sharonann24

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.

The only dining rooms/restaurant that we have encountered that adhere to the long pants are Le Bistro consistently.  We saw an extremely irate man being told that and he was not a happy camper, but that is their policy.  My DH always wears long pants at dinner, except for the first and last night.  So it really doesn't bother us one way or another.  We will be on the Prima in two weeks and I wonder if the climate will impact those decisions.

Go to Cagney's and Le Bistro.  We are doing Onda this time on the Prima for my dad but we have never had a bad meal at Le Bistro.  I would not do Mexican or Teppanyaki. Teppanyaki was just too much food that it was not enjoyable.  Moderno is good , but also a ton of food.  Cagney's and Le Bistro are more portion appropriate.

So DH still could not create an account so once again we called NCL.  Finally he could create the account, I took a new pic....and still can not complete!  I will wait until the morning now.  I am doing this now from my laptop and not through my phone or the app.  I feel sorry for folks who are not tech savvy because this is challenging.

36 minutes ago, Maplemoose said:

Do you need to be successfully checked in, in order to make theater reservations in the 21 day window? 

No.  I was able to do that, as well as do excursions and dinner reservations.

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Hmmmm... We both have accounts, but we have one person check in for both of us. 

I know.  I have never had this problem before. I always do the check ins.

So, we are under the 20 day sailing date and I went in to my account to complete all of the documentation for both my husband and myself.  This is not our first NCL cruise and I have never encountered an issue previously.  I was able to complete mine fairly quickly.  However when I tried to complete my husband's they would not allow me to finalize it, saying he had to complete the section about the extra fees (sections 6 and 8).  (Also--it wasn't until I uploaded his picture and found that it was not accepted since he was wearing his glasses that I was aware of that issue.  That would have been nice to know beforehand.  Just saying,..)Then when we tried to download the app it kept rejecting it.  Frustrating to say the least.  I have never had so many issues with booking things with this cruise.  I also could not book the Donna Summer show for my father directly since he is not on our reservation.  I called NCL and was told they had to speak with him directly in order to do this.  Not possible since we are in CT and he is in MA.  This show is free and the agent said it was policy.  Again, another crazy issue since I was able to book an excursion for him directly with an agent using his credit card without her needing to speak with him.  I am going to try again this morning but the process is far from streamlined and has been somewhat frustrating.  

On 7/3/2023 at 11:37 AM, laudergayle said:

April 30 sailing was the first sailing where Prima dropped the fixed menu and began offering the rotating menu like the rest of the NCL ships.

Good to know!  23 days to our sailing on the Prima!

When we were on the Edge in February nothing was offered.  We finally asked and they did bring us some, but I agree.  It was not as good as before--but what is in this life?  We will be on the Prima in three weeks and we will ask for it and report back for all of you nibblers and munchers!

I have to say that I hide my small carry on luggage pieces under the bed in my spare room at home, which makes it easier to access them for our weekend trips!  But my bedspread quilt hides them!  LOLAs long as they are out of the way that is my primary concern!

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Same here, except we are on the August 6th sailing.

 

Would appreciate an update from you as you will be the sailing immediately prior to ours.

I will be happy to do so!

We are on the July 27 sailing so I will be watching this with interest.  Updates greatly appreciated.

4 hours ago, slakko said:

On the basis of our experience in the Transatlantic, while the weather was a bit of a problem the Prima wasn't at all and I look forward to being on board again!

 

The Indulge was my go-to breakfast option most days; I didn't need much but still ended up trying something from pretty much all of the main hot food stations there.  The days when I missed it the hot savoury option in the Observation Lounge was a meat free selection from the same set (e.g. Cheese and egg English muffin or croissant) so the indulge options were everywhere.

Is the Indulge another option to the buffet?  I need to investigate some of these other options.  Both my DH and dad love breakfast.  I can take it or leave it.  Dad loves the buffet but it there is a better option I will go for it.  DH and I actually did breakfast in the MDR when we were on the Pearl. And we did it a couple of times on the Celebrity Edge.  As he likes to jokingly say "all that is civilized"--service and good food!

11 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We are doing this trip in August. Could you after your cruise answer the following question. Is Isafjordur a tender port for the Prima. NCL says it is not, but everything I have read says it is except for small ships. Also, we have booked a private tour in that port, and the tour operator says to meet her where the tenders come in.

 

Thanks in advance. And have a great cruise.

I will try to check in advance. I have not seen anything to indicate this, but to be honest I haven't looked.

I am reading this with much interest as we sail on July 27 on the Iceland cruise.  We are not in the Haven--kind of tired of hearing about those trials and tribulations!  We have done the Haven before and loved it, but not in the cards this time and we are "settling" for a balcony, though an 11 day European cruise to Iceland hardly sounds like settling!  LOL.  Thrilled to be lucky and healthy enough to enjoy this adventure, especially with my 94 year old father!   We "only" have the 2 specialty restaurants and I am also happy to see so many positive reviews of Hudson's since that is where we will be most nights. We love Le Bistro and Cagney's but we are trying Onda on this cruise.  If I can talk my dad into another night it will be Le Bistro. Not a pool cruise but neither is the Baltics in the summer most times and we managed quite nicely.  I also saw the comparisons to the Edge which we were on in February and the naysayers had it all wrong there too!  Travel is a wonderful experience and I always go prepared to have the best time and try to plan enough to minimize issues.  
Relax and enjoy the trip.

14 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Our trip on the Prima in September was only the ship’s second cruise, so perhaps some of the negatives we encountered could be attributed to growing pains.  I agree with you that the food court is the best thing going at sea.  One of your photos captured a view of our absolute favorite ship, the Celebrity Edge.  It’s about the same size and capacity as the Prima, but it’s night and day difference between the two.  Everything that NCL passengers have complained about the Prima, Celebrity got right on their Edge class ships.

I will be making that comparison in July!  We were on the Edge in February to the Panama Canal and will be on the Prima for the Iceland cruise.  I read all of the reviews prior to our February cruise bashing the Edge and we loved it, so take those reviews with a grain of salt.  I guess my primary concern for Prima on the Iceland cruise is that many people have said they feel Prima is better suited to warmer weather venues.  I know we will not be using the pool area much but we will see.  

I have enjoyed reading your posts even though we will not have the Haven experience😪 this time around.  We will be on the late July Iceland/Norway cruise so I am a little concerned about the cooler weather and the indoor venues.  Where do or can you walk outside, or does this mean I head to the fitness center and do the treadmill daily?  Celebrity Edge had a wonderful walking/jogging track that I used every day.  We opted for Onda and Cagney's, so I am curious about Onda, otherwise I may switch to Le Bistro.  Thanks again!

I think by flying in at least one day early you should be fine.  Ask for the deviation.  We have used NCL once and it  was fine.  We are also using it for our July cruise on the Prima to Iceland, but this time we are flying in two days early.  This will be our 4th NCL cruise and we have found that the packages have been fine.  We usually don't use the excursions but I may make an exception for this trip since we will probably only do 2 NCL and then do the other ports on our own.  2 Specialty dinners are a nice treat and we have enjoyed most of the specialty restaurants in the past and only go when they are included. The MDR is very nice as well.   I think that you can drive yourself crazy looking for all of the deal and hoping you can make a big score.  Cruise based upon what you can afford OR on what you are willing to splurge.  And the British Isles cruise is on my list--and that cruise tends to be more expensive due to the port charges.  In any case--it's a vacation! Enjoy!

On 3/25/2023 at 4:25 PM, kuku77254 said:

Now that I've sailed, I can answer my own questions if it helps anyone else. I upgraded my internet package because it was cheaper than doing a cruise plan with my carrier (ATT) and I wanted to be able to use data. I was on Breakaway and the wifi worked very well, better than a previous cruise on Encore. FaceTime didn't work well for me, even just audio but I used wifi calling and it was as clear as at home. 

I took the AT&T Cruise plan when we were on Celebrity last month because I was absolutely terrified of roaming fees though I religiously put my cell (iPhone) on airplane mode (but I have to remind DH). We also had the internet package.  I will probably do the same when we are on the Prima in July because I prefer to be covered than shocked when I get my next phone bill!

I read your review thoroughly since we are traveling from Iceland to Southhampton on the July 27th cruise and was dismayed with all of the negative comments about the Prima.  We just took a Celebrity. cruise on the Edge and were subjected to the same prior to the cruise but our actual experience was wonderful.  This will be our 4th NCL cruise and we did start at the "top" because a bid for the Haven (at a great cost) was accepted and we were spoiled--full disclosure! However this cruise is not too shabby with a balcony so I will go with the flow.  I think my major concern given our itinerary is the access to the outside venues.  Looking forward to Donna Summer, not so much Price is Right, but DEFINITELY Sad Norman's!  We tend to go to the bars that have music so I am not looking for Broadway reviews. 

Thank you so much for a balanced review.  I am grateful for the opportunity to have these travel experiences.  I think you have to pick and choose what experiences/costs are most important and go with it.  

I think there was another post about using the Starbucks app, but I can't seem to locate it.  So, we are able to use the app?  That would be GREAT!  I will load it up and that will take care of that!  I do find the premium beverage package a little pricey and I think we will be able to manage with the package that we have, and pay as we go if necessary. We just got off a Celebrity cruise where we did have the premium package and it was a nice treat as their coffee shop includes the pastries as well.  DH loves those--I can take them or leave them.

We are also on Prima in July in Iceland so I am watching as well.

I get it.  I know how quickly they book up.  That will be my charge in the early morning light tomorrow.  We typically don't do a lot of ship excursions but there are a couple that may be worth the pre book. The funny thing is that this trip is a last minute addition--not even on our short term radar!  Traveling with my soon to be 94 year old dad who has never been to Iceland!  We are along for the ride which is cool, but now requires a bit of juggling!

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Be aware that popular shore excursions will sell out. And it is already getting close to your cruise date. 

That is what I was afraid of!  I hate loading up my credit card like this.  Many of the tour operators such as Viator allow you to book and do not charge until the day before your tour.  I wish NCL had that option.