Fogfog

Same. Took 45 min to throw it into bags to disembark, paying for it while in London. Should probably unpack a bit to be civilized. We use Intl Friends for transfer. Had seen them mentioned on CC boards. Nice driver. Express trip. Clean vehicle. We were at hotel by 9:30ish. We will need a transfer to Gatwick at the end of the week from central London…Recs? Did changing of the guard. We decided to skip lunch and did the BigRed Bus blue route ..staying on..to get view of city. Weather yesterday was very sunny and warm. When we got off at the a Tower of London we transferred to the boat that then goes down the Thames, giving great views of the Tower Bridge and many sites from the water. On Haven and so on We went in with doubts as we are MSC YC pax most often. Yet Haven on Prima delivered. We like the Haven space and staff. The stateroom was very nice. Plenty of space. We were happy with the type of suite we chose. Our butler was fabulous, professional and friendly, as was our room steward. We did note the carpeting in the sitting room has taken a beating and needs replacing if shampooing won’t fix it … Will note that on post sail survey if NCL has space for that Dining turned out to be great once we got the hang of it, knowing what flex we had since it was a long sailing. We had been worried about being bored. The quality of food and Bev was great. Only a lunch entree or two were just ok. Food is subjective so ymmv. Staff in dining was excellent. We sent laundry out twice and things came back as expected. We saw the Donna Summer show which was excellent. We stood in line 3 times for Syds…I get the small venue coffeehouse vibe. Yet to my count it holds like 80. That was a lot of time to stand in lines …and then wait…. Skipped the other shows etc. Spouse used gym on sea days. Was crowded as this was a cold weather cruise, lots of sea days and long sailing. Spouse used both slides and said the Drop was disappointingly slow. Liked the other paired one better. We liked the Prima boardwalk wrap around. The art, the places to sit and gather. We do wonder if we’d have a lot of noise on our balcony from deck 8 pool and such on a Caribbean sailing. Met some great folks. Enjoyed the M&G, Pub Crawl and the private excursions put together with other CCers. NCLs Haven product on Haven is nice..yet comes at a very steep $. Glad to hear everyone is traveling safely. Advice to get from central London to Gatwick? @mking8288 TY re carry ones. Good reminder re 3 1 1 and electronics

Been so busy I’ve been behind in posting. In LeHavre we along with 4 other CCers went to Mont Saint Michel. left about 8:45 and were back to the ship at 8:45. 2.5 hrs each way. Had a great guide and it was a fabulous day. Had just a bite for dinner as we had eaten such an amazing lunch. Packed and was sorry to not have the energy to visit with folks. Had just been touring a lot the last several port days. We were up early. had breakfast, and the rolled off at 7:40 to our transport. Arrived at out London hotel by 9:30. Managed to see the changing of the guard.💂 Going to get a bite of lunch. Will have more to share here later. Great to meet so many and to have shred tours and meals Shout out to @mking8288 @Sugar Magnolia @Slyfox16 @Raybancop @Taxvp More later. best fog

Wish we could extend a week. Feel like we all just got started.

@dexddd are you on MSC ? Check out my thought MSC Yacht Club Loyalist Tries Haven thred

Showing my age🥰 In 1985 I was in Brugge as a student ..spending the summer in Strasbourg studying French Bought 2 small copper plate etchings on paper..framed. 1 colored, 1 plain…as well as some bobbin lace trimmed placemats and napkins. Whats notable to me is that I am comparatively young and don’t hear folks talk about buying original art or handcrafts in European ports now. guess I was that weird kid. I still own those items I have German tagged Christmas ornaments,a French Bacarrat decanter, all thing I bought with baby sitting money saved up and used on that trip. And more then 40 years later still have those things. Point being.….…...I hope you all find treasures whether as memories of events, meals or pieces to pass on from our sailing. Fog

@Sugar Magnolia Wasn’t able to get into the article about the whale. From the title it sounds horrific. One would think a species that’s normally deep sea would be sick or injured and the remains just got caught on the bow ball or whatever they call that… am I guessing correctly? also..above..I meant..canal ride back to bus..then 45 min to port.

No clever enough to add text. Above is a pic of one of the panels of the Ghent Altarpiece. Had a great tour today. Ghent is a great visit if you have been to Brugge before. 45 min ride, 2 hour walking tour, very informative. 2 hours free..we choose to go get Thai food for lunch, then a canal ride back to the port. Tom is Le Havre…we are headed to Mont Saint Michele.

For those considering this route, we’ve had good experiences at the port stops. We came in early at NYC and were glad to do that, Sail away from NY is magical..and if you are one like me with roots there, I was so glad to be seeing things from the river in such a special way. Halifax, we used Paul. We found him through the CC Halifax boards. Small van. Historical tour Got lunch across the area so we were looking at our ship and avoiding the big bus crush. Iceland, we used the free bus to walk in town for several hours before a private Golden Circle tour. We were 12 and able to have a nice casual dinner at a gastronomic pub before being back on the ship. Used a ship tour for local stuff the next so as to not be pier runners. Amsterdam, we used the very easy, clean, efficient trams. I bought museum tickets online about a month out. We didn’t use any package tickets as we were not going to be in Amsterdam long enough to make use of it. More port thoughts later. On the Haven lounge snack debate…no one is going hungry…and I know from first hand experience, they bring so many lovely options to your suite daily..on top of lots of options for 3 meals daily. We just don’t eat it. And my fellow pax are not deprived in the waist line I wonder if not having open snacks saves from food waste…and germs. We have been offered little bowls of spiced nuts or such with cocktails on occasion. Gotto go. We dock shortly

We noticed the same thing. Have thoughts I’ll share back channel

We noticed this Not a bicycle helmet anywhere..none. Not on adults nor kids We got blessed on weather for sail away and into the lock tonight, sunset. Looking fwd to the posts of pics

Some debate during sail away if any of those paged here in Amsterdam were among the ones paged..ie former pier runners in Iceland. Best line of the day was..”they should have not been allowed off the ship at the next port” ha Great sail away weather, dinner, views

In other sad news..our..” you will be leaving soon” folder is on the bed. Good thing the second load of laundry came back yesterday. We did Van Goh and Rojksmuseums and lunch today ..left as soon as ship cleared. Used tram system which is clean, efficient and easy. Lunch out…carrot soup, cheese, cabbage, watercress sandwich. Headed out in a moment for more touring… so we earn dinner and dessert. ha

No one by that name at the Haven concierge now. The posse that has been there early are band groupies..no one I recognize from Haven and we have been to 3 different shows. With lots going on today, long port day tom and Sat, we really don’t expect to go again...then again last night was a wild hair decision

Where were those 20 or so private boats headed? Officer on the Amacerto shouted we are headed the wrong way 🤣 Changed over from US$to EU Good Morning Amsterdam