NCL dropped a destination weeks before cruising

[Ellis1138]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

You probably have read this caution elsewhere, but it bears repeating.  The Pr1ma is not a cold weather ship.  A great deal of emphasis was placed on outdoor venues on this ship.  In cold, damp, or dreary weather, all those passengers who otherwise would be basking in the sun while sipping cocktails or enjoying snacks on deck are forced inside.  .

 

I happen to be a weirdo who enjoys being out in cold, damp and dreary weather, so as long as it isn't icy or lightning. But yeah, I had a similar thing on the Escape for a New England/Canada cruise, where I was out in the hot tub on deck 19 by myself in the pouring rain. Or where I was the only one in the pool on the NCL Sun in Alaska when the outdoor temperature was 30 degrees.

 

But yeah, our sailing on the Prima is a holiday one and probably very full, so I expect the food venues to be zoos. We'll find out in June/July.

[The Traveling Man]

4 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

I happen to be a weirdo who enjoys being out in cold, damp and dreary weather, so as long as it isn't icy or lightning. But yeah, I had a similar thing on the Escape for a New England/Canada cruise, where I was out in the hot tub on deck 19 by myself in the pouring rain. Or where I was the only one in the pool on the NCL Sun in Alaska when the outdoor temperature was 30 degrees.

 

But yeah, our sailing on the Prima is a holiday one and probably very full, so I expect the food venues to be zoos. We'll find out in June/July.

Almost half of the seating area intended for the Indulge Food Hall is outside.  When we were on the Pr1ma, the sunshades / awnings were unable to keep the rain off the outdoor seats, so their chair cushions were drenched.  Nobody would want to sit on them.  The crew eventually roped off the area and closed all the outdoor seating for the food hall.  That forced everyone inside, making it difficult to find a seat during lunch.  It may have been a little less crowded at dinner, when other restaurants also were open.  Lunch in the food hall during cold or rainy weather, though, is going to be a real challenge.

[Ellis1138]

I knew when I booked the Prima that all this stuff is possible. 

[luckybecky]

7 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

 

I've been watching the Prima Live TA thread and, aside from embarkation chaos, am somewhat worried about the lines and waiting times for the MDR and specialty restaurants. And that they tried to cram the Latitude party in a small space....

 

I haven't followed that thread, but for what it's worth I'll add this information:

 

We attended a Cruise Next presentation on our recent cruise on the Spirit. The presenter said that they have heard the complaints about overcrowding and are reducing capacity on the Prima, Viva, and Aqua from around 4000 on each ship to approximately 3000. When exactly this is happening, she didn't say. But if true, it is certainly good news!

[The Traveling Man]

16 minutes ago, luckybecky said:

 

I haven't followed that thread, but for what it's worth I'll add this information:

 

We attended a Cruise Next presentation on our recent cruise on the Spirit. The presenter said that they have heard the complaints about overcrowding and are reducing capacity on the Prima, Viva, and Aqua from around 4000 on each ship to approximately 3000. When exactly this is happening, she didn't say. But if true, it is certainly good news!

The rated occupancy for the Pr1ma is listed on the NCL website at about 3100.  For the V!va it is about 3200.  The Aqua is listed at almost 3600.  The Aqua has not yet begun to sail, but the Pr1ma and V!va frequently travel with 100, 200, or even more additional passengers.  This happens as sometimes three or four guests are booked in rooms that are rated for just double occupancy.  It would be great if NCL actually does reduce the capacity on board, but it seems unlikely that they would do so by removing staterooms and replacing them with lounge areas.  In fact, several NCL ships which previously did have lounge areas had those lounges removed during a dry dock and additional staterooms were added.  Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the information you received may amount to little more than wishful thinking.  We can only hope that I am wrong and that the capacity of these ships actually will be reduced.

[luckybecky]

1 minute ago, The Traveling Man said:

The rated occupancy for the Pr1ma is listed on the NCL website at about 3100.  For the V!va it is about 3200.  The Aqua is listed at almost 3600.  The Aqua has not yet begun to sail, but the Pr1ma and V!va frequently travel with 100, 200, or even more additional passengers.  This happens as sometimes three or four guests are booked in rooms that are rated for just double occupancy.  It would be great if NCL actually does reduce the capacity on board, but it seems unlikely that they would do so by removing staterooms and replacing them with lounge areas.  In fact, several NCL ships which previously did have lounge areas had those lounges removed during a dry dock and additional staterooms were added.  Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the information you received may amount to little more than wishful thinking.  We can only hope that I am wrong and that the capacity of these ships actually will be reduced.

 

Agreed. On Cruise Deck Plans, the occupancy for each ship is listed at around 4000 give or take a little, Aqua being the highest. I wonder if the lower number you are seeing on NCL is the new, updated number which would confirm what the Cruise Next person said. She gave no indication of what they are doing with the excess staterooms.

[The Traveling Man]

29 minutes ago, luckybecky said:

We attended a Cruise Next presentation on our recent cruise on the Spirit. The presenter said that they have heard the complaints about overcrowding and are reducing capacity on the Prima, Viva, and Aqua.

You cannot always rely on information presented by members of the Cruise Next staff.  Several years ago, while the Pr1ma was still in the design phase and known simply as the lead ship in the Leonardo class, Cruise Next Manager Paloma made a presentation which showed an artist's rendition of how the new ships would look, along with some data that had been made public about them.  The photo rendering showed the general outline of the ship, with the wide walkways around the back and sides of the ship.  The infinity pools on deck 8 were shown and we were told that the Haven would occupy almost the entire rear third of the ship.  So far, so good.  The rendering did not show the race track or slides, however, so Paloma opined that these ships would be more sophisticated, more in tune with a more mature audience, with fewer kiddie attractions and a more upscale vibe.  Look how that turned out.

[The Traveling Man]

10 minutes ago, luckybecky said:

 

Agreed. On Cruise Deck Plans, the occupancy for each ship is listed at around 4000 give or take a little, Aqua being the highest. I wonder if the lower number you are seeing on NCL is the new, updated number which would confirm what the Cruise Next person said. She gave no indication of what they are doing with the excess staterooms.

To the best of my recollection, the 3100 and 3200 figures for the Pr1ma and V!va are the same numbers for rated capacity at double occupancy which NCL have claimed for these ships for several years.  Just like other ships, however, they frequently sail with hundreds more passengers than their rated capacities, as sometimes a third or fourth passenger is also booked in a stateroom rated for just two.  Perhaps the numbers you saw were from a third party website which took into account this anticipated over booking.  The earliest announcements about the "Leonardo class" ships, however, estimated the rated capacity as being approximately 3000, or about 75% that of NCL's larger ships.  The gross tonnage of this new class of ships, though, is about 85% to 90% of the larger ships.  That would seem to indicate that the Pr1ma class ships would have more room per passenger, but that has not been the gist of most reports from those who have sailed on both the Pr1ma class and the Breakaway class ships.

[QuestionEverything]

20 hours ago, njkate said:

Thanks for info. I’m going to check them out! I was looking at Northern European cruise that had Le Harve as a port as DDay landing beaches are on the bucket list! I’m not comfortable plunking down thousands of dollars on a cruise with no guarantee I’d actually get the port. 
A nice Paris/Normandy land tour is looking better and better 

Greetings njkate:

I have done the great DD beaches 2x - once on a part day excursion from Le Havre off a Celebrity, and the other from Paris, a drive trip.

If you Really want to see the DD beaches and Normandy area, which is gorgeous, - DO THE DRIVE TRIP.

Rental vehicle easy, drive north on freeway to Bayeux, many hotels, inns and great restaurants. Hire Over Lord tours. They will drive you to each of the beaches, the US cemetery. The guide is full time with you, the guide has a customized book for each beach with photos, historical presentation etc. Very important to get to the DD Museum, it is the essence of understanding what happened....

https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/memorial-museum-battle-of-normandy/

Our tour was 2 full days, outstanding and our guide took us to the Canadian cemetery as well. Was not expensive at all. You see what you want on your time not on a tour.

After DDay beaches, go to Mont St. Michele, OMG, a total amazing castle on top of a hill in the tidal flats, built 1,100 AD. No cruise line takes people to this amazing place. 

https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/unmissable-sites/the-mont-saint-michel/

 

Can drive to Honfleur which is a wonderful spot with an amazing harbour and then go to Le Havre, wonderful location and stay at the newish Hilton Garden Inn on the waterfront, great hotel and great restaurants.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

 

 

[njkate]

14 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings njkate:

I have done the great DD beaches 2x - once on a part day excursion from Le Havre off a Celebrity, and the other from Paris, a drive trip.

If you Really want to see the DD beaches and Normandy area, which is gorgeous, - DO THE DRIVE TRIP.

Rental vehicle easy, drive north on freeway to Bayeux, many hotels, inns and great restaurants. Hire Over Lord tours. They will drive you to each of the beaches, the US cemetery. The guide is full time with you, the guide has a customized book for each beach with photos, historical presentation etc. Very important to get to the DD Museum, it is the essence of understanding what happened....

https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/memorial-museum-battle-of-normandy/

Our tour was 2 full days, outstanding and our guide took us to the Canadian cemetery as well. Was not expensive at all. You see what you want on your time not on a tour.

After DDay beaches, go to Mont St. Michele, OMG, a total amazing castle on top of a hill in the tidal flats, built 1,100 AD. No cruise line takes people to this amazing place. 

https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/unmissable-sites/the-mont-saint-michel/

 

Can drive to Honfleur which is a wonderful spot with an amazing harbour and then go to Le Havre, wonderful location and stay at the newish Hilton Garden Inn on the waterfront, great hotel and great restaurants.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

 

 

Thank you!! Very helpful and yes as far as touring the DDay sights I would go with Overlord have already researched them! Many don’t know Overlord was the code for the operation 

[Levanah]

1 hour ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings njkate:

I have done the great DD beaches 2x - once on a part day excursion from Le Havre off a Celebrity, and the other from Paris, a drive trip.

If you Really want to see the DD beaches and Normandy area, which is gorgeous, - DO THE DRIVE TRIP.

Rental vehicle easy, drive north on freeway to Bayeux, many hotels, inns and great restaurants. Hire Over Lord tours. They will drive you to each of the beaches, the US cemetery. The guide is full time with you, the guide has a customized book for each beach with photos, historical presentation etc. Very important to get to the DD Museum, it is the essence of understanding what happened....

https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/memorial-museum-battle-of-normandy/

Our tour was 2 full days, outstanding and our guide took us to the Canadian cemetery as well. Was not expensive at all. You see what you want on your time not on a tour.

After DDay beaches, go to Mont St. Michele, OMG, a total amazing castle on top of a hill in the tidal flats, built 1,100 AD. No cruise line takes people to this amazing place. 

https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/unmissable-sites/the-mont-saint-michel/

 

Can drive to Honfleur which is a wonderful spot with an amazing harbour and then go to Le Havre, wonderful location and stay at the newish Hilton Garden Inn on the waterfront, great hotel and great restaurants.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

 

 

I really appreciate this information as the DD beaches and Normandy are also on our bucket list.  Instead of cruising to Paris, we’ve decided we can easily fly to Paris and do a land-based trip.  Thanks so much for this info!

[QuestionEverything]

3 hours ago, njkate said:

Thank you!! Very helpful and yes as far as touring the DDay sights I would go with Overlord have already researched them! Many don’t know Overlord was the code for the operation 

Indeed I know the Overlord code name.

The land trip I described was one of the highlights of my travel in my life.

I want to say the US Cemetery; we escorted dear elderly friends, he is a purple heart US marine, shot down over Vietnam. We walked along the reflecting pond and saw two men working on the lawn. I went over and said "Bonjour" "Merci" I pointed to their work. Both men stood up. I pointed to myself and my spouse and said "Canadian", then pointed to my friends "American".

Silence, then one of them said these MOST amazing words:

"THANK YOU FOR OUR FREEDOM".

YES, that is what the man said.

I almost fainted with the intensity of his words.

Everyone reading this thread - I saw more American and Canadian flags in the Normandy area than I see in Canada and the US.

The dear people of France have NOT forgotten our sacrifices.

Please do your land tour and thrive.

Over Lord was outstanding.

Blessings.

[QuestionEverything]

2 hours ago, Levanah said:

I really appreciate this information as the DD beaches and Normandy are also on our bucket list.  Instead of cruising to Paris, we’ve decided we can easily fly to Paris and do a land-based trip.  Thanks so much for this info!

Levanah, I did a post above in response to another person above, enjoy.

Normandy is beyond awesome and so much history.

Please do the Land Trip approach.

Cruises have no ability to do this area justice do to time and geography. Not the cruising fault, it is just reality.

Please do Mont St. Michele, you will be amazed.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Travel well!