I recently had the chance to re-sail the now 8-month-old NCL Prima on the 7-day cruise from NYC to Bermuda. There have been so many hate-love comments made about this ship, I wanted to see it once again with more open eyes. After spending another 7 days on the ship I can certainly see both points of view!
The Lovers-It’s a new ship and who would not like to sail on a new ship with some very nice concepts and design ideas that make it unique. As it has definitely been designed for a warm weather cruise with the Ocean Walk outdoor area that wraps around the entire 8th deck. This features things like the 2 side infinity pools, outdoor seating for all the specialty restaurants on that deck, outdoor seating for Indulge Food Hall, and the Outdoor Sculpture garden, with plenty of different styles of deck seating. The deck seating is as simple as laydown chairs, large 2 persons day beds, and even hanging swinging round beds. There are even 2 self-serve bars that allow you to swipe your cabin card with beers, sodas, and wine by the glass.
Moving to the interior of the ship it also provides lots of unique design eye-pleasing areas. The 3 story atrium is open, bright (maybe too bright in the evenings), and spreads out the shops, guest services, excursion desk, internet cafe, and cruise next desk around these atrium decks. There are even 2 bars and a Starbucks in the mix with plenty of lounge seating including larger gaming tables for those types of portable games. It is also used as a nightly venue for entertainment that carries through all 3 decks, although you can only see it from the lowest deck 6.
Continuing on Deck 8 around the inside of the ship with the top level of the atrium, you can proceed aft and you will encounter the areas designated as The Local Bar and Grill where you can get food 24 hours per day and is considered the sports bar on the ship. Going all the way aft is where the Indulge Food Hall is located with limited seating inside during peak hours, but again there is more outside available…….depending on the weather. I did notice that there are above-table flat panel heaters to help on those cold days, but even during an April Bermuda cruise, it was simply too cool to enjoy your meal outside.
The complete opposite end or forward part of the ship is the 3rd level to the Prima Theater with seating also on Decks 7 and 6 below. Speaking about the new Prima Theater and Club as it is called, is a unique new concept as well, with the ability to move all the seating back off the main floor and create a club atmosphere. The stage and screen are very large and make for an excellent place to do the Deal or No Deal games and the Price is Right. Since the venue is somewhat smaller, the attendees do get a closer upfront view of the shows. I saw Donna Summer production show again and it is a great show!
Since we started in the middle of the ship let us move upward to the upper decks. Decks 8-16 are designated cabin decks with the Studio Solos concept on 12, Mandarine Spa and Health Club are on 16, and Deck 17 becomes the first deck with open public spaces again. The main pool is located here as well as the Surfside Cafe Buffet and several specialty restaurants like Food Republic and Palomar. The Buffet is the Haters’ pet peeve, so I will discuss this later. Meanwhile, the Palomar restaurant is a fantastic new seafood concept that I just loved! The real positive area on Deck 17 is the Observation Lounge which goes around the front of the ship with its own bar area.
Now just up one deck is the new Outdoor Stadium concept that provides access to the 3-level go carts track, mini golf, darts rooms, shuffleboard, ping pong, foosball, paddle ball, etc. Once again mostly free, however, on a cold windy day not the most fun place to be!
Jumping back down to Deck 7 you find the pleasing aft-facing main dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows and a pleasant decor to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. Le Bistro is also on this deck and is very appealing with its large “floor” unique chandeliers. Deck 6 wraps things up with the 2nd main dining room, Commodore Room, The Casino, and the last specialty restaurant Cagneys Steakhouse.
I would be remiss if I did not mention The Lovers do love the new redesign of the cabins with the lighter colors and larger bathroom, especially the shower with a fabulous new show head design!
The Haters. I guess the same reason that people love the 8th deck; many do not like it because of the lack of indoor seating especially during peak hours when everyone is on board. I have to admit I spent 30 minutes on a cold day trying to find a seat in Indulge or the Local; settling on the main dining room which was not my first choice. Then the smaller infinity pools on this deck do fill up on those warm sunny days! While I understand the concept of this ship was to provide more intimate areas, it does not work when everyone wants to enjoy the pools on a sea day!
Entertainment Venues are probably the biggest complaint and I did not realize this until I returned to see as a comparison how small the main Prima Theater really is! Unless you schedule in advance show attendance you are definitely not getting in! With a capacity of 3100 passengers, why would you build a theater this small when the one on my recent cruise on the Jewel with 2376 passengers was 2x as large?? This certainly did not make any sense to me and is a definite design flaw.
This same capacity issue comes up in the other 2 entertainment venues Syd Normans and Improv Theater whereby passengers need to wait up to an hour beforehand to get in?? Really not acceptable and I refused to do this, so I never was able to enjoy any shows in those venues.
While I mentioned the overall size of the Atrium Lobby was fantastic, however, if you wanted to be on Deck 6 to really see and enjoy the entertainment, you are very limited to any close and intimate seating. Then this ship does not have any Piano entertainment anywhere?? Was the entertainment venue designer a piano hater? It is always enjoyable to hear the piano in the Atriums of other ships as it echoes around the ship. I missed those great entertainment venues like Bliss Ultra Lounge, Spinnaker Observation Lounge, or Magnums. Even the Prima observation lounge does not have any entertainment!
Now everyone’s favorite place to eat on most cruise ships is the Buffet and in this case, the Surfside Buffet is a big disappointment! Not only in terms of size and selections, but the seating is also minimal. You are allowed to overflow to the Palomar restaurant and the Food Republic, but it is not the same cruise ship buffet anymore. After my 10-day and 7-day cruises, I can say that I NEVER ate in the buffet. Not that it is my favorite place anyway, but it was a quick option on shore excursion days. Do not sail on this ship if you are a buffet lover, you will certainly be disappointed.
I see some comments online about the elevator service, but it was never a problem for me even with a full ship. The only odd thing is that there is no bank of elevators aft because that is where Haven is located and they have their own set of private elevators. This means midship is the only place to find them if you are coming from the aft with 8 elevators and then further up front two sets of 6 elevators in the next forward elevator lobby. I did notice that one of those elevators never worked the whole time on the last cruise.
Of course, if you are coming to the Prima for the first time, it is an impressive ship and you will take home your own share of memories I believe the pluses far out weight the minuses. I only trust the NCL will take some of their passengers’ comments and make slight adjustments in the upcoming next 5 ships in this class. The VIVA is due out later this summer and I hope to be surprised that NCL takes opinions seriously!
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