Cruising Lynne

I am looking forward to this slightly larger Prima class ship, and don't want to miss when it is available to book. Does anyone have an idea what the name of it is?

Definitely bring conditioner. My husband doesn't mind the shampoo they provide, but he doesn't really have much hair. I need it for my medium length "normal" hair.

I am certainly glad to hear that Beetlejuice will not be two and a half hours. My back and attention span would not last that long in a ship theater! I am hoping to book a trip on Viva as I do love that new ship smell, and would like to see a new show. I also want to let people know that Summer was a really good show. I enjoyed Six, but jokingly tell my husband that I would have liked it better if it was Five. It felt a little long to me.

I generally enjoy Broadway shows and ship production shows. While I did not see it on a ship, Cats is the only musical I have ever seen that I did not like. Such a disappointment since I like both kitty cats and live shows.

We were on both last fall. Both trips were out of NY. Our first time on Prima and second time on Breakaway. I like both ships for different reasons. I think Breakaway has a better layout overall, but Prima has a nice observation lounge, plus Indulge Food Hall. I would choose Prima since you have already been on Breakaway, and I think not having to fly is a big plus.

The NCL ships that have a Coco's serve specialty milkshakes, gelato, crepes etc.

The Encore has The Local instead of O'Sheehan's. It is the best bet for a late night drink besides the casino. If you are on a ship that has a Bliss Lounge nightclub, that is usually open late also.

Last year on Getaway we were in the elevator with some teens that were very upset that they could not get off the ship without a parent. They were with one older teen (18 or 19), but that teen was not one of their parents or a guardian so they could not get off together.

Check the new pod package before making coffee. The first day we used them on Pearl last month the coffee was way too strong. My husband noticed that it says it makes four cups. The next time he made coffee, he made a cup to split into two cups, then ran water through again and added half to each cup. Hopefully they return to the proper size pods soon or else they need new coffee makers.

Food on Prima is very good. It also has an observation lounge, as well as other lounges with comfortable seating. Good places to "cuddle". If you go in with reasonable expectations, you should enjoy it.

Yes, it could be done, but then people would complain about how early they had to leave. NCL can't please everyone! Moral of the story: Book your own flights!!

With time changes and all the travel time, I don't see how you could expect to get to Rome much earlier. This is not really a valid complaint.

When we were at Castle Island, we parked and walked around Fort Independence to the pier showing above the fort in the image below.

I was going to say the same thing! This really helped my husband be more comfortable. My other tip for Epic is, if the buffet is too crowded at breakfast and lunch, you can take your food down stairs to eat in the La Cucina restaurant.

This post made me LOL 🤣 I must have filled up on bread, but I could barely finish my three pieces of zucchini when we were at Cagney's recently! They were kind of big pieces.

Second photo shows a Boston Police boat that was going ahead of the ship to clear the channel. The police boat was going very fast, and at one point came very close to the small pier we were watching from and tried to splash us. I quickly backed up, but the people next to us felt the spray. Third photo shows a ferry boat that appeared to be racing the ship. I was surprised how close it got to the ship. It did win the race!

Guess we must have missed Pearl already. We just got off her a week ago. Drove to Castle Island yesterday to see her off. It was a beautiful sunny day. Lots of people there enjoying the park and beach. Others were waving to people they knew on the ship.

Last week they rescheduled the Legends show due to the rough seas on Saturday. I think this caused us to miss out on the production show Pure Variety. Pure Variety is listed in the Freestyle daily that is in post 68 of this thread. I agree that alot of the usual entertainment in the theater is missing though. Usually one night there is an acrobat/Cirque type of show and one night a magician. I don't go to the magician but hubby enjoys their shows. I thought that the welcome aboard show last week was lame with just the introduction of officers and the comedian. Usually you would see a snippet of some of the entertainment coming up in the week. The production show cast would do a song and dance number to help get you excited for the week. Who else has had the song "Your on Vacation Tonight " stuck in their head??

This is why a lot of people say YMMV. We were on the same trip and did not have any trouble getting a lounger. I guess it depends on what time of day you go. Once when we went, the therapy pool was more crowded than I like. I was able to relax on one of the loungers until the crowd cleared out a bit. Just about 15-20 minutes. I really like to finish my time in the suite with a 15 minute session in the sauna. Love the views from there and I like that it is not in the main area. Only once there was another woman in there with me. My husband and I do the saunas last and meet back at the room. He showers at the spa while I head back to the room to shower there. So it was worth it for me. That said, I only purchase the passes on cruises where I know there is going to be some cooler weather. Otherwise it is too much time spent indoors for me.

I like where you hung the over the door shoe holder in the bathroom. It does not waste any hooks you may need for other things. This is really a good idea on Pearl with the weird sink and small amount of counter space. Every time I brushed my teeth, I needed to use a cup to rinse everything off the flat part of the sink. No big deal, just slight annoyance. There is a reason why sinks are usually round or oval 🙂 I am glad that you did not experience the rough seas that we had the Saturday before you on our way to Bermuda. Hope it stays calm for your trip back.

We were at Horseshoe Bay Beach last Tuesday afternoon. It was a beautiful, relaxing afternoon. I did not see any Portuguese Man o War or hear of anyone else seeing them. The water was just warm enough for me to ease my way in.

I think that the cruise lines definitely need to provide extra service compared to hotels if they want to keep people from choosing land based vacations. I do keep hoping that eventually cruise lines will start to add back some of the things that have been lost. One thing I missed was late night snacks. Yes, I know O'Sheehan's / Local and room service are always available, but it is not the same as grabbing a quick bite at the buffet. On this trip the dinner buffet hours ended later than in the past, but by late evening things were pretty picked over and some items had sat out for a while. I missed being able to get pizza or little sandwiches and some cookies or small dessert late night. I resorted to getting banana bread early in the day and putting it in the fridge to have when returning to the room late at night. Normally on a cruise I like to eat breakfast or lunch, an early dinner, and late night snack.

We just returned from the Pearl Boston to Bermuda trip on April 7, 2023. I am happy to report that once a day room cleaning worked out better than I thought it would. It was kind of nice not to have to worry about interrupting the room steward when we were getting ready for the evening. I liked being able to lay out my pajamas before going out for the night and not have them be in the way if the steward came to do turn down. Having said that, I still wish they could have a second quick stop in the evening to replace towels and remove any stray dishes. Contrary to previous reports, our room steward seemed to have a reasonable schedule, though I do not know how many rooms he had to tend to. He did an excellent job keeping our room clean. We requested coffee set up and ice bucket the second day, which he kept restocked all week. Rooms were ready when we embarked, since the ship had just come back to Boston from Miami without passengers.

We just got back on April 7 from the Pearl Boston to Bermuda run. It was fun to see Pearl and Gem together. I was more excited when my husband and I were walking the promenade on Pearl and I caught a glimpse of Prima. That made my heart go pitty-pat! I guess I had more fun on Prima last October than I thought.

The production and delivery of the brochures provide people with jobs. Not a total waste. Some of our cruise fare goes toward paying the people to make a living. Extra "junk" mail isn't so bad. I also know quite a few current and former postal workers who cruise. So it all goes around.