BenCoudon

I believe this is the first ship ever delivered to NCL by Fincantieri.  Am I correct?

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I've signed for a few big items in the past, but that must be quite the experience (even though not actually his personal responsibility)!

Tom

Just imagine the guy that pushed the button to transfer €€€€ to Fincantieri

1 minute ago, Steff79 said:

no i can book the thermal spa online too.

i think now everything works, only the Theater reseervations is not possible.

My own experience:  There is a bug on the website if you try to book twice the same restaurant with 2 different dates

6 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

Both The Stadium and Bull´s Eye Dart are marked green on the deck plan meaning activity/entertainment while the Speedway Bar is blue meaning bars/lounges. The NCL app doesn´t show a Luna Bar either.

 

On the Encore there was an open area leading to the Speedway with some sort of shop. "Fan Gear" was written over the counters. Maybe that´s The Stadium. So just an entrance area for the Speedway.

 

steamboats

There is a Luna bar

30 minutes ago, Fairsky84 said:

Is anyone else disappointed that Viva has the same hull art as Prima? Will this be the case with all of the ships in this class? I thought part of NCL's brand was unique art for each ship.

They are similar but not the same

The concept is the same (same artist) but the actual design is different as the color palette.

It seems they are given a pattern to a class of ships and form there, they put variances mainly in the colours.

The Jewel and the Jade have exactly the same concept, only the colour is different.  But I think they will change the style for the next ones.  But I wouldn't be surprised if #3 and #4 are similar.

8 minutes ago, anthonyg1996 said:

Wow the viva looks ready to go already lol

I presume that they are waiting the Prima to depart to float the Viva and moving it outside of the dry dock.

The first blocks of the Leonardo # 3 should start to arrive shortly thereafter. If I recall well, the original schedule was talking about Spring 2024 for #3

17 minutes ago, FreestyleNovice said:

Round two of guess the category:

I'd say a Club Balcony cabin

8 minutes ago, FreestyleNovice said:

I here by present you the Norwegian Prima Selfievator!

 

This 3D elevator(s?) are helpfull if you got served water downed alcoholic beverages if you were born before the millenium bug. Your next drink will kick in! And if you are from this century you will feel the irrestible urge to  immediately take a selfie, or two, or three. Strike a pose! 

 

edit: hashtag nofilter, hashtag iamonaboat, burp!

 

 

 

This could be at the exit of the night club.  When you leave the bar late at night, going through this will tell you whether or not it is safe for you to walk all the way to your cabin

Pictures taken inside the Prima over the last few days

47 minutes ago, steamboats said:

Looks more like a crew cabin than a passenger cabin.

 

steamboats

I've never seen  interior and OV cabins being spacious.  They do that on purpose.  They are making much less money with those cabins and most important, they have lots of balcony and above categories to sell so by making them small, it probably convince lots of people to pay more for a higher category cabin.

Here's the official itinerary of the VIP Cruise after Christening

28 minutes ago, FreestyleNovice said:

Marghera, Venice - Reykjavik Cruise Terminal, Iceland is approx. 6800km/4200 miles. when drawn in a ship's course (Google Map; right click; measure distance tool).

 

6800 kilometers = 3671.70626 nautical mile.

 

With a constant top speed of 21 knots (1 knot is 1 nautical mile per hour), 3671 devided by the speed it would take 174,8 hour. Slightly over 7 days. With perhaps a refuel stop (Gibraltar?) let's say 8-10, max. 12 days?

 

Passing through in the Med would probably take up half of the total time, once passed the Strait of Gibraltar it's almost a straight course. Unless they refuel at a Cork in Ireland i.e.

 

Iceland is quite expensive, not sure NCL wants to refuel there. 

 

 

Thanks very much for that information.  So the Prima has to leave Marghera no later than August 13 ish

Still one month for Fincantieri to progress with the remaining work and do the hand-off to NCL

1 hour ago, RVACruiser43 said:

I hope not - "VIPs on board will depart Reykjavik on September 27"  That will interfere with our time!

 

🙂  Tom

My Mistake   I meant  August 27 to arrive Amsterdam September 3 which is the beginning of the 1rst cruise

Anyone knows how long would be the journey between Venice and Reykjavik?  Lets assume they will go at normal speed (about 20-22 knots) and wont stop anywhere

I'm just trying to figure out what would be the latest date where the Prima would need to leave the shipyard to reach Reykjavik on time for the christening

According to the site Whatsinport, the Prima is scheduled to arrive in Reykjavik at 7h00 am on August 25 and depart at 19h00 (7:00 pm) on August 27. The NCL Star will also be in Reykjavik when the Prima arrives.

So the christening should occur either the 26 or the 27 of August

So the inaugural cruise with VIPs on board will depart Reykjavik on September 27 on a 6 or 7 day cruise to Amsterdam, arriving either on the 2nd or the 3rd of September (I can't open the Whatsinport site for Amsterdam)

And the first cruise with paying passengers would start, as scheduled, on September 3

42 minutes ago, hallux said:

They're probably working on the database of 'stuff' for the ship.  The app and website would both connect to the database.  It's bad form to work on a live database such as that, they should have a test environment where they can get things loaded and tested before they move the changes to the live database.

I see everything at $249.   They probably just plugged a number in their data base to test it.

Just now, peg013 said:

 

Mine is $719 USD for me and $0.00 for my hubby but it gives an error when I try to add it to my cart just to see if the prices change. 🙃

They are experiencing major bugs on their website for the Prima.  My PCC said it should be fixed before the end of July

It is a question of opinion and it is everyone's choice.  I sailed twice on the Epic.  The outside look doesn't bother me.  I hated that ship because of its interior layout and the design of the cabins, especially in the Haven.  And, although there is a crew rotation, both times I was on her the service was poor.  Half of the time, there was no ones at the Haven concierge desk, when they were there, I always got the impression that I disturbed them with my request.  One time, I forgot my keycard inside my room.  Although it was not that far, I got a complete lecture as how important it was to ensure that I had my keycard upon leaving my cabin.  

As far the layout, there is a huge sun deck on the top decks  but no elevators to get there and no bar service. 

My list can go on and on.  But my choice may not be shared by eveyone.  As far as I am concerned, I will never sail on her again.

6 hours ago, Steff79 said:

21,5 kn has the Prima made this afternoon,

next try at the moment, 22,4 kn

It looks like she is sailing back to the shipyard

Leaving for sea trials early Saturday and returning late Sunday is a good way to do trials with the ship back for the workers to continue work on Monday

2 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

Hmm, not sure whether the wedding with NCLH or with MSC is bigger ;-).

 

steamboats

Italians are allowed to have both a wife and a mistress  LOL

I don't know how many ships MSC has ships on order with Fincanteri.  Do you have the number?

I know for some of the recent ships, that the MSC Meraviglia and Bellissima were built at St-Nazaire.  I think the seaview and seaside were built by Fincanteri. 

48 minutes ago, hallux said:

 

I believe the Prima class is built on Fincantieri's 'Project Mille' design.  It's likely Meyer just didn't have a design concept that NCL wanted to go with for this class so they didn't get the contract (Fincantieri wouldn't allow NCL to take the design concept and have another yard build it).  I doubt it was a "divorce", it was just that there wasn't the design they wanted.  Look at RCI - they had ships in progress with both Meyer AND St. Nazaire (Quantum class at Meyer, Oasis class at St. Nazaire).

I didn't talk about a divorce with Meyer.  I said they decided to deal with a different shipyard. Your explanation sounds right.  No one knows what will happen after the 9 ships are delivered. My point is that those decisions were made 8 years ago and should they decide to cancel the remaining ships with Ficantieri,  delivery of new ships would be delayed until 2030. As for St-Nazaire, they had a contract for several other ships similar to the Epic.  And they cancelled the order.  I doubt that they would deal with the French in a forseeable future.  And I am happy with that because, in my very own opinion, the EPIC is the worst ship of the NCL Fleet. Very bad design.  I did 2 cruises on the Epic, one is a mini-suite and one in the Haven.  Just one example:  To go to La Cucinna restaurant, you have to cross the garden cafe all the way to the back (make your way through lots of people) then take the stairs 1 deck down.  If someone in a wheelchair wants to go to that restaurant, one person has to go to the restaurant and request the opening of an  emergency exit door located at the end of row of cabins. For the Haven, to build the toilet almost in the middle of the cabin with only frosted glass to enclose it is more than questionable.  Let alone that you almost need a steplader to climb into the bathtub.   

I am sure that they have corporate lawyers on both sides and there are conditions and penalties on both sides.  But, above all, there is love.  Frank DelRio proposed Ficantieri in 2015.  The wedding papers were signed a year or two later.  NCLH is a top player in the cruise industry. Ficantieri is a top player in the business of cruiseships.  And the wedding is huge.  How often a cruiseline orders 9 ships from a shipyard? (NCL 6 ships, Oceania 2 ships and Regent 1 ship)

The Prima is the first one.  8 more to come. 2 others are less than a year away from complition (NCL VIVA and Oceania Vista) And I am sure that work has already started for the 3rd NCL ship. Those 2 partners are still in the honeymoon phase. What ever the legal papers are saying, the 2 CEOs have interest to compromise.  Ficantieri cannot be blame for all the problems and spin-offs of the pandemia, the Ukrane war and the world wide supply chain issues.

NCLH has no interest to impose huge penalties to Ficantieri.  This would bitter their relationship for the remaining terms of the contract.  Same thing for the shipyard.  They have already invested a huge amount of money to plan the work, acquire material and equipment for this huge contract. 

NCL already had a divorce with the French shipyard in St-Nazaire following the build of the NCL EPIC.

Then, for what ever reasons, they did not renew their vows with Meyer Werft from Germany that built the previous bunch of ships for NCL.  There are only 5 or 6 shipyards in the world that are able to build vessels of that size.  And some of them are building only cargo ships.  So a divorce between NCL and Ficantieri would not benefit both sides.  As we see, the deal for the Prima was signed in 2015 and the ship will only be relased 7 years later.  No one can imagine NCLH cancelling the remaning 6 ships contract and go at the end of the line with Meyer Werft or even condidering goint back to St-Nazaire

I am sure the legal paper contain penalties and cancellation clauses.  But, given the situation, compromise are reached by FDR and his conterpart at Ficantieri.  And neither of them are interested to pay the price of a nasty divorce.

It looks like the navigation officer driving the Prima is having fun

Maybe  he believes he is driving a speed boat  🙂

I guess its all part of the test plan

I wrote an email to the Prima special event desk to reserve venues for various activities planned on both the September 13 and 23 cruises.

The answer I received says that we have to wait until the crew board the ship, which is currently planned for the last week of July 2022.

So as they have already planned the boarding of the crew, which is about 4 weeks prior to the christening of the ship, it gives me more hopes that the current sailings will be a go.

Beginning of sea trials:  Does this mean that Ficantieri is done with the construction of the ship?