mking8288

46 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Well.....what are they saying?  

"Mind" your steps and "rough" seas  😬 😬

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

…9:30 might be way past my bedtime 😅

Just check out the FSD listing, you don't need to go upstairs to see for yourself ... since you are usually somewhere in the club or dance floor  😁   Yeah, don't short change your beauty rest & sleep on this port intensive itinerary - 200% empathy coming your way 😆 

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

I love the idea that I have become the @mking8288 spinoff. That’s high praise. Hope I don’t get canceled after one season. 

Of course not, you are going to more places in just one season that what I can possibly plan for, let alone do for an entire year.  Just do it and you will be fine, practice made near perfect and you become better, wiser doing more semi / live trip report on CC.  Just look at Dan @graphicguy he is another prime example with the "can do" attitude/mindset.  

Wait, ship is docked at Croatia and it's past noon time, you should off the gangway and checking out the landscape ... have a great time and treat yourself well.  

Our main desire to do this TA is to see, at least to "sample" Iceland during the short overnight stop and it was worth the trip, mission accomplished - spectacular views and sights, breathtaking vista, it is not Alaska which we've done also.  We came back to the ship for a quick break, rest briefly & then went out around 9 PM to explore nearby city centre ... on our way back to the ship after 11 PM, seeing that off-duty crew members permitted to take shore leaves going out in small groups, while some walked to nearby places ?? known to them ... others lined for to share a taxi ride to go somewhere, on a very late Sunday evening (even one of the few grocery stores that was open late on weekends close at 11 PM) - one can appreciate how hard they worked and yet, managed to get out there, even if all abroad time was 2 AM for crew.   We drove along the waterfront as by then, it was fairly simple to just get behind the wheels & drive - this video was taken after 9 PM Iceland time and sunset was about 10 PM.  

All abroad was called and the 4 pier runners were lucky & managed to get back onboard.  The visit and the stay was short but worth the trip to get there.  Perhaps, this next video can be refreshing for fellow CC'ers on this sailing to re-live the 27 hours, overnight stay there.  

Good old Supper Club, reminded me of BA's Spiegel Tent with the dinner-show then with a $20 or $25 upcharge back in the days, same "deal" - option was given then for 1 of 2 entrees and also a vegetarian, dessert with coffee ... except coffee that was still being brewed (I sleep better with the weak coffee water served onboard)  

I see that the Escape keep the buffet open until 9:30 PM (is that special hours on embarkation day only ... please keep your eyes out for it, asking for a curious friend)  Prima management shut down the tiny buffet promptly at 9:00 PM nightly, as both you & I know.  

Iceland videos - (these are not from) Golden Circles, Lagoon & what not offered via NCL ... we rented a Toyota Highlander 4WD hybrid, together w our friends, Mary & Alex, ventured on our own ... struggled with the in-dash navigational system as it wasn't in English (at least, we couldn't figure out how to change the "default" to another language, which I'm sure there is a setting for it.  Station Zebra isn't the expert on everything, just a jack of almost all trades, LOL.   

We are known to plan a little bit, otherwise just "wing" it once we are there and/or ashore, make good use of Google Maps & other apps to.  With the unexpected, unplanned early arrival into Iceland - we're able to contact MyCar.is via email and they nicely changed our 2:30 PM pickup time to 11 AM instead, and it was ready & waiting for us when Alex and I showed up.  The taxi ride over - 4 to 5 minutes - was about $20 USD (a flat/zone rate, I believe) vs. doing a 20 to 25 minutes uphill walk with a modest wind & cloudy skies.  By the time we returned & dropped off the car the following day, late morning ... we used a little more than 1/2 tank of gasoline or "petro" by the liter, about $58 USD to refill & top off the tank.  If retail gasoline prices were about $9 USD equivalent in Iceland, then the driving around only used about 6 1/2 gal of gas - on a loaded SUV with 6 adults, not bad, not at all ... strictly observing posted speed limit (and, in most instances, you really do NOT want to go or drive fast on mostly a single lane of traffic each way, outside the city going anywhere.  And, the nice gentleman drove us back to the ship, saving us from walking or calling for a taxi ride.  

Here's 2 videos from Thingville National Park, free admission and open 24/7 ... about a 35 to 40 minutes from the ship, heading east - be mindful of those rotary or traffic circles and taking the proper "exit" as the signage aren't English friendly.  There is a fee to park in the lots, mostly on a honor system (I think ... unless they scan for license plate)  With a 3+ hours headstart vs. the possibility of most NCL bus tours and/or probably private, independent small group tours showing up - it was not crowded at all and the lines for the public restrooms wasn't that long at all, clean & washing station all working well.  

Footnote, from the N.P. parking lot, it's a gradual but rocky uphill walk on uneven ground to reach the top here, not that far in distance but not for anyone with mobility challenges ... walking poles along with comfortable walking shoes are highly recommended.   

7 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

... We could sure use a couple of those laundry coupons come October on our TA.

... Your cruise is one we are looking at doing next.

Not to worry, you truly do not need to have those coupons in getting free laundry as long as you are Platinum and/or staying in a Club Balcony Suite (or higher, I believe) ... I just wish that they run out of those tiny, small paper bag and go back to the regular, full size paper bag used for laundry services ... charging otherwise $34 a bag nowadays.  We got over $400's worth of free laundry between our 2 cabins, twice per stateroom over 15 days, a nice perk that is actually useful.  We had a great time on the Epic TA and if you haven't check out our "old" Semi-Live from 2023, link is below.  

Here is my bonus video "gift" to fellow CC'ers - just spend a few hours "raiding" DW's Samsung for extra photos & videos, with a bit of editing - here are a few short video clips in 1080p ... best viewed on a HD monitor, iPad or tablet.  For those of us that disembarked, may it bring back positive chi, vibe and memories of good times, 15 days went quickly ... more to come as I get them done.  

Calm seas en route to Iceland (from Halifax) - the foggy video taken from the Hudson MDR over lunch showed the "roughest" part of the crossing with moderate seas and waves of 10' to 12 or 13' which only lasted a few hours aside from overnight while rocking most to a gentle sleep.  Otherwise, a near perfect TA crossing. 

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

In Trieste…

Girl, I don't know how you manage to do this, living out of a backpack & suitcase for weeks at a time.  Susan & I slept well last night - being home - and woke up late, close to 10AM in NY (4 PM for you, hahaha) 

Did you checkout McD's hash browns along with other regional specialty items (i.e. Spam in Honolulu/Hawaii) ?? 

Loving the pictures and just keep posting them, that's all you need to for barely-a-live report ... the rest is gravies & trimmings to enrich, to make the rest of us CC addicts jealous of your port intensive cruise.  

Looking at Escape's live webcam feed ?? - she is posed to sail but not yet moving, per CruiseMapper.  

3 hours ago, KasaMom said:

... please provide more info on this? It looks like a great travel item to have but want to make sure I get the right thing. 

Hi, this has to do with our home cellular services plan & its network coverage, especially when traveling abroad / overseas, not a "travel item" although the specific hardware (as in Android smartphone or iOS / Apple iPhone, also make a difference - and, I use both ... primary & secondary is data on iPhone SE 2022) - it is provided by Google Fi, which is backed/affiliated domestically via T-Mobile (USA) and abroad in Europe and Asia, with the "top" Unlimited Plus, allows for 50GB of 5G broadband data, texting and WiFi calling ... and inexpensive voice call rates over cellular, i.e. a single 28 cents "mobile" 1 minute call in Iceland.  The other important feature is that my choice of smartphone, Pixel 7 Pro supports WiFi 6e (also on spouse's Samsung Galaxy S22+) and MiFi hotspot tethering, sharing the inbound signal, securely, with other devices.  Complicated, huh ...

This "top" Fi plan for 1 line is $65 a month + taxes, about $76 a month w. taxes/fees, etc.  but when we don't plan to travel overseas/beyond Canada, Mexico, etc. - "downgrade" at the next billing cycle to the "basic" Unlimited Plan, which is $50 a month + taxes/fees - to avoid paying for unnecessary services (international/global data coverage at 200+ countries and hotspot tethering on an unlimited basis, no "caps" or data speed reductions, etc.)  There are other benefits like VPN and cloud storage, etc.   

We came back last February to our home's fiber-optics home broadband internet outage due to pesky squirrels in the townhouse basement chewing out "sweet" wiring runs (LOL, true story) - Google Fi provided that "lifeline" broadband services for almost 3 weeks of uninterrupted home coverage, with the hotspot feature enabled & running a dozen+ smart home automation devices and desktop PC, laptops & smartphones ... until after 3 Verizon Fios field visits by techs - to reinforce & added extra shielding to restore full services (it was "taken down" by the squirrel family 3 times ... thankfully, repair at no costs to us)

Fi's plan, while on the "Plus" plan, allows for 3 nano-sim data only card to be added, free, for

use in tablets, iPads and even MiFi device - sharing the data on the same line, at no extra costs.  I have a data-only sim in the iPhone, 2nd sim in a Samsung that can be easily switched into the iPad/mini w cellular - no fuzz or well worth that extra $15 or $25 a month over other provider plans from AT&T and Verizon, etc.  

Lots of details, it's a bit more pricey than 2 lines for seniors/older adults over 55 on T-Mobile w taxes/fees added, but T-Mo's extended coverage doesn't come close to what Google Fi offer to us, and it is what I wanted to have.  It is not a budget plan if you compare to prepaid and AARP plans out there that offer, domestically, unlimited coverage for as little as $20 a month for the "average" user that do not travel often and prefer to add and pay those extra $10 a day add-ons, and have to worried about staying in airplane mode, switch off/on data roaming, and tethering "traps" while in EU or South America, etc. etc. 

  There is a learning curve involved to know & understand, and to get the most & best out of it, and to not spent more than necessary ... do look into the option and feel free to ask (Siri and Google search online for other feedback & advice too) 

@Ellis1138  thanks for the short intro / lead ... I upgraded all our devices in 2022 to be dual/eSim compatible, and the Fi's primary/voice nano-sim can "reside" on the eSim slot, leaving the physical sim slot free/open to use another "foreign" or burner/disposable nano sim card (which, obviously, isn't necessary anymore for us) - just nice to know.  From what friends shared, the major eSim providers mentioned from time-to-time on CC are very good & works well, just as well as the physical nano sim card used for travel & mainly 4G/5G data use ... 

*** On the previous TA port stop in Ponta Delgada and this time in England, WhatsApp worked great over WiFi/cellular to text & call our private tour guide and taxi/car service ... alerts/updates & messages (from Paragon Taxis) were received onboard the Prima while at sea, since we had unlimited Starlink WiFi coverage on the ship.  

Portsmouth, UK seafood prices on the harbour's waterfront ... except it was still early, not yet open.  There's always a next time 🤗

Buffet, AYCE ... wow 😲 - like I said, not open yet and it's across the street from the seafood shack. 

Nice 🙂 thank you, madam Sylvia... promised to be kind, nice and empathetic; being #2 to check in here to follow, this is something that we might consider ahead - 2025, perhaps. 

Southampton- Disembarkation info as a general reference for, perhaps, similar NCL cruises that pre-clear UK immigration prior to arrival ...easy walk-off with luggage (Caution: it was a very long z gangway that gradually descent into the main level for the luggage hall, elevator is available but ... )

Our thoughts on disembarkation - folks at UK truly got their acts together and the pier personnel were highly effective & efficient moving carts after carts of luggage off the ship and into the terminal ... they're practically done before 7 AM.  Alvin, CD began calling the colors earlier than scheduled (not surprised ... watching from our balcony above) 

We were not in a hurry and wanted to give others rushing to the airports & ground transportation the edge in exiting the terminal ... went to Hudson MDR for breakfast, returned to our cabin to double-check, use the restroom & say goodbye to our steward, Nelcia before taking the elevator down to Deck 6 to exit the ship around 8:25 AM.  We're outside by 8:50 despite the series of long "Z" style gangways that descend from equivalent of Deck 6 to Deck 1 on the pier (easily 10 minutes with others moving just as slowly as everyone else ... couldn't imagine how fun it might've been pushing & pulling those 50+ lbs rollerboards & spinners plus everything else needed to be taken off) - it's freestyle cruising, afterall.  

Line for taxi was long but seemed to be moving, pre-arranged pickup would've been nicer and porter services were available at the luggage hall.  By the time we walked to the "yellow" tag area, maybe 2 dozen bags remained sitting there to be claimed.  

Not stopping for immigration & customs - nice & easy, quick & simple.  If only NYC can do that each & every time we disembark ... wishful thinking, I know, one can dream, haha. 

57 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

The beer we had in Ghent:

 

... more evidence of a poorly run ship.  This is for tomorrow’s day in Amsterdam.

 

 

 

Note the top shore excursions.

But it was a great day!  Calling it a night.

Hahaha ... this is the Getaway, who's GM onboard and who's CD, curious minds wants to know, asking for a friend.  For me, I always believe in going with the flow, pack patience & humor.  Have another night cap and sleep well.  Tomorrow is a brand new day, is it going to be nice & sunny.  Loving those pictures.  

Latitudes Rewards, perks & benefits ... at the Diamond tier ...

comments later w the wrap-up summary

There is no laundry coupon and none needed 😆😆😆 but if anyone feel strongly about needing one, see me on the next NCL cruise, I probably have more than 2 dozens in a variety of colors (Platinum, Sapphire & Diamond) "unused" - in short, just write on the laundry slip and the thin (and still small) paper bag, your status and sent it out via your room steward. 

The photo discount was nice, we got a 30% off a port/gangway photo for under $11's worth of non-refundable OBC 😁

Dine With Officers and

Latitudes cocktail reception hosted by CruiseNext

Where neither the GM or Captain showed up to make the once traditional 60 seconds welcome remarks and 30 seconds intro of the ship's senior team.  

Rather, if you can't see anyway 😞 given the physical layout & design of the OL, you get to hear over the loud noises & multiple conversations, the 90 seconds informercial about $1,000 free money 🤑 to use onboard.  Just mind the fine prints disclosures. 

Footnote/comment - if you do wish to reach Guest Services onboard by dialing 00 to confirm and/or to inquire, report or otherwise contact someone at the "front desk" be prepared for the call to ring but go unanswered ... there is no voicemail and/or option for them to call back, i.e. if they are busy & occupied assisting other guests, etc. etc.   Hence, for any "emergency" in progress, dial 911 for - hopefully - a life saving & timely rapid response will be forthwith, as always - YMMV.  

Informational posts only - feel free to skip 

... letter passed along as a courtesy from a friend onboard (and aren't happy with the CAS program "changes" ... discussed elsewhere on NCL forum here) 

FYI only - Informational items on next several posts ... feel free to skip them

Prima guide - noticed that per NCL, there are 3,099 cabins which typically assumed double occupancies - sailing at 120% maximum berths and souls onboard, up to lifeboat capacity is a lot higher, not counting crew members onboard 😳 

@Fogfog  Pollen count might've been high, outdoors in Amsterdam & Brussels but didn't think it was exceptional high in Le Harve ... taking those (port) shuttles was "risky" business as far as I'm concerned with all the surround sound in a confined space.  Not to stir up the pot & get into a debate here as public health has drastically downgraded the virus threats, well except for high risk individuals with known ...  I should've passed along (too late) the few test kits to @Sugar Magnolia just in case someone can benefit from it, as extended expiration date is later this month (on a cool shelf at home - 2 dozen+ test kits, mostly from iHealth & relatively new production batches, good as late as next year)   Lordy, this is become annual like the seasonal flu with the booster/renewal shot.  

As for our airline (Norse Atlantic Airways) asking for contact tracking email, not that I'm aware of - I believe we provided them with an email address & emergency contacts, just in case, when we confirmed our booking but nothing since then.  Got prompted twice to bid for upgrade to the Premium cabin.  Perhaps the airline is going above & beyond, for our convenience to have that info collected - doubtful that they plan to do contact tracing,  

There was nobody in the Priority Check In line at LGW when we showed up, and they only asked to see & check our passports, didn't even bother with our bar coded reservation number ... proceeded to weight our bags including tagging our carry-on items.  Had I been worried about excess weight, (Rick Scott's) travel vest tricks with 3 to 4 assorted pouches and 7 to 10 lbs of electronics & heavier gears would've definitely passed the "test"  The nice thing about flying A380's and B789's is their large & well designed OH bin space, with the regulation sized bags stowed correctly to max out # of bags per bin.  There was no gate-checking of carry-on bags due to lack of space above, enforcing a 10 kg / 22 lbs limits is good & I support that, watch some of the coach travelers struggled to lift their big & heavy carry-on items to the storage bins overhead.  

4 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

You must share your secret weight loss cruise diet. 
Weight loss unlikely on my next cruise to Italy, Spain, France and Greece as I plan to dine locally for lunch every day. 

Sy, when you are traveling - eat well and stay healthy, Susan gained slightly while I lost, nothing significant - no secret to it, aside from skipping red meat except when doing specialty dining and we only managed to eat lunch - once, at Indulge FH.  Had cheeseburger and hotdog once, chose fish and/or seafood otherwise, even vegetarian entrees & ate 1/2 of the dessert, fewer bread w butter.  

Enjoy your port intensive "Escape" coming up - are you doing a live or semi-live write up ... and, I have 100% empathy for you to treat yourself nicely and jealous that you are able to keep your cruise heading straight, port to port, city to city, country to country and then back.  Happy, safe & healthy travel ... 

Body clock still adjusting to EDT, tired & went to sleep early and both Susan & I woke up at 4 AM - catched up on a bit of CC gossips, oops, I meant news & happenings - then, went back to sleep.  It's now almost 4 PM ?  your way and boosted by a good cup of home brew coffee, awake ... cloudy & wet (occassional showers/light rain & about 60 deg F) 

No smoked salmon on a toast bagel this morning, yogurt in the refrigerator past expiration date - LOL.  Lunch - too lazy to cook, either reheat the sandwich from Paris Baguette or call for delivery.  This was our breakfast earlier.   

My final free "roaming" 5G and 4G LTE data use - associated with the TA - during this billing cycle, 4 GB were for tethering - with up to 4 devices connected concurrently. The only other extra charge is a 28 cents voice call + taxes, other calls using Google Voice & WhatsApp were entirely free. 

The rest were picked up using the trade-up basic StarLink WiFi data plan from NCL while onboard & at sea, charged against part of the $250 NR-OBC. 

Downside, StarLink's bandwidth allocated to pax use was throttled by NCL and slow but usable. Ship & it's crew using far more wireless devices over hidden SSiD.  5 Ghz band remained less congested. 

Our body clock adjusting a little better to another new time zone, now that we've been home for almost 48 hours - EDT, up to 6 hours vs. Europe. 

Those rich Belgium chocolate made it and we passed rapid testing again, did it once onboard early on to establish a baseline ... prepared as best as we can against those invisible micro-devils. Our last booster is more than 6 months ago ... 

During the course of the TA cruise, especially towards the 2nd half, more coughing can be heard around us at times ... respiratory illness know no boundaries and I didn't see best practices before meals.  They do theirs & we did ours ... worn our mask once on the plane, for the duration except for the short late supper break. 

We're blessed with not noticing any signs of possible norovirus activities onboard. 

I've been alerted that "a few" have tested positive during and after disembarking the vessel ...  Since some of our free test kits w extended dates are going to expire soon, will do a final round of testing this weekend, out of an abundance of precautions. 

Selected random photos coming soon once I sort them out, plus a final summary review. 

Stay tuned as I think a few curious friends are probably going to ask questions. 

@graphicguy  Yes, indeed & honored, thankful and blessed with many "contributing" CC'er putting in their tips, jokes, comments & remarks to make it a fun and not just informative live report.  This week, I hope to go thru DW's Samsung's smartphone to "extract" additional photos & possibly upload some short videos to share on the thread.  

I wish I can just stick with Android but nowadays, Apple's eco-system including Air Tags are invaluable, sometimes find it important to keep up & do both.  Chargers (lite & high output) that I'm now carrying are compact & efficient, compatible with both platform since it's on USB-A and -C with a mini adapter, next cruise - bring fewer extension cables & cords.  

On our last day / disembarkation - we took a lot of pictures and nearly all of us ran down our batteries, to critically low level and despite having a 10,000 mAH battery bank.  We barely had time to sit back & checkout London Gatwick's airside & eat a light meal before boarding, then the entire row of bulkhead seating (I took up all 3 seats in the middle, hahaha, at no extra charge) failed to charge via the USB port and there're no underseat power source.  Luckily, the iPhone SE came thru to make calls & text the nephew to meet us curbside to get us home.  

Will now go back to "lurking" mode here & follow yours next month ... unless I hear/read or learn something else after the other 4 return from their BDA cruise on the Joy this month.  Thanks & happy planning.  

22 hours ago, graphicguy said:

While not nearly as tech laden as @mking8288  on a cruise, I do pack some….

Dan, that is a LOL.  After a 2nd TA onboard the Prima, Station Zebra will be planning for a further adjustment, not "downgrade" to travel lighter with fewer cables, extensions, adapters, etc. on the newer NCL ships, including the Joy if and when they add "useful" bedside USB charging ports and a 110/220V outlet (or at least make it easier to "tap" into) by the bed(s) .... very important & useful health & wellness feature for CPAP users, questions asked by others on the roll call. 

We're treated - again, thank you to our onboard "heros" behind the scene - to free, almost all PPV movies in our stateroom to watch & enjoy, but never got the chance or "down time" to watch, can you believe that - with 7 full sea days and evenings without "live" games & entertainment "shows" to keep us busy.  Hence, on our next cruise - will likely leave the Amazon Fire HD tablet at home & just bring a iPad mini along for DW to use.  

I was hoping to sneak onboard this coming Sunday, on a last minute sailing on the Joy as 4 others within "our" inner circles are going for 7 nights to Bermuda ... they'll be back during Fleet Week.  Alas, it's all sold out ahead.  Mid June, we are on a week+ road trip to Canada, including Toronto and Montreal - otherwise, wouldn't rule out taking a Joy'ish ride to Bermuda again.  Countdown to our next confirmed & paid up cruise, still 4+ months out ... will just watch & wait and see.  For now, it's these semi and live reports ahead that's going to "cure" those post-cruise withdrawal - DW and I woke up this early morning around 5 AM, hungry as it's already 10 or 11 AM over in Europe ... a case of moderate jetlag.  

P.S. Sylvia, don't blink if you think this one fits your schedule and book it.  

@schmoopie17  I believed you asked the question of where's the RLD in Amsterdam, we apparently drove right by and even walked around the "fringe" boundaries while in town, heading back toward the ship in the failed quest to find a place to eat.   

Now that you can share this w a friend, just take the "Fifth" should Mrs S asked what this is about if she see the red circle on this localized map ... tell her it's a reference point to the nearby Central Station (trains & transport, buses & ferries, etc. along the riverbank) 

19 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

OH, you know I'd be saying "hell yes to BK!" I wouldn't be able to pass up a French BK.

LoL 😆 glad to see you enjoyed this, once "live" to relive last Nov's Prima TA. 

What about KFC in Iceland, apparently very popular whereas along coastal England, it was McK'D's and their driver-thru.  We laughed seeing Domino's Pizza and no Dunkin's spotted.

What's on your 2's radar in cruising this year ?  Was checking out the Joy for a last minute, short 7 days to Bermuda out of NY - all sold out this weekend 😳 Oh well, will just wait & see what my BIL, SIL and best friends have to say about the newly refurbished, again, have to say or report back.  

Regards 😎 

Catching up on posts while we're at sea or away, onboard & ashore as it wasn't easy to keep up w everyone's remarks & comments.

On a sad note of closure, without further details - please do not ask and to respect privacy - my understanding that one of the Prima guest taken ashore for medical care in Iceland has been granted eternal membership on a different heavenly cruise line, in good hands.  Thoughts & prayers for the family, loved ones & friends and thanks, NCL in  providing urgent care, speeding up arrival time to Reykjavik and doing all the trained professional onboard can do to help.