For spring break this year, we decided on the new NCL ship, NCL Prima, for round trip from New York to Bermuda. Teddy has been to Bermuda before and always told me about how beautiful Bermuda is. We are mostly a one and done kind of people but Bermuda has always been a place Teddy talks about going back. So this trip seemed like a good idea.
Bermuda didn’t disappoint. The beach and water is gorgeous. What I didn’t expect was how cold it was during spring break time. The weather was really perfect for sightseeing but definitely too cold to swim in comfort (although that didn’t stop people). NCL Prima is a new ship and it looks beautiful from their advertisements so we really wanted to give it a try. This is a trip with the kids so we booked a Family Suite with Master Bedroom (Category: SJ). The room’s balcony has one of the slides going through it. Before setting foot on the ship, I wasn’t sure if we were going to like this – many people talked about it online that it might be noisy and the slide could be obstructing some of the view. Well, the noise turned out to not be an issue. Never heard anyone from the slide. There was actually more noise from the pool area (our room was on deck 9 and the pool was on deck 8). The view was obstructing a bit if you try to look to a certain area, but otherwise, it was OK. I would book this type of rooms again but choose to be on a higher floor next time.
Getting In
We flew into Newark from Atlanta. When I did a quick research before booking flights, it appeared that Newark was the closest airport to the cruise port, Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal. While that is true, the ship was actually departing from Manhattan Cruise Terminal, so flying into Laguardia Airport or JFK airport probably would have been more convenient. Although if you are flying in during rush hour, Newark airport would probably be your best option. In hindsight, I wish we had flown into one of the other airports because we could use the Centurion lounge for free, which is a perk we don’t usually get to use because there’s no lounge in Atlanta. (A new centurion lounge is coming to Newark but it’s not open yet.)
The ship departed on Sunday. We flew in the day before and spent the night in Embassy Suites by Hilton Newark Airport. The experience at the hotel wasn’t that great. The airport shuttle took an hour to arrive, and the restaurant at the hotel closed an hour earlier than what’s posted. When we pointed out the time posted on the wall, they told us we could have some soup and wings, so we ordered that. The soup was barely warm and the wings were the SMALLEST chicken wings I have ever seen.
Next day morning, we took a Uber and arrived at the cruise port.
Embarkation
Since our room is a suite, we were told we would have very similar perks as a Haven room, except we wouldn’t have access to the Haven. Meaning, we would have a butler, a concierge, private restaurant for breakfast and lunch, priority embarkation and disembarkation, etc. When we arrived, we told the check-in attendant that we are staying in a suite. They immediately told us to wait in the general line. We walked a few steps more and asked another employee, same response. Finally one employee told us that if we know we can check in from the Haven line, then go ahead. So we did. Much shorter line, and no issues. Next, we were told to wait in the general boarding area. This was a sold out ship so there were lots of people trying to check in. The general boarding area was so crowded there was barely anywhere to stand! I knew this couldn’t be right, so I walked to the Haven waiting room and asked the lady at the entrance if we, as suite guests, could wait in the Haven waiting room. She asked for my cabin number and name and looked at her print out of names. We were on it, so she waved us in. After a few minutes inside, we saw others leaving but we weren’t sure where they went. So we came out and asked the same lady if boarding had started. She assured us it hadn’t and that they would announce it when it does. Right around this time, we literally saw through the glass wall that the Haven people were boarding, AND there’s a guy standing at the gangway with a sign that says ‘Haven and Suite Guests”. So we walked away from here and boarded the ship. So if you are staying in a Haven room or a Suite room, make sure you know what you are entitled to because clearly most of the employees have no idea.
Once we were on the ship, we were told to wait in Cagney, although I’m not sure what we were waiting there for. I still have no idea. I know the room wasn’t yet ready, but the rest of the ship was open. At one point, I left and went to the Starbucks and got us some drinks (after asking the concierge and making sure it was open and OK for us to do that).
At one point, the concierge said we could go up to her and get reservations done if we like, so we did that, which was great. She was great at getting every time slot we wanted.
We were not supposed to drop off our belongings before 2pm but we tried and our room attendant was nice and let us do it.
Our Cabin (9216)
We liked our room and spent a lot of time in it (most of the time playing cribbage). The bedroom was spacious and there was a lot of storage space. The living room was sufficient for the kids and being in a suite meant we were getting two cleanings a day which was great. The location was convenient, but unlike most cruise ships, the 9th floor is rather low on this ship (the atrium is on 6 to 8, so you are just right above that). There’s also a pool right below us so if we go on the balcony during certain times of the day, it can be pretty loud. Overall, we were happy with this cabin and would choose it again. However, if I’m ever on a Prima class ship again (“Leonardo” class), I would probably try to stay in the Haven because the Haven is huge and beautiful on this ship.
The Ship
The Prima ship is very pretty and the design is very different from other ships. The public areas are more chopped up and the cabins are more spacious. There is a lot more outdoor space, with beautiful furniture and furnishings, however, if the ship is in a cold climate, it would make the indoor area feel VERY crowded. The big theater is decent, but the two smaller venues are extremely small, so if you want to catch a show there, be prepared to stand in line long before the door is even open. There are a total of 3 pools. 2 Infinity pools on Deck 8, and one main pool on Deck 17. All of the pools are rather small so it can get very crowded, even though the water was quite cold when we went (the infinity pools were heated but the other one was not, even the large jacuzzi in Haven was not heated!). The buffet is VERY small and many people complained about that. The major difference in the ship from any other ship is that nothing is straight lined – everything is curved and to get from point A to point B requires making many turns, no matter what. I think this was their attempt at making the ship feel larger than it is.
Service
Our room comes with butler and concierge service, besides the typical room attendant. We were happy with the concierge and the room attendant but we felt that the butler’s service fell short. I think it’s fair to say that first impression is important in life, and the butler messed that one up really good – he never showed his face on the first day, despite the fact they lost my luggage and I called him several times to try to get some help on that. We did complain to the concierge the second day and he improved after that, but it’s hard to be digging yourself out of a hole from day 1.
The concierge eventually located my luggage on day 2. It was quite annoying to not have my luggage for the entire first day and night though. Considering we were staying in a suite with butler service, I expected our luggage to show up as soon as we boarded – like on Celebrity and MSC. Clearly NCL is a level below.
The service on the ship overall met my expectations. We saw one bartender with some attitude but outside of that, all was well.
Entertainment
NCL entertainment mostly consists of game shows. For our cruise, the only theater show was the Donna Summers Musical. It required advanced reservation (or showing up in a separate line and hope to get in). The reservations are easy to get if you have concierge service, but may not be so easy if you are on your own. We’ve been to a lot of shows on different cruise lines, but I must say, The Donna Summers Musical just might be the best show I’ve ever seen at sea. This is currently only available on the Prima. Outside of this show, your only theater show options are Price is Right, Deal or No Deal, Bingo, Newlywed/Not So Newlywed Game. There were also two comedians on the ship, both were pretty good, although I saw people say they didn’t find them funny. There was live music most of the day at the Metropolitan Bar, but it’s located near the Cigar Lounge so we never lingered there for too long. Most other cruise ships would have live music throughout the ship, not the case for Prima.
Activities Around the Ship
There are a lot to do on this ship. There is a virtual gaming area called Galaxy Pavilion. There are 2 escape rooms (require advanced reservations), a go-kart speedway, a sports center with ping pong, beer pong, basketball court, pickleball court etc. The sports center was quite crowded as well. For the 2 escape rooms, one is called Magic, the other is called Pearl. Magic is for smaller kids, and the Pearl is a lot more challenging. We tried to escape the Pearl, which we did, but that was mostly because the gamemaster helped us a lot. I’m willing to admit I would have never gotten out of that room no matter how long you give me without help. Honestly, some of the puzzles just didn’t make sense to me. (For example, the fact you had to sit on the couch a certain way…)
The general complaint around the ship is that there isn’t much for small children to do. The height requirement for the slides was not disclosed on line so there were some disappointed children. The kids club was not open for many hours (no childcare service at all for all the days in port), and when it is open, it required a reservation from a “virtual queue” an hour ahead of time on NCL app. People told me to just set an alarm, well, most of the time I was in a restaurant at the time I had to jump on the app, and I didn’t want an alarm to go off in the middle of a restaurant. (I could have asked the concierge to get the kids in, but I was told they had to stay 2 hour minimum, so I also wasn’t too thrilled with that either.) The kids club capacity is 50 kids. The ship had over 800 kids. Other than the tiny kids club, there’s a TINY aqua park that small children can play at. That’s IT.
Food
The NCL Prima rolled out with a larger main dining restaurant menu, but the caveat is that it doesn’t change – ever. This was one of the cost cutting measures NCL decided to do and planned on implementing it across the fleet eventually, however, the feedback was not too positive, so as of May 2023, NCL listened to its customers and has since changed the menu to have daily specials again. For me personally, the never changing menu didn’t bother me for a 7 night cruise, because there are quite a few specialty restaurants and the food hall Indulge to choose from, but if I was on here for longer then I would say differently. Our Free at Sea promotion comes with 2 specialty dining, and with the Free at Sea Plus upgrade, we get another 2 specialty dining, for a total of 4 specialty dining, so that’s a pretty good variety for the week.
Hudson
The ocean view at Hudson was second to none. We only ate here once. The service felt a little slow but remember, the ship was over capacity due to spring break, so it was pretty much to be expected. The food was mediocre. My kids loved Hudson though, for the fancy interior and large menu.
The Local
The Local serves sit down breakfast and lunch, which is the only sit down option for most of the ship (guests staying in a suite or Haven has other options). The Local makes the best milkshakes on the ship.
Cagney’s Steakhouse
Out of all of the specialty dining restaurants we have had on NCL, this has consistently been the best one. The steak here has been very good, and the desserts were great too. I didn’t like the fact the lobster comes with an upcharge though.
Food Republic
Food Republic is an international cuisine restaurant. The variety of food was good, but you order from an iPad (similar to Indulge) which Teddy wasn’t a big fan of. He prefers ordering from a live person and have a more upscale experience. The food was average – I wasn’t impressed with their choices of sushi. I understand there’s a sushi restaurant on the ship, but in my opinion, if you are going to offer sushi, then you need to offer better options than what they had on the menu.
Le Bistro
Le Bistro is a French restaurant. I like to go here so I can get my escargot fix. Teddy liked the French onion soup here. Le Bistro was probably our second favorite, after Cagney’s Steakhouse.
Onda
Onda is a new restaurant to NCL. It’s Italian and the interior is all wave-like, which is pretty cool. The food here had a good variety of seafood and pasta.
Haven Restaurant
We did not stay in the Haven, but we were given an opportunity to dine in the Haven restaurant one night. We had never dined in the Haven before so this was quite a treat for us. The Haven restaurant has a menu that doesn’t change, and includes some upscale items like Filet Mignon and Lobster with no extra charge or limit. The bar here also had more top shelf liquors available and the service was top notch. The restaurant was located inside the Haven area, next to the courtyard, making it feel very exclusive. I have never stayed in a Haven before but I believe Prima has the best Haven of all NCL ships.
Palomar
Palomar is a new Mediterranean restaurant. I feel that out of all of the specialty dining restaurants on the ship, Palomar has the best menu, meaning the most amount of items I would eat.
Indulge Food Hall
Indulge Food Hall is a cafeteria area with 10 different restaurants. Each seat comes with an iPad and you can order directly from the iPad. The bar seats only allow you to order from the restaurant it’s located at, but the general seating allows you to order from all restaurants at once. The lunch menu is smaller than the dinner menu, but both menus are worthy of a visit. This reminds me of the dining setup on Virgin Cruises, although I’ve not been on a Virgin cruise yet. Ted wasn’t a big fan of Indulge Food Hall because he enjoys ordering food from a human than a screen, but personally I really liked the variety of foods offered here. You can order drinks from the iPads too. The Indulge Food Hall is complimentary except for the dessert shop, Coco’s. Indulge Food Hall gets VERY crowded during lunch time, and fairly crowded during dinner time as well. If you want to eat at Indulge, and you are on a sold out ship, the best advice is to show up BEFORE they are open. The seats are always there, so just grab a seat and wait for the iPad to become active. If you show up after they open, there will be no seats left. Another tip: there’s a second Starbucks in Indulge and it’s not nearly as crowded as the main Starbucks (although it’s not open as many hours either). Also, there’s real ice cream at Indulge and it’s free of charge.
Excursions
We booked 3 excursions with Norwegian Cruise Line. We are docked at Bermuda for 3 day/ 2 nights, and I was surprised how many things there were to do. We could have easily spent a week here. There were quite a few attractions at the pier – no transportation needed. Like the National Museum of Bermuda, the Snorkel Park, Dolphin Quest, Bermuda Fun Golf, etc. You could easily spend a few days by just doing things right around the dock. (Our ship docked at the Royal Naval Dockyard. If your ship docks at a different port, then your choices would be different.) NCL provided free tenders to a few nearby islands, but these tender times were pretty scarce. If you want to take advantage of the free tender, it would be wise to find out their schedule on day one. The most popular excursion at this port is the Crystal Caves. You can do it on your own, or book an excursion. If you do it on your own, you should buy tickets ahead of time because one of the days it was sold out during our cruise, and some people were turned away.
Famous Homes & Hideaways
This was our first excursion. We get to go on a boat that drove around the Great Sound and the tour guides pointed out lots of homes of famous people, including the home owned by Michael Douglas and Catherine-Zeta Jones, Oona O’Neill (final wife of Charlie Chaplin) and her son Eugene O’Neill, etc. The tour guide told us a funny story of back when he worked with Catherine-Zeta Jones on a little musical project, how he was invited to her house every afternoon. The beginning of the tour, we were given a chance to purchase some authentic Dark & Stormy Cocktail, made with local rum, Goslings Rum. Towards the end of the tour, the captain and tour guide also put on a little musical show for us. They were very good. I highly recommend this tour.
West End Trolley Tour
The next day, we went on the West End Trolley Tour. The trolley is really cute and it takes a nice tour of the island.
We also passed by the Royal Naval Cemetery. A military cemetery dating back to the 1700’s.
At the end of the trolley tour, you have the option to be dropped off at Clock Tower Mall or they can take you directly back to the ship. This tour is probably not worth the price if you have to pay for it directly, but with the Latitude discount and the $50 shore excursion credit, this was a very cheap excursion so it was worth it.
Horseshoe Bay Beach Transfer
For the last day, we booked the Horseshoe Bay Beach Transfer. If you are only doing one thing in Bermuda, then I recommend the Horseshoe Bay Beach. The water is just beautiful here and the rock formations are amazing! It does get a little crowded and I wish there were better food and drink options, but the beauty is unparalleled here. The sand is a light pink and you can walk along the beach on and on. When walking, watch out for the Portuguese man o’ war. They are all over the beach and they can sting you.
With our shore excursion credit from Freestyle Premium Plus, this excursion was free.
Conclusion
We enjoyed our trip although the ship was way too crowded, likely due to spring break. Our room exceeded my expectations and the food was decent. I still have mixed feelings about the ship’s layout and definitely don’t recommend it to everyone – it would have to be someone that enjoys walking! Overall this wasn’t a total bust but I liked Celebrity and MSC more. With that being said, we booked two more cruises on NCL because the price point was good and we are dying to try the Haven!