NCL Prima eastbound 15 days TA (Live) 27 Apr, 2024 - N.Y. to Southampton via Halifax, Iceland & EU ports - preview intro

schmoopie17 · May 5

Will be following along with everyone on their shore excursions.

We will have an Iceland stop for two days next year but have no idea what to see or do.

I guess we can anticipate seeing lots of ice...hence the name.

Fogfog · May 5

We asked this am and were told the in person is for UK.

Since we got here early we took the free bus into town and walked a couple hours to see sites. Need the exercise.

Back onboard for lunch.

About to meet our CC group for our GC tour.
Hoping the weather cooperates with no rain.

We will be gone 8 hours and miss dinner service and do dinner during our tour.

No shortage of food, I just had soup and crudite for lunch…

UKstages · May 5

7 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Hot breakfast just delivered by Room Service at 7:01 AM

i've never ordered room service breakfast on any ship. not a breakfast guy. but it looks like it was delivered in what can only be described as stackable bento boxes. looks similar to stackable airline dinnerware. is this something new? fleet wide? or just the prima class ships? (i know for lunch and dinner, i've been served on ceramic or melamine plates.)

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Annoyed that the Freestyle Daily printed misleading info about the need to do Face to Face interview, and, it wasn't corrected and revised until this announcement

25 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

We asked this am and were told the in person is for UK.

this was the case on my prima transatlantic last year at this time. no formal icelandic immigration at all... just walk off the ship. there were officers there who could have stopped anybody, but they didn't and there was no formal immigration.

UK immigration was required and was handled on board prior to arrival... a day or two before. UK immigration officers came onboard and cleared you in person at a scheduled time - more or less - in the observation lounge (which was closed for several hours while this took place). they ran off schedule, of course, by at least a couple of hours, but never made any announcements to that effect, until people started arriving on time and were scolded to listen for the announcements. when we insisted that there weren't any announcements, a tussle ensued, until the assistant to the GM - who was in charge of the immigration fiasco - radioed somebody who confirmed that they hadn't been making announcements. they started calling people by deck number shortly thereafter. that was UK immigration, prima-style!

anyway, it was a delight to just walk off the ship in southampton!

as for misinformation in the free style daily... i'm not normally one who supports NCL in this regard, but - technically - whether or not a formal immigration is required is up to local officials. and NCL probably doesn't get clearance to forego formal immigration until they arrive. it might've had something to do with the early arrival... there may simply not have been enough people at that early hour to process everybody.

25 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

We will be gone 8 hours and miss dinner service and do dinner during our tour.

i took one of those tours. i wasn't looking forward to the "lunch" (dinner) very much at all. it was served family-style at an unprepossessing cafe at the back of a gift shop. turns out, it was one of the best pieces of salmon i had ever had in my life. the salad and vegetables weren't much to write home about, but that north atlantic salmon was absolutely stunning.

Edited May 5 by UKstages

Turtles06 · May 5

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

I guess we can anticipate seeing lots of ice...hence the name.

Actually, as you may find in your research, Greenland has more ice, and Iceland has more green. 😊

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

We will have an Iceland stop for two days next year but have no idea what to see or do.

Lots of info over in the Iceland and Greenland ports of call forum.

mking8288 · May 5

More from inside Thingvellir NP

The flat top mountain

mking8288 · May 5

Nice lunch stop -

Sugar Magnolia · May 5

Nice quiet beautiful day in Reykjavik while on the ship.

UKstages · May 5

1 hour ago, goldmom said:

I've been reading articles lately that say to not plug your devices directly into public USB ports as hackers can get your info, which has now, of course, made me paranoid!

the FBI issued a widely misinterpreted "juice jacking" warning last year about PUBLIC charging stations. the warning was credible, but theoretical, yet it has made some folks, including a frequent contributor to this forum, heretical. the warning was based on an FCC warning four year earlier that never got much attention, possibly because the pandemic started soon thereafter. but after the FBI issued their warning last year, the FCC felt compelled to reissue their warning. rinse, lather, repeat.

in the first place, it can be argued that a USB port in your stateroom is not in fact a public USB charging station, such as one you might find in a shopping mall or an airport lounge. in order for someone to gain any benefit at all by jacking your USB connection, they would have first had to have booked passage in the same stateroom as you (prior to your voyage) to hack into the system. and it really isn't a system at all... it's just a port in your stateroom. there is no connectivity to other USB ports elsewhere on the ship.

it is theoretically possible to hack a public charging station, but no evidence has yet been presented that it has been done or, if it has, that the practice is widespread. and, again, your stateroom USB port is not exactly "public."

goldmom · May 5

Thank you for your response and all the information.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise. I'm really enjoying following your reports.

mking8288 · May 5

Gotta Island Lighthouse

mking8288 · May 6

Reykjavik random scenic photos -

Ellis1138 · May 6

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Gotta Island Lighthouse

Did you rent a car to do all this?

We'll be renting one for when we arrive in Reykjavik and keeping it for a couple days and using it to get to the airport.

One piece of info I can't find is where to park the rental car at the place the Prima docks in Reykjavik and whether it's free parking.

mking8288 · May 6

4 hours ago, goldmom said:

... I noticed in one of your photos that it looked as if you had a charger plugged directly into a USB port ...

Yes, I have several devices - selectively - connected directly to our stateroom's USB-C and USB-A ports, also use them to recharge our portable battery pack.

UK already helped answered & explain, I concur 100% from experience & knowledge. It's something that I don't do at airport public charging stations - and - the reason for carrying the battery bank to boost & recharge. Ship's outlets aren't exactly "public" unless it's hacked by ship security or housekeeping with access to tap into the wirings ... there are many other ways of gaining access if and when it's being carried out. Evil apps sneaked into Play Stores and those continued to be a problem.

There are countermeasures available but ... nay, I am not worried or going to be paranoid about. It's the banking and corporate database breaches that can inflict more damaged ... enough said.

Thanks for following along, again and to allow us to share the journey. Regards 😎

mking8288 · May 6

2 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

Did you rent a car to do all this? ... One piece of info I can't find is where to park the rental car at the Prima docks in Reykjavik and whether it's free parking.

Yes, we rented a hybrid as pictured w built-in navigation & also support Apple Car play & Android Auto. Toyota Highlander that seats 6, tightly in row #3. Free parking in the lot next to the Pier's bus & taxi area, very easy. Be mindful local signage are minimal & not in English. One of our 2 friends also on CC served as navigator checking his map app. Gasoline is $$$ at about $9 USD here.

Free parking is on the other side of this area, just across the street.

A beautiful evening - about 9:30 PM and we went our again ... there is a line of taxis including vans, with fixed rates to take one to popular locations.

Off duty crews with shore leaves either walked (long) or share a taxi to go into town at 11 PM (must be back by 2 AM)

mking8288 · May 6

Last batch of not so random photos hijacked off Susan's Samsung Galaxy - tonight, time to get zzzz's. Hudson MDR open at 7 AM for breakfast & then we head out again for several hours, drop off the rental w tank refilled, and back to the ship.