ColdCruise

This is exactly how it was implemented on our NCL Prima 10 day out of Amsterdam on 3 September. ( 1st paid passenger cruise) We are both Platinum We received a Platinum Latitudes coupon booklet (actually a folded piece of lightweight cardboard) that had a coupon for 3 things: 1 - dinner for 2 with bottle of wine 2 - dinner for two 3 - free bag of laundry notes re #1 — this can’t be redeemed in Palomar because Palomar has a unique wine list that contains only organic or biodynamic wines — we redeemed it at Cagney’s, where we could select bottles only from a much pared down list. I think they were all on the UBP plan to start with. I need to verify, or you can if interested as I posted the dailies and most menus to my live report (entitled “not quite live …”) — we EACH got an app, salad, entree (25 extra for tomahawk and lobster), 2 sides, dessert. A lit of food! A la carte pricing totaled about $150, zeroed out by coupon. notes re: 2 – the coupon was good at any of the restaurants — we used ours at Onda (excellent BTW), where our bill was about $120 before the coupon and zeroed out after the coupon. — We each had an app, entree (main to the non-US) & dessert and shared a pizza for our starter. Again a lot of food. Relatedly, we also has 1 free specialty due to FAS and 2 specialty meals that we purchased as a package (hint - much cheaper before you embark). we used these as follows: — Los Lobos - app/starter, entree, side, dessert — Food Republic - 4 items each person. — Palomar - salad, starter, entree, side, dessert — if you don't have enough specialty dining, you could do Los Lobos or Food Republic out of picket. We were pressed to get $40 each out of Food Republic with our preferred choices (but since we paid for the specialty dining I wanted to get back at least what I paid) notes re #3 (laundry) I inquired at Guest Services (Latitudes/Future Cruise desk was closed ) how to get our 2nd laundry coupon as we are both Platinum and this is a per person benny, not per cabin. I was told to just write “Platinum” on the bag and slip, which I did. No problem — since we were in Spa Balcony, we also got 2 more bags of laundry, they said just write the same info. Also for Latitudes benefits they weren't doing the behind the scenes tour “due to covid”, which I call shenanigans on - the latitudes cocktail reception was packed as were mist entertainment venues (no special distancing required). And the “Round the World Wine Tasting” was capped at 100 and full before we got onboard (per the Latitudes staff).

Back to the CC Bar Crawl …. At the urging of our Chi-town contingent, we decided to refine our crawl plan so we could finish our Bar Crawl in the 8th deck Whiskey Bar. We decided that we’d switch from a bottom up to a top down approach and moved up to the Observation Lounge on Deck 17 forward (no one was interested in the Speedway Bar (Deck 18 mid, outside). This is usually a quiet area with fantastic forward views snd a variety of comfortable seating options, which tempts people to doze off, so the “Lounge” part of the nane is apropos! It’s also where the Prima puts out mid-afternoon snacks (a heavy “tea”), so this was a good next stop as it allowed crawlers to restock their stomachs with food to offset the booze 🤗🤗 Observation Lounge photos taken the following afternoon I think our group disturbed the zen vibe here. The bar menu was the standard Prima drink choices. The bartender mixed up one if his specialty shots, I had another La Madrina, we drank and moved on … after a visit to the nicest public restrooms for the views Onward ….

Other Deck 7 beverage venues Starbucks (atrium) Syd Norman’s Pour House (mid ship) Note: Rumor was the Rumours cover was very good, it was either sold out or you had to line up way in advance. The show was only offered a 2-3 times early in the cruise, the room only holds 100-120 people as I recall. Syd’s also used for daytime games (Bingo, etc) and other evening music (see dailies I’ve posted to get a feel for overall show schedules) The Improv (across from Syd’s) Note: Improv used for future cruise presentations and stand up comedians, holds 50-70. Support posts block views of stage.

The Metropolitan was the only bar open in Deck 7 in the afternoon as the others were associated with the dining and entertainment venues on that deck ( refer to deck plans in Post #111). Metropolitan photos: And the not-quite infamous circle sofa where our CC crew momentarily reigned - I have more photos but I did not get permission to reveal everyone’s inebriated state during the crawl, so am withholding the evidence 🤣🤣 these are morning after photos 🙂

I guess that deduction was based on the crosshatching in the photo @cruiseej? I didn’t notice that on my phone screen. However I’ll ‘fess up that I used our official cruise photographer’s polar bear photos myself (now going back to verify I gave credit where due!) as they were SO MUCH better!! 😜 @PACruiser5 otherwise has shared some excellent photos & has upped my eagerness for our next cruise in Greenland next summer 🐳 🦭& 🧊🧊🚼

Amazing great photo! How close were you physically to that beautiful polar bear ? If you don't mind sharing, what type if camera & lens did you use for that shot? My Svalbard bear photos from July are nowhere as good so I need to upgrade to better gear. Iceland is my favorite Arctic destination but Greenland is a very close second- both spectacular and unique! Thanks for posting!!

Having exhausted the open bars on Deck 6, we lifted up to Deck 7, where we poured onto the large circular seating inside the Metropolitan Bar. This bar is probably the swankiest, and has a strong focus on NCL’s Sail & Sustain drink program. Metropolitan’s menu was on a tablet, harder to get photos from. A largish section on cocktails featured drinks crafted from food excesses or NCL’s Flor de Cana custom Rum (with sustainable creds). Here we found ourselves served by the esteemed Clarance, aka The Chocolate Cowboy, and his team. We were treated to shots of his special sustainable drink, some watermelon (sustainable ingredient) drink with an involved creation process requiring an overnight steeping with some jalapeño, a bunch of time in the blender to emulsify all the ingredients, then served ip in shot glasses dusted with some red pepper. Holy cow - that was a hottie! 🥵 After 2 very small sips (barely a taste), I was done! However a brave CC bar crawler from Chicago offered to finish it off (and I think Clarance brought him some more!) I then tried the sustainable Croissant Mai-Tai. This was made with actual leftover croissants and also required overnight steeping and a spell in a blender. Infinitely less 🌶 and a decent enough drink, but to be honest, I couldn’t really taste croissant flavor. Kudos to NCL and especially Clarance fior his creative use of leftovers from the kitchen operations - the Prima bar program had innovative sustainable drinks in every location, often thematically tied to the venue.

So glad no one is pointing out my obvious typos I saw SEVERAL people with copies, I really didn’t talk with them enough to determine if they were severe or not 🙄

NCL Prima Amsterdam to Copenhagen 3-13 September 2022 Our NCL cruise consultant sold us on this “ inaugural “ cruise of the much anticipated Prima. Unfortunately for our plans for a special cruise, the NCL corporation announced at end of July they would be sailing the prior week from Reykjavik to Amsterdam on a special “insiders & influencers “ cruise which turned out to be the whole inaugural celebration. So instead of leaving Amsterdam in a celebratory splash, we slunk away in the middle of the night (Amsterdam waterfront was still kicking at 3:30am) Posting video and Day 1 Freestyle Daily next: