Norwegian Prima - Review

 

Photo from ncl.com

We are seasoned Norwegian cruisers.  We've been on many Norwegian cruises, enough that we are now Platinum. Our preference is typically for smaller, somewhat older ships, as we enjoy port days and exploring new destinations. These smaller ships can access ports that larger, newer ships cannot.  Our review should be read with that lens.  

Norwegian Prima was the first ship built in the Prima class of ships.  It was built in 2022 and is now over two years old.  It can hold 3,099 guests.

Embarkation

Embarkation was simple and fairly quick.  We selected an arrival time , which they tell you would be strictly adhered to.  (we did not test this.) This meant that the crowd within the terminal building was very manageable. Once we checked in, received our pass card, we were given an embarkation number.  We then had to sit in the waiting room and wait until our group was called.  About 20 minutes later, our group number was called and we were ushered onboard.

We boarded on deck six but not right into the atrium. From there, before we could do anything else, we were sent right to our muster station where we had to check in.  We'd already watched the safety briefing twice, so this exercise was to show us where our muster station was in case of an emergency.  I must say this process is so much better than having to go through the old muster drill.

The Ship

photo from ncl.com

The ship is beautiful! It is comfortably modern and airy throughout. The Grand Atrium was understated elegant and was always hopping with something going on.  While seating was limited, a lot of it was difficult to sit on for long periods of time.  For the evening music they needed to bring in fold up chairs for people to sit on to enjoy the band.

The layout of the ship was awkward.  It didn't flow from front to back.  A lot of times we had to walk through one area to get to another. At the end of the 16 day-cruise we still didn't have a handle on the layout of the ship.

The outdoors was beautiful with lots of places to sit, but as this was a late-season trans-Atlantic cruise, we only managed to enjoy the outside decks a couple of times. There is a main pool, a separate pool for The Haven, and a few infinity hot tubs and infinity pools scattered around deck 17 and deck 8.

Dining

The buffet was very small - just on one half of the ship.  Because of that it was always crowded.  The food choices were relatively limited, but the food was good.

photo from ncl.com

There a couple of other eateries.  The Indulge Food Hall was a great concept. Sitting at a table, you order from a tablet from the different food counters and the food came right to the table. It was open for all meal times and the food was always good. The Local Bar and Grill was open 24/7, but seating was limited.

There are two main dining rooms.  One was busier than the other as it was at the back of the ship with the big picture windows.  We enjoyed most of the food we ate in the dining rooms.

photo from ncl.com

We ate at 5 different specialty restaurants and they were all very good, with the exception of Onda (Italian) which we didn't enjoy.

Lounges and Bars

While we aren't drinkers, we walked through the bars and lounges several times a day due to the layout of the ship.  As stated in a previous blog post, the Observation lounge was way too small and was always full with people.  It was very difficult to find a spot to sit as people were camped out there all day long, some even sitting on the floor.  In our 16 days onboard, we were never able to enjoy this area of the ship.

Activities

While there was always something going on, it was the same old stuff - trivia, bingo, canvas painting, line dancing. 

Experiences

photo from ncl.com

The experiences on the Prima are fantastic.  There was mini golf, pickleball, ping pong, shuffleboard, the bulls eye (darts), dry slides, wet slides, and a three-level race car track.  There's even an escape room! We were able to try out the slides, but due to the decks being closed because of weather, we didn't get to try out the rest.

photo from ncl.com

Entertainment

The entertainment on board was mediocre.  There were a couple of shows that were very good, but the others were time-fillers. The comedy club was always packed out (as it is on every ship we've been on) but the comedians repeated their material in every show. Syd Norman's was very popular, but always hard to find a spot to sit. (this seems to be a theme of the cruise.)

Cabins 

We had a balcony cabin on deck 11 mid-ship. The cabin was a standard layout, but very light and modern in decor. 

 The bathroom was a little larger than other ships we've been on and was also light and airy , with more than enough storage. 

The balcony was a standard balcony but furnished with lovely patio chairs that were cushioned.

The bed was very comfortable, as were the quality pillows.

Our only complaint with the rooms was that there was no drawer space for clothes.  The closet had enough shelf space for the two of us to unpack, but it would have been a stretch for more than two people. We were grateful that previous occupants had left behind a lot of plastic hangers which meant that we could hang a lot of our clothes.

Our cabin was also an adjoining cabin, so there was an inner door connecting to the room next door.  While this wasn't the first time we've had an adjoining cabin, this was the first time we could clearly hear the people next door ... even though they weren't being overly loud (except at 3 am when they couldn't sleep and had their music playing). 

Service

We had the best room steward that we've ever had. Courtney was always available and attentive to our needs.  I like to think that we aren't needy passengers, but she was always there for anything we needed, and was always happy to assist us.

Other staff were all fantastic as well.  

We only had one negative experience and that was with someone on the customer service desk. I always like to give them some grace as I'm sure they get a lot of grumpy people!

 

Summing it up

We would absolutely sail on Norwegian Prima again. While we were a little bored on the 5-day crossing, we would be prepared to keep ourselves entertained during sea-days. The ship is beautiful, the food is good, the experiences amazing. The annoyances of the disjointed layout can be easily overlooked and good weather would certainly ease the lack of seating in a lot of the areas.