Norwegian Prima: Pre-Christmas out of Galveston. Our initial impressions and a few tips

[alexirina]

Hello fellow cruisers!

 

This morning we returned from our first sailing on Norwegian Prima out of Galveston and while things are still fresh in our minds, we wanted to share thoughts on this journey, and offer a few tips. Not the kind of tips "bring flipflops, sunscreen and cash", but real advice that would have helped up a month or two ago.

If you'd rather watch a quick video with the same information and a few snippets of Prima, here is a link: https://youtu.be/RoLQ2TEs2S0

 

We are not travel agents, we are not sponsored and videos/posts are not monetized, so this is as close to honest opinions as it gets!

First things first: in general we enjoyed our time and this cruise was 10-20-100 times better than the mess of MSC Seascape (in a Yacht Club!) we experienced a year ago. 
What made this trip for us was the ship itself and Vibe Beach Club! Prima is relatively new, very beautiful and well laid out. Not without quirks such as tiny Comedy Club, but overall we were happy.
Food experience was very nice indeed. Close to the top of everything we ever tasted on seven seas over the past 15 years. Whether in the Food Hall or in one of several specialty Restaurants (we tried French and Mexican and enjoyed both), everything was fresh, very consistent and just overall yummy.
Entertainment was OK. While we did not fully embrace a 60 minutes narrated biography, that was advertised as a production show. Comedy was hit and miss, but we loved the shows they had when Prima theater converted to the Nightclub and all shows they had there were superb!
We stayed in a regular balcony room this time, none of that fancy Haven stuff. And we loved it for the comfort of the bed and overall unpretentious little details!

Now to the tips we promised:

1. Prearrange your parking in Galveston as early as possible, as good spots close to the port are selling out fast. We wanted to get into the multilevel parking garage right next to the port, but it was sold out, so we settled on EZ Cruise Parking open lot, which worked out well. Alternatively you may want to look into hotels that offer free or reasonably priced parking if you stay with them pre cruise.

2. If you get a beverage package, mind that the bottled/boxed water is not included. Quite unusual, probably the first time we experienced that. So we brought couple of aluminum water bottles and refilled them at the buffet with ice and water, as water packages are very expensive

3. NCL specifically states on their website that cruisers with drink packages can bring their own wine and pay no corkage fee. To our surprise our wine got confiscated by the security at the port and there was no point in arguing there. Took us a couple of trips to guest services on board to get wine returned, but we got it back after all... Our wine was not fancy, but a gentleman in line behind us brought along some vintage he was saving for this occasion and naturally he was not pleased...

And on the topic of alcohol: while you are docked in port or Galveston or even sailing in TX waters, expect a very limited selection of beverages and tax for those beverages will be charged to your room. Not an advice, but a curiosity really: why our great state thinks this is a good idea is beyond me. Or is this an NCL thing? If someone knows, please let us know, I'm genuinely curious when it comes to deviations without a logical cause.

4. Interestingly enough, on NCL private island Harvest Key in Belize you have to pay for food and drinks even if you have a drink package.

5. And we saved best for last: book Vibe Beach Club experience early. If you can't book it early, consider how important quiet 18+ experience is to you. Keep checking an app before the cruise: this is how we got our Vibe reservation: someone canceled theirs. And if all fails, run to the guest services the moment you are onboard: rumors are, they sell a significant amount of those reservations on the ship only...
In our opinion, Vibe is super awesome, it is not nearly as expensive as Haven, but it gives you freedom from kids, from noise and plenty of super comfortable loungers. Truth be told, we only spent time in Vibe and did not even bother going to the main pool or infinity pools

Cheers, again, if you found this useful, drop us a comment and feel free to ask a question! Happy cruising!

[www3traveler]

Harvest Caye is not a true private island, it is a collaboration between Norwegian and the government of Belize.  It is run by a hospitality company employing people from Belize.  Hence or dining packages or beverage packages do not work. 

[RocketMan275]

55 minutes ago, alexirina said:

3. NCL specifically states on their website that cruisers with drink packages can bring their own wine and pay no corkage fee. To our surprise our wine got confiscated by the security at the port and there was no point in arguing there. Took us a couple of trips to guest services on board to get wine returned, but we got it back after all... Our wine was not fancy, but a gentleman in line behind us brought along some vintage he was saving for this occasion and naturally he was not pleased...

And on the topic of alcohol: while you are docked in port or Galveston or even sailing in TX waters, expect a very limited selection of beverages and tax for those beverages will be charged to your room. Not an advice, but a curiosity really: why our great state thinks this is a good idea is beyond me. Or is this an NCL thing? If someone knows, please let us know, I'm genuinely curious when it comes to deviations without a logical cause.

 

I had a similar wine experience in Fort Lauderdale where the person running the security screening wanted to retain my wine because there was no one there from the cruise line to collect the corkage fee.  I insisted she either let me board with my wine of call the ship for futher guidance.  I was allowed to board with my wine which I went to guest services and paid the corkage.

 

The issue is the personnel in the port doing security are not NCL personnel and may not be familiar with NCL wine policies. They try to impose the policies of other cruise lines.  In this case, it's probably the Carnival wine policy.  I expect with more NCL cruises, this will straighten out.

 

WRT to the taxes. It's a Texas thing.  When I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas in the early seventies at the post liquor store there was a big sign that anyone purchasing liquor for consumption off post owed Texas liquor taxes. The was a sheet to sign to pay the taxes.  I asked the cashier if anyone ever paid those taxes and was told it was extremely rare.  IOW, Texas is notorious for collecting liquor taxes.  

 

The reason liquor selection is limited is because the only liquor Texas allows to be sold while the ship is in Texas territorial waters are those that have paid the Texas liquor tax.  Rather than pay taxes on all the onboard liquor, the cruise lines have just a limited selection for sale that they have paid the taxes on.

 

IOW, Texas is screwed up.  Boomer Sooner.

Edited December 23, 2023 by RocketMan275

[alexirina]

12 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

I had a similar wine experience in Fort Lauderdale where the person running the security screening wanted to retain my wine because there was no one there from the cruise line to collect the corkage fee.  I insisted she either let me board with my wine of call the ship for futher guidance.  I was allowed to board with my wine which I went to guest services and paid the corkage.

 

The issue is the personnel in the port doing security are not NCL personnel and may not be familiar with NCL wine policies. They try to impose the policies of other cruise lines.  In this case, it's probably the Carnival wine policy.  I expect with more NCL cruises, this will straighten out.

 

WRT to the taxes. It's a Texas thing.  When I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas in the early seventies at the post liquor store there was a big sign that anyone purchasing liquor for consumption off post owed Texas liquor taxes. The was a sheet to sign to pay the taxes.  I asked the cashier if anyone ever paid those taxes and was told it was extremely rare.  IOW, Texas is notorious for collecting liquor taxes.  

 

The reason liquor selection is limited is because the only liquor Texas allows to be sold while the ship is in Texas territorial waters are those that have paid the Texas liquor tax.  Rather than pay taxes on all the onboard liquor, the cruise lines have just a limited selection for sale that they have paid the taxes on.

 

IOW, Texas is screwed up.  Boomer Sooner.

Thank you for sharing re: Taxes and Security contractors. I feel this would be helpful to future cruisers, as both issues were a surprise to us, yet, again, neither was a big deal, more of an annoyance. Cheers and Happy Holidays!

[alexirina]

30 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Harvest Caye is not a true private island, it is a collaboration between Norwegian and the government of Belize.  It is run by a hospitality company employing people from Belize.  Hence or dining packages or beverage packages do not work. 

An interesting concept indeed, thank you for pointing it out! As we have mentioned, this is the first time we experienced something like that... Not a big deal, just as long as one knows what to expect! All things considered, Harvest Kaye is an OK place: not super crowded with a "smaller" ship such as Prima and there is only space for one ship on the island... 

[seemoreroyals]

Couldn't agree more with your comments regarding the vibe both in your review and in attached video.  We were on your cruise and also in the vibe.  

 

Did you notice how many young people were on our cruise?  I talked to one of the bartenders in the vibe and he said there were 3700 passengers on our sailing.  It seemed like there were over 1000 of them that were 16 and younger.  The vibe was a great way to escape the sardine effect that comes with an overcrowded ship.   Especially one with a disproportionate number of young people aboard.  

 

The vibe was worth every penny of what we paid.  Going forward it will be difficult to book a cruise without it.

 

In regards to the Prima we have mixed feelings.  Our standard balcony room was fantastic.  We had 4 specialty dinners at Cagney's, Palomar, Los Lobos, and at Hasuki.  The only one we were disappointed in was Palomar.  For us it was a step down from Ocean Blue.  Wife got the Sea Bass, I got the Dover Sole, maybe because of the bread and choice of appetizers and having to navigate through crowded buffet to get there we just were not impressed.

 

Cagney's, Los Lobos, and Hasuki all exceeded our expectations.  The meal at Los Lobos overall was probably our best meal on the ship.  Great Mexican food.  Cagney's steak cooked to perfection.  Hasuki entertaining and delicious.

 

In regards to the two main dining rooms Hudson's became our go to place for breakfast.  The one time we did Hudson's for dinner the service was terrible and the meal was forgettable.  The Commodore dining room for us was much better for dinner.  Embarkation meal was at Indulge Food Bar.  It was outstanding,  but we ate so much for lunch there that night we bypassed dinner on the first night for light appetizers and hot fudge sundae at the Local.

 

Typical day after breakfast and exercise we would settle in at the Vibe from around 10 until 2 or 3.  The Buffet Grill was just outside entrance of Vibe so we usually found something to eat there for lunch. While not outstanding the Buffet had a decent salad bar.  Unfortunately we had to navigate through kids running and screaming and a mass of humanity walking 10 different directions at once.  But when we got back to the Vibe be thought how lucky we were to have this area to escape an otherwise crowded ship.

 

Inside the Vibe we would either get a couple of padded lounge chairs or a private cabana type area to settle in and read and enjoy the peace and tranquility.  The Vibe was never crowded.  The waiter said only 76 Vibe passes were sold for our cruise.  We never saw over 30 or 40 people at any time we were there.  They provided a carafe of water as well as whatever drinks we decided on.  It was great.  Can't say enough good things about the Vibe.

 

In regards to entertainment we got lucky and went to the first night in the theater where they featured the best entertainers on the ship,  Familiar Strangers.  They did a heavily Smokey Robinson laced motown set that lasted a little over an hour.  That lead singer was one of the best we have ever seen on a cruise ship.  The problem was when we went to try to see the group later a number of times throughout the cruise the seating areas provided in the Penrose bar area  was so small it was impossible to get a seat.  Therein lies one of the major problems of the Prima.  There are a multitude of design issues IMO.

 

They Prima is indeed a beautiful ship.  But in an effort to provide a multitude of intimate areas it is sort of awkward at times.  Over all it was a great cruise thanks to the Vibe.  Getting on the ship was easy.  Getting off was a pain for us any way.  We were a little concerned for a while as the couple we were traveling with had an early flight out.  It all worked out and all's well that ends well but the way they handled debarkation was a mess.

 

 

[alexirina]

44 minutes ago, seemoreroyals said:

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and adding all these details, seemoreroyals!

I wholeheartedly agree with practically everything you have mentioned and am planning to expand a bit on some details in the next few days.

Vibe is an excellent concept and I wish other cruiselines had a similar option. I know technically RC positions Solarium as 18+, but I have never seen it "enforced". Here in Vibe we whitnessed a couple of situations where folks snuck in and staff were very quick to politely yet firmly check and make sure they were Vibe customers. That was greatly appreciated, as this area can probably fit 50-70 people if everyone showed up at once...

I see your point about the layout, but as I gave it some thoughts, I beleive ther eis a method behind their madness: most newer ships are experimenting with "dispersing the crowds". Yet they have not fully succeeded: aside from the main Theater the only two venues (Syd Normans and Improv) are way too small, and other... even smaller... Around the Atrium it is next to impossible to find a seat when anything at all is happening. I think what got us excited about NCL(again) is the fact that we tried MSC last year and that will not happen any time soon (if ever). I guess what I'm trying to say is that our opinion is somewhat biased by the most recent experience...

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts: I feel that it helps all of us to learn from the experience even if some folks would not share our excitement about the dedicated 18+ area 🙂

 

[bobswife91]

Would you happen to have your dailies?  We are sailing in a few weeks and would love to take a look.

 

Thanks in advance

[PATRLR]

7 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

The only one we were disappointed in was Palomar.  For us it was a step down from Ocean Blue.  Wife got the Sea Bass, I got the Dover Sole, maybe because of the bread and choice of appetizers and having to navigate through crowded buffet to get there we just were not impressed.

I just got off Viva and Palomar was definitely a step (or more) below Ocean Blue.  My wife also had the sea bass and I had the scallops and clams.  Neither was impressive.  

But the path to get there really surprised me.  If you arrive on deck 17 from the forward elevators/stairs, you laterally have to fight your way through the too-small-and-overcrowded buffet to get over the where Palomar wants you to enter.  This despite the fact that Palomar real-estate borders the pool area.  Just one of the few strange things about Prima/Viva's layout.

[schmoopie17]

13 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

Couldn't agree more with your comments regarding the vibe.

 

The vibe was worth every penny of what we paid.  Going forward it will be difficult to book a cruise without it.

 

I know everyone raves about the Vibe. We've never done it but have gone to Spice H20, which is also adults only. How is Vibe different...aside from having to pay extra for it?

[seemoreroyals]

21 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I know everyone raves about the Vibe. We've never done it but have gone to Spice H20, which is also adults only. How is Vibe different...aside from having to pay extra for it?

Main thing it is not crowded and no smoking.  The vibe we experienced was bigger than the spice h2o's we have been to on other ships.  At least it seemed bigger because it was never crowded. We have done  the spice h2o on other ships and the vibe blows it away.  You have your own private bar so there is no waiting in lines for drinks..  There are several good utube videos that I watched before we decided to pull trigger on the vibe.  

 

If you are a smoker you probably would not like the vibe.  If you are travelling to a colder weather itinerary the vibe might not be worth it.  If you are going on a port intensive cruise the vibe might not be worth it.  In our case we went to the west caribbean a place we had no interest in getting off ship for extended times.  

 

We like to read and it was real quiet in the vibe.  They only sold less than 80 passes on our cruise and there was never more than 30-40 people there at any one time.  It was real easy for everyone to spread out and have privacy.  Well worth the money IMO.

 

 

[KKB]

6 hours ago, PATRLR said:

I just got off Viva and Palomar was definitely a step (or more) below Ocean Blue.  My wife also had the sea bass and I had the scallops and clams.  Neither was impressive.  

But the path to get there really surprised me.  If you arrive on deck 17 from the forward elevators/stairs, you laterally have to fight your way through the too-small-and-overcrowded buffet to get over the where Palomar wants you to enter.  This despite the fact that Palomar real-estate borders the pool area.  Just one of the few strange things about Prima/Viva's layout.

Glad to get everyone's opinion on Palomar.

We had booked it since it was new to us, even tho the menu didn't wow us.

And sea bass & scallops would be our go to!

Sigh. Guess we will cancel that & keep Cagneys'. Always solid.

 

It does appear that on Breakaway class they began to create more intimate spaces & then doubled down on Prima class...but didn't pay attention to passenger comments about spaces not being big enough on Breakaway class!

I love the idea of intimate spaces BUT people don't evenly distribute themselves throughout the ship...it certainly appears the planners believe they do!

So instead of enlarging the popular areas (Syds, Improv), seems they shrunk them more.

 

We are Prima in a couple weeks.

On Breakaway class we would sit at the end of the bar at Maltings & wait for the Syd's line to start, then make our way to the line. Doesn't appear we will have that luxury on Prima.

[alexirina]

10 hours ago, bobswife91 said:

Would you happen to have your dailies?  We are sailing in a few weeks and would love to take a look.

 

Thanks in advance

I always wonder why I save those and bring them back 🙂 Now I have a valid justification. Please see attached and enjoy your cruise! Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Freestyle Daily NCL Prima Dec 15-21 2023 Galveston.pdf

[alexirina]

1 hour ago, seemoreroyals said:

Main thing it is not crowded and no smoking.  The vibe we experienced was bigger than the spice h2o's we have been to on other ships.  At least it seemed bigger because it was never crowded. We have done  the spice h2o on other ships and the vibe blows it away.  You have your own private bar so there is no waiting in lines for drinks..  There are several good utube videos that I watched before we decided to pull trigger on the vibe.  

 

If you are a smoker you probably would not like the vibe.  If you are travelling to a colder weather itinerary the vibe might not be worth it.  If you are going on a port intensive cruise the vibe might not be worth it.  In our case we went to the west caribbean a place we had no interest in getting off ship for extended times.  

 

We like to read and it was real quiet in the vibe.  They only sold less than 80 passes on our cruise and there was never more than 30-40 people there at any one time.  It was real easy for everyone to spread out and have privacy.  Well worth the money IMO.

 

 

We agree with every word! While we are not familiar with H2O, the fact that Vibe is a paid-for feature is a plus in our opinion. That helps to justify the fact that staff checks to make sure only those who paid for the Club stays there. And it is super quiet, may be a bit talkative around the bar 🙂 but otherwise really quiet, no TVs, no running kids... 

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

Glad to get everyone's opinion on Palomar.

We had booked it since it was new to us, even tho the menu didn't wow us.

And sea bass & scallops would be our go to!

Sigh. Guess we will cancel that & keep Cagneys'. Always solid.

 

It does appear that on Breakaway class they began to create more intimate spaces & then doubled down on Prima class...but didn't pay attention to passenger comments about spaces not being big enough on Breakaway class!

I love the idea of intimate spaces BUT people don't evenly distribute themselves throughout the ship...it certainly appears the planners believe they do!

So instead of enlarging the popular areas (Syds, Improv), seems they shrunk them more.

 

We are Prima in a couple weeks.

On Breakaway class we would sit at the end of the bar at Maltings & wait for the Syd's line to start, then make our way to the line. Doesn't appear we will have that luxury on Prima.

Do Onda instead of Palomar if you don't have it booked.  It was our best meal all week.  You get so much food with the dining credit and it all came out perfect.  

[Liljo22]

22 minutes ago, alexirina said:

I always wonder why I save those and bring them back 🙂 Now I have a valid justification. Please see attached and enjoy your cruise! Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Freestyle Daily NCL Prima Dec 15-21 2023 Galveston.pdf 31.8 MB · 1 download

Just to note on this.  We sailed through a bad storm in the Gulf that caused the Captain to switch Costa Maya and Cozumel.  Your cruise will probably be different on day 3 and day 5.  The Costa Maya day was from 6am to 12:30pm instead 12pm to 8pm so they probably changed up the timing of activities to make up for it.  They also added an hour to Harvest Caye so we left at 6pm instead of 5pm.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Liljo22

[KKB]

9 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

Do Onda instead of Palomar if you don't have it booked.  It was our best meal all week.  You get so much food with the dining credit and it all came out perfect.  

Yeah, not pasta eaters here

[alexirina]

6 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

Just to note on this.  We sailed through a bad storm in the Gulf that caused the Captain to switch Costa Maya and Cozumel. 

Thank you for that note, I almost forgot about that switchover. It indeed likely affected some of the times, but as far as content of what to expect onboard, it will be close enough. Cheers!

[Liljo22]

7 minutes ago, KKB said:

Yeah, not pasta eaters here

So much more than pasta though. Its more of a high end Italian restaurant than casual Italian.  I think they only have 4 pasta dishes.  We had the tuna and the filet.  

[FLAHAM]

1 hour ago, Liljo22 said:

So much more than pasta though. Its more of a high end Italian restaurant than casual Italian.  I think they only have 4 pasta dishes.  We had the tuna and the filet.  

More of a a ristorante than a trattoria.

[seemoreroyals]

4 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Do Onda instead of Palomar if you don't have it booked.  It was our best meal all week.  You get so much food with the dining credit and it all came out perfect.  

 

In hindsight that is what I wish we had done.

[PhillyTravelBug]

5 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Do Onda instead of Palomar if you don't have it booked.  It was our best meal all week.  You get so much food with the dining credit and it all came out perfect.  

it was a highlight meal for me too. We also selected Los Lobos and all of us were surprised at how much we enjoyed it. One of the best meals of our trip.  I wish we had been on the prima in a warm climate so we could have enjoyed the outdoor areas more.

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

it was a highlight meal for me too. We also selected Los Lobos and all of us were surprised at how much we enjoyed it. One of the best meals of our trip.  I wish we had been on the prima in a warm climate so we could have enjoyed the outdoor areas more.

Our favorites on Prima were Onda & Los Lobos.  We have enjoyed both on other ships and found them to be just as good on Prima.    And to echo others, Palomar was a disappointment for us.

[zounds]

THANK YOU, Alexirina  !!  What a great Xmas gift  (Prima dailies)  I'm sailing in Feb.  and am very glad you have enabled my obsession with research, as it's my 1st time on Prima and 1st time in Galveston.

[alexirina]

Just now, zounds said:

THANK YOU, Alexirina  !!  What a great Xmas gift  (Prima dailies)  I'm sailing in Feb.  and am very glad you have enabled my obsession with research, as it's my 1st time on Prima and 1st time in Galveston.

You are very welcome, Merry Christmas! Glad you found them handy (I hear you: for us researching upcoming cruise, from videos, to the menus, to destinations counts as part of the cruise experience!)

This was "the first" experience for us (first on Prima, first out of Galveston) as well and we enjoyed it. NCL is still working through some quirks, but honestly it was all good! We will share a few somewhat organized thoughts (and a video) of the embarcation day as well as the quick tour of the balcony room here in the next few days. Cheers and happy holidays!