boatdc

I have been in SPA rooms on five of NCL ships. Love the thermal suite. In order of preference: Epic Getaway Encore Bliss Prima Epic had a great spa and loved the outside area. Sometime you don’t feel the connection to the water inside the sealed Glass thermal suite. The outside balcony was one of the most popular areas. Bliss on my Alaska cruise in September. Nice and comparable to the other Thermal suites, but the staff was rude. Walking around telling people they are not permitted to talk in the thermal pools and hot tubs. A little stupid. No one was loud and it became obnoxious. Plenty of areas away from the pools and the water noise was the loudest in the room. Prima. Looked great, but that’s it. As others have said, the thermal rooms in a dark hallway off to side. Some design genius put slippery tiles down the hall so the staff would line the hallway with wet towels to prevent the multiple slips and falls. The worst part was the thermal pools. Basically just a warm pool of water. I was told on the Bliss, by one of the spa staff who worked on Prima for 9 months, the lack of jets was an oversight in construction. They never worked and won’t work until the ship goes in for overhaul. The “waterfall” is water rolling down a stained plastic rippled wall - you don’t interact with it. If you have your valuables (cloths, phone, etc) in the relaxation area, there is no chance of seeing them - area is completely separated from thermal pools. There are a handful of chairs in the pool area, so you have to walk back to the lounge area. Form over function in my opinion. I hope they fix the design issues in the Viva and Aqua. I don’t know if I would do the thermal suite on Prima again. Experience is difference. Just my opinion. And yes, I liked the Prima ship design overall, just not the thermal suite. I have been on Celebrity, Royal and Princess - none come close to the thermal suite experience on NCL. You can’t go wrong with the “away” class ships (except joy which has not thermal suite). enjoy