Prima short review from Jan 29 sailing with a few pictures

[Manbo]

Embarkation was a breeze and we were on board by 10:30 AM.  

 

The ship is beautiful with a modern look. Since we had just gotten off the Escape the week before, we booked an inside cabin with hopes of winning an upgrade. Our cabin was very spacious and we were quite satisfied with our choice and not at all disappointed that we didn’t get the upgrade.

 

The overall design of the ship misses the mark as there are no large areas for people to congregate (sorry, I couldn't rotate this pix). 

 

There is really no atrium area, just a small place adjacent to the Penrose Bar on deck 6 where music is played. The area is limited to maybe seating for 40 people and defined by a glass shelving/art installation that limits the vantage point of folks outside of this area. NCL would be wise to remove this shelving allowing more people to gather.

 

 

The theater is also very small and both Donna Summer and Noise Boys was packed every night with huge stand-by lines. 

 

The pool was also small, but I guess the Infinity Pools and Ocean Boulevard on deck 8 justified that.

 

We really enjoyed the food and thought it was better than other recent ships we have sailed. However, the main dining room menus never changed. On the Escape the right side of the menus had daily offering. The menus for The Hudson Room and Commodore Room never changed.

The Indulge Food Hall and Food Republic were very good and we like the touch screen ordering.

 

The staff was friendly but obviously over worked. Our cabin steward had 24 rooms to do and they were spread out across two different sections of deck 14.

The bar staff was overwhelmed and getting a drink on sea days was very difficult. One day we were at the pool from 10 until 3:30 and never once did a server come by for a drink order. Once senior staff came to the pool bar and started taking drink orders to try to reduce the huge lines of people trying for a drink.

We purchased the Spa package ($335 pp) and took advantage of it! It is a very luxurious space. We preferred the Escape spa pool, but the Prima has better saunas and more loungers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as entertainment, we really liked Donna Summer and Noise Boys. Also, the group Familiar Strangers was awesome. Duo Nico was also good. Syd Normans Pour House is way too small and people were literally lined up 1 hour and 45 minutes before show time just to get in.

 

Unless you had reservations in the theater, finding evening entertainment was very difficult. Since the Penrose was packed, there needed to be another option which there wasn’t. In talking with many other guests, we were all in agreement on this point. There were other areas such as the Metropolitan Room that could easily be used for musical entertainment.

 

Communication, signage and the NCL app were all lacking and I think first time cruisers might struggle.

We did early walk off and were on our way home before 8 AM.

 

We had a nice time, but doubt I would sail the Prima again. In fact, after 16 NCL cruises, we are going to try some new things next year.  

[vacation44]

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts.    Based on all of the initial reviews so far, it is not a ship that I need to book in the near future--especially at the current prices.

 

[GWAE]

Thanks for posting. I don't see the noise boys listed on their website. Was this show a limited showing? Or just removed? This will be our first in a long time. I have see a lot of reviews complaining about the paxked theater. How do you reserve times so we can make sure we get a seat?