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

[ColdCruise]

On 9/11/2022 at 5:19 PM, sid_9169 said:

Did they give out cards with the names of the current officers?... I would definitely be interested in a photo of that... 

yes, I just photo’d the front in this thread, but can post the inside later today. 

wifi on board Prima has been problematic with posting, despite (or because of?) NCL providing free access to cruise critic and a handful of other travel sites. Even using my FAS minutes didn't improve speed or session-maintenance. Mostly I’ve been using cell in town, occasionally public wifi, to post here.

 

[The Traveling Man]

5 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

yes, I just photo’d the front in this thread, but can post the inside later today. 

wifi on board Prima has been problematic with posting, despite (or because of?) NCL providing free access to cruise critic and a handful of other travel sites. Even using my FAS minutes didn't improve speed or session-maintenance. Mostly I’ve been using cell in town, occasionally public wifi, to post here.

 

We just got on board in Copenhagen.  I’m amazed at how good the internet service is, particularly the free access to sites like Cruise Critic.  The are a few snags with the Prima, as you might expect on a new ship.  Overall, though, I’m really impressed with the design of the Prima. We had lunch in the Food Hall and probably will be going back several times over the next few days.  It’s not a buffet as I had assumed.  You pick a table and use the tablet at that table to order items from any of the eight or so different “food trucks” in the hall.  They deliver your order, then if you’re still hungry you just order something else, or more of the same.  Ordering alcoholic beverages is a bit strange, though.  Even if you have a drinks package, it looks like you’re being charged for your drink.  Not to worry, though, as it all works out OK.  Online reservations for dining and entertainment on this ship were a no-go prior to boarding, so lots of people were rushing to make their bookings.  We were among the first on board, maybe 100 or 200 before us.  Despite that, they told us that all of the comedy shows for the entire cruise were already fully booked.  No way.  They finally acknowledged grudgingly that there was room, and made our reservations.  The comedy club is small, though, smaller than on the Epic or any of the Breakaway class ships, but still large enough for more than 100 per seating.

[AZDivers]

On 9/10/2022 at 2:54 PM, LATTELOVE said:

Amazed at all those beautiful Architechtures. 

Food looks so good too.  🙂 

 This place looks amazing. Which port are you stopped at to get to this place and how far of a drive/walk?

[ColdCruise]

On 9/13/2022 at 11:09 AM, AZDivers said:

 This place looks amazing. Which port are you stopped at to get to this place and how far of a drive/walk?

Hi @AZDivers

Check out posts #80-83 & 85 for all the deets.

We were in the port of Warnemunde that day.

We decided to drive to the city of Schwerin, which was just a bit longer than an hour from our car rental pickup in Rostock. The rental place was about  30 min by foot and train from the pier.

 

I’m not a fan if bus trips, even less do since covid, and generally prefer to DIY. We had the leisure to explore at pur own pace, the only time constraint was getting back to the ship on time. However NCL also had at least one excursion that included Schwerin castle .

[ColdCruise]

On 9/13/2022 at 9:19 AM, The Traveling Man said:

We just got on board in Copenhagen.  I’m amazed at how good the internet service is, particularly the free access to sites like Cruise Critic.  The are a few snags with the Prima, as you might expect on a new ship.  Overall, though, I’m really impressed with the design of the Prima. We had lunch in the Food Hall and probably will be going back several times over the next few days.  It’s not a buffet as I had assumed.  You pick a table and use the tablet at that table to order items from any of the eight or so different “food trucks” in the hall.  They deliver your order, then if you’re still hungry you just order something else, or more of the same.  Ordering alcoholic beverages is a bit strange, though.  Even if you have a drinks package, it looks like you’re being charged for your drink.  Not to worry, though, as it all works out OK.  Online reservations for dining and entertainment on this ship were a no-go prior to boarding, so lots of people were rushing to make their bookings.  We were among the first on board, maybe 100 or 200 before us.  Despite that, they told us that all of the comedy shows for the entire cruise were already fully booked.  No way.  They finally acknowledged grudgingly that there was room, and made our reservations.  The comedy club is small, though, smaller than on the Epic or any of the Breakaway class ships, but still large enough for more than 100 per seating.

 The wifi kept resetting my session in the middle of a post  & id have to log back in to my CC account- tedious.

 

I’m not sure how those smaller venues and other hard to get reservations will work at full passenger capacity. We gave up on some show seatings and planned other things, so didn't really try out the standby. There also were no virtual queue offerings when we checked.

[Papadog]

On 9/13/2022 at 3:58 AM, ColdCruise said:

yes, I just photo’d the front in this thread, but can post the inside later today. 

wifi on board Prima has been problematic with posting, despite (or because of?) NCL providing free access to cruise critic and a handful of other travel sites. Even using my FAS minutes didn't improve speed or session-maintenance. Mostly I’ve been using cell in town, occasionally public wifi, to post here.

 

Hi.... did you have a chance to go to the thermal spa, we have heard there is no bubbles in the thalassotherapy pool......... we were wondering if there is a problem.

 

[ColdCruise]

23 hours ago, Papadog said:

Hi.... did you have a chance to go to the thermal spa, we have heard there is no bubbles in the thalassotherapy pool......... we were wondering if there is a problem.

 

That is unfortunately correct information, @Papadog

 

We were in a spa balcony,  conveniently located around the corner from the spa entrance. The salt & fresh water pools had no jet action (bubbles) on day 2 of the cruise when we first used it. We were told by spa staff they weren’t jetted …. what???

 

A visual inspection of the pool walls clearly showed jet ports near the sidewall grab bars.

 

Finally the 2nd from last day, one of the spa staff admitted there were jets but the pipes had not been connected correctly when built in Italy. Additionally, we were informed that they would not be fixed until the Prima is in Miami.

 

Meanwhile they’re just soaker pools, being a bit shallow and crowded for doing laps. And people were sitting/lounging on the in-pool stairs blocking access into the pool.

There are 2 large-ish jacuzzis on the pool deck (always fairly crowded), the main pool & 2 infinity pools on deck 8 in the Boardwalk area/Ocean

 

For our 10 day cruise, a spa pass was $339 prepurchase, I think it was $389 onboard and the Freestyle Daily offered a day pass for $99.

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by ColdCruise

[Papadog]

2 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

That is unfortunately correct information, @Papadog

 

We were in a spa balcony,  conveniently located around the corner from the spa entrance. The salt & fresh water pools had no jet action (bubbles) on day 2 of the cruise when we first used it. We were told by spa staff they weren’t jetted …. what???

 

A visual inspection of the pool walls clearly showed jet ports near the sidewall grab bars.

 

Finally the 2nd from last day, one of the spa staff admitted there were jets but the pipes had not been connected correctly when built in Italy. Additionally, we were informed that they would not be fixed until the Prima is in Miami.

 

Meanwhile they’re just soaker pools, being a bit shallow and crowded for doing laps. And people were sitting/lounging on the in-pool stairs blocking access into the pool.

There are 2 large-ish jacuzzis on the pool deck (always fairly crowded), the main pool & 2 infinity pools on deck 8 in the Boardwalk area/Ocean

 

For our 10 day cruise, a spa pass was $339 prepurchase, I think it was $389 onboard and the Freestyle Daily offered a day pass for $99.

 

Thanks for the info. ......I can't  believe that they are still trying to sell spa passes  with the bubbles not working. My wife was looking forward to the spa......so we are not pleased plus a slide going through our balcony.......we are canceling

[ColdCruise]

15 minutes ago, Papadog said:

Thanks for the info. ......I can't  believe that they are still trying to sell spa passes  with the bubbles not working. My wife was looking forward to the spa......so we are not pleased plus a slide going through our balcony.......we are canceling

The multiple sauna rooms were nice, although I didn’t “get” the charcoal sauna … no one else I discussed that with got it either and a few suggested it wasn’t fully functional. The  sauna wasn’t crowded. The heated loungers were nice and that area wasn’t crowded. 

And @Papadog,  you could bid on an upgrade or try to move your cabin. I didn’t really notice a lot of peeps using the slides, so other than the visual obstruction you probably won’t get a lot of noise. 

[ColdCruise]

On 9/8/2022 at 2:47 PM, ColdCruise said:

@RocketMan275 These are the only other Kieler Brauerei photos I have:

 

 

 

 

 

They did give us cocktail napkins from what i thought was a mistake or an old name. Walking around the area after dinner (dark), we saw another beer-resto with the same name & design as the napkin

 

(forgive the upside down photos, seems once that happens it persists through multiple attempts and I  only have so much patience )

Edited September 17, 2022 by ColdCruise

[ColdCruise]

In preparation for the next post about the bars, here’s some photos of the ships layout for reference.

 

Unexpectedly these were not provided in the cabins. I saw severe people with then early in the cruise, but whenever i asked about them in guest services, I was told they were in the cabins (deck 16 - not true) or they were out.

 

I finally got help at guest services when one of the young ladies found a copy in the back office, with the proviso that it was “the last one” and they hoped to get a resupply for the next cruise. That brochure was the result of 5 days of persistent requests, fulfilled on the 8th.

 

 

 

 

[ColdCruise]

Day 5 - CC Bar Crawl, Sea Day (cont)

After the meet & greet, we fortified ourselves with a quick trip to Surfside to prepare for the Cruise Critic bar crawl. 
The “main” dish on the buffet was a whole roasted pork leg, complete with cracklin if desired - a near pig roast (which we had on our Svalbard expedition in July, incidentally). Unfortunately i didn't take a photo.

 

The person who originally offered to organize it had something come up, but about 10-12 CCers convened in The Belvedere (Deck 6 rear, between Commodore & Cagneys) around 1pm on this, our second sea day.

 

Basically all Prima’s bars have their own specialty, or claim to fame, that the other bars are not supposed to serve. That tidbit provided by the able bartenders at Belvedere. Unfortunately I didn’t jot down their names (im lousy with nanes), but they took care of our group very well.

 Belvedere’s  menu:

 

 

Belvedere’s specialty is the premixed drinks that are served from cute round bottles.

 

My personal favorite was “All About That Basil” - very popular.

 

 

Another favorite at Belvedere was the Bourbon Myth, which sparked a discussion thread on high end whiskey (or whisky) and bourbon that wove through the rest of our afternoon.

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by ColdCruise

[ColdCruise]

Being a self-directing bar mob, we decided to attack the bars deck-by-deck, rather than proximity to elevator shaft or stairwell. This was a stable decision 🤣

 

On that decision, we massed and moved forward through the casino to the casino bar, officially known as the Penrose Bar, for its location at the bottom of the beautiful 3-story Penrose Atrium. The Penrose is also the location for musical performances and impromptu dancing afternoons and evenings.

 

Penrose is supposed to be the “all around” cocktail bar, the basics plus variety. 
 

Penrose’s menu:

 

 

 

 

My favorite here was La Madrina, perhaps considered an “elevated” take on an Aperol Spritz, but much better. And La Madrina is available in almost all Prima bars!

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by ColdCruise

[Papadog]

58 minutes ago, ColdCruise said:

The multiple sauna rooms were nice, although I didn’t “get” the charcoal sauna … no one else I discussed that with got it either and a few suggested it wasn’t fully functional. The  sauna wasn’t crowded. The heated loungers were nice and that area wasn’t crowded. 

And @Papadog,  you could bid on an upgrade or try to move your cabin. I didn’t really notice a lot of peeps using the slides, so other than the visual obstruction you probably won’t get a lot of noise. 

The point is NCL  did not disclose these rooms as being obstructed....

[ColdCruise]

23 minutes ago, Papadog said:

The point is NCL  did not disclose these rooms as being obstructed....

Ahh 🧐 - that is a difference for sure, @Papadog. You did not mention that critical detail in your earlier posts (ie that your cabin wasn’t labeled obstructed). Can you call and try to change cabins? My understanding from NCL staff is these first few cruises won’t be full capacity. Call NCL and see if you can get transferred to NCL’s “resolution desk” - they have resolved an issue I had after final payment that the TA/PCC couldn’t fix.

 

good luck 🤞

[ColdCruise]

9 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

In preparation for the next post about the bars, here’s some photos of the ships layout for reference.

 

Unexpectedly these were not provided in the cabins. I saw severe people with then early in the cruise, but whenever i asked about them in guest services, I was told they were in the cabins (deck 16 - not true) or they were out.

 

I finally got help at guest services when one of the young ladies found a copy in the back office, with the proviso that it was “the last one” and they hoped to get a resupply for the next cruise. That brochure was the result of 5 days of persistent requests, fulfilled on the 8th.

 

 

 

 

 So glad no one is pointing out my obvious typos 

 

I saw SEVERAL people with copies, I really didn’t talk with them enough to determine if they were severe or not 🙄

[ColdCruise]

Having exhausted the open bars on Deck 6, we lifted up to Deck 7, where we poured onto the large circular seating inside the Metropolitan Bar. This bar is probably the swankiest, and has a strong focus on NCL’s Sail & Sustain drink program.

 

Metropolitan’s menu was on a tablet, harder to get photos from. A largish section on cocktails featured drinks crafted from food excesses or NCL’s Flor de Cana custom Rum (with sustainable creds).
 

Here we found ourselves served by the esteemed Clarance, aka The Chocolate Cowboy, and his team. 
 

 

We were treated to shots of his special sustainable drink, some watermelon  (sustainable ingredient) drink with an involved creation process requiring an overnight steeping with some jalapeño, a bunch of time in the blender to emulsify all the ingredients, then served ip in shot glasses dusted with some red pepper.

 

Holy cow - that was a hottie! 🥵

 

After 2 very small sips (barely a taste), I was done! However a brave CC bar crawler from Chicago offered to finish it off (and I think Clarance brought him some  more!)

 

I then tried the sustainable Croissant Mai-Tai. This was made with actual leftover croissants and also required overnight  steeping and a spell in a blender. Infinitely less 🌶  and a decent enough drink, but to be honest, I couldn’t really taste croissant flavor.
 

Kudos to NCL and especially Clarance fior his creative use of leftovers from the kitchen operations - the Prima bar program had innovative sustainable drinks in every location, often thematically tied to the venue.

 

 

[ColdCruise]

The Metropolitan was the only bar open in Deck 7 in the afternoon as the others were associated with the dining and entertainment venues on that deck ( refer to deck plans in Post #111). 
 

Metropolitan photos:

 

And the not-quite infamous circle sofa where our CC crew momentarily reigned - 

 

I have more photos but I did not get permission to reveal everyone’s inebriated state during the crawl, so am withholding the evidence  🤣🤣 
 

these are morning after photos 🙂

Edited September 17, 2022 by ColdCruise

[ColdCruise]

Other Deck 7 beverage venues

 

Starbucks (atrium)

 

 

Syd Norman’s Pour House (mid ship)

 

Note: Rumor was the Rumours cover was very good, it was either sold out or you had to line up way in advance.   The show was only offered a 2-3 times early in the cruise, the room only holds 100-120 people as I recall. Syd’s also used for daytime games (Bingo, etc) and other evening music (see dailies I’ve posted to get a feel for overall show schedules)

 

 

The Improv (across from Syd’s)

 

 Note: Improv used for future cruise presentations and stand up comedians, holds 50-70. Support posts block views of stage.

Edited September 18, 2022 by ColdCruise

[ColdCruise]

Back to the CC Bar Crawl ….

 

At the urging of our Chi-town contingent, we decided to refine our crawl plan so we could finish our Bar Crawl in the 8th deck Whiskey Bar. We decided that we’d switch from a bottom up to a top down approach and moved up to the Observation Lounge on Deck 17 forward (no one was interested in the Speedway Bar (Deck 18 mid, outside).

 

This is usually a quiet area with fantastic forward views snd a variety of comfortable seating options, which tempts people to doze off, so the “Lounge” part of the nane is apropos!
 

It’s also where the Prima puts out mid-afternoon snacks (a heavy “tea”), so this was a good next stop as it allowed crawlers to restock their stomachs with food to offset the booze 🤗🤗

 

Observation Lounge photos taken the following afternoon 

 

 

 

I think our group disturbed the zen vibe here. The bar menu was the standard Prima drink choices. The bartender mixed up one if his specialty shots, I had another La Madrina, we drank and moved on … after a visit to the nicest public restrooms for the views

 

 

Onward ….

Edited September 18, 2022 by ColdCruise

[The Traveling Man]

I need to revise my previous praise of the internet speed on the “free” websites such as Cruise Critic and the NCL home page.  It turns out that although I tried to be careful to select the “free” site access, I must have accidentally turned on my regular Wi-Fi minutes.  Yes, access to Cruise Critic was quite fast, but at the end of the hour I was out of minutes on my account.  Fortunately the iCafe Manager was kind enough to restore my minutes, and since then I have been more careful to make sure I really was logged in only to the “free” access, but that also meant that access was interminably slow.  

[ColdCruise]

5 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

I need to revise my previous praise of the internet speed on the “free” websites such as Cruise Critic and the NCL home page.  It turns out that although I tried to be careful to select the “free” site access, I must have accidentally turned on my regular Wi-Fi minutes.  Yes, access to Cruise Critic was quite fast, but at the end of the hour I was out of minutes on my account.  Fortunately the iCafe Manager was kind enough to restore my minutes, and since then I have been more careful to make sure I really was logged in only to the “free” access, but that also meant that access was interminably slow.  

Yes, the interface leaves a lot to be desired.  However, the internet manager was being very accommodating to a lot if people. I was having an issue connecting one if my devices (forgot I can’t use my VPN on NCL network) and the person in front if me had accidentally used all her minutes midway through day 1, the Internet guy gave them all back.

[ConnieTact]

15 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

Yes, the interface leaves a lot to be desired.  However, the internet manager was being very accommodating to a lot if people. I was having an issue connecting one if my devices (forgot I can’t use my VPN on NCL network) and the person in front if me had accidentally used all her minutes midway through day 1, the Internet guy gave them all back.

That’s good to know there is a kind Internet manager onboard. I never remember if it’s log off or logout I have to type in! 😂😅

[The Traveling Man]

4 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

That’s good to know there is a kind Internet manager onboard. I never remember if it’s log off or logout I have to type in! 😂😅

You can ask him to set up a shortcut on the main menu of your device so you don’t need to remember the syntax.

[ColdCruise]

On 9/19/2022 at 8:55 AM, The Traveling Man said:

You can ask him to set up a shortcut on the main menu of your device so you don’t need to remember the syntax.

Forgot to mention that, thanks! It was handy