Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review

Norwegian Prima is Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship. This 143,500 gross ton vessel is able to accommodate just under 3,100 guests at double occupancy. As the first of six ships in the Prima Class, Norwegian Prima features many firsts for the brand.

We were lucky enough to sail on the christening cruise of Norwegian Prima a few weeks ago where we got to explore this new ship for eight days. Most recently, we just returned from Norwegian Prima’s first U.S. sailing from New York. During this trip, we enjoyed four more days on this beautiful vessel. From our experience staying in the Haven, to dining at new restaurants, and watching new production shows, we cover it all in our signature day-by-day Norwegian Prima inaugural cruise review.

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Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review – Day 1

But First We Drive

Since we were cruising out of New York for this Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review, we decided to drive from our home in southeastern Massachusetts the evening before.

Leaving our house Wednesday evening, we missed most of the commuter traffic. Thus, the trip took us just about 3.5 hours. Unfortunately though, it rained the entire ride from MA to NY.

Prior to the cruise, we booked a Stay-Park-Cruise package at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in North Bergen, NJ. This package included roundtrip transfers to the Manhattan cruise terminal and up to 10 days of free parking. Since this rate was cheaper than hotels in New York, never mind parking, this seemed like the best option for us.

The hotel offered two shuttle options to the terminal, one at 8:30 AM and the other at 10:30 AM. Of course, we chose the earlier option. While directions indicated that the terminal was under 30 minutes away, we encountered the omnipresent New York traffic. Thus, we arrived just after 9:15 AM.

Arriving at the terminal, we took some obligatory photos and videos of the ship before taking the elevator up to the security and check-in area. Here, we had to wait until 9:45 AM before we could begin the process.

Since we were staying in The Haven on this cruise, we breezed through security, check-in, and into the Haven lounge. The Haven terminal lounge offers complimentary drinks and snacks for guests while waiting to board the ship.

Back Onboard Norwegian Prima

Luckily though, we didn’t have to wait long as we were escorted onto Norwegian Prima around 10:30 AM. We were directed to the aft bank of Haven elevators where we proceeded directly to Deck 15 to drop off our luggage. Since this was a media sailing, there were no porters at the terminal.

For this cruise, we were staying in a Haven Penthouse balcony stateroom, cabin 15308. This stateroom is an “entry level” Haven cabin, which includes all the perks of staying in this “ship within a ship” concept.

While there was obviously more space in the cabin, along with upgraded features, we were most excited about getting to explore all the exclusive Haven areas up on Deck 16.

After unloading our belongings, we took the elevator up one floor. Yes, the downside is that the only way guests can access these Deck 16 amenities is via the elevator.

Entering this exclusive space, the concierge desk is off to the left. Thus, we made a pitstop to reserve our dining and entertainment reservations for the trip. One of the team members had us select our preferences on a paper and said he would take care of it.

Now, we headed outside completely aft to perhaps the best spot on the ship, The Haven Sundeck. This 2-story sundeck features a beautiful infinity pool, plenty of comfy furniture, two hot tubs, and even a sauna and cold room.

More Explorations Around the Ship

After checking out the Haven Sundeck, Restaurant, Lounge, and Bar, we made our way out to the public areas of Norwegian Prima. While we had already explored the entire ship during our first cruise just a short time ago, it didn’t hurt to walk around again to capture more photos and videos in different light.

While in the Galaxy Pavilion, we noticed that both escape rooms were now open. So, we made a reservation for one of the rooms at 10 AM on the final sea day. These escape rooms are $15 each and are not included in the Galaxy Pavilion passes. The rooms also hold only 6 people; thus, we hoped to recruit some friends for our session over the next couple of days.

Checking our app, we noticed that the Haven concierge still had not booked our entertainment reservations. We are both type A personalities, so leaving this task up to someone else made us feel uneasy.

Not wanting to miss out, we paused at one of the digital screens around the ship to make them ourselves. Securing all the shows at our desired times, we could relax a bit. Though, the screens were showing that all restaurants were sold out, so we still needed to depend on him for that reservation.

During our travels, we also stopped at the Mandara Spa to secure our spot in the thermal suite. Our media group received a complimentary day pass, and we hoped to enjoy this area on the last sea day.

Unfortunately, we were informed that the media passes were first come, first serve each day. This meant we would have to go to the spa right when it opened on that morning to get our passes.

Time for Some Lunch

With those tasks checked off our list, we decided to grab some lunch at the Indulge Food Hall around 12:15 pm. The new Indulge Food Hall is a great complimentary dining option on Norwegian Prima.

Once again, this venue was packed. After making several laps around in attempt to secure a table, we headed outside. Luckily, the weather was nice so we didn’t mind dining outside.

There are no tablets outside, so we ended up waiting quite a while for a waitress to take our order. We ordered a few selections from the different stations here. The hubby ordered sausage from Q and beef shish kebab from the Rotisserie. I ordered a cobb salad from the Garden and totopos from the Latin Quarter.

While a few dishes came rather quickly, we were finished our other selections and my salad still hadn’t arrived. After flagging down our waitress and waiting an additional 15 minutes, we just decided to leave.

During lunch, we also found out from our media host that we could make dining reservations in Hasuki until 4 PM today. Still not seeing any dining reservation in our app, off we went to Hasuki.

Waiting in a short line, we secured a 6:30 PM reservation at Los Lobos for Night 3 of the cruise. We were also being hosted at Le Bistro on Night 2.

Since today was a Wednesday, Don had a work meeting at 2 PM. Thus, we headed back to the room to capture some photos and videos first. While he joined his call, I spent the time unpacking.

In contrast to our previous balcony cabin on Norwegian Prima, this room had way more storage space than we needed.

We also had a cocktail hour in the Observation Lounge at 3 PM, so we both quickly changed up and headed off to mingle with other media folks for the next hour or so. We may have met the Coca Cola bear too!

A Perfect Sail Away from New York

Following the reception, we grabbed some seats at the Haven Sundeck to watch the sail away from New York. The weather was perfect to watch sail away from this iconic location.

With a drink in hand, we watched as we pushed off from Terminal 88 and sailed by the Freedom Tower, Statue of Liberty, and other NYC highlights.

After passing under the Verrazano Bridge, we made our way back to the cabin to touch up for dinner this evening. Since we were staying in The Haven, there was no better time than tonight to test out the Haven Restaurant for the first time.

Arriving at the restaurant around 6:45 PM, it was empty. Our service was very prompt and friendly.

Reviewing the menu, it is very heavy on seafood and red meat selections. Still, the items are certainly more upscale than those in the main dining rooms, and the staff were happy to customize selections for me.

For starters, I ordered the lobster deviled eggs minus the lobster, and hubby tried the shrimp “Louie”. For entrees, it was the spinach and egg yolk raviolo for me and the surf and turf for hubby. Each of these dishes was very well-prepared, served at the appropriate temperature, and flavorful.

To top off an already delicious meal, we ordered the decadent chocolate cake and the caramel-butterscotch cheesecake. Both options were certainly “OMG” good.

An Entertaining Evening on Norwegian Prima

Out of dinner just after 8 PM, we had plenty of time to spare until our 9:30 PM reservation for the Donna Summer musical. Even though we had already seen this show, we decided to give it a second chance.

New since our sailing in Iceland, the Metropolitan Bar now features musicians. With this addition, this venue was definitely more lively. Tonight, we enjoyed some tunes by the guitarist, Frank Larson.

The Metropolitan Bar is also the new sustainable bar on Norwegian Prima. Offering a unique cocktail menu, we grabbed a round of drinks here as well.

With his set finished right around 9 PM, we squeezed into Syd Norman’s Pour House to catch a few songs before heading to the Prima Theater. The rock band in this venue plays a few different themed sets during the cruise; this evening was the Sail Away set.

The Syd Norman’s band is fun and full of energy making this venue one of the more popular spots on the ship. If you want to catch a show here, be sure to arrive early and we mean early.

Around 9:15 PM, we made our way to the theater and into the reserved seating for Haven guests on the portside.

While we still think this close to 90 minute show is a bit long, we did enjoy it a little more this time around. Perhaps it’s because we recognize more of the songs now. Nevertheless, the three singers who play Donna Summer at various stages of her life are phenomenal.

After the show, the theater turns into Studio 54. That’s right, the Prima Theater doubles as the nightclub on this new ship.

We stuck around to watch part of the theater transformation before grabbing a night cap at the Belvedere Bar. It’s actually quite interesting to watch how the seats retract and this venue transforms; though, it did take longer than we expected.

At the Belvedere Bar, we went with our favorites, All About That Basil and Bourbon Myth, the signature bottled cocktails at this venue.

Enjoying our drinks and recapping our day, we retreated to our cabin around midnight.

Back at the room, we realized that we needed to turn our clocks ahead one hour. This meant we had one hour less of sleep now before our several scheduled activities tomorrow.

Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review – Day 2

A Full Day Ahead

Day 2 of this Norwegian Prima Inaugural cruise review was a sea day, and we had many events planned for the day.

With the first presentation scheduled for 9 AM, we set the alarm for 7 AM. Really feeling like 6 AM, neither of us wanted to get up this morning. So, instead of heading out for breakfast, hubby grabbed our usual morning coffee along with some take away items from the Indulge Food Hall.

Taking our time to get ready, we made it to the theater right on time for the first activity of the day. This hour long presentation with the VP of Food and Beverage, VP of Entertainment, and VP of Guest Experiences and Innovation was moderated by the former NCL cruise director, Julie. This session provided some insight into these sectors and allowed for some Q&A.

With our next activity, the Prima Speedway, scheduled for noon, we went back to our cabin to work for the next couple hours.

Fun on Norwegian Prima

Our media group had the racetrack reserved just for us from 12 to 1 PM. This meant that we got two sessions to garner our best lap speeds. The Prima Speedway is certainly one of the best activities on Norwegian Prima; however, it does cost extra. One session, which consists of 8-9 laps, is $15 per person.

To celebrate our victory, DB had best lap speed and I came in 3rd, our group of creators headed to the Prima Speedway Bar. Here, we chatted and got to know each other better for the next hour or so.

A little after 2 PM, our group dispersed, and we made our way over to the new Tee Time golf. This Vegas-styled mini-golf course is supposed to be an interactive experience; however, it wasn’t working during our last sailing.

The golf balls have a chip inside that keeps track of each player and the score. Thus, we wanted to see the game in action. Unfortunately, we only made it through one hole before it malfunctioned on us.

The technology definitely has some kinks that need to be worked out. The pricing is supposed to be $10 per person, but we were told that they are not charging right now due to all the tech issues.

With an unsuccessful mini-golf match, we bailed on the game and grabbed a late lunch at The Local instead. The Local is always one of our favorite casual dining options on NCL ships. This version on Norwegian Prima has separated out the restaurant and bar into two distinct spaces.

I went with the spinach dip and the chicken salad sandwich for lunch today. The hubby ordered his go-to chicken wings and tried the hot dog which was just okay. We skipped dessert as we had a specialty dinner at Le Bistro in just a few hours.

Following lunch, we went back to the room to relax and get a little work done before dinner.

An Upscale Dining Experience

Changed up for the evening, we arrived to Le Bistro right on time for our 6:30 PM reservation. While this specialty restaurant is a staple on NCL ships, it had been quite a while since we dined here. Further, Le Bistro on Prima has new décor and glamorous chandeliers for an even more upscale feel.

Reviewing the menu, we noticed that some of our favorites, like the profiteroles, were missing. Still, we were able to find other admirable selections.

For starters, I opted for the simple endive salad, and Don ordered the crab and salmon roulade. Both selections were just okay; though, others at our table raved about the baked onion soup.

For entrees, I went with my go-to coq au vin. While still good, the presentation was a bit different than I expected. Hubby ordered the beef tenderloin which we enjoyed, but he also wants to try the veal chop next time.

Missing our profiteroles and fondue, we ordered the Fraisier and Marquise au Chocolat for desserts, with the strawberry dessert being the better of the two.

With dinner lasting over two hours tonight, mainly due to us chatting, we b-lined to Syd Norman’s for the scheduled Rumours set at 9 PM.

Upon entering, we were advised that one of the singers was sick, so there would be an alternate rock set performed this evening instead of the Fleetwood Mac set.

Standing room only once again, we were at least able to get a decent viewpoint for this 40 minute show. With great banter and classic rock songs, this was another solid performance.

More Drinks and Laughs on Norwegian Prima

Since we still had some time before our 10:30 PM reservation at the Improv at Sea, we grabbed some drinks at the nearby Metropolitan Bar. Since there wasn’t any entertainment, we only stayed about 20 minutes before scanning into the comedy show.

When we arrived slightly after 10 PM, the Improv at Sea was rather quiet. Though, it quickly filled in and was standing room only by the time the comedian, Orlando Leyba, took the stage.

His material was different than many cruise ship comedians, so we both enjoyed the show. With a mixture of jokes about his personal life, some timely material, and some inside NCL humor, he kept the crowd laughing.

Following the comedy show, we walked forward to the Prima Theater. After this evening’s showing of the Donna Summer show, the theater was transforming into an 80’s Flashback Party. As children of the 80’s, we always enjoy a cruise ship party featuring classics from Madonna, Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, and others.

After about 30 minutes, we decided to retire to our room for the evening. Tomorrow was our first, and only, port of call on this cruise.

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Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review – Day 3

A Return to Halifax

Day 3 of this Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review we were calling in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

When we woke up around 7:30 AM, we were surprised to see that the ship hadn’t docked yet. Some time later, the Captain did make an announcement that our arrival into port would be delayed by an hour due to an issue with a cargo ship.

Since we had just visited Halifax a few weeks ago on our Holland America Canada and New England cruise, we did not have any tours scheduled for the day. Our plan was to grab some breakfast and do a little filming around the ship before heading ashore to stroll the boardwalk area.

We were ready and to the Haven Restaurant just after 9 AM for breakfast. Here, we enjoyed another delicious meal in this restaurant.

Once thing we noticed was that Norwegian Prima was docked further away than our last time here. We were actually in a cargo area, so we were required to take a shuttle from our pier to the main terminal area. We are not sure why we docked here, as we were the only ship in port.

Finishing up what we needed to get done in terms of work, we made our way ashore around 12:15 PM. The sun had broken through the clouds, and it was actually quite warm now.

We meandered the Boardwalk area and the parallel Lower Water Street for the next couple hours, stopping in at Patagonia and the Alexander Keith’s Brewery. Unfortunately, there was a wait for a brewery tour and you couldn’t just grab a beer.

Thus, we continued on, eventually stopping at the Beer Garden on the waterfront. Here, hubby enjoyed a brew and a snack before the weather started turning.

Getting significantly colder and starting to drizzle, we set off back towards the ship.

Dinner at Los Lobos

Back onboard around 3 PM, it was time to get some work done before dinner, but our first order of business was a coffee from Starbucks.

Tonight, we had secured a dinner reservation at 6:30 PM in Los Lobos.

So far, we had dined at Onda and the Food Republic last trip and Le Bistro this trip. Since Palomar and Cagney’s do not offer any entrees for me, we opted for Los Lobos as our specialty dining credit this trip. Plus, the menu at Los Lobos had changed since the last time we dined here back in 2018 on NCL Bliss.

When we arrived at this specialty restaurant around 6:30 PM, it was not very busy at all. Our server was quick to take our drink order, two margaritas of course. We also ordered several menu items.

We started with the queso fundido and the guacamole. The queso was warm and cheesy. While the guacamole prepared tableside is a nice touch, it was not very flavorful.

For entrees, hubby ordered the cochinita pibil and the shrimp BLT tacos. While I had trouble deciding between tacos, fajitas, or enchiladas, I eventually picked the enchiladas with a side of Mexican corn.

We enjoyed all these dishes, but the mole sauce on the enchiladas was a bit spicy for me.

To top off a flavorful meal, we shared an order of the churros which was much larger than we expected!

Becoming rather routine for us on this Norwegian Prima Inaugural cruise review, we made our way to the Metropolitan Bar after dinner. Here, we watched the Purple Haze duo perform a 90’s set with songs from Celine Dion, the Spice Girls, and more.

Come on Down

Around 9 PM, we scanned into the theater for tonight’s showing of the Price is Right. With our name tags donned, we were eager to see this show. We did see it on our first sailing, but it was staged with Katy Perry and other top NCL executives.

While hubby was hoping to get called, I was ready to pass my name tag off to someone else if I did. Nonetheless, we didn’t get called, and the show was a lot of fun.

To get as much audience participation as possible, this theater version is run a bit different than the television show. Though, it still had all the favorites like Contestants Row, classic games like Cliff Hanger and Plinko, the Big Wheel, and the Showcase Showdown. There’s even a real 2023 Corvette as a grand prize.

Since this game show ran until 10:45 PM, we ended up skipping our 10:30 PM reservation for the second comedian in the Improv at Sea.

We also realized that the WiFi was down. We were supposed to meet some media friends for drinks tonight, but we couldn’t message them.

So, we grabbed a drink at the Belvedere Bar and called it a night around midnight once again. If you haven’t realized by now, we are definitely creatures of habit.

Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review – Day 4

Let’s See Some Cabins

Day 4 of this Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review was our final day and a sea day.

Last evening, we turned our clocks back an hour, so we had an extra hour of sleep this morning.

Previously, we decided to cancel our escape room planned for this morning since none of our friends ever signed up. With no definitive plans now, we slept in until 7:30 AM.

Hubby secured our morning coffees, some final video footage, and our day passes to the thermal suite while I got ready for the day.

Around 9:30 AM, we decided to grab some breakfast in the Haven Restaurant. Trying some different options off the menu, they did not disappoint. We really enjoyed the menu selections at this restaurant.

The only downside is that the breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus at the Haven Restaurant are fixed for the duration of the cruise. If you are looking for variety, you should plan on dining at some of the other restaurants around the ship as well.

After breakfast, we did a self-guided cabin tour. NCL had reserved some show cabins that were open for guests to tour.

We got to see an inside cabin, a studio cabin, a forward-facing suite, an accessible cabin, and an oceanview stateroom. We were pleasantly surprised by the size of inside and oceanview cabins, and we really liked the design of the studio cabin.

A Relaxing Afternoon

Around 12:15 PM, we changed up to head to the thermal suite. We spent the next 2.5 hours here enjoying all the amenities. From the forward-facing stone loungers, to the salt room, cold room, and saunas, to the pools, it was a relaxing afternoon onboard Norwegian Prima.

Back to our cabin around 3 PM, we changed up and headed outside in attempt to enjoy some of the sports deck amenities.

Unfortunately, the area near the darts and mini-golf is a wind tunnel. It was very cold and windy, but I was determined to get in a functioning round of mini-golf. We almost accomplished that goal!

Making it to hole 7 with a tied score, my golf ball stopped registering. Still, we finished out the game anyway. However, it was too cold and windy to stay outside any longer, so we chose to forego a round of darts at the Bull’s Eye.

Instead, we grabbed our second coffee of the day and went back to our stateroom to pack.

With no official dinner plans, we changed up and headed up to the Haven Lounge. We grabbed a pre-dinner drink and enjoyed a lovely sunset.

Around 6:30 PM, we walked over to the Haven Restaurant for our final dinner of the cruise.

The restaurant was empty. In fact, there was only one other solo diner here. This meant that service was prompt.

For dinner tonight, we tried some different selections off the menu. I went with a caesar salad and the rotisserie chicken.

Don ordered the crab cake and pork tomahawk. He raved about both of them. The crab cake is technically an entrée, so he got a half order. It was light with a lot of crab and very little breading. The giant oversized pork chop was served with an Asian cabbage which was an excellent accompaniment.

For dessert, I tried something different, the blueberry-violet mousse. I should have stuck with the cheesecake as that was definitely the better option.

Our Final Evening on Norwegian Prima

Done before 8 PM, we grabbed some drinks in the Penrose Atrium and listened to Purple Sundaze perform a few songs. Then, we moseyed over to the Metropolitan Bar for an 80’s set by Frank Larson.

Finished right around 9 PM, we were off to the final production of this Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review, Noise Boys. We did not get to see this show on our last cruise, so we were excited. This show is by the same producers as Choir of Man, one of our favorite shows on other NCL ships.

The Prima Theater had a unique setup for this show. There were some tables and chairs on the floor, along with some couches off to the sides. Of course, there were also more traditional seats in the rest of the theater.

Noise Boys is a high energy hip-hop style show. With a factory backdrop, the show features a lyricist, two beatboxers, and a team of tap dancers. This 50-minute production is a lot fun, but we still like Choir of Man better.

After the show, we met up with another media colleague for one final drink at the Whiskey Bar. Exchanging travel stories, two hours passed rather quickly. Thus, it was after midnight when we headed to bed.

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Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review – Disembarkation

The Worst Part of the Cruise

It was the worst day of our Norwegian Prima Inaugural Cruise Review, disembarkation day! At least we only had a few hours to drive home though.

Our shuttle driver had told us to contact him when we were about ready to exit the ship, but that we should expect him around 9 AM.

With all guests completing self-assist disembarkation, we planned to walk off the ship around 8:30 AM.

Hubby grabbed our morning coffees and to-go breakfast items at the Indulge Food Hall while I got ready and finished packing.

We exited our cabin around 8:20 AM expecting to find some sort of a line. However, we walked right off the ship and through the facial recognition machines at customs in less than 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, this meant we waited outside for about 40 minutes for our hotel shuttle to arrive. While a cheaper price point, this park and stay package was probably not the best option. When cruising out of NYC in the future, we would likely find a hotel a bit closer to the cruise port.

Until Next Time

Luckily, the shuttle ride back to the hotel was quicker, and we were on the road home just before 10 AM.

Without much traffic, we were back home in around 3.5 hours. Now, we had under 2 weeks until our next trip.

In just a short time, we would be heading back on Disney Wish for a Halloween on the High Seas sailing for my birthday.

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