Considering Prima next November for my return to cruising, am I better off with Breakaway?

[laudergayle]

19 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

 

3 minutes ago, RB9643 said:

 

 zero minutes ago @laudergayle called this a TRUCE. 😊

Edited July 21, 2023 by laudergayle

[sharonann24]

I have sailed on the Breakaway twice, the Pearl once and now we will be on the Prima on Thursday for our Iceland/Norway cruise.  Loving the positive reviews of the Prima and I hope our experience will be a good one.  We did do the Haven for Breakaway (for the Baltics) and a balcony to Bermuda and that experience was phenomenal.  We did a balcony on the Pearl and enjoyed the non Haven vibes too! Syd Normans was a favorite, loved Cagney's and Le Bistro.  Elevators could be crowded on the Breakaway but so can many hotel elevators!  I will say the Breakaway pool area was crazy most days and it did resemble Spring Break so we generally steered clear and found a less crowded deck to sun and read. Most of our meals on our upcoming cruise will be MDR and I am looking forward to Hudson's to which I hope we will go to for breakfast since my husband is not a fan of the buffet and goes grudgingly (my dad is going with us and he likes it!). I will post when we return. We are in a balcony on deck 10. My only concern are the pretty consistent comments about the Prima being better suited to warmer climates and since our sailing, albeit late July will be cooler.  I am already stressing a little about clothing, layers and how chilly/windy it will be, but it is obviously not stopping us!  Like everything else you have to take the negative reviews with a grain of salt.  

[randomthought]

On 7/21/2023 at 9:49 AM, stinkyharriet said:

I was in an Ocean View cabin on the Prima.  Deck 5, directly under the Casino.  The cabin was very quiet.  During the day I did hear a little creaking but didn’t notice it at all at night.  And what I heard during the day wasn’t annoying, just a little unusual.  The cabin was large, including the bathroom.  It took a little longer to become comfortable with the layout on decks 6-7-8 but I didn’t hate it, it was just different than most ships.  
 

I do agree that the buffet was small but we didn’t go there much.  Indulge was always crowded but we managed to get seats when we went.  We had no wait when going to the MDR.  We even got a spur of the moment reservation at Onda one night.  
 

My only complaint was that there were 1,200 kids on my sailing.  I would never cruise on Prima again during the summer or school breaks and that’s unfortunate because it really is better for warm weather cruising.

 

I'm looking at booking an Oceanview cabin on Deck 5 on the Prima, it makes me a little nervous because of what's above it on the 6th Floor  (Theater & Club, Casino, Cagney's, and Commodore Room), but sounds like at least the Casino area wasn't noisy.  What was your cabin number?  We might try to get one close to yours since you had a good experience. 

 

Anyone else have experience on staying on Deck 5 that might help us pick a good cabin on the Prima? Thanks!

[stinkyharriet]

9 hours ago, randomthought said:

What was your cabin number?  We might try to get one close to yours since you had a good experience.

We were in 5130.

[The Traveling Man]

On 7/16/2023 at 7:25 PM, UKstages said:

“a better than average chance” does not mean “over half.

Actually, that is precisely what it means.

[The Traveling Man]

On 7/21/2023 at 5:00 PM, UKstages said:

oh, gosh, no… “better than average” has a very specific meaning.
 

and some people do indeed get it, while others clearly do not.

 

and those who don’t invariably become keyboard warriors ready to defend straw man arguments and tilt at imaginary windmills.

 

 

I would agree with you that passengers are more likely to encounter a horribly noisy stateroom on the Pr1ma than on most other ships.  The way you stated your "better than average" assessment, however, could easily be understood to mean that anyone booking a room on the Pr1ma has a "better than average" chance of getting a noisy room than a quiet room.

[insidecabin]

3 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

I would agree with you that passengers are more likely to encounter a horribly noisy stateroom on the Pr1ma than on most other ships.  The way you stated your "better than average" assessment, however, could easily be understood to mean that anyone booking a room on the Pr1ma has a "better than average" chance of getting a noisy room than a quiet room.

 

It was quite important to have that average specified to stop people guessing.

 

The statement was incomplete.

 

When your average is a bad(excessively noisy from structure issues) room on all ships that trends to 0 as many(most?) ships have none.

 

What's that average going to be?

maybe a bad ship has 10 in 1000 average 5 in a 1000

 

0.5%. 

 

How many of these extra noisy have been identified on Prima so far?

 

Anyone compiled a list yet?

 

Chance of a bad room a bit higher than a tiny chance.

Even double the average would still be tiny chance.

 

That's when everyone is choosing blind.

 

As some will know to avoid certain cabins that will increase the chance a tiny bit more.

 

 

 

[randomthought]

11 hours ago, stinkyharriet said:

We were in 5130.

Thanks so much! Looks like that's next to the entrance for the stairs and elevators. Did you notice any noise problems coming from that area or from higher foot traffic by your cabin?

[MissBreezy]

Just got off the Prima this month and it really exceeded my expectations! I read the reviews and the drama and all that (those are still valid points!) but our experience was a dream. We didn't experience lengthy bar line ups, noise in staterooms, bad customer service or difficulty in getting space in any venue except for two experiences:

 

- One cold sea day we tried to go to Indulge at noon (our mistake) and struggled to find seating but we did find some. Every other time we found a spot right away.

 

- Syds and Improv but that's a given at this point. We knew going in that unless we planned to queue in advance that we weren't getting in and that was the truth but we were prepared for that.

 

The crew was awesome, everything was clean and everything we needed we got.

 

Our cruise was actually overbooked by a bit so she was FULL FULL on a cold weather cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to rebook my next cruise on the same ship 🙂

 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by MissBreezy

[DCGuy64]

On 7/15/2023 at 5:51 PM, HowardK said:

Hello everyone and thank you in advance for your replies, I found a 11 night cruise from NYC on the Prima after thanksgiving '24 that I am considering as I haven't been on a cruise in 6 years and some of these ports not for 20. I read several reviews here that state concerns with the Prima. Compared to other ships post pandemic, would I be better off doing a 7 day to Bermuda on the Breakaway (which i went on '13 and '14) instead? Please note for this time around I am only looking to go from NYC.

I read about how service is cut back, how entertainment is cutback etc. the 11 night has more port days sans the travel days from NYC. Would be interested in hearing recommendations. thanks!

I agree with @BirdTravels. Most of the complaints about the Prima are from the usual suspects, i.e. the type of poster who hates NCL with a passion and never refrains from complaining about literally everything and is "just sure" everyone else agrees with them. Go and have a great time. The vast majority of people who cruise don't read Cruise Critic and of those who DO, the people most likely to post any review are complainers. Don't ever take the negativity on this site as being even remotely representative of the average cruiser; it's not. Go on either ship and have an amazing time. I'm sure you will, especially since it's been a few years since your last cruise. You'll be surprised by all of the updates. 🙂

[stinkyharriet]

7 hours ago, randomthought said:

Thanks so much! Looks like that's next to the entrance for the stairs and elevators. Did you notice any noise problems coming from that area or from higher foot traffic by your cabin?

No, it was very quiet and being by the stairs was very convenient.  We rarely took the elevators since most of what we wanted was on decks 6-7-8.  It was chilly so we didn’t go up to the pool at all.

[UKstages]

19 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

The way you stated your "better than average" assessment, however, could easily be understood to mean that anyone booking a room on the Pr1ma has a "better than average" chance of getting a noisy room than a quiet room.

it’s great that is what can easily be understood because that is precisely what was meant. book the prima and you do indeed have a better than average chance of getting a cabin of doom, with strange and extraordinary noises that will prevent most people from sleeping.

 

all the armchair mathematicians in this thread seem to be of the mindset that the phrase “better than average chance” refers to a dataset of prima cabins only. this is a comparison thread with another ship and you are indeed much more likely to get a noisy cabin on the prima than any other ship.
 

but even if you only consider the prima when booking, you still have a better than average chance of getting one of those rooms. again, all the armchair mathematicians seem to think that means more than half the rooms on the prima have this problem.
 

it doesn’t mean that at all. 
 

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Most of the complaints about the Prima are from the usual suspects, i.e. the type of poster who hates NCL with a passion and never refrains from complaining about literally everything and is "just sure" everyone else agrees with them.

oh, gosh, i haven’t seen that. have you really seen that? or does that just fit the narrative of what you think you’ve seen?
 

most of the reviews I’ve read offer a strong mix of praise of the prima, together with their pans and are written by well respected forum members with good track records. the “bad reviews are all from curmudgeons who never have anything good to say about anything” narrative is disproved by the reality of most of the reviews. many of these folks, myself included, love NCL, which is why they have a specific frame of reference and why they were so disappointed by their actual experience on the prima.

[DCGuy64]

12 hours ago, UKstages said:

by their actual experience on the prima.

And yet they only comprise a tiny fraction of those who've sailed, which just proves my point again. Bad reviews on Cruise Critic have NEVER been typical of the average cruise passenger, because the average cruise passenger has never heard of this site. So taking an unrepresentative sample of passengers, then focusing on the negative reviews (which themselves are unrepresentative since satisfied customers rarely post at all) means the Prima is doing just fine. Nothing will ever change my mind about this.

[PatJim]

On 7/21/2023 at 4:42 PM, HowardK said:

Thank you everyone for your replies! I booked the 11 night Prima for 11/30/24- I've always wanted something longer than a week and for the first time in almost two decades I am at a different job where I can squeeze this particular booking in. I took a balcony rather than a studio as I don't feel like playing the upgrade game where in the past I called the night before.

I am in no way expecting perfection as I know there have been changes over the years.

 

Jim and I are also on this cruise and also 1st time Prima cruisers.  We also chose the ship because it’s round-trip NYC and just after Thanksgiving.  My sister flies in every November from AZ for this holiday, and we take advantage of this to cruise with her.  Usually we’re doing a 2-week cruise on Getaway or Breakaway prior to Thanksgiving (this year it’s the Getaway), but NCL didn’t have anything prior, so we “settled” for the 11-day Prima cruise😆.  We’re in a Haven 2 bedroom, which does look larger than other NCL 2 bedrooms (Gem, Epic, Break- & Getaway, Joy & Bliss…).  Cabin #15318, if you care to see what it looks like or just call to say hi.🥰

Patricia

[UKstages]

On 7/25/2023 at 8:11 AM, DCGuy64 said:

And yet they only comprise a tiny fraction of those who've sailed, which just proves my point again.

 

you do realize that people who post positive reviews also comprise a tiny fraction of those who've sailed? just checking.

 

On 7/25/2023 at 8:11 AM, DCGuy64 said:

Bad reviews on Cruise Critic have NEVER been typical of the average cruise passenger, because the average cruise passenger has never heard of this site. So taking an unrepresentative sample of passengers, then focusing on the negative reviews (which themselves are unrepresentative since satisfied customers rarely post at all) means the Prima is doing just fine.

 

wow. a lot to unpack there in just a couple of sentences. 

 

one can't simultaneously say that bad reviews on cruise critic have never been typical of the average cruise passenger and are "unrepresentative" while simultaneously placing great confidence in the positive reviews on cruise critic, as has been expressed. the source of both the good reviews and the bad reviews is the same user base! as far as more people going online to write negative reviews than positive, that is absolutely true... but, again, it's the same user base who write these reviews. and, anecdotally, there sure do seem to be a heckuva lot more bad reviews of the prima than any other ship. and, again, we're not comparing negative reviews with the big wide world of cruisers outside of cruise critic... we're comparing cruise critic apples to cruise critic apples.

 

the data set, regardless of whether it is representative of the cruising public at large, is a repository of cruise critic reviews!  the point of my previous comments is that the negative reviews should not be summarily dismissed as the work of curmudgeonly malcontents... both the good reviews and the bad reviews presumably represent the actual experience of cruise critic members. if one believes that those who post reviews have an agenda or an axe to grind, they must believe that is the case for both the positive and negative reviews... the reviews are from the same set of users.

 

as for how representative cruise critic is of the average cruise passenger... it's pretty darn representative. six million people a month visit cruise critic. a little more than twenty million people cruised last year. even if it's the same six million people visiting cruise critic every month (it's not), that's still a number close to a third of the number of people who sailed last year.

 

most people have never heard of cruise critic, that's true.

 

most people who have sailed and who have researched their cruising options online have heard of cruise critic, although they may not be active users or forum participants.

 

On 7/25/2023 at 8:11 AM, DCGuy64 said:

Nothing will ever change my mind about this.

 

this phenomenon is known as cognitive dissonance.

Edited July 29, 2023 by UKstages

[DCGuy64]

On 7/28/2023 at 10:37 PM, UKstages said:

 

you do realize that people who post positive reviews also comprise a tiny fraction of those who've sailed? just checking.

 

 

wow. a lot to unpack there in just a couple of sentences. 

 

one can't simultaneously say that bad reviews on cruise critic have never been typical of the average cruise passenger and are "unrepresentative" while simultaneously placing great confidence in the positive reviews on cruise critic, as has been expressed. the source of both the good reviews and the bad reviews is the same user base! as far as more people going online to write negative reviews than positive, that is absolutely true... but, again, it's the same user base who write these reviews. and, anecdotally, there sure do seem to be a heckuva lot more bad reviews of the prima than any other ship. and, again, we're not comparing negative reviews with the big wide world of cruisers outside of cruise critic... we're comparing cruise critic apples to cruise critic apples.

 

the data set, regardless of whether it is representative of the cruising public at large, is a repository of cruise critic reviews!  the point of my previous comments is that the negative reviews should not be summarily dismissed as the work of curmudgeonly malcontents... both the good reviews and the bad reviews presumably represent the actual experience of cruise critic members. if one believes that those who post reviews have an agenda or an axe to grind, they must believe that is the case for both the positive and negative reviews... the reviews are from the same set of users.

 

as for how representative cruise critic is of the average cruise passenger... it's pretty darn representative. six million people a month visit cruise critic. a little more than twenty million people cruised last year. even if it's the same six million people visiting cruise critic every month (it's not), that's still a number close to a third of the number of people who sailed last year.

 

most people have never heard of cruise critic, that's true.

 

most people who have sailed and who have researched their cruising options online have heard of cruise critic, although they may not be active users or forum participants.

 

 

this phenomenon is known as cognitive dissonance.

Wow, either you have an enormous amount of time on your hands, or I have clearly struck a nerve with you. Good gracious! I don't have time to read this lengthy diatribe right now. Bye for the time being.