A Cruise of Firsts to Bermuda 3/28 to 4/2 - Solo Live From Prima

[dave7502]

I’m sailing out tomorrow, was curious as a few people have mentioned game activities are not always working, but not enough to know if it's an ongoing issue. Anyone that’s on the Prima, can you confirm 1. Whether the interactive portion of mini golf is working? 2. That a majority of the virtual games are or are not functioning? Have a teen in tow and want to be prepared.TIA! 

[Broons77]

1 hour ago, skatie said:

@Broons77 thanks so much for the reports - we are on that cruise on April 16.   Looks like its more pants/long sleeve cruise and sweatshirts vs shorts and t-shirts cruise.   Were you wearing shorts in Bermuda?  More importantly, will there be a place on the ship that will show Bruins games!!!???? 🙂 

 

You could tell the folks from the northeast and Canada in Bermuda based on those in shorts and those in coats. Was very breezy but around 70 so I was in shorts. You'll want to bring shorts and jeans, weather will be all over the place. We were in Bermuda in the middle of last May and still needed pants/sweats for the trip down. 

 

Unfortunately, the only way I was able to watch the Bs was on my tablet. I'll see if I have better luck with the game today. Have a blast on your trip! 

[Broons77]

47 minutes ago, dave7502 said:

I’m sailing out tomorrow, was curious as a few people have mentioned game activities are not always working, but not enough to know if it's an ongoing issue. Anyone that’s on the Prima, can you confirm 1. Whether the interactive portion of mini golf is working? 2. That a majority of the virtual games are or are not functioning? Have a teen in tow and want to be prepared.TIA! 

Unfortunately, I didn't look around the mini golf area to know for sure, but people were up there, playing and having a good time. The go carts were running as well. Should be plenty to do for the kids. Have fun! 

[Broons77]

Today's daily

FreeStyle Daily (4) (1)

[bluesea777]

2 hours ago, OrangeCatRamblers said:

 

I'm on the Prima April 16 and not packing shorts, just jeans. I sailed the same week last year and wore a puffer coat, hat & scarf the first two days. 

 

Pack from one extreme to the other, honestly, just to be prepared!! 

 

I would suggest you pack a pair of shorts anyway. Here when the sun is out people go out wearing shorts.

 

It might be cold the same week last year but it might be warm this year. It's crapshoot.

 

 

[GWAE]

We were all in shorts and t shirts. It was a little chilly when wind blew but it wasn't bad. We were swimming in the ocean but we are from Pennsylvania so the Temps didn't bother us. 

 

Mini-golf electronics were not working but you could play but it's a simple course without them.  We found just about everything was working in the galaxy. There might have been one or 2 not working but most were. FYI, kids have to be 55 inches to use a few of them. My younger was to short.

[GWAE]

Oh and about the Bruins. There is a TV in the local but doubt they will have the game going. Possible but doubtful. There is 1 sports channel so it depends what they put on it.

[mking8288]

@Broons77  Gale force, diagonally across the ship with (very) rough sea state & waves at 4.8 meters (that's 16 ft.) ... as the Prima continue to plow on her NW heading at 19 - 20 knots, up 1 - 2 from 18 earlier.  Norwegian Gem and Pearl both heading in the opposite direction toward Bermuda.  Safe to assume that barf bags are out and room service delivery likely kept very busy today ... might not be a bad idea.  Just hold onto railings, maybe another 5 to 7 or 8 hours before reaching "calmer" stretch of open waters as ship get closer toward the coastline.  Kudo to the bridge team for charting the course/heading to blast thru this weather ... sun is out again here NY.  

 

Saved these for you to use as you can surely tell the rest of the stories later on.  We have a planned stop at Dockyard later this month ourselves - starting to pack, already online checked in & eDocs ready.  

 

 

[Neveragain2023]

I was on this ship, I disembarked in Bermuda yesterday and flew home. The room was nice, beds were comfortable, Bermuda is beautiful, and some of the staff were great. I've been keeping up with this because I'm hoping everyone gets back healthy and safe. It was my first and last cruise though.

[UKstages]

say what?

 

you left the ship in bermuda?

 

do tell.

 

sounds like you had a fairly decent time, but this will be your first and last cruise?

 

do tell.

[HBCcruiser]

40 minutes ago, Neveragain2023 said:

It was my first and last cruise though

I’m sorry to hear that. What happened if you don’t mind sharing?

[styles27]

Someone on NCL Pearl to Bermuda right now posted on our roll call that they were in Spinnaker lounge this morning on deck 13 and a wave came up above the windows.
Captain announced it will get worse before it gets better.

They reported bags out around the ship but they weren’t bothered by it. 
 

The seas are angry today. Hope they’re calmer for our cruise to Bermuda next weekend🤞

[styles27]

8 hours ago, OrangeCatRamblers said:

 

I'm on the Prima April 16 and not packing shorts, just jeans. I sailed the same week last year and wore a puffer coat, hat & scarf the first two days. 

 

Pack from one extreme to the other, honestly, just to be prepared!! 

Wow we were on Pearl 04/15-04/22/2022 last year and wore shorts and went to the beach on Easter Sunday. 
Just goes to show how people can be at the same place at the same time and have a different experience. 
Horseshoe Bay 04/17/2022 and we went in the water. 😉

Definitely will pack shorts and bathing suits again for next weeks Pearl cruise. 
In RI swimming at our beaches is cold in July so breezy and 70 in Bermuda is paradise for us!

Edited April 1, 2023 by styles27

[Broons77]

So it's still rocking pretty good and the barf bags are out, but aside from the canceled shows, life goes on. All food venues are open and most seem to be getting in the last day of fun. It's been a ride, but not the mayhem I and others were thinking was going to occur. 

 

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your trip @Neveragain2023☹️

[Neveragain2023]

25 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

I’m sorry to hear that. What happened if you don’t mind sharing?

It just wasn't for me. I actually went with a friend who booked a flight back before I did. We understood the weather meant more people would be indoors and leaving from NYC meant the waters wouldn't be as smooth. She'd been on cruises many times before though and also said she'll never cruise again.

 

We shared an inside stateroom in the middle of the ship because I wanted to avoid feeling the ship's movements as much as possible. I took Dramamine when I boarded but still felt unsteady the first full day. The buffet was packed that night, which is expected, and again when I went for breakfast at 8 the next morning.

We also noticed the 1st day that the tickets to 1 of our excursions were delivered but no the other. We went to the desk that evening and asked about them. We were told they didn't have them.but we will get them the next morning. The next evening the tickets still aren't there. Our excursion is for the following morning and we don't want to be stuck in line at the desk in the am right before the excursion so we head to the desk that evening. We're told they don't have the tickets but they'll be delivered in the morning. Guess what wasn't delivered? So we get in the line the morning we docked and they had our tickets. 

 

We get off the ship and onto the boat for a trip to Hamilton. It was supposed to start at 9 but we couldn't dock until 9 and didn't get on board until closer to 930. Then we sit there. The people around me discuss how they've never felt such a choppy ride on a cruise. I'm relieved it wasn't just me and my friend feeling it. Others start wondring aloud why we're still sitting there. It took another 10 minutes to see more guests walking up and boarding. I'm understanding, but we were supposed to be ready at 8:45. It's a bit annoying to be sitting and waiting for people at 9:30. Then the boat starts and the guides starts speaking. None of us in the back can hear anything. We also can't move, unless we stand, because the boat is full. I should have taken the ferry for $4.50 instead. Lesson learned. 

 

My friend wanted to get a drink that first full day at sea and chose a bar that we didn't realize only offered about 8 cocktails. I'm not a drinker but figured I'd get something non-alcoholic.  The bartender, possibly fed up with people trying to order anything other than the 8 or so drinks on the menu, was visibly annoyed when she asked for a pina colada. She pushed the menu screen toward her and said no, this is what we have. Not a big deal, we can see how it's annoying to have to repeat yourself, especially after someone walked up behind us and also tried to order a drink that wasn't on the menu. We had no way of knowing just by walking up to the bar though. So, she orders off the menu, gets her drink shortly after, and asks the bartender for change for a $20 bill (so she can leave him a tip). He firmly says, "No." She looks surprised and he says, with a repugnance that I just don't understand, "I gave someone else change, no" and walks away. I have no idea why he reacted that way. The bar wasn't full, what I've typed is the extend of their interaction,  and my friend tends to be polite to a fault, likely due to her anxiety.

 

We ordered the 6 1 liter bottles of after as soon as we got on the ship. We were told they would be there by noon the next day. She was in the room until 1 the following day and it wasn't there. I had come in to take a nap and stayed in the room until I got hungry at about 430 but still no water. I had to call to ask about the water because it still wasn't there. They seemed confused and asked when I ordered the water I told them when, where, and offered to bring the receipt. It was finally delivered a little while later.

 

Then we went to the other buffet, behind the Local Bar and Grill, and had really good food and service. We went back the following night and it was night and day. We ordered, got the food, and had to ask for our waters twice. (All the non-alcoholic beverages other than water were sold out both days.) Someone finally comes around...with 1 cup of water. Stuff happens, we eat and go.

 

We go to the spa. Someone hits an alarm somewhere in the spa. We get out of the sauna, with the other guests, and it keeps sounding. The employees eventually say that someone elsewhere "hit the wrong button" so everyone goes back in the saunas. The alarm continued to sound and some guests just left. It stopped a few minutes later so we decided to go sit in the area with the lounge chairs. A few minutes into that there is some kind of continuous loud noise going on behind the wall behind us. It went on so long that I took a video of myself in there with the noise in the background, trying to make sense of what it was. It sounded like heavy furniture being pushed against a wall. I decide that maybe I'll be better off just watching a movie in bed and my friend decides she's going to try to find something to do. She tried texting me while out but I didn't get it. Why? Because the Internet was terrible since night 1, despite my ugrading the wifi package as soon as I got aboard. I had to wait until I was in Bermuda to have consistent access to communication. The same thing happened with my friend. Two different phones, reset multiple times, in different locations on the ship, including out on the open deck and feet from the Internet Cafe, and still had inconsistent service. It was so bad that when I finally decided that I had enough, I went to inform guess services that I wished to disembark and asked about the procedure. They wanted me to email them a flight confirmation and it took me the rest of the night just to book a flight. I had to walk around outside to get service. I then went back to the desk And they said that they didn't get my email. My friend had also sent an email that wasn't received. I tried to email them from the desk,butagain,I had no service. 

 

My friend had previously spoken to a female that worked at the desk about disembarking. When I went, I was assisted by a male that asked that same female some questions as it appeared that he wasn't sure what to do. When she sent him some more else with our passports my friend asked her if we would also be able to get a print out of our charges. (There wasn't anyone in front of her at the time nor was there anyone else in line and she was just asking if it could be done.) This employee looked at her and said, "Isn't somebody helping you?!" In such a disgusted tone,wildly gesturing to the empty monitor here the male employee had been. She then starts muttering in what sounded like Spanish and I said, in Spanish, "she was just asking if it can be done, she wasn't asking you to do it." She ignored that and starting whispering to another male empoyee who happened to walk up and ask if we were being helped at the same time. It was surreal, that employee's attitude wasn't reflected by the other employees behind the desk. 

 

 Then there's the alcohol fiasco. I  ordered liquor (something not sold in the US that a relative requested) from a shop just outside the ship. They told me it would be delivered to the ship and held for me. This response is going on quite long so I will just say that it took 9 contacts, including 3 people coming to my room, 2 trips by me to guest services, and 4 phone calls from people on the ship, all asking the same questions, the day I disembarked, just for them to figure out that they didn't have the alcohol and I would have to go pick it up myself. They even told me that I might be out of luck because apparently there was a couple from Jamaica that got home on a previous trip and never got the alcohol they paid for. Great.

 

 When I disembarked, my friend also disembarked, another guest was there with his luggage to disembark,and another person in line was informing staff that they were leaving too. We actually had people ask us how we went about leaving because they didn't want to stay either. I don't know if it was fear from the storm, disappointment from having to leave 4 hours early due to the weather, or what, but it was sad. 

 

As I get off the ship, I see the people delivering the alcohol. I asked them if they happen to have my alcohol and they tell me that they have called someone on the ship to have numerous orders, laid out behind the delivery van, picked up. The delivery person said they've been waiting but no one from the ship has come out to acxept the delivery. They found my case but didn't know what to do. It was pure luck that an employee happened to be walking by and they asked that person and he told them if it was delivered then they wouldn't accept it because I was no longer a passenger. He told them they should give it to me since I had the receipt, so they did.

 

There is so much more,but, I'm sure no one wants to keep reading all of this. Some of it might sound rather petty, but,when it all happened, and more, in a span of 3 days, it was enough. I wanted to see what it would be like to take a cruise versus my usual plane and hotel vacations, and I wanted to visit Bermuda. I will be back to Bermuda, just not on a cruise. 

[Neveragain2023]

So I typed my response while waiting out a tornado warning and now I'm home with no power. I think the black cloud followed me home haha.

[styles27]

30 minutes ago, Neveragain2023 said:

So I typed my response while waiting out a tornado warning and now I'm home with no power. I think the black cloud followed me home haha.

Oh no I’m so sorry you had a bad experience. 
I would never recommend a Bermuda cruise to someone who has never been on a cruise. It is notoriously a rough ride. 
 

I remember our first cruise to Bermuda in the 1990’s. We had our children who were 7 and 6 at the time and I was deathly sick the entire ride down. Honestly if the doctor could have given me a shot to knock me out I would have taken it. It was horrible. We considered flying home and not taking the ship back to Boston but the crew assured me the forecast was better going back. 
 

It was better but not much lol

 

Having said that we are going on our 12th Bermuda cruise this coming Friday. 
I’ve gotten used to the rough ride and I am prepared with meds if I get sick. It’s now one of our favorite cruises to go on. 
 

I really want to try Prima but I’m not liking what I’m reading about it. 
Thank you for your honest review and I hope your electricity comes back soon!

[HBCcruiser]

1 hour ago, Neveragain2023 said:

So I typed my response while waiting out a tornado warning and now I'm home with no power. I think the black cloud followed me home haha.

Thanks for sharing. I hope you future vacations are much better. 

[Broons77]

41 minutes ago, styles27 said:

I really want to try Prima but I’m not liking what I’m reading about it. 

 

I say try it for yourself before listening to the crowds. She's not perfect, but she is a beautiful ship with a different feel and lots to do. I very much enjoyed my time once I got my bearings and figured out what places I liked best. 

[Broons77]

I'm sorry as well @Neveragain2023, hope you get your lights back and get a good replacement vacation for this one.

[GWAE]

9 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@Broons77  Gale force, diagonally across the ship with (very) rough sea state & waves at 4.8 meters (that's 16 ft.) ... as the Prima continue to plow on her NW heading at 19 - 20 knots, up 1 - 2 from 18 earlier.  Norwegian Gem and Pearl both heading in the opposite direction toward Bermuda.  Safe to assume that barf bags are out and room service delivery likely kept very busy today ... might not be a bad idea.  Just hold onto railings, maybe another 5 to 7 or 8 hours before reaching "calmer" stretch of open waters as ship get closer toward the coastline.  Kudo to the bridge team for charting the course/heading to blast thru this weather ... sun is out again here NY.  

 

Saved these for you to use as you can surely tell the rest of the stories later on.  We have a planned stop at Dockyard later this month ourselves - starting to pack, already online checked in & eDocs ready.  

 

 

Thank you for your insight. It was spot on for the most part. I was in the bridge on our tour during that picture above when the wave hit the front of the ship. The captain was unphased. It was neat to see them in action. When the wind would blow hard it would rattle the windows and the captain would ask them to call out their wind speed. Wind topped 85mpg while we were in there. 

[mking8288]

@GWAE @Broons77  and all others onboard the Prima, an early pre-dawn arrival, welcome "home" safely back into Lower NY Bay ... super early.  A few more hours before early disembarkation for the express self walk-off while others tried to get a bit of sleep first, now that the sea is much calmer with just 2 meters or 5 to 6 ft. waves.  Been tracking her movement off & on all day - when we cruise and head out to sea, mother nature gets the final say but the bridge team earned their paychecks.  

 

There's going to be plenty of stories to share, tell and years from now, to look back and laugh about - you've earned sea legs conditioning for sure - I trust that the CD and Captain "briefed" and informed or advised all passengers (and crews) of expected conditions for this sailing, reasoning behind the decision to leave port and sail home early.  Disappointment, upset and unhappy - sure, I would but that's mother nature - which we can't directly challenge; and, dance with and around the storms.  

 

Extended families and their "gang" of friends boarding just a week from now, and going to debrief & prepare them.  Safe travel later in the morning in getting home, etc. etc. and continue to follow to read & listen to stories, feedbacks and reviews.  Thanks for the periodic update again while things were rocking and rolling.  

[LouChamp]

Aloha.  With all due respect we would never sail to Bermuda unless it was July after a first cruise when I was young with my parents in April of 1971. The Atlantic is not welcoming in April, May, late August and afterwards. I do not know why the cruise lines sail there during these shoulder times except Bermuda must offer them reduced fees. The weather is also iffy.  For many years we would fly there and spend Memorial Weekend. It is a beautiful island but a short season similar to the Carolinas. I truly believe the lines count on unsuspecting travelers of which there are many. It is so necessary to research weather. We have been doing that for decades now. For example the South Pacific, South America etc etc. Even Hawaii has a rainy season but I fault the cruise lines for not properly disclosing this. Sorry you had to fly home.

[EllieinNJ]

4 hours ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha.  With all due respect we would never sail to Bermuda unless it was July after a first cruise when I was young with my parents in April of 1971. The Atlantic is not welcoming in April, May, late August and afterwards. I do not know why the cruise lines sail there during these shoulder times except Bermuda must offer them reduced fees. The weather is also iffy.  For many years we would fly there and spend Memorial Weekend. It is a beautiful island but a short season similar to the Carolinas. I truly believe the lines count on unsuspecting travelers of which there are many. It is so necessary to research weather. We have been doing that for decades now. For example the South Pacific, South America etc etc. Even Hawaii has a rainy season but I fault the cruise lines for not properly disclosing this. Sorry you had to fly home.

The problem we had in February was that we researched the climate of the island Bermuda and not the condition of the seas .  People said it was lovely to walk around though not beach weather.  It was good enough for us, or so I thought.  We wound up with a cruise to nowhere for 5 days.

[bluesea777]

9 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@GWAE @Broons77  and all others onboard the Prima, an early pre-dawn arrival, welcome "home" safely back into Lower NY Bay ... super early.  A few more hours before early disembarkation for the express self walk-off while others tried to get a bit of sleep first, now that the sea is much calmer with just 2 meters or 5 to 6 ft. waves.  Been tracking her movement off & on all day - when we cruise and head out to sea, mother nature gets the final say but the bridge team earned their paychecks.  

 

Not so sure about the "express" part - yeah to walk off ship, but ... due to the defection of several passengers in Bermuda, the cruise may have gone from "closed-loop" to an "open-loop" which means CBP not being so breezy.

 

Let's hope to hear from @Broons77 again how his disembarkation went. I may be wrong.