UKstages

shanghai's had a crowd of only fifteen or twenty people upon opening.... so, it wasn't madness, but, yes, there was some confusion as to which line was which, as the tropicana line extended well beyond that.

i had read the bad reviews and dismissed them. and so i followed this very advice! i sailed on the prima with a positive attitude expecting to have a great time. the ship itself had other ideas, as did many team members, who failed at almost every customer touchpoint. my personal experience was that the ship far exceeded my expectations... it was far worse than the worst reviews. many others will have a great time, especially if their sleep is not disrupted by one of the notoriously noisy rooms that they have been unable to fix. i wasn't so lucky. if people don't like change, then how do you explain the near universal praise for the food in the indulge food hall? people will initially resist change and ultimately embrace it; what they won't embrace is poor design choices, faulty execution and poor customer service. you continually present a straw man argument that people erroneously compare the prima and viva to much larger ships when they say the venues are small. that's not the case. they are saying the venues are too small for the number of passengers onboard the prima and viva, especially in light of the popularity of the venues. the design decision they made assumes that passengers would be disbursed across the ship... when in fact, guests want to go to the same two or three venues over and over again.

the capacity the ship sails at probably has more to do with wait times than any other factor. i'm just off the getaway a few days ago... tropicana, savor, taste, the local and the american diner all had waits of between 20 and 45 minutes on my sailing at full capacity. tropicana, in particular, had people queued up all the way back and through the casino at first opening every day, around 5:30 pm, i think. once those people were processed, they started issuing buzzers. there were huge crowds and feisty guests at taste and savor, as well. but as long as you showed up before closing time, you would be seated, however. you just might have to wait. reserving for the MDRs is a moot point, as i don't believe they are accepting reservations any longer at MDRs, unless you have a large party.

rather than risking losing a driver's license, credit card, loyalty card or library card, i always keep one or two old hotel key cards in my bag and take them out and use them, if i need to activate the electricity in my cabin. increasingly, NCL seem to have given up on this energy saving measure and now include a paper card in the slot for you to use for the duration of your stay. that card, of course, has likely been touched by dozens of other passengers before you get to it, so it may be best to bring your own, if that's a concern.

mine have always been covered in dark chocolate. when i say "mine," i mean my strawberries... strawberries delivered as an amenity to my room. they are, however, increasingly shriveled and shrunken and a fraction of their former size. they look forlorn and rather lonely. again, i should clarify... i'm talking about strawberries!

typically, the "talent" on sixthman cruises gets the use of the suites and/or haven complex, so i'm surprised you were able to book the owner's suite. if you're on a music or broadway cruise or whatnot, it is quite possible you'll have talent/celebrities staying nearby and sharing your dining venues. as for the food... i sailed the haven on the gem a couple of years ago and the breakfast at moderno and lunch at cagney's was great... every bit the equal of the haven restaurant on other ships. same menu, same service.

there's no secret to getting 1K or more in OBC. simply put through 125K or so of coin through in the casino. win or lose, you'll be given considerable spending cash on the last night of the cruise. or have corresponding folio charges wiped out. or achieve the "elite" level in the casinos at sea player program, which represents 500K of coin through on slots or a million dollars in coin through on video poker machines over the course of 12 months and you'll be given 1K on every cruise. or travel as a couple on the prima and complain about the noise in your cabin or the lack of operable hot tubs on your balcony and get $500 each in OBC. or travel in a large group and request that your travel agent rebate part of his or her commission in OBC.

yes, and on the cruise after you, just last week... ten day caribbean... they had just the four veggie indian dishes at the very back of the buffet, starboard side... and only two of them were actual entrees. lunch and dinner, same thing, i agree about the spices... all the right flavor notes were there, but there was little heat.

one and done. (actually two and done. i did a 21 day B2B.) it's possible to have a good time on the prima if you manage to escape the chronic problems, such as the demonic staterooms designed to torment and inflict auditory pain. you just can't guarantee being able to avoid that, so it's not worth the risk. you can live with the limited indoor space, the small venues and the absentee and dispassionate executive leadership team, but if you get one of those staterooms, your holiday is ruined. and if you're very lucky, all you're likely to get is $500 back in compensation from NCL. i'd sail the aqua, and maybe even the viva, but never again on the prima.

now that you mention it... i was on the 1/27 getaway sailing as well. and while i don't normally eat cookies, i can tell you there were no cookies in the vibe (on the joy, they were always there) and my in-room club balcony, latitudes and casino amenities include dno cookies (usually i get cookies on at least two days of any sailing). i didn't spend much time in the buffet, but i don't remember seeing any cookies there, either. and the caisno, which usually has a late night snack mini-buffet, which generally has included cookies, had nothing at all. not a canapé, nor an egg roll, nor a pastry. nuthin'.

yes, i realize this thread is two years old, but now that's been resuscitated, i thought i'd update a few references contained within for those that stumble in here. american diner is now a complimentary venue, albeit with a dumbed down menu. it was there that i ate lunch on embarkation day on the getaway two weeks ago. i take it word hadn't really spread yet about it being "free," so it was fairly empty. it became very busy during the rest of the cruise however, with 30 - 45 minute waits. as for the buffet and its vast selection... what a difference two years makes! the selections are far more limited now at the buffet and cost cutting is evident at every station. they now repeat the same items three, four or even five times throughout the buffet. and the indian food! that was always my go-to at the buffet... but on the getaway last week, they served only vegetarian indian dishes... and only four of them confined to one very small section of the buffet. one dish was always rice and another always papadum, so you basically had two actual dishes... some sort of curry or chana masala or alu gobi. that was it! i have no idea if this is a getaway "innovation" or if it's fleet wide.

pun intended? or was that just a happy accident? either way, i see what you did there and i appreciate it.

yes, i agree. i redeemed about a thousand dollars in OBC last week onboard the getaway and, at this point, there's not much left in the shops i don't already have from shopping on prior cruises. i bought a pair of very high-end binoculars which were very close to amazon prices. so, the prices are indeed competitive, but they are supposed to be "duty free." my experience has been that they are about the same price as online retailers or high street stores... which, if you take into account the alleged duty free savings, means they are actually a bit higher priced. they are (presumably) competitive because of the duty free savings!

if you eschew the shops, you may not realize they exist - to a large degree - to consume OBC. yes, the gift shop is there if you forget a razor or a pair of socks or toothpaste or a tooth brush or deodorant. (you might say this is one instance in which it's actually been placed there "for our convenience!") and, yes, a lot of people do indeed like to save $3 on a liter of vodka. so, the shops do serve as a modest profit center and customer amenity. but make no mistake about it... they are there to consume OBC at inflated prices. a lot of shopping is done by people with OBC, especially on the last night of the cruise when people are redeeming casino rewards. and some folks have a thousand dollars or more of OBC to redeem! so, take away jewelry and binoculars and cameras and watches and they have no higher end products to spend it on. you can only spend so much on excursions, spa treatments and additional specialty meals.

and i'd say if that cloud formation lasts longer than four hours, a doctor should be called.

absolutely true, but if you visit at 11 pm or 2 am or 5 am, you’re likely to find the desk unattended, with a lone representative somewhere in the back office. that person will eventually, but reluctantly, assist you. my experience has been, however, that those who work during these quiet periods are often the least knowledgeable reps. they can handle most rudimentary requests. for anything at all unusual, or that requires some sort of supervisor approval, they will ask you to come back after 9 am.

you can pretty much request anything, but i doubt they would bring you hot chocolate packets, unless you have a very dedicated cabin attendant, or a butler. in any case, your cabin attendant would likely get them from the same place you can… the buffet or, on some ships, the observation lounge.

you’ll often be on a bus with 40 - 50 people, half of whom will invariably be coughing or sneezing, particularly if the cruise has been going on for more than three or four days. i recommend you bring a properly fitting face mask, if you want to increase your chances of not returning home sick.

one thing that people often forget - or sometimes don't realize - is that harvest "caye" is pronounced "key." "harvest key."

i actually find this to be spot on as a description for most MDR meals when onboard any NCL ship. both the hot food and the cold food are served at or near room temperature, with very few exceptions.

not sure of the exact size, but it's too small. smaller than the old non-woven or synthetic bag they used to use and which i think is still used in the haven. to fit more in... roll the clothes. bring a plastic bag to line the paper bag. leave the top of the bag open. your cabin attendant will ensure that nothing falls out. another related tip, of course, is to pack your luggage, then take a third to a half out of it and simply bring fewer clothes.

it's entirely possible the OP thought they were communicating directly with NCL through this forum. we see that around these parts sometimes. they refer to "your representatives" and to "when your [sic] dealing with this amount of people" and so forth. if that's not the case, they wrote a letter to NCL and cut and pasted much of it into a CC post without changing those references.

i don't drink a lot. and i still get the beverage package. you're on a cruise. you may want a tropical drink... or three. any frozen fruity cocktail can be made as a mocktail without alcohol. order two a day or one and a couple of sodas and your beverage package is - essentially - paid for. a can of soda is currently $3.50 plus 20% gratuity. if you really don't think you'll get $20 in value out of the package, then, you're right, it's not worth it. but it does speed up ordering drinks and makes things a lot simpler. discretionary dander raised!

that is a great point! the e-daily is not available when off the ship. so if you're looking for the port agent's name and number or want to know what time an event is... there is no way to refer to the daily while off the ship, unless you carried a paper copy with you!

No.