Once and done with Norwegian. Ugh.

[UKstages]

believe the reviews, particularly if they offer a mix of praise and harsh criticism. i always find those more believable.

[YVRteacher]

7 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Just some old drinking buddy.  I also call him "hoser."  🤣  (no relation to our Canadian friend @YVRteacherwho likely will get the joke)

 

disclaimer: none of this may be true

Eh?😉

[PhillyTravelBug]

I’m conflicted, just looked on the roll call for this cruise and it looks like the last few posts were positive. Hopefully our august cruise will be positive. The observation lounge is something I’m looking forward to, but we have thermal spa passes and that’s my sanctuary. 
this itinerary has a lot of port time, so who knows what the experience will be like. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

9 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Eh?😉

Okay, since we're friends, I'm "not" going to call you hose-head!  🐀

 

 

[MCMC100]

6 minutes ago, UKstages said:

believe the reviews

I don’t disagree, but statistics are a bear…..The Pr1ma has 189 reviews with an overall 2.8 rating (out of 5) on CC. The Epic is a 3.5 with 4,317 reviews.
 

We have a very small sample size from the Pr1ma. I don’t doubt those people had the experiences they report. It’s just not clear if that represents the experience of 189 really unhappy passengers and the other 50,000 passengers loved it. 
 

If I was NCL I would rather have a 4.5 with 189 reviews. A negative trend is developing and I’m watching it. It’s just to early know for sure what the ultimate opinion will be. Check back in two years. For now, caveat emptor. 

[YVRteacher]

9 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Okay, since we're friends, I'm "not" going to call you hose-head!  🐀

 

 

I have been called worse…

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 minutes ago, MCMC100 said:

The Pr1ma has 189 reviews with an overall 2.8 rating (out of 5) on CC.

Yep, but 123 of those are from folks who just got off the cruise where the clowns at NCL decided it was okay to just close the Observation lounge.

[YVRteacher]

For Isafjordur, I think it’s a similar situation to both Valdez and Panama.  Shoreside operations (who work in Florida) made the arrangements with the respective ports and tour operators.  For Panama, the Jewel was promised the port would be ready before the 2022/2023 season. It wasn’t. It still wasn’t ready by the end of the Jewel’s run there and the chaos at the port for embarkation and disembarkation was not fun for passengers and not fun for the Jewel’s management team and staff.  This is why NCL will not be using Panama City as an embarkation port after 2024.

 

With Valdez the port operations, the shuttle into town that ended up costing NCL $12000 for one day, the lack of tour operators and the profit vs expense ratio all contributed to NCL pulling the Spirit out of Valdez.  The town wasn’t ready for a “large” cruise ship. (Don’t @ me- I know the Spirit is small in comparison to the other NCL ships but she is large compared to the SS Minnow.)

 

In Isafjordur, the port people told NCL that the new dock and dredged port would be completed by spring 2023.  Isafjordur did not finish the construction.  While smaller NCL ships like the Jewel class ships and the Star, which is also sailing in Iceland this summer, use their lifeboats as tenders, the larger ships’ (Encore, Bliss etc) lifeboats were not designed as tenders.  I have not sailed on the Prima but it sounds like her lifeboats were not built to be tenders.  Please correct me if I’m wrong.  So the failure for the Prima to dock in Isafjordur doesn’t seem to be NCL’s shortfall.  However, the lack of communication regarding the cancelled port is fully on NCL.  Many people book private shore excursions in Iceland because NCL’s are cost prohibitive and NCL fully needs to understand the inconvenience they cause when people with private shore excursions can’t cancel and get refunds (as is common in both Iceland and Norway.)

Edited June 18, 2023 by YVRteacher

[UKstages]

30 minutes ago, MCMC100 said:

A negative trend is developing and I’m watching it.

 

it certainly is. all the rest of your post, honestly, is fuzzy math.

 

what your post doesn't take into account is "reviews" like mine, that aren't posted in the review section of cruise critic because their review format does not accommodate long form content. ditto this thread which is, in essence, a negative review of the prima... not counted in the score!

 

also, 189 reviews for the length of time the prima has been sailing is a very good and accurate barometer. the epic has been sailing for 13 years or more. and many of those recent reviews, i'm willing to bet, reflect the age of the ship and people's disappointment at sailing a refurbished ship that doesn't meet their current expectations of what a modern cruise ship should be. go back in time to the first ten months of the epic's life and i would be willing to bet that the reviews were better than the prima's current 2.8. 

 

as for those 50K people who may have loved the prima... where are they? they are awfully silent. surely, some of those who adore the ship would write passionate love letters online to the prima... they are scarce.

 

no, what we have is people saying they enjoyed this and that, cagney's was good, onda was great, we loved the food at indulge... and then they go on to say all the same things the negative reviews say.

 

the prima is a brand new ship... it's not going to get any better than this... and it has only a 2.8 rating?

 

that's remarkable.

Edited June 18, 2023 by UKstages

[reeinaz]

I liked Prima enough that I booked 2 cruises on Viva, one of which is a 16 day TA. 

[MCMC100]

9 minutes ago, UKstages said:

it certainly is. all the rest of your post, honestly, is fuzzy math.

I didn’t use any math. Simply pointed out that a negative trend with regard to reviews of the Pr1ma is developing, despite a still limited pool of reviews. You didn’t like the ship. I read your review-don’t blame you. I would use your review as a factor in my ultimate decision to book on the Pr1ma, a factor, not the only factor. 

Not everyone hated their experience. You had a terrible experience; reeinaz (see below) is eager to get back onboard. Different strokes……Don’t take it personally, I’m not questioning your individual experience onboard the Pr1ma. The point of this forum is to gather multiple reviews over a period of time under different circumstances from a large cross section of passengers and see what overall theme develops. As I stated in my prior post, NCL would rather a 4.5 rating than a 2.8 with only 189 reviews. 

 

3 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

I liked Prima enough that I booked 2 cruises on Viva, one of which is a 16 dayTA. 

[debenson0723]

@UKstagesI enjoyed your review of the Prima and agreed with a lot of what you stated. This ship is not designed for cold weather. I was on the Inaugural TA and really disliked the ship. We had terrible weather, couldn't use the outside venues for a couple of days (doors were actually blocked off with yellow caution tape) and my balcony was useless. That being said, my travel companion loved the ship, saying it was his favorite he had been on (and he has cruised RCL, Disney and Princess in the past, as well as NCL multiple times).

 

I cancelled the Viva TA and swore I would never cruise on this class of ship again. But somehow I am booked on the US Inaugural of the Viva...it's only 4 days, in warm weather and way overpriced. I love that new ship smell and am an optimist (plus somewhat crazy). Truly hoping I come back and have a wonderful experience to report.

[jsn55]

On 6/16/2023 at 12:29 PM, bobkat11 said:

We returned home last night from an 11 night cruise on the Norwegian Prima to Norway and Iceland (and Brugge and Amsterdam). This was, by far, the most disappointing cruise we've ever taken (and I heard many other passengers say the same thing). I'm not the kind of person who is hard to please, or who easily complains, but I'm posting this review for people considering this ship. I'll try to briefly summarize this cruise:

1. Embarkation was a mess! No one was allowed on the ship for several hours past the expected check-in time (our pre-cruise paperwork told us to arrive at 9:30am). Guests were stuck standing in the sun outside the terminal, unsure as to why no one could board. We were told various conflicting explanations. Boarding finally started around 3pm if I remember correctly. My husband and I got on the ship around 4pm , and I got my luggage at 9pm. It was a frustrating and unwelcoming start to our cruise (on the heels of arriving exhausted in London 24 hours late due to flight delays and a missed connection.)

2. Itinerary. I know sometimes itineraries have to change, but I've never had one change to this unacceptable extent. First stop, we arrived late to Brugge, missing our tour for that day. The entire stop at Isofjordour was cancelled.  (We were told we couldn't stop there because the Prima doesn't have tender boats. Don't all of the life boats double as tender boats?? And other ships continue to stop there, so we Prima passengers were frustrated by no satisfactory reason for the cancellation.) So that day became an unexpected (and unwanted) extra sea day. For our last stop, we arrived in Reykjavik, not at 7 am as scheduled, but 1:30 in the afternoon, so once again, we could not do the tour we had planned. Missing 3 out of 8 tours was very disappointing, after traveling so far to see these sights.

3. Sea days. In a word, boring. Most of the time that we were on the ship, we just sat in our cabin and read books. There simply was nothing to do on this ship most of the time. We did go to a History of Iceland presentation in the Prima Lounge one day, which was interesting. The Observation Lounge, which would have been the single best place to pass extra time, was closed to the public for our whole cruise. In a nutshell, The Prima should never sail this particular itinerary. It is the wrong ship for the climate. It has far too much outdoor space for a chilly northern European itinerary, causing the indoor dining areas and lounges to be claustrophobically packed. Passengers did not want to be outside in the cold wind playing shuffleboard, mini golf, pickleball, water slides, Go-carts, pool areas, sitting lounges, or any of the other numerous outdoor offerings.

4. Entertainment. The Prima lounge had The Price Is Right a couple of nights. This is basically a glorified commercial for that game show, with embarassingly little given as prizes. A carry-on suitcase, and $25, were the only prizes won. The Prima lounge also had a Donna Summer musical which I suppose was the best show of the trip (but that's not saying much, as even the Broadway version of yhis show was poorly reviewed). There was a comedienne/singer two nights who was just ok, with her self-deprecating humor and mannerisms, and typical tired jokes about how much food we eat on cruises. I don't expect cruise entertainers to be on par with Broadway stars, but I've always been pleased with the entertainers on previous cruises. There is no shortage of amazing talent in this world, but NCL didn't bother to find and hire such talent. The lounge singers ranged from bland to awful. There was one small lounge that we were told had good music in the evenings (Syd's Pour House), but we were never able to get into there due to the small space. 

5. Food. I found the food to be good overall. Not 5-star good, of course, but similar to that on other cruises. My only disappointing meal was Cagneys, which is an a la carte menu. Our meal there was over $200, yet I can make a better ribeye steak at home. Maybe I just happened to get a dry bland piece, because my husband did like his steak. The Indulge Food Court was crowded, confusing, with online ordering difficult to figure out. Despite us having the beverage package, when we ordered any drinks on the table-top tablets, we had to accept the full charge for our drinks. Other passengers complained about the tablets not working well. Food highlights: Palomar mashed potatoes, and The Local Reuben sandwich were memorably excellent! Hudsons and Commodore were consistently good experiences for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The buffet on the 17th floor was a headache-inducing madhouse with far too little indoor seating.

6. This is a random, weird situation that was handled very poorly by NCL staff. My husband and I came upon two injured passengers, elderly women who had fallen down a set of stairs on top of each other, and we began screaming for help. Long story short, several crew members came and went, making phone calls, trying to get a wheelchair, but not one crew member offered to relieve us as we held and comforted the injured passengers. Crew knew we did not know the women, because we made that clear. We spent about a half an hour helping these strangers before a wheelchair finally arrived, and it was only then that I realized, "Hey, a crew member really should have taken over and not left us there taking care of these strangers." Just pretty weird that not one crew member relieved us, and also that it took so long to get something as simple as a wheelchair.

7. Cabins: layout worked well, bathroom was more spacious than other cruiselines'. Too cold to use the balcony much. Noisy at night, constantly sounded like a torrential rain storm. Other passengers mentioned rattles and other noises.

8. Disembarking. We got off the ship fine, at 8:30 as instructed, took our own luggage off, got on a shuttle to the airport outside of Reykjavik, arriving there around 9:30am. Unfortunately flights out to the US were all late afternoon and evening, so it was a long day sitting at the airport waiting for our 5pm flight, with very few chairs in the waiting area. Actually there was a 10am flight that some of us had looked into, but NCL said they would not allow anyone off the ship early enough to make that flight, despite docking in Reykjavik port 6pm the previous evening. We didn't understand that, but we had learned that unclear, non-answers from NCL was the standard.

 

So, despite getting to see some beautiful scenery in the ports we made it to, overall I am very dissatisfied with this cruise. NCL did give each guest $100 on board credit as an apology for the embarkation fiasco, changed itinerary, and unavailability of the Observation Lounge. But to me, even a full refund would not have made the frustrating experience worth it. The ratio of enjoyable, quality time enjoying ports, to time spent standing in lines or otherwise wasted time, was simply not worth it. 

 

I will not be cruising with NCL again.

 

It's really annoying to have a cruise start with the pax standing around waiting to board.  It does tinge all the rest of the cruise with critical outcome.  I think that's what happened to you.  Perhaps I can offer some perspective.  While I enjoy reading propped up on my bed, munching cookies and gazing out the sliding doors, there are always some activities going on that I might enjoy ... and I actively seek them out.  I read the evening newsletter and mark what I want to do the next day.  Seems odd that nothing at all was appealing to you.  Missing a port is a very big deal, but it happens.  Your whole post sounds like there were ongoing communication issues from ship to pax.  If you're just left out in the cold, not knowing what's going on, you become angry, and rightfully so.  So you get the drift of what I'm trying to say?  It's a half-empty vs half-full glass situation.

 

I'd never book a 'brand new' ship that doesn't have any reviews ... reviews are the only way that you could have learned that the ship itself does not do well in cold weather.  How you managed to run up a $200 dining bill at Cagney's is beyond me.  If they gave you a bad steak, why didn't you send it back?  Sitting around at the airport for hours before your flight could have been avoided ... reading reviews would inform you that allowing the cruiseline to book your air sometimes results in a bad experience.  I've talked with people who are booked on flights with 4 connections, spending endless hours getting to the cruise and going home.  A cruiseline books the least expensive far they can find, that's just good business practice for them.  That's why they don't tell you the details until the last minute.  I have no connection to NCL, I've only cruised them a couple of times, but they do seem to offer very good value; to state that you'll never cruise them again based on the experiences in your post, seems short-sighted to me. 

 

We did our first and last cruise with Princess last December.  We had all kinds of issues that you experienced ... but the capper was Princess' insistence that pax use their horribly-flawed medallion system for most communication.  I will not cruise them again because it was a double-whammy and it's obvious from everything I've read that this medallion debacle has been going on for years.  Princess seems unable or unwilling to roll out a product that truly works.  But they continue to force it down peoples' throats.  Had the cruise had one problem or the other, I would have probably given them another shot.  Based on what you've posted, I think you should give NCL another try.  

[mugtech]

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Yep, but 123 of those are from folks who just got off the cruise where the clowns at NCL decided it was okay to just close the Observation lounge.

Your arithmetic is suspect, I saw just as many negative reviews about Prima in Bermuda.  There was only 10 reviews about the TA and Iceland fiasco.

[bobkat11]

4 hours ago, Mademypoint said:

Steak is sous vide so you run the chance of getting something that's been in the water much too long. Nothing like ordering medium rare and getting a steak that looks red/pink in the middle that's as dry as a rubber stamp. The next time I'm at Cagney's I'm not ordering a steak.

As for the Donna Summer musical, I thought it was wonderful when I saw it on Broadway as did anyone I know who saw it. I think as a rule, unless you make it a point to get to the venues early, you run the risk of not seeing "the best" of everything. I always love the activities in the atrium, sorry you didn't have a chance to see those, nothing like seeing people make fools of themselves in all sorts of ways. As for the weather and the ship, I agree that not all ships belong in that cool weather, but that's why sailing at this time of year was probably a lot less expensive.

Sadly, not true. This was by far the most expensive cruise we've ever taken. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

51 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Your arithmetic is suspect, I saw just as many negative reviews about Prima in Bermuda.  There was only 10 reviews about the TA and Iceland fiasco.

It wasn't math.  It was humor.  Sorry you missed it.😎

[tcrandal]

Onboard the Prima in 7 days, can't wait! No, I haven't sailed this ship yet, and yes I've read ALL of the recent negative trip reports from the players in this thread. Not concerned in the least... We always find a way to enjoy our well earned vacations, and I am happy to be sailing a ship that I don't know well.. Whether RCL or NCL, we love them both. Are there ever issues? All the time, but we've learned to avoid a good deal of them. 

 

I suppose if I lose 20k in the casino, or if we don't bring warm gear to enjoy the cold weather cruise and the countless activities onboard, I might be a little grumpy. But we have the sound machine all geared up as usual to mask any unwanted cabin noises (we always need that at hotels), putting ourselves in vacation mode, and letting the ship take us where it may, and enjoying every moment with each other!

 

Will always be negativity, much of it warranted, much of it not. If I come back pissed off, you will know something really hella bad went down. 

[Agaveti]

3 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

it certainly is. all the rest of your post, honestly, is fuzzy math.

 

what your post doesn't take into account is "reviews" like mine, that aren't posted in the review section of cruise critic because their review format does not accommodate long form content. ditto this thread which is, in essence, a negative review of the prima... not counted in the score!

 

also, 189 reviews for the length of time the prima has been sailing is a very good and accurate barometer. the epic has been sailing for 13 years or more. and many of those recent reviews, i'm willing to bet, reflect the age of the ship and people's disappointment at sailing a refurbished ship that doesn't meet their current expectations of what a modern cruise ship should be. go back in time to the first ten months of the epic's life and i would be willing to bet that the reviews were better than the prima's current 2.8. 

 

as for those 50K people who may have loved the prima... where are they? they are awfully silent. surely, some of those who adore the ship would write passionate love letters online to the prima... they are scarce.

 

no, what we have is people saying they enjoyed this and that, cagney's was good, onda was great, we loved the food at indulge... and then they go on to say all the same things the negative reviews say.

 

the prima is a brand new ship... it's not going to get any better than this... and it has only a 2.8 rating?

 

that's remarkable.

I had a great Prima experience. I do a lot of research but not always a lot of sharing. Shame on me. This has encouraged me to write a review. I have to get better at that. 🙂

[Sinbadssailors]

8 hours ago, robinium said:

Yes, as stated in my thread, the OL was partially opened for some of the cruise, only after extensive complaints. But they were broadcasting extremely loud art auction audio through the speakers in the entire lounge (even the passenger part), making it near impossible to enjoy being there. 

 

Thank you for this update.  And thank you to whoever linked the original thread that I missed. 

 

I didn't hear that they eventually reopened at least part of it -- didn't hear that because that incredibly relevant thread has been locked. 

 

$100 obc or whatever isn't at all acceptable.  I know where I would've spent the hours I would otherwise be in the OL- haunting guest services. 

 

If a group wants an entire section for the entire cruise, then they should charter the entire cruise.  Period.

Otherwise the rest of us are just supplementing their private experience.

[UKstages]

5 hours ago, MCMC100 said:

I didn’t use any math.

respectfully, i’d ask you to reread your post. there are lots of numbers in it. and you speak of sample size… that’s math! you also now refer to good and bad “reviews” outside of the sample that won’t affect the overall rating of 2.8.

 

5 hours ago, MCMC100 said:

You didn’t like the ship. I read your review-don’t blame you.

just for the record, i have two threads out there… they are the ONLY  two discussions I have ever initiated on cruise critic. one recounts a specific incident involving horrific cabin noise. the other is a review that encompasses many aspects of the ship, from food to entertainment to public spaces and signage. you will find that many things on the ship receive high praise from me.

 

5 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

I cancelled the Viva TA and swore I would never cruise on this class of ship again. But somehow I am booked on the US Inaugural of the Viva

i look forward to sailing on the viva myself. apart from fundamental design flaws, a large reason the prima doesn’t work is because of the apathy of many of the senior officers.

 

3 hours ago, tcrandal said:

If I come back pissed off, you will know something really hella bad went down. 

that’s kind of the point. many have preceded you and they’ve come back saying something hella bad went down. and they feel so passionately about it that they go online to warn others. believe them. many are NCL fans who are providing honest feedback. i myself felt just like you before i sailed the prima. i thought all the naysaying was BS. turns out, it didn’t even begin to describe the depth or complexity of the problems on the prima.

 

i’ve said many times that it is possible to go on the prima and have a lovely time. you may not encounter the worst of the ship’s problems. but if you do, your vacation, or a significant portion of it, has a high probability of being ruined. many of the prima’s physical problems can only be fixed in dry dock.

 

 

 

[mugtech]

7 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It wasn't math.  It was humor.  Sorry you missed it.😎

Know you thought it was humor, missed nothing.

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

If I'm on the Prima in Norway, I want the use of the entire OL that I planned and paid for.  I don't want 1/3 of an OL, packed with people and showered with snobbish art show audio.  That's not what I went on Holiday for.  A few pennies worth of non-refundable OBC and a discount on a future cruise in no way compensated for a totally avoidable mess created by NCL.  Bad weather?  I get that.  Dock work that should have been completed my now?  Maybe.  The great OL-cluster of 2023?  No way, Jose.

Agree, except for the comment about the dock work, There was an easy workaround, tender passengers. Other ships did that,

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

true, gerainger is listed as a tender.

 

however... good news!

 

the port has invested in one of those folding floating gangway dock thingies... so it is no longer a true tender port. they will float the walkway out to the ship and you just get off as if it were a regular port, with, albeit, a very long walkway.

 

now, they only have one of these as far as i know, so if there is more than one ship in port, only one can use this floating walkway and the others will have to tender.

Did you use that floating gangway in Geiranger or did you tender? NCL still has it listed as a tender port.

[AstoriaPreppy]

19 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Exactly which Good Samaritan laws are applicable outside of the US?

 

Valid point: Good Samaritan laws (as they exist in the US) would be considered too weak in other parts of the world.

 

Many countries go one step further, having Duty to Rescue laws. In duty to rescue nations,  bystanders are legally obligated to assist, and can be held liable for not providing assistance to persons in distress. 

 

Enjoy this Wikipedia article, with a map showing the nations and US states that have Good Samaritan and Duty to Rescue laws: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

 

 

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, Maleficent's Dad said:

Agreed.  Other than the early review from @BirdTravels, I have not read much positive when it comes to Prima.  I have nothing booked on her, and I’d be very cautious about doing so moving forward. Almost every review I see about her has been mostly negative.

There were some very positive reviews of the Prima from @sid_9169 and @Greenpea2.