sharonann24

If you are on a NCL tour they provide the headphones.  I always bring Euros because they will not accept dollars so you will have to use a credit card.  I don't really recall paying for rest rooms, particularly if you are on a NCL tour since they are pretty good about finding a gift shop, etc. that has facilities. But if you purchase a drink at a cafe you can use the rest room. Music on board ship is not really reflective of the region, just the theme of the bar/restaurant.  As was mentioned no adapters needed on board but if you are doing pre or post on land you may need one.  I bought one on Amazon when we went to Iceland. Find one that adapts to many different options.  You will love the Mediterranean in the summer, but it is hot!  Bring plenty of sunscreen!  You didn't mention the ship so entertainment does vary a bit.

For the Spain and Portugal ports check Spain Day Tours.  We took a tour in Lisbon and one in Spain and they were good and reasonable.  We will not be doing anything formally in Sevilla or Barcelona as we have been there before and will do it on our own.  Cannes is the same.  I think we are going to do the NCL in Bordeaux, La Corona, Oporto and Florence. Still deciding about the others.   

On 3/11/2024 at 10:39 AM, Turtles06 said:

@RWK1952 

 

Depending on the specific port, we do a mix of DIY days, private shorex, and cruise line shorex.  Typically, if the destination is quite far from the port, and/or the next port is pretty hard to reach (e.g., the other side of the pond on a transatlantic), we would be more inclined to do a cruise line tour. 

 

The typical problem with cruise line tours is that you are generally on a big bus with about 50 of your new friends.  And the quality of the guides varies.  I think that private tour operators are less likely to keep a guide who is just not very good.

 

It terms of picking private tour operators, of course it's critical to do advance research -- e.g., reading up on Trip Advisor and elsewhere, and reading up and asking questions here on CC in the specific port of call forums for your cruise.  

 

Some comments about several of the ports you will be visiting:

 

Vigo, Spain -- we found the city itself not very interesting; I think the best thing to do here is to leave town and visit Santiago de Compostela, the old town of which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cathedral is a centuries-old famous destination of Catholic pilgrims, who come on foot and by many other modes of transportation.  (See the happy bicyclists in my photo below.)  Probably a good opportunity for an NCL tour.  

 

Palma de Mallorca is do-able on your own -- take a shuttle (if one is running) or a cab into the heart of the city, and you can tour the magnificent Cathedral and surrounding area on your own schedule.

 

In Le Havre, I would strongly recommend taking a private tour of the D-Day sites with the highly regarded Overlord Tours.  They were fabulous (and if you head over to the France port of call forum you can get more feedback).  They book up quickly.   (Paris is a very long way from Le Havre.)

 

I hope this was helpful.  Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

 

I have heard good things about Overlord; however, when we went on our cruise to Le Havre and the D Day sites we took an NCL tour. Now more than ever I think for distance tours I will stick to NCL.  The Santiago day trip looks fairly reasonable,

So I will add my comments to the board though it seems I am in the majority this time.  It is clearly stated each day that you are in port the time at which you MUST be aboard.  Taking a non NCL tour can be a gamble so you need to check the length of time and the time of return.  We took a non NCL tour in St. Petersburg against the advice our our TA but I had done my homework and the reviews were accurate and we were back well in advance to boarding time, which for me is key.  We did a NCL walking tour last summer in Bergen and the tour director did dally a bit and we just made it to the ship--HOWEVER since it was an NCL tour, the ship was in contact with our guide once it became clear we were running late.  I had to assure my very panicked 94 year father and a seasoned veteran cruiser and my DH that we would be fine since it was NCL. This now affirms to me that I will book only NCL tours when we cruise in October. I want that peace for mind (also the tours seem reasonable by NCL standards). I think this also is a caution that you should carry a copy of your passport at all times and have at least one credit card.  

I am also leaning to taking NCL excursions on our October 6 cruise from Southampton to Rome on the Prima.  I am particularly interested in the northern Spain, Portugal and France ports and they look pretty reasonable by NCL standards.  The winery tour in Bordeaux is a definite particularly since will be our 41st wedding anniversary.  We probably will only do Hop On Hop off tours in the south of Spain, Barcelona and the Med ports since we have been there a few times and will be content to be on our own and just soak in the local atmosphere. 7 months and counting!

I have done both the International Day pass for $10/day per phone as well as the $50.00 at sea package.  Since we get internet minutes included in our cruise package I find that to be a better deal.  We did buy extra minutes for my husband since he is not always careful about closing out the app.  But I will not do that AT and T package when we cruise in October.  Just the NCL package and the day pass.

Just as easy to go to Starbucks!  Lol.  Although the line can be long at times.  I usually was there around 730-8 after a walk.

Enjoyed reading all of the posts and I have to say we loved our recent cruise, despite missing the two ports in Iceland and Belgium.  And to prove it...just booked our next cruise on the Prima for next October 2024 and convinced (it did not take ANY effort!) my father to join us again.  This one originates in London so we will get that pre cruise time.  Going to re-read the post again for any pre cruise suggestions.  Again, ignore the negative reviews!  

We just sailed on the Prima this summer to Iceland and it was the first time my husband and father did not pack a sports jacket, which was fine.  We have just booked this same itinerary for October 2024 and I think that the weather should still be balmy once you get to Lisbon.  I am excited about the possibility of enjoying the outdoor areas more on this cruise than our Iceland cruise but we still did have a couple of fairly nice days where we were able to sit and eat outside!  I brought summer clothes and a sweater!  We were fine!  Enjoy your cruise.  Please post after as I am interested in the excursions and day trips you plan!

We were on the July 27 sailing and a few comments. Loved the Prima--some of the seating areas fill very quickly especially near Starbucks.  10:30 am on a sea day the line looped around, but I was usually there earlier.  Loved Hudsons and we actually thought the portions were larger than the usual main dining room portions.  We did breakfast, lunch and dinner there. The Local is also a great lunch spot--reubens are terrific.  We were able to eat outside for lunch and although they did have heaters they really were not necessary.  That is how good our weather was.  

On 8/17/2023 at 10:28 AM, PhillyTravelBug said:

Pack warmer than you think. I honestly at times could have used a thin pair of gloves and a hat. Sweaters, long sleeves, and a fall jacket are perfect. It feels like Halloween in the northeastern US.

Our experience was that it was not that cold.  The windiest day was the day we took the NCL Fjord cruise.  Other than that, a light jacket or sweater was fine.  We (my husband, dad and I) had brought gloves, scarves and a few sweatshirts and never used them!  And the day we were in Bergen the temps were around 70!

On 8/17/2023 at 6:43 AM, ShannonSC2 said:

I am following along as we are doing this in Sept 2024.  We are arriving 2 days before the cruise and added 2 days at the end.  We have been looking at the Golden Circle Tour.  I am glad to see it includes the Blue Lagoon.  

We did this Golden Circle Blue Lagoon Viator tour prior to the July 27 Prima sailing.  It was amazing!  Our guide was fantastic.  We stopped at this great bakery/deli for a quick lunch with clean restrooms too.  Definitely the high point of our time in Iceland!

Thank you all!  Love this community’

4 days and counting!  Flying out tomorrow night!

25 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I forget the details, but this is a problem caused by your choice of computer or browser.  I had it happen to me.  I think when I open the doc from my Mac computer using Safari Browser.  I think I found it was normal using a Windows computer using Firefox browser.  Or something like that. Perhaps others can provide more current info. 

Thanks!  I will just write the info in

Quick question--the luggage tags we have received for our Prima cruise are two pages--one with the color coding and the other with the stateroom number and ship.  I know how to fold and staple the tags, but in the past the ship and the stateroom number have been on the same tag.  If I try to double them up, you can see the color coded side with my name, but the stateroom identification is hidden unless you actually look.  I don't think the baggage handlers really want to take the time to do this.  Is there something I am missing?  Reasonably intelligent and I can read (I saw that comment in a 2012 post and it was quite snippy!). We don't sail until Thursday so we have time.

I have sailed on the Breakaway twice, the Pearl once and now we will be on the Prima on Thursday for our Iceland/Norway cruise.  Loving the positive reviews of the Prima and I hope our experience will be a good one.  We did do the Haven for Breakaway (for the Baltics) and a balcony to Bermuda and that experience was phenomenal.  We did a balcony on the Pearl and enjoyed the non Haven vibes too! Syd Normans was a favorite, loved Cagney's and Le Bistro.  Elevators could be crowded on the Breakaway but so can many hotel elevators!  I will say the Breakaway pool area was crazy most days and it did resemble Spring Break so we generally steered clear and found a less crowded deck to sun and read. Most of our meals on our upcoming cruise will be MDR and I am looking forward to Hudson's to which I hope we will go to for breakfast since my husband is not a fan of the buffet and goes grudgingly (my dad is going with us and he likes it!). I will post when we return. We are in a balcony on deck 10. My only concern are the pretty consistent comments about the Prima being better suited to warmer climates and since our sailing, albeit late July will be cooler.  I am already stressing a little about clothing, layers and how chilly/windy it will be, but it is obviously not stopping us!  Like everything else you have to take the negative reviews with a grain of salt.  

When did you go?  Does the time of year make any significant difference?

2 minutes ago, kaisatsu said:

Do you tend to go out on deck before or after dinner? Thanks to climate controls, the interiors of the ships tend to be fairly similar regardless of the outside weather.

 

If you’re concerned, you could pack lightweight long-sleeved dresses. I often wear a cotton knit or a light crepe dress in that weather, but I also wear some of my summer dresses with cardigan and tights. (yes, we even dress in layers for dinner and work! 😂)

Thank you.  I always have sweaters with my summer dresses and was just hoping to avoid the whole tights/hose issue.  I think otherwise we should be okay. We did a Christmas River cruise in late November and December and survived but the temps were 20 degrees colder.  Amsterdam was the most brutal because of the wind.

So, I have been checking the weather for our upcoming Iceland cruise next week. on the Prima and see that the temps are generally in the high 50's, partly cloudy and some rain.  I have read other suggestions about dressing in layers, have rain gear etc., but I was wondering if anyone who has taken this cruise has some specific suggestions.  Also, we generally like to change for dinner and most of our recent cruises have either been during the summer months or in warmer areas so  I usually just bring a few of my summer dresses. DH has his collared shirts and pants, but I am also wondering whether given the climate of the area I should rethink those.  I do tend to overpack (but our suitcases are never overweight!) Thanks in advance!  

29 minutes ago, jtrollin said:

 

deck 8 is easy to walk on, I walked several laps with no issues, on warm days in can get crowded so best to do a morning or evening walk. 

 

The treadmills are nice, but they seemed dangerously close to the metal structure holding the windows in place.

25 minutes ago, jtrollin said:

 

Balcony was bigger and had better chairs than the breakaway class, the room was bigger, bathroom was bigger and shower was a really nice size.   I didn't have any issue with cloths storage either, but my wife would have liked more shelves.  I was in 13776 and it was quite, we had some rough sea days and no weird loud noises at all.  My father has already booked that cabin on another cruse based on my recommendation.

30 minutes ago, jtrollin said:

 

deck 8 is easy to walk on, I walked several laps with no issues, on warm days in can get crowded so best to do a morning or evening walk. 

 

The treadmills are nice, but they seemed dangerously close to the metal structure holding the windows in place.

When we are on a cruise, I generally get up and after at least one cup of coffee head out to walk. Sounds like Deck 8 is a plan.  I remember walking on a deck on the Breakaway and could not go full circle so I did several loops.

Quick question about the treadmills and outdoor walking.  Is it possible to walk outside?  I know there is not a dedicated jogging track (which frankly surprises me) but are there any outdoor options?  When you say the treadmill is awful do you mean awful equipment or just a poor substitute for outdoors?   I will resign myself to the treadmill if necessary.

Good to know.  We went to O'Sheehan's on the Breakaway a few years ago and frankly we were underwhelmed.  We will have to give the Local a try!

Thank you so much for your review.  We leave for Iceland one week from today and sail on the 27th.  Just an FYI--our port stop in Isafjordur has already been cancelled so we have an additional sea day.  I just saw the issue they had in Belgium with the mooring, so here's hoping all will be fine next week. We only have the two specialty restaurants, Cagney's and Onda so I hope for the best.  Is the Local one of the complimentary restaurants?  Is it the equivalent or similar to O'Sheehan's?  If so I want to try it.  MY DH does not enjoy the buffet (but my dad who is traveling with us does) so I think we will be doing Hudson's for breakfast.  All in all it was nice to see a positive review of the Prima.  I think the naysayers have calmed down for now!

My head always spins about this issue.  We both have iPhones as do our adult children.  We also have AT&T, so I make sure that we activate the International Day Pass in port (10.00) and I have also added their at sea package.  I am terrified of getting a whopping bill when we return.  Cruise package was $50 per phone.  I need to double check for our trip next week on the Prima to Iceland.  We also have the wireless plan that came with our trip package--not the unlimited however.