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The absolute best thing about Disney cruising is the kids can go to the kids club and have the time of their lives dancing with Mickey and company. While the adults get to drink and dance and get a "vacation" from watching their kids, if only for a couple of hours.

Was on the Christmas Cruise on the Prima (12/23 - 12/30). As we have sailed on many lines previous to NCL, Fam was excited to be on the new NCL Prima, our first with NCL. During that cruise, due to weather and rough seas, that Itinerary only made it into one (1) port (Ohco Rios). The port to their private island (Great Stirrup Cay) probably upset everyone on the ship the most, as that is typically every cruise lines (if they have one) featured stop. The fact that that stop in not a pier stop, is a huge miss for NCL, and they need to look into installing one sooner rather than later. Ironically the day was a sunny day (one of two, btw for a 7D cruise in the Caribbean), but because that is a tender port, the seas were too rough for the Captain to chance that operation, so he had no choice but to abandon the port of call. Again, not his fault due to weather and sea conditions. The ship has beautiful decor IOHO, but but have some CONS to point out.. 1) We noticed the main pool area on deck 17, was way too small for a 3500 passenger ship, so a big miss there, but had other areas to retreat to on the sunny day, still limited seating and deck chair hoarding as per usual on any ship. If you wanted the Vibe, would be a good, but expensive alternative. The Vibe was not crowded at all, so maybe NCL should revisit that as a relief point and not make that a pay area. 2) We also noted that the buffet area was also not well thought out as it has many pinch points to navigate and not much seating at all. Pool side dining venues would help relieve the congestion, as 900 kids kept having to go to the back of the buffet to get to the ice cream machine, adding to the hustle and bustle. 3) It was unfortunate that the weather was not cooperative, and missing the ports of call was frustrating, which was not NCLs fault. BUT, the Prima is definitely not designed to keep people indoors during bad weather as all venues were filled to capacity and beyond as people were finding places to hole-up for the day and enjoy additional sea days.That definitely made the cruise feel overcrowded and because everyone was trying to do the same thing, it pointed out that the venues inside were to small to handle the crowds. The ship is really designed to have at least half of the passengers on the decks and at the various entertainment activities on Deck 18 (Go-Karts, Put-Putt Golf, Slides etc. (which were closed due to raining and windy weather). So have a plan on those days with cards or something. We had wished they operated additional shows on the rainy days. Despite those notes, we found the crew was very patient, helpful, and overall great service. The food we found to be very good (ate at Cagneys (good food, and yes loud crowd) and Hasuki. Both places were great, but we really enjoyed Hasuki the most as it was fun, interactive, and the chefs really engaged with everyone making the dining an outstanding experience. We did do the Hudsons dining room on the other nights, and found the food and service was great. The casino was fun, and definitely busy, but casinos are all about the same. (Beware here, bar service in the casino was pretty limited, you basically had to grab a server by the hand to get something, and with no bar really near by, be patient). Our cabin steward was on point, never had an issue, and the housekeeping staff was very pleasant to talk with and very helpful. Overall, the Prima is a beautiful ship, and yes even during the Christmas Cruise, we found it strange that for a brand new ship, lots of broken down entertainment items. Im sure over time all these kinks will be worked out, but NCL should look at the surveys people fill out and make some changes in the future.

Those all sound great! Do they run out of space? Or will it be easy to get a reservation.

First timers to NCL (been on DCL, Princess, CCL, RCCL) and we love wine tasting events. Can anyone tell us if they have them on NCL, and if so, where do we sign up for them. We are sailing the Prima Dec. 23rd. Thanks!

Can anyone tell me if we can used our Starbucks card on the ships?

Just recently off the Regal Princess (Jun 4) 14D from Athens to Rome. I will share what we experienced as best I can, hopefully this will help. And Ill try to answer some notes of questions above. COVID Testing: So the only testing we did was in Athens. That was a mess, by the way warning here, if testing is still required in Greece, they have changed the rules, so don't follow Princess's site. The rule now is you must present a negative witness PCR test within 24 hrs. The site stated 24 - 72 hours prior. That was not the case, as we tested using the EMed Kit (supper simple BTW) at the 30 hr before departure, and had to retest at the pier at no charge, just mad we had to retest for a 6 hr time difference. After that there was no mention of testing unless you report to Medical for an on-board illness. Some reported not feeling well, the tested positive and ended up on Deck 9 (Quarantine Deck) for 5 days to 10 days pending symptoms. SHIP: The ship is a very clean and a well maintained ship. It was recently in dry dock, so its in great shape. Unfortunately, the crew is haggard and tired. Seems they are short staffed and parts of the crew is a little slow to move or are not interested in quality customer service at times. Room Steward William (Baja Deck 11) was fantastic. That said, you will find a few bright spots in the casino and the Main Dining Room. MDR was empty most nights, which was a shame, those servers are happy to see you, so plan to go and often. Many were standing around and helping other areas due to their area had no one. Food was good on some nights, and average on other. The breakfast buffet was terrible BTW. Same menu every day, no changes. Only changes was because they ran out of something. Frozen pastries thawed the night before, nothing really fresh but the fruit. THE APP: Medallion Class thing has its quirks, but does a fair job. NOW, as for the Medallion APP and Wifi.... holy mother of all that is holy... Princess needs to either fix the App or abandon the project. That app was terrible and rarely worked, it's frustrating. In fact, the crew even joke as to how terrible the app is. When it did work, the bars will be a nightmare, so plan ahead. Often times when people ordered drinks through the app, the bartenders would focus more on those then the patrons at the bar. Ordering through the in room TV worked very well, and room service was spot on every time and fast. As for Wifi, if you plan to texted each other in airplane mode, or FaceTime family, the Wifi was spotty and unreliable. The best service was in ports, so plan phone calls and/or FaceTime to family on port days, sea days its a hot mess! Truthfully, as the wifi goes so does that horrible app. Use the Patters. TV Filming: Someone earlier as about the filming of the show "The Real Love Boat", they were really quiet actually. Club 6 on Deck 6 is the only venue closed full time, and periodically an area will be closed for filming for a short period of time. A couple times you would see the contestants on the pool deck soaking in the sun, but for the most part they don't interfere with anything. SHORE EXCURSIONS: We did all our excursions through Princess, and for the most part they are great. Warning here though, many of the longer excursions returned back the the ship late, and in some cases 60-90 min late. Of course they held the ship, but Princess needs to review the use of some of the vendors and start holding them accountable for tardiness. One vendor even laughed at the notion that we would return in time. So that said, take this solid advise please, pack some pre-packaged granola bars or snacks, you will thank me for that, I promise. *** I will caution people on doing one excursion which is the San Michele Wine Tasting/Mt Etna Tour in Messina, IT. The winery treated the tour so poorly and could careless if we were there. They assigned the most junior worker there, stuck us in a small hot room, and you barely got a sip from three different wines. Never explained what we were tasting, then were offended that you didn't buy bottles of wine. The Etna piece and the guide was great, but the winery needs to be put on notice. Recommend a different tour. *** Id be happy to share more if you are interested. Happy holidays, vacation, break from work and enjoy. Remember why you booked this itinerary, its a good one.

Boarding on the Regal in Athens on June 4th, hope no cases are noted currently. Also what is the capacity looking like?

On European Itineraries, is it USD or the Euro fir casino play?