Prima - Never Again

Norwegian Prima Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

TubbyTobysMom

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 25

Overall rating:

2.4 out of 5

7 Night Caribbean: Great Stirrup Cay & Cozumel (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 23, 2022

Ship: Norwegian Prima

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

We do not blame Norwegian but we had cold, windy and rainy days all most the full week. 2 ports were cancelled and one was not cancelled but all the activities were canceled. That was also Christmas day so not a lot was open to begin with. My point is, the passengers were already in a bad mood from the weather, cancelled plans and being stuck inside. The Norwegian made it worse by not opening venues to give us something to do. They would add another origami class, that is not cutting it.. Indulge Food Hall is amazing and should be massively bigger. Also people should be able to sit at any station and order anything. so many seats sat empty when a lot of people wanted in. You cant help that everyone in your group does not want to have salad just because you do and therefore you cannot set at the salad stall. I would understand if it was a pay-as-you-go but it is all included, why does Norwegian care where people sit? The buffet is okay but WAY too small with no wear near enough seating. Having to take your food to the other side of the ship to find seating is ridiculous. It looks like this ship has a lot of outside space, but that is not really true. For example, the back deck that is meant for casual siting and drinking. This area was over run with people looking for sunlounge space. Everything was wet and pushed all around to try and make lounger space out of seating space. In the evening you could not enjoy this as seating space because it was wet from the sun bathers earlier in the day. Yuck. You could not get any frozen drinks in the back lounge area! (Sol bar?) The Observatory Lounge was completely FREEZING all the time. I would routinely see people inside with multiple layers or even blankets! Also it was not a quiet area. It was rather loud with kids playing games and people talking or playing other game and having a good time. I don't have a problem with have fun, I just thought this was more of a quiet conversation or read a book space. I guess they were forced to take this space over because they had no place lese to go!

Embarkation

1 out of 5

could not find the correct area to board the ship. Even our Uber driver, who rutenly takes people to the port could not figure it out. Thought we may never find it. Room was fine but boring and listening to the same recording over and over. Compared to other cruise ports it was the worst we have seen.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Some venues had wonderful food (indulge) while others were severely lacking (buffet). Hudson's menu was boring and really did not have anything I wanted.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Impossible to get reservations. Impossible to understand when things were open. Venues were closed A LOT.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

The Fleetwood Mac tribute bad was terrific but way too load. It was hard to enjoy it when our ears are ringing so bad you cant hear the music clearly anymore. The main theatre show was the worst I had seen at see. Donna Summer was more disturbing than entertaining. Also played the same couple of songs over and over.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Most staff were happy, pleasant and eager to assist. With a few exceptions.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Hottible layout. Shocked how much was broken and not working considering it is a NEW ship. Elevators, multiple were constantly not working. About 1/2 the AV equipment was not working. Decretive items had fallen off the walls. The sally-port like area between the outside and the inside SMELLED like mold! It was so bad I could not go near the doors without holding my breath.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Our Midship Balcony cabin was quite nice. It had the best shower of any cruise we had been on and the best balcony furniture! The only complaint is the storage area. It needs more drawer storage and those rack things are not any good. Items fall in between and get caught as you try to open and close.

Ship tip

Don't go!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Cozumel, Mexico Did not visit port

Torrential downpour made it impossible to try and get to the destination we had planned for this port.

Thumbs Up 0

George Town, Grand Cayman Did not visit port

Canceled due to weather

Thumbs Up 0

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

3 out of 5

We loved going on the Jamaican Bobsled and other rides! Ship lost our shore excursion tickets. Did not have a clear plan to fix and left us spending over an hour just standing around not knowing if we were going to get to go or not. No one had clear answers, just kept passing us off to someone else. The local staff made it sound like this is a common problem.

Thumbs Up 0

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas Did not visit port

Cancelled due to weather

Thumbs Up 0