mking8288

I was just busting chops on the tea options and oh yes, the variety of coffee options in the studio lounge 😸🤫🫢🫢😉 So, will they cheerfully deliver those cookies to our stateroom for a nominal fee of $9.95 plus 20% - in the quantities requested, for our convenience to sail & sustain ??? 🙄 What about as a part of breakfast delivery at $4.95

I have a stash of instant coffee ICE (in case of emergencies) whenever traveling but the organic black tea that I sourced somewhere else probably won't help ... down to 1 ginseng tea bag too, plus another herbal drink mix for sore throat, etc. If any of those can work, would cheerfully gift them to you. We finished our dinner in The Commodore around 8:30 and went over to Penrose & found some chairs to listen to the Duo close out the evening. Maybe your group should try The Commodore tomorrow night. Pop our heads into the Club & looked around, night still young for many, and then called it the night as Mrs getting sleepy already. Sounds like no Vacation Hero Card for your server this evening - we got 2 cards to fill out. Calling it an early night ? We are going to do Hudson in the AM and lunch, but avoiding dinner there - no welcoming smiles from the 2/3 of the hostesses out front is just isn't cool as we watched & see them do selectively laugh ... we've seen enough to call them out after 11 days onboard. The same group on our last Prima TA, they don't remember Mrs M and I with 2 different faces but I have a good memory & undercover photos (post #460 on last Nov TA) from Nov to match up. It is leadership by example, starting from the top - seriously. 5 more days before issuing my / our final report card.

FSD for Day 12 - tomorrow is the last full Sea Day on this TA, spring-like forecast w temp in 60's 😎 🌅 👌 and after 3 port days 🛅 ... we will be homeward bound 👋 " leaving on a jet plane ... "

Sunset was about 9:30 PM and smooth sailing this evening, doing 21 kts w extra calm seas, waves of 1 to 2 m, maybe 4 to 6 ft. at most - approaching the North Sea ahead ~ after midnight. One hour ahead on the clock again.

@toeloop onboard & inside, it's very comfortable, temp maintained to around 70 degrees F, unless you step into outdoors as a warm fleece and/or windproof jacket is likely needed, especially sailing north to Norway & Iceland ... be prepared for wet & showers, and walking poles if doing the popular tours to see the NP and crater, thermo springs, etc. Enjoy your cruise.

FSD for Day 11 in pdf PDF document.pdf

Elsewhere, LeBistro & other specialty restaurants doesn't look as busy tonight - 2 shows, 7 and 9 PM has the crowds spread out ... besides, probably most used up their Platinum vouchers and dining packages by now. Expect the MDR to be busier tomorrow evening and rest of the week, except possibly not with Le Havre w a late 10 PM sailaway to arrive by 6 AM in Southampton, disembarkation 😯😯😯 Listening to music by Duo Rita in the Penrose Atrium, excellent voice & choice of easy listening music varieties.

The Commodore MDR tonight was nearly full when we walked up to be greeted, cheerfully, I must say, by the hostess and she didn't tell us to wait outside by the bar / lounge as there were others sitting around, no sure if they are waiting. But, we were seated by the window within 2 minutes of getting there ... the Hudson is staffed by a higher count of greeters but never enough to be escorted to a table. What a difference 🤫 By coincidence, it was our friendly waitress from Palomar on the last Prima TA and she also took care of our DWO dinner table on that cruise hosted by Adrian, Asst F&B Director. Service tonight, excellent as it was done with a friendly smile. One of the Asst Manager also came by to say hello to see that dinner is good. What more can I say 👍 Smoke duck - bravo Curry Lamb Broiled Pollock

View of the lifeboat on Deck 6 and the open deck below (Deck 5 with Oceanviews & Inside cabins) where it appeared to be closer for public access unless it is for emergency egress & Assembly Station staging use. Calm seas and barely feel any movements, waves & swells, etc. Going at 20.3 kts with ETA to Amsterdam as early as 6 AM - per MT - on Thursday vs. 10 AM scheduled arrival

I was doing something else early, a lot of marine vessels on the move for sure, and probably submarines below the surface on patrol ... have my binoculars ready to spot them on the horizon.

Sitting by Starbucks, iConnect or iCafe manager is off for dinner break, it seemed that the Libby library app is broken or offline, but I can access my home Library's eCollection readily - going to ask & find out what's happened to it, as NCL Prima is not referencing it in the FSD anymore, not on this sailing. Starlink WiFi speed remained consistent, not faster nor better, not worst either - inside The Commodore Room while 2 UK officers were doing their inspections this morning, or now at the iCafe - just as consistent and half the speed compared to last Nov's Prima TA 😯 Direct messaging, targeted & bilingual, mini signs at nearly every bar & Starbucks table here, maybe & hopefully will herd those player's group into the provider venues at designated time, to foster sharing of limited public spaces, respect and common sense. It only takes a handful of them to ignore etiquettes, get loud & ruined the cruise experience for everyone onboard and just shameful - I appluad Prima leadership for addressing & doing this, and other measures as see fit.

Ocean Walk today remains free of lounger hogs and plenty of cabana to use, no towels reservation, and nobody around for that matter. Yay 😁 Seas are calm, water slides not open & haven't seen a soul in the Infinity pool either 😁 Windy & chilly, outside air temperature in the 40's surely is "magical"

@Fogfog Sharon ... Chicken Parm was fine, good, according to Susan and with the pasta al dente today, not easy for the gallery. I had the turkey burger - not pictured - which looked like a well done beef burger to her, a bit too salty for my taste. Asian meatball slider was good, 2 of them could easily be an entree by itself ... meat patty is small, smaller than before but tasty w the sweet soy sauce & pickles veggies. Opinions are subjective & personally biased, of course. The UK immigration is over (by 3 PM) & done, not sure what it accomplished aside from a manual match of passport photo vs person's face, mine being almost 10 years older since ... gotta renew mine soon, 6 months before expiration next year 😆 I assume they will do an entry stamp when we get off in Southampton this Sunday, or else ??? Don't they stamp passports for border entry in UK along w exiting from their airports. As for Hudson's - it seemed to be a bit better but still seeing mobs in small & big clusters standing around the hostess stations, one always smile and the other 🙄😳 Well, words possibly got out as my stateroom probably got flagged possibly by more than 1 asst manager, so wait-list for seating isn't too bad - can't speak for other CC'ers onboard and under their radar. Tonight, we'll go "undercover" in the other place & see. We'll be moving the clock backwards again later this week as we head to UK and jet-lag with time zones by the time we fly home. As long as the ship won't sail without us - all good. Those 4 fools could've been stranded in Iceland.

Another case in point of smart engineering by poor design; and, never visualized and put thru field trial or testing for functionality - and to provide 2 USB ports with a maximum output of 1.5 amp only, each port - only if it is not blocked by one's Apple charger. Should be an easy & simple fix to redesign the 2 modular cutout together, or, maybe turn that single 110V outlet sideways (90 deg) Station Zebra is just a jack of all trades but expert in none, but eagle eyes here sure can spot a few issues. No towels on the floor today nor yellow caution cone to alert for wet/slippery floor ... but the molding/trims just doesn't look right to my eyes.

Hahaha 🤣 🤣 🤣 I will try to convince Susan to possibly go & check it out. Libby (NCL's new online library) is cool except it is a PIT😤 to set-up the library card for NCL alone, not exactly user friendly and for the average retiree's and seniors, not good. I click the Kindle app on the Amazon Fire tablet and seconds later, reading my pre-loaded books & what not. 3,000 to 5,000 isn't much since it's dominated by magazines & I can't see a thing aside from the sample pages. Any other CC'ers onboard set-up their NCL Prima account to reserve and borrow a book or magazine to read, love to know your thoughts. I think I will just watch some free PPV movies on the wall-mounted Samsung Smart TV.

Lunch in the Hudson & one of the asst. manager we met from the last TA helped made sure we are getting prompt & attentive services.

The best part of waking up on a cruise is coffee, freshly brewed - except when you are still sleepy. And you got the view out the giant AFT windows 😎

Haha, you should've ... We left around 9:30 and didn't see you - with the large, solo group ? Did you close down the Prima night club again 😆😁🫢

Close enough while dropping off the car & took photos in the unlikely case of issues w body damaged ... It was rather windy at times and had to mind holding the car door while opened for egress. Width between marked parking spots are tight as local drive mostly small, compact n subcompact cars ... was tempted to rent a Toyota beast, the Land cruiser 😊 to sail &:sustain. The cost for filling the "petrol" tank reminds me of driving in Canada. Highlander seats 6 but really best for 5 adults in 2 rows as the 3rd row is really for children. Legroom in the 2nd row isn't that good once I adjusted the driver seat properly, and as you know, true for anyone over 6 ft.

Immigration check moving faster than scheduling w 2 Border Police doing the visual passport inspection inside The Commodore Room w the line snaking around the Belvedere Lounge - about 20+ minutes in a moving line. Progress - going 21 kts toward Amsterdam

It's a sea brass coated with a bread-like coating, not just sea salt but seasoning, oven baked for 35 minutes & then de-boned in front of your eyes w fork & squeezer carefully ... very tasty & excellent. MP or market priced, $90 and you can use 2 dining package or the Platinum voucher for 2 - 2 starter/appetizer/salad plus 2 sides and 2 desserts - enough for 3 to share. Dover Sole in Le Bistro was good, this was even better. Highly recommend the baked fish for seafood loving cruisers for a healthier meal vs that 12 oz. or 16 oz. red meat daily. We also learned that the bread served in Palomar came from outside vendor & not made freshly onboard, unlike other bakery items as the niece w food allergies had been advised to avoid it, just in case.

Our cumulative Google Fi data usage included 4G tethering as MiFi hotspot and using 1 additional data only sim on the iPhone SE 2022. We spent just under $60 USD equivalent to refill the 1/2 tank of gasoline used by the Toyota Highlander. For debit/credit card payment at the pump, you will need to remember your pin code.

Tonight, despite what I personally consider moderate sea state of 3 to 4 m, 10 to 13 ft. waves with a strong wind diagonal across the bow, we are truly racing at 1 AM doing 22 kts, up from 20 to 21 kts. I have no idea why the crew set up the loungers & chairs outside on Ocean Walk in the morning, it was wet with showers & clouds and sun in between, windy & chilly in the 40's. Maybe, crew exercises to prepare ahead for Europe once we reach temps of 50's and 60's. BTW, the 4 pier runners made it back to the ship as their friends onboard frantically called them to hurry up or else ... idiots 😕

Highlights from tonight's dinner at Paloma - Food Republic was not busy at 7:15 as we strolled across the packed buffet, port side ... nor when we left around 9:30 PM.

Sunset tonight is 10 PM+ under cloudy skies. Prima is going almost 21 kts with sea state being a bit rougher and waves probably 3 to 4 m or 10' & higher, usual & expected for this segment of the crossing. Hold on to railings and those barf bags should be out by the stairs & elevator lobby, etc. Station Zebra will remain on stealthy watch as we head upstairs from our midship cabin to dinner. Yes, there is a cargo ship on starboard side heading east, like us - 20X zoom bring in the details better.