NCL Prima - Iceland with no hot tubs

[Sailing12Away]

When the renderings and hubbub about Prima came out 2.5 years ago, we were hooked from the first drawings we saw. NCL casual vibe, with a slightly more polished and upscale look, largish sized ship but with a smaller passenger count.... So the day bookings opened up, we snagged an H4 Haven owners suite for an Iceland and Norwegian fjords trip. Then the renderings became actual photos, and folks who were unfortunate to book those rooms on deck 10 got screwed over as NCL took away their private hot tubs and didn't change the room category or pricing. 

We were lucky as we booked on deck 12, and have been counting down the days (we now fly to Iceland in just 2 days) until it was our turn to experience first hand how good or bad Prima really is. Got an unfortunate letter from NCL a couple days ago 'regretting to inform us....' that our hot tub on our deck will be undergoing "maintenance" during our trip and will not be available for use. So I think that stings a bit worse than the folks on deck 10 who had time to either change rooms, change sailings, cancel completely, etc - than us, just a handful of days out being told we can't use it. Folks on deck 10 will probably have extra lounge chairs or a bigger outdoor table. I'll have a hot tub staring at me that I'm not allowed to use. 

 

I spoke with someone on our sailings FB page and they have both of the 3BR owner's suites booked, and got the same dreaded letter about their hot tubs. I'm thinking that NCL is just having a hard time keeping them hot enough and instead of dealing with daily complaints from the 8 rooms that have them, they're just turning them off to keep the gen pop ones in use? Who knows... maybe those are out for "maintenance" too. Never personally owned a hot tub so I don't know, but I find it odd that it takes 16+ days to do maintenance on something... Fair warning for anyone on the sailing after us - your private hot tub may still be undergoing "maintenance" too until Prima makes it to warmer waters.

 

So we're bitter, the 'compensation' offered by NCL is laughable, but trying to make the best of it. This trip will be interesting as hubby & I are in the H4 (with a non-functional hot tub), my sister, BIL, and their 12yr old twins are in a family ocean view, and we've got fellow 🐀 friends traveling with us who I believe are in a standard balcony. We'll get 3 completely different perspectives on this trip of how good/bad Prima is. From the super fancy Haven room, down to 4 people sharing an ocean view, and some stuff in between.

 

Regardless of the hot tub disappointment, as I always say, someone else is cooking, cleaning, and making me fancy cocktails. NCL will lose money on us with the drink package, especially since we're in an OS with the extra boxes of water and cans of soda coming our way. Very port intensive trip (which we love), so lots of new places we'll be visiting to put pins in our map back home. 

 

This will not be a 'live' review per se as I'm far too lazy to keep up with that. I'm on vacation with family and friends, priority #1 is enjoying my time with them and the views around me. But our last trip to Canada I was able to keep up with a lot of the day-to-day just using my free minutes and data plan on land. So I'm guessing this will be similar. I'm mostly going to try and post on things that are important to us as a reminder for myself when we try out Celebrity in November for the first time so the comparison between the 2 will be easier to reflect back on. 

 

If anyone on Prima now can chime in about the status of the hot tubs (public and private ones) that would be curious... and I'll let the rest of you know in 3 days if it's just the private ones or every single hot tub needs "maintenance" during our specific sailing and we're just the lucky ones.

[Two Wheels Only]

I remember when the "deck 10 vs deck 12" fiasco happened. 

 

Even though you dodged a bullet, the ricochet still got you. 

 

23 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Never personally owned a hot tub so I don't know, but I find it odd that it takes 16+ days to do maintenance on something...

 

It could be a part that's on order and needed for the entire system. Getting the part onto the ship, having the right people on the ship to install it, having it inspected, etc. is probably why it would take so long. 

 

27 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

We'll get 3 completely different perspectives on this trip of how good/bad Prima is. From the super fancy Haven room, down to 4 people sharing an ocean view, and some stuff in between.

 

Looking forward to the reviews.....

[HBCcruiser]

I hope you have an amazing cruise 🐀 friend. Something smells fishy with regards to having all of those hot tubs closed. I agree with you that regular hot tub maintenance should not take two weeks. We were able to get it plenty hot enough during our cruise a few months ago. I wonder if it has something to do with the “slippery when wet” decking. Remember my fall? Did someone have a really bad fall, break something and sue? Is there some electrical issue with the design or manufacturing of the hot tubs that could do harm? Closing for regular maintenance does not seem legit. Either way, you should receive better compensation than you did IMO. I hope NCL makes it right for you and the others. 
 

Have a fabulous cruise! That Haven area is awesome, especially the bar. Cheers! 🥂

[HBCcruiser]

12 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

I remember when the "deck 10 vs deck 12" fiasco happened

Yes, we were one of the unlucky ones who booked deck 10 early thinking it had a hot tub but were lucky enough to snag one on deck 12 when someone canceled. 

[dexddd]

I seem to recall OP posting about this when deck ten news came out.  For our sailing last year the Haven sold out in 1.5 days.   Best we could get was H5 which turned out to be pretty good except for the creaking.

 

I'd find it hard to believe that they are connected.  Has to be something else.  We had issue on POA on a longer sailing where butler tried to show us first night how it worked but it didn't and he said he'd have maintenance fix it.  Well 2.5 days later not fixed so happen to run into a great VP by pool and it was fixed within the hour.

 

Our Prima sailing was cool and rainy so outdoor Haven area useless.  Having your own hot tub would be nice in that case.  Sorry for the loss.

[JGmf]

57 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

So we're bitter, the 'compensation' offered by NCL is laughable, but trying to make the best of it.

 

Don't blame you for being bitter.  Um, what was the offered 'compensation'?

[Sailing12Away]

20 minutes ago, JGmf said:

 

Don't blame you for being bitter.  Um, what was the offered 'compensation'?

$500/pp in non-refundable OBC. Same compensation was given to us as the 3BR, which also isn't fair to them. So 1K total, when we already have 1300+ in OBC between TA, stockholder benefits, and various other such. 

 

In my letter back to them I asked them to please look at our account to see we already had an excessive amount of OBC and didn't want more. 

 

Told them it should be 10% in FCC instead to be anywhere close to being a fair compensation. The point of the trip was having the private hot tub. $500 OBC doesn't help us get into a different room with a private hot tub. FCC would help though and guarantees we're spending more money with them, so not sure how they could see that as a bad thing.

[CptBoatface]

What in the heck!  Not good at all.  Very irritated to hear.  

[Markj]

Hi there

 

We will be on this cruise in the Haven on deck 12 too!!!!

 

See you around!!!

Edited September 4, 2023 by Markj

[UKstages]

$500 per person seems to be their limit for cabin inconveniences or malfunctions. it’s what i received back in may for an excessively noisy cabin and it’s what some others have reported for similar problems. 
 

i’m not exactly sure how they will manage this, but i’m pretty damn confident that NCL will somehow blame the hot tub maintenance on the port of isafjordur. they will most likely claim the hot tubs need to be dredged.

[Sailing12Away]

51 minutes ago, UKstages said:

$500 per person seems to be their limit for cabin inconveniences or malfunctions. it’s what i received back in may for an excessively noisy cabin and it’s what some others have reported for similar problems. 
 

i’m not exactly sure how they will manage this, but i’m pretty damn confident that NCL will somehow blame the hot tub maintenance on the port of isafjordur. they will most likely claim the hot tubs need to be dredged.

Ha! We already got the revised itinerary with Isafjordur removed a few weeks back. I'm fine with that change, we now get an overnight in Akureyi. So most folks on our roll call scrambled to book a last minute Northern Lights hunt that first night (us included). Fingers crossed for clear skies and twirly green things in view.

 

@CptBoatface - I know, it's stinky. Hopefully we'll have a few warm days/nights though so we can all hang around and enjoy the views still. Not sure what time you guys were planning on getting onboard, but maybe we should plan for a mini sail away from our room? I think we requested bottles of Jack, Amaretto, & vodka for the room and there should be a bottle of semi-decent bubbly.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

Ha! We already got the revised itinerary with Isafjordur removed a few weeks back. I'm fine with that change, we now get an overnight in Akureyi. So most folks on our roll call scrambled to book a last minute Northern Lights hunt that first night (us included). Fingers crossed for clear skies and twirly green things in view.

 

@CptBoatface - I know, it's stinky. Hopefully we'll have a few warm days/nights though so we can all hang around and enjoy the views still. Not sure what time you guys were planning on getting onboard, but maybe we should plan for a mini sail away from our room? I think we requested bottles of Jack, Amaretto, & vodka for the room and there should be a bottle of semi-decent bubbly.

Isafjordur has been removed from every itinerary so far. It would be a huge surprise if they ever went there.

[UKstages]

i have it on good authority that the port is being renamed “is-you-is-or-is-you-ain’t afjordur.”

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

i have it on good authority that the port is being renamed “is-you-is-or-is-you-ain’t afjordur.”

 

 

I would pay money for a clean/no sound effects version by Ira "Buck" Woods. 🙏

[ontheboatagainNC]

Ugh that’s terrible about your private hot tubs! Maintenance should absolutely not take that long. I’m on the current sailing (also in the haven) and can confirm the hot tubs up here have been operational. From what I’ve seen on the other public decks their hot tubs have been working as well (though quite crowded). We’ve had beautiful weather this trip and we’re currently comfortably enjoying the sail away from Akureyri on outdoor loungers. The haven pool has been quite warm as well so many have taken advantage there. 

[Sailing12Away]

27 minutes ago, ontheboatagainNC said:

Ugh that’s terrible about your private hot tubs! Maintenance should absolutely not take that long. I’m on the current sailing (also in the haven) and can confirm the hot tubs up here have been operational. From what I’ve seen on the other public decks their hot tubs have been working as well (though quite crowded). We’ve had beautiful weather this trip and we’re currently comfortably enjoying the sail away from Akureyri on outdoor loungers. The haven pool has been quite warm as well so many have taken advantage there. 

Thanks for confirming the public hot tubs are working at least for now. We'll see how things go, I'm not going to let a hot tub ruin my vacation. Last weather check showed Iceland should be in the 50s with lots of rain, Norway a little warmer, and Bruges looking to be in the high 70s low 80s.... so my suitcase is busting with clothes for every possible situation. These oddball temperature different trips make it hard for me to use my smaller suitcase, so out comes Big Bertha just so I'm not trying to squish my rain coat into that last 3" of space in my normal medium sized check-in bag.

[Sailing12Away]

Our flights came from NCL as part of the B1G1 free promotion. $800 for both of us to go from JFK to Reykjavik, then coming home they're flying us from Gatwick back to JFK. My sister's family is coming from O'Hare, so they got 4 flights for the price of 3, same $800/pp charge for the 3 paid flights. Better than we were able to find on our own so we kept the NCL flights before final payment.

In hindsight now that the kids are getting older (will be 13 in December), for the next family trip I need to remember to price out the difference between 4 in a shared family room vs 2 separate cabins. Had we booked them in 2 cabins it would have been B1G1 free for both kids on the flights, but you have the extra expense of a 2nd room - but you also now have 2 bathrooms for 4 people instead of just 1. Pros/cons to each, but I honestly didn't even think of it until it was too late to try and change things around. I'm used to just thinking/planning for hubby & I on our own.

 

We're all checked in on Iceland Air for the flight there, was able to pay $90/pp extra for comfort plus and to move up to row 6. I'm short so the extra leg room isn't a big deal for me, but I'm wide so that extra inch for my butt does help even if it's just in my head that it's bigger. Priority boarding is always nice, I like to put my camera bag up in the overhead so I just have my backpack with me at my feet, so claiming that coveted space first is always nice.

 

My sister & her family are leaving later this evening around 8pm, they're direct on Iceland Air also and getting in around 6:30am tomorrow. Our flight is much later (we're boarding at 10:30pm tonight) so we're not schedule to arrive until nearly 9am. There was an earlier flight for us and we were tempted to call Iceland Air to see if we could be moved onto that one instead so my sister isn't sitting and waiting for us for so long, but since they were booked through NCL it gets awkward and messy trying to do any changes so we didn't bother trying. 

 

When we land, we've got a private transfer scheduled to pick the 6 of us and do a short ~3hr tour of the southern peninsula area. It takes care of getting us all from the airport ultimately to the hotel, and squeezes in some sight seeing while we wait for the rooms to be ready anyway. Since it's a private tour for just us, if anyone is exhausted and needs a nap, they can sleep in the van while the rest of us go look at lava tubes, waterfalls, and geothermal spots.

 

NCL was charging us $300 for transfers, and $600 for transfers for my sister. The company we went with for the Reykjavik tour is also picking us up the next day from the hotel for a second private tour. Day 1 will be a short ~3hrs around the South, and day 2 will be a modified Golden Circle tour for ~6hrs, with pickup from the hotel and drop off at the cruise port around 2pm. For those 2 private tours for 6 of us, it was ~$330/pp. Transfers from the airport to the hotel alone from what I was finding was roughly $100 for a taxi each way, so I'm fine with the cost knowing we've got a private tour in the mix as well.

 

Coming home, again we booked a private transfer from Southampton to our London hotel for ~$450 total for the 6 of us. So again, NCL charging us $900 for "transfers" only vs what I found on my own - yeah, we're done with the NCL transfers. Our last trip to Panama was a bit of a disaster with the transfers, so that alone was the nail in the transfer coffin, and the prices they're charging on this trip secured the deal again.

Still a fan of the B1G1 free flights when the price is right and flights are short (we'll discuss our flights home later in this journey.... not looking forward to those), but a friendly reminder for those of you new to the process - tell NCL to drop the transfers and just do it on your own.

 

Time to put in a little work so I'm not wasting a PTO day today before our flights, then off to the airport for the adventure to begin!

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

Our flights came from NCL as part of the B1G1 free promotion. $800 for both of us to go from JFK to Reykjavik, then coming home they're flying us from Gatwick back to JFK. My sister's family is coming from O'Hare, so they got 4 flights for the price of 3, same $800/pp charge for the 3 paid flights. Better than we were able to find on our own so we kept the NCL flights before final payment.

In hindsight now that the kids are getting older (will be 13 in December), for the next family trip I need to remember to price out the difference between 4 in a shared family room vs 2 separate cabins. Had we booked them in 2 cabins it would have been B1G1 free for both kids on the flights, but you have the extra expense of a 2nd room - but you also now have 2 bathrooms for 4 people instead of just 1. Pros/cons to each, but I honestly didn't even think of it until it was too late to try and change things around. I'm used to just thinking/planning for hubby & I on our own.

 

We're all checked in on Iceland Air for the flight there, was able to pay $90/pp extra for comfort plus and to move up to row 6. I'm short so the extra leg room isn't a big deal for me, but I'm wide so that extra inch for my butt does help even if it's just in my head that it's bigger. Priority boarding is always nice, I like to put my camera bag up in the overhead so I just have my backpack with me at my feet, so claiming that coveted space first is always nice.

 

My sister & her family are leaving later this evening around 8pm, they're direct on Iceland Air also and getting in around 6:30am tomorrow. Our flight is much later (we're boarding at 10:30pm tonight) so we're not schedule to arrive until nearly 9am. There was an earlier flight for us and we were tempted to call Iceland Air to see if we could be moved onto that one instead so my sister isn't sitting and waiting for us for so long, but since they were booked through NCL it gets awkward and messy trying to do any changes so we didn't bother trying. 

 

When we land, we've got a private transfer scheduled to pick the 6 of us and do a short ~3hr tour of the southern peninsula area. It takes care of getting us all from the airport ultimately to the hotel, and squeezes in some sight seeing while we wait for the rooms to be ready anyway. Since it's a private tour for just us, if anyone is exhausted and needs a nap, they can sleep in the van while the rest of us go look at lava tubes, waterfalls, and geothermal spots.

 

NCL was charging us $300 for transfers, and $600 for transfers for my sister. The company we went with for the Reykjavik tour is also picking us up the next day from the hotel for a second private tour. Day 1 will be a short ~3hrs around the South, and day 2 will be a modified Golden Circle tour for ~6hrs, with pickup from the hotel and drop off at the cruise port around 2pm. For those 2 private tours for 6 of us, it was ~$330/pp. Transfers from the airport to the hotel alone from what I was finding was roughly $100 for a taxi each way, so I'm fine with the cost knowing we've got a private tour in the mix as well.

 

Coming home, again we booked a private transfer from Southampton to our London hotel for ~$450 total for the 6 of us. So again, NCL charging us $900 for "transfers" only vs what I found on my own - yeah, we're done with the NCL transfers. Our last trip to Panama was a bit of a disaster with the transfers, so that alone was the nail in the transfer coffin, and the prices they're charging on this trip secured the deal again.

Still a fan of the B1G1 free flights when the price is right and flights are short (we'll discuss our flights home later in this journey.... not looking forward to those), but a friendly reminder for those of you new to the process - tell NCL to drop the transfers and just do it on your own.

 

Time to put in a little work so I'm not wasting a PTO day today before our flights, then off to the airport for the adventure to begin!

Just in case you have never flown on Iceland Air, be aware that they do not serve a meal even on transatlantic flights. They do serve beverages and there is food for sale.

 

We were aware of this because we had previously flown with them on a land trip to Iceland. So, when NCL booked us going home on Iceland Air, we bought food at the airport and brought it on the plane with us.

[SoloAlaska]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Just in case you have never flown on Iceland Air, be aware that they do not serve a meal even on transatlantic flights. They do serve beverages and there is food for sale.

 

We were aware of this because we had previously flown with them on a land trip to Iceland. So, when NCL booked us going home on Iceland Air, we bought food at the airport and brought it on the plane with us.

And most meal options are available online only and you have to preorder them. The food options aren’t great for one of my upcoming flights so I have to make sure to pick up something at the airport during my layover in Iceland.

[ontheweb]

10 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

And most meal options are available online only and you have to preorder them. The food options aren’t great for one of my upcoming flights so I have to make sure to pick up something at the airport during my layover in Iceland.

They were selling food on the plane. I agree they were anything but great.

[ontheweb]

24 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

And most meal options are available online only and you have to preorder them. The food options aren’t great for one of my upcoming flights so I have to make sure to pick up something at the airport during my layover in Iceland.

One other thing to know when you are picking up something to eat at the terminal at Reykjavik is they will want to scan your boarding pass as well as your credit card when you pay. (I believe the reason is so they will not have to charge you the VAT tax. I did not expect that, and had to fumble for it. I then went to put away my credit card and realized I did not have my wallet. Luckily, it was immediate and I saw it sitting on the counter where I had just paid. (Otherwise the cough drops that my wife needed would have been the most expensive cough drops ever.) (Later, buying food I was prepared with the cc and the boarding pass.)

[cruiseny4life]

First, thank you thank you thank you! For the warning on the hot tubs. We're sailing in November in an HE. We were considering bidding for one of the rooms that has a hot tub, but have been on the fence. We aren't really bidders as I do believe in the book what you want, however I figured an HE or one of the H4's with a hot tub would be fine. It's easy to know where on the ship you'd be located as there aren't many rooms. Now, we'll just not have that bid conversation. 

 

I don't suppose, due to the issue, they would allow you to use some of the OBC to book thermal suite passes? That's what we have. I understand the whole point of OBC is "onboard," but perhaps given your extenuating circumstances NCL would be kind to you. I wouldn't expect it, but maybe? Might be better than relying on the public hot tubs, even the Haven ones. 

[Liljo22]

Is the TA OBC or any of the various other refundable?  

[SoloAlaska]

26 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

First, thank you thank you thank you! For the warning on the hot tubs. We're sailing in November in an HE. We were considering bidding for one of the rooms that has a hot tub, but have been on the fence. We aren't really bidders as I do believe in the book what you want, however I figured an HE or one of the H4's with a hot tub would be fine. It's easy to know where on the ship you'd be located as there aren't many rooms. Now, we'll just not have that bid conversation. 

 

I don't suppose, due to the issue, they would allow you to use some of the OBC to book thermal suite passes? That's what we have. I understand the whole point of OBC is "onboard," but perhaps given your extenuating circumstances NCL would be kind to you. I wouldn't expect it, but maybe? Might be better than relying on the public hot tubs, even the Haven ones. 

Doesn’t Haven include thermal spa access already?

[cruiseny4life]

3 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

Doesn’t Haven include thermal spa access already?

No it doesn't. Some Havens do have a sauna and/or cold room. Getaway/Breakaway have the sauna. Pr1ma has a sauna and cold room...but that's all. I've booked the thermal suite as I appreciate having the pool, hot tub close by, sauna, cold room, steam room, etc....but some passengers may be fine with just a sauna/cold room.