The destinations were great, fabulous encounters of natural beauty

Norwegian Prima Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe

malavazirani

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

Verified Review

11 Night Northern Europe: Iceland & Norway (Southampton To Reykjavik)

Sail date: May 12, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Prima

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 14710

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 months ago

Review summary

We were disappointed with the Shore Excursions especially we are paying so much monies and not sure how much quality control NCL performs once the local tours are outsourced. They lacked using Sound Enhancing equipment such as Whisper Boxes etc to ensure the patrons are able to listen to the Tour Guide not everyone can walk at their speed and given the fact there is limited space one can walk in tandem with the Tour Guide this should never have been an issue that we should raise. The Airconditoning system on bus in Bergen was not working in a bus full of people and 81degrees Farenheit this was really bad. I would like my monies back. As a matter of fact I was really happy with Shore Excursions Group I used for 2 of my local tours. Also our trip Polar Flight to Grimsey was literally cancelled last minute we were scrambling to get another local tour. It was frustrating.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Since we have cruised several times this was seamless

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

The complimentary restaurant menus were pretty much the same options with small variations. The Surfside buffet space was very limited considering the amount of people onboard people were really struggling to get space to eat especially when rushing to get breakfast before the morning tours. On several occasions we had to carry our breakfast to the neighboring areas for space to sit. The bar stools / chairs were not very easily movable once we sat on it and it was a struggle for a lot of people

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Music, cruise director and staffs activities. Yes, but the space was so limited so it was difficult for some folks to stand for 45 minutes to watch the show The Shore excursions were exhorbitantly expensive and some of the excursions once experienced were bad. Life and Culture of Isafjordur was so bad. We were taken to a site by the ocean where a Fisherwoman was demonstrating the process of fishing the crowd was large and we could not hear anything due to ambient noise from the ocean and she was not even using a Sound Enhancing equipment and yet we paid a lot of money for this lousy shore excursion. There were others as well that were so poorly done that we felt like robbed of our monies.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Donna summer show, Katerina Rossa's violin show, and the 80's music was great and the performances were well done

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Dining room Staff was professional, respectful and were going above and beyond to ensure our experience was great. I was however disappointed by my Spa experience. I had an 8 am appointment for Spa and the massage therapist Joanna was tardy with my appointment. I was kept waiting while other people with spa appointments came after me and were taken in before me. I brought this to another spa personnel's attention to have Joanna come and get me she was unapologitic and acted like I was overreacting. She did not even make up the lost time. Nevertheless I still gave the 20% mandatory gratuity and gave an additional $25.00 tip. Upon reflection I really should not have.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Yes

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

This ship had less space for storage compared to the other NCLs ships. But it was not a major deal breaker