Prima/LIVE/Feb 26 to March 5, 2023/non-Sistahs Cruise

[Shaded Lady]

@Greenpea2 I feel ya! And worst, my DH laughs at my lists and how organized I am about packing, and invariably, EVERY CRUISE, he forgets something, that I miraculously have managed to pack! One of these days I'm just going to pack my stuff, and see what happens when he gets onboard!

[Greenpea2]

1 hour ago, Shaded Lady said:

@Greenpea2 I feel ya! And worst, my DH laughs at my lists and how organized I am about packing, and invariably, EVERY CRUISE, he forgets something, that I miraculously have managed to pack! One of these days I'm just going to pack my stuff, and see what happens when he gets onboard!

That's a good one! The weird thing is that I am, not a spread-sheet type of person or someone that wants to control all the details. But I do enjoy doing it when I am given free rein. That's one way DH and I do mesh well. I have messy lists that I add things to and then finally type up clean lists. Does it take time? Sure! But I enjoy the anticipation and have been on enough cruise to know that in the end, those lists help make a trip come together. I'm betting you are the same. 🙂

[Greenpea2]

I know I won't be able to type as neatly or as clearly once I am on board and in the cruise vortex head set (not to mention the internet capability...). So bear with me while I add another "pre-cruise" blather segment. Then I probably am done with the big blathers. Thanks to all of you who have joined me. Your being here to listen to me and my thoughts really increases my cruise experience exponentially! Here we go:

Excursions Planned

For those that don’t already know, our itinerary is: 

 

Sunday: Embark at Port Canaveral

Monday: At Sea

Tuesday: Cozumel, Mexico

Wednesday: Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Thursday: Ochos Rios, Jamaica

Friday: At Sea

Saturday: Great Stirrup Cay (please, please, please)

Sunday: I refuse to think about Sunday

 

We don’t have a lot planned but we do have a couple of things set up (and/or anticipated).

We tend to not do a lot of shore excursions because we love just being on the ship. All the normal excitement and activity during Sea Days are fun and very much enjoyed by us. But we also find it a bit of a treat to sometimes just stay onboard and enjoy the ship when it’s more quiet than usual. And frankly, we both want to get as much value out of the Haven sundecks as we can.

 

Shore excursions

Cozumel, Mexica: 

We signed up for the Salsa and Salsa excursion. Sistah and I had planned to do that, so when those plans changed, I wondered how “down widdit” DH would be since one of the “Salsas” is the dancing salsa. And getting him to even pretend to dance has been rare in the 18 years we have been together. When I presented it to him, I said (based on what I have read online) that we are brought to a restaurant and we are taught to make several different salsas, which we get to eat of course. With crispy Mexican chip things. As well as being plied with bottomless margaritas. Then, at the end they try and teach us (“try” being key here, I am pretty sure) to dance the Salsa. Then we are let loose to drunkenly explore the local shops and encouraged to buy stuff, before being brought back to the ship. 

 

He kind of raised his eyebrows at the dancing part, but said that sounded OK. Well! That wasn't too hard to sell!  

 

Great Stirrup Cay:

Back Story: For the Sistahs cruise, she and I had booked a “regular” cabana on the regular beach and that’s all we wanted. It wasn’t fancy and it was not very expensive (relatively speaking), although I can’t remember the price. Maybe $300? But it was not an “ouch” price to me. For $150 each we’d get a day at the beach, our own space, drinks brought by, out of the sun. Cool. We wanted it. We were excited. About 2 weeks before that cruise I received an email from NCL saying that all the “regular” cabanas were being upgraded and would not be available … BUT they are SO HAPPY to be offer me and Sistah one of the NEW, very oo-la-lah LAGOON VILLAS for the SAME PRICE. I have to laugh now because I was super disappointed! I WANTED that plain old “regular” cabana, darn it! Anyway, I do digress…so we ended up with a Lagoon Villa. And it was incredible. What a peaceful, gorgeous day. On a peaceful gorgeous beach, with a Villa that was peaceful and gorgous to call “home.” One of my fondest cruise memories ever.   

 

So for this cruise I wanted to do it again. But the PRICE. Oh my. Like $800 or something? No way. Ridiculous! Especially for 2 people!  I forcefully pushed the idea out of my disgruntled mind. But as time went by, I kept thinking about it, how wonderful and magical the day had been. One night after having a slightly larger martini than usual (yeah, it only takes one with me) I went and looked at them again. My Grey Goose mind found it amazingly easy to rationalize that this cruise is ALREADY so expensive, so what difference does it really make! (Yeah, that old tried and true one). So it is the Grey Goose company’s fault. I booked it. 

 

Now I am a little worried that we might not get to go, that the weather will not cooperate. Recent Prima reviews are iffy. Oh I want to go SO BADLY! Cross your fingers for us, please! On the bright side (there almost always IS one), if we can’t get there (sob), that money comes back to momma. But I don’t want the bright side. I want the Lagoon Villa.

[TNVolnteerCruiser]

I’m in and excited to follow along on this cruise!  Thanks @Greenpea2.

[Greenpea2]

42 minutes ago, TNVolnteerCruiser said:

I’m in and excited to follow along on this cruise!  Thanks @Greenpea2.

Glad to see you here, thanks TNVolnteerCruiser!

[Cscomedygrl]

Have a great trip! Can't wait to read along. Safe travels. 

[Greenpea2]

2 minutes ago, Cscomedygrl said:

Have a great trip! Can't wait to read along. Safe travels. 

Thank you. :~]

[AmyJA]

I'm here. A day late. 😁

[uneamie]

6 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

 

Ah, yes. The last day before the day before the cruise. I spent today in the midst of a minor tornado of lists, pet sitter instructions, post-it notes, final household chores, laundry, and 3 stacks of “stuff” waiting to be actually packed into 1) carry-on bag, 2) bag for the overhead bin, and 3) a suitcase. This stack? Needed for tomorrow night at the hotel. That stack? Needed for the next day when we board. That really-big-pile of stuff? Well, honey THAT big ole mess is for the cruise! Love that word: C R U I S E. 

 

I was somewhat enlightened today about the differences between men and woman. Well, OK, no generalizing. (At least publicly.) So fine, SOME of the differences between THIS man and THIS woman (but I know there will be some sisters out there who will get what I am sayin’).

 

ME: I started lists, notes, reminders, and made plans months ago. Months. I have Word documents on my computer with things like “foods to try”, “drinks to drink”, tips from others here at CCI that I want to remember, don’t forget to check this out, go here, and maybe do this. That kinda stuff. And today I spent all day cleaning, organizing, and hunting and gathering. Lists are made to be crossed off, people. 

 

DH: No excitement or particular interest in the cruise for the months leading up it. Then (movement!) yesterday he dragged his suitcase up from the garage. (Whoa! He’s starting!) This morning he got up, had coffee, and packed everything. An hour later that suitcase was in the back of our car. He’s done.

 

I started at 8:00 am and just finished at 3:00 pm. Final tally:

DH = 1 hour

Me: Several months on and off and today, 7 hours   

 

Sure could use a nifty frozen cruise drink right about now! 

That is my husband.....I plan, do all the research and reservations, buy all the necessities, make all rhe arrangements for the sitter to handle our cats and my disabled brother who is not going with this time....then spend a week packing my stuff. Hubby opens his luggage, pack it in about 30 minutes, gets up that day, showers, dresses and he's ready to roll. LOL  

[HBCcruiser]

3 minutes ago, uneamie said:

That is my husband.....I plan, do all the research and reservations, buy all the necessities, make all rhe arrangements for the sitter to handle our cats and my disabled brother who is not going with this time....then spend a week packing my stuff. Hubby opens his luggage, pack it in about 30 minutes, gets up that day, showers, dresses and he's ready to roll. LOL  

Yup. 100% same. Tiz what it Tiz. 😂

[HBCcruiser]

1 hour ago, Greenpea2 said:

Thank you. :~]

Have an awesome time. Thanks for sharing your cruise with us but do take time to enjoy your vaca.  My DH and I are on in April and just soaking up all the great info. Enjoy! 🥂

[Annies88]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:32 PM, Greenpea2 said:

I’d also like to say that with all the recent Prima reviews (which I loved--thank you all for spending time onboard writing them) I know not everyone will be particularly interested in yet another Prima review. That’s OK, I do understand. At least I will have any number of The Tribe members being nice enough to read this. 😉 I will do my best to entertain you and be informative. I’m not all that great at the informative part (last time I kept forgetting to take pictures of my food, I was scared to take pictures of bare feet on sofas because what if someone yelled at me? I just can’t get motivated to take pictures of all the dailies and post them, and I got frustrated with the WiFi and sometimes whined a little... sometimes). I’m not the perfect “reviewer” that’s for sure. I tend to just sort of share my experience and hope someone out there is interested.  

 

I also am aware that there are those out there who are not particularly interested in a Haven-heavy cruise report. They prefer a regular cruise experience. I get it. And no offense taken. This will be a lot of Haven stuff, I’m sure, but also other places on the ship. DH and I look forward to exploring this beautiful new creature called the Prima. We most certainly will not be only in the Haven.

I’m glad you are doing Haven. Seems like there are a ton of solo reviews.  

[ontheweb]

Excuse my ignorance, but I noticed both you and Sid mentioned "the Tribe"? What is that?

 

We have a booking this summer on the Prima, London (Southampton) to Reykjavik, so will be interested in your review.

 

Do you intend to get off the ship in Jamaica? (Sid did not.) We have really enjoyed Jamaica both on a land trip and a cruise (on a different line) that had a Bob Marley excursion. 

 

Have a great cruise.

[Greenpea2]

9 hours ago, uneamie said:

That is my husband.....I plan, do all the research and reservations, buy all the necessities, make all rhe arrangements for the sitter to handle our cats and my disabled brother who is not going with this time....then spend a week packing my stuff. Hubby opens his luggage, pack it in about 30 minutes, gets up that day, showers, dresses and he's ready to roll. LOL  

It's both satisfying AND exhausting, isn't it? 🙂 But at least we know the job gets done right! 

[Greenpea2]

37 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Excuse my ignorance, but I noticed both you and Sid mentioned "the Tribe"? What is that?

 

We have a booking this summer on the Prima, London (Southampton) to Reykjavik, so will be interested in your review.

 

Do you intend to get off the ship in Jamaica? (Sid did not.) We have really enjoyed Jamaica both on a land trip and a cruise (on a different line) that had a Bob Marley excursion. 

 

Have a great cruise.

The Tribe was born thanks to Sid. After one of his earlier reviews, the chatting just kept going and going.. So he started a thread and we have somehow become his tribe! It is in "The Friends of Cruise Critic" section.

 

No we decided not to get off at Jamaica. The thing I would have liked there is Dunn River Falls. I actually have done that (on my honeymoon with my first husband, in fact!)--many years ago. We are in good shape physically, but there are a lot of wet rocks you climb there and I am paranoid I would slip and twist an ankle, both of which I have torn a ligament in over the years. I do recommend that though! It's pretty and fun. A Bob Marley excursion sounds fun! What does that entail?

[Greenpea2]

2 hours ago, Annies88 said:

I’m glad you are doing Haven. Seems like there are a ton of solo reviews.  

That's true! So there should be a place for another Haven experience again. Good to know.

[ggTexasGal]

DH used to travel frequently (before retirement). He'd pack his own gear, but I learned to go behind him add some things that I knew he would likely need. I cannot tell you how many times I got thanked, not just by my DH, but also his commanding officer.

Apparently it's true that old dogs can't learn new tricks!  Or, perhaps he likes to help me feel needed? 😉

[jimbri]

Have a great time!

[dmms]

Not a member of the tribe, but following as well!

Really enjoyed your previous live review - your sister’s outfits were sooo entertaining;) As was your story;)

A little background- I was on the Feb 5-12 Prima sailing in an H5. DH and adult son made three of us. Son was a later addition so he got the couch. 
I was the intrepid rule breaker who gave Sid an impromptu Haven tour when NCL initially put him off;( Sid is a great guy and I discovered a new favorite libation at the outdoor bar when we ended the double top secret tour with a drink!

A Smokey Dragon - no real liquid smoke - but tasty and made with dragon fruit! They only prepared it at the outdoor bar - something fun to try if you’re feeling adventurous!

Have to say - the outdoor bar and the haven elevators were my two favorite new things on the Prima! And of course the dragon drink😎

We had a great time and even booked the Viva next Feb out of San Juan!

Our son wants to join us again so we booked the H6. Would enjoy reading your thoughts about the cabin. I liked the H5 - was roomy with a nice balcony. But two bedrooms I think will be better.

Have a wonderful cruise - the ship is fun to explore - and yes - you will get turned around at times😏

Will follow your adventures! I even read Sid’s posts while we were on board- gave my ideas about places to explore and an appreciation of the interesting architecture;)

Happy sailing 🏝️

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Greenpea2 said:

The Tribe was born thanks to Sid. After one of his earlier reviews, the chatting just kept going and going.. So he started a thread and we have somehow become his tribe! It is in "The Friends of Cruise Critic" section.

 

No we decided not to get off at Jamaica. The thing I would have liked there is Dunn River Falls. I actually have done that (on my honeymoon with my first husband, in fact!)--many years ago. We are in good shape physically, but there are a lot of wet rocks you climb there and I am paranoid I would slip and twist an ankle, both of which I have torn a ligament in over the years. I do recommend that though! It's pretty and fun. A Bob Marley excursion sounds fun! What does that entail?

There was a bus with Marley music and a guide who gave information. The route is all twisty narrow turns, and the driver had to honk his horn to warn any vehicle coming the other way as it was all blind turns. You get to the Bob Marley house and mausoleum and explore and hear more music. When you get there, a local product is being sold. (And it is not coffee. 😉) Also, on the ride into the interior, you really get to see a part of Jamaica not often seen by tourists.

 

Can folks who just recently found Sid, join in in that group?

[Hogladyrider]

24 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Can folks who just recently found Sid, join in in that group?

FYI anyone can and is welcome to join the TRIBE.....we stick together thru thick n thin!

[Greenpea2]

25 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

There was a bus with Marley music and a guide who gave information. The route is all twisty narrow turns, and the driver had to honk his horn to warn any vehicle coming the other way as it was all blind turns. You get to the Bob Marley house and mausoleum and explore and hear more music. When you get there, a local product is being sold. (And it is not coffee. 😉) Also, on the ride into the interior, you really get to see a part of Jamaica not often seen by tourists.

 

Can folks who just recently found Sid, join in in that group?

That sounds like a good excursion!

 

The group is an open forum, so of course. It's a very friendly group. There is no meanness, criticism or judgment. Very supportive. And fun.  

[Roscoe13]

On 2/24/2023 at 5:37 AM, cruiseny4life said:

 I don't suppose your lovely husband would want to dress up in a similar outfit as your sistah for a day or two, or at least to pose for a photo or two? 

I think you have NCL confused for Virgin Voyages...😁

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

That sounds like a good excursion!

 

The group is an open forum, so of course. It's a very friendly group. There is no meanness, criticism or judgment. Very supportive. And fun.  

It was a really fun, great excursion. The only negative is that I cannot now play a Bob Marley cd in my car when DW is my passenger because she gets sad that she is not in Jamaica. 

 

We were actually there one previous time for our 20th anniversary and stayed in an AI that was owned by the locals. It was like living in a botanical garden. I asked our guide for the Bob Marley bus about it and he was aware of it and also let me know it no longer existed.

[#55worktoplay]

GP, late to the party but looking so forward to it! 
 

I will soak up all you have on The Haven, will likely never experience it first hand so thank you for sharing. 
 

Have a great time!