Sailing12Away

Dinner last night was at Los lobos with the family and @CptBoatface and his wife. While at dinner another CC passenger recognized us and popped over to say hi. Dinner was great, but they were a little over generous with the margaritas. As one emptied it was replaced with a new one. I think hubby & BIL each put down 4. Had views of the fjord behind us as we sailed out towards Bergen. So many waterfalls we stopped pointing them out. When we got back to the room hubby was snoring away on the couch within 5 mins. I woke up a little before 3am and find a surprise outside, so woke up my sister who came to join us on the balcony for an amazing show. Took a ton of photos of that, so those will come next.

30 mins implies folks are just getting dessert. <5 mins later and the table is empty, cleared, cleaned, and ready for a new family? On more than one occasion? Just seems off... Our one hand isn't talking to the other.

Tons of snacks waiting for us in the room when we got on board. I'm guessing they figured the family would be up here with us. Food overload, but they're being stingy with the drinks. Only refilling the cans of soda in the room when we ask them to. Going to Amish the leftover food into one plate in the fridge and leave a note asking for more soda. I can drink that whole bottle of amaretto with just ice, but my college days of straight vodka are long behind me. My sister's BIL (my BIL's BIL's brother, if you can follow all that) & his wife are on the trip with us (just found out a few days ago). Saw them as we were walking back onto the ship so meeting them for drinks downstairs before our dinner at Los lobos tonight. No fish on the carpet but find out the triangles on the rug in the gen pop hallways point forward... Good to know.

Staff have been caught lieing about wait times for the MDR, not sure why. Last night my sister tried to go to Hudson (group of 4). They told her 30min wait at around 8:45. She said they would wait because they had no where else to go at that point. Within 5 mins they were seated. Happened to them twice so far on this trip which I find odd.

More photos

Tons of photos and videos from today, not spending time to filter the good from bad as I'm down to <30% battery on my phone. Didn't even bother with the real camera, the entire bag was still sopping wet from yesterday. But everywhere you look there's a waterfall.

Geiranger is gorgeous, but I've reached my tolerance limit for people. When folks push me out of their way to take a photo instead of just waiting 30 seconds, I'm done.

The great hash brown famine has returned.... If I put 2x hash browns (meaning for two people) I would get 2 patties. So I started putting 4x. For this mornings breakfast I had a note saying "none available". I'm a simple girl, crispy bacon and potatoes (the other stuff in the photos is for hubby). If I can't get hash browns on day 6, may need to switch to Irish coffee in the morning to get that bit of heritage in there. Haven bar had about 4 people other than ourselves, but we had to leave anyway because my sister isn't allowed in the Haven. If it's semi full and we're taking away seats from real guests, I get it. If I'm trying to bring a group of 10+ people who don't belong there, I get it. If I'm using my card to get drinks for someone without a drink package, I get it. But none of those situations applied to us last night and was still asked to leave. Still no response from corporate on our hot tub compensation, so I have to go back to the concierge today to escalate my Karen complaint. I'm still on vacation and enjoying myself, but this trip has had a bunch of compounding sour notes. Pulled into Geiranger this morning, and the view to wake up to was gorgeous. Timing sucks for tonight as we have a shorter tour, but couldn't get our preferred dining time for Los lobos tonight. I had requested reservations months ago for 6:30 since we're a large group, pre-cruise concierge assured me all was taken care of. Yeah, they booked Cagney's for 6:30 on all 3 nights instead of what I asked for. By the time we got on board and saw that there was nothing left. Best they could do was 5:45 for tonight. So again, trip isn't ruined, but the more times you pinch me the better chance of leaving a bruise behind. So we'll miss sail away from the most amazing port of call. Unless we want to sit out in the rain to eat. If it was just the two of us we would do it, but we're a group of 8 tonight.

Warm shower, change of clothes, and made it to indulge before closing. Love the food, hate that we can only eat here if we come within 30mins of opening or 30mins before closing. Headed to the Haven bar to see if we're the only ones again.

Soaking wet, not sure there's a dry inch of me left at this point. Contemplating canceling our tour for tomorrow if the weather will be the same, but I think that one is much shorter.

Rainy day in Alesund VID_20230911_150438.mp4

We should tag team. When you need to stand will be when I need to sit.

Pulling into Alesund this morning.

Behind the scenes tour yesterday, lunch at the local, and MDR dinner last night.

Had to cancel dinner with the officers, they moved it up to 6:30 for tonight, and today is a late day in Alesund. We don't arrive until 11, and have a late tour getting back to the ship around 7:30-8 tonight. Price is right was a lot of fun, one passenger won $800 in plinko so everyone was having fun cheering him on. Tried to eat lunch at indulge yesterday, no seats to be found. Could sit outside, but no iPads to order from so you would have to go carry your food from each truck and walk it out. 2 people sitting at a large booth for 6 and not even in a way that was inviting to others. People lounging at tables with coffee chatting while 100+ people are looking to eat. The food we had earlier in the trip was awesome, but if it's so much work to eat we won't be able to enjoy it. Ended up having to eat at the local. They need to treat it like the local and seat people rather than a free for all. Night before was dinner at Cagney's with the family. Last night was dinner in the MDR. I'll have to check the menu tonight, but I thought on prima it was supposed to have a set menu with pasta station and such. Looked like any menu on any ship.

Not old per se, but not in good health for long periods of standing. Have some back & feet issues, so between the lots of standing/walking at ports, back to back to back ports, I knew my body would not tolerate another 90mins of standing in one place.

Tried to get into Syn Normans but at 8:30 it was already standing room only for a 9pm show. I'm too old to stand for 2hrs. Went to improv too watch karaoke for a bit. Up to the balcony in our room to look for the lights, saw nothing but cold wind. Alone at the Haven bar... Not what I'm used to at all on previous trips.

These are just the photos from my phone. I always say I'll post the rest from my real camera when I'm home, but then I get lazy and don't do it. For a phone camera though, it sometimes takes better pictures anyway as it's smarter than me with the settings. Dinner with the officers is booked for the 11th in Hudsons, will be curious to see who we are paired up with this time.

Private tour today booked through Tours by Locals. Great mix of scenic nature stuff, stops for local snacks, and hiking. Dinner at Cagney's tonight and a much needed late sleeping in day with our first sea day tomorrow.

Haven drinks were a pistachio martini, a "nuts & berries" (essentially every nut and fruit liquors mixed with Bailey's), frozen grasshopper, and "something with cherries" (they have brandy soaked cherries which are great with anything if you like sweet strong drinks). Got these after coming back today, mudslide and "something with cucumber". Saying away (ha!) now, will try to squeeze in some last minute photos from today's adventure on our private tour.

Our adventure into town was just ok. We were supposed to dock at 3pm today, but because of high winds we couldn't. Had to leave and find back later at 7. Our northern lights tour was at 9:30, so we got off and hiked into town to try and do local stuff. Found a bar with food, but it was mostly burgers and such, nothing Iceland. Did was good though, beers were decent. Walking back to the ship was faster and easier (downhill), and we made it back to meet up with family & friends for the tour. No luck on finding the lights tonight, too many clouds from the rainy past few days. Lots of stars and pretty lights from the city behind the mountains, but no Aurora. It was a long drive to get away from the light pollution, and folks kept chatting off the bus instead of giving up and going back (my hubby was one of the guilty ones delaying our exit). Finally made it back to the ship a little past midnight. Our tour tomorrow leaves at 8am so I expect grumpy companions. They're was a neat bookstore that I was tempted to go in and buy some children's books from. Icelandic Berenstein Bears anyone?

For anyone scared about sailing Prima in cold weather trips, don't be swayed by someone else's opinion. The ship is fine. Yes, it's been windy and chilly, but yes you can find places to sit and eat indoors. Unless you love the buffet (why??? It's the worst food on the ship) there are plenty of other options all day long. The overflow seating in Palomar is heated. See people sitting out there playing cards games every day so far. Yes, there are people in the pools. They're warm but not hot. My sister, BIL & the kids used them today when it was 50 degrees outside. They didn't stay long, but enjoyed the views of the fjords while having some fun. We don't usually partake in atrium activities, so if bingo or the towel folding demonstration is crowded, find something else to enjoy. Haven't gone to any of the entertainment yet really, so can't say much on that yet - just spending time with family for now. I would sail on her or Viva again, just not in this room. It's big and lovely, but whoever designed it was beyond stupid. So much wasted space. My sister in her 200 sqft Oceanview has more storage and places for stuff than we do in a room 3x the size. How is that possible? First world problems with the room: Why is there only 1ft clearance to get around the bed on the window side, when you have a dopey side table that is wide and decorative with no drawer? Put a smaller table so the bed can move over a bit and I don't keep hitting my feet trying to get up in the middle of the night. The side tables and lamps don't even match each other.... Closet in the bedroom is falling off the hinge, probably because no one knows how to open it. You pull out slightly then slide it in front of the other door. So you can't have both open at once. And the one on the right has no light at all while the light on the left is blinding. The shower..... It's big and has a 4 sprayer car wash in addition to the hand held wand and rainfall overhead. But not a single shelf to put anything. Not a single hook. Again, my sister's bathroom has a foot bar for shaving and 2 shelves. I have neither, but can fit 4 of us in there at once.... Took me forever to find the garbage can. It was in the toilet room (which also has no shelves or hooks or anything, so if you bring your phone or kindle to entertain you while you poop, you have to put it on the floor to wipe your butt). No where to move it to except under the makeup stool. Only two small pegs on the back of the doors (1 door goes to the hallway, 1 goes to the bedroom - why? I can walk 3 extra steps to the hallway. Close that wall and put shelves!), so that's the only spot to hang towels, bathroom bags, etc. Except if you hang stuff you now can't use the mirror that they are now blocking. Speaking of mirrors, they're everywhere. Back of the bathroom door is full length mirror. First time I showed we had the door opened, so as I'm showering I notice I have a full length view of my fat naked self. I guess some people like that, but I don't need the reminder of my flub. I now keep that door closed or covered in the towels... Also a useless mirror above the TV in the bedroom that lets me see my nose and up, and one below the TV so I can look at my socks.... Ok.... Skip the mirror budget and go buy some IKEA shelves please. There's no desk, and the coffee table is a small circle. So no where for me to really open my laptop and do anything. Not that I want to work, but couldn't really if I wanted to. Table outside is the best one in the room, but not usable in the rain. So yeah, first world problems, but it's stupid things that are an easy fix if they bothered to have someone do a test run on the design before plopping everything in and setting sail. Rant over, early morning tour tomorrow....

Played a few games in the galaxy pavilion. Some are better than others. If we didn't have so much OBC we wouldn't have done as many as we did, but the kids had fun. Mini golf was free and fun for what it was. Would have been better if it was fully up and going with the interactive stuff. Kids had fun on the rush slide, but they all had to butt scoot at some point to get out.

Waiting to see if we can dock tonight and get to our northern lights tour, or if we're lounging on the ship until our early morning tour tomorrow. Walked and wandered the ship today, spent a lot of time on deck 18 playing games which were surprisingly fun. But how do you have beer pong and say " no food or drinks". Pretend pong? So that was lame... Kids wanted to try the go karts but the only open slot was 8:30pm. So we'll try another day. Just vegging in the room watching movies for now until we know if we're able to get off the ship tonight.

Closed out the Haven bar last night, very different vibe than on other ships but we'll see how things play out on the next few nights. Bartenders can't mixed blender drinks though because the folks in the cabins before complain about the noise. They put the quiet library right next to the bar..... Why? Never had a bar that you couldn't laugh too loud in.