Live - NCL Prima - 06/23-07/04/2024 - Southampton, Belgium, Amsterdam, Norway and Iceland - Is it more beautiful than Alaska?

[Seas2mountains]

After the behind the scenes tour, we went to the spa and enjoyed the pool and heated lounge chairs. It was mostly quiet but we did hear the weights being dropped above in the fitness center along the sound of the treadmills. 
 

Despite the noise from the fitness center, I think this is my favorite spa on NCL ships. We didn’t see a single “saved” heated lounge chair and having that area separate from the pool meant that people were quiet at least so far. 
 

This tiered area by the pool is heated. 
 

We also attended the military reception which was very well done. individual photos were taken with the captain and I believe the general manager. A cast member did a wonderful job singing the National Anthem. Alvin the CD and another CD staff member had each person give their name, military branch and years of service.  Drinks and appetizers on spoons were served. 

We decided to go to Hudson’s for lunch to have more menu options than the Cagney’s suite lunch. It looked like it filled up quickly and we were there from about 12:10pm until 1:20pm. 
 

I had the yummy bay scallops and chicken flautas. My husband had the Spinach Caesar and BBQ pork ribs. We both had tiramisu for dessert. Service was excellent but the kitchen must have been slammed as it looked like the dining room filled up quickly. The food was great as usual as we had no complaints. 
 

As we were among the first guests to arrive at Hudson’s, we got another table along the window in the center of the dining. We really love that dining room and the views.
 

Here is one of the lunch  menus   

[Seas2mountains]

We spent some time this afternoon in one of the Vibe hot tubs and enjoyed being outside even though it started getting colder and is now foggy. Seas are still very calm. We are still happy with the decision to purchase the Vibe passes even if we can’t use it when it gets colder. It was especially enjoyed the first day and yesterday afternoon. 
 

Here are some afternoon butler treats over the past few days. My husband asked for cheese daily and I asked for potato chips which they do have on Prima. I have not yet checked Surfside cafe for cookies. The chocolate strawberries were full whole strawberries. 
 

[Seas2mountains]

On 6/25/2024 at 7:25 AM, FlGoodShips said:

If you have time, could you please list current officers and cruise director.

Thank you. Enjoy your cruise.

I’m not sure if can read names from this photo?

 

Thank you! 

[Seas2mountains]

On 6/25/2024 at 4:40 PM, schmoopie17 said:

Thanks for some great pictures and glad to see you're enjoying the Prima. The pictures remind me of just how beige and blue the Prima is. While it probably still has that "new ship smell", the ship was probably our least favorite. Not only the bland color scheme, the overall layout was very chopped up. It is difficult to get from here to there. Small public spaces, which seem to get smaller when passengers can't get outside on bad weather days. Also, the rattling of our balcony door/wall was the thing that told us we will probably never book that ship again. 

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am anticipating the public areas will get more crowded as the weather gets colder. So far we have had no noises in the cabin. Maybe that will change as the weather changes. 
 

I have enjoyed several “Matador” drinks made by one of our favorite bar tenders, Froilan, who was in Henry’s Pub on the Spirit but is now in Prima’s Whiskey Bar. He said it is a copy cat with a modified ingredient. It tastes the same to me. I remember you also recommended this drink and it is one I really like. 
 

 

[mking8288]

27 minutes ago, Seas2mountains said:

I’m not sure if can read names from this photo?

Thank you! 

Loving the pictures ... not quite, a bit fuzzy and I tried to zoom in, etc.  What worked for me snapping those same displayed images is to take half a screen full at a time, vertically - split that image into halves, depending on camera resolution - came out sharp enough to see.  

 

What are your plans for Norway & Iceland ?? 

 

BTW, the question came up on a thread about Prima's library (online) - can you see what the FSD say about it (if any) and whether the Libby app used to access the Prima's collection has been restored, fixed or connected again - couldn't get it to work, and it was beyond internet manager's pay grade to resolve the connectivity & related issues.  We've too busy during the 2nd half of the TA with port-intensive scheduling to bother to give it another try.  Just another nice-to-know, first world problem at sea. Thanks.  

[www3traveler]

8 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Loving the pictures ... not quite, a bit fuzzy and I tried to zoom in, etc.  What worked for me snapping those same displayed images is to take half a screen full at a time, vertically - split that image into halves, depending on camera resolution - came out sharp enough to see.  

 

What are your plans for Norway & Iceland ?? 

 

BTW, the question came up on a thread about Prima's library (online) - can you see what the FSD say about it (if any) and whether the Libby app used to access the Prima's collection has been restored, fixed or connected again - couldn't get it to work, and it was beyond internet manager's pay grade to resolve the connectivity & related issues.  We've too busy during the 2nd half of the TA with port-intensive scheduling to bother to give it another try.  Just another nice-to-know, first world problem at sea. Thanks.  

I am glad that you could figure out staff members-- I could not.  Knew a couple of names but that was it.

 

[FlGoodShips]

1 hour ago, Seas2mountains said:

I’m not sure if can read names from this photo?

 

Thank you! 

Thank you. Was able to zoom in and read. Appreciate you posting this.

[Seas2mountains]

I’ll see if I can get more photos of the officers.  
 

Here are some photos of the sun setting at 11:30pm. 

We had dinner with the officers tonight and were honored we got to have dinner with Captain Roger Gustavsen and Cruise Next Manager Natalie. The captain has done a wonderful job with daily announcements telling us what to expect. It was a fun and interesting dinner with them and several other Latitudes passengers. 
 

We saw the Donna Summer show at 9:30pm. It was fantastic! 

[mking8288]

6 hours ago, www3traveler said:

I am glad that you could figure out staff members-- I could not.  Knew a couple of names but that was it.

Mandy - LOL, recognized most of the names (not the assistant/younger faces, however ... ) hopefully, I got their names spelled correctly.  Digitally enhancing the images alone isn't enough before, I learned to take multiple images, a section at a time.  

 

Roger Gustavsen, Captain / Master

Daniele Farace, Staff Captain

Zafer Dal, General Manager (also held title as F&B Director, Sr.) with Marc "away" obviously 

- -  Asst. General Manager

Adrian Dumitru, Food & Beverage Director

Alvin Oliva, Cruise Director

Arturo Marcelino, Sr. Doctor

Sarah Mittelstaedt, Guest Services Manager

Rodrigo Rodriguez, Executive Housekeeper

Iran Aguiar, Asst F&B Director

Rochelle Dayrit, Restaurant Manager

- -  Executive Chef

Marjan Stamenkovic, Beverage Manager

Willem Boshoff, Shore Excursion Manager

Taarun Shorey, CruiseNext Manager

Alvaro Marin, Communication Services Manager, new title vs. (Internet Cafe Manager)

 

 

Once Seas2Mountain get a chance to catch up, she can fill in the AGM and Exec Chef, etc. 

Then, you can post the full update in the other thread on who's who.   Regards - Henry 

[FlGoodShips]

Nomita Rambhunjan is Assistant General Manager.

She has been with NCL for years. Wonderful Lady.

 

[Seas2mountains]

On 6/25/2024 at 8:36 PM, mking8288 said:  You already discovered Indulge, try doing dinner there one evening as there are more/different options to choose from, truly refreshing vs. the daily repeats and dare I say it, as good as Food Republic's fusion menu, except it is complimentary. 

 

Thank you. I didn’t realize they had a different menu for dinner. We will definitely go there for dinner this cruise. 

[Seas2mountains]

On 6/25/2024 at 9:36 PM, dock said:

Thanks for the review @Seas2mountains.

Do you find that Vibe was a good option for this cool weather cruise.

Ive purchased it for our Prima Iceland/ Norway cruise, but have been debating if it was the right call. 
 

 

We really enjoyed it the past few days and would say the peaceful space was worth the expense for us. We love the hot tubs and views from the hot tubs.  I will let you know if we can use it as the weather gets colder. 

[Seas2mountains]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

What are your plans for Norway & Iceland ?? 

 

Geiranger today - explore on our own followed by NCL excursion at 4pm to Mt. Dalsnibba and Eagle Road. When I initially booked, the only tour time available was at 3:30pm but the tickets we received now say the tour starts at 4pm. Tour is listed as being 3 hours long and all aboard time is 7pm. My husband thinks the tour ends too close to all aboard time so we will talk to shore excursions when they open at 8am to see if they have anything available earlier. 
 

Bergen and Alesund - on our own. 
 

Akureyri - Forest Lagoon booked on our own. 
 

Isafjordur -  on own own. 
 

Reykjavik - NCL 8 hour Golden Circle tour.

 

We need to find world’s best cake when in Norway. 

[kelib]

31 minutes ago, Seas2mountains said:

We really enjoyed it the past few days and would say the peaceful space was worth the expense for us. We love the hot tubs and views from the hot tubs.  I will let you know if we can use it as the weather gets colder. 

Is entry available early morning and after the crew leaves? Would love to be able to take my breakfast from the buffet out there. 

[Seas2mountains]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

 

BTW, the question came up on a thread about Prima's library (online) - can you see what the FSD say about it (if any) and whether the Libby app used to access the Prima's collection has been restored, fixed or connected again - couldn't get it to work, and it was beyond internet manager's pay grade to resolve the connectivity & related issues.  We've too busy during the 2nd half of the TA with port-intensive scheduling to bother to give it another try.  Just another nice-to-know, first world problem at sea. Thanks.  

Found this on the NCL app specific to this Prima sailing. 

I use Libby frequently and was able to add NCL Prima library with my latitudes number. 

[Seas2mountains]

4 minutes ago, kelib said:

Is entry available early morning and after the crew leaves? Would love to be able to take my breakfast from the buffet out there. 

It is open 7am-7pm. Bar is open 9am-7pm. 

[Ellis1138]

The observation lounge is crowded but not sardine packed, as we enter the fjord.

My meager Samsung A51 can't capture the majesty of the scenery.

I wish there was an outdoor unobstructed forward area, but alas, it is for the crew.

 

A thing I like a lot about Prima is how well any indoor tobacco smoke has been contained. Aside from a few people wearing fragrance, my allergies haven't reacted to much on the ship.

[Seas2mountains]

Current view 

[Seas2mountains]

We are in Hudson’s for breakfast as the views are spectacular! Photos don’t truly capture it. 
 

 

[Seas2mountains]

Amsterdam exploring. Part 2. 
 

After leaving the Van Gogh museum, we wandered through Amsterdam to pass by the canals and the flower market before getting to our next museum stop. 

This woman was singing an opera and she had an amazing voice. 

Canals and other photos taken walking back toward the ship. 

 

 The flower market 

Restaurant. 

Bikes, bikes and bikes. A tour guide we had in the afternoon said the bikes need to be locked or they will be stolen. We rarely saw the bikes locked up unless they were using some locking device that wasn’t visible to us. 

[Seas2mountains]

Our next stop was to the Our Lord in the Attic museum. This was one of many Catholic churches that were built and hidden in homes in the 17th century after any signs of the Catholic faith were banned. This museum also had many other rooms in the house on display to get an idea of what life was like. My husband and I both recommend it. They had an excellent audio device to use on the tour. This one could hold 150 people and the priest lived in the house. They also had an amazing organ. 

 

Map shows the number of hidden churches. 

[Seas2mountains]

We ended the day with an NCL excursion of the Amsterdam waterways one hour tour. It was about $8 per person with our $50 shore excursion credit (for both of us with P+) and Latitudes discount. 
 

Anne Frank house. Some said they got tickets by getting up 30 days prior at 4am and tickets sell out in a few minutes.  

General views. 

People swimming and hanging out on the pier. 

 

See the Prima. 

Edited Thursday at 08:02 AM by Seas2mountains

[Seas2mountains]

Current views in the fjord. 
 

So many beautiful waterfalls. The captain announced the ship would do a 360 turn so everyone could get good views of the Seven sisters waterfalls. 

[Seas2mountains]

Does that look like a face in the rocks? See the eyes? 
 

 

[Seas2mountains]

View looking towards aft from our balcony.