Once and done with Norwegian. Ugh.

[bobkat11]

We returned home last night from an 11 night cruise on the Norwegian Prima to Norway and Iceland (and Brugge and Amsterdam). This was, by far, the most disappointing cruise we've ever taken (and I heard many other passengers say the same thing). I'm not the kind of person who is hard to please, or who easily complains, but I'm posting this review for people considering this ship. I'll try to briefly summarize this cruise:

1. Embarkation was a mess! No one was allowed on the ship for several hours past the expected check-in time (our pre-cruise paperwork told us to arrive at 9:30am). Guests were stuck standing in the sun outside the terminal, unsure as to why no one could board. We were told various conflicting explanations. Boarding finally started around 3pm if I remember correctly. My husband and I got on the ship around 4pm , and I got my luggage at 9pm. It was a frustrating and unwelcoming start to our cruise (on the heels of arriving exhausted in London 24 hours late due to flight delays and a missed connection.)

2. Itinerary. I know sometimes itineraries have to change, but I've never had one change to this unacceptable extent. First stop, we arrived late to Brugge, missing our tour for that day. The entire stop at Isofjordour was cancelled.  (We were told we couldn't stop there because the Prima doesn't have tender boats. Don't all of the life boats double as tender boats?? And other ships continue to stop there, so we Prima passengers were frustrated by no satisfactory reason for the cancellation.) So that day became an unexpected (and unwanted) extra sea day. For our last stop, we arrived in Reykjavik, not at 7 am as scheduled, but 1:30 in the afternoon, so once again, we could not do the tour we had planned. Missing 3 out of 8 tours was very disappointing, after traveling so far to see these sights.

3. Sea days. In a word, boring. Most of the time that we were on the ship, we just sat in our cabin and read books. There simply was nothing to do on this ship most of the time. We did go to a History of Iceland presentation in the Prima Lounge one day, which was interesting. The Observation Lounge, which would have been the single best place to pass extra time, was closed to the public for our whole cruise. In a nutshell, The Prima should never sail this particular itinerary. It is the wrong ship for the climate. It has far too much outdoor space for a chilly northern European itinerary, causing the indoor dining areas and lounges to be claustrophobically packed. Passengers did not want to be outside in the cold wind playing shuffleboard, mini golf, pickleball, water slides, Go-carts, pool areas, sitting lounges, or any of the other numerous outdoor offerings.

4. Entertainment. The Prima lounge had The Price Is Right a couple of nights. This is basically a glorified commercial for that game show, with embarassingly little given as prizes. A carry-on suitcase, and $25, were the only prizes won. The Prima lounge also had a Donna Summer musical which I suppose was the best show of the trip (but that's not saying much, as even the Broadway version of yhis show was poorly reviewed). There was a comedienne/singer two nights who was just ok, with her self-deprecating humor and mannerisms, and typical tired jokes about how much food we eat on cruises. I don't expect cruise entertainers to be on par with Broadway stars, but I've always been pleased with the entertainers on previous cruises. There is no shortage of amazing talent in this world, but NCL didn't bother to find and hire such talent. The lounge singers ranged from bland to awful. There was one small lounge that we were told had good music in the evenings (Syd's Pour House), but we were never able to get into there due to the small space. 

5. Food. I found the food to be good overall. Not 5-star good, of course, but similar to that on other cruises. My only disappointing meal was Cagneys, which is an a la carte menu. Our meal there was over $200, yet I can make a better ribeye steak at home. Maybe I just happened to get a dry bland piece, because my husband did like his steak. The Indulge Food Court was crowded, confusing, with online ordering difficult to figure out. Despite us having the beverage package, when we ordered any drinks on the table-top tablets, we had to accept the full charge for our drinks. Other passengers complained about the tablets not working well. Food highlights: Palomar mashed potatoes, and The Local Reuben sandwich were memorably excellent! Hudsons and Commodore were consistently good experiences for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The buffet on the 17th floor was a headache-inducing madhouse with far too little indoor seating.

6. This is a random, weird situation that was handled very poorly by NCL staff. My husband and I came upon two injured passengers, elderly women who had fallen down a set of stairs on top of each other, and we began screaming for help. Long story short, several crew members came and went, making phone calls, trying to get a wheelchair, but not one crew member offered to relieve us as we held and comforted the injured passengers. Crew knew we did not know the women, because we made that clear. We spent about a half an hour helping these strangers before a wheelchair finally arrived, and it was only then that I realized, "Hey, a crew member really should have taken over and not left us there taking care of these strangers." Just pretty weird that not one crew member relieved us, and also that it took so long to get something as simple as a wheelchair.

7. Cabins: layout worked well, bathroom was more spacious than other cruiselines'. Too cold to use the balcony much. Noisy at night, constantly sounded like a torrential rain storm. Other passengers mentioned rattles and other noises.

8. Disembarking. We got off the ship fine, at 8:30 as instructed, took our own luggage off, got on a shuttle to the airport outside of Reykjavik, arriving there around 9:30am. Unfortunately flights out to the US were all late afternoon and evening, so it was a long day sitting at the airport waiting for our 5pm flight, with very few chairs in the waiting area. Actually there was a 10am flight that some of us had looked into, but NCL said they would not allow anyone off the ship early enough to make that flight, despite docking in Reykjavik port 6pm the previous evening. We didn't understand that, but we had learned that unclear, non-answers from NCL was the standard.

 

So, despite getting to see some beautiful scenery in the ports we made it to, overall I am very dissatisfied with this cruise. NCL did give each guest $100 on board credit as an apology for the embarkation fiasco, changed itinerary, and unavailability of the Observation Lounge. But to me, even a full refund would not have made the frustrating experience worth it. The ratio of enjoyable, quality time enjoying ports, to time spent standing in lines or otherwise wasted time, was simply not worth it. 

 

I will not be cruising with NCL again.

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by bobkat11
Typo

[All-ready2cruise]

Sorry you found the cruise inadequate, really.  We all or many of us have our favourite cruise lines and that's okay, we can't possibly all like/love the same line, same ship, same captain.... same anything really.  

[Sundiego]

Thanks for sharing your experience. That's a lot of disappointment in one cruise. We have enjoyed many good experiences on NCL but there's not much to defend here. They really failed in so many respects. 

 

Denise

[UKstages]

no, we can't all like the same things, and cruises and food and entertainment are highly subjective, but a clear trend has emerged from recent reviews of the prima... we see this in review after review (including mine) and in post after post:

 

the ship is ill-suited to cold and inclement weather, some of the food is exceptional, some is not, the staff does not operate cohesively or communicate clearly, embarkation and disembarkation delays are common, ports are canceled cruise after cruise with little accurate or timely information given about those cancellations.

 

review after review. cruise after cruise.

 

"fifty million frenchmen can't be wrong." when enough people say the same thing over and over, there's gotta be some truth to the comments. that doesn't mean you can't enjoy your cruise or aspects of your cruise or the ports or the excursions. it doesn't mean you still can't be a fan of NCL (i am). but it would be wrong to pretend that the prima is, you'll pardon the expression, a well run ship.

 

it is not.

[cruiseny4life]

Sounds like a wonderful luxury experience onboard NCL's flagship cruise ship...isn't that what Frankie boy and Harry (I really need a nickname for new boss man) promised Pr1ma to be?

 

But really, sorry you had such a terrible time. It sounds almost dreadful and I'm glad I didn't pony up big bucks to travel on Pr1ma. 

[Obobru]

Sounds like a couple of issues happened like the ports and because you had arrived in a bad mood from your flight issue you found fault with almost everything. The delay boarding was most likely a customs/immigration search on the ship they have been doing more in Southampton. The missed port and delayed port isn't ideal but you just sat in your room stewing away making it worse for yourself. 

 

Unfortunately this is how many humans react including myself, off to a bad start it's hard to get into the mood and have fun. My partner always pulls me back saying we can't change it so let's find what we can do and make the best of it. 

 

I am sure you will find a new cruise line you prefer, we are not loyal to any which I find is the best way as loads of cruise lines do similar itineraries.

 

[RB9643]

 

 

No surprise with your experience in a cold weather climate on Prima. We cruised the Caribbean on Prima and didn't care for it.

 

Don't say "one and done". That's just silly. Try the Encore anywhere, preferably a shoulder season for the region with the kids in school. Amazing experience. 

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by RB9643

[Snate]

Dang.   I am on the Prima in a little over 2 weeks doing the reverse of this trip.  Maybe I should cancel.

[RB9643]

4 minutes ago, Snate said:

Dang.   I am on the Prima in a little over 2 weeks doing the reverse of this trip.  Maybe I should cancel.

 

 

I'm not sure it's worth THAT much money.

 

[GORDONCHICK]

That's really too bad.  All NCL sailings are not indicative of this.  And the first issue was most likely not due to anything NCL did or didn't do, but the others are.

[cruiseny4life]

42 minutes ago, Snate said:

Dang.   I am on the Prima in a little over 2 weeks doing the reverse of this trip.  Maybe I should cancel.

We did cancel a cruise about two or three weeks ahead...but we had the 90% FCC from NCL offered in the Platinum insurance product. The reason we canceled is because we found a better room, cheaper, on a cruise almost double the length of our original cruise. Be really, really, REALLY careful if you cancel as you might be out several thousand dollars. 

[Snate]

2 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

We did cancel a cruise about two or three weeks ahead...but we had the 90% FCC from NCL offered in the Platinum insurance product. The reason we canceled is because we found a better room, cheaper, on a cruise almost double the length of our original cruise. Be really, really, REALLY careful if you cancel as you might be out several thousand dollars. 

I was kidding about cancelling.  Only thing that will tick me off is if we miss ports like the same ones they did in Iceland where NCL knows in advance they won't stop but didn't inform anybody and sold the trip to us knowing they would not stop there.  

[UKstages]

well, to be fair, they probably didn't know at the time they sold the cruise. they've certainly known for the past three or four weeks.  ísafjörður was canceled, if NCL is to be believed, because the port failed to complete necessary dredging on time. there is some legitimate discussion as to whether or not NCL could tender at this port or whether they have the capability to tender or whether they canceled simply because they don't want to tender.

 

the other port delays and cancellations were weather related. at least they were on the two north atlantic prima cruises i just completed. as for reykjavik, we didn't get in till  3 AM the following morning, the day the cruise ended!

 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, bobkat11 said:

My only disappointing meal was Cagneys, which is an a la carte menu. Our meal there was over $200

Did you really pay $200 for a meal at Cagneys?  Most people just use the dining package.

[RB9643]

4 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Did you really pay $200 for a meal at Cagneys?  Most people just use the dining package.

 

Most people ONLY use the dining package to eat at Cagney's. Otherwise, save your money for Peter Luger.

 

 

[bobkat11]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

no, we can't all like the same things, and cruises and food and entertainment are highly subjective, but a clear trend has emerged from recent reviews of the prima... we see this in review after review (including mine) and in post after post:

 

the ship is ill-suited to cold and inclement weather, some of the food is exceptional, some is not, the staff does not operate cohesively or communicate clearly, embarkation and disembarkation delays are common, ports are canceled cruise after cruise with little accurate or timely information given about those cancellations.

 

review after review. cruise after cruise.

 

"fifty million frenchmen can't be wrong." when enough people say the same thing over and over, there's gotta be some truth to the comments. that doesn't mean you can't enjoy your cruise or aspects of your cruise or the ports or the excursions. it doesn't mean you still can't be a fan of NCL (i am). but it would be wrong to pretend that the prima is, you'll pardon the expression, a well run ship.

 

it is not.

 Unfortunately I was not at all aware (until just now when I read your post) of widespread negative reviews of Prima. I haven't spent much time at this site.

Previous cruise friends were doing this sailing, and we decided to join them. Of course i wish now I had done more research.

[bobkat11]

1 hour ago, Obobru said:

Sounds like a couple of issues happened like the ports and because you had arrived in a bad mood from your flight issue you found fault with almost everything. The delay boarding was most likely a customs/immigration search on the ship they have been doing more in Southampton. The missed port and delayed port isn't ideal but you just sat in your room stewing away making it worse for yourself. 

 

Unfortunately this is how many humans react including myself, off to a bad start it's hard to get into the mood and have fun. My partner always pulls me back saying we can't change it so let's find what we can do and make the best of it. 

 

I am sure you will find a new cruise line you prefer, we are not loyal to any which I find is the best way as loads of cruise lines do similar itineraries.

 

I didn't say we sat in the room "stewing." We sat in the room reading. 🙂 Very different. And we did a LOT of walking on decks 6, 7, and 8. Over and over. Had to reach our 10,000 steps every day! But regarding scheduled activities for sea days, there truly was surprisngly very little.

[RB9643]

1 minute ago, bobkat11 said:

 Unfortunately I was not at all aware (until just now when I read your post) of widespread negative reviews of Prima.

 

Don't be discouraged. There are a number of things that should have been done differently. But we sailed her and had a fantastic time, regardless.

 

You make a positive cruise, or you make a negative cruise. It's really up to you.

 

 

[tscoffey]

I don’t understand the complaint about the entertainment, “The Price Is Right” not giving away expensive prizes.

If the entertainment had instead been a more traditional musical show, would anyone have been walking away with even a single prize? 
 

[bobkat11]

11 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Did you really pay $200 for a meal at Cagneys?  Most people just use the dining package.

Sorry for the misstatement. Our bill showed $200, but it was in our dining package. 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, bobkat11 said:

We returned home last night from an 11 night cruise on the Norwegian Prima to Norway and Iceland (and Brugge and Amsterdam). This was, by far, the most disappointing cruise we've ever taken (and I heard many other passengers say the same thing). I'm not the kind of person who is hard to please, or who easily complains, but I'm posting this review for people considering this ship. I'll try to briefly summarize this cruise:

1. Embarkation was a mess! No one was allowed on the ship for several hours past the expected check-in time (our pre-cruise paperwork told us to arrive at 9:30am). Guests were stuck standing in the sun outside the terminal, unsure as to why no one could board. We were told various conflicting explanations. Boarding finally started around 3pm if I remember correctly. My husband and I got on the ship around 4pm , and I got my luggage at 9pm. It was a frustrating and unwelcoming start to our cruise (on the heels of arriving exhausted in London 24 hours late due to flight delays and a missed connection.)

2. Itinerary. I know sometimes itineraries have to change, but I've never had one change to this unacceptable extent. First stop, we arrived late to Brugge, missing our tour for that day. The entire stop at Isofjordour was cancelled.  (We were told we couldn't stop there because the Prima doesn't have tender boats. Don't all of the life boats double as tender boats?? And other ships continue to stop there, so we Prima passengers were frustrated by no satisfactory reason for the cancellation.) So that day became an unexpected (and unwanted) extra sea day. For our last stop, we arrived in Reykjavik, not at 7 am as scheduled, but 1:30 in the afternoon, so once again, we could not do the tour we had planned. Missing 3 out of 8 tours was very disappointing, after traveling so far to see these sights.

3. Sea days. In a word, boring. Most of the time that we were on the ship, we just sat in our cabin and read books. There simply was nothing to do on this ship most of the time. We did go to a History of Iceland presentation in the Prima Lounge one day, which was interesting. The Observation Lounge, which would have been the single best place to pass extra time, was closed to the public for our whole cruise. In a nutshell, The Prima should never sail this particular itinerary. It is the wrong ship for the climate. It has far too much outdoor space for a chilly northern European itinerary, causing the indoor dining areas and lounges to be claustrophobically packed. Passengers did not want to be outside in the cold wind playing shuffleboard, mini golf, pickleball, water slides, Go-carts, pool areas, sitting lounges, or any of the other numerous outdoor offerings.

4. Entertainment. The Prima lounge had The Price Is Right a couple of nights. This is basically a glorified commercial for that game show, with embarassingly little given as prizes. A carry-on suitcase, and $25, were the only prizes won. The Prima lounge also had a Donna Summer musical which I suppose was the best show of the trip (but that's not saying much, as even the Broadway version of yhis show was poorly reviewed). There was a comedienne/singer two nights who was just ok, with her self-deprecating humor and mannerisms, and typical tired jokes about how much food we eat on cruises. I don't expect cruise entertainers to be on par with Broadway stars, but I've always been pleased with the entertainers on previous cruises. There is no shortage of amazing talent in this world, but NCL didn't bother to find and hire such talent. The lounge singers ranged from bland to awful. There was one small lounge that we were told had good music in the evenings (Syd's Pour House), but we were never able to get into there due to the small space. 

5. Food. I found the food to be good overall. Not 5-star good, of course, but similar to that on other cruises. My only disappointing meal was Cagneys, which is an a la carte menu. Our meal there was over $200, yet I can make a better ribeye steak at home. Maybe I just happened to get a dry bland piece, because my husband did like his steak. The Indulge Food Court was crowded, confusing, with online ordering difficult to figure out. Despite us having the beverage package, when we ordered any drinks on the table-top tablets, we had to accept the full charge for our drinks. Other passengers complained about the tablets not working well. Food highlights: Palomar mashed potatoes, and The Local Reuben sandwich were memorably excellent! Hudsons and Commodore were consistently good experiences for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The buffet on the 17th floor was a headache-inducing madhouse with far too little indoor seating.

6. This is a random, weird situation that was handled very poorly by NCL staff. My husband and I came upon two injured passengers, elderly women who had fallen down a set of stairs on top of each other, and we began screaming for help. Long story short, several crew members came and went, making phone calls, trying to get a wheelchair, but not one crew member offered to relieve us as we held and comforted the injured passengers. Crew knew we did not know the women, because we made that clear. We spent about a half an hour helping these strangers before a wheelchair finally arrived, and it was only then that I realized, "Hey, a crew member really should have taken over and not left us there taking care of these strangers." Just pretty weird that not one crew member relieved us, and also that it took so long to get something as simple as a wheelchair.

7. Cabins: layout worked well, bathroom was more spacious than other cruiselines'. Too cold to use the balcony much. Noisy at night, constantly sounded like a torrential rain storm. Other passengers mentioned rattles and other noises.

8. Disembarking. We got off the ship fine, at 8:30 as instructed, took our own luggage off, got on a shuttle to the airport outside of Reykjavik, arriving there around 9:30am. Unfortunately flights out to the US were all late afternoon and evening, so it was a long day sitting at the airport waiting for our 5pm flight, with very few chairs in the waiting area. Actually there was a 10am flight that some of us had looked into, but NCL said they would not allow anyone off the ship early enough to make that flight, despite docking in Reykjavik port 6pm the previous evening. We didn't understand that, but we had learned that unclear, non-answers from NCL was the standard.

 

So, despite getting to see some beautiful scenery in the ports we made it to, overall I am very dissatisfied with this cruise. NCL did give each guest $100 on board credit as an apology for the embarkation fiasco, changed itinerary, and unavailability of the Observation Lounge. But to me, even a full refund would not have made the frustrating experience worth it. The ratio of enjoyable, quality time enjoying ports, to time spent standing in lines or otherwise wasted time, was simply not worth it. 

 

I will not be cruising with NCL again.

 

As for the excuse that the ship does not have tender boats, doesn't the port have tender boats?

 

We are on this cruise in August and hope either the port finishes the construction or NCL gets tired of these complaints and allows tendering, We have what we hope is a fine private tour booked in Isafjordur.

Edited June 16, 2023 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[UKstages]

 

7 minutes ago, bobkat11 said:

Unfortunately I was not at all aware (until just now when I read your post) of widespread negative reviews of Prima.

 

there are good reviews of the prima. there are bad reviews. most are mixed.

 

most seem to agree that the ship is stunningly, though impractically, designed. many state that seating is challenging at the food hall and the MDRs. many praise the cabin design and square footage and the storage space, as well as the size of the bathrooms. many talk about how clueless many of the staff seem to be, while still finding rock stars here and there. many say the entertainment is lacking. some complain of cabin noise unlike anything they have ever experienced before.

 

go and experience the prima for yourself and make up your own mind.

 

search "prima" on cruise critic and other sites and read what folks have to say.

 

4 minutes ago, tscoffey said:

I don’t understand the complaint about the entertainment, “The Price Is Right” not giving away expensive prizes.

If the entertainment had instead been a more traditional musical show, would anyone have been walking away with even a single prize? 
 

 

no, but nobody expects to get a prize after viewing a broadway show. they do have a reasonable expectation that "the price is right" will offer a similar experience to the popular tv game show. but it doesn't. the show looks like a million dollars, but the gifts are in the under $200 range. and nobody has a realistic chance of winning a car, although it might happen someday.

 

no matter how you slice it, "the price is right" is simply not legitimate cruise ship entertainment. you may enjoy it, four or five people may head home with a set of headphones or a set of luggage or a couple of hundred dollars. but it's atrium entertainment that has been pimped out with flashy lights and bells and whistles. it's hollow, relatively cheap to produce (compared to a broadway style entertainment) and just barely watchable.

[david_sobe]

Every cruise is different even if its the same ship.  My first cruise was meh.  I did not get the cruise bug until my second cruise.  A lousy embarkation can really set the tone for your cruise.  Those demons need to be exorcised out of you once you sail.  In some countries or even US Ports there are many things that can create a bad embarkation.  Sometimes the cruise line is not to blame.  Itineraries change all the time so those two issues are not really the fault of NCL.  All of your other criticisms and praise are fair game.

Wherever you sail next I hope its the best cruise ever!

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, bobkat11 said:

My only disappointing meal was Cagneys, which is an a la carte menu. Our meal there was over $200, yet I can make a better ribeye steak at home.

 

27 minutes ago, bobkat11 said:

Sorry for the misstatement. Our bill showed $200, but it was in our dining package. 

There are two ways to look at this.

a) I got a "free" meal from the cruise line and it was crap

b) I got a $200 meal from the cruise line and it was crap

 

Most of us who have had crappy steaks at Cagney's (myself included) just shrug it off as "a" and admit that we got what we paid for.  When I go to Cagney's now, I ask the waiter which of the steaks are the "good" ones tonight.  They know.  I'm more concerned about good vs. bad then fillet vs. NY strip vs. Ribeye.

[herbanrenewal]

My review from last fall (2nd and 3rd Prima voyages)- had much of the same criticisms. It is ridiculous to keep this ship designed for warm weather environments, on a northern route. I loved the rooms, but felt entertainment sadly lacking. The best shows were at Syds, but it was impossible to get in. We sometimes listened for a bit from the hallway, unable to get in. Regular shows shared my most-common criticism of cruise shows - volume that sets off my apple watch alarm for decibels that are damaging to the ears. As for missed ports, I understand that happens, but on a longer cruise it means more effort needs to be made to have a ship capable of handling entertainment needs for all - maybe a matinee of the syds shows would let more people enjoy a highlight of the entertainment to try torebalance the disappointment of cancelled ports.