barrow

Just been on Getaway where the Atrium is poorly designed to enable even those sitting to see well for popular shows, and on Star the Atrium floor is now two thirds taken over by a Starbucks cafe so not a real venue anymore, but the worst of all is Prima with no pretence at an Atrium at all. Deck 6 has a bit of an area where singers perform with seating for about 20 people, and then they bring out lots of folding chairs. Its like a church hall crossed with Ikea. Tacky. But then all the venues on Prima are  inadequate for any numbers of people to attend. NCL seems to have shifted away from any range  of entertainment in the evenings. We had the same film (Downton Abbey) three times at 10.30 pm  in the Atrium on Getaway last month. Not good on an 11 night cruise. Plenty of seating on the third night though. If.you dont put on entertainment then the Atrium is adequate. 

On 1/22/2023 at 7:58 PM, udivegirl said:

 

Completely agree, Bowlinmoe!  You are not the only one who noticed this.  The first time on the Joy was so disappointing because of it.  The biggest issue we had was whenever we went to the shore excursion desk or Guest Services, we couldn't hear the people at the desk.  It was so loud.  They got so frustrated, as did we.  And there were so many people standing around, it was hard to get to Guest Services.  Same thing on the Encore (which we really liked except for the Atrium). I think holding some of the less busy activities there works fine, but with the more popular ones it's such a zoo.  We will just avoid the atrium altogether if we ever sail on that class again or stick to the Jewel class. 

 

It sounds like the Prima/Viva may have eliminated the atrium annoyance with a better design.  We have a trip booked on it, so we will see.  Sail on!  😄  

 

 

 

Thank you for this. I am on Gem Feb 28th. I dont know what the occupancy will be for us. I think this date has been selling well here in the UK. Masks all packed.

I have been on Fred Olsen twice and enjoyed both, but I do agree with whoever said not to use a line you have not traveled with for a big cruise. There were some things we did not like and over a long period would get tiresome. We found the entertainment a bit amateur. Ok for a week but longer? The food was lovely, but again I am not sure that it would have had the variety to sustain my interest on a longer voyage.  And the Britishness of it might need getting used to.  Our two trips were very 'good value' for 6/7 nights and we would certainly do those again, but I cant recommend a prolonged journey with them when the 'good value' becomes a bit less of a consideration..

We used Alla in September in St Petersburg from the Pullmantur ship Empress. Two day 'Grand tour'. Absolutely the best tour we have done. Easy to arrange and so well managed. Our ship was Spanish so we needed a Russian based tour company to have English speaking guides. The arrival time was difficult for Alla-11 am, and she put together a terrific two day programme around our times, thie first time she had done so for this ship. Tatiana, the guide, was brilliant, and the four of us (we were with two Canadians, contacted via cruise critic-you can find the posts in here) had much the best time of it compared to the bigger, similar priced (and in Spanish) trips offered by the ship. We saw far more sights, but it never felt rushed. Lunch on day one was very good. Traditional Russian fare and well cooked. The hot blinis on day two were eaten in the mini bus after the morning at the fortress,hydrofoil and Peterhof. I loved them too. We were told they are the Russian version of fast food but they tasted better than that suggests. The visits were well timed and I can recommend Tatiana's skill in getting the four of us to the front of any queue. Not sure what the guide from the big coach party said to her but we were in. I particularly liked the small group size. We were always the focus of her attention and able to get so much from each site. The minibus was modern and very clean and the driver always managed to be parked very nearby. Not for us the long slow amble to a coach at the far side of the carpark and no waiting for latecomers.

We paid $300 dollars each for the two days, but if that sounds expensive then I would add that it included entrance to all the sites,food, transport-including both the river trip and the hydrofoil, and organisation that enabled us to see and do more than other groups on our ship. Other companies may be as good but they would find it hard to do better. I would use them again without hesitation.