Second guessing Prima

[UKstages]

i booked the prima a few days ago... about 45 days away from sailing. i went in and had no trouble getting dinner reservations for six specialty restaurant slots and three MDR slots, but i was flexible as to which restaurant to eat in on which night. granted, most of my reservations were for fairly late dining, 8:30, 9:00, 9;30... because that was the only thing that was available. but that suits me, and even so,  i know that i can rejigger once i board, especially if i get on the ship early.

 

i too am concerned about getting a lunch time table at indulge, especially since i'm on an itinerary with a potentially colder climate.

[halberd7]

We were on a recent NCL Sky cruise to the Panama Canal and our concierge told us that he would be moving to the Prima in the near future to take over concierge duties there. He said that it was going to be tough because of the small entertainment venues. He had concerns that he would not be able to get his Suite/Haven guests into some of the shows due to limited capacity, which would reflect poorly on his ability as a concierge.

[debenson0723]

2 hours ago, UKstages said:

i booked the prima a few days ago... about 45 days away from sailing. i went in and had no trouble getting dinner reservations for six specialty restaurant slots and three MDR slots, but i was flexible as to which restaurant to eat in on which night. granted, most of my reservations were for fairly late dining, 8:30, 9:00, 9;30... because that was the only thing that was available. but that suits me, and even so,  i know that i can rejigger once i board, especially if i get on the ship early.

 

i too am concerned about getting a lunch time table at indulge, especially since i'm on an itinerary with a potentially colder climate.

If you are on a warm weather cruise on the Prima, you should be fine in Indulge because some people will eat outside. My cruise was the TA in the north Atlantic and it was too cold and wet to eat outside (and some days the door were roped off so you couldn't go outside). We ended up going to Indulge around 11:10 to get a table and were there when it opened at 11:30. Also, it you go way to the port side (behind the Starbucks) there are some stools near the outside doors and some tables that no one seemed to find. 

We also had no problem getting reservations for specialty dining and if it was late, we changed to an earlier time on board (just keep checking as cancellations do happen). I would not do Prima in cold weather again but am hoping to try Viva early next year when it is in the Caribbean. 

[ontheweb]

Hoping for the best as we are now paid in full for our summer Prima cruise. 

 

One takeaway from what I have been reading on this thread is that we better wish for non-rainy weather from the UK to Iceland!

 

[schmoopie17]

A couple of things:

 

We were on one of the Prima cruises shortly after a previous cruise reported people contracting Legionnaire's Disease. NCL sent emails to us, as well as several other Prima cruises notifying passengers of this happening and what it means. To date, I haven't seen any follow-up (although I may have missed it) as to whether or not the issue causing this outbreak had been identified and resolved.

 

As for the Prima, itself...we are not fans of the ship. There are reasons why this ship gets extremely low ratings on CC. Bar service is horrendous, our cabin creaked loudly in the middle of the night, the layout is funky, main dining room food is barely passable (and repetitive), etc., etc.

 

I could go on, but I did a review of the Prima on the Reviews page. But as they like to say on CC...YMMV. Good luck...

Edited March 31, 2023 by schmoopie17

[BirdTravels]

20 hours ago, halberd7 said:

We were on a recent NCL Sky cruise to the Panama Canal and our concierge told us that he would be moving to the Prima in the near future to take over concierge duties there. He said that it was going to be tough because of the small entertainment venues. He had concerns that he would not be able to get his Suite/Haven guests into some of the shows due to limited capacity, which would reflect poorly on his ability as a concierge.

Seems like a poor choice for concierge going from the smallest, nearly oldest ship in the fleet with a handful of suites to the newest with the largest number of suites. With no real clue as to his job there and the fact that he has a staff of assistant concierges to do the actual bookings and escorts. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 3/29/2023 at 7:34 AM, SunnyMer said:

RCL does offer a similar itinerary (excluding Norway) on the Jewel, but we were really looking forward to Norway. 

I would rather risk missing a show or meal than missing Norway.

 

(disclaimer: I've never been to Norway or on the Prima, but I do have both booked)

 

 

[complawyer]

ok, chiefmatejrk

 

this may be our one and only chance. when are you booked on the prima, and is the cruise the one that originates in iceland. inquiring minds want to know

[ChiefMateJRK]

22 minutes ago, complawyer said:

ok, chiefmatejrk

 

this may be our one and only chance. when are you booked on the prima, and is the cruise the one that originates in iceland. inquiring minds want to know

2025.  We'll likely have many chances before that. 😎

[complawyer]

im looking at the prima sept 2024 10 days from iceland to southampton. recall my prior post.

 

i just turned 75, and i refuse to look that far ahead  to 2025 (actually looking that far ahead scares the s**t out of me).

 

 

[uneamie]

Being on ANY cruise is a plus for us. We are not picky people. Other than wanting a good supply of ice daily we don't require a lot maintenance. At our age (70's) we just want a nice relaxing time. That said, there are only a handful of positive reviews of Prima. We are going on her to Bermuda in a month. I can live without getting into every show but I am concerned about all the mentions of it being way too small of a ship for that many people, especially if the weather is not warm. I don't want to spend half our cruise searching for places to sit and relax and or standing in line for drinks....I mean will we even have the opportunity to get our money's worth out of the drink package with all the lines? Yes, I heard people defend that issue, but the defense was always to walk around and you will find a bar with less people. ugh! My question is....are lines at the bars due to not enough staff or not enough bars? Curious! In the end I am going to try to board this ship with a positive frame of mind and not let the small stuff bother me...it's just going to be hard to ignore all that has been said and pretend I didn't hear about it. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by uneamie

[angere1]

On 3/30/2023 at 5:07 PM, seacruise9 said:

Hi, 

 

I am booked on the Prima's seven-day Bermuda cruise that departs on April 23, 2023. I chose this ship last fall after seeing the video tours of the public areas. The ship looked gorgeous. I am going with an open mind, but I am concerned about some of the shortcomings mentioned in the reviews. I have made dining reservations for each night (four nights in specialty restaurants and three nights in one of the main dining rooms). I have booked a standard balcony stateroom that overlooks one of the infinity pools on the side of the ship. However, I am not yet able to book any entertainment. 

 

My two most recent cruises were on Celebrity Edge class ships (Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Beyond). It will be interesting to see how the Prima compares to these ships. 

 

Chuck

We’re on the same cruise… We cruised on Prima last October. The ship is beautiful but it does have its shortcomings. Syd Norman’s and the comedy club are too small. Pool area is usually jam packed. We’ve had the same issues on the Joy, Breakaway and Escape. Not really a big deal for us…there are a lot more pros than cons on the Prima. It is what you make of it. Enjoy your cruise!