About 5 minutes after stepping on board Norwegian Cruise Line’s new ship, Prima, I assumed to myself, “Okay, so we’re positively stepping up our recreation.” Twenty minutes later, I assumed to myself, “Nicely right here’s one thing that’s not occurred to me on an NCL ship in a very long time: I’m utterly misplaced.” Welcome to Day One in every of my Norwegian Prima journey report!
And Now, For One thing Utterly Totally different
Given that almost all of my sailings have been on NCL, I’ve a reasonably good understanding of their ships. I’m certain you’ve had that very same expertise with no matter line you’ve sailed probably the most usually: You understand how to get from the atrium to the buffet, and from the theater to the on line casino, as a result of whereas many parts change, the fundamental format of the ships stay the identical.
Nicely, that’s positively not the case with Prima.
Whereas most NCL ships are typically fairly simply navigated from bow to aft, this ship’s pathways show that whereas the shortest distance between two factors is likely to be a straight line, that’s not essentially probably the most attention-grabbing route.
However let’s again up somewhat bit, we could? So considered one of my longtime points with Norwegian’s Breakaway and Breakaway-Plus class ships was that once you stroll off the gangway, there’s no “wow” issue. You principally are dumped right into a hallway. So think about how joyful I used to be to find that on Prima, you stroll immediately right into a three-story atrium that’s modern and trendy and positively units the tone for what’s to come back.
I also needs to point out earlier than we go any additional that I used to be a visitor of Norwegian on board this crusing, as was everybody on board, whether or not they be journey brokers or media. Norwegian paid for all the things from the room to the gratuities. What they didn’t do, as longtime readers of this web site will know, is purchase and even affect my opinions. I’ll inform you what I like (which to be sincere, was lots) and what I didn’t like, no holds barred. ‘Trigger that’s the way in which we roll. You come to us for honesty, not for company shilling.
That mentioned, let’s transfer on.
The place To Begin?
To be sincere, the primary day on board was a little bit of a blur. After arriving on the port for the best check-in ever (the sort of crusing tends to be fairly straightforward in that regard), I acquired on board, took a fast assembly with the media reps, hit my muster station (the place actually all they did was scan my card and ship me on my method) and sought out my room.
I’m on deck 15 in a Household Balcony. Like lots of the areas on the ship, the staterooms have been designed by Studio Dado. Throughout a Q&A session with a number of of their people, chief designer Greg Walton defined that they needed to create an area by which one may nest.
Like the remainder of the ship, all the things right here feels very trendy, modern and upscale. One factor I’ll have an interest to see individuals’s response to is the artwork within the staterooms. Quite than merely have a portray on a wall, the partitions themselves are principally murals right here with some very cool pictures… together with the one girl pictured under, with butterflies obscuring her face. I actually, actually like it, however may see it giving some individuals nightmares!
The lavatory is spacious and the showers not solely have glass doorways which swivel to create a wider entrance however what Cruise Radio head honcho Doug Parker likes to name “automobile wash” nozzles that hit you from throughout. That’s the sort of factor you hardly ever discover in customary staterooms, however that little little bit of the suite life is in all Prima staterooms.
Meet the Diva
No sooner had I thrown my issues into the stateroom than it was time to hurry to Syd Norman’s Pour Home, the place Kimberly Locke — the American Idol runner-up who’s at present headlining in Summer season: The Donna Summer season Musical on Prima — could be assembly with the media.
I don’t know what I anticipated, nevertheless it wasn’t to have Locke placed on a personal efficiency for the 20 or so individuals within the room. Quite than merely sing a pair songs from the Donna Summer season hit checklist, she eschewed these solely to inform us tales of her previous and carry out songs which had private that means to her. Right here it was, 11 a.m. on a Thursday, and I used to be having a kind of moments the place you suppose, “Wait, is that this actually my life?”
Go Forward, Indulge
By this level ravenous, I headed to Indulge Meals Corridor. It is a new-to-Norwegian idea and one of the best ways to explain it’s as an upscale meals court docket. You understand, like they’ve on the mall. Besides as a substitute of Panda Specific and Sbarro Pizza, this one has an incredible collection of eating places. Better of all, you possibly can sit at a desk and — by ordering off a pill — get various things from every of the venues, all of that are delivered to your desk.
I wound up having shrimp pad thai from Nudls, Crab Tostado from the Latin Quarter, chorizo from Tapas, and extra. Like Meals Republic (a for-fee restaurant on board), this can be a great place to hit with a pal so you possibly can share small plates. However be warned: It will get tremendous crowded throughout peak lunch and dinner occasions, when discovering a desk could be powerful.
Really feel the Vibe
The remainder of the afternoon is a little bit of a blur, as I wandered round making an attempt to soak up as a lot as attainable. As a result of this isn’t thought of a income crusing, areas just like the Vibe Seaside Membership (that are usually solely accessible to these keen to pay round $250 per week) have been open for all. On condition that Vibe is considered one of my favourite spots, after all I needed to test it out. Regardless of this being a smaller ship than the Breakaway and Breakaway-Plus class ships, Prima has a bigger Vibe space… and it’s beautiful.
One factor I notably liked about this house was visiting it after darkish, when lighting results allowed the new tub to bubble a deep blue and a lighted pathway wove by way of the chairs to the bar which anchors your complete house, itself a wonderful piece of structure.
I’ll admit I used to be shocked that Vibe is actually immediately beneath the three-story Prima Speedway. Whereas the go-karts aren’t extraordinarily loud, I’m unsure it’s a sound I’d need to hearken to all day once I paid a premium value for a spot to loosen up and get away from the insanity of the ship as an entire.
One thing Fishy
As a result of Norwegian was offering each visitor on this particular crusing with at the least one (and in some circumstances two) specialty eating restaurant credit score, issues have been a bit chaotic when it got here to making an attempt to snag reservations. The 2 eating places I knew I needed to attempt have been Onda by Scarpetta (Italian) and Palomar (Mediterranean/seafood). Because it turned out, my media rep had organized for a number of of us to have dinner at Onda; I solely wanted to get a Palomar reservation.
Simpler mentioned than accomplished.
Theoretically, one could make eating reservations in quite a lot of methods, together with on the Norwegian app or any of the touchscreens situated across the ship. However know-how being know-how, none of that was working. So with a purpose to get specialty eating reservations (or leisure reservations), people needed to stand in line and hope for one of the best. In my case, being a single diner positively labored, as I used to be capable of guide Palomar for this, our first night time.
Now, I’ll admit I’m not an enormous seafood particular person. However this being a very new-to-NCL restaurant, I felt it was virtually my obligation to provide it a attempt. I used to be not disillusioned in any respect. The meal began off with heat, contemporary baked bread and a plate of oil with snipped-at-your-table rosemary by which to dip it. I then ordered oysters and a grilled squid appetizer, adopted by a perfectly-prepared sea bass. So good was the chef that I wound up consuming a carrot-and-chickpea puree, one thing I wouldn’t even take a look at on dry land.
And I preferred it!
One factor value noting: Palomar is upscale and it ain’t low-cost. There are a restricted variety of entrees, and at the least three of them include a surcharge in case you’re utilizing the eating plan. Frankly, I used to be shocked to see that lots of the primary entrees have an additional price hooked up to them.
Summer season at Studio 54
Now at residence, I’ve a tricky time staying up previous 10 p.m., and that’s usually true on a cruise, too. However damned if I used to be going to overlook the massive present on this ship, Summer season: The Donna Summer season Musical. As I discussed earlier, Kimberly Locke is the star of the present, however she’s joined by two different performers who play the long-lasting Ms. Summer season at totally different occasions in her life.
The present is… what it’s. It’s a well-produced, pretty well-paced jukebox musical that includes round two dozen songs made well-known by the reluctant Disco Queen. Locke is sweet as “Diva Donna,” however by no means actually felt linked to the half for me. Her vocal enunciations felt a bit too compelled, particularly when in comparison with these of the opposite performers.
As you may assume, the ultimate track of the present is Final Dance… nevertheless it proves to be something however because the theater is then remodeled into the legendary New York Metropolis nightclub Studio 54. Now, a lot has been made from the transformation from theater to bounce membership, and it’s sort of superb. However lest anybody suppose this can be a easy “push a button, the theater chairs go away and a dance ground magically seems” sort of factor, suppose once more. It takes about 20 minutes or so for a small military of crew members, to break down all of the seats and slowly however absolutely permit them to slip backwards right into a wall cubby. It’s fairly like once you have been in highschool, and the bleachers would stack up towards the wall when not in use.
Correctly, to maintain the get together going whereas this transformation is happening, the leisure workers creates a disco on the precise stage and encourages individuals to come back up and dance. With 70s disco music throbbing, a fog machine working additional time, and even a number of velvet ropes, the environment is energetic and an entire lot of enjoyable.
Phrase of warning, cabin-booking sensible: Given how loud the music is throughout each the present and the afterparty, I positively wouldn’t need to be in a stateroom above or under the Prima Theater/Membership!
Having been effectively fed and entertained, it was off to search out out simply how comfortable that mattress in my stateroom actually was. In any case, tomorrow could be one other action-packed day…
