We were fortunate to enjoy a cruise on both the Norwegian Prima and the MSC Virtuosa within a few months of each other.

What we couldn’t fail to notice was the similarities between the 2 ships including them both been launched within a couple of years of each other, both adding a more glamorous style to mass market cruising, and both would start their careers sailing from the port of Southampton.

There were of course many differences as well including their different approaches to buffets, complete opposite promenade style decks and the organisation onboard but all of that simply got me thinking: Norwegian Prima v MSC Virtuosa: Which Is The Best?

The best way to decide upon that is to is to break down each ship into the main areas that makes the difference to a cruisers experience, and they are the Onboard Experience, What’s Included, the Entertainment, your Accommodation and the Food and Drink onboard.

We will rate each ship in those areas before deciding which is the better ship based on our own personal experience.

Norwegian Prima vs MSC Virtuosa

There are lots of things that go into the onboard experience when on a cruise ship, with some of it down to the ship, some down to the line, some down to the itinerary and some down the people you are cruising alongside.

For the purposes of this comparison, we will try to focus as much on the impact of the ships themselves but to be fully transparent, we will state that our journey on the Norwegian Prima was a repositioning cruise between Southampton and Barcelona which plenty of families onboard whilst our journey on the MSC Virtuosa was a cross-channel mini cruise from Southampton to Belgium and France with a more mixed crowds including a lots of groups on hen and stags do’s and family groups celebrating birthdays.

The onboard experience on the Prima was the worst of any of our trips on NCL and by quite a long margin.

The organisation was poor throughout which included it taking well over an hour of queuing to leave the ship at one non-tender port, announcements from the cruise director only been made to sell things rather than inform and a curious incident of been charged twice for an excursion and been told by tired and overworked staff, it was not their problem.

The layout of the ship is poor, including cruisers having to walk through a far to small buffet to and from lifts, there is no ‘flow’ to the decks and even the entertainers in the atrium are hidden away.

There were plenty of positives though including the great promenade deck, the stadiums area and the laid-back nature of the bars and restaurants.

The Virtuosa is a much bigger ship, but it can host around twice as many cruisers on a sailing whilst only been about a third bigger- and that really is noticed when onboard.

The bulk of the ship is always crowded and if you want to sit and relax, you either need to head to the buffet or you’ll need to buy a drink in a crowded bar.

Thankfully, we were on a short cruise on the ship but on a longer one, it would be a frustrating experience as there was simply nowhere to relax and grab a drink, with out been surrounded by those drinking, dancing and letting loose on holiday (as they should do!).

The staff on the Virtuosa were friendlier and much less stressed and things were much more organised, aside from a chaotic and close to dangerous muster drill.

The layout of the ship has a much better flow about it, but it is very lacking a promenade deck.

In fairness, the ships themselves have a very similar onboard experience overall, with both keeping things relaxed but that just makes the big problems with organisation and tired/overworked staff just a bigger issue for the Prima, so we have to give this one to the Virtuosa.

WINNER: Virtuosa

This is another area where the two have plenty of similarities in that they have lots included in the base fair but plenty of addons.

Both ships have several free to eat places, with basic drinks included in eating areas and both have theatres with a range of acts.

Both have plenty of swimming pools, kids splashzones and flumes for those wanting to take advantage of good weather.

It should also be said that both are missing an included café and whilst the Virtuosa does have things like the inside promenade complete with light show, the Prima does have plenty more included in the base price.

The Indulge Food Hall is a great area that could easily be a pay restaurant on other ships and the promenade deck is one of the best outdoor spaces that we have come across on a ship.

It includes everything from a beach style club to a sculpture walk and a quiet seating area to glass walkway.

One other area the Prima excels at is the top deck included activities with the Stadium games area and the included mini golf course a big advantage over the Virtuosa.

Both had plenty of entertainment around the ship, even if it was badly organised on the Prima but for us, the promenade and top deck extras really give the Prima the edge in this one.

WINNER: Prima

Both ships have all that you would expect from a mainstream cruise ship, especially a modern one, with big theatres, ample venues around the ship offering live music and plenty of activities both throughout the day and into the night.

In the theatres, both also had acts such as comedians as well as in house productions whilst the Prima did have a West End, or Broadway if you prefer, style show.

We love see theatre productions and whilst the Donner Summer show wasn’t really to our taste, it is great to see a ship offering such a production.

One thing we didn’t like on the Prima was the lack of advanced warning for shows as you weren’t told what was taking place until the day before and to be honest, things got really repetitive very quickly with the same acts doing multiple shows throughout the journey.

That made it difficult to organise any shows or acts you want to watch around dining reservations and conflicting activities.

Things were better on the Virtuosa, but one annoying thing was that you had to book into shows, even if there were pay extra ones, once you got onboard.

Why you couldn’t do that on the app or website before boarding just makes no sense.

Having a proper stage in the atrium was a big plus for the Virtuosa over NCL’s hidden in a corner set up but there was more variety in terms of the acts playing there with MSC.

The pay extra Cirque de Soleil style show on the Virtuosa was well worth the discounted price we paid, and the incredible ceiling of the promenade street makes you forget you are on a ship.

This is one of the closest categories as both ships offer a mix of good and bad in truth, but thanks to the better organisation and more variety, we are going to give the win in this category to the MSC Virtuosa.

WINNER: Virtuosa

We were in an inside cabin onboard both ships, so this is quite an easy one to compare and contrast.

Both cabins were of a decent size for an internal cabin, both had comfy beds, and both had decent sized bathrooms.

Both staterooms also had decent sized televisions, underbed storage perfect for our luggage and whilst the location was much better on the Prima, that was down to us picking the sail away rate on the Virtuosa.

We didn’t run into any issues when it came to things like USB ports and plug sockets so with things so close, it really does come down to a few minor things.

The biggest difference for us was the slack of storage space in the Virtuosa cabin, especially the wardrobes.

As we only did a mini cruise, it wasn’t too much of an issue but if you were on a 7 night or especially a 14-night cruise, you would be struggling and having to juggle what was hung up and what wasn’t.

With that in mind, we are going to give the narrow victory for accommodation to the Norwegian Prima.

WINNER: Norwegian Prima

As two large, modern cruise ships it will come as no surprise that both ships had numerous bars and restaurants to make sure that you never went hungry or thirsty whilst on holiday.

From a personal point of view, the lemonade on offer from the self-service machines in the buffet and Indulge Food Hall onboard the Prima is always a big plus, but both offered a range of included drinks in self service areas.

The main dining rooms onboard both ships both offer decent pub standard meals and whilst that does put them behind other lines we sail with, you really can’t complain.

One of the biggest differences for us was the woeful buffet on the Prima that was so small it never had enough seating, and the food options were the most limited and basic we have every experienced on a cruise ship, including when sailing on other NCL ships.

The Virtuosa’s buffet on the other hand was very spacious, had plenty of options and was well laid out, plus it had an outdoor seating area with a view, unlike on the Prima.

A big win for the Prima was the food on offer in the Indulge Food Hall, which also had an outdoor seating area with a bar but sadly, after the first couple of days people soon cottoned on to that been the place to be and with seating limited, it became a battle to get a seat there.

We didn’t eat in any speciality restaurants on the Virtuosa, but we did on the Prima and whilst having a good experience in Le Bistro, we had an incredibly poor one in Los Lobos.

Due to the incredibly poor buffet on the Prima, which caused plenty of knock-on effects as so many regular users of it headed to other parts of the ship to eat and with the issues we had in Los Lobos, we are going to give this one to MSC Virtuosa, but just.

WINNER: Virtuosa

So overall, you have the say that the best ship is the MSC Virtuosa as it proved to be the best in 3 categories whilst the Prima was only best in 2 but with the margins been incredibly tight in a number of those, it will really come down to your sailing as to which is best.

A lot of the problems on the Prima came down to the staff, in terms of how stressed, overworked, tired and unorganised they often were and that is completely the problem of the line, but it is something that is easy to change and if they do, the ship could be improved dramatically.

There are a lot of problems that cannot be changed, such as the layout issues you find throughout the ship but the same can be said for the Virtuosa where the lack of a outside promenade deck really is a shame.

All in all, it really comes down to which has the best itinerary and the best value getaway as to whether you would choose to sail on one over the other but for the terms of this, the answer to the question of which is best, is the MSC Virtuosa

WINNER: Virtuosa

Norwegian Prima vs MSC Virtuosa: Which Is Best?