Everything... project Leonardo/Prima class!

[RVACruiser43]

On 8/17/2020 at 6:29 PM, hallux said:

In the case of the Scarlet Lady - a comparatively postage-stamp sized pool to support 3,000+ people?  I know the pool on the Bliss is small, but I believe the one on Scarlet Lady is even smaller!

 

Now that I think of it - maybe Virgin had some inside knowledge that this whole thing was going to happen and realized people may not be anxious to get into a pool on a cruise ship in the future...

Sometimes smaller is better.  NCL Sun Pool seemed larger to me than any other ship I've been on.  And the Theaters have been a pet peeve of mine, smaller ships hold more than the larger ships with double the passengers (or close to it).  I don't like the need to reserve theater spots, never knowing how I will feel at that point in the day, (Tired and needing an nap LOL)  I love that aft Theater on the Sun, but also all the Dawn and Jewel class ships.

 

Tom

[RVACruiser43]

On 8/18/2020 at 2:12 PM, fstuff1 said:

 

escape seems like the red headed step child of the BA+ class.

- cant go through the panama canal

- no race track

- has a dance floor in the mdr

 

all 3 of those 'features' are on the breakaway/getaway.

 

i'm just saying make it simple and less confusing for non-cruisecritic customers

 

The Breakaway plus has 2 added decks over the BA ships and the tonnage is higher so the class makes sense.  What I can't figure after cruising on the Bliss, the observation lounge was my favorite feature, how do people say the Escape is better?  Matter of taste, but I wouldn't mind seeing an Escape renovation where the forward cabins are removed in favor of a similar lounge area.  Less people would be a good thing in my opinion.  At least it still uses the BA name just added a plus.  I see the Dawn/Star and the 4 Jewels in a similar light, the Jewels just added a deck and allowed the addition of a semi Haven area.  We could have Dawn + but NCL added a new class name.  The Dawn and Star had their Spinnaker Lounges removed in a refit in the early 2000's  I have cruised twice in the suites and those are very nice suites with great views and terrific bathroom, but miss not having a Spinnaker lounge in the two ships.  My point is that if the Dawn/Star can remove a lounge for rooms, the Escape could do the reverse to make it more similar to the sister ships in her class.

Tom

[RVACruiser43]

On 8/21/2020 at 7:40 PM, Gershep said:

Thank you for starting this thread. I hope they build larger or more swimming pools.

The ones in the summer 2021 releases are very small.  Hoping the area "to come" in the upper deck will be a larger pool.  The infinity pools look like a large hot tub size.

Tom

[RVACruiser43]

On 8/19/2020 at 10:49 AM, Sand and Seas said:

I agree.  It reminds me of Onda on Encore.  Upscale Italian describes Onda and their menu.  

Reminds me of a Scene in the movie Men From Black in the HQ

🙂

Tom

[BenCoudon]

1 hour ago, RVACruiser43 said:

The ones in the summer 2021 releases are very small.  Hoping the area "to come" in the upper deck will be a larger pool.  The infinity pools look like a large hot tub size.

Tom

A friend of mine is an Architech. He has done several cruises.  I had that discussion with him concerning the size of the pools.  According to him, the most important factor is the weight and the structure it requires.  It is the same concept with hotels or housing towers where they want to put a pool on higher levels.  Water is extremely heavy let alone the structure itself of the pool, made usually with concrete.  The larger the pool is, the structure to support that pool must must be enhanced to support that weight.  On the ship, it would mean more and bigger pillars from the bottom up.  With 2 infini pools on a lower deck, they wouldn't, have to build the structure of a large pool on higher decks (18 or up).  So I presume that  the pool on the top deck will be rather small and shallow.

 

And there might be other reasons.  First, security.  I presume that we've all been on ship that had very  rough sea.  We know that with rough sea conditions, the pool may become a "wave pool" with water moving from one end to the other of the pool.  The more water you have in the pool, the more spillage you will get.  I have seen that during rough sea days, they either lowered the level of the water or, in one occasion, they have completely emptied the pools.  True they have a drainage system that captures water that spills over.  But those systems have limits and they don't want to flood the uper deck.  Second, when ever they have to either lower the level or empty the pools, they will have to fill them up later.  Ships fresh water reserve and their fresh water production systems don't have infinite capacities. With 4000 passengers and 1700 crew members, the needs for fresh water is huge.  Smaller pools reduces the needs for fresh water.    Finally, my own experience is that on sea days, although the pool deck is full,  the number of people in the pool is not that high.  Lots of people go to the pool deck to sunbath and rarely using the pools or the hot tubs.  

I think that on the new ships, we will see more smaller pools.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by BenCoudon

[RVACruiser43]

3 minutes ago, BenCoudon said:

 With 4000 passengers and 1700 crew members, the needs for fresh water is huge.  Smaller pools reduces the needs for fresh water.    Finally, my own experience is that on sea days, although the pool deck is full,  the number of people in the pool is not that high.  Lots of people go to the pool deck to sunbath and rarely using the pools or the hot tubs.  

I think that on the new ships, we will see more smaller pools.

 

 

I am not a ship pool person, too crowded, I enjoy just sitting on the balcony watching the world go by 🙂  I was told that NCL uses salt water for its pools which is healthier (I was told) and can be replenished without reverse osmosis.  Last time I was in a pool was 2012 on the Jewel and the Chlorine was so bad My eyes burned for a long time from swimming underwater.  I have been in the Star's Thermal lap pool, but didn't take a sip to check it out LOL.

Tom

[BenCoudon]

10 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

I am not a ship pool person, too crowded, I enjoy just sitting on the balcony watching the world go by 🙂  I was told that NCL uses salt water for its pools which is healthier (I was told) and can be replenished without reverse osmosis.  Last time I was in a pool was 2012 on the Jewel and the Chlorine was so bad My eyes burned for a long time from swimming underwater.  I have been in the Star's Thermal lap pool, but didn't take a sip to check it out LOL.

Tom

On the star, the pools on the upper deck and in the thermal suite was, in 2015 fresh water.  It was a TA and I had my thermal suite pass.  Last year, on the South America cruise, I didn't go to the thermal suite and didn't use the pool.  On both the Getaway and the Epic, all tubs in the thermal suite had fresh water.  I think I went for a dip in the pool on the Getaway and it was not salt water.  But it may have change.  It would make sense to convert them to salt water.  Reverse osmosis is an expensive process.  The main problem is it rejects around 50% of the water processed by the system.  I manage a condo complex that has reverse osmosis and it incurs significant costs.   

Edited July 24, 2021 by BenCoudon

[Karaboudjan]

4 minutes ago, BenCoudon said:

On the star, the pools on the upper deck and in the thermal suite was, in 2015 fresh water.  It was a TA and I had my thermal suite pass.  Last year, on the South America cruise, I didn't go to the thermal suite and didn't use the pool.  On both the Getaway and the Bliss, all tubs in the thermal suite had fresh water.  I think I went for a dip in the pool on the Getaway and it was not salt water.  But it may have change.  It would make sense to convert them to salt water.  Reverse osmosis is an expensive process.  The main problem is it rejects around 50% of the water processed by the system.  I manage a condo complex that has reverse osmosis and it incurs significant costs.   

The Mille concept, which Prima is, is supposed to not have a large pool topside.  

[RVACruiser43]

On 3/16/2021 at 11:30 PM, ysolde said:

Hmmm . . . Well, would have been interesting, but we are already booked on Escape in November 2022.  Oh, well.  Still following along, though.  Looks like she is going to be quite beautiful!

You can always have NCL move the booking.  I had a B2B on Sky in Sept and moved 1 cruise to the Sept 23 TA and the other a bit earlier in Aug for some separation.  Love how easy that change was.

[ysolde]

1 minute ago, RVACruiser43 said:

You can always have NCL move the booking.  I had a B2B on Sky in Sept and moved 1 cruise to the Sept 23 TA and the other a bit earlier in Aug for some separation.  Love how easy that change was.

Shhh . . . We ended up booking Prima in September and keeping our November TA.  We love a good TA voyage.

[RVACruiser43]

50 minutes ago, ysolde said:

Shhh . . . We ended up booking Prima in September and keeping our November TA.  We love a good TA voyage.

2 cruises is always better!  

[BenCoudon]

55 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

2 cruises is always better!  

fully agree.

Doing Prima Sept 13-23  Norwegian Fjords  then  Sept 23 to Oct 4  TA to NYC

Going on the Pearl Sept 5 (6 weeks from now)  Tried to find an other cruise after that one as it is only 7 days.  But the choice is still rather limited in september

[RVACruiser43]

31 minutes ago, BenCoudon said:

fully agree.

Doing Prima Sept 13-23  Norwegian Fjords  then  Sept 23 to Oct 4  TA to NYC

Going on the Pearl Sept 5 (6 weeks from now)  Tried to find an other cruise after that one as it is only 7 days.  But the choice is still rather limited in september

Are you sure about the ship this Sept?  I thought only the Gem was cruising from Florida.  Although thats an even change, I love the Gem and Jewel.  Will see the Pearl next June for a B2B to Bermuda, and then Jade on a B2B Cape town to Athens in Jan 2023.  Nice you can now depart Canada for a cruise! 

[BenCoudon]

25 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

Are you sure about the ship this Sept?  I thought only the Gem was cruising from Florida.  Although thats an even change, I love the Gem and Jewel.  Will see the Pearl next June for a B2B to Bermuda, and then Jade on a B2B Cape town to Athens in Jan 2023.  Nice you can now depart Canada for a cruise! 

I made a mistake 😠😢  It is the Jade out of Athens.  In few hours, the Jade will sail from Athens.  This is the first NCL ship to sail after a 16 month stay.  NCL management must be thrilled as their first ship goes to sea with actual passengers today.  I had the opportunity to sail today on that cruise.  But I decided to wait a bit.  First, in May when they announced it, no one new if those cruises would get a go.  Second,  as NCL implements new protocols for both embarkation and sailing,  I preferred to give them the chance to use the protocols several times before my cruise.  

Also, as it is a port intensive cruise (no sea days, 6 ports in 6 days before returning to Athens), temperature are very high in that part of the world in July.  I prefer to wait to September to have cooler days to visit the islands.

Edited July 25, 2021 by BenCoudon

[BenCoudon]

27 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

Nice you can now depart Canada for a cruise! 

Although government of Canada strongly discourage it, it was always possible for Canadians to fly out of the coutry.  Problem was with the return protocol.   1. Had to provide a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival.  2. Mandatory test upon exiting the plane, and mandatory 3 days quarantine at the hotel nearby the airport (at own's expense) followed by 14 days quarantine at home.  And obligation to be tested 3 times during that period

Since early July, the only condition for fully vaccinated travelers is to have a PCR test no more than 72 hours prior to the fight (you will be denied boarding if you don't have it) and a possible fast test (randomly selected) upon arrival at the airport.  No more quarantine.

Many believe that by the time I will return to Canada (September 20), the obligation to provide a negative PCR test might be waived.  But I don't take any chances.  As I am returning home via Paris, I already have an appointment in a french lab 2 days prior to flying back

[RVACruiser43]

1 minute ago, BenCoudon said:

Although government of Canada strongly discourage it, it was always possible for Canadians to fly out of the coutry.  Problem was with the return protocol.   1. Had to provide a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival.  2. Mandatory test upon exiting the plane, and mandatory 3 days quarantine at the hotel nearby the airport (at own's expense) followed by 14 days quarantine at home.  And obligation to be tested 3 times during that period

Since early July, the only condition for fully vaccinated travelers is to have a PCR test no more than 72 hours prior to the fight (you will be denied boarding if you don't have it) and a possible fast test (randomly selected) upon arrival at the airport.  No more quarantine.

Many believe that by the time I will return to Canada (September 20), the obligation to provide a negative PCR test might be waived.  But I don't take any chances.  As I am returning home via Paris, I already have an appointment in a french lab 2 days prior to flying back

Do you follow the points guy news?  A day ago they reported on an Abbot Labs covid test you could pre-order and do yourself via online monitoring.  I thought that was interesting, its CDC approved don't know how Canada considers it though.  

[BenCoudon]

7 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

Do you follow the points guy news?  A day ago they reported on an Abbot Labs covid test you could pre-order and do yourself via online monitoring.  I thought that was interesting, its CDC approved don't know how Canada considers it though.  

Never heard of it.  It is not on the Government of Canada's web site.  I will see how it evolves.  Still 6 weeks to go so everything has time to change 20 times between now and then.

The french lab told me that if I take the test before 3h00 pm on Friday, I will have the results by email most likely the same night or saturday morning at the latest.  And it is not that expensive €49 euros

But I'd be surprised if they ever go for it.  They have very strict protocols for Covid.  And it seems to be working well.  We are not hit (yet) by a 4th wave with the Delta variant.  Few delta cases here and there but not significant. And the vaccination campain goes well. 54% of canadians are fully vaccinated.  If we exclude the kids that cannot get it, 62% of eligible population got their 2 shots.  And 81% of eligilbe got at least 1 shot.  We should hit the 90% mark by end of August.

[Karaboudjan]

On 7/21/2021 at 11:56 AM, FreestyleNovice said:

Those booking Family Master Suites (SJ), your balcony will be bigger than the floorplan shows but there will be something (partially) blocking your view.. 

 

What would that thing be?  In the rendering the slide looks like it circles around a central support, and that is what I would expect for stability.  The white object in the photo, though, looks too close to the edge of the ship for a slide to go inside of it.  

Edited July 25, 2021 by Karaboudjan
Update comment

[Sailing12Away]

10 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

Do you follow the points guy news?  A day ago they reported on an Abbot Labs covid test you could pre-order and do yourself via online monitoring.  I thought that was interesting, its CDC approved don't know how Canada considers it though.  

There's actually no FDA approved kits yet for home use, they're all still under the EUA. (emergency use authorization)

 

Meaning they're ok for now because we're still in a pandemic emergency, but they haven't gone through the full FDA clearance and approval process yet. There's test kits being recalled and revoked weekly from that EUA list as more studies are done and we're realizing that most of them are junk.

 

This is the current list of EUA approved kits at the moment: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics-euas-antigen-diagnostic-tests-sars-cov-2

 

This is the current list of ones that have been revoked and should NOT be used: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/removal-lists-tests-should-no-longer-be-used-andor-distributed-covid-19-faqs-testing-sars-cov-2

 

Personally as a lab professional, I hate the idea of home-use kits. What's to prevent someone from taking a swab of their tap water and submitting it as "proof" that they're free of the virus so they could travel somewhere? Most people don't even read the directions for home pregnancy kits, forget about something that isn't even fully FDA approved...

[RVACruiser43]

5 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

There's actually no FDA approved kits yet for home use, they're all still under the EUA. (emergency use authorization)

 

Meaning they're ok for now because we're still in a pandemic emergency, but they haven't gone through the full FDA clearance and approval process yet. There's test kits being recalled and revoked weekly from that EUA list as more studies are done and we're realizing that most of them are junk.

 

This is the current list of EUA approved kits at the moment: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics-euas-antigen-diagnostic-tests-sars-cov-2

 

This is the current list of ones that have been revoked and should NOT be used: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/removal-lists-tests-should-no-longer-be-used-andor-distributed-covid-19-faqs-testing-sars-cov-2

 

Personally as a lab professional, I hate the idea of home-use kits. What's to prevent someone from taking a swab of their tap water and submitting it as "proof" that they're free of the virus so they could travel somewhere? Most people don't even read the directions for home pregnancy kits, forget about something that isn't even fully FDA approved...

Here is the article https://thepointsguy.com/news/abbott-at-home-covid-test/?utm_source=TPG Daily Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2631056&utm_usr=6a6201c9b3033b61c6f0e53fae6b7ae5770a44d87213b0209eff702eb450d9ed&utm_msg=6fa3131b1ed7408a93e2a60f5e1857c8&utm_date=2021-07-23

 

[Drews_Cruise]

17 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

This topic is getting off Prima, so...  What would that thing be?  In the rendering the slide looks like it circles around a central support, and that is what I would expect for stability.  The white object in the photo, though, looks too close to the edge of the ship for a slide to go inside of it.  

I agree, but it may be attached to the outside of that support.  It’s definitely a strong support that is there for a purpose. 🤔

[BenCoudon]

20 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

Here is the article https://thepointsguy.com/news/abbott-at-home-covid-test/?utm_source=TPG Daily Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2631056&utm_usr=6a6201c9b3033b61c6f0e53fae6b7ae5770a44d87213b0209eff702eb450d9ed&utm_msg=6fa3131b1ed7408a93e2a60f5e1857c8&utm_date=2021-07-23

 

The price of these "Home kits" is roughly the same that the one the French lab is charging me.  I prefer to have professionnal expertise

[Sailing12Away]

Yes, it is on the EUA list. Guess it's a matter of semantics, EUA approved and FDA approved are 2 different things in the lab world. 

 

Back to Prima.... 

 

For the amazing individually who is managing to sneak these peeks for us... can you try to get another shot of the aft if possible? Curious to see how that is panning out and make sure my hot tub on deck 12 is still there 😉 

[BenCoudon]

3 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Yes, it is on the EUA list. Guess it's a matter of semantics, EUA approved and FDA approved are 2 different things in the lab world. 

 

Back to Prima.... 

 

For the amazing individually who is managing to sneak these peeks for us... can you try to get another shot of the aft if possible? Curious to see how that is panning out and make sure my hot tub on deck 12 is still there 😉 

With the rather cool evenings that we will get in Norway and Iceland in September, indeed you will need your hot tub.  Average evening temperature for Reykjavik late September is about 5 degrees Celsius (that must be under 40F).  Not sure the infini pools will be packed

[Drews_Cruise]

9 minutes ago, BenCoudon said:

With the rather cool evenings that we will get in Norway and Iceland in September, indeed you will need your hot tub.  Average evening temperature for Reykjavik late September is about 5 degrees Celsius (that must be under 40F).  Not sure the infini pools will be packed

We’re travelling late August so hopefully we get a bit warmer weather. I’ll get in that pool regardless..lol