Why are people unhappy? Prima class review

[david_sobe]

This guy is the gold standard for cruise reviews.  He is so experienced with cruising.  He never bashes any line or ship.  He calls the balls and strikes of each line and each ship he sails.   In this video he tackles the Prima class and gives his opinion.  He is not a fan of NCL ships.  He tells you that up front.  But you will be surprised in the end.  Even though he points out many issues that may not work on the Prima class, he really enjoyed NCL's attempt to change things up.  Always an interesting perspective from him.

 

[IAcruising]

Gary was my intro to YT cruise videos. He is fantastic. I've accumulated a number of others I watch daily, but yes, he is the gold standard.

 

[david_sobe]

He also has a great video on the Viva Haven.  He liked it but felt the price did not give you enough bang for the buck.  We all know how expensive it is.  

[BirdTravels]

At the moment, you’re going to pay a premium for the Viva and Prima. Kinda like trying to book a room on the Icon right now. 

[Markj]

I think his review was pretty good  and gave the pros and cons of the Prima Haven and I mostly agree with him.

 

Things I disagree with are the concierge team and communication -;I think that's a two way thing, engage with them and they engage with you 

I don't worry about the static Haven menu as I don't want to eat there all the time.

 

Do agree about the Haven Lounge. It's lifeless and has no facilities, compared to Bliss it's very poor.

 

And yes the AC and lighting controls are unnecessarily complicated

 

[david_sobe]

19 minutes ago, Markj said:

I think his review was pretty good  and gave the pros and cons of the Prima Haven and I mostly agree with him.

 

Things I disagree with are the concierge team and communication -;I think that's a two way thing, engage with them and they engage with you 

I don't worry about the static Haven menu as I don't want to eat there all the time.

 

Do agree about the Haven Lounge. It's lifeless and has no facilities, compared to Bliss it's very poor.

 

And yes the AC and lighting controls are unnecessarily complicated

 

On Encore, the Horizon Lounge was fantastic for Haven passengers.  Morning or afternoon you could go there for coffee, tea, juice, candy, cookies, snacks, etc.  It was a tranquil area yet social area with great views.  It would not cost NCL anything to put a small table like they have in the observation lounge on Prima/Viva and put a juice canister, coffee pot, and a few snacks in the Haven lounge.   It amazes me coming off Encore and the Horizon lounge that NCL is dropping the ball in the Prima class Haven lounges.  They are huge yet sit empty like the museums in North Korea 😆

Edited February 3 by david_sobe

[IAcruising]

21 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

At the moment, you’re going to pay a premium for the Viva and Prima. Kinda like trying to book a room on the Icon right now. 

 

For certain. Once Prima and Viva become the "old ships", the value vs. price will increase accordingly.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 3 by IAcruising

[kathyRW]

We sailed Prima in the Haven end of January and I have to agree that I probably won't sail this class again. It is sort of too bad that NCL is investing in more of this class. Cruising is never a bad experience, especially in the suite class. But Prima was disappointing in many ways that I don't think can really be fixed. 

1) It is a "fair weather" ship - if you don't have warm weather or it is windy all those outdoor areas empty and everyone has to crowd into spaces not intended for that many people. Our itinerary should have been warm but we encountered rough/windy/thunderstormy days (missed one port entirely) and another day was so windy - it was whipping. On the last night we were surrounded by lightening all around the ship. So it was not a great place to be crowded inside on many days. I would never take this ship to any cold climate itineraries.

2) The small scattered venues were horribly crowded - no seating anytime we tried the Surfside grill, the Local and the Indulge Food Hall. Never even tried to get into the standing room only show venues (we did get reservations to see Donna Summers Show - the featured singers were really good, though the show was very loud).

3) On the fair weather days the noise from the outside deck 8 Ocean Boulevard pretty much was constant all the time which made our balcony not very enjoyable. The balconies above deck 8 all overlook the lounging and noisy crowd and you can't avoid it.There was noise from 100 people all talking at once and children screaming in the pools most of the time, so no relaxing on our balcony.

4) The layout of the ship was poor and finding things and actually getting there was a slow winding mess of crowds. 

5) The dedicated Haven elevators were wonderful BUT this ship design overdid it with the number of Haven staterooms on many decks.The staff tried very hard but there are not enough of them for the size of the Haven. Bar service was often *very* slow all over the ship.  Even the Haven bar was not stocked with many common things so the bartenders had to go to other bars to get certain things. There was no purpose to the Haven lounge area - which was all chopped up into small squares of seating with nothing to do - no snacks, nothing there. Concierge desk was often left unstaffed. I enjoyed the Haven on other class ships much more, especially as there was no Haven observation lounge like on the Bliss. Haven pool was pretty but small, and the hot tubs were not a big attraction with the poor and windy weather. We did end up eating at the Haven restaurant a lot just because the other venues were so crowded and the service was good there, as was the food. We did enjoy Cagney's and Palomar but didn't even use all of our offered specialty dinners because of crowding.

Overall, the bad luck of rough weather and the design of the ship just worked against a great experience on the Prima. So we are going back to the Bliss next time.

Edited February 4 by kathyRW

[IAcruising]

kathy, your review is appreciated, but polar opposite of what we experienced. To each their own.

 

[dock]

Oh gosh, I’m now stressed about our Iceland/Norway cruise in summer of 2025.

It’s  a great itinerary as I’d like to do both in one trip. @IAcruising, should I consider another line ? 

[IAcruising]

7 minutes ago, dock said:

Oh gosh, I’m now stressed about our Iceland/Norway cruise in summer of 2025.

It’s  a great itinerary as I’d like to do both in one trip. @IAcruising, should I consider another line ? 

 

It's often difficult to discern whether one is serious, or sarcastic.

 

Do your research, and do you.

 

 

[dock]

@IAcruising, no sarcasm intended. I would like to know your experience. 
Norway/ Iceland is a bucket list cruise for us so would like your opinion. Thank you. 
 

[IAcruising]

1 hour ago, dock said:

@IAcruising, no sarcasm intended. I would like to know your experience. 
Norway/ Iceland is a bucket list cruise for us so would like your opinion. Thank you. 
 

 

Dock, I would love to be able to tell you everything to make your cruise perfect. But that's not my job, Reseach the ship, research the ports, research the temperatures. Research the interiors and exteriors vs. the temperatures. Spending $1000's of dollars is worth a bit of effort, right?  Personally, I'd jump on that ship in a heartbeat. 😄

 

[Fogfog]

We are looking forward to this ship as we aren't big venue - crowds- cacophony folks.

We like the look of the visual small spaces with gathering areas and the wrap around decks, multiple pools, shaded areas

 

And we like the ship within a ship thing. 

 

Part of the complaining could be from the "we always did it this way" mindset-- of larger venues ? idk.

Interesting that Virgin went this way as well. 

 

It didn't sound like this guy used his butler service of Haven either.

 

A thought on the entertainment-- Haven't seen the dailies-- 

If the Syd's and comedy club, and shows in the main theater are all going at once--plus some lounge acts, then there are plenty of places for folks to go each evening and fewer/shorter lines?

Maybe it isn't about the actual spaces yet maybe there aren't enough acts going at the same time? 

Can someone speak to that?

 

Was surprised the Local is open 24/7. God bless those people. 

[david_sobe]

Its funny because a main complaint of Epic is that it did not have enough ocean views or outdoor space.  Critics called it a floating Las Vegas hotel.  Ever since Epic NCL has built more and more outdoor space on every ship since.  But have they met their match?  Now is there too much outdoor space?  People are now cramped inside?  Besides this vlog, others have pointed out that the Prima class should not be cruising cold climates.  These ships should stick to the Caribbean and warmer summer months.  I am surprised NCL did not see that aspect coming.  But then again they bet big on building an exclusive ship for the Chinese/Asian market and that blew up in their face and cost them a bundle.  It will be interesting to see if the 10% more space Aqua can alleviate some of the crowding.

Edited February 4 by david_sobe

[Markj]

I think Gary is fair in his assessment that the Prima class and Virgin ships are designed more for those who want individual smaller places.

 

We were on Prima July last year in the Haven and had a great time. Yes there was a queue at Syd Normans the first night but after that we didn't have a problem getting in anywhere.

 

Yes the speciality restaurants are busy but simply making a booking means you always get seated so no need to miss out and changing a reservation was always easy with the Concierge desk.

 

My major gripe is the Haven lounge.  It needs a buffet and coffee/drinks station. If that was put in then it would be a lovely place to chill/hang

[Markj]

8 hours ago, dock said:

Oh gosh, I’m now stressed about our Iceland/Norway cruise in summer of 2025.

It’s  a great itinerary as I’d like to do both in one trip. @IAcruising, should I consider another line ? 

Personally I think you will have an amazing time. The ship is amazing and the food is good.

 

Every ship and cruise line has it's pros and cons and if you read the reviews of the luxury lines people can always find something they think could be improved

[dock]

Appreciate all the info.

Ive been reading and trying to glean as much info as possible as this will be our first time with NCL. 

We’ve booked for the itinerary, so for now will keep it and see how the reviews pan out. 

 We’re assuming we have to get to Indulge early if we want to try it and plan on prebooking Specialties as early as possible. 
 

Will temper our expectations and focus on the ports. 
Thank you. 

[Markj]

Yeah it needs a little planning but at the due date book your specialities. I didn't have a problem with the times we wanted.

 

Then you can always adjust when you get on board.

 

If you can give yourself at least one night in Reykjavik as it's a lovely place to explore and go to the Blue Lagoon (I'm sure by then the volcano will have calmed down)

[seemoreroyals]

13 hours ago, kathyRW said:

We sailed Prima in the Haven end of January and I have to agree that I probably won't sail this class again. It is sort of too bad that NCL is investing in more of this class. Cruising is never a bad experience, especially in the suite class. But Prima was disappointing in many ways that I don't think can really be fixed. 

1) It is a "fair weather" ship - if you don't have warm weather or it is windy all those outdoor areas empty and everyone has to crowd into spaces not intended for that many people. Our itinerary should have been warm but we encountered rough/windy/thunderstormy days (missed one port entirely) and another day was so windy - it was whipping. On the last night we were surrounded by lightening all around the ship. So it was not a great place to be crowded inside on many days. I would never take this ship to any cold climate itineraries.

2) The small scattered venues were horribly crowded - no seating anytime we tried the Surfside grill, the Local and the Indulge Food Hall. Never even tried to get into the standing room only show venues (we did get reservations to see Donna Summers Show - the featured singers were really good, though the show was very loud).

3) On the fair weather days the noise from the outside deck 8 Ocean Boulevard pretty much was constant all the time which made our balcony not very enjoyable. The balconies above deck 8 all overlook the lounging and noisy crowd and you can't avoid it.There was noise from 100 people all talking at once and children screaming in the pools most of the time, so no relaxing on our balcony.

4) The layout of the ship was poor and finding things and actually getting there was a slow winding mess of crowds. 

5) The dedicated Haven elevators were wonderful BUT this ship design overdid it with the number of Haven staterooms on many decks.The staff tried very hard but there are not enough of them for the size of the Haven. Bar service was often *very* slow all over the ship.  Even the Haven bar was not stocked with many common things so the bartenders had to go to other bars to get certain things. There was no purpose to the Haven lounge area - which was all chopped up into small squares of seating with nothing to do - no snacks, nothing there. Concierge desk was often left unstaffed. I enjoyed the Haven on other class ships much more, especially as there was no Haven observation lounge like on the Bliss. Haven pool was pretty but small, and the hot tubs were not a big attraction with the poor and windy weather. We did end up eating at the Haven restaurant a lot just because the other venues were so crowded and the service was good there, as was the food. We did enjoy Cagney's and Palomar but didn't even use all of our offered specialty dinners because of crowding.

Overall, the bad luck of rough weather and the design of the ship just worked against a great experience on the Prima. So we are going back to the Bliss next time.

 

Reading your review made me so thankful we had Vibe passes on our cruise when we sailed Prima in December.  For a fraction of the cost of haven you could have avoided all the noise and angst you experienced in talking points #1and 3.  

 

We had much of the same issues on our cruise with a ship designed to hold just over 3000 people packed to nearly 4000.  We encountered bad weather, unsupervised screaming kids and other unruly passengers but were able to avoid them by spending our days in the serenity and seclusion of the vibe.  It was the best $500 we have ever spent on a cruise.

Edited February 4 by seemoreroyals

[graphicguy]

On the Prima now!  His review is overall spot on!

[brad0576]

Prima class is “different” and there is nothing the general population hates more than “different”

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, dock said:

@IAcruising, no sarcasm intended. I would like to know your experience. 
Norway/ Iceland is a bucket list cruise for us so would like your opinion. Thank you. 
 

We did that cruise, London (Southampton) to Reykjavik last summer and loved it. Were there some problems? Of course there were, the main one was we booked it for itinerary and 2 of the 8 ports were missed.

 

We liked the small music acts at the lounges and even got to meet a few entertainers. (One pair even wished us a happy anniversary.) Was it perfect? No, tables were often taken by people already there playing cards or games and the bars were somewhat noisy, but we still enjoyed the music and the small setting. I once caught one of the entertainers (a solo singer and guitar player) leaving the theater and asked him what it was like playing when many were not paying attention. He just shrugged.

 

We got into Syd's the first night even though we were late. The only real line I remember was for Rumours. I even got to speak with 2 of the singers. Note in case you have to sit, I stood, but it is rock and roll. The only time I did have a seat, I ended up getting up as your body is supposed to move for rock and roll.

 

We did spend a little time on deck 8 which was obviously going to be a much better venue on a warm cruise, but it was ok.

 

Can't comment on any Haven issues or non-issues because we did not book the Haven.

 

My bottom line advice is to go looking to have a great time, not to nitpick problems. We truly enjoyed our cruise and had a lovely wedding anniversary on a sea day between Norway and Iceland.

 

I hope this helps you with your decision.

[david_sobe]

1 hour ago, brad0576 said:

Prima class is “different” and there is nothing the general population hates more than “different”

True.  IMHO that explains all the unjustified hate of the Epic.  OMG the amount of stuff people would write. " I will never go on a ship that looks that ugly"   "The room steward is going to barge in and see me naked"   It got ridiculous with the trivial stuff.  I also laugh at "not enough ocean view."  Epic was one of the first ships to put its buffet in the prime location in the forward part of the ship.  Best views at sea from the freaking buffet! 
Remember how "everyone" hated Virgin Scarlett Lady when she debuted?   All the traditional cruisers flamed the small pool area and other things that were "different."  Now Virgin is so popular and the ship gets some of the best reviews ever.  The reason WHY is Virgin is attracting people that never cruised before and not traditional cruisers.  

Edited February 4 by david_sobe

[ricksurf]

9 hours ago, dock said:

@IAcruising, no sarcasm intended. I would like to know your experience. 
Norway/ Iceland is a bucket list cruise for us so would like your opinion. Thank you. 
 

We did the first crossing on the Prima with Norway and Iceland.  These ships, as suggested in the video are best for warmer weather.  There is just not enough interior space for the colder weather. It was impossible with our crossing to go outside.  If you intended to eat on sea days at busy times, then you'll find it difficult to find a seat.  In the evenings with the colder weather, then Good luck finding a seat in any of the entertainment venues. The plus for the ship is the food.  Since they have added so many new local kitchen areas, then you'll find freshly cooked foods in many places.  If you can breakaway from a buffet mentality and enjoy the other food venues, then you will love this ship. While the food was equally as good in the buffet, the size of the area is challenging.

The staterooms are excellent with new larger designs. In all, I don't think that I would pay an upcharge to sail on this class of ship.