LIVE-Prima Feb 2-9, 2024 from Galveston-Western Caribbean with PICs, Haven (HE)

[DuckTollerFans]

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Activities?  Do you mean like Cabin Crawls?  I've done gift exchanges in the past, but it was a mixed bag.  Some participated, some didn't.  That meant not everyone who gave a gift, got a gift in return.  Some like Slot Pulls, but again, it seems to be a mixed bag.  

 

I think if you have anyone who wants to participate in doing something like a Cabin Crawl, I'd recommend starting early to see who is willing to participate and draw up a route of the cabins and do it immediately after the Meet and Greet, otherwise even the participants tend to drop out.

Nope -- meant just at the Meet & Greet.  Gift exchange would be as you said -- not all who gave a gift gets one.  At the last one, I don't recall any staff showing up except the event person.  Other trips I've seen a fair number of staff, which I think sets a great welcome and message to the crowd.

 

Someone else is organizing all the other stuff like slot pulls, cabin crawl. Alleluia. 

[graphicguy]

Doing cruise unpacking, so taking a break and jotting down some review impressions.  Some will be not be a surprise if you've followed this thread.

 

PORT

 

I like Galveston as an (dis)embarkation point.  It's older and relatively far away from the airports. But, once you're there, it's easy to navigate.  Plus, if you come in a day before, there's a lot to do around the Seawall.

 

I certainly didn't do much other than walk around, but not in any sort of order, you can go to...

 

1.  Pleasure Pier

2.  NASA

3.  Duck Tours

4. Naval Museum

5.  The Strand

 

There are two airports you can fly into (you'll be flying into Houston, not Galveston).  HOU, which is about an hour from the port and IAH, which is about a 75 to 90 minutes from the port.  I had a private ride from HOU to the port....Galveston Salt Water Moms.  They don't have a WEB Site but google them for the phone number.  I used the NCL transport bus for my return ride to IAH....I want to say it was $49, booked through NCL.  Efficient and punctual.  

 

THE BOOKING and MONETARY

 

Done about 5 months before sailing.  Looked at Balcony rooms and noticed the Haven was only about $1,000 more.  Sounds like a lot, but in reality, this may have been the cheapest Haven I've ever had given all the out of pocket (or lack thereof).  I published the fare/booking earlier in the thread, so won't repeat it.  But, I upgrade to nothing...just FAS.  I did buy the unlimited internet package as I knew I was going to be live blogging, but that was covered in total by my OBC.  My final folio showed a balance, in my favor of 65¢.  I couldn't find anything I could buy for 65¢ so NCL made a little extra coin from me.  In brief, the total out of pocket including airport parking, airport taxes and fees (airline fare used points), tips, EVERYTHING was about $4,900.  I had OBC of about $500 that covered my DSC.  At first, I didn't think it would cover it, but apparently it did.

 

So, DSC and internet and some (not all) tips (added to the inevitable zero'd out check at the end of each Specialty meal) were covered by OBC.  

 

TIPS

 

Everyone's favorite topic.  Here goes....I tipped $1 for each drink I had, unless it was a "smoky drink" which takes a while to make (pictures are included earlier in the thread), which I tipped $5/ea.  Concierge-$100.  Special point, Lyster Dieas (sp) was fantastic.  He took care of ALL my dinner and entertainment reservations, including the wealth of changes I always made to both.  He escorted us to the different venues, and actually got me the individual Bridge Tour.  Butler-$75...Walter, great guy.  Aside from stocking my coffee, he took care of my snacks, brought me ice packs for my foot injury and was always around wanting to know what more he could do.  Truth told, I just didn't need him for much.  I don't like eating in the cabin, so I din't have a need for him to bring me room service. Rommel....Cabin steward.  Silent...like a ninja.  I'd leave my cabin for a couple of hours and found it made up, already.  Dude must have been hiding from me waiting for me to leave.  $100.

 

Restaurant Staff...regardless of where I ate (except for Indulge and the Buffet), $5-$10/meal...Let's say $50 in total.  As mentioned, some of that was left on a tab and deducted from my OBC.  Some of it was in cash (Concierge, Steward, Butler).

 

SHIP

 

Gorgeous....Elegant, nicely furnished, tasteful colors.  Again, hopefully this was reflected in the pictures I posted.  This is not your typical NCL ship.  There is no large chandelier.  There is not big Atrium area.  There is a large outdoor area that runs nearly the length of both sides of the ship.  If the weather's bad, people say they were forced inside which crowds it.  I get that. Weather is something none of us can control though. Overall we had Great weather.  And, I could see NCL's intent with spreading people out on the ship inside and out, so it made sense.

 

Prima is not the biggest (not by a long shot) nor the most guests (see the debate on the passenger count earlier in the thread, although the Capt said we were sailing at Capacity).  And while I love me some "-Away" ships and the Bliss, Escape and Encore (Aways Plus), and the Epic, the Prima to me is "right sized".  It is comfortable, it is quite pretty and is a departure for NCL.  It took me a day or so to get my bearings, given I did not know the layout compared to the other NCL ships I've sailed.  But, I liked it...A LOT!

 

(more to come)

 

 

 

 

[graphicguy]

34 minutes ago, DuckTollerFans said:

Nope -- meant just at the Meet & Greet.  Gift exchange would be as you said -- not all who gave a gift gets one.  At the last one, I don't recall any staff showing up except the event person.  Other trips I've seen a fair number of staff, which I think sets a great welcome and message to the crowd.

 

Someone else is organizing all the other stuff like slot pulls, cabin crawl. Alleluia. 

We had a pretty big crew turnout.  I posted who was there earlier in the thread.  But, it's the usual suspects....GM, Managers of Beverage, Food, Housekeeping, etc.

 

NCL likes Cruise Critic.  They welcome us.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Activities?  Do you mean like Cabin Crawls?  I've done gift exchanges in the past, but it was a mixed bag.  Some participated, some didn't.  That meant not everyone who gave a gift, got a gift in return.  Some like Slot Pulls, but again, it seems to be a mixed bag.  

 

I think if you have anyone who wants to participate in doing something like a Cabin Crawl, I'd recommend starting early to see who is willing to participate and draw up a route of the cabins and do it immediately after the Meet and Greet, otherwise even the participants tend to drop out.

My least favorite MnGs are those with events, prize swaps, etc.  one of the better groups I attended asked everyone before hand to pick out one or two destinations, I.e Panama Canal, Baltic Capitals and put that across the top of some oversized name tags she had (‘‘twas before NCL provided them). Everyone could mingle around and find someone to talk to about booking a cruise to wherever). Very productive.   If it’s a real hung ho activity driven meet up, I skip it except to drop in and collect the phone number list for the officers.   I think it’s fine if someone wants to organize a slot pull or whatever outside of the meeting, but I’m not dragging a gift swap item to and from the ship.

[RocketMan275]

6 hours ago, graphicguy said:

This lady picked me up!!!!  LOL!

Very nice.   I hope  you treat her well.  BTW, your four legged friend is precious too.

[Luvmypups]

Great review and much appreciated. Thanks for taking us along!  

[LloydJr]

7 hours ago, graphicguy said:

This lady picked me up!!!!  LOL!

Great!  Let's hope your girlfriend doesn't find out. 🤣

[bluefish17]

Thanks for all the hard work posting (and sampling all those libations as well as trying all that food).

Strong work!

[dock]

Thank you. 
Enjoyed your review. 

[graphicguy]

13 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Very nice.   I hope  you treat her well.  BTW, your four legged friend is precious too.

Thanks.  I am a lucky guy.  As much of a PITA I can be, they both hang with me.  Go figure!!!!!

[graphicguy]

CABIN

 

Well, I was in the Haven.  So, hard to be disappointed.  As mentioned previously, it reminded me more of a high end hotel than a cruise ship cabin.  Coffee maker (Nespresso....very good), one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in, large balcony with comfortable padded chairs, a shower that always had hot water and enough jets that I could do a 360º turn and be clean.  A table with 2 chairs, a couch, a padded chair and a large screen TV (55").  I don't watch much TV on a cruise (or at all for that matter).  The light switches were somewhat cryptic.  I don't know which switches controlled what. I just hit every one of them to turn the lights on or off.  Nit pick....the bed was close to the bathroom door. The door opened inward, so I had plenty of room to get in and out.  Plenty of outlets....U.S., USB-A, EU, by either side of the bed, by the front counter.  Furnishings were comfy and tasteful.

 

I did peek inside of other cabins that I passed on different decks.  They all looked quite nice.

 

FOOD

 

I know how y'all like to debate what is probably the most subjective part of any cruise.  So, here goes.  Prima is set up quite differently than any other NCL ship and probably any other cruise ship.  It has several areas, both gratis and Specialty dining as part of the FAS or pay.  I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would pay a la carte for the Specialty Dining venues given the FAS tips only price is so attractive.

 

First, we have the Buffet....smaller than on other ships but seemed to have all the choices...burgers, hot dogs, pasta, proteins, veggies, salads, etc....plus, at least one night I saw they had Prime Rib.  No issues finding a spot to sit, which is quite different than on other Buffets on other ships.

 

The Local...bar food. Had a cheeseburger there.  It was really good.  I guess that's high praise.    It was served hot.  The. bun was fresh.  Don't know how much more I can say about it except it was quite good.  Even the fries were served hot and had more in common with McDonald's fries.  That's high praise.

 

2nd, Indulge...you'll find Noodls, Smokehouse, Tandori, CoCos, a Salad place, and probably forgetting something.  Sit anywhere, order anything, and they'll bring it to you, QUICKLY.  No issues ever finding a seat, inside or outside...lunch time or dinner time, (not open for breakfast).  Food was hot (except for the desert area at COCOs), tasty and the whole venue was just a delight.

 

Specialty Dining.....I had 5 SD dinners, I used 4.  I also had dinner at Hudsons (free) on the last night of the cruise because I wanted to experience as much as I could in as many of the dining venues as I could. The rest of my dinners were in the Haven restaurant.  Cagney's, Onda, Food Republic and Los Lobos.  Haven restaurant is indeed probably the best on the ship, but the margins were slim compared to the Specialty Dining venues.  In brief, everything was prepared well, served promptly and with a smile, very tasty.  Favorite would probably be a tie between the Los Lobos fish dish and the Prime Rib in the Haven.  Least favorite was the Lobster Bisque, again in the Haven.  Little too salty with 3 fingernail sized pieces of Lobster.  Aside from that, all of it was great. If you want to see the pics of the food, it's earlier in the thread.  

 

DRINKS

 

Had FAS.  It covered everything I wanted.  I have no need for what NCL considers Top Shelf liquors.  Fact is, I did try and extra upcharge Gin....NCL's own brand "66".  Michelle, our Haven bartender would wink at me when she served it to me and put her finger to her lips.  She never charged me for it.  I was good.  Buffalo Trace, 1792, Stella Artois, Blue Moon, Budweiser, Tangurey,Titos....everyhting else I liked was included.  And, none of the drinks I ordered, regardless of where I ordered it, included a generous pour....probably closer to a double than a single shot.

 

Usually started my day with a Bloody Mary....couple of beers in the afternoon, pre-dinner bourbon, a beer with dinner and a smoky old fashion or two to end the day.

 

EXCURSIONS

 

Frankly, I had been to all these ports before...many times.  Not meaning to sound flippant, but I've seen the ruins, been snorkeling, zip lined, went ATV-ing and hung out at the beaches, and done just about every other excursion short of the really high buck ones.  Plus, with a sore, gimpy foot, I was not much in the mood for long walking tours.  I did do an electric boat tour in Costa Maya.That was totally covered by the excursion credit of FAS.  And, I hired a taxi in Cozumel who took me on (yet another) tour of the area.    The rest of the time I just enjoyed the ship.

 

SERVICE

 

I don't know how many more superlatives I can possibly offer to the crew of the Prima.  Again, hard to complain about the Haven. At different times there were at least 2 concierges, sometimes as many as 4.  They were all headed by Lyster.  He was a clone of Adrian, who we've waxed poetically about in CC.  He was just everywhere making sure we were having a good time. He was the one who arranged a tour of the bridge for me.  

 

My Butler, Walter, was there for me every day, brining ice for my foot, bringing snacks, replenishing the coffee machine and just genuinely seemed concerned for my well being by checking on me whenever he saw I was in my cabin.  Rommel the Cabin Steward was, as mentioned, a Ninja steward.  He never let my cabin get unkept.  Didn't see him do it, but he did it.  Granted, I am not a "needy" person.  I don't ask for much. All my "wants/needs" I communicated pre-cruise with the pre-cruise concierge.  Pillows?  Snacks?  No sparkling wine wanted?  No "gummy bear" snacks?  Etc?  All taken care of.  Anything I could think of that I needed/wanted, they took care of.  I did not make one reservation myself.  

 

Bars and restaurants.  I guess the biggest compliment I can give is that I never waited long for anything...drinks, food, etc.  Everything was open and fully functional when they were supposed to be open and functional.  Smiles abound.  

 

Not sure where to put this, so I'll enter it here.  As good as the crew was, I chronicled doing a face plant on the ground at the entrance of The Local.  The entrance was wet.  I get it.  It's a ship sailing the sea.  There will be water in a bunch of places.  I hit the water puddle (it was evening, so I didn't see it), feet came out from under me, and I hit the deck.  There was a waiter passing by the door as I did my little ballet move.  He looked, didn't offer to help, and only said "you need to go to medical on deck 12" as I attempted to right myself.  A hand as I got up would have been nice.  But, maybe they're trained to not assist in these matters because of liability issues.  Who knows?

 

Anyway, I did hobble to Medical.  By this time, it was clear that something was wrong as my foot swelled as did my hand which I used to cushion the fall.  Instead of aid, I was confronted with a barrage of questions meant more to absolve them of fault than to treat me. I was hurting and probably not in the best of moods, but the obvious answer was the floor was wet.  I slipped on it.  They seemed to want to find another reason why I fell instead of the obvious.  They wanted me to sign a waiver.  Not sure why, but I refused.  They wanted me to sign a form stating I was responsible for any charges for treatment.  I refused.  They wanted me to take a breathalyzer.  I refused.

 

 I had exactly one beer at that point.  I was not drunk.  Even though I had cruise medical insurance, I didn't know what they would or wouldn't cover, except for emergency treatment and/or evacuation.  I was not going to give them any reason to try to say it was my fault and absolve them.  I was not looking for anything other than to see if I had broken anything.

 

To exacerbate the situation they insisted I talk to security.  Same questions.  Plus, they even took pictures of my shoes.  I took them to the entrance to The Local where the fall occurred.  The water was still there.  Security became exasperated because I couldn't keep up with his swift pace.

 

No one would admit to seeing my fall.  I know several of them observed it.  I guess the "don't get involved" mind set is something that permeates and is probably a function of how NCL views these situations.

 

All-in-all, it was a couple of hours from the time I hit Medical to I finally left Security at The Local.

 

They did not charge me for X-Rays of both of my feet, both of my knees and my hand.  They gave me the "strong" prescription version of Tylenol.  They wrapped my ankle, gave me a cane and sent me on my way.  They charged me for nothing.  So, I guess there's that. Don't know how much more they could have done.  But, still.....giving me the 3rd degree while ignoring the obvious?  C'mon NCL.  You can do better, a lot better.

 

(To be continued)

[david_sobe]

But did you see any cookies?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😆

Edited February 11 by david_sobe

[david_sobe]

So glad you were not charged for xrays.  Did you submit any claim to your insurance just in case?  Sounds like you had a good time except for the fall.

[graphicguy]

33 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

So glad you were not charged for xrays.  Did you submit any claim to your insurance just in case?  Sounds like you had a good time except for the fall.

No…didn’t submit anything.  NCL didn’t even provide a receipt or a printout of the treatment.  They only said nothing was broken.

 

It WAS a wonderful cruise.  Will have entertainment and final thoughts upcoming…and more pics!

[graphicguy]

39 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

But did you see any cookies?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😆

There were cookies…chocolate chip, as a matter of fact!  They were good!

[david_sobe]

15 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

There were cookies…chocolate chip, as a matter of fact!  They were good!

I knew it!!!

[Travelicious]

On 2/7/2024 at 5:37 PM, graphicguy said:

I was actually typing a response while someone at the bar with me was talking.  Phone picked it up.  I didn’t proof read, which I rarely do.  

 

And that post was the result!

 

Or, I am having cruise end withdrawals

 

Or, I have been consuming a wee bit of bourbon!

 

😁😉🙃

Good to know.  I just thought you had over-indulged.

[graphicguy]

4 hours ago, Travelicious said:

Good to know.  I just thought you had over-indulged.

Nope.  I just slipped and fell in a puddle of water!

[graphicguy]

My friend @mking8288 wanted to know about disembarkation.  I had a couple cups of coffee in my cabin, grabbed some fruit and a croissant from the restaurant, and was escorted by Lyster, the concierge off at 8:30.  I was off the ship and in this immigration line by 8:45.  I’ll never understand not having enough port or immigration help to process 3,000 guests!  It’s not like they didn’t know we were coming.

 

Disembarkation was quick and easy-peezy.  Immigration took a bit longer.

[Fogfog]

Immigration could go faster with tech. There  are the face scanners which already exist..and they know who is on the ship.

And global entry- which many of us have.

We've been on ships where the ports divide US vs other, or EU vs other lines. 

Really this could go better...

 

Maybe if everyone just climbed over the walls and walked through ? 🙃

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, Fogfog said:

Immigration could go faster with tech. There  are the face scanners which already exist..and they know who is on the ship.

And global entry- which many of us have.

We've been on ships where the ports divide US vs other, or EU vs other lines. 

Really this could go better...

 

Maybe if everyone just climbed over the walls and walked through ? 🙃

Galveston has the facial recognition scanners for those who used a passport.  

[debenson0723]

Unlike airports, I have never arrived in a US port that uses Global Entry...and I have disembarked in NYC, Miami and LA in the past 18 months. And like @Liljo22mentioned, they all used facial recognition scanners for immigration. Scan off the ship and just walk thru without showing your passport.

[Fogfog]

So if Galveston has facial recognition...why is this backed up?

Does it divide US citizens vs other?

[UKstages]

i have global entry and have never been able to use it after disembarkation. when it first launched for cruise ships, i believe it was only available in fort lauderdale, port everglades. i don’t think they have expanded the number of ports since.

[Liljo22]

14 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

So if Galveston has facial recognition...why is this backed up?

Does it divide US citizens vs other?

They divide it between passports and people using DLs.  The back up is probably because they called too many groups.  Same thing happened on our Prima cruise.