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

BirdTravels · October 20, 2022

The Platinum free wine list

JCDCA · October 20, 2022

On 10/18/2022 at 4:54 PM, AstoriaPreppy said:

Countering opinion for @KmomChicago, because we've had very different NCL experiences. We've never encountered a particular joyous bartender on NCL (we've done multiple sailings). Especially now that 80% of the passengers have a beverage package, it seems more than not they're just frantically trying to crank out drinks as fast as possible. NCL is famously the line that started installing queues with ropes and stanchions at some of their bars to facilitate ordering. On our Anthem sailing out of NJ earlier this year, we had great service from the bar staff, who remembered names and orders, and would stop to say hi.

Also, NCL's specialty dining v. Royals isn't nearly as black/white in our experience. We've had some great experience, and some really poor experiences at NCL specialty dining (that ended up being comped). None at Royal that went quite as off the rails. Lots of the Oasis/Quantum class surcharge dining is very good, and pricing is often more reasonable than comparable venues on NCL. I'd also say that Jamie's Italian on Royal Caribbean far exceeds La Cucina on every level.

Re: the "vibe," I would agree that Royal passengers tend to be a little full of themselves (and also willing to give you an unsolicited TED talk about Crown and Anchor benefits almost to a fault). This can also vary by ship/season. It also depends a lot on your personal perspective: is putting on pants for a sit-down dinner taking you out of vacation mode vibes? Lots of NCL cruisers would say yes, other lines less so, but that's important to keep in mind.

Ultimately, we're not evangelists for any line, as we've sailed Carnival, Royal, Princess, and Celebrity and NCL since the shutdown. There's things we enjoy/don't about each line, which is why we hop around.

Agreed with these points. Maybe it’s all the drink packages, but I often find getting a drink at an NCL bar more difficult and time consuming than on Royal. As far as specialty dining, the dining on Symphony or Harmony beats NCL IMO. Royal’s steakhouse beats NCL’s, Jamie’s beats La Cucina (Onda, however is quite good) and 150 CP beats anything on NCL (although I’m a fan of Le Bistro, which many don’t seem to be). Ocean Blue has been really underwhelming and absolutely hammered my fish my last three tries. Anyways, regarding vibe, NCL does seem more lively and fun at night. The deck parties, especially outside on a ship with Spice, blows Royal’s inside parties out of the water. Although often an NCL cruise fare might appear more than Royal, if you are a drink package buyer on Royal, their prices for that seem to have really shot up.

KmomChicago · October 20, 2022

3 hours ago, JCDCA said:

Agreed with these points. Maybe it’s all the drink packages, but I often find getting a drink at an NCL bar more difficult and time consuming than on Royal. As far as specialty dining, the dining on Symphony or Harmony beats NCL IMO. Royal’s steakhouse beats NCL’s, Jamie’s beats La Cucina (Onda, however is quite good) and 150 CP beats anything on NCL (although I’m a fan of Le Bistro, which many don’t seem to be). Ocean Blue has been really underwhelming and absolutely hammered my fish my last three tries. Anyways, regarding vibe, NCL does seem more lively and fun at night. The deck parties, especially outside on a ship with Spice, blows Royal’s inside parties out of the water. Although often an NCL cruise fare might appear more than Royal, if you are a drink package buyer on Royal, their prices for that seem to have really shot up.

I really appreciate these points. We don't usually buy the drink packages, though we have tried various iterations, non-alcoholic and alcoholic and they are not really worth it for us. We don't do evening parties, just shows, and we won't go to one that starts after 9pm.

@BirdTravels I apologize for the hijack here and I really appreciate your detailed review with all the literature posts.

Edited October 20, 2022 by KmomChicago

detroitlions · October 20, 2022

On 10/16/2022 at 9:19 AM, BirdTravels said:

Palomar

BREAD

GRILLED BREAD The waiter come by to pour olive oil and trim fresh oregano into the oil tableside

APPITIZERS

GRILLED OCTOPUS - Fingerling Potato Ships, Black Garlic, Egg Emulsion

THALASSINI SALATA - Seafood Salad, Shrimp, Scallops, Calamari, Mussels, Caper, Celery, Lemon served with flat bread

GRILLED JUMBO PRAWNS - Endive-Fennel Salad

ENTREES

MONACHOS - Roasted Monkfish, Fergola, Lobster Foam, Zucchini, Semi-Dried Cherry Tomato

MOSCHARI - Veal Chop, Fennel, Orange, White Romesco

SIDES

POMMES PUREE - Whipped Yukon Gold Potato, Fleu De Sel

HONEY ROASTED CARROTS - Ricotta, Cumin

WILD ARUGULA - Forvm Chardonnay Vinegar, Parmesan

DESSERT

HOUSE MADE SORBET - Dark Chocolate, Strawberry, Greek Yogurt, Lime, Arlette Crunch

VANILLA CHEESECAKE "IN A JAR" - Raspberry Compote, Graham Crackers

Thank you Bird for all the details loved your review. I did not realize how cool and expansive the Spa was.

detroitlions · October 20, 2022

On 10/16/2022 at 10:11 AM, BirdTravels said:

That's the key. Any successful cruise line, not just NCL, needs to maintain their business. You have to cater to the contemporary (millennial) cruiser who are the next generation to sustain the business into the future. The Bird is old, cruising since the days of rented wooden deck chairs. Cruise lines have us mature cruisers "hooked", the mature cruisers will continue to cruise regardless of what the cruise lines do.

That being said, The Bird likes the innovation. The Bird likes the "new" to address shortfalls of the past. Not having to pack formal clothes and a suitcase of shoes is a outstanding. Not having to deal with early/late traditional dining (with chatty tablemates who you can't stand) and being able to eat when we are hungry or when it fits our schedule is revolutionary. Having Broadway entertainment versus the not-so-good magician and not funny comedian is great. If you have been around Cruise Critic for a while, you can remember the utter outrage when NCL removed fish fingers from the lunch MDR menu and replaced it with, *gasp*, poached salmon. Or the condemnation when chicken noodle soup was removed from the menu in favor of pho.

The Bird holds upper tier status on multiple cruise lines. NCL continues to be the leader in the evolution of the cruise industry. Other lines (which we sail on each year) are playing catch-up. NCL has done great things with the Prima. 100% Bird endorsed.

I agree with all of this as a GEN Xer. Oh and by the way I cant stand and those fish fingers/chicken nuggets stuff. That and anything that looks like a stew in the buffet.

BirdTravels · October 21, 2022

Am I too small to ride?

cruiseny4life · October 21, 2022

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Am I too small to ride?

I'm not too small to ride. I'm too fat for go-karts and the Wave. I can ride The Drop though. Yipee!!! Better than Getaway where I was too fat for all the slides!

psac · October 21, 2022

On 10/19/2022 at 8:42 PM, BirdTravels said:

The Platinum free wine list

Did you try any of these? Not a very large list, might be best to just stick with the usual included wine from the drink package…?

Cruising Lynne · October 21, 2022

4 hours ago, psac said:

Did you try any of these? Not a very large list, might be best to just stick with the usual included wine from the drink package…?

We had cocktails from the drink package so we brought our bottle back to the room for later. We ended up bringing the wine home since we had driven to the port. We got the Shades of Blue Riesling which some one on the elevator said they really liked. If we drink it this weekend I will come back to tell you what we thought.

Thanks again to Bird Travels for such a thorough review. Now I know where to find the Diet Coke in The Food Hall. Some how when I order Diet Coke at one of the bars a shot of Bacardi ends up in it!😉

BirdTravels · October 21, 2022

30 minutes ago, Cruising Lynne said:

Thanks again to Bird Travels for such a thorough review. Now I know where to find the Diet Coke in The Food Hall. Some how when I order Diet Coke at one of the bars a shot of Bacardi ends up in it!😉

The Luna Bar in the Food Hall can help with some Bacardi… with or without Diet Coke

BirdTravels · October 21, 2022

5 hours ago, psac said:

Did you try any of these? Not a very large list, might be best to just stick with the usual included wine from the drink package…?

The list is normally a lot longer. But, they continue to have Supply Chain challenge keeping wines in stock. In April, we were on our 4th choice bottle of wine before we found one in stock. They are fixing it by cutting the list down to things easily stocked.

PompeySailor · October 21, 2022

Excellent review, loved it!

My sponge has absorbed so much useful info 👍🏻

Having only sailed NCL once in the last 22 years, I am so looking forward to being on PRIMA in November.

For me as a Newbie on NCL if it was my last meal, which one of these 3 would be the one I have to do.

I can only choose one, as part of the Inaugural speciality dining option.

Onda

Los Lobos

Cagney’s

Also at the Indulge Food Hall, did you sample tamara? and if so, would you recommend it or offer another area in the hall as a must try

I know my 3 days aboard are going to be cram packed trying to do as much as possible, and your review has greatly helped us with our decision making on how best to manage our time.

Thank you again ⭐️

TIA

Happy Days!
Graham

BirdTravels · October 21, 2022

1 hour ago, PompeySailor said:

Excellent review, loved it!

My sponge has absorbed so much useful info 👍🏻

Having only sailed NCL once in the last 22 years, I am so looking forward to being on PRIMA in November.

For me as a Newbie on NCL if it was my last meal, which one of these 3 would be the one I have to do.

I can only choose one, as part of the Inaugural specialty dining option.

Onda

Los Lobos

Cagney’s

Also at the Indulge Food Hall, did you sample tamara? and if so, would you recommend it or offer another area in the hall as a must try

I know my 3 days aboard are going to be cram packed trying to do as much as possible, and your review has greatly helped us with our decision making on how best to manage our time.

Thank you again ⭐️

TIA

Happy Days!
Graham

Thank You, @PompeySailor!

Unfortunately, the only thing we ordered from Tamara was the papadum with mango chutney... which was yummy.

Out of your list of specialty restaurants, I would pick Onda.

If I had one meal on the Prima, I would pick Le Bistro.

The new kid on the block restaurant is Palomar.

psac · October 22, 2022

6 hours ago, Cruising Lynne said:

We had cocktails from the drink package so we brought our bottle back to the room for later. We ended up bringing the wine home since we had driven to the port. We got the Shades of Blue Riesling which some one on the elevator said they really liked. If we drink it this weekend I will come back to tell you what we thought.

Thanks again to Bird Travels for such a thorough review. Now I know where to find the Diet Coke in The Food Hall. Some how when I order Diet Coke at one of the bars a shot of Bacardi ends up in it!😉

Thanks! Yeah from those choices I would probably either go for the Riesling or the Sauvignon Blanc, so I, curious how it is! Usually I just go for a Pinot Grigio, so I’m not too picky. 😁

PompeySailor · October 22, 2022

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Thank You, @PompeySailor!

Unfortunately, the only thing we ordered from Tamara was the papadum with mango chutney... which was yummy.

Out of your list of specialty restaurants, I would pick Onda.

If I had one meal on the Prima, I would pick Le Bistro.

The new kid on the block restaurant is Palomar.

Thank you

🇮🇹 Onda it is for this short trip

Happy Days!

Edited October 22, 2022 by PompeySailor

BirdTravels · October 23, 2022

Want to enjoy breakfast in your stateroom? Fill out the hang tag and leave it on your door at night. Continental breakfast is complimentary. Hot breakfast and any other room service comes with a $9.95 delivery charge per order.