ontheweb

I have no expertise in the matters you have raised, but would also love to hear some informed discussion of those topics.

I was going to post about the Acropolis being closed, but you beat me to it. How disappointing that must have been for those who ended up not being able to go there is they were there for only 1 day on a cruise. I know standing in front of the Acropolis when we were in Athens for a cruise was totally awe inspiring.

They could be informed by management, especially when something is becoming an ongoing problem. Here is exactly what happened when I called. The original customer rep did not know, and admitted that. And then she did the exact right thing when you do not know, she said she would get me to someone who did know. She transferred me to the excursion people assuming I guess that they would know about a port since they sold excursions for the port. All they would tell me was that they were still selling them for that port at the next available date. (A date I should note that the ship skipped the port.) Knowing that they had skipped it up to then, I asked have you sold excursions there for the previous cruises. They could not or more likely would not answer that question.

Ancient history (LOL 2007)---the batteries in DW's camera ran out while we were in Helsinki. She went into a Kodak store, and their credit card machine was not working. Since we had no Euros with us, she waited until she was back on the ship to buy batteries. And they were cheaper on the Princess ship than they would have been in Helsinki. Everyone does say the Scandanavian countries are very expensive.

Just to add to that, if you call NCL, they have no idea what you are talking about when you ask about will we be able to get off the ship in Isafjordur.

Actually, at one point earlier this year, DW thought we should change dates to the cruise you are on. I called our TA and he thought it would be no problem, same itinerary, same ship. But, he came back to us and said it would be significantly more expensive, possibly prices had gone way up since we booked way back in 2021 before the ship was even built. So we stayed on the August 6th cruise. When we picked which date DW was pretty sure she would be a retired rather than active elementary art teacher by the summer of 2023, but not 100% positive. I also like the 8/6 sailing because our wedding anniversary falls on the sea day between Norway and Iceland.

As others have said HOT! If heat is going to bother you greatly do not even consider doing a Mediterranean cruise of in fact also a land trip there in the summer months.

Could you comment on the very inexpensive hearing aids that now seem to be advertised?

I also do not have it, or in fact any cruise line offers at the moment. I have used several in the past.

And there's another problem caused by cheating, someone winning honestly can find himself or herself accused of cheating.

Are you on the 11 day Prima cruise starting August 6th. We book for itinerary, but I have to admit that our previous NCL cruises had better entertainment than any of the other lines we have sailed. What they have done disappoints me greatly. In a competitive environment one should push what gives you an advantage, not give it up.

Or your low expectations can become a reality as you keep expecting to find things go wrong and react to everything that is not perfect.

And if there was a real emergency, with the new muster procedure, everyone would have been instructed to report to their mister station at their convenience. 🤦‍♂️

Different stokes for different folks. But, I have found that if one goes in expecting the worst, it tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So in at least this one instance, complaint worked!

I guess that is one experiment that did not work. They intended to start the menus that did not rotate on the Prima and then start that on the rest of the fleet. I think it is safe to say that that is no longer happening.

Thank you. And our first cruise was actually on our 25th anniversary, a Western Mediterranean cruise. Our 20th was the first we felt comfortable leaving our son alone, and we did an all inclusive in Jamaica, actually the one (that no longer exists) that was actually owned by native Jamaicans. Our upcoming anniversary will be our 46th, and it will fall on a sea day between Norway and Iceland on the Prima.

OK, you have named 2 brands to avoid (one of which often solicits me to try them), but what brand or brands would you recommend? And new glasses do not bother me or make me need an adjustment period. (I will say the same is not true for my DW who when she first needed glasses in her 40s constantly lost them. And she never adjusted to bifocals, so need more than one pair now.)

They could have done Isafjordur and used tenders! Yes the cruise starting in the UK and ending in Reykjavik is a day longer, but I think it is because there is an overnight in Reykjavik. I don't believe it is for an extra sea day. I hope it is done also, but every cruise that misses there makes me less and less optimistic about that. We have what looked to us like a really nice private excursion booked there, but I really don't think we will be able to do it. Oh, and I called NCL in late June, and they were still selling excursions to Isafjordur for July 5th and I presume all the other dates after that.

If you go in with the attitude that it will be a real disappointment, the odds are good that that is what will happen.

We have been on 5 different cruise lines, and the one thing that stood out on NCL was its entertainment was the best of any ship we sailed. It seems foolish to me to cut back drastically on what distinguishes your cruise line from others.

Did your cruise actually make it to the port of Isafjordur? (We are on the August 6th cruise from London (Southampton) to Reykjavik,)

Go for it and enjoy it!

Reading your last 2 paragraphs makes one sad. Not your fault of course, but the reality of it.

OOPS, that should be we were there in 2007 on cruise celebrating our 30th anniversary. My how time flies by. In 2017, we celebrated our 40th anniversary with a land trip in Central Europe, visiting Budapest, Vienna, and Prague,