skatie

The dress code on NCL is very relaxed and no formal dining designated (other than Bistro specialty dining room). I saw a large variety of clothes in the restaurants. With all the different types of clothing you needed for this cruise it was nice to not have to pack anything remotely formal. Every night for dinner I wore same pair of black pants, slip on black shoes and rotated a few tops. My husband had some khaki pants that he wore with a rotation of pull over tops or informal collared tops. I didn’t notice anyone looking out of place in whatever they chose to wear

We sat in those circular swing chairs in Iceland when sun was shining and they fit two and were nice while ship wasn't moving! The couches we sat in were actually the semi-circle ones that were back up against the wall of the outside deck - they provided some wind shelter for us! Enjoy wherever you find to sit!!

I wanted to stay and dance to the 90/00 music but my husband really doesn't like that genre (we are in our late 50s, and I lean to the "younger" music but he loves the 60s decade!)! It was me and two other people out on the dance floor when we decided to leave 😞. We did spend more time in our cabin reading when we wanted down time, but did like the observation room (when we could get seats) and also behind Starbucks there are large green chairs to lounge in. I also liked finding any chair on 6/7/8 near atrium to just sit and listen to music while I surfed the web in the down times in afternoon - nice background music! One day when sun was shining we found a circular couch outside on deck 8 and wrapped ourselves up in towels to just enjoy the fresh air!

We just did the Iceland to Southampton cruise on Prima and while Mother Nature didn't always cooperate, we had a fantastic time and the ports were awesome! I was on the Prima in April with a friend doing the NYC to Bermuda cruise so I knew the ship beforehand but this was husbands first time on her. We loved the spacious balcony room - 10796 - although with the weather we had, it might have been better to save a few $$ and get Oceanview as I don't think we sat out there for more than an hour in total all cruise. The staff was impeccable, friendly and always smiling. Our cabin steward worked extremely hard and fulfilled our two requests (more pillows and extra bedsheet) quickly and always chatted with us in the corridor. We did not miss having the second turndown visit and actually liked not having to "tidy" up before dinner knowing someone would be in cabin later! I went to the Cruise Critic mingle event - highly recommend showing up - its really brief but there is a card handed out with key contacts in case you have an issue and officers are introduced and Captain attended ours and spoke briefly. As others have talked, this is not the greatest cold weather ship, as the area its sailing tends to be cooler and windy so it drives more people indoors. But after a few days, people seem to find their own spaces to relax. The ports were all stunning - Geiranger was my fav! I always book my own things to do in each port after I scour CC port boards - saves a lot of money and I'm not concerned about getting back on time as these operators know that their business reputations rely on getting tourists back to ships on time! Syd Normans is so totally awesome and worth lining up for. Doors open up 30 minutes prior to show so the most I stood outside was 30 minutes then got a seat and sat for 30 minutes prior to show. Was a good use of my time as nothing else was going on that I wanted to do during those time slots. I met Mandy (one of the singers) walking around ship one day and thanked her for such great performances and she couldn't have been sweeter! We went to the 60s Sock hop in the Prima Club (theatre) and lots of people dancing and singing, but when that was over and DJ launched into 1990/2000 music, it cleared out the crowd. The average age on cruise was definitely over 60 I suspect, so read the audience and maybe go with flow instead of sticking with schedule. Price is Right was fun. Also I'm kicking myself for not signing up for the Thermal Spa package on day 1- on a cold weather cruise it would have been our go-to place to relax and fill out time - I did it one day on our April cruise and the heated loungers and the the spa pools were so relaxing. A few things on my wish list for Prima... 1) Captain announcements - not sure why his microphone always seemed so much lower volume than Simons (LOL), but I always seemed to be in a location where the announcement couldn't be heard or where people thought their conversations were so much more important than listening to captain update! Can any captain announcement be typed up and put on the TV so that info could be accessed at any time? So many people had no idea we were going to have an extra delay in Brugges or that we were going to have rocky seas one night as they had not heard his updates. 2) Its cold/covid season and yes a lot of people were coughing more as the cruise went on - I really don't care if someone has a cough (just please cover your mouth!!), but maybe just like when there are high seas and barf bags show up around the ship, maybe the cruise line can just have a few stations where disposable masks can be picked up. I came prepared with masks and a baggie full of cough/cold medications and I'd recommend you all have that on hand just in case!! 3) Entertainment options "felt" lacking to me. I always look forward to the Newlywed game that seems to be a staple on every ship (and was on Prima in April), but I didn't seem to find it on this cruise and I scour the Dailies so hopefully I just missed it instead of it not happening anymore! Since lying around the pool all afternoon and pool games aren't an option on this type of a cruise, the afternoons on sea days seemed to drag with lack of things "we" liked to do. Maybe its time to do customer surveys on more fun things to do - I saw many people playing cards or other games around the ship - maybe there needs to be a "Game Room" with supervised competitive euchre or bridge tournaments or board game contests. 4) The sight lines on the top of this ship are not great for sight seeing - I think you have to be in Vibe or Haven to see directly out front or back - even the small deck on 18/19 doesn't offer long views. I think the 3 level race track is a big design flaw - its something for younger crowd, but even then most people would only spend 30 minutes of their entire cruise using that facility. So overall we had a fantastic cruise and the staff just go out of their way to make it a good time. Don't be put off by bad reviews - yes I have a wish list above, but its not negative/bad things, just opportunities but nothing that ruined my cruise. Go relax and have fun!

I have 12 emails now for the video and have watched it at least four times just to be sure and I can guarantee you that tomorrow when we check in at the muster station they will tell me they have no record of us watching it!

We have a similar tour in Akureyri in a small van (19 people) run by a local company. I’m worried about the flies ruining the trip. I’m sure hoping for a breeze. Your weather looked nice - what type of a coat would you recommend and did you have any hats or gloves?

Love the report! where did you get that yummy ice cream!?

darn on the rainy sea days, but so glad your land days looked like good weather! Is today the day they do the Immigration clearance on board? Hopefully that's quick! We did Celebrity Apex last year and really enjoyed it, but it definitely has a more quiet and older crowd vibe. I first sailed Prima in April with a friend and agree that it just gets too cramped on poor weather days and the upper decks just aren't set up right with poor sight lines - the karts track really takes up too much space and viewing opportunities. I picked this ship for the itinerary but told hubby that I probably want to try another bigger ship with more space and activities (RCI?) in future.

@PhillyTravelBug do you recall how many ships you had in Geiranger port? It looks like there are 3 large ones are in port when we are there - thought that would be awfully crowded for such a small area - wondering if it felt congested when you were there?

Spectacular scenery! Geiranger is the port I'm most looking forward to. We are thinking of renting the small two seater e-mobi cars for couple of hours - don't think we'll get up as high as you were - my stomach in knots just looking at how high up you were LOL! I'm trying to convince my husband that we need thermal spa passes but he's not convinced (yet!)

So @PhillyTravelBug do you think with the bugs it was worth the five hour tour (we are doing South Coast tour three days before this one so will see lots of nature on that coast). Would our time be better spent in the town and Forest Lagoon? Just wondering how much of a damper they put on the tour? We are booked with Imagine Iceland and can get refund if we cancel early. Thx

Wow, love the rainbow pics! Thanks for the reminder to bring bug spray - I mean I'm used to lots of mosquitos, but just Ugh when they are all around you 😞. We are doing the south shore tour in Reykjavik and also have this exact trip in Akureyri as well booked. So I'm wondering if I cancel it and just go to Forest Lagoon instead!? I wish NCL would tell us now if we have an extra day in Akureyri or sea day so I could maybe do both if we get extra time there. When I was on the Prima in April, we used Indulge in the mornings to catch a quick grab and go breakfast instead of tackling the buffet or sitting down in Local. Love the pics and commentary! Enjoy

Now this is the weather I"m envisioning when we go in three weeks - I'll be watching your photos for ideas on clothes to pack! Happy Check-in - hope you dry out and warm up soon!

I am going to book 9:00am tickets for VanGogh museum and am wondering after we get off the Prima, where do we have to walk to have an Uber pick us up? I’m trying to gauge how much time we need to leave to make sure we get to museum in time as I also assume his might be rush hour too (a Friday)! Thanks

Yes we used NCL BOGO and no issue getting 2 days on both ends.