Tales of the High Seas: Journey on Norwegian Prima
Tuesday, November 1, 2022: Who ordered the salmon?
I am an early riser and I was up in plenty of time to arrive at Hudson’s Main Dining Restaurant as soon as it opened on deck 7 aft at 7:30 am. That dining venue is gorgeous. I absolutely loved it. Since I was there so early no one was hardly in the dining room with me. One thing happened at breakfast that would happen continuously at breakfast at Hudson’s is that I ended up spilling my hot, black, tea. Those metal tea kettles just didn’t like me. I just kept ordering food. I had a fruit plate, then I followed that up with eggs benedict which was delicious, then I ordered some biscuits and gravy. I haven’t really had that since I lived outside of Paducah Kentucky. I was sorely disappointed. Probably because people not from the south do not know what they are doing with biscuits and gravy. Which explains why I haven’t had it in forever. I had time to kill so I just wandered around and explored the ship. I love the idea of the Observation Lounge. I am so glad this ship has one. It is a lounge area that encompasses about 270 degrees around the front bow of the ship and is encased with floor to ceiling windows. I really enjoyed this space. I then went down to deck 8 and went and explored Ocean Boulevard and all of the sculptures that were on display. I think the idea of using public art is a good one. Plus, art is totally subjective. I frankly found this art pieces hit or miss but mostly miss. So sorry Norwegian. I prefer the public art aboard the new Edge class ships on Celebrity.
At 11:00 am we had a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet scheduled originally in the Commodore Room but because we had so many people asking to be included in this event Norwegian moved the gathering to the Belvedere Bar. It was an opportunity for cruisers to chit chat and get to know one another. In addition, Norwegian trotted out their top heads of departments to make an appearance. A few of them got to say a few words including Simon, the Cruise Director. Deb P. was our contact person with Norwegian and Norwegian did an excellent job organizing the event and including name tags. Deb P. tried to make the meeting engaging and made for a host who tried to make the meeting interactive. I was at a little table with Claudine and Dee Gee. A good time was had by all.
For lunch Claudine, Dee Gee and I all wanted to experience what was all the hubbub about Indulge Food Hall. Indulge is located at the aft most part of deck 8. There you will discover a variety of quick service eateries. If you sit at a seat at an eatery, you can only order from that eatery. However, there are a number of tables surrounding these eateries and additional seating outside of Indulge Food Hall on the promenade deck. At these tables are tablets. From these tablets you could order from any of the eateries and have dishes delivered to your table from wait staff. I chose a dish from Nudls which has all types of pasta dishes from around the world. I tried the tagliatelle for lunch. It was tasty. I didn’t have much more than that. What is wrong with me? I guess it is a transition going from intermittent fasting to eating like a pig. I can’t recall what Claudine and Dee Gee ordered. We all received our food from the server in a timely manner. I know what they did NOT order and that was salmon. Something was going wonky with their system and processes that day. I kid you not on at least five different occasions we had servers who attempted to plunk down a plate of salmon at our table. Yet, I do recall Dee Gee waiting for her beverage. Maybe it was a Diet Coke? Most of the time the servers didn’t even ask which of us was having the salmon, they just tried to drop it off at the table. By the third time we were finding it hysterical and were all laughing about it. No, no one at this table ordered salmon! I should have taken a plate because I actually do really like salmon. Almost everything at Indulge Food Hall is complimentary. There are only two eateries that include an upcharge and that is Coco’s the fancy schmancy ice cream, milkshake place and the Starbucks location. I could have taken the salmon and I would not have gotten a charge onto my account. I think the reason none of us took advantage was we all figured someone else had ordered that dish and were waiting for it to be delivered. By the time we saw the fifth server with a dish we did not order we just all broke down into laughter. Other than that hiccough, it was a nice lunch.
Following lunch the three of us made our way to the casino. A boatload of people had indicated that they wanted to do a slot pull. So much so I split the party into two different slot pull groups. Dee Gee, Claudine, and I went to scope for what machine to use. I had definite ideas. I was hoping to use the Wheel of Fortune machine that is on many a cruise ship. We circled all over in the smoking free section which was ¾’s of the casino. No Wheel of Fortune machine. But we found a machine that would work well and even had an arm if you wanted to take that option at your chance to spin the slot machine.
At 2:30 pm a bunch of our group gathered at the bar closest to the casino. The Penrose bar sits just outside of the casino and the atrium at deck 6 mid. There were plenty of tables and seats in which to gather. Once we discovered who all was here for this event, we made our way to the desired machine. We used a $3 max bet and each person could do $15 worth of pulls at the slot machine. $5 was put into a side pot for whoever got the biggest spin of the day. So at least one person was getting some money. Before I inserted money for us all to play, we just needed a little help from an attendant to ensure that the machine was set up correctly for how we wanted to play. Our group was quite lively and were encouraging of each other. They were a bit quiet at first but once they got into the swing of things they really started to have some fun. I had my list of the order of players and Dee Gee announced who was next and kept track of what number spin each player was on. When all was said and done, I went to the cashier and collected money from them. Once I had all the money, I divided it evenly among all of the players. Mary was the winner of the side pot since she had the highest spin of the day.
What I didn’t realize at the time was I had made a huge boo-boo. A group of players went to play roulette, I believe, and they started to have a chat. The thing is most of the players had a big goose egg as a result of slot play. They realized there is no way people could have come away with any money from the game we just played. One of these people found me on another deck and the two of us realized I had inserted ALL of the money from BOTH groups of slot pulls into the machine. No one should have received any money except for the winner of the side pot, Mary. I can only imagine the look on my face when what had happened dawned on me. I had most people’s stateroom numbers and email addresses. I went to work trying to explain what had happened and collect $10 back from each player. Everyone was very gracious about the whole thing. I am deeply indebted to them all. The second slot pull wasn’t for a whole week, so I had 7 days to recover. Over the course of time, word had spread about what had happened and I recovered the money from all of the players in time for the second group of the slot pull. PRO TIP: Only collect slot pull money moments before the players play. Do not collect any money ahead of time. Lesson learned. You do not need to teach me. Trust me that disaster was the best task master and I have learned that lesson well.
The next big event of this day was dinner. Claudine, Dee Gee and I had a reservation at Cagney’s steakhouse for our meal. I believe we all ordered the same entrée the rib-eye. Claudine and I had an agreement and we ordered a whole bunch of starters and that’s when we discovered our shared love of cheese. We had the opportunity to select our desired knife. Our server sussed us out and made our knife choices for us. My steak was cooked to perfection exactly how I like it. I know Claudine had no issue with her steak. But poor Dee Gee found that there was an issue with hers. She ate it. But she had a conversation with the staff about what her issues with her cut of meat was. She wasn’t complaining. She just was informing them so they could improve upon their processes for the future. For dessert, I had a wonderful chocolate cake.
After dinner, Dee Gee and I had reservations to see Noise Boys in the Prima Theater. Claudine must have joined us because I remember discussing my thoughts on the show with her. Prima Theater is not a big venue considering how many people are on board. The seats fill up quickly so I advise for future Prima guests to arrive quite a bit early to the show to get the seats of their choice, maybe 30 minutes ahead of the show? The Noise Boys show featured two beat boxers. They both were extremely talented and engaging. Combine that was new era tap dancing. In addition, there was a rapper who doubled as a vocalist. Put it all together and it was a lively, noise-y show. My only criticism was it could use a tad bit of editing and if they could trim the show by five minutes it would have been excellent. There was not a through story unifying the piece. I had a long day and by the end I was ready to call it a night.
NEXT: An unexpected sea day