Ellis1138

In my opinion, do not get an aft balcony. Owing to the complaints I compiled over the past couple of years, the aft cabins on the PoA can suffer from a "sewer smell" that ranges from annoying to nauseating. The main cause needs a combination of factors: The wind has to hit the ship's funnel at the right direction, which then causes the both the sewage plant output and the funnel exhaust to be blown into the AC intakes for those cabins. It worried me so much that I moved our cabin to mid-ish and ahead of the funnel. (Ours was 9622). And without the Na Pali sailing, there's no right or wrong side to be on for scenery. Most of the time, by the time we got underway, it was after sunset, so no scenery at all. I've stopped updating the reports, now that I've taken the cruise.

I happen to be a weirdo who enjoys being out in cold, damp and dreary weather, so as long as it isn't icy or lightning. But yeah, I had a similar thing on the Escape for a New England/Canada cruise, where I was out in the hot tub on deck 19 by myself in the pouring rain. Or where I was the only one in the pool on the NCL Sun in Alaska when the outdoor temperature was 30 degrees. But yeah, our sailing on the Prima is a holiday one and probably very full, so I expect the food venues to be zoos. We'll find out in June/July.

I thought NCL ships were no longer going to do currency exchange on board. I can always check with Guest Services when I get on ship. The trouble with the ATM thing is the same: We dock and I immediately have to be at the shore excursion. No time to run off to a bank and back.

I don't know if this will help anyone, but in addition to the $10 waterproof Walmart wristwatch and my phone's clock, I also set an alarm on my phone, based on hours, not time. Like if we're being let off the ship at 9 am and all aboard is 6 pm, I set an alarm to go off in 7 hours. So no matter if the clocks are not set to local or ship time, I have a backup for the exact amount of hours that we're allotted in port.

I do go on a cruise with the basic notion that we might not be able to go where the itinerary says. But I use cruises as a "sampler" for "Do I want to come back here by airplane and do an in-depth vacation here?" We're booked on the Prima for the Southampton/Norway/Iceland itinerary and I have my fingers very crossed that we'll be able to port at Geiranger. I booked an NCL excursion at Isafjordur, so that it will be easily refunded when the Prima somehow doesn't manage to make it. Most everything else is "get off the ship, walk to here, look at that, check this museum, eat at cafe" kind of stuff. I've been watching the Prima Live TA thread and, aside from embarkation chaos, am somewhat worried about the lines and waiting times for the MDR and specialty restaurants. And that they tried to cram the Latitude party in a small space. Another trepidation I have is that when I check the actual port schedules on the port websites, a few of them have the Prima coming and leaving at different times than our itinerary. Got a very cheap price for our itinerary, though, so... Here's hoping.

Thank you! I'm happy to see Cloud House half and half on the ship. Despite that it looks like it isn't real, it is real dairy and, more importantly, is actual UHT half and half so I don't need to be bringing boxes of Mini Moos with me.

We're coming in via cruise ship and the first port is Akureyri, but we have a cruise ship excursion right after docking. I don't know when I'll be able to get Isk coins. The pay toilet thing frightens me the most about this trip. (I have some gastrointestinal issues and bladder problems.)

Do you remember if the pay toilets would take USD?

Yes, I would hope the people complaining were actually on the cruise itself. It's valid to be bothered by people complaining (or complaining about the complaining), but it's all down to us as an individual to make the best of whatever happens... or to decide to be miserable.

Fill this out https://nclh.my.salesforce-sites.com/AccessDeskForm/ You might be required to bring a doctor's letter, stating you need it but they should allow that if they know ahead of time why you need it. Or if they don't want you bringing a blendjet, they might make arrangements for you at one of the bars that has blenders. But generally, little low-heat USB things are okay as long as there's no surge protection. Fire risk and all.

I go with the idea that everyone's cruise experience is valid. If MajSteve is done, then that's valid. It's extremely possible for people on the same cruise to have entirely different experiences. And NCL in particular has some quirks that can catch people unawares. I was in a Studio cabin on the Escape and had an exhilarating time (even with being stuck in the harbor during a storm and missing Halifax) and the crew was so nice to me. Other people getting off the same cruise said the only good thing about it was leaving. Both my experience and theirs were valid. A long and chaotic embarkation can put a damper on the cruise, especially in the heat. That is shoddy and I would probably be miffed, too.

Yeah, seriously. Most of the time, it's at least edible or recognizable. One night, I ordered the NY Strip off the classics on the Pride of America (I should have known better). It was so awful, tough and overcooked that I said if it was a NY Strip, it must have been 10th Ave and 39th Street.

I've never used a TA, because I want all the detail control, but I also do research before booking. So I already know the amenities. So what makes the Studio cabins nice is they're cozy like Star Trek starship cabins. I've only been in the one on the Escape so far, but loved the coffee machine, the water/juice station and the quiet place to sit and contemplate. They did have cookies, cakes, pastries and fruits, but I can't vouch for those, not having consumed them. As folks said, the rooms have: liquid soap dispenser, "conditioning" shampoo, body wash, hair dyers, towels, usually 2 closets and some storage depending on which ship. Hair dryer. A couple of US plugs, a Euro plug, a low voltage razor plug and possibly a USB plug in a bed lamp. There's no mini-fridge in the Studios. I also have them remove the overpriced bottled beverages from my cabin.

South coast might be less crowded. I have not yet gone and, to be fair, we're doing Golden Circle (self driving) on our day in Reykjavik. I kind of liken it to going to Yellowstone but not stopping to see Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs. But there is so much more to Yellowstone than one can see in a day, and those sights are not all there is. Just like the South coast has some pretty impressive looking stuff. It's a hard choice. For us, I think we'll save up and come back and do whatever we didn't do before. Cruising to Iceland is like just a sampler.

Hopefully, your niece had filled out the access desk form. But so far, each ship has made me do the 'choose what you want the night before" thing. Ironically, I would have done better with Prima's experimental static MDR menu, as opposed to the fleet-wide one. My husband thinks it's hysterical that I know the menus so well that I'll say something like "Oh no, not the Lemon Pepper Shrimp night! There's NOTHING for me that night." I'm also looking forward to Indulge and hoping I can have some of that stuff.

I always love your on-the-go reviews and especially look forward to the Samsung TV-HDMI-Android results. (We'll be sailing Prima in June to Norway/Iceland). I'm also curious about how much the premium internet upgrade is on embarkation day and whether it gets reduced during the cruise. Do you think you'll be posting the daily MDR menus? I love seeing those ahead of time, so I can prepare for the food allergy routlette.

If you have medical and dietary needs and food allergies, etc, fill out and submit this form to NCL. https://nclh.my.salesforce-sites.com/AccessDeskForm/

Unlike CruiseNext, only 1 CruiseFirst can be applied to a booking. IMO, the best use of the $500 ($250) CruiseFirst is booking a T1 or Inside cabin, since those rarely get CN Double Up eligibility. The CruiseFirst will appear in your account on NCL.com. You can then use it as a deposit for a cruise that's 4 months in the future. I'm not sure if it has to be 6+ days or not for the sailing, but check the terms first.

I don't know if this idea will help anyone, but prior to going on a cruise, I make a copy of the image of the cabin from the Deck Plans. I watch Harr Travel's videos of my room, where he points out the outlet locations and then I use a Paint Program to pre-plan where the CPAP cables will be run. The following is from Pride of America. I haven't done my Prima Studio one yet.

NCL's Freestyle doesn't mean you never get the same waiter or you can never sit with others. You just need to tell them what you want. Sometimes, I sit alone and other times, I tell them I'm all right with sitting at a large table with others. Funny enough, on the Escape, the restaurant manager decided it would be easiest (because of my food allergies) for me to dine at the same MDR, at the same table, at my preferred time, with one waiter. So it was almost like being on a traditional cruise, except that I was solo.

For something like this, where the glitchy website is not doing its job, I would call it in and have a human being do it, so that they can book it for $0 or they could tell you why that excursion isn't allowing for the FAS+.

That was my first reaction, too, We just did the PoA cruise in February this year and I was on edge, knowing that we could lose any and all ports and trying to figure out the Plan B and Cs. It's part of cruising. I was stuck 2 days on the Escape and we skipped the port where I was supposed to meet my friends. And a friend of mine was on the cruise where, instead of the Bahamas, they wound up going to New England and Canada due to a storm. We're going to be doing the Prima's Iceland/Norway in July and again, I have my fingers crossed on making ports. In ports like Isafjordur, I booked NCL excursions, because we probably won't make it in there. I'm really sorry the PoA broke down.

We are not allowed to input the codes, so no. Several codes can be there at the same time.

As others have said, the thermal suite is a quiet place and the pools are more like therapy for aching muscles kind of pools. So ask your teenagers if that's what they want to do. Some ships have video arcades or Galaxy Pavillion. They might also want to do activities on the Daily, like origami. Also make the decision based on the itinerary. If it's a really port heay cruise, there might not even be time for them to use it each day enough to warrant the whole week pass. As for selling out, they never seem to do that. And there are like $60 day passes to the thermal suite. If your ship has a Vibe, they might like that better. Or a Spice H20 (which is free).

Geez, no. When we were done, the staff were all fine with that. Honestly, with FAS, I might still choose Moderno for that salad bar and pao de quiejo and just have a few slices of picanha and fraldinha and still consider it a bargain. I'm worried about being on the Prima and Encore. I'm so used to choosing Moderno that I don't know what to choose when a ship doesn't have one.