, engaging, friendly, "how can I make your cruise better" attitude really shone through. I wanted to break down a $100 bill for bar tips when I boarded. I went to Guest Services. The $100 bill had a pretty big tear in it. I know a bank would take it, but the ship's Guest Services? A Guest Services agent looked at it and said they could not change it because of the tear. Someone behind the desk with stripes on their sleeves looked over and took the bill and said..."there's nothing wrong with it...change it". It was that sort of "we can do what you want" attitude that permeated the cruise. OVERALL It's hard not to have a good time on a cruise ship. I certainly had a great time and loved the ship. I've sailed the Epic, the Breakaway, the Getaway, the Gem, the Encore, the Escape, the Bliss and now the Prima....some multiple times. The Prima is a stark contrast to any of the other ships. It mimics none of them. The concept is different. Once you understand that, it becomes easier to navigate the ship. IT becomes easier to find dining options. Even at peak times, at the "no extra fee" venues, I could always find a seat. I appreciated that. From the Buffet, to Indulge, to Hudson's, to Cagney's, to the Haven restaurant, the food overall was good to excellent. Portions were generous. It's certainly nicely appointed and feels more premium than the others. It retains what I love about NCL with having outdoor spaces that give a view of the sea, the ports, dining and drinking al fresco, etc. While it also adds to what is a staple on the other ships...like Indulge for just one example. It's quite comfortable, both inside and out. Service was exemplary, form the Concierge to the table bussers to every bartender I encountered. There were no screaming "$10 T-shir-Jewelry sales". The shops on board were quite subdued as a matter of fact. One quick anecdote, I befriended a couple on board who I saw late in the cruise buying some artwork from Park West. Now, anyone who has followed Park West knows they have kind of a shady past. But, this couple were in the midst of buying a Peter Max piece. I was just happening by while they were at the Art Desk and stopped to say "hi". Saw the contact which listed the value of the piece at $100,000. Sell price was $82,000. I just said "congrats" and went on my way. I was stunned and had no words. Was there anything I didn't like? I already outlined those things earlier in this thread. I guess the best compliment is I can't wait to sail her, again. Hope some of this helped. Hope you now have a flavor of the ship and the direction NCL is headed. I like it.

It took the port immigration personnel a while to get them on and running was my understanding. Again, they knew we were coming. Why not have them up and running? I guess they had a couple face scanners up and running for the first groups off the ship. But, as more and more disembarked, the bottleneck started and they waited too long to start up the other scanners,

My friend @mking8288 wanted to know about disembarkation. I had a couple cups of coffee in my cabin, grabbed some fruit and a croissant from the restaurant, and was escorted by Lyster, the concierge off at 8:30. I was off the ship and in this immigration line by 8:45. I’ll never understand not having enough port or immigration help to process 3,000 guests! It’s not like they didn’t know we were coming. Disembarkation was quick and easy-peezy. Immigration took a bit longer.

Nope. I just slipped and fell in a puddle of water!

There were cookies…chocolate chip, as a matter of fact! They were good!

No…didn’t submit anything. NCL didn’t even provide a receipt or a printout of the treatment. They only said nothing was broken. It WAS a wonderful cruise. Will have entertainment and final thoughts upcoming…and more pics!

CABIN Well, I was in the Haven. So, hard to be disappointed. As mentioned previously, it reminded me more of a high end hotel than a cruise ship cabin. Coffee maker (Nespresso....very good), one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in, large balcony with comfortable padded chairs, a shower that always had hot water and enough jets that I could do a 360º turn and be clean. A table with 2 chairs, a couch, a padded chair and a large screen TV (55"). I don't watch much TV on a cruise (or at all for that matter). The light switches were somewhat cryptic. I don't know which switches controlled what. I just hit every one of them to turn the lights on or off. Nit pick....the bed was close to the bathroom door. The door opened inward, so I had plenty of room to get in and out. Plenty of outlets....U.S., USB-A, EU, by either side of the bed, by the front counter. Furnishings were comfy and tasteful. I did peek inside of other cabins that I passed on different decks. They all looked quite nice. FOOD I know how y'all like to debate what is probably the most subjective part of any cruise. So, here goes. Prima is set up quite differently than any other NCL ship and probably any other cruise ship. It has several areas, both gratis and Specialty dining as part of the FAS or pay. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would pay a la carte for the Specialty Dining venues given the FAS tips only price is so attractive. First, we have the Buffet....smaller than on other ships but seemed to have all the choices...burgers, hot dogs, pasta, proteins, veggies, salads, etc....plus, at least one night I saw they had Prime Rib. No issues finding a spot to sit, which is quite different than on other Buffets on other ships. The Local...bar food. Had a cheeseburger there. It was really good. I guess that's high praise. It was served hot. The. bun was fresh. Don't know how much more I can say about it except it was quite good. Even the fries were served hot and had more in common with McDonald's fries. That's high praise. 2nd, Indulge...you'll find Noodls, Smokehouse, Tandori, CoCos, a Salad place, and probably forgetting something. Sit anywhere, order anything, and they'll bring it to you, QUICKLY. No issues ever finding a seat, inside or outside...lunch time or dinner time, (not open for breakfast). Food was hot (except for the desert area at COCOs), tasty and the whole venue was just a delight. Specialty Dining.....I had 5 SD dinners, I used 4. I also had dinner at Hudsons (free) on the last night of the cruise because I wanted to experience as much as I could in as many of the dining venues as I could. The rest of my dinners were in the Haven restaurant. Cagney's, Onda, Food Republic and Los Lobos. Haven restaurant is indeed probably the best on the ship, but the margins were slim compared to the Specialty Dining venues. In brief, everything was prepared well, served promptly and with a smile, very tasty. Favorite would probably be a tie between the Los Lobos fish dish and the Prime Rib in the Haven. Least favorite was the Lobster Bisque, again in the Haven. Little too salty with 3 fingernail sized pieces of Lobster. Aside from that, all of it was great. If you want to see the pics of the food, it's earlier in the thread. DRINKS Had FAS. It covered everything I wanted. I have no need for what NCL considers Top Shelf liquors. Fact is, I did try and extra upcharge Gin....NCL's own brand "66". Michelle, our Haven bartender would wink at me when she served it to me and put her finger to her lips. She never charged me for it. I was good. Buffalo Trace, 1792, Stella Artois, Blue Moon, Budweiser, Tangurey,Titos....everyhting else I liked was included. And, none of the drinks I ordered, regardless of where I ordered it, included a generous pour....probably closer to a double than a single shot. Usually started my day with a Bloody Mary....couple of beers in the afternoon, pre-dinner bourbon, a beer with dinner and a smoky old fashion or two to end the day. EXCURSIONS Frankly, I had been to all these ports before...many times. Not meaning to sound flippant, but I've seen the ruins, been snorkeling, zip lined, went ATV-ing and hung out at the beaches, and done just about every other excursion short of the really high buck ones. Plus, with a sore, gimpy foot, I was not much in the mood for long walking tours. I did do an electric boat tour in Costa Maya.That was totally covered by the excursion credit of FAS. And, I hired a taxi in Cozumel who took me on (yet another) tour of the area. The rest of the time I just enjoyed the ship. SERVICE I don't know how many more superlatives I can possibly offer to the crew of the Prima. Again, hard to complain about the Haven. At different times there were at least 2 concierges, sometimes as many as 4. They were all headed by Lyster. He was a clone of Adrian, who we've waxed poetically about in CC. He was just everywhere making sure we were having a good time. He was the one who arranged a tour of the bridge for me. My Butler, Walter, was there for me every day, brining ice for my foot, bringing snacks, replenishing the coffee machine and just genuinely seemed concerned for my well being by checking on me whenever he saw I was in my cabin. Rommel the Cabin Steward was, as mentioned, a Ninja steward. He never let my cabin get unkept. Didn't see him do it, but he did it. Granted, I am not a "needy" person. I don't ask for much. All my "wants/needs" I communicated pre-cruise with the pre-cruise concierge. Pillows? Snacks? No sparkling wine wanted? No "gummy bear" snacks? Etc? All taken care of. Anything I could think of that I needed/wanted, they took care of. I did not make one reservation myself. Bars and restaurants. I guess the biggest compliment I can give is that I never waited long for anything...drinks, food, etc. Everything was open and fully functional when they were supposed to be open and functional. Smiles abound. Not sure where to put this, so I'll enter it here. As good as the crew was, I chronicled doing a face plant on the ground at the entrance of The Local. The entrance was wet. I get it. It's a ship sailing the sea. There will be water in a bunch of places. I hit the water puddle (it was evening, so I didn't see it), feet came out from under me, and I hit the deck. There was a waiter passing by the door as I did my little ballet move. He looked, didn't offer to help, and only said "you need to go to medical on deck 12" as I attempted to right myself. A hand as I got up would have been nice. But, maybe they're trained to not assist in these matters because of liability issues. Who knows? Anyway, I did hobble to Medical. By this time, it was clear that something was wrong as my foot swelled as did my hand which I used to cushion the fall. Instead of aid, I was confronted with a barrage of questions meant more to absolve them of fault than to treat me. I was hurting and probably not in the best of moods, but the obvious answer was the floor was wet. I slipped on it. They seemed to want to find another reason why I fell instead of the obvious. They wanted me to sign a waiver. Not sure why, but I refused. They wanted me to sign a form stating I was responsible for any charges for treatment. I refused. They wanted me to take a breathalyzer. I refused. I had exactly one beer at that point. I was not drunk. Even though I had cruise medical insurance, I didn't know what they would or wouldn't cover, except for emergency treatment and/or evacuation. I was not going to give them any reason to try to say it was my fault and absolve them. I was not looking for anything other than to see if I had broken anything. To exacerbate the situation they insisted I talk to security. Same questions. Plus, they even took pictures of my shoes. I took them to the entrance to The Local where the fall occurred. The water was still there. Security became exasperated because I couldn't keep up with his swift pace. No one would admit to seeing my fall. I know several of them observed it. I guess the "don't get involved" mind set is something that permeates and is probably a function of how NCL views these situations. All-in-all, it was a couple of hours from the time I hit Medical to I finally left Security at The Local. They did not charge me for X-Rays of both of my feet, both of my knees and my hand. They gave me the "strong" prescription version of Tylenol. They wrapped my ankle, gave me a cane and sent me on my way. They charged me for nothing. So, I guess there's that. Don't know how much more they could have done. But, still.....giving me the 3rd degree while ignoring the obvious? C'mon NCL. You can do better, a lot better. (To be continued)

Thanks. I am a lucky guy. As much of a PITA I can be, they both hang with me. Go figure!!!!!

We had a pretty big crew turnout. I posted who was there earlier in the thread. But, it's the usual suspects....GM, Managers of Beverage, Food, Housekeeping, etc. NCL likes Cruise Critic. They welcome us.

Doing cruise unpacking, so taking a break and jotting down some review impressions. Some will be not be a surprise if you've followed this thread. PORT I like Galveston as an (dis)embarkation point. It's older and relatively far away from the airports. But, once you're there, it's easy to navigate. Plus, if you come in a day before, there's a lot to do around the Seawall. I certainly didn't do much other than walk around, but not in any sort of order, you can go to... 1. Pleasure Pier 2. NASA 3. Duck Tours 4. Naval Museum 5. The Strand There are two airports you can fly into (you'll be flying into Houston, not Galveston). HOU, which is about an hour from the port and IAH, which is about a 75 to 90 minutes from the port. I had a private ride from HOU to the port....Galveston Salt Water Moms. They don't have a WEB Site but google them for the phone number. I used the NCL transport bus for my return ride to IAH....I want to say it was $49, booked through NCL. Efficient and punctual. THE BOOKING and MONETARY Done about 5 months before sailing. Looked at Balcony rooms and noticed the Haven was only about $1,000 more. Sounds like a lot, but in reality, this may have been the cheapest Haven I've ever had given all the out of pocket (or lack thereof). I published the fare/booking earlier in the thread, so won't repeat it. But, I upgrade to nothing...just FAS. I did buy the unlimited internet package as I knew I was going to be live blogging, but that was covered in total by my OBC. My final folio showed a balance, in my favor of 65¢. I couldn't find anything I could buy for 65¢ so NCL made a little extra coin from me. In brief, the total out of pocket including airport parking, airport taxes and fees (airline fare used points), tips, EVERYTHING was about $4,900. I had OBC of about $500 that covered my DSC. At first, I didn't think it would cover it, but apparently it did. So, DSC and internet and some (not all) tips (added to the inevitable zero'd out check at the end of each Specialty meal) were covered by OBC. TIPS Everyone's favorite topic. Here goes....I tipped $1 for each drink I had, unless it was a "smoky drink" which takes a while to make (pictures are included earlier in the thread), which I tipped $5/ea. Concierge-$100. Special point, Lyster Dieas (sp) was fantastic. He took care of ALL my dinner and entertainment reservations, including the wealth of changes I always made to both. He escorted us to the different venues, and actually got me the individual Bridge Tour. Butler-$75...Walter, great guy. Aside from stocking my coffee, he took care of my snacks, brought me ice packs for my foot injury and was always around wanting to know what more he could do. Truth told, I just didn't need him for much. I don't like eating in the cabin, so I din't have a need for him to bring me room service. Rommel....Cabin steward. Silent...like a ninja. I'd leave my cabin for a couple of hours and found it made up, already. Dude must have been hiding from me waiting for me to leave. $100. Restaurant Staff...regardless of where I ate (except for Indulge and the Buffet), $5-$10/meal...Let's say $50 in total. As mentioned, some of that was left on a tab and deducted from my OBC. Some of it was in cash (Concierge, Steward, Butler). SHIP Gorgeous....Elegant, nicely furnished, tasteful colors. Again, hopefully this was reflected in the pictures I posted. This is not your typical NCL ship. There is no large chandelier. There is not big Atrium area. There is a large outdoor area that runs nearly the length of both sides of the ship. If the weather's bad, people say they were forced inside which crowds it. I get that. Weather is something none of us can control though. Overall we had Great weather. And, I could see NCL's intent with spreading people out on the ship inside and out, so it made sense. Prima is not the biggest (not by a long shot) nor the most guests (see the debate on the passenger count earlier in the thread, although the Capt said we were sailing at Capacity). And while I love me some "-Away" ships and the Bliss, Escape and Encore (Aways Plus), and the Epic, the Prima to me is "right sized". It is comfortable, it is quite pretty and is a departure for NCL. It took me a day or so to get my bearings, given I did not know the layout compared to the other NCL ships I've sailed. But, I liked it...A LOT! (more to come)

Activities? Do you mean like Cabin Crawls? I've done gift exchanges in the past, but it was a mixed bag. Some participated, some didn't. That meant not everyone who gave a gift, got a gift in return. Some like Slot Pulls, but again, it seems to be a mixed bag. I think if you have anyone who wants to participate in doing something like a Cabin Crawl, I'd recommend starting early to see who is willing to participate and draw up a route of the cabins and do it immediately after the Meet and Greet, otherwise even the participants tend to drop out.

Capt Rodger’s 2nd in Command!

Yeah…Capt relayed the same to me. Funny about “Costa Maybe”! Capt Rodger said he wanted his 2nd in Command (can’t recall her name) to be promoted and get her own ship. I liked him a lot. He said he and Capt Kate on the Celebrity Beyond are friends. Both are guest focused.

This lady picked me up!!!! LOL!

Will do. Glad you and your beautiful wife made it home no worse for the wear. Just picked up this little girl!

Captain said they leave it for the sea to consume!

Agree. Just returned from sailing with MB. Probably the most beautiful ship I've ever sailed. Not over the top, mind you. Just very classy. I do believe some have issues because it's a pretty big departure from NCL's other ships. Instead of a big buffet, it has a smaller one with other smaller venues that focus on Latin, BBQ, food, etc (Indulge). I love that concept. The outdoors areas are where the ship shines. If you insist on being around the (small) main pool, you're going to be crowded. The other (plentiful) areas outdoors are all quite nice. Capt Rodger was quite engaging and reminds me a lot of Capt Kate on Celebrity. That's rare. Usually the Capts show up ceremonially and then retreat to the bridge in silence. Will sail her again....whenever the opportunity arises.

I am sorry I missed the military get together. There were some things that I just forgot about or I had to much going on to try to squeeze in all in. Wonderful to actually put faces to names. It was my pleasure to set up the M&G. NCL loves hosting us, too. They were great to work with.

Absolutely. Loved meeting everyone that I've chatted with for years on CC and then get to meet them in person. Wonderful!

IAH to LGA to CVG. Delta Overshot my destination by going to New York but am flying on points. Took them long enough but LGA looks good…bright and new vs old and dingy! Grub looks great. For me, since I have NOTHING in the fridge, I’ll be doing something fast food-ish on the way home!

It seems they went out of their way to really go over and above. I had forgot about signing up for dinner with the crew. Pleasure seeing all the CC folks. We have a good group! @mking8288…sitting at LGA waiting for my flight home and thought of you!

Port to IAH in about 75 minutes….clear all the way! NCL’s bus is a good option and the cheapest transport I found to the airport!

There were 3 other concierges. All of them good. Lyster was just exceptional. He’d personally track us down at dinner, wherever we checked in, to make certain our meals were satisfactory!

I agree wholeheartedly!

Gotta find who offers what! Sapphire Preferred and Amex Platinum off up to $300 OBC (depending on what cabin you book). NCL credit card offers OBC depending on how much you charge. I charge and pay off every month. Some TAs offer OBC! Plenty of ways to get OBC!