kathyRW

We sailed Prima in the Haven end of January and I have to agree that I probably won't sail this class again. It is sort of too bad that NCL is investing in more of this class. Cruising is never a bad experience, especially in the suite class. But Prima was disappointing in many ways that I don't think can really be fixed. 1) It is a "fair weather" ship - if you don't have warm weather or it is windy all those outdoor areas empty and everyone has to crowd into spaces not intended for that many people. Our itinerary should have been warm but we encountered rough/windy/thunderstormy days (missed one port entirely) and another day was so windy - it was whipping. On the last night we were surrounded by lightening all around the ship. So it was not a great place to be crowded inside on many days. I would never take this ship to any cold climate itineraries. 2) The small scattered venues were horribly crowded - no seating anytime we tried the Surfside grill, the Local and the Indulge Food Hall. Never even tried to get into the standing room only show venues (we did get reservations to see Donna Summers Show - the featured singers were really good, though the show was very loud). 3) On the fair weather days the noise from the outside deck 8 Ocean Boulevard pretty much was constant all the time which made our balcony not very enjoyable. The balconies above deck 8 all overlook the lounging and noisy crowd and you can't avoid it.There was noise from 100 people all talking at once and children screaming in the pools most of the time, so no relaxing on our balcony. 4) The layout of the ship was poor and finding things and actually getting there was a slow winding mess of crowds. 5) The dedicated Haven elevators were wonderful BUT this ship design overdid it with the number of Haven staterooms on many decks.The staff tried very hard but there are not enough of them for the size of the Haven. Bar service was often *very* slow all over the ship. Even the Haven bar was not stocked with many common things so the bartenders had to go to other bars to get certain things. There was no purpose to the Haven lounge area - which was all chopped up into small squares of seating with nothing to do - no snacks, nothing there. Concierge desk was often left unstaffed. I enjoyed the Haven on other class ships much more, especially as there was no Haven observation lounge like on the Bliss. Haven pool was pretty but small, and the hot tubs were not a big attraction with the poor and windy weather. We did end up eating at the Haven restaurant a lot just because the other venues were so crowded and the service was good there, as was the food. We did enjoy Cagney's and Palomar but didn't even use all of our offered specialty dinners because of crowding. Overall, the bad luck of rough weather and the design of the ship just worked against a great experience on the Prima. So we are going back to the Bliss next time.

I received the same HAL email that strongly suggested I use Verifly app to speed up check-in. Hey, I'm all for expediting things but I have to say it's a total failure as an app. I have spent hours trying to get the darned thing to work. First the selfie function wasn't recognized (like 10 times). Finally got it to take a bad photo but at this point I'll take it! Then it only works for a *very few* airlines, none of which are mine. OK, I don't need the airline part anyway. So then I "Add Cruise", choose HAL icon and the spinning wheel starts...and lasts for about 40 minutes. Then it says "Booking Number Not Recognized". I give up. I'm bringing my paper stuff anyway and don't need a bad app for that.

Thank you... I did decide to use Onpoint Virtual testing. It was the only reasonable cost and I won't have to drive all over trying to find an in-person test site. I just hope it will go smoothly. Fingers crossed.

We're actually flying in the day before, so technically we could test here at home prior to flying. Which is much preferred just in the off chance that either of us test positive- no reason to get on the plane then. But we would need the same day results type test. Can't wait on the 2-3 day results that are commonly offered in case they don't show up. I am going to look into the possibility of virtual testing before we leave and hope that we can manage to do it successfully. Most of the virtual testing services charge a lot per person for same day results. *Maybe* we could do it in Vancouver but that would be scary last minute and we would have no car to get to a testing place. This is all such a major roadblock. Thanks Canada for applying different standards for cruise pax.

And, of course, my cruise departs on Sept. 28th...sigh. So I now have to track down and take a rapid test before we fly out. This is such a pain, other lines have scrapped this requirement...what is up with HAL when I can fly *into* Canada without a test but have to provide one to *leave Canada* on HAL???

I'll need to check again but I live outside of Sacramento, not in town. The last cruise I tried to find rapid proctored testing, none of our local Walgreens/CVS offered it. Only the "up to 2 days" results type, which is cutting it too close since we fly in before the cruise date. I had to drive 45 miles R/T to find a clinic that did rapid testing and it was $100pp. So really a major problem.

This is *really* confusing because they directly contradict themselves. One page says Yes you proctored testing and the other page says NO you don't. What has getting on a cruise ship *to leave Canada* have anything to do with it? HAL says testing is because Canada requires it, yet they actually don't to enter the country. Where is any sort of common sense??? This is a problem for me because we do not have proctored testing anywhere near our home (last time I had to drive 45 miles R/T to get the test done).

Well, why does ArriveCan say they don't require testing for vaxxed persons then??? I will already be in Vancouver, through customs with no testing requirement. After the ship leaves we don't come into Canada again. Makes no sense.

I really don't understand this logic. My flight goes into Canada and at this point my ArrivCan app does NOT require testing to enter the country. My cruise departs from Canada at Vancouver and is on the enhanced protocol list yet ArrivCan does NOT require 72 hour testing at this point! So why would the cruise lines? Direct from the ArrivCan website: "Pre-entry testing is not required Pre-entry tests are not required for fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada by land, air or water. You must still use ArriveCAN within 72 hours before your arrival to Canada. Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children under the age of 12 are not required to provide a valid pre-entry test result, if they are accompanying a fully vaccinated adult."

Hot Iron. That's what made them stick on, that's what will make them let go.

We did this cruise last year and there were not many kids BUT...that was when unvaxxed kids were not allowed on and everyone had to test prior to boarding. Now that all that has changed I expect lots more families and kids onboard *especially* during any holiday week.

I'm right there with you! On my last NCL cruise we saw a extensive promo video of the Prima. The first thing I thought was I really didn't like the modern design, didn't like the look of the cabins, hated the idea of the "window" balconies. I think they traded cabin space for large open public spaces and that is a big No-No in my book. I don't like spending a lot of time in large crowds. Lots of smaller little spots around the ship where a few people can sit and relax are better (IMO). So not a fan of the slick modern look at all.