Not Quite Live from the Not-so Inaugural Prima with Freestyle Dailies

[ColdCruise]

NCL Prima Amsterdam to Copenhagen 3-13 September 2022

 

Our NCL cruise consultant sold us on this “ inaugural “ cruise of the much anticipated Prima. Unfortunately for our plans for a special cruise, the NCL corporation announced at end of July they would be sailing the prior week from Reykjavik to Amsterdam on a special “insiders & influencers “ cruise which turned out to be the whole inaugural celebration.

 

So instead of leaving Amsterdam in a celebratory splash, we slunk away in the middle of the night (Amsterdam waterfront was still kicking at 3:30am)

 

Posting video and Day 1 Freestyle Daily next:

[ColdCruise]

Day 1 Freestyle Daily (Embarkation Day in Amsterdam):

 

[ColdCruise]

The ship’s main sign

[ColdCruise]

Lunch at Indulge Food Hall - great outdoor seating, food hit or miss (per our selections).

Lunch Menu

 

[ColdCruise]

Lunch actualized:

French onion soup - good flavor if unusual presentation

smoked sausage -  potato salad & pickle were tasty, sausage ok

pulled pork - very good flavor all round if a bit skimpy with the pork (did not do more than cover the bun) & winner of the flavor sweepstakes this meal

Missing from photos :

    - chili - not very flavorful 

    - smoked turkey breast - dry, no real smoke flavor, light drizzle of BBQ sauce & loser of the flavor sweepstakes at this meal.

Edited September 6, 2022 by ColdCruise
Added food description

[ColdCruise]

And Day 1 Sustainable Drink of the Day:

 

[ColdCruise]

Wine Menu at Hudson’s (MDR) - dinner menu is basically the same at both MDRs for duration of cruise, will post later.

 

Wine Steward said they were out of the #236 Sauvignon Blanc & #456 Malbec

[ColdCruise]

 

 

 

[ColdCruise]

A sampling of the dinner options from Hudson’s ( one of the MDRs):

 

Beet & watermelon salad - very good

veal cutlet with asparagus & hollandaise ( minus the crab) - unexpected preparation with the cubed veal and brown sauce (confirmed same sauce even with the crab)

Honey crème brûlée - delicious & rich

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by ColdCruise

[uneamie]

1 hour ago, ColdCruise said:

Lunch actualized:

French onion soup - good flavor if unusual presentation

smoked sausage -  potato salad & pickle were tasty, sausage ok

pulled pork - very good flavor all round if a bit skimpy with the pork (did not do more than cover the bun) & winner of the flavor sweepstakes this meal

Missing from photos :

    - chili - not very flavorful 

    - smoked turkey breast - dry, no real smoke flavor, light drizzle of BBQ sauce & loser of the flavor sweepstakes at this meal.

Thank you for pics of your meal. I have to say that French Onion Soup looks dismal...no cheese on top, unless you ate it before the pic. LOL  The other meals do not look very appetizing either. Maybe you just picked things I would not have so I won't judge it. Awesome pics for the Freestyle Daily..I will be saving it. Our cruise on Prima is in May to Bermuda. Looking forward to it. I hope you enjoyed yours. 

[ColdCruise]

23 minutes ago, uneamie said:

Thank you for pics of your meal. I have to say that French Onion Soup looks dismal...no cheese on top, unless you ate it before the pic. LOL  The other meals do not look very appetizing either. Maybe you just picked things I would not have so I won't judge it. Awesome pics for the Freestyle Daily..I will be saving it. Our cruise on Prima is in May to Bermuda. Looking forward to it. I hope you enjoyed yours. 

You’re welcome @uneamie

The cheese was there - a sprinkling of grated parm. Most of the dishes are not repeats for us.

 

Our cruise ends the 13th, but overall we’re enjoying the beautiful new ship (despite a few warts) and we just completed our first (IMO) real port day in Warnemunde!   The itinerary changed a few times and our planning is out the window, but still excited about the Baltic ports … this is my year to finally visit the Baltics having just spent 2 weeks in Norway earlier this summer.

 

I'm sure by the time May rolls around, Prima’s crew will have worked out some kinks and this ship is perfect for warm weather cruising - fantastic outdoor areas which I’ll be posting about later.

Edited September 6, 2022 by ColdCruise

[ColdCruise]

[ColdCruise]

On 9/7/2022 at 1:23 AM, ColdCruise said:

Sorry -this must have had an upload issue.

Beef Wellington at Hudson’s - tender on the outside, not so much on the inside. Very good flavor, esp the mushroom duxelles .

[ColdCruise]

Amsterdam waterside views at 0300 (3am) while awaiting departure. Will have to load the video later as it times out over cell.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by ColdCruise

[ColdCruise]

Amsterdam waterside views at 0300 (3am) while awaiting departure. Will have to load the video later as it times out over cell.

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[ColdCruise]

And some of the large sculptural pieces on deck 

[ColdCruise]

Sculptural  pieces above (post #16) are located on Deck 8 in the outdoor Ocean Boulevard Sculpture Garden. We wandered through that while awaiting cast off time.

[ColdCruise]

Day 2 was a full sea day as Prima navigated a leisurely course from Amsterdam around the Danish peninsula to Kiel, 🇩🇪. Cruising speeds during the day seemed to hover around 18 knots in very calm water. Speeds checked on the in room navigation screen. 

[ColdCruise]

Day 2 Freestyle 

 

[ColdCruise]

Latitudes Platinum rewards benefits

 

we used the sea day to work in these benefits

 

1 Priority Embarkation -

This worked like a charm as long as we were persistent in asserting our status to each person in the embarkation process. First person we encountered in the embarkation center tried to direct us to the holding area, rows of seating for people waiting their turn to get in the 2 long processing lines. Persistently stating our status (“No, we have Priority Biarding”)  without being shrill or demanding, got us to priority check-in and onboard within about 15 minutes.

 

2 Behind the Scene ship tour -

This was not offered, ostensibly due to COVID. However I’ll note COVID didn’t seem to hinder packing the theater for the Price Is Right show and multiple showings of the Donna Summer musical. 

That was very disappointing since Prima is first in her class and incorporates a bunch of new technologies. The new mid-ship engine placement has been cool to observe as it basically spins the ship in place - a great enhancement fir docking!

 

 

3 Latitudes Wines Around the World tasting 

Limited to 100 and apparently almost if not fully booked prior to embarkation day on 3 September. Was informed the guest list came from “shore side”. Can’t believe they think there’s only 100 Latitudes members aboard who might be interested. 

If you are interested in this try to register before embarkation - obviously I don't know the process, so hopefully it’s elsewhere in the forum or someone will share here.
 

4 Cocktail Reception with officers 

Invitation left in our room. Event was very well attended (and definitely more than 100 latitudes members partaking of drinks). Captain was very gracious, funny and entertaining, drinks were red/white wine, pink bubbles if some sort, Paulaner Weissbier, a couple cocktails,  some passed canapes, light music. 

 

5 Laundry

We had a Platinum booklet with one coupon in room for free bag of laundry. Asked at desk how we got our 2nd bag since we’re both Platinum and was told to just write Platinum in the bag …. And since its a 10 day we actually have 4 free bags of laundry

 

6 dinner with bottle of wine

Could use at any specialty restaurant but could inly get the bottle of wine if we used it at Cagney's or Le Bistro. Planning for Cagneys 😋

coupon in Platinum booklet in room

 

7 dinner without bottle of wine

good at any specialty restaurant.

coupon in Platinum booklet in room

[ColdCruise]

8 in room complimentary water (1 bottle per member)

 

Two of the larger “bottle” appeared in our room on day 2. Goid thing we checked with out exemplary room steward, Reggie, as he confirmed the large bottles ARE NOT the complimentary ones. Told us we had to request them from the Cruise Next desk, so added that to our list ( and beginning to understand why that line was so long all day on embarkation!). After our desk visit the junior sized version appeared . Tasty 

 

[ColdCruise]

After our Cruise Next/Latitudes desk chat, we went to the Spa.

 

Unfortunately, I appear to have list my mind and didn't take photos of the Spa and Pulse fitness when we toured it Day 1. Suffice it to say it looks as beautiful as the NCL advertising!

 

However there are some functional misses

1 I would recommend NOT planning to shower and dress there after a work out or spa session - the dressing rooms are very small with no real changing area. The only bench in the small locker area will leave your naked butt in full view if the door opens.

 
2 toilets, 1 accessible, 2 showers, 1 accessible

 

however the materials used to create the locker rooms are beautiful to look at.

 

2 no places to hang towels or robes while in the pools or spa rooms

Photos of the dressing area of the women’s locker room

Spa staff suggested coming in the morning and getting a locker (by setting the dial combination) especially in sea days as there aren't that many. If your in the spa balcony my suggestion would be change in your room and wear the provided robe to the spa. There are robes & towels in the locker rooms and stacks of towels by the 2 spa pools

 

 

 I’d estimate the sink and vanity area are about 5 feet long

Edited September 8, 2022 by ColdCruise
Addlinfi

[ConnieTact]

On 9/6/2022 at 9:42 PM, ColdCruise said:

Lunch at Indulge Food Hall - great outdoor seating, food hit or miss (per our selections).

Lunch Menu

 

Thanks for your Live Review!

Is there a salad cart we can help ourselves to what we want? I love making a mixed salad for lunch but want to choose my own ingredients. Will that still be possible? I haven’t seen a salad bar on any photos in the Indulge Hall yet that show one! 😅🥗

[ColdCruise]

15 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

Thanks for your Live Review!

Is there a salad cart we can help ourselves to what we want? I love making a mixed salad for lunch but want to choose my own ingredients. Will that still be possible? I haven’t seen a salad bar on any photos in the Indulge Hall yet that show one! 😅🥗

I don't think there were any DIY options in the Indulge Food Hall (deck 8 ), that is set up as a food truck or small take away concept. 
You will probably only find a salad bar in the Surfside Cafe (deck 17) and that was pretty basic the day I looked.

Edited September 8, 2022 by ColdCruise

[ConnieTact]

31 minutes ago, ColdCruise said:

I don't think there were any DIY options in the Indulge Food Hall (deck 8 ), that is set up as a food truck or small take away concept. 
You will probably only find a salad bar in the Surfside Cafe (deck 17) and that was pretty basic the day I looked.

I hope Surfside cafe will be okay for us. Thanks for info. 
How are you getting along with same menus in dining room and I guess it’s the same menus in Indulge too….is it monotonous?