Once and done with Norwegian. Ugh.

[seemoreroyals]

2 minutes ago, McFins said:

Hi Seemore.  Recently sailed on Prima with Vibe passes. 

Here’s what we thought was good:

-Outstanding service

-Nice bar (and again great service).  Even if the weather is not great some folks still go up to sit at the bar.  
-You wind up running into some of the same people each day so it’s a nice way to meet some folks, 
-It was never crowded when we were there.  
-Plenty of loungers

-We we’re always able to get an umbrella
-It is so close to the buffet/grill that it is easy to go get some food there and bring it to the Vibe area to eat if you want to eat in a less crowded area 
-I believe you can also order food from a menu but we didn’t do that on this trip

-Very clean bathrooms

 

Heres what we thought needed some improvement

-Some lounger cushions had rips/tears in them so they were a little unsightly.  

-Some of the loungers had soot on them that transferred onto your clothing

-However, there are ample towels for use in the Vibe so the two points above concerning the loungers could be remedied by covering them with towels before you sit on them.

-On our trip, one of the two hot tubs was out of service for the entire week

 

On our sailing the Vibe was open from 9 am to 7pm daily.

We would purchase Vibe again when sailing to a warm weather climate.

 

Happy sailing! 

 

 

Thank you for the detailed response. Good to know you are able to eat there in a less crowded area.  Thank you also for posting the hours they are open.  Our cruise in December leaves at 4pm so we will probably do sailaway in the Vibe.  We are leaving from Galveston.  No telling what the weather will be like in December but by the time we get into the first sea day we should be able to get plenty of usage the rest of the trip.

 

Great to hear you had a great experience there.

[McFins]

On 6/20/2023 at 1:00 PM, seemoreroyals said:

Count me in the group that does not want to wait in line for an hour to get in Syd's Pour House.  We have not been on the Prima yet but we have been to numerous showings on other bigger ships.  Band was fantastic and had no trouble getting in. How many people is capacity at Syd's on Prima?  How many showings during a seven day cruise?

 

There has to be a pragmatic way to deal with this problem.  I would be okay with getting reservations ahead of time.  I would be okay with being limited to one showing to make it fair to others that want to go.  With give or take 3000 passengers on the Prima it would still be impossible to accommodate everyone but at least if someone really wanted to go to one of the live shows they would have a better chance of getting in.

 

 

 

 

Not sure if you already received a response but on our 7-day sailing in May there were 5 shows (it appeared that 6 were scheduled but 1 of them was either cancelled or was simply noted in error on the paper daily (but the daily on the NCL app was correct)   Each show was different except for Rumours which they performed 2x on one night.  

 

 

[seemoreroyals]

3 minutes ago, McFins said:

Not sure if you already received a response but on our 7-day sailing in May there were 5 shows (it appeared that 6 were scheduled but 1 of them was either cancelled or was simply noted in error on the paper daily (but the daily on the NCL app was correct)   Each show was different except for Rumours which they performed 2x on one night.  

 

 

 

How long did you have to wait to get in?  We have only been to Syd's on bigger ships and  were always able to get seats without waiting.  Last time year and a half ago on Breakaway.  But that was back when cruises were sailing at less than full capacity.

[McFins]

33 minutes ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

How long did you have to wait to get in?  We have only been to Syd's on bigger ships and  were always able to get seats without waiting.  Last time year and a half ago on Breakaway.  But that was back when cruises were sailing at less than full capacity

First night we just walked in a few minutes before show started and it was standing room only but stayed for the show anyway.   On other nights, though typically we wouldn’t want to wait in line, surprisingly we did so.   We got in line about an hour before showtime (which is about 1/2 hour before the doors open) and got seats.   So 1/2 hour in line, then 1/2 hour in seats before the show.  

 

 

[tcrandal]

8 hours ago, RoundGuy2771 said:

.

 

 

CompuServe on a 900 baud modem anyone?

 

Have you beat with BBS’s with 300 baud cradle modem (I don’t recall a 900 baud modem, was 300, 1200, 9600, etc..)

Edited June 23, 2023 by tcrandal

[reeinaz]

13 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

Thank you for the detailed response. Good to know you are able to eat there in a less crowded area.  Thank you also for posting the hours they are open.  Our cruise in December leaves at 4pm so we will probably do sailaway in the Vibe.  We are leaving from Galveston.  No telling what the weather will be like in December but by the time we get into the first sea day we should be able to get plenty of usage the rest of the trip.

 

Great to hear you had a great experience there.

There is no food menu but on Prima, there is a section of the buffet that is conveniently located right inside the Vibe entry door. There are no dining tables in Vibe.

Vibe isn't really meant to be a party spot. The music from the pool deck DJ is not piped in up there. I do know some people bring a speaker to play music by their lounger. I've never heard any play it loud enough that you would hear it if you weren't in the immediate vicinity. But I don't know how acceptable/encouraged that is. But it's still fun, if you want to have fun, even without music. There tends to be a lively group of regulars that you'll see every day. So if you want to hang and socialize, there's that. But there is plenty of quiet space also if you want to relax. 

[mking8288]

14 hours ago, RoundGuy2771 said:

CompuServe on a 900 baud modem anyone?

Online hobby days go back to GEnie and CIS then, Hayes (you  😉  meant to write ?? ) 9600 analog dial-up using RJ-11 twisted pairs ... RS-232 external hardware.   

 

Back in the days of Altos mini computers in the "networked" office and training others running Wang OS on standalone workstations with monochrome 80 characters display terminals. 

 

Okay, fun aside ... back on topics.  We still have the Prima booked (postponed again) for later on, not yet reaching final payment or cancellation deadline - prices dropping like flies and with the latest TripleUp promo, saved another $125 on the deposit / total "costs" - as we will be cruising on reduced & tailored, lowered expectations - hopefully should not be as bad.  We just have to worry about the squeaks and structure noises, etc. by design - and hopefully, our chosen deck/location isn't among the worst cabins identified by others. 

Edited June 23, 2023 by mking8288

[RocketMan275]

7 hours ago, tcrandal said:

Have you beat with BBS’s with 300 baud cradle modem (I don’t recall a 900 baud modem, was 300, 1200, 9600, etc..)

Plus access was timed, ie, you paid by the minute for connection time.

[graphicguy]

I love this.  It really is apropos to this thread....

 

 

[RoundGuy2771]

10 hours ago, tcrandal said:

(I don’t recall a 900 baud modem, was 300, 1200, 9600, etc..)

 

You may be correct. It was a long time ago. I recall moving up to the 1200 (called 1.2?) and thinking I was in heaven.

 

 

[omahabob]

I remember programming with punch cards. PCs didn't exist yet.

[bettseawetsea]

1 hour ago, omahabob said:

I remember programming with punch cards. PCs didn't exist yet.

I remember the Abacus.

[LloydJr]

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I love this.  It really is apropos to this thread....

 

 

🤣Next time on NCL, I'm ordering one of those "MonkeyA$$RumPunches."😎

[ShannonSC2]

Sorry the OP had a disappointing experience on the Pr1ma.  I was on her in May and absolutely loved her.   Either you love it or you hate it.  

 

First of all we have had issues at the port in Tampa one time.  We were delayed getting in the port due to some crazy delay of the ship arriving late.  The baggage porters weren't even there to take our luggage so that created a mess.  When we arrived in Tampa the line was wrapped all around the building in the heat.  But we just pushed through and laughed at the experience.  We sure as heck didn't let the delay make our cruise "a bad experience".

 

I have been on about 10 NCL cruises.  I have also been on Royal, Princess, Holland, and Carnival.  Each cruise line has their own set of issues.  I keep going back to NCL because of their staff, their activities and the food.  

 

I have been on ships where we had to change courses because of storms.  Even circled an island a few times before the captain said the heck with it we are having a sea day.  Been through a tropical storm system that formed and that was the worse experience ever but it was the memories that were made during that cruise.  I guess with every cruise there are good and bad but that doesn't mean that I will never cruise on that ship or even the cruise line again.  

 

My husband and I sailed from NYC to Bermuda in May on the Prima.  The ship has its issues.  The observation lounge is too small compared to those on the Breakaway Class ships.  
The Price is Right was a lot of fun and people did win some prizes during out sailing.  We didn't even have reservations until the virtual cue opened and it wasn't an issue getting a seat.  

 

The music on the ship was fabulous.  I am not sure if they had the same people or not but it was fun.  The cruise director was fun and she interacted with the passengers.  

 

The parties at night were great.  We had a great DJ who really enjoyed his job.  The staff was great.  I know some people don't like that night service has been taken away but it doesn't bother me.  Those people work so hard.  

 

Overall I am sorry you had a bad experience.  If you want to try again do a Breakaway Class ship (Encore, Getaway, Breakaway, Bliss).  We have a Iceland/London cruise on the Prima for Sept 2024.  It will be interesting to see how the ship does in cold weather.  

[UKstages]

31 minutes ago, ShannonSC2 said:

It will be interesting to see how the ship does in cold weather.  

 

not all that well, frankly.

 

just did the reykjavik/southampton route on the prima in may. when it's cold and rainy, the ship gets fairly crowded because nobody is spending much time outdoors. the prima was designed with an extraordinary amount of outdoor space, more than most other ships, and that is terrific, except when it's cold and rainy or windy or you're sailing with high seas and outdoor access is restricted.

[jsn55]

18 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

not all that well, frankly.

 

just did the reykjavik/southampton route on the prima in may. when it's cold and rainy, the ship gets fairly crowded because nobody is spending much time outdoors. the prima was designed with an extraordinary amount of outdoor space, more than most other ships, and that is terrific, except when it's cold and rainy or windy or you're sailing with high seas and outdoor access is restricted.

This is not something I would have ever thought of as a criteria, but I can see from the Prima posts that it's an important one.  While we like cruising in cool weather, Iceland in early May would see me getting my walkies in the corridors rather than my preferred outside deck.  THAT would get old fast!  So I'm grateful to CC members for adding yet another gem to my 'cruise research file'.    

[The Traveling Man]

On 6/22/2023 at 1:12 AM, Goldenknight said:

 

There is a reason I don't do ANY social media whatsoever, like FB. 

 

 

Don't you realize that Cruise Critic is a social media platform?

[omahabob]

24 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Don't you realize that Cruise Critic is a social media platform?

You should have read the rest of the thread. That was already brought up. And most of us were glad that discussion (argument) was finally over. Or so we thought.

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, jsn55 said:

This is not something I would have ever thought of as a criteria, but I can see from the Prima posts that it's an important one.  While we like cruising in cool weather, Iceland in early May would see me getting my walkies in the corridors rather than my preferred outside deck.  THAT would get old fast!  So I'm grateful to CC members for adding yet another gem to my 'cruise research file'.    

Ah, but if the weather is cold, you can get your walks on the outside deck without a crowd. 😉

[graphicguy]

I’m Diamond level on Royal.  So, I spend some time over on those threads, too.  Don’t comment as much as I haven’t sailed Royal as much since the restart (actually, just once).

 

But, found a funny thread over there where there was someone reviewing their cruise on one of RCL’s newer ships and is certain that Royal is sending their worse ships to the U.K. As punishment for not being what s/he wants their cruise to be like.

 

Whiny is not exclusive to NCL.

[Sugar Magnolia]

16 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I’m Diamond level on Royal.  So, I spend some time over on those threads, too.  Don’t comment as much as I haven’t sailed Royal as much since the restart (actually, just once).

 

But, found a funny thread over there where there was someone reviewing their cruise on one of RCL’s newer ships and is certain that Royal is sending their worse ships to the U.K. As punishment for not being what s/he wants their cruise to be like.

 

Whiny is not exclusive to NCL.

 

Life is so unfair.

 

[UKstages]

the "whiny" epithet is a bit of a misnomer.

 

on cruise critic, quite often somebody who is accused of being "whiny" is just very passionate about something that the accuser is not interested in or holds a strong position with which the accuser disagrees or has successfully debunked an outrageous position the accuser has put forth.

 

if you don't like what somebody has said, they must be a whiner! if they have a lot of negative comments about a ship or a cruise line, they must be a whiner! if you don't understand what they're saying, they must be a whiner!

 

(or so it would seem, after reading hundreds of these accusations of whiny behavior.)

 

the people who are on my "ignore" list are not whiners. they are the folks who repeatedly make straw man arguments and refuse to engage in civil discourse. their only purpose seems to be to stir things up and challenge; they are not devoted to sharing and learning; they are dedicated to confrontation and chaos and cries of "gotcha!"

 

my "ignore" list has grown exponentially in the last two months or so. sadly, i can often still read their comments when they are quoted by others. occasionally, i will click on a missing post for context. never once have i said, "boy, i made a big mistake by ignoring this person... this person is a valuable contributing member of the community whose voice must be heard!"

 

never once.

Edited June 24, 2023 by UKstages

[luv2kroooz]

41 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I’m Diamond level on Royal.  So, I spend some time over on those threads, too.  Don’t comment as much as I haven’t sailed Royal as much since the restart (actually, just once).

 

But, found a funny thread over there where there was someone reviewing their cruise on one of RCL’s newer ships and is certain that Royal is sending their worse ships to the U.K. As punishment for not being what s/he wants their cruise to be like.

 

Whiny is not exclusive to NCL.

Very interesting to me that you would consider that to be whining instead of someone stating an opinion. And then to take the time to call it out and attribute it to similar behavior on the NCL boards. Strange to me 

Edited June 24, 2023 by luv2kroooz

[graphicguy]

2 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Very interesting to me that you would consider that to be whining instead of someone stating an opinion. And then to take the time to call it out and attribute it to similar behavior on the NCL boards. Strange to me 

That’s the entire reason I’m here……to be interesting!!!!!

[luv2kroooz]

1 minute ago, graphicguy said:

That’s the entire reason I’m here……to be interesting!!!!!

Uhh, mission accomplished, I guess.🥱🥱