BirdTravels

Captain said there is “congestion in the port”. The Disney Magic next to us at pier 90 is supposed to leave first (still there). We’re now 20 mins past his estimated departure time.

Need to keep your teens occupied, the Entourage is for them. Enroll on embarkation day and set them loose the first night. For unknown reasons, NCL did not create a teen club on the Prima. They are using part of the Splash Academy as a teen room, which,,, is really lacking for teens.

Plan ahead. If you need some mommy and daddy time, make sure to enroll the kiddos at the Splash Academy upon embarkation and take them there the first night to make friends. Open to kids ages 3 to 12.

Need a little pampering? More maybe some treatments? Go the the Mandara Spa and book that massage or treatment.

Everyone come on a cruise to keep fit. The Pulse Gym is open every day for that sea view workout.

Enter the world of virtual reality in the Galaxy Pavilion. Each ride is $8.00 One Hour Pass is $29.00 Day Pass is $49.00 Escape Room is $15.00 Top Gold Swing Suite $40.00 for 55 minutes

The new place to eat is the Indulge Food Hall. Small plates from multiple venues. All complimentary except Cocoa, Starbucks and the Bar 🙂

The prevent it with the rule that you can’t use both vouchers at the same restaurant. You can not use the wine voucher for Palomar or Onda.

The senior crew were not told why the itinerary was changed. Only speculation that with all of the cost and effort people had to go to go to Bermuda, they wanted to give us a full day there.

And for those who forgot to test…

No lines for check in

Busy day at Manhattan Cruise Terminal Pier 88 Long lines for security (except if you are in the Haven).

Time to get this ship on the road

As rumored, they have cancelled the port call in Virginia Beach. So we essentially end up with 3 sea days with one day in port. We have to wait until the dock in Bermuda clears before coming in.

You need to reserve shows on the mega ships including Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Joy, Bliss, Encore, Prima, Viva. If you are on small ships, show reservations are not needed. They do it for crowd control. And the math is simple. For Broadway shows like Six, Jersey Boys, Burn the Floor, Choir of Man, they show 4 times during a 7-day cruise. The theater holds about 800 guests. Therefore there are 3600 seats available. On a full cruise, there are 4590-+ passengers. Like the Titanic, there are not enough seats for everyone, so reservations are strongly recommended.

New York is an amazing city with a skyscraper on every block.

Join The Bird on the inaugural US voyage of NCL’s newest and first-in-class Norwegian Prima.This 5-day short break from New York features port calls in Virginia Beach (Norfolk) and the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. The Prima began construction on December 9, 2019. She is NCL’s first next-generation ship built at the Fincantieri shipyard near Venice, Italy. NCL took delivery of the Prima on July 29, 2022, and she was christened by godmother Katy Perry on August 27, 2022 in Reykjavík, Iceland.The Prima is the first of six Prima Class ships delivering 2022 to 2027. The Prima has a double occupancy capacity of 3100 guests and 1506 crew members. NCL boasts that the Prima has the most outdoor deck space of any new ship, the most spacious accommodations for a new cruise ship, and 47% more staff per guest compared to other contemporary cruise lines. The ship has 1646 guest staterooms including 107 Haven/Suite, 1030 balcony, 124 ocean view, and 385 inside staterooms, along with 912 crew cabins. The Bird has given you a bird’s eye view of the newest ships with live posts from the US inaugural maiden voyages of the Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Bliss, Encore, Symphony of the Seas, and Wonder of the Seas, along with many other cruise adventures. Come along with The Bird on this US inaugural cruise of the revolutionary Norwegian Prima! Mon Oct 10 New York City Depart 4:00 pm Tue Oct 11 Virginia Beach 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Wed Oct 12 At Sea Thu Oct 13 Royal Naval Dockyard 9:00 am - 3:00 pm Fri Oct 14 At Sea Sat Oct 15 New York City Arrive 7:00 am

Restaurant menus are very similar on ships across the NCL fleet. The link below contains menus from specialty restaurants on the Breakaway, a cousin to the Escape. On the Escape, “Bayamo by Ocean Blue” has a menu similar to the attached Ocean Blue menu.

You order one items from each category. Your waiter will make recommendations on items (and they normally are quite insistent on ordering their signature selection). We go from time to time, so we’re into picking different things. Order what your waiter recommends unless there is something you absolutely want.

The teen’s guardian needs to sign in. And the teen needs to go the first night to make friends. Also, if the teen is sailing without his mother, you need to have the proper paperwork to allow the teen to cruise.

The room is yours.

1. You are in port every day. Two overnight port calls. No sea days. And only transiting interisland at night. Seas will depend on the weather. 2. Enroll them in the kids club as soon as you embark and let take them there on embarkation day to make friends. 4. Make sure that your butler knowns what will impress the kids. 5. Almost all restaurants are a la carte. Pay for what you order like McDonalds. Get a dining package if you want to go to specialty dinners. You get multiple appetizers, one entree, multiple sides and desserts. Mostly the same as restaurants used to be.

Totally a business decision. I everyone has a sad story on why they can’t go on a cruise. Including “the dog ate my passport”. Having a policy makes it easy. Fraud investigation goes to the insurance company. If you bought insurance through the cruise line, and the insurance company denies your claim, the cruise line will give you FCC.