rmfortin

Hi, @laudergayle -- I know you weren't asking *us* for info, but I can say we *loved* staying at Harbor House in Galveston. It is walking distance from not only the cruise port (assuming a 5-10 minute walk is within your abilities), but the rooms are *huge* and the staff is really friendly and helpful. 

We disembarked Prima at 9:30 and had booked Harbor House for a post-cruise stay. Even though we could not "officially" check in until 4pm, we stopped by early and they let us leave our luggage in the lobby...and called us (while we were sightseeing) at around 11am to let us know our room was ready for check in a full 5 hours early...with no early check-in fee applied.

They also have a *huge* rack of "beach bicycles" available (with locks) to use free of charge, and they allowed us to use them even after we checked out for the entire afternoon, with no problem (all while allowing our luggage to remain in the lobby prior to our Galveston Express shuttle to IAH at 4pm). We were able to see almost all of Galveston in an afternoon cruising around on these bikes. 

Full disclosure: it is not the cheapest place to stay in Galveston. But if convenience, location and customer service are your priority (like it is for us), it's hard to beat. 

If you have time, the Mooney House tour was really impressive and interesting...the online audio tour was well done and the docents there are very helpful and engaged. The history of the home is very interesting (if you are into that type of thing). But do *not* go through Groupon or other discount sites for your tickets, as the entry fee is actually *less* at the house than it is online. 

Airport-wise, Houston Hobby is closer to Galveston than Bush Intercontinental, but is much smaller...our shuttle actually picked someone up at Hobby before continuing to Bush (IAH) to drop us all off. I would say they are at most 20 minutes apart, so go with whichever is best for you itinerary-/cost-wise. And a quick unsponsored plug for Galveston Express--their shuttles are very nice and new (Mercedes) vans, and the drivers are communicative, time-aware, and helpful. Customer service is very good, too--I was a little worried about having time at the airport to get to our gate, and they quickly and easily rescheduled us on an hour-earlier shuttle only a day beforehand (which they did *not* technically have to do based on the "customer agreement" I agreed to when I reserved our spots). Just keep in mind that there is a good amount of construction on I-45 (which is about the only way to get to *either* airport from Galveston), so check with your shuttle service/Uber/Lyft to make sure you will have enough time for check-in, TSA, boarding, etc.

Safe travels--we're sure you'll have a great time! Ross/Paula, Chicago

Hi, @seemoreroyals -- Probably easiest to comment within your original quote below!

50 minutes ago, seemoreroyals said:

@rmfortinWhat did you get at Palomar?  Maybe we ordered the wrong thing there.  Two of us ordered the dover sole, wife had the sea bass, and out other friend had a steak.  All three of us that ordered the seafood dishes were dissatisfied.  Must have been pretty good to finish ahead of Los Lobos. 

We actually switched our original specialty dining reservation last-minute from Cagney's to Palomar b/c we had heard from *several* other cruisers that the "turf" at Palomar was actually better than Cagney's...and I 100% agree with that. Two of the four of us had the filet mignon, which was excellent (that is saying a lot since that's not my favorite cut of beef by a long shot). Paula had the Festoni (scallops and clams), and absolutely loved it...and she's squarely in "scallop snob" territory, so I trust her judgement. With that said, we did *not* dine at Onda during our sailing, so it's hard to say it would've surpassed our Palomar experience or not. Frankly, we thought using a specialty dining credit for Italian was not good value-for-money, but I think that on our next Prima cruise in Jan 2025, we'll try Onda for sure based on all the great reviews we are seeing.

 

While the "show" at Hasuki wound have been better received if we had some 4 year olds in our group we all thought the food was pretty good there.  

Like I said, it's not that it was not good--it definitely was really good food--but it was not show-stopping in either quality or "show". I have to wonder if my own rating would've been higher if the overall dynamic in the room was higher "energy" and chef/diner engagement. And to be fair, maybe we had unrealistic expectations since it was our first specialty dining of the sail--on sailaway night, no less.

 

We also thought it was a bit strange the times that complimentary eateries were open.  There was one day we really wanted to try lunch at Hudson's and it was at 11:30 and it was not open yet.  It was the day they had Monte Cristos on the menu. 

We found the same with Hudson's, and were surprised that the lines started forming 30 minutes before it opened. Crazy for a MDR! FYI, I subjected my previously-mentioned cholesterol levels to the Monte Cristo as well as the Local's ruben...I would like to tell you that you didn't miss anything...but I cannot tell a lie. 🙂

 

When we did our post cruise survey we tried to let them know about our feelings about the strange hours that the free dining options were open.  Not a very good survey by the way.  The way the survey is designed unless you give the worst response possible they do not give you a chance to expand upon your experiences they were questioning with the survey.

We tried to do the same, and I agree the survey makes it hard to be (constructively) critical. Frankly, I grabbed a couple of the "Dear Marc" sheets ahead of time while still onboard, in hopes that it might be more impactful than the post-cruise survey. We were lucky enough to have him host the officer's dinner during our cruise, and he seemed to genuinely listen to our (verbal) feedback and take any criticism we had personally.

 

Prior to taking this cruise I spent quite a bit of time researching experiences by others who had previously sailed on Prima.  I can now understand why there is such a wide variation of responses to Prima.  In some ways it was the best ever.  In other ways it was severely lacking.  The post cruise survey is one way NCL can improve in areas where they need to improve. 

Sounds like we are cut from the same cloth...I booked our cruise in January of 2023 and spent the next 11 months researching every aspect of the ship. We spent a fair amount of time meeting/talking to other cruisers (usually in one of the Infinity pools, lol), and I agree that it is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it vessel...and opinions were almost exactly 50/50 on that scale. What frustrates me--and I hope they take our feedback to heart--is that the issues with this ship are *easily* fixable. No need to send it to dry dock to add/refurbish venues (though I am encouraged that Aqua will be 10% bigger,and that the 4th Prima class ship will be a full 20%-25% larger). During our cruise, I just kept reminding myself this is a "quirky" ship that is unlike any other, and whenever something frustrated us with our experience, we only had to go back to our *incredible* (standard) balcony cabin to appreciate one of the many Prima positives (I thought our cabin, balcony and bathroom size were *incredible* for the price). We'll be back on her a little over a year from now and cannot wait...if only to see how things have changed (hopefully for the better).

 

Frankly, I don't know if they spend much time focusing on the issues that many cruisers consider shortcomings.  I am sure they are aware of them, and they are now baked in.  They have decided for whatever reason to leave things as is.  It is a shame because there appear ti be easy solutions to many of these issues that diminish the potential of what Prima has to offer.

Absolutely agree. A concern I have is that our NCL cruise consultant told me on our last "planning" call that they are already something like 70% booked for 2024 across all ships! If that's the case, my fear is that NCL will have little reason to change what's "broken" based on feedback. Only until reservations/capacity/revenue drops will our concerns be taken seriously.

 

 

@lilijo we agree the availability of included food is a definite miss on NCL's part.

Simple example: My wife went out on several occasions to find just a plain ol' apple/orange/banana, and came up empty. At one point she went all the way up to the buffet, saw a bowl of fruit sitting out at one of the stations, but was told she could not have any b/c that station was closed. Fortunately one of the chefs walked past her conversation with the hostess, and he simply grabbed the bowl and brought it over to my wife to pick from. I don't know what 'policies' NCL has in place that discourage many staff from 'bending the rules' even slightly for so simple a request as an apple, but it's those little things that stick in customers' minds (at least they stick in ours).

We were most disappointed in the weird hours for Indulge. On many occasions it didn't open for lunch until 1pm, and a few times until 2! It always seemed like we were either 30 minutes too early to eat there, or they were rushing us to order because they were closing. Frankly, we often ended up at The Local, despite the limited menu. The hours were the best by far, thewait was never more than 5 minutes tops--we usually wanted to eat outside, which helped shorten the wait, oddly-- the service was quick and efficient, and the food quality was consistent. Unfortunately, my cholesterol levels have probably not recovered from the steady dose of those Local reubens I inflicted on myself!

Finally, my ranking of our specialty dining: 1. Palomar, 2. Food Republic, 3. Los Lobos, 4. Le Bistro, 5. Hasuki

None were bad per se, but frankly our Le Bistro server made us feel like second class citizens because we were there on our dining package and not purchasing a la carte, and Hasuki was typical hibachi fare we could get at home...including the 'show'. There weren't a ton of folks there that night, and the energy level of both staff and diners just wasn't great...lesson learned!

FWIW, we were on the 14-day repositioning cruise from NYC to Galveston just before your cruise. There were two signficant rotations of crew during our sailing, and it sounds like maybe having a good number of "fresh" crew members helped make the service even better for you all.

That's not to say our cruise suffered from poor service--quite the opposite! But there were clearly more than a few crew who were burned out and counting the days until they disembarked for home...especially the bar staff poolside and in The Local, who I would generally categorize as being "professional but curt". Conversely, the Whiskey Bar staff were absolutely the best in terms of friendliness, rapport and competence, and we regretted not finding this gem earlier in our cruise!

Disembarkation was a bit of a mess for our sailing, too...Alvin was definitely announcing the color groups far too close together, and Deck 6 was somewhat chaotic for us as well. He also kept reiterating we should have our passports out and ready, but upon reaching the customs area, the terminal had people telling us to put them away (b/c they used facial recognition for verification). I'm guessing maybe he only told us to have passports out to reduce the number of cruisers who would forget them in the room otherwise...

Prima captain just cancelled our stop in Grand Cayman today...wind speeds in excess of 40 mph world make tendering too dangerous. 

Weather is highly overcast and (obviously) windy, so finding a deck chair may actually be possible today.  😁

Onward to Cozumel.

On 12/8/2023 at 6:52 PM, mking8288 said:

@rmfortin and @seemoreroyals  I must be having vision issues, earlier reply/post about the Christmas decorations gone / disappeared.  

 

NCL incorrectly shipped the decorations to TX instead of NY for transfer to the Prima last Friday - that's the reason for seeing nothing onboard currently.  Someone in logistics failed their mission but should be there by next week at the end of the repo ...whether it's their own transport, UPS/FedEx or DHL, even USPS Ground Advantage should be able to help NCL with the missing holiday decorations, etc. If not, maybe Amazon Logistics can give NCL a helping hand to ship things around the holidays.  Ross, they are treating Paula & you fine as predicted, enjoy the little things with your 35th anniversary celebrations.  

 

Nieces confirmed that the Getaway already has the ship decorated yesterday and no issues whatsoever.  

 

You got the straight story, @mking8288Henry... came back from our walk around Aruba to see these decorations. They were continuing to put them up everywhere throughout the day/evening...theater, outside the casino, etc.

Marc S. was roamng deck 8 while we were taking these photos down on 6 and yelled down that they just  got them delivered in Aruba and that they were originally sent to the wrong port. So I guess all's well that ends well. 

The deco is understated but beautiful. 

There have been two crew swaps on this cruise,  and frankly the general attitude and demeanor in general seems to have improved. Bartenders are still the least friendly crew, with a couple notable exceptions. Commodore waitstaff still the best, though they moved our favorite waiter to The Local yesterday in a move that will completely waste his kindness, charisma and ability to connect with his diners. Thought about mentioning it to Marc or Zafer next time we see them, but not sure it's our business to meddle in staffing moves like that...I assume they have logical, necessary reasons for shifting staff to completely different venues. 

Overall trip had been great...weather mostly cooperating, highs mid-80s. Late leaving only out of San Juan, learned that Prima got a new anchor delivered there, but whoever was hired to install it brought a too-small crane! 

Will post more when Paula doesn't need the premium wifi for work...cabin crawl in a couple hours so may get some pics from that to share as well.  

--Ross

Hi @seemoreroyals... you are correct, no decorations at all as of today. Sporadic Christmas music... sometimes in the cabin hallways but not by the elevators, sometimes in the atrium but not in the dining venues. 

Was readily apparent today in Curacao docked next to the Rotterdam, which was thoroughly decked out, including a Santa in his sleigh with reindeer  hanging between the stacks. 

Not sure if NCL is trying to be religiously neutral, or holding out till the 'real' holiday cruise(s) start after ours to put up the decorations. But it is noticeable in its absence, and perhaps the biggest disappointment of the cruise thus far. We're hoping maybe they will go up next week, but not terribly optimistic.

--Ross

Hi @mking8288 Henry--Apologies for the 'crickets' as we are still knocking the rust off our cruising chops and just trying to keep up with everyone and everything happening onboard. We were so sorry to hear you didn't (re)join us in NYC, and hope all is/will be well for you soon.

With the caveat that any semi-live I would post will be from a prodigal cruiser's perspective, I can certainly try my best to capture the overall situation on the repo cruise leg of what would've been your B2B.

Without spoiling the plot, I will say we have seen little/any of the service issues you've  described at length. But we've had conversations with several staff that might at least partially explain the polar opposite shift we are experiencing. More to come. 

I will figure out how to set up my own semi-live posting topic as soon as I can in the morning, pre-San Juan. It will certainly pale in comparison to your posts in every way...photo quantity/quality, in-depth analysis of every aspect of daily Prima experience.... but I will do my best. It's the least I can try to do for my CC mentor!

With that said, maybe @azcruise Janet & Mike can provide a more accurate comparison TA vs Repo. We met them at the M&G (obviously) and later in passing after dinner, and you are correct that they are very kind, knowledgeable, and helpful... so glad to have met them!

More details soon...typing this in between courses at Le Bistro and desert is on the way,  so full attention is required. 😁

--Ross

49 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

Sorry to see that you're missing Bermuda today.

NYC was 25 degrees this morning with a biting wind.  5AM arrival?  No thanks!

Not going to lie, I was thinking of trying to get photos of Prima departing Friday afternoon because an unfortunate error on my part wiped out all the original full res photos I had of my trip last year.  I even put the external views of the ship in that same folder!

But thanks to your thread, I know they are doing a full Coast Guard inspection when she arrives in NYC.  On a normal day NCL never sticks to their departure times from NYC.  And with this inspection?  Forgetaboutit!

Darn...thanks for that heads-up, @PistolPete13, because it looks like we might be at our res in Hasuki for sail away on Friday. 😪 Rookie mistake! -- Ross/Paula, Chicago 

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Are you going to be awake at 5 AM off Hylan Blvd this Friday with your tele-photo lens to capture us coming into NY Bay 😁    On a more serious note, tablets used in Indulge FC are fine, but as noted by @cruiseny4life - the ones in FR are more sluggish & slow to respond. 

 

Ross & Paula, ship is basically at full occupancy but not lifeboat max, busy at MDR at peak times. We'll check out Indulge tonight & post our findings - best to go there & dine early as otherwise it filled up quickly.  Once in warmer weather by Monday afternoon, sit outside & order food from there as those extra seating will alleviate the crowds, try the shady side to steer away from the sunbathers plus the lounger hogs.

Thanks for the update/info @mking8288 Henry--really appreciate all the insights and photos you've taken the time to post and share with everyone.

FYI, we will be staying just a few blocks from the terminal on Friday morning, and frankly, I'm sure I'll be awake well before 5am on embarkation day if you want someone to capture you coming in to port. Still negotiating which lenses I can borrow for the trip with our videographer/photographer son, but tell me where you'll be on deck and I'll do my best to capture the moment (I'm assuming you will be up and waving, right? 😁)

Seriously--see you soon and safe travels the rest of the way! -- Ross

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Best regards & thanks @bluesea777 ... haven't been to the Food Hall for dinner.  Useful info - appreciate the heads up, we got time since we are out of specialty dining credits on this sailing.  @rmfortin and @Rockyhill copy these insider's tips from CC friends yet top sail together.  And, got some catching up with all the semi/live reports lately, especially the Viva.

 

Home already on the islands - look like we're be across your front lawn (or is it backyard) early in the morning, might be looking toward Hamilton depending on how the ship is docked (starboard, midship for us)   Won't see any crew members off the ship for a quick shore leave into the parishes - all hands for crew training & drills in prep for Friday's arrival into NY, full USCG inspection for the ship after CBP clearing the officers, crews & pax ... public health & food safety, etc. 

Thanks for alerting us repo cruisers to this helpful info from the TA cruise, @mking8288 Henry. Just curious:  do you know whether this cruise was at/near capacity? I only ask b/c I was surprised to read that Indulge was relatively empty for dinner,  since it seems to be a favorite food venue among vloggers and travel reviewers. And I must admit, I have a (hopefully irrational) fear that *everywhere* is crowded if/when this ship is full!

--Ross

Thanks all...I watched several (ok, TOO MANY) tour vids on Prima and other NCL ships and thought the same re: layout. I also noticed the Prima spa has no hot tub per se, though it looked like Breakaway class spas *do*.

I think we will take our chances without upgrading and save it for one of the ships with a better spa layout, and hopefully can find someplace quiet on Prima that isn't elbow-to-elbow cruisers! First question I'm immediately asking when boarding: "Have any Vibe spots opened up?" 😁

Safe travels, everyone--Ross/Paula

5 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

I was in the spa balcony last month. We didn’t have any issues in the room, just in the thermal

spa with flying weights from up above. Let me

know if any actually put a hole in the ceiling. 

Lol, I appreciate the heads-up (literally 😁)!

Did you use the spa much... basically, was it worth having the room/access, esp. for the entire cruise (vs. one or more day passes)?

I was just thinking that it would save a good deal of dough to bid on a spa balcony for maybe $150-200, and if we got it,  it'd save a lot vs. the over $800 price tag for separate  spa passes. Hell, even the max bid amount is "only" $350!

Thanks again, @PhillyTravelBug--Ross/Paula

Hi @boots2.. did you end up upgrading to a Spa Balcony for your Prima cruise last December? If so, any advice/experience you can provide?

Looking to bid on an upgrade for our cruise this December, but I worry about fitness center noise/foot traffic, plus Galaxy Pavilion noise from above.

TIA! -- Ross, Chicago