This morning I started driving to Galveston, Texas at 7:45 AM. The drive took nearly two hours, but I avoided most of the traffic by not driving through Houston.
The check in time for the cruise was not until 11 AM, however I wanted to take some photos and videos of the ship before I boarded as I was unsure what the weather would be when I returned in a few days.
When I arrived in Galveston I attempted to get airspace authorization with my normal app, but it had been replaced with a new app and it required uploading my FAA license and having someone review it. Luckily I had another app on the phone which allowed me to request and receive authorization from the FAA to fly up to 400 feet above ground level.
As you can see the old cruise terminals are almost 5 miles from the Galveston airport so I only needed to receive the authorization for a small area. The new Royal Caribbean cruise terminal is further away from the airport and is in Class G airspace which requires no submission for flights up to 400 feet above ground.
I took a few pictures and some video of Prima while it was docked in Galveston.
After flying around the ship I drove over to the Hampton Inn to pick up a couple of friends before parking at Economy Lot B. I reserved the parking just a couple of weeks before the cruise departure.
It was quick to park and there wasn’t any time waiting for the shuttle to take us to the pier. It did take the scenic route, but arrived before the scheduled check in time.
There was a bit of a queue to get through security, but it wasn’t too terrible. After going through security there was a small queue to finish checking in. Obviously most of the work was completed online earlier, but they check your passport and take a photo for security. They also gave the cabin key at check in unlike the other cruise lines that have them waiting at the door.
By 11:15 I was checked in and ready to board… I took a picture of the balloon anchor just after checking in.
After going up the escalator I was ready to board, but the ship wasn’t ready, so we were waiting in a large lobby to board until around noon.
As soon as I boarded I headed towards Hasuki on deck 7 to make dinner reservations. I chose Palomar as it was new for Prima and they had a filet mignon with bone marrow butter.
I also stopped at Improv to make reservations for the shows as well as the Escape Room and the Speedway.
At about 12:45 PM I went to the cabin to drop off my bags so I could go eat. I took a bunch of photos of the cabin. As you can see the room looks very luxurious and the shower was great. The shower head even had four different settings.
Norwegian still has the paper Freestyle Daily with the activities onboard. Most other cruise lines have discontinued this, however you can also download a PDF copy in the NCL. There was also information as to where to watch the Kelly Clarkson concert on the ship for those of us (me) who didn’t have tickets to the theater.
The carpet has been modernized. No more fishes on the floor (red fish would swim towards the back of the ship).
I decided to eat at the Local. I tried the chicken wings, pretzel bites, and the Cuban dish (Lechon Asado). I liked the pretzel bites the best. The chicken wings were okay, but nothing special.
After eating lunch I walked around the outside of deck 8. I got a few photos of the infinity pools. One important note – the water level is higher while the ship is docked and lower while sailing. The tiled surface under the water is actually above the water when the ship is sailing.
The back of deck 8 (behind the Indulge Food Hall) has a nice bar area with actual outdoor furniture (not deck chairs). It’s a great place to be when the ship is sailing as the bar is right there and the ship blocks all the wind.
I continued my walkabout to explore the ship. I took the elevator that identifies as a “lift” (I say that because she – a woman’s voice – says ‘Lift going up’) up to deck 18 where I found the miniature golf, electronic dartboards (they use real darts and still count for you), and the Stadium which had beer pong, a pickleball court, foosball, and ping pong.
Next I walked to the Galaxy Pavilion which is the Virtual Reality experiences. There were a bunch of racing simulators and I found out after I tried it that it was using the game Assetto Corsa which is a very realistic racing simulator.
Next I took a brief tour of the spa. I also took some thermal images of the heated lounge seats in the spa just because I could.
I walked all the way around deck 8 (you can walk around to the front, but you can’t see anything but a wall of steel. They did have some very nice seating areas with binoculars. There is also a section of clear walkway where you can see down to the ocean. Unfortunately the health and safety nuts have mandated tons of anti-slip dots in the glass so it isn’t as spectacular as it should be.
I grabbed a drink at the Whiskey bar before continuing on
I had my go kart track reservation for 4 PM. I wore my GoPro on my chest, but I forgot to hit record. The track was very grippy, too grippy for my liking. After I found out I didn’t hit record I made another reservation for 5:30 PM with one of the big tablets by the elevators.
I watched the very beginning of the Kelly Clarkson concert in the Local bar. She didn’t look anything like her picture above. I’m not a big fan, so after a few minutes I went back up to the go kart track. This time I did remember to record the video.
I took another walk on the outside of deck 8 and took some pictures of the sculptures. It was now almost 6:30 PM – almost sunset and I had thought departure time would be 7 PM.
I know what you are thinking, I haven’t eaten in like 15 minutes, you are right – it is time to get some food. I decided to try the Indulge Food Hall, it was great and quick. A huge selection of food.
After a few more colortinis I went back up to my room to find a nice Prima document holder and lanyard as well as a coupon for a free Starbucks drink.
At 10:30 PM the ship still had not left port yet. I heard that they didn’t leave until after midnight. I suppose they needed all the time to unload Kelly Clarkson’s concert equipment. I am sure it was no small task with CBP involved. In any case it was a great first day and there will be more exploring in the next few days.