Norwegian Prima *LIVE* – 7-Night Western Caribbean – December 3-10, 2022

[HBCcruiser]

@BirdTravels I would love to hear your option of the Prima considering all of the negative posts reported on FB and other social media sites regarding the Prima. Did you find things broken/not working? Venues hard to book or get into? Staffing shortages? As a veteran NCL cruiser I’d love your opinion being you sailed her twice AND did so recently. 

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, cruzincouple_808 said:

Forgive me if I missed this in the posting.  But what Room # is this?  I'm having a hard time deciding between a balcony on Deck 11 and  a Spa Balcony on Deck 16. Thank you!  

This was a Cabin Class BA (standard balcony) Deck 14 forward. (Not too far from the Bridge)

 

BTW: Are you from Hawaii or does the 808 have a different meaning. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by BirdTravels

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

@BirdTravels I would love to hear your option of the Prima considering all of the negative posts reported on FB and other social media sites regarding the Prima. Did you find things broken/not working? Venues hard to book or get into? Staffing shortages? As a veteran NCL cruiser I’d love your opinion being you sailed her twice AND did so recently. 

 

The point that I always make, but people ignore, is that the Prima is [much] smaller in passenger capacity than her bigger, older Breakaway/Breakaway+ cousins. 

 

So, what does that mean? The Escape has nearly 4300 passenger double occupancy compared to the Prima 3100. Compared to 2400 on the Jewel. People are always comparing the Prima to the newest BA+ ships. "The buffet on the Escape is double the size of the Prima"... true, but (1) there are far less passengers on the Prima, and (2) the Prima has added the Indulge Food Hall as another complimentary quick-turn dining facility. So,,, the buffet is right size for the ship. 
 

People should be comparing the facilities on the Prima to the Jewel. And side-by-side there is no comparison in terms of facilities, number of restaurants, open deck space for passengers, size of staterooms.  

 

"There is too much outdoors space on Ocean Blvd if it is cold"... compared to no space on the Jewel???  And the Waterfront on BA/BA+ ships???? The Prima has more outdoor space, per passenger, than other contemporary ships..... which is a good thing. Yup, if you are in the North Atlantic on a TA, you may not spend a lot of time out there. But, like the newest ships, the Prima is built for cold weather with heaters. 

 

We never had problems with shows in the main theater. There were always open seats. On the BA+ ships, the theater holds 800 passengers and the main shows are preformed 4 times = 3200 total seats available for shows like Choir of Man, SIX, Million Dollar Quartet, Jersey Boys,,, but the ships have been filled to 4500+ passengers,,, which means on the BA+ ships, like the titanic, there are not enough seats for everyone. 

 

The Improv comedy club and Syd's are smaller than other ships (with more passengers). Unlike the BA/BA+ ships, once all of the seats are filled, they open the doors to an equal number of stand-by SRO guests. So, if you want to wait in the standby line, you can get in to see the show. 

 

In general, we did not find things broken or not working. Yeah,,, the jets in the Thermal Suite pool were flaky at times. 

 

In general, we did not notice any staffing shortages. That is actually one thing that I look for. We normally go to the bars to pick up drinks and do not depend on waiters. I know that in the Theater, there are a lot of waiters standing around waiting for people to order. 

 

We had better dining service on the Prima than other ships. That is one thing that I look for. 

 

There were subtle changes between our October cruise and December cruise. And you stop and ask yourself "why did they change that". Mostly fine tuning. 

 

I know that smokers were not happy because the smoking section was on an upper sundeck in the open where it was cold, windy, rainy. 

 

Overall, I think that the Prima is a good ship. People do not adapt to change very well. And the Prima, built in Italy, changed the way future NCL ships will be designed (compared to the French designed ships of the past). The primary complaints I see are "I don't like this or that because it is different". Being different has kept NCL on the leading edge of the cruise industry. Other lines like RCCL are playing catch up (reference their new ship the Icon that has failed in its attempt to incorporate features that have been on NCL ships for decades). 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Thank you for a thorough response. Your opinion and thoughts are valued and appreciated. Happy cruising! 🥂🚢

[cruiseny4life]

@BirdTravels, you really need to sell that post to Cruise Critic for them to post as news on their front page. What a great way to differentiate between the new Pr1ma class of ships and what came before. 

[olemissreb]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:12 AM, BirdTravels said:

 

 

OMG I think I just found the place where my boyfriend will be. He LOVES Blantons and has been wanting to try Elmer T Lee. Upgrading to the Premium beverage package will help lessen the sting a little I guess. 🙂

 

Can you get other libations in there? If not, can you bring them in? I'm mostly a wine drinker, but I do also like Blantons and sure wouldn't mind trying the Elmer T Lee.

 

Of course we don't sail on the Viva till March '25, so prices and selection are subject to change...I just hope it won't. 

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, olemissreb said:

OMG I think I just found the place where my boyfriend will be. He LOVES Blantons and has been wanting to try Elmer T Lee. Upgrading to the Premium beverage package will help lessen the sting a little I guess. 🙂

 

Can you get other libations in there? If not, can you bring them in? I'm mostly a wine drinker, but I do also like Blantons and sure wouldn't mind trying the Elmer T Lee.

 

Of course we don't sail on the Viva till March '25, so prices and selection are subject to change...I just hope it won't. 

Some. They pride themselves as being a whisky bar. If you ask them for a mango meltdown, they will look down their nose at you and refer you to the atrium bar a deck below. 

[olemissreb]

20 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Some. They pride themselves as being a whisky bar. If you ask them for a mango meltdown, they will look down their nose at you and refer you to the atrium bar a deck below. 

Thanks Bird! I do like a strawberry daquiri poolside (of course those are out because my boyfriend is allergic to strawberries), but usually have wine while relaxing or having dinner.