skatie

22 hours ago, litebender said:

Skatie, Were there formal nights on the cruise? If so, how many? TIA

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!!

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Thanks for the review! It's nice to see a well-balanced review, although if the DJ launched into 90's/00's music I'd be thrilled! I haven't heard that on a NCL ship and whine constantly about not having good music onboard. 🤠

 

I agree with a game room. The library on cruise ships just isn't large enough! We took over the Starbucks tables on Getaway, but it would be wonderful to have a place to play Cards Against Humanity, Phase 10, or other card games. Great suggestion!! 

 

I'm glad you had a nice time. Where was the space you found to relax? 

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

12 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

You were able to get two day deviations on BOTH ends? Did you use NCL BOGO air? I swear I thought you could only do the front or back, but not both.

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

Thanks for posting your thoughts and details!  We are on this same route Sept 7 and also doing the two day deviations on both ends.   Did you book the Flybus in advance?  Enjoy and can’t wait to follow along!

OP here - just relooping to let you know our flights for our Sept Cruise that were made by NCL.  I'm pretty happy with the end result - especially when the price for flights was a total of $1100 for the two of us.  

• Direct Flight from Toronto to Reykjavik (9pm departure - 6:20am arrival)
• From Heathrow to JFK to Toronto (3 hour layover in JFK)

@BuckeyeMark yes that is the site I was looking at.  The website does say you need to show valid drivers license.  I think based on the cancellation policy (no refunds), I think I'll wait and try to book at the port on the morning we arrive.  Since cars are rented on a 1-3 hour basis, I suspect if we can't get one first thing in morning that we'd be able to get one later.   I wouldn't want to be driving those roads if its really foggy or rainy - which is a real possibility!

13 hours ago, KrisD28 said:

We were in Geiranger a couple weeks ago and rented one of the eMobility cars and loved it. We drove to the top of Mt. Dalsnibba and spent some time exploring. We chose the three hour option. The cars come pre-programmed with a GPS tour that highlights the key points of interest. Stopped at 4-5 different spots on the way back from Dalsnibba. No issues with safety. 

@KrisD28 thanks for your response - did you pre-book the emobility car or just rent it when you got of ship?  Thanks

We will be in Amsterdam on the Prima on Sept 15.  I’m not a museum enthusiast but the Van Gogh paintings and his story intrigues me.  I know I would need to purchase tickets in advance as they sell out so I’m wondering if, for a “casual observer”, would it be worth it to spend just an hour in the museum and then carrying on to tour the rest of Amsterdam?  With limited time I want to make sure I see as much as I can.   If we visit museum my plan would be to take taxi from ship directly to museum and be there around opening and then work our way back on foot and see the canals, and different neighborhoods and experience Amsterdam culture.  

We are in Geiranger on NCL Prima Sept 12.  I don’t think I can do the popular viewing points on Eagle's Road as I get motion sick and I know the drop offs would make me tense (had experience in Europe!).  I see a beautiful looking waterfall Fossevandring where the base of it is walking distance from the port.  Ideally I’d like to get transportation to the top at Hotel Union and walk down.  Is there taxi or bus transportation at the port to get to hotel?  We also saw the two seater electric cars that could be rented   Are they safe to drive and whereabouts could you explore and be back within the hour limit?  Thanks 

8 hours ago, Ladybug18 said:

@sunfan03 we got off the ship as early as we could and took a taxi to Bruges. We asked the driver to pick us up at 3pm and he returned at the agreed upon meeting spot at 3pm and took us back to the ship. We shared the taxi with another family so we split the cost of the round trip taxi (we each rounded the fare up to 50 Euros). One family paid going to Bruges and the other paid from Bruges to the ship. I was super nervous the taxi driver wouldn't come back for us but he did. It was a wonderful day and I am so glad we did Bruges on our own. The town is beautiful, make sure to do a canal cruise! The waffles, fries, chocolate and beer were excellent!

@Ladybug18Good to hear a recent update on taxi to Bruges.  Can you tell me what time you left the ship and when you got to taxi stand were there many taxis waiting?  Also were you able to pay with credit cards or needed euros?   I plan on leaving ship at 7:45am to catch taxi and hope that’s early enough.   Thanks

Maybe take a look at the trainline.com website as on Sept 17 I’m seeing some cheap tickets depending on departure time. I purchased my tickets through them for Southampton to Waterloo on that day as we disembark from ship and paid $22 Canadian per tickets but it did fluctuate over a number of days and when I saw that price I jumped on the booking

I have recently started some medication that advises not to drink alcohol.  Its just my husband and myself in the cabin -  Is it possible to have my husband remain on the drink package and take me off.  We sail in September, so is it possible to just get OBC for my portion of what I've paid for the gratuities for the free at sea beverage package?  I don't drink pop so wouldn't even be beneficial to move to the soda package.  Thanks

12 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

I had the same thought. With a full day, I would not hang around Reykjavik, jet lag or not. The spectacular beauty of Iceland is outside the cities/towns. 
 

@skatie the Golden Circle tour is shorter than the South Coast tour (which is a really full day but well worth it), so perhaps that might work better for you. 

Enjoy your trip! 

 

We have done the Golden Circle tour when we were in Iceland in 2018, so feel our only other good option is South tour which is a 10 hour day. I’d just hate to waste all that money if I’m dozing half the tour away as it’s a lot of driving.  I’ll check out those tour options tho as maybe we can join one last minute if we shake the jet lag quickly!

we have a tour booked from Akuryeri to see Godafiss waterfall and Myvatn Lake and baths so will get a good look  at Icelandic nature that day