My two cents regarding Prima

[JGmf]

Hello all.

I just got back yesterday (5/1/23) from the 7-day from NYC to Bermuda on the Prima.

 

I'm sharing my observations and opinions on the new ship as I eagerly gobbled-up everyone's thoughts on the Prima in the weeks and months prior to our cruise.  I appreciated reading other's thoughts and also the excellent live reviews (special thanks to @sid_9169 @BirdTravels @Greenpea2 @PistolPete13 for their outstanding entries!). 

 

THE CONCLUSION

While we've read middling reviews of Prima, we would definitely sail on the Prima again.  No hesitation (assuming reasonable cost and desired itinerary, that is!).  My comments below probably unfairly focus on some negative observations with the hope that maybe tweaks can be made by NCL brass, but overall, it was a "A-" sailing.

 

THE SHIP ITSELF

• Loved how beautifully appointed the entire ship is, from the sculptures, to the furniture selection, to the beautiful floor finishes in the restaurants.
• Minor observation for future furniture and equipment buyers for the Viva and others: don't get the same bar stools as used at the Soliel bar in the beautiful sunny aft of the ship.  They are super annoying as there is scant space to rest your feet.  Also: don't buy the same booth tables used at Los Lobos - they are sort of a picnic style table, perfect to bang your knees into when entering/exiting the booths.  Ouch.
• Hudson's MDR is spectacular with wide-open views.  We really enjoyed our meal and experience there.

 

TOO SMALL and TOO CROWDED?

• Quick answer: depends on your timing and what you want to do...
• I actually loved the finishes, the layout, and the multi-purpose uses in the main atrium/lobby. 
• That said, deck 6, the "ground floor of the lobby", gets most of the action and gets rather jammed from mid-day to late night (say through midnight) when it gets absolutely mobbed due to the directly adjacent live music.  It's the location of the the Penrose Bar, which does double duty as the "casino bar" and lobby bar and was a beehive of activity.  Going to the Whiskey Bar, on deck 8, is the better play, if you are looking for a bar stool seat.
• Deck 8, the "Oceanview" (aka the Waterfront), does get crowded if you want a sun lounger, but if you want a comfortable table/chair(s) set-up, adjacent to the food venues (The Local and Indulge Food Hall) or the Soliel bar, you can easily find them.  There's a lot to discover and enjoy.
• If you wanted at seat at the Soliel bar, at least on my full ship's sailing, you can find one, even on the sunny, warm days.
• The Observation Lounge on deck 17 was always rather crowded....even on sunny days.  Not an issue for us, but maybe for some?  That said, you can find window-view seats on any of the public decks.
• Indulge Food Hall was mobbed on day one, but thereafter, cruisers found their own level and you could get a seat there with only minimal waits.  Plenty of seating was to be had at the service counters.
• The buffet was always rather chaotic.  I'm assuming it's b/c it's physically smaller than other ships, the space does double-duty as an egress path to aft elevators and the Vibe, and partly b/c the hours are limited, so get food now or never....
• There's no mincing words on this: Syd Norman's and the Improv are relatively tiny -- way smaller, with less seating than the other NCL ships.  Ha!  We didn't even attempt to go to any shows in those spaces given the dedication to queuing that was required.  We saw people at 8:45 already lined-up 15 couples deep for the 10pm show!  Er, no thanks. That's line-up time is way, way earlier than I've experienced in the past on other ships.  It didn't negatively impact our cruise, as we found other things to do.

 

DID I GET LOST ON THE SHIP?

Nope, I never got "lost" as some others have experienced.  The signage is adequate; and I often had to use it.  Navigating around the ship, yes, does take a while to get used to.  This is largely b/c we're all accustomed to a long center corridor bisecting the public decks of the ship where forward and aft become second nature.  On the Prima, however, the corridors run off-center with various nooks with elevators and entrances to restaurants, etc.  It isn't as instantly intuitive.

 

BALCONY ROOM

• Our balcony room, on deck 14, had super comfortable beds and a roomy shower and bath.  The closets were properly sized with plenty of extra room for our (over packed) belongings. (The only pet peeve is why, why, why have a heavy down comforter as the standard blanket?  Are we cruising to the North Pole?  I did find our steward who replaced it with a light blanket - no big deal, but kind of stumped about that...)
• Our steward seemed to be working 1/4 of the entire length of the starboard corridor.  We often didn't get our room attended to until mid-afternoon, despite being away out of the room doing other things.  Not the end of the world, but different from prior sailings on NCL.
• For those interested -- and this was a new one for me -- the movies they play on the TV are also available for free on demand.
• Speaking of TV (yes, I watch TV prior to going to sleep), kind of hate that NCL just cycles different shows on the the "favorites" channel every half hour -- regardless of whether the show is completed or not -- so don't get too invested in any story as it's bound to be cut-off and never finished.

 

FOOD and DRINK

• Food is subjective, as you know, but nonetheless, in our opinion, Indulge Food Hall gets an A+ for variety and flavor and fast service. We ate there a lot, probably too much (gotta lose those extra pounds).
• We didn't find any appreciable up- or downgrade on food quality, service, or variety in Prima's specialty restaurants versus other NCL ships.  We went to Onda, Los Lobos, Le Bistro, and Palomar.  No complaints.  Maybe we're jaded, but we weren't blown away by any of them. (Of all four, service at Le Bistro was super attentive and great).
• For my first cruise ever -- 15 of them so far -- I didn't have one single thing at the buffet.  See comments above: too chaotic and place was closed rather quickly.
• Others have commented on this, and I agree.....while we didn't starve (quite the contrary!), it was a challenge and near impossibility to find some variety of healthy (read: not burgers, not fries, NOT The Local, not cake, not fried foods, etc.) at, say, 4pm or 10pm. 
• Regarding bars, the bartenders were all universally working their tails off and made great drinks. 
• Head's up: the Metropolitan Bar is NCL's "sail and sustain" concept bar, so they aren't making mojito's or margarita's there and especially no frozen drinks, so be prepared. They should maybe openly advertise that a bit better in their signage as the bar staff turns away a good number of people looking for those drinks early in the cruise until people learn.

 

THE VIBE

• We bought Vibe passes online in December for our April cruise and talked to many people (at non-Vibe areas) who were disappointed they were shut-out of the place.
• We boarded pretty early...early enough to hear some guy foaming at the mouth at Guest Services on why he couldn't get a sold-out Vibe pass as he boarded early enough to race to the desk like in the old days.  Maybe the complaining worked (or maybe someone canceled), as we saw a rather calmed-down version of him in the Vibe later that week.
• The Vibe itself is beautiful and open with very large hot tubs flanking either side.  We met some wonderful people there, but kind of wished they sold twice as many tickets (we were told only 86? are sold?) as it can also be relatively dead and lifeless up there -- no music playing and rather empty.  Good for my wife, as she's the sun lounger type -- not for me, hence going to Soliel to find people.
• Oh, yeah, the soot on the seating is a thing.  Got speckled feature on my khaki shorts: "Vibe butt".  For future reference: if you're there, grab a towel to sit on.

 

THE ENTERTAINMENT

• There are DJ's and live music to be found on the ship from practically early afternoon until the wee hours.  Good job NCL.
• Big thumbs-up to the Purple Daze band, who played at the Penrose Bar area.  They were awesome.  Terrific musicians with an upbeat mix of modern and classic tunes.
• The leads in Donna Summer were outstanding, but I was getting a little restless due to the length of the show, which passes the 1+ hour mark.
• Kind of got bored after a while, too, at the Price is Right, but glad I went.  It was fun to see Plinko, the wheel, and other things live. There are actual prizes for the contestants too - kind of shocked, as it wasn't just a t-shirt and a pen!
• On the last night they have the "Ocean Music Fest" which is sort of the all-star band of ship musicians and performers in a one hour live music show in the theater.  Some of it was exceptionally good, some kind of cringey, but it was a nice way to end the cruise.
• Not entertainment, per se, but we did do the upper tier Latitudes behind the scenes thing on day 2 at 8:45am.  It was the same places visited as other tours in the past: theater, laundry, I-95, and kitchen food prep areas.  Just be there on-time!  They actually broke into groups and departed at 8:48!  (They also advertise another tour, which includes the Bridge and Engine room area, but I'm assuming that's the paid one).
• The casino chewed up a lot of my time (and yeah, money), but I found the games I like and had a good time.  The casino staff is universally friendly and hard-working. (On the Prima, they finally have a bonus option on Pai Gow).
• Note that all the machines on the Prima have a tap card function to track your play.  You're no longer inserting your card. 
• Oh, Casinos at Sea are still cheap as hell in getting traction on points to reach higher tiers.  Also, the "hot seat" promotion, which runs for about an hour on selected evenings, gives a whopping $20 to someone who is randomly chosen at some machine.  Yes, that's not a type: twenty bucks.  That's as embarrassing as the prize for the BJ tournament.

 

That's it.  Thanks for reading!

 

 

[Greenpea2]

This is a terrific wind-up review. Really good and very fair. There are always pluses and negatives and I am interested in reading about both.

 

I had forgotten about the down comforter! You are absolutely right! It was just too warm. I never even thought about asking for a blanket, duh on me. Next time I will. 
 

I thought the Donna Summers show was very good, but agree it was too long. I started getting antsy about 15 minutes before it ended. 
 

thanks again for sharing your thoughts and experiences. :-)

[FLAHAM]

I also thought Indulge and the Vibe were outstanding, as is the view from Hudson’s.

[genealogyfan]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Prima next year. As with everyone, there are always different opinions about the same cruise/sailing. Glad you had a nice time.

 

Interesting about the guy complaining about the Vibe pass. I read another review, where a couple asked to be put on a waiting list and then got a call the next day they were available. Maybe that's what the guy did. Stupid for him to blame the guest services staff though. I know on the Epic they have the Posh deck and don't sell passes ahead of time, only at guest services. They only sell 15-20 (Haven guests have automatic access). Maybe that's why the guy thought he could get some.

 

I have read from someone else, that lemon juice gets out those soot marks.

 

I wonder if it would be good to sell most online ahead of time and then maybe a small number when you board, so those booking at the last minute still have a small chance to buy some. I do like the option to purchase ahead of time. 

 

 

[JGmf]

10 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

I wonder if it would be good to sell most online ahead of time and then maybe a small number when you board, so those booking at the last minute still have a small chance to buy some. I do like the option to purchase ahead of time. 

 

Agree that they should/can sell some onboard, on a first-come basis.  It would give hope and plan for some. 

 

The Vibe can easily hold twice as many as booked without an issue.  I'm kind of shocked that NCL hasn't yanked on that revenue string yet....yet..

 

[BirdTravels]

Thanks for a great, unbiased, review of the good and bad. 

[McFins]

Thanks so much for the great review!!

[Sand and Seas]

31 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Thanks for a great, unbiased, review of the good and bad. 

We agree with the majority of OP's observations.  We had to laugh again about some of the furniture choices.  (They look great, but really don't hold up well!)   Great review that I hope NCL will read🧐

 

Before our repeat cruise on Prima (next year), I'm still hoping they start using the under utilized Belvedere bar for the casino.  The Penrose bar has too much going on to handle everything in the atrium plus casino.