NCL Prima 5-day NYC to Bermuda Semi-Live! (10/10/22)

[PistolPete13]

First up is the gym.  There is a wrap around beautiful view of the front of the ship.  Don't get too distracted with the view and smack you head into the slanted windows.  The morning sun highlighted more than a few forehead grease spots on the windows from earlier victims.

 

Lots and lots of cardio treadmill machines and things.  The free weighs and weigh machines were all crammed into a tight area to the left (err, port side?) of the gym.  If you plan to use this area, be aware of where your neighbors are unless you want to get smacked by a dumbbell (weight, not a person, but it could be) or kettlebell from an overly enthusiastic bodybuilder. 

Have you seen the people on the pool deck?  Body builders and fitness models everywhere...

 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by PistolPete13

[fstuff1]

I calculated My on board charges To be $390 after obc.

 

My emailed invoice said $340.

And I still had some obc unused.

 

What was charged to my credit card was $280. 😮

 

No idea how it's $110 less or even $60 less than the 'final' bill that was emailed to me.

🤔

 

The obc left over was not $60.

(Or $110)

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by fstuff1

[PistolPete13]

31 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

I calculated My on board charges To be $390 after obc.

 

My emailed invoice said $340.

And I still had some obc unused.

 

What was charged to my credit card was $280. 😮

 

No idea how it's $110 less or even $60 less than the 'final' bill that was emailed to me.

🤔

 

The obc left over was not $60.

(Or $110)

 

Did you have any excursions pre-paid for in Norfolk?  I know the dropping of that port caused a lot of manual work to reconcile many accounts according to the excursions desk.

[AstoriaPreppy]

2 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

First up is the gym.  There is a wrap around beautiful view of the front of the ship.  Don't get too distracted with the view and smack you head into the slanted windows.  The morning sun highlighted more than a few forehead grease spots on the windows from earlier victims.

 

Lots and lots of cardio treadmill machines and things.  The free weighs and weigh machines were all crammed into a tight area to the left (err, port side?) of the gym.  If you plan to use this area, be aware of where your neighbors are unless you want to get smacked by a dumbbell (weight, not a person, but it could be) or kettlebell from an overly enthusiastic bodybuilder. 

Have you seen the people on the pool deck?  Body builders and fitness models everywhere...

 

 

 

Did you happen to notice any Peloton bikes in the gym? I know NCL tried this a few years ago and pulled them (internet connectivity issues), and I wasn't sure if the brand was exclusive to Celebrity now.

[PistolPete13]

16 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

Did you happen to notice any Peloton bikes in the gym? I know NCL tried this a few years ago and pulled them (internet connectivity issues), and I wasn't sure if the brand was exclusive to Celebrity now.

No, didn't see any.  I think it was all TechoGym equipment.  

The treadmills had some online apps but those were not enabled because WiFi was disabled for all the machines.

[PistolPete13]

I made my way back to the buffet for a snack and this is what it looked like at 9:47AM

 

Barely enough room to squeeze around people while trying to get to the fruit station.  You also had to be mindful the folks who would stop suddenly in front of you when their eye catches something they wanted.  I witnessed a few near misses which would've been a disaster especially for those carrying full plates.

The crew did their best but there was no hand washing or use of the very lonely Purell dispenser that I saw.  On a more positive note, seating capacity was increased by opening up the area of Food Republic.  That's where I parked myself to get away from the mayhem of the main area.  I do wonder how long those fancy leather chairs will last in Food Republic with the buffet breakfast hordes on them.

This all goes back to a strange traffic flow issue.  In order to reach the pool, most people getting off the front elevators will need to go into the buffet to get out.  The other path is via the Palomar restaurant which is closed during the mornings.

 

 

 

Here is a deck plan of 17 to show you what I'm talking about.  The front of the ship is at the bottom.

[sunshine55]

On 10/15/2022 at 3:46 PM, PistolPete13 said:

Thanks for the comments!

 

The ship photos from the water were taken with an iPhone 11

The rest of the photos were taken with a Nikon Z6 with a collection of lenses from 14mm to 200mm.

 

Impressed with the clarity❤

[PistolPete13]

After my snack I decided to park myself on the upper sundeck.  There are no elevators up here and you needed to take two sets of stairs that were not obviously visible.  I had the entire place to myself for about an hour.

I kept looking at those two giant balls of radiation and was wondering if I would end up glowing in the dark if I sat there too long.  Then I remembered how bad the WiFi was and decided there was probably no satellite communications happening anyway so I was safe. 

 

 

Soon enough it was time for lunch and it was back to the buffet.  I'm a creature of habit and didn't know about the other food choices, more on that later.  Got in and out quickly before the lunch crowd built up.

 

Fried fish, fried pork chop, some beef cubes, and tomatoes.  That's the beauty of the buffet.  Just grab whatever catches your eye! 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by PistolPete13

[PistolPete13]

Once again I parked myself in the overflow seating of Food Republic.  Seems like no one had discovered that yet on the first sea day!

Note the fancy pleated leather chairs!
 

Edited October 18, 2022 by PistolPete13

[PistolPete13]

After lunch it was time to explore the ship a bit!

 

I discovered that Deck 8 with the Ocean Blvd. was the place to be!

[PistolPete13]

26 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

I made my way back to the buffet for a snack and this is what it looked like at 9:47AM

 

Barely enough room to squeeze around people while trying to get to the fruit station.  You also had to be mindful the folks who would stop suddenly in front of you when their eye catches something they wanted.  I witnessed a few near misses which would've been a disaster especially for those carrying full plates.

The crew did their best but there was no hand washing or use of the very lonely Purell dispenser that I saw.  On a more positive note, seating capacity was increased by opening up the area of Food Republic.  That's where I parked myself to get away from the mayhem of the main area.  I do wonder how long those fancy leather chairs will last in Food Republic with the buffet breakfast hordes on them.

This all goes back to a strange traffic flow issue.  In order to reach the pool, most people getting off the front elevators will need to go into the buffet to get out.  The other path is via the Palomar restaurant which is closed during the mornings.

 

 

 

Here is a deck plan of 17 to show you what I'm talking about.  The front of the ship is at the bottom.

 

Oops!  Just realized a mistake.  The front of the ship is the top!  So the AFT elevators are the ones that force you past the buffet to get to the pool area.

[PistolPete13]

2PM rolled around and I was hungry again, time for Lunch #2!

I wandered back into the Indulge Food court to see what their offerings were.  This time the iPad worked and decided to try the Fish Tikka from the Tamara Indian food section.

 

I also discovered that the food court is where they have the real ice cream now and not the soft serve!  So, a small 4-scoop bowl to hold be over until Dinner #1 in a few hours...

Everything was very good and dare I say the quality seemed like a step above the buffet offerings.  The ordering process via iPad was great since they were working today.  More on this later.  It was still early in the cruise and it seems like most people had not discovered this food hall venue yet...

 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by PistolPete13

[PistolPete13]

6PM and it was time to head back to the buffet hoping for some leftover crab legs from the "seafood extravaganza" that was put out for the VIP's on the invite only cruise before ours.

Nope, no such luck but was impressed by the pile of shrimp put out.  Better grab some before they disappear!

 

[PistolPete13]

After two previous NCL cruises, I finally scored a "Free at Sea'" premium dining perk.  I had worked hard on embarkation day to secure a reservation so that I can live like a balcony room passenger for one evening!

 

So here was my thought process:

 

1. Cagney's: the default choice for everyone.  Steak is $$$ and everyone wants to maximize their perk right?  Nope, read the fine print, the good stuff still has an up charge.

2. Food Republic:  Asian fusion?  What is that?  I'm Asian (I think) and don't need smoke blown up my a...   Nope on that

3. Hasuki: Teppanyaki?  Sit with a table of strangers and risk interacting with a chef who'll bounce an egg off my head?  Nope.

4. Le Bistro:  French.  Humm.  Skip

5. Los Lobos:  Mexican.  Sorry, whenever I think Mexican I think Chipolte which I have a lot of when working the office

6. Nama Sushi:  I love sushi.  Sushi means small portions.  Nope

7. Onda:  Italian.  I live on Staten Island with dozens of amazing Italian places and I'm lucky to have many Italian friends whom I've had home cooked meals with over the years.  Nope

8. Palomar: New to Norwegian and a seafood specialist.  OK, you win.

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, PistolPete13 said:

I discovered that Deck 8 with the Ocean Blvd. was the place to be!

 

 

The aft of deck 8 is weird.

Look at all that wasted space.

 

Plus with that steel in the way, you can;t see anything. 

On the Breakaway ships, you can easily see out of the aft on the Waterfront.

ie: wave at the pier as the ship leaves port

 

edit:

or is this the front of the ship?

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by fstuff1

[PistolPete13]

9 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

 

The aft of deck 8 is weird.

Look at all that wasted space.

 

Plus with that steel in the way, you can;t see anything. 

On the Breakaway ships, you can easily see out of the aft on the Waterfront.

ie: wave at the pier as the ship leaves port

 

edit:

or is this the front of the ship?

 

 

Oh yes, this it the front of the ship from deck 8.

Note to stargazers, this is the best part of the ship to see stars at night because there are no lights to affect the night vision of the bridge crew.

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, PistolPete13 said:

After two previous NCL cruises, I finally scored a "Free at Sea'" premium dining perk.  I had worked hard on embarkation day to secure a reservation so that I can live like a balcony room passenger for one evening!

 

So here was my thought process:

 

1. Cagney's: the default choice for everyone.  Steak is $$$ and everyone wants to maximize their perk right?  Nope, read the fine print, the good stuff still has an up charge.

2. Food Republic:  Asian fusion?  What is that?  I'm Asian (I think) and don't need smoke blown up my a...   Nope on that

3. Hasuki: Teppanyaki?  Sit with a table of strangers and risk interacting with a chef who'll bounce an egg off my head?  Nope.

4. Le Bistro:  French.  Humm.  Skip

5. Los Lobos:  Mexican.  Sorry, whenever I think Mexican I think Chipolte which I have a lot of when working the office

6. Nama Sushi:  I love sushi.  Sushi means small portions.  Nope

7. Onda:  Italian.  I live on Staten Island with dozens of amazing Italian places and I'm lucky to have many Italian friends whom I've had home cooked meals with over the years.  Nope

8. Palomar: New to Norwegian and a seafood specialist.  OK, you win.

 

Having seen the food hall menu on the other review of your sailing, I"m not sure what the point is of upcharges for all this specialty ethnic food. There is plenty of that included already. I think if I ever sail on Prima I will eat 3/4 of all meals there - you know, the cruise meals.

 

CoffeeSnack

Breakfast

Brunch

NoonEat

Late Lunch

SunsetNosh

Dinner (maybe in the MDR - I assume the food hall closes at some point)

NiteMeal in the buffet

[BirdTravels]

22 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

The aft of deck 8 is weird. Look at all that wasted space. 

Plus with that steel in the way, you can;t see anything.  On the Breakaway ships, you can easily see out of the aft on the Waterfront. ie: wave at the pier as the ship leaves port 

 

edit: or is this the front of the ship?

So, that's the bow. On all other NCL ships, that is the crew area. And I am sure that the Captain would not be amused if you jumped the rail and did a Leonardo "King of the World" pose on the bow of the Prima 🙂 

 

This is the view at the back of the ship on Deck 8 - which is way way nicer than a BA/BA+ ship. 

[PistolPete13]

I'm really curious how the noise from the bar and tables at the aft of the ship affect those with the pricy aft balconies.

[PistolPete13]

So a fancy dinner a Palomar it shall be!

 

[PistolPete13]

Being a premium dinning noob I had to make sure with the waiter what the rules are for ordering.  

 

They are:

 

1. Multiple appetizers (I kept it at two to not be an animal but with the petite portion sizes I could've easily done four)

2. One Entree

3. Multiple desserts.

I didn't have a soda package and I asked if a soda was included in the package but it was not.  The waiter took pity on me and got me a soda anyway.

I started with some fresh grilled bread, olive oil, and the waiter cut some fresh green stuff onto the olive oil.  Hey, I know about cameras and cars, but zero about fine dining OK!  I'm used to grabbing meals that come on a plastic tray.

Next up was Big Eye Tuna and Grill Octopus.  I felt ripped off with the octopus because in the dim lighting 3 of those pieces were actually fingerling potatoes and not octopus! 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by PistolPete13

[PistolPete13]

For my main course I had the Festoni which is fancy for scallops.  At least with this serving the kitchen didn't cut the scallops in half to make it look like there were more of them.  That's what they did in the main dining room with the fisherman's platter.

 

Oh, and I got a side of grill asparagus.  Not very adventurous I know!

[Blossom73]

I must admit that I am jealous!

 

My husband and I were supposed to sail to Bermuda last month, from NYC, on the Getaway. We ended up in Rhode Island, Maine and Canada instead, because of Hurricane Fiona. Sigh...

[PistolPete13]

Oops, almost forgot desert!  It's late in the day...

Vahalla Chocolate Cake.  Who names these things??  This is why I'm an Entenmann's cake guy.  Chocolate cake is chocolate cake, no question what it is!

[PistolPete13]

2 minutes ago, Blossom73 said:

I must admit that I am jealous!

 

My husband and I were supposed to sail to Bermuda last month, from NYC, on the Getaway. We ended up in Rhode Island, Maine and Canada instead, because of Hurricane Fiona. Sigh...

That is quite the itinerary change!  Hope you had enough time to pack warmer clothes!