NCL Prima Embarkation (Galveston, December 2023) and a balcony state Room review/tour

Рет қаралды 6,280

7 ай бұрын

Join us as we board Norwegian Prima out of Galveston and see for yourself whether this port and ship is for you!
Overall Embarkation was done well, considering this is a new experience for NCL out of Galveston. They had a lot of staff on hand in the port and we hardly had to wait at all, so the experience was very positive (especially when compared to how Virgin Voyages decided to do embarkation way back in 2021).
For lunch we went to the Food Hall (as the buffet was super crowded). The Food Hall was busy, but we had a very nice fresh meal there and afterwards found our way to the Vibe Beach Club: the best place to enjoy a few drinks while we waited for our stateroom to get ready. That took some time, deck 15 happened to be the last that opened. Not a big deal, after all we were already on vacation!
A few words about a standard balcony room. In the past we never worried about being close to mid-ship, but our travel agent suggested that we consider that location, which was super helpful, since the Gulf was very choppy on the first day. We never experienced any sea-sickness issues, but were glad that we stayed close to mid-ship to minimize rocking. Many would have chosen a lower deck, but I like my views, so deck 15 it was. Interestingly, the right (starboard) side of the ship did not have good views on this sailing. In the past we have noticed that a ship would alter which side faces the dock/port (or maybe it was a coincidence?), this time the right side of the ship always faces away from the land. A minor bummer, we decided to NOT call the bridge to complain 🙂
Stateroom was super nice. Bright, nicely decorated, fresh and reasonably roomy. There are a total of 4 US outlets (2 by the fridge, as you enter the room; one under the mirror and one by the bed), one European outlet (under the mirror) and USB A and USB C plugs on nightstand lamps. Which is very handy considering that one would want to charge smart watches and phones daily on night stands. I also brought a 6 port charger for all our remaining gizmos. NCL stated several times via PA system that the room attendant will unplug electronics that you may leave plugged in while out of the room, just something to keep in mind...
If you are reading this in anticipation of your cruise: happy travels and we are super jealous! I know y'all will have a great time! If you (like us) just came back home: Happy Holidays and please share your thoughts with the fellow travelers, whether you agree with what we had to say or not -- it is all good!

Пікірлер: 16

@user-bd8vu4uw3h 7 ай бұрын

Nice video. I will be sailing the Prima out of Galveston February 9. I've sailed out of Galveston before but this was a nice refresher as well as a nice overview of the ship.

@alex_irina 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! Have a fantastic vacation, and Happy New Year!

@Lost_cauzee 6 ай бұрын

Your voice is so soothing, lovely review!

@alex_irina 6 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, very glad you enjoyed it!

@Ocean2OceanTravel 7 ай бұрын

New Subscriber here. Your channel came on our feed. We are looking at booking the Prima. Thank you so much for sharing.

@alex_irina 7 ай бұрын

Cheers and thank you! We will share a ship walk through here shortly. Beautiful ship, good crowd!

@diannakarnes8696 6 ай бұрын

We are a small travel channel like you! I’m sure you popped up on our feed because we are posting about going on the NCL Prima in Europe. Just wanted to say “Hi” and show some support! Mrs. Karnes & Me New subscribers! ❤❤

@alex_irina 6 ай бұрын

Cheers, and thank you very much! We will share a few more videos about Norwegian Prima in the next few days. Still unpacking our digital luggage :)

@davidmcottrell 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for making these - I’m now subscribed! We sail in just a week on 1/26. Can you explain more about Vibe passes? We have one (bought the last ahead of time) but are worried we can’t get a second once on board.

@alex_irina 6 ай бұрын

Thank you and glad you enjoyed our video! Vibe passes is a bit of a mess from what we observed. We booked cruise 3 months prior to sailing date. At the time no Vibe passes were available. We kept watching NCL app religiously twice a day and got lucky with a single pass (assuming someone canceled). We called NCL, begged them, asked our TA, but there was no way to get a second pass at the time. About two weeks before sailing we called NCL again and got lucky with the agent, who understood our frustration and the fact that a single pass is useless to us, so she got us a second pass. There are rumors that certain number of passes is reserved to be sold on board only, but we do not have solid facts to substantiate...

@davidmcottrell 6 ай бұрын

@@alex_irina that’s exactly my situation. We have one pass, I’ve chatted them them over a dozen times, and nothing. Now that we’re a week away, Vibe only gives me errors online, and even the agent last night said she can’t even look at it to see if there are any available. It’s been a nightmare TBH.

@alex_irina 6 ай бұрын

@@davidmcottrell ugh, sorry to hear that, but that was exactly our experience... We were planning to rush to the customer service once we are on board: rumors are, passes sell out quickly. Our backup plan was to just not worry about it and use one pass. I think if you are nice to staff there, they will be OK with that. Vibe access is a sliding door that is opened by a room key and no one is at the door to check. However, staff do have a printout of all guests and we noticed that they check and challenge guests who are not on the list... But that usually happens when they see a group they have never seen before that acts like they own the place... Hope you get this sorted out, as I said, that was our big headache as well before sailing... Cheers and good luck!

@CaptMike. 6 ай бұрын

What time was your check in for Galveston? When did you get on the ship? what time were rooms available? thanks!

@alex_irina 6 ай бұрын

CaptMike, our check in was at 1100. Checkin at the Port was very quick and efficient. In about 1130 we were on the ship. Our stateroom though was not ready until after 1500, which was not a problem, as we just stayed at the Vibe Beach Club area, enjoyed a few drinks and took it easy. A musterdrill was a non-event: we watched the video ahead of time and scanned our card at the drill station as we boarded the ship. All and all, solid 4(5) for the embarkation!