Prima to Bermuda: Haven’ a Good Time!

[Sea Monster 2]

Greetings all, just back from the April 2 trip from NYC to Bermuda. I eagerly perused everyone’s Prima comments prior to traveling and thought I would add my own.  We thought Prima was a beautiful ship. The layout IS different from other ships, sometimes in an awkward way, sometimes just a question of adapting to something new.  Being in the Haven took the edge off of a lot of those awkward things.  The ship was “over full” per a crew member, but I don’t have a number. We had over 1000 kids on board as it was a NYC/NJ spring break week.

 

We boarded with virtually nothing booked as everything was sold out online by the time we sat down to schedule stuff. We did not receive the usual letter for the shore-based concierge and honestly forgot that that option existed until a couple of days before departure. As a result, we spent our first hour-plus on board in the concierge lines with lots of other people. We were able to book everything we hoped to, but it wasn’t a great way to begin our cruise. As the Haven restaurant was too full to seat us, I guess it was a good way to use that time waiting. Our H4 cabin was lovely and a perfect size for just the two of us.  We were in one of the ones without the hot tub, and while we didn’t experience hot tub envy, it felt wrong to have been charged the same amount as those who did have the hot tub.  As another reviewer mentioned, you do need a PhD to manage the lights and curtains— we struggled to get everything off most nights. And, amazingly, you cannot plug in your own hair drier or styling tools in the bathroom— you need to go to your bedroom or living room to do that, without a mirror.  The bed was very comfortable, we had plenty of storage space, water pressure was great, and we LOVED the enormous balcony and plush furniture.

 

Haven service was lovely, as usual, but again, different from other ships. You do not walk past the concierge desk very often as you can walk out into the ship from your own deck. We could go days at a time without seeing the concierge, which meant that we didn’t have those little interactions that let you get to know each other. I wouldn’t have guessed I would miss this, but I did.  We also wondered if a version of the once-a-day steward visit deployed on the rest of the ship was also being applied in the Haven, as we seemed to miss the window for turndown/ refreshing/ afternoon snacks, refilling of coffee/water/drinks, etc, multiple times on the cruise when our DND was on for a couple of hours. It seemed that if we had DND on when they came by, that was it, no one would try again. On other ships it always seemed that the butler and steward were in the room multiple times a day making sure that everything was perfect. We did not complain as we know they work very hard and we were hardly suffering, but it meant I couldn’t have an afternoon espresso and that my husband couldn’t have the treats he had specifically requested a couple of times, and that our bathroom lived in a state of disarray overnight once when we had discarded towels to the floor after a few days, but they were not actually changed until the following day.  Also— there is no way to close the drain in the H4 trough sinks, so if you need to soak clothing or medical equipment, you cannot do so. Plan accordingly.

 

The Haven restaurant was lovely as always, but we did have to wait to be seated a couple of times because it ws so busy. Le Bistro was excellent, Palomar was good but my fish was overcooked, Hasuki and Nama were what you would expect, Onda was quite good.  Indulge was a fun idea and we wound up there three times, to have something quick and easy.

 

They had moved the comedy shows to the Prima theater by the time we boarded, so that problem has been dealt with.  The Donna Summer show is excellent and all three singers were superb. We had been underwhelmed by the entertainment on the Joy in September (our return to cruising), so we were happy to see that quality restored.  The Price is Right was fun and they have a great hype crew, we really enjoyed it and heard that someone won a car in the show before ours!  I didn’t go to any of the lounges/ bars/ music venues around the ship, but my husband wandered through some and enjoyed them. We didn’t do any of the fancy games and activities on the upper decks.

 

The spa was very nice, lots of different experiences, but something was broken every time I went— the infamous jets in the main pool, the salt fogger in the salt room, and the aromatherapy room smelled like mildew at one point. I was always able to get a heated lounger and none of the experiences had more than a couple of people using them at any one time, even on the very full ship.  i was denied the use of the thermal suite when I went for my first massage an hour early— the gentleman checking me in insisted that there wasn’t enough time, so I sat in the waiting room for nearly an hour. Don’t know what that was about.

 

We got the upgraded Wi-Fi and, as others have reported, it wasn’t great.  Very hit-or-miss, and you can only have one device logged on at a time.

 

This was our first cruise as Platinum latitudes, so we had reviewed the benefits ahead of time and were looking forward to getting two free bags of laundry. Imagine our surprise when we were told it is one bag per cabin rather than one per member, even though that is what the app says. So we were running low on clean clothes by the end of the cruise.  And couldn’t wash anything in our sink. 🤪

 

As I reread this, it sounds complain-y, which is not my intent— I just want to prepare people who have experienced the Haven on other ships for what is different on Prima. We had a great time and would sail on Prima or Viva again.  Everything felt very upscale— throughout the ship— and the crew works hard to keep passengers happy.

 

LOVED Bermuda. We didn’t book any excursions— just walked off after the rush and hired an 88-year-old Blue Flag guide.  He was more spry than I am, seemed to know everyone on the island, and left us convinced that the Fountain of Youth must be in Bermuda. Absolutely loved him— he grew up on the island during WWII and shared amazing memories and perspective.  Did St George on our own, visited the Civil War museum and the Tucker House and very much enjoyed the wisdom of the docents in each.  Found Bermuda to be very expensive and absolutely gorgeous and easy to visit.  Would love to go again.

 

 

[RocketMan275]

10 minutes ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

Greetings all, just back from the April 2 trip from NYC to Bermuda. I eagerly perused everyone’s Prima comments prior to traveling and thought I would add my own.  We thought Prima was a beautiful ship. The layout IS different from other ships, sometimes in an awkward way, sometimes just a question of adapting to something new.  Being in the Haven took the edge off of a lot of those awkward things.  The ship was “over full” per a crew member, but I don’t have a number. We had over 1000 kids on board as it was a NYC/NJ spring break week.

 

 

 

Thanks for the review.  We've booked 10352 out of Galveston for next Feb.  

Question:  did  your Owners Suite come with complementary bottles of booze?

Edited April 10, 2023 by RocketMan275

[ChiefMateJRK]

23 minutes ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

This was our first cruise as Platinum latitudes, so we had reviewed the benefits ahead of time and were looking forward to getting two free bags of laundry. Imagine our surprise when we were told it is one bag per cabin rather than one per member, even though that is what the app says.

Who told you that?

[ChiefMateJRK]

24 minutes ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

As the Haven restaurant was too full to seat us, I guess it was a good way to use that time waiting.

 

24 minutes ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

We could go days at a time without seeing the concierge, which meant that we didn’t have those little interactions that let you get to know each other.

 

26 minutes ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

We also wondered if a version of the once-a-day steward visit deployed on the rest of the ship was also being applied in the Haven, as we seemed to miss the window for turndown/ refreshing/ afternoon snacks, refilling of coffee/water/drinks, etc, multiple times on the cruise when our DND was on for a couple of hours. It seemed that if we had DND on when they came by, that was it, no one would try again. On other ships it always seemed that the butler and steward were in the room multiple times a day making sure that everything was perfect.

Will you still pay the extra $$$ for a Haven next time?

[Sea Monster 2]

26 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Thanks for the review.  We've booked 10352 out of Galveston for next Feb.  

Question:  did  your Owners Suite come with complementary bottles of booze?

That was our cabin!  Yes, the customary three bottles, but everything listed was not actually available— possibly because we were so late with our requests. I would definitely organizations everything through the pre-cruise desk to give yourselves the best chances of success.

[Sea Monster 2]

14 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Who told you that?

That we only get one bag per cabin?  The assistant concierge.  What we read online— before and after— indicates that we should each get a bag, thus two for our cabin.

[The Traveling Man]

4 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Who told you that?

The Latitudes benefits are clearly set forth on the NCL website.  There are several for which the notation "per stateroom" appears next to the benefit description.  The listing for the "Laundry Service" benefit does not include the "per stateroom" disclaimer.

 

We have sailed on 24 NCL cruises since reaching the Platinum Latitudes level.  We frequently do laundry twice on cruises of a week in length, and almost always do laundry twice on longer cruises.  We have never been refused our second bag of free laundry.  @Sea Monster 2, I'm sorry that you were not allowed to claim the second free bag that you were due.  We frequently print out a copy of the Latitude benefits page from the website for instances such as you encountered.  That way we would have a leg to stand on in discussions with the Guest Services Manager if we should be denied any benefit which we have earned.  As I said, fortunately we never have been denied our second laundry benefit.  We even have had staff instruct us to simply write "Platinum Latitudes - FREE Laundry" on the laundry ticket if NCL failed to provide us with the extra laundry coupon.  Hope this helps you on your next cruise.

[Sea Monster 2]

12 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

 

 

Will you still pay the extra $$$ for a Haven next time?

Yes, it was still a great experience, and I do think it cut through the crowding issues onboard as we were able to do everything we wanted to do.  I regret that we didn’t organize more ahead of time— we normally do, and I have no idea why we let it get away from us this time, but that might have made a difference.  We really liked the cabin— apart from the nitpicking I mentioned in my review.  It was simply different from our previous experiences.

[Sea Monster 2]

4 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

The Latitudes benefits are clearly set forth on the NCL website.  There are several for which the notation "per stateroom" appears next to the benefit description.  The listing for the "Laundry Service" benefit does not include the "per stateroom" disclaimer.

 

We have sailed on 24 NCL cruises since reaching the Platinum Latitudes level.  We frequently do laundry twice on cruises of a week in length, and almost always do laundry twice on longer cruises.  We have never been refused our second bag of free laundry.  @Sea Monster 2, I'm sorry that you were not allowed to claim the second free bag that you were due.  We frequently print out a copy of the Latitude benefits page from the website for instances such as you encountered.  That way we would have a leg to stand on in discussions with the Guest Services Manager if we should be denied any benefit which we have earned.  As I said, fortunately we never have been denied our second laundry benefit.  We even have had staff instruct us to simply write "Platinum Latitudes - FREE Laundry" on the laundry ticket if NCL failed to provide us with the extra laundry coupon.  Hope this helps you on your next cruise.

Thanks, that’s good to know. It was just an inconvenience, but we will be better prepared next time!

[ChiefMateJRK]

42 minutes ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

That we only get one bag per cabin?  The assistant concierge.  What we read online— before and after— indicates that we should each get a bag, thus two for our cabin.

I believe that you received incorrect information from the AC.  MANY of us have used two platinum free bags per cruise.

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

That was our cabin!  Yes, the customary three bottles, but everything listed was not actually available— possibly because we were so late with our requests. I would definitely organizations everything through the pre-cruise desk to give yourselves the best chances of success.

I've used the pre-cruise concierge on my last two cruises and have found them to be most helpful.  All I want is three bottles of bourbon.  I'll use one on the cruise and take two home.  Most any midgrade bourbon will do.  Appreciate your responses.  BTW, wife and I are balcony people so how was the balcony.  We can easily live without the hottube.  We're in our seventies so hottubes are not all that important.

[Sea Monster 2]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

I've used the pre-cruise concierge on my last two cruises and have found them to be most helpful.  All I want is three bottles of bourbon.  I'll use one on the cruise and take two home.  Most any midgrade bourbon will do.  Appreciate your responses.  BTW, wife and I are balcony people so how was the balcony.  We can easily live without the hottube.  We're in our seventies so hottubes are not all that important.

The balcony was fantastic. Table and chairs for meals or drinks, another set of comfy chairs looking towards the water, and two enormous, deeply padded chaises longues.  It wrapped around the side of the ship at a slight angle, so you could watch the wake or see what’s coming up ahead.  It is only a couple of floors above the outside area of Indulge, so you can hear the music from there, which I thought would be annoying, but I actually really liked. It wasn’t loud and you couldn’t hear it inside the room, but it provided a little ambience when outside.  There were doors from both the living area and the bedroom.

 

I am also a balcony person— just give me a book and the view and maybe a coffee and I’m happy as a clam. This one definitely met my needs.