Everything... project Leonardo/Prima class!

[karmamule]

1 hour ago, BenCoudon said:

On most ships, aft-facing cabins are quite amazing.  Usually, balconies are warmer, as the ship block most of the wind.  The view is quite nice, as you have a 180 deg view of the ocean.  Now, depending of the ship, on the balcony, the engine noise and the propellers can be louder than when you  have a balcony on either side of the ship.  For one, I like that noise.  It really gives you the feeling that you are at sea.  But I heard somme cruisers that didn't enjoy that noise at all.

 

We were just on the Allure of the Seas in an aft-facing balcony and *loved* it. The sound of the wake was noticeable but like you I enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to this one on the Prima!

[Drews_Cruise]

For us there nothing better than an aft facing cabin.  It’s always our first choice and we book early to get them. The wake is often loud but it is mesmerizing. 

[All-ready2cruise]

Love aft cabins, a little pricy for a solo but so worth it.. love it. 

[Sailing12Away]

On 11/8/2021 at 6:58 PM, BenCoudon said:

On most ships, aft-facing cabins are quite amazing.  Usually, balconies are warmer, as the ship block most of the wind.  The view is quite nice, as you have a 180 deg view of the ocean.  Now, depending of the ship, on the balcony, the engine noise and the propellers can be louder than when you  have a balcony on either side of the ship.  For one, I like that noise.  It really gives you the feeling that you are at sea.  But I heard somme cruisers that didn't enjoy that noise at all.

We were aft on Encore and weren't huge fans. Part of that though was the fact that we had a Haven cabin and it felt like such a far walk to the Haven lounge/bar that it was an inconvenience to us and we didn't spend as much time in there as we would have otherwise.

 

I don't mind the noise of the ocean, but the vibration was quite intense on the sea days. Not something we were prepared for. The views can't be beat, but it won't be our first choice on ships. Prima is different since the Haven is back there with you.

Am I imagining this, or did I see somewhere that the engine was going to be different on Prima? Meaning instead of being in the back it was more midship somehow? So the vibrations we felt and didn't care for wouldn't be an issue on this ship. Or was that just wishful thinking.

[hallux]

28 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Am I imagining this, or did I see somewhere that the engine was going to be different on Prima? Meaning instead of being in the back it was more midship somehow? So the vibrations we felt and didn't care for wouldn't be an issue on this ship. Or was that just wishful thinking.

There are the engines, then there are the Azipods.  The Azipods, which are most likely to be the source of a vibration when under way, have to be at the rear of the ship for several reasons.  The engines are probably around mid-aft (look for the exhaust funnels, they're not far from directly beneath there), similar location to the Encore.

[FreestyleNovice]

"Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, shown to delegates at Clia’s Selling Cruise Day today, NCL president and chief executive Harry Sommer announced that agents would be invited to join the two-night cruise on Norwegian Prima departing Southampton on August 12."

 

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/travel-agents/uk-travel-agents-to-join-maiden-norwegian-prima-sailing

[psac]

@Sailing12AwayEven if they’re not the source of the vibrations, you’re right about the engines:

 

“For the first time, the engine will be moved from the back to midship, which allows more open space, said Sommer.”

 

That’s from the link below, but I remember them talking about it a little more in the video they played in constant loop on one of the channels in the room on the Breakaway last month, but I don’t remember the details.   Maybe it had something to do with being able to put the racetrack in the funnel?

 

https://www.travelweekly-asia.com/Cruise-Travel/Say-hello-to-Norwegian-Cruise-Lines-newest-ship

Edited November 12, 2021 by psac

[SakeDad]

On 11/10/2021 at 5:31 PM, Drews_Cruise said:

For us there nothing better than an aft facing cabin.  It’s always our first choice and we book early to get them. The wake is often loud but it is mesmerizing. 

Normally I love an aft, specifically to feel solitude and enjoy the wake when I want to escape a busy ship. But with Deck 8 having bars, restaurants and public areas below you unless you are Deck 11 or higher I wonder how much you would hear or how it would be looking straight down on people vs the wake?

[KeithJenner]

We almost always book aft cabins and would probably have done so on the Prima if there had been more non Haven ones available. However I have to agree with the posts questioning whether the experience will be the same on the Prima due to having the open deck below.

 

We will see once people get onboard, but I think that many of the benefits of aft look like they may be lost here.

Edited November 12, 2021 by KeithJenner

[Steff79]

Summer 2024 will the Prima do the same cruises between Southampton and Iceland like the years before.

[BenCoudon]

2 minutes ago, Steff79 said:

Summer 2024 will the Prima do the same cruises between Southampton and Iceland like the years before.

At this time, we only have itineraries up to March 2024.  Lots of unknown because keep in mind that they will release the Leonardo 2 in 2023 and the Leonardo 3 in 2024.  You remember when Harry Summer said when they first release the Prima that their objective was to show her all over.  So my best bet is once they reach March 2024, she will go through the Panama Canal towards the west coast. She will probably do some Mexican riviera cruises, may be few trips to Alaska and it would be followed by at least 1 trip to Asia.  Leonardo 2 and 3 will sail in Europe or 1 in Europe and 1 on the East cost of USA.  I am also expecting that with the introduction of the Leonardo 3, they will announce the retirement of one of the small old ship  (Sky, Sun or Spirit) Those ships will be close of have reached 25 years of service.

[Steff79]

coming the next days,

at all other ships was the source correct

[BenCoudon]

They announced the Prima (with several itineraries) 15 months prior to the inaugural sailings

As the Leonardo 2 will be released late spring or early summer 2023 (at least that what the schedule says), I am expecting that they will release name and intitial voyages for the Leonardo 2 in a near future. I expect that the initial voyages of the Leonardo 2 will be in Europe.  Several months ago, someone on this thread said that he saw pier reservation for the Leonardo 2  somewhere in the mediteranean (not sure if it was Athens or Rome)  

I also believe that they will wait to have customer feedback on the Prima before to release additional itineraries.  The prima is going to Iceland late september.  If it turns out that it is too cold at that time for all those new outdoor features, they will adjust the itinerares.  They will not want half empty ships on those sailings.

In addition to having to make itineraries for 3 additional ships (from 17 to 20 by 2024), they have to deal with return to sea of the last 5 or 6 ships that are not yet sailing and to deal with several port changes as some destinations are shutting down and reopening almost on a weekely basis.  

Edited November 13, 2021 by BenCoudon

[brad0576]

7 hours ago, BenCoudon said:

At this time, we only have itineraries up to March 2024.  Lots of unknown because keep in mind that they will release the Leonardo 2 in 2023 and the Leonardo 3 in 2024.  You remember when Harry Summer said when they first release the Prima that their objective was to show her all over.  So my best bet is once they reach March 2024, she will go through the Panama Canal towards the west coast. She will probably do some Mexican riviera cruises, may be few trips to Alaska and it would be followed by at least 1 trip to Asia.  Leonardo 2 and 3 will sail in Europe or 1 in Europe and 1 on the East cost of USA.  I am also expecting that with the introduction of the Leonardo 3, they will announce the retirement of one of the small old ship  (Sky, Sun or Spirit) Those ships will be close of have reached 25 years of service.

They have recently invested a lot of money into those 3 ships - I could see them dumping the Star and Dawn first - they are somewhat redundant with the Jewel-class ships but with more issues....

[BenCoudon]

38 minutes ago, brad0576 said:

They have recently invested a lot of money into those 3 ships - I could see them dumping the Star and Dawn first - they are somewhat redundant with the Jewel-class ships but with more issues....

Gem:  Built 2007,  refurbished  2015

Dawn  Built 2002  Refurbished 2016

Sky:  Built 1999  Refurbished  2019

Spirit: Built 1998 Refurbished 2020

Star: Built  2001  Refurbished 2018

Jewel:  Built 2005  Refurbished 2018

Sun:  Built 2001  Refurbished 2018

 

So it would make sense that the Dawn and the Gem would be the next ones to need a major investment.  Instead, they would retire them.  But the Gem is not that old. I think we agree that the Dawn would be the first one to go.

I think that for a foreseable future, they will keep at least 4 small ships in the fleet

Some markets are not big enough to support a 3200 passenger ship

 

But I can see in a few years for now that with the increasing demand for Antartica, that one of the Leonardo ship would replace the Star in South America

Once 3 or 4 Leonardo ships are introduced (that would be 2024-2025)  the Prima would replace the Star in South America

 

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by BenCoudon

[BenCoudon]

I believe that an other point that will weigth heavy on the replacement of some small ships is the fact that the Haven is now a huge seller and big big money maker.  Most of the small ships don't have the Haven.  And, my own opinion, on the ones they added Haven staterooms is not a real success.  No Haven lounge, no Haven restaurant.  I read and heard several bad comments that what they call the Haven on Jade and on the Gem.  They charge the full Haven price but you don't get all the amenities.

During my recent cruise on the Jade, I was talking to a couple that booked a Haven room, not knowing that they didn't have a lounge or a restaurant.  They found out once on the ship and they were not happy at all.  They could have their brakefast in Moderno and lunch in Cagneys.  But nothing for dinner.  Not even a discount or a pass to specialty restaurants. I had a suite and I was also entitled to those meals in Moderno and Cagney's 

We will have to wait a couple of years to find out

 

 

[Sailing12Away]

On 11/13/2021 at 2:42 PM, BenCoudon said:

The prima is going to Iceland late september.  If it turns out that it is too cold at that time for all those new outdoor features, they will adjust the itinerares.  They will not want half empty ships on those sailings.

That's why we splurged for one of the hot tub Haven rooms for our Iceland 2023 trip 😉

 

15 hours ago, BenCoudon said:

During my recent cruise on the Jade, I was talking to a couple that booked a Haven room, not knowing that they didn't have a lounge or a restaurant.  They found out once on the ship and they were not happy at all.  They could have their brakefast in Moderno and lunch in Cagneys.  But nothing for dinner.  Not even a discount or a pass to specialty restaurants. I had a suite and I was also entitled to those meals in Moderno and Cagney's 

As much as I can empathize as our first Haven experience was on the Jade and it did not wow us at all, I have to put some blame back on the folks themselves though. How do you book a cruise and not peek at the deck plan at all before boarding? How do you not see the lack of a clearly marked "Haven lounge" or "Haven restaurant" that is present on the other ships with the 'full Haven' experience?  It does still have the private courtyard and pool area which is nice if you have many sea days, but for us personally the ship we're on decides how much we're willing to pay for a Haven room.

 

On the smaller ships, we've always found it better to just get a non-Haven suite than Haven. The only difference is Haven has access to that courtyard pool - everything else (butler, restaurant access, concierge, priority boarding, etc) is the same at half the price. 

[BenCoudon]

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

That's why we splurged for one of the hot tub Haven rooms for our Iceland 2023 trip 😉

 

As much as I can empathize as our first Haven experience was on the Jade and it did not wow us at all, I have to put some blame back on the folks themselves though. How do you book a cruise and not peek at the deck plan at all before boarding? How do you not see the lack of a clearly marked "Haven lounge" or "Haven restaurant" that is present on the other ships with the 'full Haven' experience?  It does still have the private courtyard and pool area which is nice if you have many sea days, but for us personally the ship we're on decides how much we're willing to pay for a Haven room.

 

On the smaller ships, we've always found it better to just get a non-Haven suite than Haven. The only difference is Haven has access to that courtyard pool - everything else (butler, restaurant access, concierge, priority boarding, etc) is the same at half the price. 

I fully agree.  I guess that when people see thee Haven they assume that they all have that.  Not everyone is looking at the deck plan.

Honestly, I didn't know that suites were including concierge and buttler until I was upgraded from a Club balcony.  I mentioned it before:  I pledged a bid of $600.00 for an aft facing suite.  I had no hope that this bid would be accepted.  After I was upgraded, I checked out the features of the suites and found out about the extra perks that were included. And I only found out about Breakfast and Lunch in Moderno and Cagney's once I reached my cabin.  In the Haven, I always had my breakfast in the Haven Restaurant.  So I enjoyed similar at Moderno.  Good food, good service and very quiet. As I was on an excursion everyday, I only had lunch twice at Cagney's.  I didn't bet higher than that because on that cruise, there was not a single sea day.  6 Greek islands in 6 days then back to Athens.  I never booked a Haven suite on a port intensive cruise.  I only booked the Haven on Trans Atlantic cruises which have 6 or 7 sea days.  As you said, I don't want to spend that extra money for facilities that I wouldn't use often if I'm ashore almost every day.  But I really enjoyed my aft facing balcony.  Every night, I enjoyed my after dinner cognac listening to the waves and the roar of the azipods.  But (correct me if I'm wrong), large ships that have Haven suites don't have non-haven suites like I had on the Jade.  I didn't check all the ships but I'm going on the Bliss in January.  Upon return from the Jade, I checked the Bliss to upgrade to a suite but non was listed.  It shows Club Balcony suites then Haven.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

On 11/13/2021 at 2:08 PM, BenCoudon said:

At this time, we only have itineraries up to March 2024.  Lots of unknown because keep in mind that they will release the Leonardo 2 in 2023 and the Leonardo 3 in 2024.  You remember when Harry Summer said when they first release the Prima that their objective was to show her all over.  So my best bet is once they reach March 2024, she will go through the Panama Canal towards the west coast. She will probably do some Mexican riviera cruises, may be few trips to Alaska and it would be followed by at least 1 trip to Asia.  Leonardo 2 and 3 will sail in Europe or 1 in Europe and 1 on the East cost of USA.  I am also expecting that with the introduction of the Leonardo 3, they will announce the retirement of one of the small old ship  (Sky, Sun or Spirit) Those ships will be close of have reached 25 years of service.

 

NCL just published a 5 ship schedule for Alaska 2024 within the last few days - Jewel and Spirit on the North/South 7nt runs between Vancouver/Seward, Bliss and Encore on 7nt r/t Seattle and Sun on 9 & 10 nt r/t Seattle.  So unless NCL plan on adding a 6th ship to their 2024 Alaska deployment, or doing a ship swap with either Bliss or Encore, I think it's unlikely that Prima or her sisters sail to the 49th state until at least 2025.

[BenCoudon]

50 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

NCL just published a 5 ship schedule for Alaska 2024 within the last few days - Jewel and Spirit on the North/South 7nt runs between Vancouver/Seward, Bliss and Encore on 7nt r/t Seattle and Sun on 9 & 10 nt r/t Seattle.  So unless NCL plan on adding a 6th ship to their 2024 Alaska deployment, or doing a ship swap with either Bliss or Encore, I think it's unlikely that Prima or her sisters sail to the 49th state until at least 2025.

You are probably right.  They are also making other changes for 2024. For exemple, over the recent years, during the winter, the Jade was sailing far east and Africa routes and Greek islands in the Summer.  For  the winter  2024, she will home in Tampa.

 

They may look at what they will do with the Star.  While they published 2024 cruises for many ships, there are still 6 months of 2023 where no cruises are published for the Star.  So maybe they are considering one of the Leonardo ship for the south america cruises starting fall 2023 and continuing to spring 2024.

I did that SA cruise on the Star in 2020 and the Star was sold out for most of the season.  Now with Antartica,  there is probably enough interest to increase the offer.  That is probably one of many reasons for the Leonardo Project.  They didn't have a mid-size ship.  It was either 2400 or over 3800.  Prima would fit right in that slot.  But as far as I remember, the Chilian Fjords are rather narrow.  Not sure if the Prima would be able to sail there.  But as she will sail the Norwegian Fjords, I guess it may very will be.

Edited November 15, 2021 by BenCoudon

[Steff79]

the spring/ summer cruises 2024 are now online for the Prima. Like the years before between Southampton and Iceland.

 

Soak in the sights on Norwegian Prima’s 360-degree Ocean Boulevard.

wrote NCL, like it seems at the deck plans that the walk way is at the  front too.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Steff79

[FreestyleNovice]

Finally some news.. slides are being installed!

[FreestyleNovice]

[FreestyleNovice]

Opposite side, not much new to see.

[FreestyleNovice]

Rolls of insulation dock side. Perhaps we might get to see some raw interior shots for Christmas.