Everything... project Leonardo/Prima class!

[RVACruiser43]

Good point LOL.  I am diabetic and would say there is no healthy low carb breakfast 🙂  

[mypleasure]

6 hours ago, RVACruiser43 said:

Good point LOL.  I am diabetic and would say there is no healthy low carb breakfast 🙂  

I tend to just have eggs and bacon as I try to stick to my low carb/high fat/moderate protein ketogenic diet. Smoked salmon is good too.

[steamboats]

@Steff79 Noise Boys are still on but only for this or the next week. Then the cast is leaving. That´s what I read on another thread. There won´t be a new cast coming. The second Donna Summer cast just came on.

 

steamboats

[CruizinSusan70]

On 2/28/2023 at 4:04 PM, deliver42 said:

The big problem is the size of the venues. Too small. That's not comparing to anything. The buffet is too small, and the entertainment venues are too small.

The buffet is small, but has the same selections and sections as the Breakaway and plus class ships. Syd's on the Prima is the same size as Syds on the other ships in the fleet.  If you want to see comedy, the theater has family and 18+ shows.

[Cruising Lynne]

On 3/3/2023 at 4:54 PM, BirdTravels said:

The buffet is a perfect size for a 3100 passenger ship. And they have added a new complimentary restaurant, Indulge Food Hall. We have been on the Prima twice and did not notice that the buffet was any more crowded than other NCL ships. For breakfast and lunch, they also use the Food Republic for seating (setting up drink stations there). 

 

At least they are not like Royal Caribbean with the PA announcements in their buffet "If you are done stuffing your face, get out so more people can stuff their face". 

I disagree that the Prima buffet is the right size. Where you pick up the food isn't that bad, but there is not enough seating. I especially disliked sitting in the area next to the grilled food. I didn't like the low ceilings and closed in feeling. It may not have been so bad if the lay out of that deck, and elevator placement, didn't make the buffet area into a major cut through to get to the pool from the elevators on that end of the ship.

 

I agree that the Royal buffet and announcements to leave are annoying. I also agree that the Indulge Food Hall is a great addition to the Prima. I would sail Prima again just to go to the Food Hall!

 

I enjoyed cruising on Prima and look forward to trying out the future ships. I am excited to see what changes they make. People should not pay too much attention to the bad reviews, and try it out for themselves.

 

 

 

 

[EPTCB]

The Cruise Critic write-up of the Prima mentions "cabins to avoid include any room above or around the ship's theater, which doubles as a night club and can be loud late into the night."

 

Anybody have experience with deck 9 forward cabins? If so, which cabin were you in and was noise from the theater an issue?

[BenCoudon]

12 hours ago, EPTCB said:

The Cruise Critic write-up of the Prima mentions "cabins to avoid include any room above or around the ship's theater, which doubles as a night club and can be loud late into the night."

 

Anybody have experience with deck 9 forward cabins? If so, which cabin were you in and was noise from the theater an issue?

For the Trans-atlantic  Southampton to NewYork, I was in forward facing cabin 13702.

Never heard the glimpse of a noise due to the theatre below.

[BenCoudon]

23 hours ago, Cruising Lynne said:

I disagree that the Prima buffet is the right size. Where you pick up the food isn't that bad, but there is not enough seating. I especially disliked sitting in the area next to the grilled food. I didn't like the low ceilings and closed in feeling. It may not have been so bad if the lay out of that deck, and elevator placement, didn't make the buffet area into a major cut through to get to the pool from the elevators on that end of the ship.

 

I agree that the Royal buffet and announcements to leave are annoying. I also agree that the Indulge Food Hall is a great addition to the Prima. I would sail Prima again just to go to the Food Hall!

 

I enjoyed cruising on Prima and look forward to trying out the future ships. I am excited to see what changes they make. People should not pay too much attention to the bad reviews, and try it out for themselves.

 

 

 

 

Everyone is entitled to his opinion.  I presume that people that didn't experience issues with the size of the buffet, the indulge food hall and the locals were sailing on the Prima after she arrived in the Caribean.  I sailed the back to back Copenhagen to Southampton and then to New York city vial Iceland.  For the first cruise, we had no space issues as we were sailing under 50% capacity.  But the TA was a totally different story.  As the weather was cold and rainy, it was not possible to eat outside.  For the buffet, it was very difficult to find a place to sit between 7:30 am and 9:00.  And I don't consider the food hall being a good alternative as, for breakfast, it is "grab and go".  My preference is not pre-prepared food.  For the locals, again before we were not able to use the outdoor space, on several sea days, there was a 45 minutes line-up for lunch.  Similar situation with the Food hall.  It was fully packed for lunch.  Speaking of space, although the 3 level atrium is beautiful,  there are almost no space to sit except at the Whisky bar on deck 8.  If you need to go to the internet cafe, good luck.  It is squeezed behind the Starbucks.  As for the observation lounge on deck 17, it has 1/3 of the size of the one on the Encore. Most of the space was allocated to the Galaxy Pavillion.  The Prima as many nice features.  I really enjoyed the cabins.  I already cancelled my bookings on the Viva and unless the itinerary is exceptionnal in a warm climate area, I will not sail her again

[SakeDad]

12 hours ago, EPTCB said:

The Cruise Critic write-up of the Prima mentions "cabins to avoid include any room above or around the ship's theater, which doubles as a night club and can be loud late into the night."

 

Anybody have experience with deck 9 forward cabins? If so, which cabin were you in and was noise from the theater an issue?

Sadly this is an issue on MOST ships located directly around the theatres. It's always something to be aware of when booking.

[hallux]

47 minutes ago, BenCoudon said:

I was in forward facing cabin 13702.

Never heard the glimpse of a noise due to the theatre below.

Gosh I hope not, with 4 decks of cabins between you and the theater!  A deck 9, as the OP was asking about, might hear a bit more noise...

[sealynx]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:21 PM, chengkp75 said:

A large reason for increasing the size of these ships is the decision to go to methanol fuel.  Methanol only provides about 35-40% of the energy that an equivalent volume of diesel fuel, or residual fuel will provide, so the ship needs twice the tank volume to have enough fuel to move the ship for its cruises.  Additionally, methanol tanks are required to have void tanks surrounding them, with leakage detection systems (unlike conventional fuels), so the volume requirements and cost merely to store the methanol onboard goes even higher.  Since the hull volume needs to increase to handle the fuel storage issue, the topsides (hotel) benefits by gaining volume as well.

Thank you for your clear explanation. It does make sense now. Bummer for no longer having the perfect size ship, yay for the environment.

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, sealynx said:

Thank you for your clear explanation. It does make sense now. Bummer for no longer having the perfect size ship, yay for the environment.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of methanol produced these days is made from fossil fuels (natural gas or coal), and so the "well to engine" carbon footprint is worse than conventional fossil fuels.  Until large quantity production of "green" methanol (made from biomass) comes online, this step will not help the environment all that much, and the production of green methanol is quite a bit (up to 15 times) the cost of conventional fuels.

[Steff79]

On 3/5/2023 at 9:30 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

The buffet is small, but has the same selections and sections as the Breakaway and plus class ships. Syd's on the Prima is the same size as Syds on the other ships in the fleet.  If you want to see comedy, the theater has family and 18+ shows.

at my last cruises at the away ships they had every evening Pizza and a crepes station, did that changed? At Prima i had a creppes station 2 times a week and pizza every second evening.

syd was packed and much to full at the away ships too. so hoped NCL learned something and did a better job at a new ship.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Steff79

[steamboats]

@Steff79 basically for you as the interview is in German - but others can try an automatic translation service - it´s about the Norwegian Prima and how they observe the critics.

 

steamboats

[Steff79]

thanks, yes i read it in the morning, but mostyl marketing for me,

we want that syd is packed ( and people can´t go in because it is to full every night and a bad layout with bad standing area) is no answer for me.

or to cut the second show for given the paxe a better entertaiment, that is to reduce costs.

or people liked the pooldeck at deck 8 mor then the pooldeck at the top, maybe that is beacause the pool deck at the top is awesome small.

and much more.

 

i said it before, i like the prima and would cruise with that class again. but the ship could easily be much better if they changed some thingsl.

 

[CruizinSusan70]

On 3/11/2023 at 10:27 AM, Steff79 said:

at my last cruises at the away ships they had every evening Pizza and a crepes station, did that changed? At Prima i had a creppes station 2 times a week and pizza every second evening.

syd was packed and much to full at the away ships too. so hoped NCL learned something and did a better job at a new ship.

We've spent 25 nights on the Prima and went to the buffet for dinner zero times. Had 9 specialty, 1 Local, 6 Hudson's and 9 Indulge Food Hall.

Syd's had 5 shows per week on our recent B2B that we just got off of.  We waited in line for 90 minutes prior to entry and got the best seats.  It's not for everyone, but we thought they were the best entertainment on board.

[CruizinSusan70]

Had a nice discussion during our recent B2B meeting that there will be some things tweaked on the Viva.

The Metropolitan Bar will become a piano bar.  There will be two new bars in the atrium area replacing two retail establishments to alleviate some of the traffic at the casino bar (Penrose) on deck six that is always swamped at night.

Ship 3 in the class has been pushed back to 2025 and supposedly ships 3 & 4 will be slightly larger.

[Sugar Magnolia]

13 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Had a nice discussion during our recent B2B meeting that there will be some things tweaked on the Viva.

The Metropolitan Bar will become a piano bar.  There will be two new bars in the atrium area replacing two retail establishments to alleviate some of the traffic at the casino bar (Penrose) on deck six that is always swamped at night.

Ship 3 in the class has been pushed back to 2025 and supposedly ships 3 & 4 will be slightly larger.

 

We also heard from the solo host last week that Starbucks will be removed from Indulge Food Hall to allow for more seating on the Viva. Spice H2O will also be added on the Viva. We will know soon enough whether these changes will materialize either on the Viva or on the later larger ships.

 

[Steff79]

that changes sounds good,

would love a piano bar and more seating at indulge food hall.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Steff79

[Steff79]

14 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

We've spent 25 nights on the Prima and went to the buffet for dinner zero times. Had 9 specialty, 1 Local, 6 Hudson's and 9 Indulge Food Hall.

Syd's had 5 shows per week on our recent B2B that we just got off of.  We waited in line for 90 minutes prior to entry and got the best seats.  It's not for everyone, but we thought they were the best entertainment on board.

i spent 21 nights on the Prima,

and yes i like the Buffett food at NCL; not every Night, speciality i had 6 in that time. Indulge i liked more for Lunch.

 

90 minutes Standing in Line for a 60 Minutes shows is nothing what i would like or do.

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, Steff79 said:

 

90 minutes Standing in Line for a 60 Minutes shows is nothing what i would like or do.

Different people like different things.  We didn't mind putting in the time since they were the best entertainment on the ship by a long run. You can only eat so much and drink so much so standing for 90 minutes to obtain the best seats was OK for us.

Light Balance, Press Your Luck, Supermarket Sweep and Beat the Clock were all entertainment choices mentioned by NCL that never came to fruition and Noise Boys is also already gone with no replacement. The other musical choices on board were ok, but nothing compared to the 4 singers and 4 musicians at Syd's.

[SakeDad]

3 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Different people like different things.  We didn't mind putting in the time since they were the best entertainment on the ship by a long run. You can only eat so much and drink so much so standing for 90 minutes to obtain the best seats was OK for us.

Light Balance, Press Your Luck, Supermarket Sweep and Beat the Clock were all entertainment choices mentioned by NCL that never came to fruition and Noise Boys is also already gone with no replacement. The other musical choices on board were ok, but nothing compared to the 4 singers and 4 musicians at Syd's.

Question......can 1 person stand in line if you have a group of 6? Not like the folks hogging chairs by the pool all day but if the other 5 get there just before it opens.....

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, SakeDad said:

Question......can 1 person stand in line if you have a group of 6? Not like the folks hogging chairs by the pool all day but if the other 5 get there just before it opens.....

That exact scenario happened on the first night we were on board and words were exchanged.  There was a  family of about 6 waiting and over the course of about an hour, an additional 6 showed up to join them in 3 groups of two.   Had a brief conversation with my DH and we decided that we would show up 2 hours before the show started on subsequent evenings, resulting in a 90 minute wait before the doors opened up 30 minutes prior to showtime.  That first night we had gotten there 90 minutes prior.  The family of about 12 wanted to be seated in the same area so the table we wanted was available since we were about 20th in line that night.

The best show of the week was the Rumours show, which was held at 730 and 1000.  The second best show was the show on night 1.  They played on nights 1 and 3 at 900, Rumours was night 4 and nights 6 & 7 the shows were at 1000.  The lowest attended shows both weeks were on night 7, the Prom.

Edited March 16, 2023 by CruizinSusan70

[SakeDad]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

That exact scenario happened on the first night we were on board and words were exchanged.  There was a  family of about 6 waiting and over the course of about an hour, an additional 6 showed up to join them in 3 groups of two.   Had a brief conversation with my DH and we decided that we would show up 2 hours before the show started on subsequent evenings, resulting in a 90 minute wait before the doors opened up 30 minutes prior to showtime.  That first night we had gotten there 90 minutes prior.  The family of about 12 wanted to be seated in the same area so the table we wanted was available since we were about 20th in line that night.

The best show of the week was the Rumours show, which was held at 730 and 1000.  The second best show was the show on night 1.  They played on nights 1 and 3 at 900, Rumours was night 4 and nights 6 & 7 the shows were at 1000.  The lowest attended shows both weeks were on night 7, the Prom.

So why were "words exchanged" and by who? You are very vague on that point and don't really answer my question 

[CruizinSusan70]

18 minutes ago, SakeDad said:

So why were "words exchanged" and by who? You are very vague on that point and don't really answer my question 

Words were exchanged by a gentleman who was in line a few in front of us to the group of 6 that expanded to 12 after the second couple came up and then again after the third couple came up. 

Is it the right thing to have 1 person stand in line and then have 5 others join a few minutes prior to the doors opening....no, far from it.  Can people do it since there is one lone female employee doing crowd control, of course.  Luckily this was the only instance over the course of the 10 shows that we saw.

 

I was just glad that on the Prima the Haven occupants did not get escorted in before those staying in steerage did.