NCL Prima eastbound 15 days TA (Live) 27 Apr, 2024 - N.Y. to Southampton via Halifax, Iceland & EU ports - preview intro

[Sugar Magnolia]

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Since we have a number of CC'ers on the TA already sharing their thoughts, we might consider a joint session, let's take it up at the bar crawl.  Or, just go with the flow. Let it Go, Let it Go.

 

On every NCL cruise when I have sailed solo, the solo host has always been able to book one or two tables at the MDR for the solo group for a specific time every day. On the Viva TA in November, there was a table or two waiting for us every day at the Commodore.

 

On our current Prima sailing, the solo host advised the group that he was unable to book any tables for us. I would be interested to learn the reason behind this policy shift. Was this just for our particular sailing, just on the Prima, or now standard practice across the fleet, for our convenience?

 

[Fogfog]

Good morning. Well catching up on the last 5 pages with thoughts.

Embarkation was cray cray. And as bad as we thought we had it…spoke with others at the meet and greet that stood as long, yet outside.

We were feeling pretty”BettyWhite” and wishing I had a snickers bar and bottle of water yet no dice.

 

Once onboard things have settled a bit.

Agree it’s full a lots of popular things to do ..so pacing ourselves and expectations.

have met some lovely people and some others. Takes all kinds.

 

Did a fabulous 6hour private tour at Halifax once we finally got off the ship…guide was dubious why we were at that berth. Great tour of the history of Halifax, the titanic, the explosion, architecture, all kinds of great stuff. Lunch in Dartmouth looking at Halifax and the ship. Great day.

 

One of our fav servers is helping us learn Tagalog since we missed the lesson on Sunday. She went grocery shopping to pick up a few things in Halifax as things are more costly in Iceland. Now I’m craving pancit. Hear they make decent Filipino food in the crew galley…

saw the Donna Summer show last night. The entire ensemble is strong..the leads…just Wow. Far exceeded our expectations.

 

Ship started rolling good last night so I got up to secure a few things making noise. Will be interest to see posts of swells as we sail north and east.

 

will be looking for bridge partner today.

and hope to get some tandoor chicken at Indulge

 

 

 

Edited April 30 by Fogfog

[mking8288]

Good morning all - Day 4 ... 

A bumpy ride during the overnight hours as we went thru a weather system, windy and it's now foggy outside - breakfast sitting next to big picture window.  Waves 7 to 10 ft. with occasional small, white caps.

 

 

 

 

Our live shipcam view earlier 

 

Pearl continuing their TA, heading also to Reykjavik, Iceland with a 2 days lead ahead of us ... calm seas.

 

 

View outside now - a bit of wind & foggy, just as Sharon @Fogfog described.

Edited April 30 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Prima's TV Ch 1 is the navigational channel - informative, huh. Not 👎🙄😤

 

 

 

NCL has been upgrading the on-screen  displayed data since late 2023 - still in beta mode 😳🤔

 

Older systems are much preferred here 👍

 

 

Nice Samsung Smart TV monitor with sharper resolutions, however ... 

 

Edited April 30 by mking8288

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Observations & comments on Day 3 : (background - known) MDR no longer taking reservations (Prima, exclusive ??) for groups of 5 or less, only 6 and more.  Corporate decision ?

 

Digital display status board not showing updated current state at all.  I.T. issues again ?  Punt the ball.

 

Crowds standing around getting restless after 30+ minutes. A single dining crew trying to smile and do what he can as friendly greeter.  "Thinking outside the litter box"  Faulty system designs - pass the bucks. 

 

Tonight, junior officers standing near one corner  selectively greeting some guests while looking busy.  "Keep up the image ?"  Got them on candid camera's zoom lens. 

 

Hudson MDR has crew covering from Palomar and Los Lobos, etc. to supplement staffing.  "Less is more ?"  Let's hear the top brass answer 00 for an hour. 

 

"Sir, all the tables are full. There is no priority seating" not even for Diamond. You can go over to the Metropolitan Bar" and wait. (No, I will stand here, watch & wait, thank you.).

 

  Wait, how about you call my room when you find a table & it's ready while I take a nap, it's only 8:15 PM ?  I already waited 20 minutes for a table if 4 and you lost my Room # and need to check the "pager" number in my hand.  " Speechless"

 

Not sure how to grade their managerial plan on mitigating passengers (did)satisfactions.

 

On the bright side, this should get better over the next 12 days - I hope we hit rock bottom.  The best (worst) is yet to come.

 

Tomorrow is the 2nd full sea day and the Latitude reception for Deck 12 & below is 1 PM.  Why would they knowingly schedule it when the MDR is open from 12 to 1:30 PM only, and expect guests to eat and run, or skip a meal  - or jam the buffet or The Local after 1:30'ish.  For your convenience to sail & sustain, of course. 

 

Since we have a number of CC'ers on the TA already sharing their thoughts, we might consider a joint session, let's take it up at the bar crawl.  Or, just go with the flow. Let it Go, Let it Go.

As for reservations, we asked at Hudons is we could make a reservation for a table by a window for the sea day between Norway and Iceland as it was our wedding anniversary. We were told no reservations it was first come first served. And our best bet was to show up at 5:30 when they opened.

 

I don't remember exactly when we showed up on that day, probably between 6 and 6:30, but when I gave them the card that it was our wedding anniversary, maybe they remembered us as they gave us a table right by one of the windows. (And after dessert, they gave us a cake, sang to us, and tied our hands together.)

Edited April 30 by ontheweb
spelling correction

[ontheweb]

I had previously posted as to how fascinated we were by the Canadian Immigration Museum when we were in Halifax. Just wondering if any of you checked it out. And if you did, did you find it just as fascinating? 

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

As for reservations, we asked at Hudons is we could make a reservation for a table by a window for the sea day between Norway and Iceland as it was our wedding anniversary. We were told no reservations it was first come first served. And our best bet was to show up at 5:30 when they opened.

 

I don't remember exactly when we showed up on that day, probably between 6 and 6:30, but when I gave them the card that it was our wedding anniversary, maybe they remembered us as they gave us a table right by one of the windows. (And after dessert, they gave us a cake, sang to us, and tied our hands together.)

Cool! Happy Anniversary!!!!!

[CruisnHallelujahs]

8 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Sincere apologies...there's more chance of me sending you cookies and hash browns from the Prima than of me sending you my delicious maple creme Canadian Oreos. 

 

Boo…but I do appreciate your sincerity. Now back to lurkdom 🫣

[Sugar Magnolia]

Last night it was raining men at the Disco Wonderland in the Prima Night Club…

 

 

 

 

Alvin the omnipresent Cruise Director lives to entertain. 

 

[graphicguy]

8 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

On every NCL cruise when I have sailed solo, the solo host has always been able to book one or two tables at the MDR for the solo group for a specific time every day. On the Viva TA in November, there was a table or two waiting for us every day at the Commodore.

 

On our current Prima sailing, the solo host advised the group that he was unable to book any tables for us. I would be interested to learn the reason behind this policy shift. Was this just for our particular sailing, just on the Prima, or now standard practice across the fleet, for our convenience?

 

So, given no reservations at Hudson's, how long did it take to get a table?

 

Can't recall the CD's name, but he was the same one we had on the Prima Feb cruise.  He's good.

 

Not a Disco fan, but I really enjoyed "DONNA", too.

Edited April 30 by graphicguy

[schmoopie17]

15 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Here is that abhorrent “No Puffins” sign. How dare they 😅

 

 

I think that is their tongue-in-cheek way of saying "No smoking".

Maybe not...

[Sugar Magnolia]

5 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

So, given no reservations at Hudson's, how long did it take to get a table?

The self reliant solo group broke out in their own cliques and were able to make their own reservations, as we were in groups of 8-10. I know the head chef (from the Viva), who has been standing in front of Hudson’s for the past few nights. Though I can’t prove it, I have suspicions that winks and nods were exchanged. 
 

I will inquire about wait times for the other solo groups. 
 

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

(And after dessert, they gave us a cake, sang to us, and tied our hands together.)

Good thing they waited until after dessert to tie your hands together. Would have been difficult to eat otherwise.

[JIMESOPUS]

32 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Last night it was raining men at the Disco Wonderland in the Prima Night Club…

 

 

 

 

Alvin the omnipresent Cruise Director lives to entertain. 

 

Ok, I'll be the one to ask, did you bring a umbrella? The utilization of the theater on the Prima and Viva is one of things that I enjoyed the most. I hate it when on a Away ship the Atrium is used for those types of shows, blocking passage thru the Atrium, unable to find a seat up in the Local and not being able to see the actual show.

Jim

[mking8288]

According to Capt "Out" 10 AM daily bridge briefing, rest of today seas expected to be 9 to 12 ft. - nearest land to the west around 200 mi 

 

Clock will be advanced by 1 hour again at 2 pm this afternoon. 

 

Ocean Walk is open but empty, it's windy, wet and on the chilly side.  No hogs for loungers and chairs outside

 

 

Lunch will be at Indulge Food Hall as we got here just before 11:30 and it's already filling up ... where's @Sugar Magnolia since there is no food police around.  Tonight will be Onda ... skipping the MDR 😸 lines and wait. 

 

 

 

 

[againsthesun]

Me and my fiancé did Onda on night 2 - come with an empty belly! The amount of food was incredible! Tonight for us is Food Republic!

[graphicguy]

5 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

According to Capt "Out" 10 AM daily bridge briefing, rest of today seas expected to be 9 to 12 ft. - nearest land to the west around 200 mi 

 

Clock will be advanced by 1 hour again at 2 pm this afternoon. 

 

Ocean Walk is open but empty, it's windy, wet and on the chilly side.  No hogs for loungers and chairs outside

 

 

Lunch will be at Indulge Food Hall as we got here just before 11:30 and it's already filling up ... where's @Sugar Magnolia since there is no food police around.  Tonight will be Onda ... skipping the MDR 😸 lines and wait. 

 

 

 

 

Love me some INDULGE!

[dexddd]

17 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

I am not planning to bring any souvenirs back home as I would have to make the difficult decision whether I want to house non-essential objects or house myself, given the limited space in my abode.

 

However, I made an exception for one Canadian souvenir...

 

 

 

 

You could get some stroopwafels in Zeebrugge.

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

So, given no reservations at Hudson's, how long did it take to get a table?

 

Can't recall the CD's name, but he was the same one we had on the Prima Feb cruise.  He's good.

 

Not a Disco fan, but I really enjoyed "DONNA", too.

Cruise Director: Alvin Oliva  Very good  Been with NCL a long time  Was once the "Bingo Boy".

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Cool! Happy Anniversary!!!!!

It was last August, but thanks anyway.

 

We actually embarked on our first cruise on our 25th anniversary. and also cruised on our 30th and 35th. (We did a land trip for our 40th.) This one was for our 46th, but sort of pretend 45th. We found the cruise in a brochure NCL sent us in 2021 and fell in love with the itinerary. And said that would be perfect for our 45th anniversary, but then noticed the ship was not yet built, and we would have to do the cruise in 2023, not 2022.

[mking8288]

Latitudes Welcome Back reception inside the OL is a joke, made that a big, big, really joke in hosting a large scale event for 2,200+ Latitudes guests with seating space normally for 75 to 100 plus, including back against the window "seats" on the wraparound lounge, where you can hear and music after passing the band but otherwise cannot see the rest.  Cubes of cheese & crackers only served.

 

 

Over 900+ Platinum and higher Latitudes members, over 80% of the ship passengers being Latitudes - apologies for a big turnout, really. The reception should've been held not here but in a bigger event space. 

 

 

CruiseNext manager was the only one that spoke, nobody else - not the Captain nor the GM, who was here along with (some) other officers.  

 

 

Rants done and moving from being grumpy.  Otherwise, view from the OL - foggy and ship blowing it's horn on a regular interval.

 

 

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Love me some INDULGE!

 

See what you missed - 

 

 

 

 

[Arzeena]

29 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

See what you missed - 

 

 

 

That Pad Thai? Looks very delicious!😛

I spy noodle soup.😛😛

[Sugar Magnolia]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

where's @Sugar Magnolia since there is no food police around

Coincidentally, I also noticed that there were no food police stationed today so I snuck in. 
 

At 11:15 a few of the solos commandeered a table at Indulge and we all took turns ordering food at different times. Others were eyeing our table not knowing that the solos were eating in different shifts. 
 

With some knowledge, foresight, able bodies and sheer will, we were able to dine at Indulge on a sea day. However, this all seems like a big production just to have lunch while on vacation. 
 

[mking8288]

4 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

That Pad Thai? Looks very delicious!😛

I spy noodle soup.😛😛

AR, vegetable Pad Thai is good. Indian (udon) noodles soup also good, mild spicy hot. Susan thinks RJ and you will like it.

 

We created a food feast.