The Traveling Man

Actually, that is precisely what it means.

I haven't been to Iceland, so I don't know if they have some rules which might prevent it. I have traveled on NCL ships which had overnight stays in several other countries, however. In every case, you could come and go at your leisure at any time after the ship first arrives at the pier up until the "all aboard" call, which usually is 30 minutes before the ship leaves the dock. A member of the security staff is on duty at the gangway 24 hours a day when in port.

NCL has demonstrated a sort of tone deafness in regard to picking which ships are assigned to which routes. The Breakaway has hull art by Peter Max featuring the NYC skyline. It was home-ported in Manhattan for a year or two, but now it rarely sails there. Miami artist Lebo designed the hull art on the Getaway. It was assigned to Miami for a while, but now frequently sails elsewhere. More to the point, when NCL decided to sail to Australia and New Zealand in late 2016 / early 2017, the itinerary was a challenging one. On typical out-and-back trips, the ship is serviced and resupplied at the same home port each week. If a problem arises, they may have to cancel a cruise so the ship can undergo emergency repairs. If it always embarks at the same city each week, it already will be at the correct port for the start of the following cruise. When the itinerary makes the ship play leap frog from one port to a different one each week, the logistics become very complicated if a problem occurs. Of all the ships in NCL's fleet, The Australia run was assigned NCL's least reliable ship, the Star, which has more cancelled and delayed cruises due to propulsion problems than all the other ships in the fleet combined. Naturally, the Azipods failed, repeatedly, causing massive delays and missed ports, culminating with the ship going adrift for days in the Tasman Sea. No, I would not count on NCL choosing wisely in assigning appropriate ships to routes which may demand particular characteristics.

NCL has about a dozen Northern European cruises scheduled for the Pr1ma in either September or October over the next three years. Unfortunately, I expect that Pr1ma will continue sailing cold weather cruises for years to come.

Actually, no. As they explain when you take a behind the scenes tour, the ship's laundry uses warm water, not hot, mild soap, no bleach, and a medium heat setting when drying.

I'm not sure I can fully support that opinion. As many others have said on various CC threads, one of the more noticeable aspects of the design of the Pr1ma is the relative size of the outdoor areas. Significant portions of the seating areas for some of the restaurants are located outside. When it's cold or rainy, that space goes unused, causing more crowding in the inside seating areas. This is a particular concern for the Indulge food hall. We found it very difficult to find seats there when we sailed on the Pr1ma last September in Norway. Yes, many of the outdoor areas have heating units and some of the pools, maybe even all, are heated, but the same can be said for many other NCL ships. I don't think that constitutes "purpose built for cold weather" any more than any other NCL ship.

An absolute riot! And Captain Tasos begins every definition with "Is a Greek word..."

Public transport from the port of Civitavecchia to the railroad station is readily available and inexpensive, albeit a bit cumbersome and slow. Instead, you may want to prearrange a taxi to pick you up at the pier and take you to the station. It may only be a couple of miles as the crow flies, but unfortunately the route that buses and taxis must follow is a bit more convoluted. Allow a half hour for the trip, although you may get lucky and shave a few minutes off that time. I have walked from the station to our hotel several times, then took a hotel shuttle to the ship the following day. Once we even walked from the station to the spot where the port shuttle picks up passengers. They have redesigned the port entrance since then, however. Today the walk to the port terminal gate is about two miles, then it's at least another mile from the gate to the piers. Walking is not recommended. If you need to purchase rail tickets at the station, allow some additional time. The ticket office can get quite busy and most of the station agents that I have dealt with in Civitavecchia have a very limited command of the English language. For schedules and tickets, visit https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

We have sailed on three of the Edge class ships and have a reservation for the fourth one for a February cruise. Except for the specialty restaurants (which do require reservations) we always have just picked one of the MDRs for which that day's menu appealed to us. If we got there at a busy time, we either would wait a few minutes for an opening or walk next door (or take the stairs) and find another venue that was to our liking. We have never made a reservation for any meal at a MDR on any Edge class ship, nor has there been a need to do so.

I see what you mean. When I responded to @NCteacherlovescruising, I did not take the time to check the itinerary on the NCL website. I simply responded to what the OP said, that the ship would overnight in Trieste. I now see that the ship actually anchors near Venice and tenders passengers into town, then moves on to Trieste during the night for debarkation the following day. I'm not sure how NCL would manage the logistics of a passenger carrying all their luggage with them onto a tender. There also would be the issue of having Italian border control agents on duty in Venice, since they otherwise would be stationed in Trieste for the arrival of the ship on the following day.

Recently NCL ran the idea of never-changing menus up the flag pole on the Prima. Not enough passengers saluted, so NCL quietly retired their plans to expand that concept to the rest of the fleet. NCL ships all serve the same menu items. They have more than a dozen daily menus, each with several different appetizers and several different main courses. They rotate through the panoply of menus, so you won't see the same menu twice on any cruise unless you stay on board for more than a couple of consecutive weeks. There are, of course, a few old favorite items that are on the menu every day, but about half the menu changes each day. That's true for all the MDRs on all NCL ships. The specialty restaurants generally have menus that only change once in a blue moon, or whenever NCL strikes a deal with a different celebrity chef to be the godfather of NCL cuisine.

I have been on both. Five cruises on the Epic. One on the Bliss plus more than a half-dozen on other Breakaway class ships. I usually choose a cruise for the itinerary, with the choice of ship being a secondary consideration. On a head-to-head basis, though, the Bliss wins hands down. It's my favorite NCL ship.

We usually have been able to get through the Southampton terminal in short order, but the last time we were there it took about 90 minutes from our stateroom to the taxi stand. Heathrow not only is very large, but there are many, many international flights departing at about the same time as @skeeter195 is planning to fly, so there can be long delays at the airport.

That would be a tight connection. The airline probably requests that you arrive at the airport three hours early for an international flight. You may be able to fudge that time a bit, but you still need to get there early. It can take more than 90 minutes to get to Heathrow from Southampton during heavy traffic times. You did not indicate what day of the week you will be traveling, but you should allow more time during the week than on weekends. You likely would need to exit the ship by 7:00 AM and have your ride waiting for you at the pier to be able to make it. You may want to consider scheduling your flight a day later. You could sleep in a bit later, have a leisurely breakfast, stop by Stonehenge or Winchester on your way to your hotel, then catch the next day's flight. Just a thought.

Yet you pay a pretty penny for the same experience at Disneyland or Six Flags!

Most reports indicate that NCL uses warm water or rock lobster rather than cold water lobster. Its good, but not great.

Yes I am. Yes I did. I also have walked up that same ramp on several previous occasions and have a fairly good recollection of its dimensions. That memory was reinforced by viewing the video, comparing the heights of the passengers in the film to the dimensions of the gangway, and applying plane geometric calculations. While it certainly is possible that other ships, on other days, with other tidal levels, might require steeper inclines, the circumstances depicted in that video of that ship on that day at that cruise terminal yield a gradient of approximately 6%.

In the video it looked like most passengers were taking about 40 steps on each of the inclined portions of the gangway. That would amount to at least 80 feet on each of two ramps, or a total length of more than 160 feet. The total climb was about ten feet, so 10/160 = 6.25% grade at the very most. Nowhere near 20%, or as my dad used to say, "no hill for a stepper."

Because they can. Seriously, though, they used to serve a pretty good lobster roll. Not quite up to Bangor or Halifax quality, but an enjoyable change of pace for those of us from "away." I'm not sure that I would pay extra for it though. The only time we ever ate there was when the GM comped us.

One will be facing the pier, the other won't. It depends on whether the ship turned before docking or will turn after pulling away from the pier. It should be easy to tell which is which, so you can choose your preferred view. Other than that, no difference.

Be sure to make a reservation and get your tickets well in advance.

There's not much room for wildlife to roam the streets of Melbourne. It's a huge city with a population larger than Los Angeles. Even so, it's a very walkable city with an outstanding public transit system - a perfect combination for taking in the sights.

Thanks for finding this. I could have sworn that a pre-COVID version specified even stricter requirements for Le Bistro, the seafood restaurant, and the larger of the main dining rooms.

When we stay at that Marriott we enjoy the breakfast next door at Cafe Opla in the World Trade Center.

It seems that you are correct and that I'm stuck in the past. NCL used to spell out their dress code policies on their website, but I'll be darned if I can find it there today. I even went to the chat function on their website to inquire. The "Chatty Cathy" asserted that NCL had dropped its dress code years ago. I'm not sure how much confidence you can place in the accuracy of the reports received from their chatters, but apparently all bets are off, at least on a company-wide basis. I suppose you are right that passengers need to check the Freestyle Daily for up-to-date info. Thanks for the heads up.