Prima Iceland / Norway August 2023

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Better late than never… I found them on in the atrium right in front of my face the past week. What can I say? I’m a guy. Not too observant at times. Sorry about the glare.

And alternating with that board showing them all, they showed them individually.

 

And Josef who was in charge of the stewards, found me at the Latitudes party and thanked me for the question I asked about the stewards. I had asked how many cabins they had, and had that changed after Covid.

Edited August 23, 2023 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[rsato]

Thanks for the amazing photos during your sailing. Norway, when you are fortunate enough to enjoy good weather, has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. I was on the July 27 sailing of the Prima from Reykjavik to Southampton, but we didn't stop at Geiranger - our cruise stopped at Olden and we took the NCL organized tour to Birksdal Glacier. This was the most beautiful hike we have ever taken. More pictures and info about our sailing at our travel blog: rayandtraci.blogspot.com

[aubreyc1988]

14 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

I tried to get some shots of the go karts. We had to reschedule until tomorrow because of rain. This track looks so much better. When we did the track on the Bliss I expected it to be a waste of money and a gimmick. It was quite the opposite.

 

Also, those slides are only open for a few hours per day. The drop was so slow and disappointing; still want to try the rush slides.

Disappointed to hear that about the slide. I did the abyss one on royal and it was snoozefest as well. If these things are going to block our view, they should at least be thrilling 

[aubreyc1988]

Is Bong the bartender on Prima now? 

[PhillyTravelBug]

24 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Is Bong the bartender on Prima now? 

I will keep my eye open, but I am not a drinker.

[PhillyTravelBug]

12 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We loved Norway. 😊 Three different ports, and all very different, plus we had previously been on a cruise that included Oslo, another great port.

Eventually, I want to do a Baltic cruise with Oslo. I think the Mediterranean or Africa is next. I am still debating on those cruise next purchases.

Edited August 24, 2023 by PhillyTravelBug

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Eventually, I want to do a Baltic cruise with Oslo. I think the Mediterranean or Africa is next. I am still debating on those cruise next purchases.

Things are very different I am sure from when we did a Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary in 2007. St. Petersburg where we spent two absolutely 2 wonderful days is obviously no longer on any itinerary. Very few cruises had Oslo. In fact, the one we did had Oslo, but only every other cruise as it alternated with the port for Berlin. One Baltic port you may be less familiar with but is truly fantastic is Tallinn, Estonia.

[PhillyTravelBug]

Our group went to the international travel presentation and I broke down and got some cruise next certificates.  2 $250 vouchers and receive 2 $250 vouchers, locking in two cruises with NCL over the next 4 years. I really want to sail on Celebrity,  but wanted to take advantage of this offer. 

My partner asked if we can do a breakaway class again, which is what I prefer. We are looking at a Mediterranean cruise and an Africa one for the future.  The Prima has some really strong positives, but is just too crammed at times for dining and the smaller observation lounge is a huge drawback from wanting to sail the Viva. Would like to sail the Epic, Escape, Joy, Jade , or Jewel.

 

once again , it is rainy this sea day, so our go karts we’re canceled again. 🙁

Edited August 24, 2023 by PhillyTravelBug

[DCGuy64]

10 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

My partner asked if we can do a breakaway class again, which is what I prefer. We are looking at a Mediterranean cruise and an Africa one for the future.

You didn't mention this specific ship, but the Norwegian Breakaway goes to the Mediterranean. We are booked on her for November and I'd be happy to post a review if that would help. (Although I'm not as good of a writer or photographer as you are!) 😉

[skatie]

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.  

Edited August 24, 2023 by skatie

[bluesea777]

14 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Our group went to the international travel presentation and I broke down and got some cruise next certificates.  2 $250 vouchers and receive 2 $250 vouchers, locking in two cruises with NCL over the next 4 years. I really want to sail on Celebrity,  but wanted to take advantage of this offer. 

My partner asked if we can do a breakaway class again, which is what I prefer. We are looking at a Mediterranean cruise and an Africa one for the future.  The Prima has some really strong positives, but is just too crammed at times for dining and the smaller observation lounge is a huge drawback from wanting to sail the Viva. Would like to sail the Epic, Escape, Joy, Jade , or Jewel.

 

once again , it is rainy this sea day, so our go karts we’re canceled again. 🙁

Breakaway doesn’t have an OL. Neither do the Epic, Getaway, Escape, Star and Dawn.

 

 

[chillyw]

1 minute ago, skatie said:

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.  

 

Agree with all this. Prima has been beautiful, and better then people have said, but it's definitely an outdoor ship.

 

We did the onboard immigration this morning at 7:30 AM and promptly went back to sleep lol.

 

@PhillyTravelBug I told myself I wasn't going to buy the certs this time, but I'm similar, Africa or South America next for me. Would love to do Galapagos on Celebrity at some point but it's $$$$

[Markj]

33 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Our group went to the international travel presentation and I broke down and got some cruise next certificates.  2 $250 vouchers and receive 2 $250 vouchers, locking in two cruises with NCL over the next 4 years. I really want to sail on Celebrity,  but wanted to take advantage of this offer. 

My partner asked if we can do a breakaway class again, which is what I prefer. We are looking at a Mediterranean cruise and an Africa one for the future.  The Prima has some really strong positives, but is just too crammed at times for dining and the smaller observation lounge is a huge drawback from wanting to sail the Viva. Would like to sail the Epic, Escape, Joy, Jade , or Jewel.

 

once again , it is rainy this sea day, so our go karts we’re canceled again. 🙁

The observation lounge on Bliss is amazing if it's something that's important to you

[PhillyTravelBug]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

You didn't mention this specific ship, but the Norwegian Breakaway goes to the Mediterranean. We are booked on her for November and I'd be happy to post a review if that would help. (Although I'm not as good of a writer or photographer as you are!) 😉

I would definitely sail her. Did the Getaway and loved it.

[PhillyTravelBug]

1 hour ago, Markj said:

The observation lounge on Bliss is amazing if it's something that's important to you

we loved that ship!! Probably my favorite one so far.

[PhillyTravelBug]

Game time!

[ellenw]

11 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

My partner asked if we can do a breakaway class again, which is what I prefer. We are looking at a Mediterranean cruise and an Africa one for the future.  The Prima has some really strong positives, but is just too crammed at times for dining and the smaller observation lounge is a huge drawback from wanting to sail the Viva. Would like to sail the Epic, Escape, Joy, Jade , or Jewel.

 

We did a Mediterranean on Escape last year. Loved it! There is no observation lounge, but a great ship. And great crew! Spent so much time at the outside areas. The outside Syd Norman's bar with Sophia was my favorite! She is a hoot. Book it!

[PhillyTravelBug]

Amsterdam, Netherlands 

 

The alarm was set for 6am today with an arrival at 7am.  I wanted to be off pretty early today to discover the city.  Had some breakfast and was off by 7:15.  I have never been here, but it was a Friday and we got to the center of town around 8am and there was barely any life. No cars bustling, nobody biking or walking to work. It was sort of baffling. Instead we were surprised with the amount of trash and homeless. Living in Philadelphia, we have quite a fair share; but this was hard to ignore.  One positive is the homeless are not as intrusive and aggressive as back home.  We took some photos and got a waffle until our 10:30 am bike tour…

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

We had a 2.5 hour tour set for 10:30 am with a group of 13 of us. This was booked through Viator. It worked out perfectly and was definitely a highlight. We got to see so much and the bike ride wasn’t strenuous. You had better pay attention while riding a bike. Seems like bicyclists have the right of way, but cars just do what they want as well. It’s some kind of organized chaos. Not sure I could adjust to that. After our tour, we went for lunch, took a quick walk through the red light district (had to see), and walked back to the ship. I have to say, the amount of cigarette smoking was alarming. Certainly wasn’t expecting it to be as much as it was. Have to wonder if lung cancer is the number one cause of death here.

 

Overall, it was a very nice day. The buildings are stunningly beautiful. Just something you don’t see in the United States. It goes on and on throughout the day. Glad I saw and conquered , but not a city I need to visit again.

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by PhillyTravelBug

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

We had a 2.5 hour tour set for 10:30 am with a group of 13 of us. This was booked through Viator. It worked out perfectly and was definitely a highlight. We got to see so much and the bike ride wasn’t strenuous. You had better pay attention while riding a bike. Seems like bicyclists have the right of way, but cars just do what they want as well. It’s some kind of organized chaos. Not sure I could adjust to that. After our tour, we went for lunch, took a quick walk through the red light district (had to see), and walked back to the ship. I have to say, the amount of cigarette smoking was alarming. Certainly wasn’t expecting it to be as much as it was. Have to wonder if lung cancer is the number one cause of death here.

 

Overall, it was a very nice day. The buildings are stunningly beautiful. Just something you don’t see in the United States. It goes on and on throughout the day. Glad I saw and conquered , but not a city I need to visit again.

 

This was our 3rd time in Amsterdam, though first on a cruise. So, I guess we have a different opinion of whether Amsterdam is worth seeing more than once.

[chillyw]

12 hours ago, ontheweb said:

This was our 3rd time in Amsterdam, though first on a cruise. So, I guess we have a different opinion of whether Amsterdam is worth seeing more than once.

 

I love Amsterdam. Was my second time, but so much to see and do. Last time I was there was during the festival of lights and was incredible.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, chillyw said:

 

I love Amsterdam. Was my second time, but so much to see and do. Last time I was there was during the festival of lights and was incredible.

As I wrote previously, this was our first on a cruise but third visit overall. The first time was supposed to be a Christmas/New Years river cruise from Amsterdam. It was chartered out from under us, and we ended up flying to and staying in Amsterdam, not quite a week IIRC. The next time was part of a land trip, 3 days in Paris followed by 3 days in Amsterdam. We actually landed in Paris on our wedding anniversary. 😊 Going from Paris to Amsterdam was actually the only time we ever have had missing baggage (1 out of 2) from an airline. 😒

[PhillyTravelBug]

Brugge, Belgium today was the most beautiful city I have ever visited. Speechless. Everywhere is a photo moment! Enough said!

[PhillyTravelBug]

Canal tour. Everyone does it and it’s worth it! We had a guide speaking in English, German, and French.

 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 8/24/2023 at 6:04 AM, ontheweb said:

Things are very different I am sure from when we did a Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary in 2007. St. Petersburg where we spent two absolutely 2 wonderful days is obviously no longer on any itinerary. Very few cruises had Oslo. In fact, the one we did had Oslo, but only every other cruise as it alternated with the port for Berlin. One Baltic port you may be less familiar with but is truly fantastic is Tallinn, Estonia.

We did the Baltics twice when St Petersburg was still available.  Will never forget those days and the beautiful sites.  And yes, Tallin was such an unexpected surprise!  Beautiful town.  I especially remember the Orthodox Church.