Cruise review: Norwegian Prima entertainment options for all ages

Norwegian Prima is designed entirely with the passenger in mind, and with all these activities there’s never a dull moment.

Norwegian Prima entertainment offerings seem to bring imagination to life. Experiences like an electronic go-kart track and waterslides will keep the young (and young at heart) entertained, while big kids can relax in the spa, salon and thermal suites.

Excluding the evening entertainment lounges, live music and theatre there are seven major areas for daytime activities. It must be noted that they come with additional charges – which can feel a little like you are being nickeled and dimed – but they are not that expensive.

Find our overall impressions here, and read on for a full breakdown of Norwegian Prima entertainment.

Broadway show Summer: The Donna Summer Story

The highlight of the entertainment must be the Summer; The Donna Summer Show. The Broadway musical has brought in three performers at varying stages of successful careers, each playing Summer in a different stage of her life.

Kimberley Locke leads the ensemble as “Diva Summer”. Locke is well known in the US for being third runner-up in the second season of American Idol and has had a few to 40 hits plus numerous TV credits and performances to her name. Whilst she leads this ensemble, she readily admits this is her entry into the world of theatre.

The 752-seat theatre morphs into a nightclub.

Joining her in the lead roles is Dutch emerging theatrical star Valerie Carlingford who plays “Disco Donna” (mid-career where she becomes famous) and the diminutive D’naysa Jordan who takes on the role of “Duckling Donna” (the child Donna). It is a powerful story made even more striking by a sound track that is so familiar to us all.

It is not to be missed.

Prima Speedway

Yes, jump in an electronic go-kart and hit the triple deck 420m track to take on all comers. It is fun and there is room for overtaking. It is an improvement on all previous tracks at sea. USD$15

Pump up your adrenaline on the race tracks of the Prima speedway.

Tee Time

The nine-hole mini golf (or putt putt to the rest of us) is designed with all sorts of elaborate holes and obstacles. USD$10

Try their mini golf on Norwegian Prima’s Tee Time.

The Bull’s Eye

There are three separate dart boards and chesterfield-like sofas evoking a bar. Most helpfully, the computerised dartboard automatically calculates the scores. USD$40 for up to six people for 50 minutes

The Bulls Eye has an electronic darts bar that automatically tallies the score.

The Galaxy Pavilion

Norwegian Prima has done away with the typical arcade-style games for kids and installed a variety of VR games. Many of them are lame; the haunted house experience is nausea-inducing without any real scares. However, the zombie hunting “Descent” and Formula 1 racing simulators, complete with convulsing chair, are excellent. There is also an escape room challenge. US$8 per VR game or US $29 for one hour of unlimited access to VR. Escape Room $15 per person.

Immerse in virtual reality at the Galaxy Pavilion.

The Drop and The Fall

These two dry slides drop 10 decks. The Drop is a vertical fall for about three decks. Then you’ll have a moment of slowing down before another rapid decline.

True adrenaline junkies will want more but it is a sufficient thrill for a number of repeat turns. The Rush is more like a dry corkscrew waterslide, ala the old mat slides of Coney Island at Sydney’s Luna Park.

The Drop and The Fall is the first free-fall dry slide to reach G-forces higher than an F1 race car.

The Wave

This waterslide sees riders on a donut launched up and around the tidal wave. Another fun ride for all ages.

Catch the perfect wave at Norwegian Prima’s tidal waterslide.

The Stadium

The Stadium houses the three shuffleboards, a couple of ping pong tables, a third housed in a cylinder, an unusual seated soccer game and a pickleball court. Perhaps most unaccepted are the two beer pong tables.

Norwegian Prima’s Stadium is complete with ping pong tables for those who love to play table tennis. (Image: Katie Davis)

Splash Academy

The kids club with the prerequisite gaming consoles and craft activities.

The Splash Academy is a fun recreational spot for kids and adults young at heart.

Vibe Beach Club and Bar

This is an exclusive, pay-for-access, adults-only area of the ship with two hot tubs, its own lounge area and a bar, US$249 for a week’s access.

Your private retreat at the Vibe Beach Club.

The Spa, Salon and Thermal Suites

There is an abundance of massage treatments at the Mandana Spa;  deep tissue, Swedish and hot stone varieties for singles or couples in 50, 75 and 100-minute blocks.

If you are hoping to return looking like new, this can also be arranged through simple facials and pedicures or more intrusive cellulite treatments or even teeth whitening.

Soothe your aching muscles at Norwegian Prima’s detoxifying saunas and spa pools.

On board is a Nepalese western-trained doctor who also specialises in acupuncture and offers a free consultation with a dizzying array of recommended treatments.

But even if you are not a spa junkie, the Thermal Suite pass may be just your ticket. There are day passes (USD$99) or cruise long passes which give you access to the array of thermal treatment rooms and pools.

Relax in a hot tub while gazing at the stunning seascape.

We enjoyed a lazy hour moving from the aroma steam rooms to the charcoal sauna, the salt treatments room, and the thermal showers – sweating it all out in the Finnish sauna before jolting our senses back into reality in the ice room.

The heated beds at the stern have the best view (after the observation deck) and are truly blissful.