Norwegian Prima’s First US Sailing - Bermuda Short Break *LIVE*

[BirdTravels]

The most beautiful time to see the ship

 

 

[BirdTravels]

If you feel the need,,,, for speed. Race a few laps on the 3-story Prima Speedway. 

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by BirdTravels

[BirdTravels]

Kids Aquapark

 

Tip: There is a "secret" sundeck around the Kid's splash pool that has been undiscovered by many with loungers and daybeds. 

 

[BirdTravels]

Wines Around the World tasting

 

 

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

On his five day sailing, there were two shows on four of the days at the Improv and the fifth day the two comedians were in the big theater for a 45 minute set.

The Bird is not a "his". 

 

It's "Bird", just "Bird" 🙂

[BirdTravels]

We'll, that's a wrap.

 

Thanks for coming along with The Bird on the inaugural first US voyage of the innovative Norwegian Prima! The Bird hopes that everyone has enjoyed a bird's eye view of the newest NCL ship and the first ship of her class. 

 

It was a great cruise on a beautiful ship.

 

The Prima is Bird-Recommended!

[aubreyc1988]

16 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We'll, that's a wrap.

 

Thanks for coming along with The Bird on the inaugural first US voyage of the innovative Norwegian Prima! The Bird hopes that everyone has enjoyed a bird's eye view of the newest NCL ship and the first ship of her class. 

 

It was a great cruise on a beautiful ship.

 

The Prima is Bird-Recommended!

Thanks for the review as always Bird! Where to next? 

[BirdTravels]

5 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Thanks for the review as always Bird! Where to next? 

The Bird was on the inaugural (first voyage after christening) of the Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Bliss, Encore, [Symphony and Wonder], but could not travel to Iceland for the true inaugural of the Prima.  So,,, we booked this short cruise because it was the first US cruise... kinda an inaugural. We're planning a longer cruise on the Prima as our next adventure... more time to enjoy this beautiful ship. 

[BirdTravels]

If you a high roller, there is a VIP room with a couple of Blackjack tables in a separate from the main casino. 

 

 

[Epiro Funchal]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

The Bird is not a "his". 

 

It's "Bird", just "Bird" 🙂

"Everybody's talking about the Bird". I have to commend you on the engrossing nature of your review.  I tend to agree with the other posters concerns about the seating at the smaller venues.

[JGmf]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We'll, that's a wrap.

 

Thanks for coming along with The Bird on the inaugural first US voyage of the innovative Norwegian Prima! The Bird hopes that everyone has enjoyed a bird's eye view of the newest NCL ship and the first ship of her class. 

 

It was a great cruise on a beautiful ship.

 

The Prima is Bird-Recommended!

 

Many thanks for the time and effort you put into this review.  I know I personally got a lot out of it.  In fact, your photos and description sold me on a April sailing. 

 

NCL: give The Bird a commission!!!

[ashleyriley]

Do Haven guests have  priority seating at Syd Norman's? Some comments seemed to imply there was, just wanted to clarify.  When we were on the Breakaway it was not the case. Thank you for all the amazing pics and info, Bird! 

[JIMESOPUS]

@ashleyrileyHere is what we experienced on the TA, this line started around 845PM ( door opens at 9 and the show started at 10 ), we were about twenty back from the door, while standing there the Haven Concierge marched a long line of Haven guest pass us and entered the door that can be seen open / right of the line, entering the back of Syd's. Some of the guest laugh at the line as they passed by. The next two photo's is right after we got in, we got lucky that night we found a seat on the back wall bench. 

Thank you  @BirdTravelsfor this review.

Edited October 16, 2022 by JIMESOPUS

[CruizinSusan70]

8 hours ago, psac said:

Very much appreciate the ST:TNG reference there, along with the rest of the fantastic review.  
 

Still on the fence regarding the ship, so detailed reviews like these help us plan how to use our travel $ properly. The ship looks BEAUTIFUL, but we usually sail in the Haven, and the entertainment priority arguments aside, it seems like this Haven might not be for us.  My wife burns easily, so after an hour or two outdoors in the morning, we love the indoor options of the Breakaway/+ Havens. The upstairs indoor sundeck, plus the seating in the courtyard (for those that have it), and then soon we’ll be on the Joy with the Horizon observation deck, which he haven’t been on a ship with yet, but looks amazing. The Prima has none of those, just the indoor lounge, which looks like just the big bar plus a few cordoned off areas. And from the walkthroughs we’ve seen, very little shade on the Haven sundeck, not to mention if it rains. So if we would spend most of our time in our cabin or in the non-Haven areas to get some indoors or shade, it’s not worth spending the Haven prices!

You could always choose your best alternative non Haven cabin and then get Vibe passes.  Or just choose another ship.

[CruizinSusan70]

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The Prima's Observation Lounge is appropriately sized for the ship. And based on the wasted space on the Bliss, Encore, and Joy. 

I would prefer to have a substantially larger lounge and not the galaxy pavilion.  The pavilion is primarily geared for the under 40 crowd, which my husband and I passed a decade and two decades ago.

Cruised on the Bliss in the past and will be on the Encore in January and we enjoyed the lounge with the bar.  The only downside was the number of people taking siestas.  But less space combined with the pavilion that we will not use at all, makes us wish the lounge was larger.

[zackarykeef]

On 10/14/2022 at 8:54 PM, 2 Fun Guys said:

Having been in the Social and Syd Norman's/The Cavern Club on both the Encore and Breakaway, I'm wondering how good people's memories are. If any of those venues hold 100 people, I'd be shocked, and if by some chance it is over 100, it isn't by much. And those ships hold 1000 more passengers each. I don't recall this much complaining about them on threads pertaining to those ships.

 

Same thing with these arguments over the menu. People love the never-changing menu at the Haven, but it's an "epic fail" in the MDR? Please...

 

No ship will be everything to all people. No such thing. But the vitriol aimed at this ship is crazy - especially since almost no one has even been on it yet.

I mean, I think you really hit the nail on the head here.

 

My last NCL was on the Encore earlier this year, and the Social Club and Cavern Club are still small, and you couldn’t get seats to the shows…maybe SRO if you were lucky. Yes, they’re slightly bigger, but so are the ships.

 

SO many people making judgments and commenting on this ship haven’t even been on it yet, and are solely going off of what they read. Hell, one of the most vocal people and harshest critics in this thread continues to admit they haven’t sailed and are only guessing based on what they’ve read…so like…those comments truly don’t mean much.

 

I think people forget/don’t realize this ship is actually smaller than prior ships. New doesn’t always mean bigger. It means new. Innovative. I like that the concept is different. We don’t need more of the same ship over and over. RCCL kept cranking out Oasis class ships, and people were over it. So here they come with their new class as well. We don’t need more of the same. People like change. And for those who don’t and still need cloyingly sweet, low-proof mojitos (yes, I am one who doesn’t care for the mojito bar), you can continue to sail ships with a mojito bar.

 

I like new. I like modern. I like different. My last 2 cruises, I didn’t attend a single show or game show or tribute show or anything…I don’t need to be entertained. I take cruises for different reasons than others might. Everyone is different, so that’s why they are making different ships. The Prima doesn’t have to fit your view of what a NCL ship should be…it just has to fit someone’s. And I am very much looking forward to my upcoming cruise on Prima.

 

The overwhelming majority of people who go online to post reviews are for negative reasons. I have read PLENTY of positive reviews, including this one, here and on another popular SM site. So no, they are not consistently bad. People also don’t realize that the CC community really isn’t that big, and there are plenty of people who will cruise Prima who we will never hear from.

 

Take everything you read with a grain of salt. People don’t always write the truth. For example…one of the biggest debates and still a mystery to me over on the X boards is whether or not the AC shuts off when you open the infinite verandah. This topic is brought up over and over again, and each time, half the people say it shuts off, and the other half say it doesn’t. Like…there’s one answer. It does or it doesn’t. And even amongst those who’ve experienced it, they still can’t agree.

 

Bird, thank you for this honest review and all of the pics! Quick question…I think you may have only briefly mentioned it, but there are still the wall touch screen kiosks on Prima, correct? Someone mentioned (I’m not sure if here or another thread I read) that you waste your first day standing in line to make all the reservations. Every cruise, as soon as I walk on, I pick the first kiosk, make all my reservations for dinner or (occasionally) shows without issue, and that’s that. Less than 5 minutes. I never understood people standing in all of these lines at the Social Club or the Box Office, etc, but I presume many don’t know this is an option? 

 

 

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@ashleyrileySome of the guest laugh at the line as they passed by. The next two photo's is right after we got in, we got lucky that night we found a seat on the back wall bench. 

Thank you  @BirdTravelsfor this review.

If my DH saw some Prima-donna (pun intended) from the Haven snicker or laugh at us standing in line,  it would not be a good situation.

[uneamie]

1 hour ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@ashleyrileyHere is what we experienced on the TA, this line started around 845PM ( door opens at 9 and the show started at 10 ), we were about twenty back from the door, while standing there the Haven Concierge marched a long line of Haven guest pass us and entered the door that can be seen open / right of the line, entering the back of Syd's. Some of the guest laugh at the line as they passed by. The next two photo's is right after we got in, we got lucky that night we found a seat on the back wall bench. 

Thank you  @BirdTravelsfor this review.

So the person who posted that there were "NO" Haven guest in their experience of this venue was "false". Hmm

[CruizinSusan70]

33 minutes ago, zackarykeef said:

I mean, I think you really hit the nail on the head here.

 

My last NCL was on the Encore earlier this year, and the Social Club and Cavern Club are still small, and you couldn’t get seats to the shows…maybe SRO if you were lucky. Yes, they’re slightly bigger, but so are the ships.

 

SO many people making judgments and commenting on this ship haven’t even been on it yet, and are solely going off of what they read. Hell, one of the most vocal people and harshest critics in this thread continues to admit they haven’t sailed and are only guessing based on what they’ve read…so like…those comments truly don’t mean much.

 

I think people forget/don’t realize this ship is actually smaller than prior ships. New doesn’t always mean bigger. It means new. Innovative. I like that the concept is different. We don’t need more of the same ship over and over. RCCL kept cranking out Oasis class ships, and people were over it. So here they come with their new class as well. We don’t need more of the same. People like change. And for those who don’t and still need cloyingly sweet, low-proof mojitos (yes, I am one who doesn’t care for the mojito bar), you can continue to sail ships with a mojito bar.

 

I like new. I like modern. I like different. My last 2 cruises, I didn’t attend a single show or game show or tribute show or anything…I don’t need to be entertained. I take cruises for different reasons than others might. Everyone is different, so that’s why they are making different ships. The Prima doesn’t have to fit your view of what a NCL ship should be…it just has to fit someone’s. And I am very much looking forward to my upcoming cruise on Prima.

 

The overwhelming majority of people who go online to post reviews are for negative reasons. I have read PLENTY of positive reviews, including this one, here and on another popular SM site. So no, they are not consistently bad. People also don’t realize that the CC community really isn’t that big, and there are plenty of people who will cruise Prima who we will never hear from.

 

Take everything you read with a grain of salt. People don’t always write the truth. For example…one of the biggest debates and still a mystery to me over on the X boards is whether or not the AC shuts off when you open the infinite verandah. This topic is brought up over and over again, and each time, half the people say it shuts off, and the other half say it doesn’t. Like…there’s one answer. It does or it doesn’t. And even amongst those who’ve experienced it, they still can’t agree.

 

Bird, thank you for this honest review and all of the pics! Quick question…I think you may have only briefly mentioned it, but there are still the wall touch screen kiosks on Prima, correct? Someone mentioned (I’m not sure if here or another thread I read) that you waste your first day standing in line to make all the reservations. Every cruise, as soon as I walk on, I pick the first kiosk, make all my reservations for dinner or (occasionally) shows without issue, and that’s that. Less than 5 minutes. I never understood people standing in all of these lines at the Social Club or the Box Office, etc, but I presume many don’t know this is an option? 

 

 

I believe that Bird mentioned that there were kiosks on the wall to make reservations, but they were not reliable, similar to the wifi on-board.  Also mentioned that connecting to the WiFi prior to getting on the ship to make reservations wasn't feasible either.

And we previously sailed on the Bliss and never had a problem getting a seat in the Cavern Club and never stood in a line.  Looks like that will change at the end of the month.

 

[steamboats]

15 hours ago, JGmf said:

The Vibe bar looks spectacular.  I'm not sure if we are going to buy Vibe passes (probably not), but this may be the tipping point.

 

We were told that the Vibe Bar will be open for everyone in the evenings. I don´t know whether this is the case now.

 

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

First and foremost, Syd’s or the Cavern Club on other ships is not reservable. First Come First Serve. 

 

On the christening cruise we could make reservations for the Comedy show but not for Syd´s.

 

15 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

 

It may not have been from Bird's check off list...but I am certain that someone in one of the various reviews mentioned needing reservations for Rumours in Syd's. 🤔

 

You may mix this up... The entertainment crew did use Syd´s as the place to go where you can make reservations for all other shows (so Syd´s was used as the "Box Office").

 

The Bird, thanks for taking us with you!

 

steamboats

[Steff79]

At my two cruises the vibe was in the evening only for vibe guests too. 
 

syd and improve are much to small and had a bad layout.  
at improv you see the stage only at the seats at the left good. And at shows or music groups there you don‘t see the faces of the people who are standing left at the  stage. 
 

oberservation lounge was in the evenings mostly empty but at sail aways or See days complete full. Sometimes I didn‘t got a chair there. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Steff79

[ashleyriley]

8 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@ashleyrileyHere is what we experienced on the TA, this line started around 845PM ( door opens at 9 and the show started at 10 ), we were about twenty back from the door, while standing there the Haven Concierge marched a long line of Haven guest pass us and entered the door that can be seen open / right of the line, entering the back of Syd's. Some of the guest laugh at the line as they passed by. The next two photo's is right after we got in, we got lucky that night we found a seat on the back wall bench. 

Thank you  @BirdTravelsfor this review.

 

[ashleyriley]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Wish they made this venue larger as it is such a great concept and very popular. 

[kayjaypea42]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Palomar

 

That all looks fabulous! Can you please share what each of those are?  Thank you!

[PistolPete13]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

I believe that Bird mentioned that there were kiosks on the wall to make reservations, but they were not reliable, similar to the wifi on-board.  Also mentioned that connecting to the WiFi prior to getting on the ship to make reservations wasn't feasible either.

And we previously sailed on the Bliss and never had a problem getting a seat in the Cavern Club and never stood in a line.  Looks like that will change at the end of the month.

 

As soon as I got on board I knew I had to made restaurant reservations for my premium dining perk.  No matter what combo or times and guests (1 or 2) I tried, I was unable to reserve Palomar using the kiosks screens.  I then tried the phone app connected to the on board wifi and was able to book a dinner time slot at Palomar on the first shot.

I then tried to book a new night excursion in Bermuda that wasn't available before the itinerary change.  It was listed in the phone app but I was unable to book.  It kept returning with an era.  I then went to the kiosk and was able to book that trip immediately.

My last resort would've' been to go to Guest Services but I'm glad I didn't need to do that.

Bottom line is, seems like there are still teething pains with the onboard systems.  If one method doesn't work, try another.