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

[mking8288]

Dan @graphicguy I can confirm what Sugar reported, The Local passage has remained clear and dry, safe to cross without ... 

 

Nearby, the Haven elevator access nearby  remained unguarded.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Dan @graphicguy I can confirm what Sugar reported, The Local passage has remained clear and dry, safe to cross without ... 

Indeed @graphicguy sacrificed his body, soul and dignity so that we would all be safe. 
 

[Fogfog]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Latitudes Welcome Back reception inside the OL is a joke, made that a big, big, really joke in hosting a large scale event for 2,200+ Latitudes guests with seating space normally for 75 to 100 plus, including back against the window "seats" on the wraparound lounge, where you can hear and music after passing the band but otherwise cannot see the rest.  Cubes of cheese & crackers only served.

 

 

Over 900+ Platinum and higher Latitudes members, over 80% of the ship passengers being Latitudes - apologies for a big turnout, really. The reception should've been held not here but in a bigger event space. 

 

 

CruiseNext manager was the only one that spoke, nobody else - not the Captain nor the GM, who was here along with (some) other officers.  

 

 

Rants done and moving from being grumpy.  Otherwise, view from the OL - foggy and ship blowing it's horn on a regular interval.

 

 

We were at a welcome back event.. Few pax there.. lots of officers. Live music. I think it was Sunday nite. Spoke w Captain, CD. Most folks sitting in chairs with cocktails while apps on spoons passed. We stayed about 25 min which was longer than the officers. We were surprised it was poorly attended

 

 

@graphicguy

coming into lunch at Haven they put a traffic cone over a tiny water spill from “condensation” just as I approached. Do they know we are CC friends?

Edited April 30 by Fogfog

[JIMESOPUS]

Indulge food hall on the Viva is even better than the Prima, removal of the second Starbucks and relocation of one of the Food trucks allows for more seating and better traffic flow thru Indulge.

 

Weather update, expect more of the same. No mention of raining men inside the ship.

[graphicguy]

9 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Indeed @graphicguy sacrificed his body, soul and dignity so that we would all be safe. 
 

Sacrificed myself for the common good.

 

Henry...those Haven elevators can only be accessed with a Haven Key card.  We're a snobby bunch, dontchaknow! 😉

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Over 900+ Platinum and higher Latitudes members, over 80% of the ship passengers being Latitudes - apologies for a big turnout, really. The reception should've been held not here but in a bigger event space. 

 

sounds like the reception should have been held on the bliss or the joy or a broom closet on the icon of the seas

[graphicguy]

6 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

We were at a welcome back event.. Few pax there.. lots of officers. Live music. I think it was Sunday nite. Spoke w Captain, CD. Most folks sitting in chairs with cocktails while apps on spoons passed. We stayed about 25 min which was longer than the officers. We were surprised it was poorly attended

 

 

@graphicguy

coming into lunch at Haven they put a traffic cone over a tiny water spill from “condensation” just as I approached. Do they know we are CC friends.

Told NCL to watch out for the likes of you all.  I told them you'd be the type of person that would buy CN certs while chewing out the CN Manager for not being able to find hash browns at Spice H20.

 

Seriously, I'm enjoying all the reports from everyone on this cruise.  I'm happy y'all are having a good time and am jealous I'm not there with you.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Not surprisingly, there are no cookies to be found on the Prima, not even at the studio lounge this time. 
 

Any cookie sightings in the Haven? Or are you guys sworn to secrecy, lest there be class riots?
 

I spoke to two crew members who were in the studio lounge at different times and kindly asked if we could have cookies in the lounge instead of pound cake every single day. 
 

The first member replied that he wasn’t in charge of the lounge, but he is aware that others have asked for cookies, that we should bring it up to the guy in charge, but that he would also mentioned the request to his boss. 
 

The second member replied that he was also aware of the cookies request, that he would bring it up to his boss, and that the reason cookies are not put out is because it is difficult to control the quality of the cookies. Another solo and I looked at each other and muttered under our breath: we don’t care…we’ll eat them regardless. 
 

[bedfordmom]

Just ask at the ice cream counter and they will surreptitiously hand to you in a covered plate - generally only one type. I would make ice cream cookie sandwiches with them. 

[blaurie]

The welcome back event was crazy. They said it was for decks 5-12 only, but it was PACKED. I had to sit along the wall. 

 

Things have settled down a bit, but venues are still pretty crazy. The amount of people hoarding/savings tables at Indulge or Surf Side is out of control. 

 

Sapphire and Platinum here, I've never seen crowd management/control so out of hand as it has been on this sailing. 

 

Finally did get past line police at Hudson's and Commodore to get my Sapphire priority seating last night and today for Lunch. We're on a roll! 

[mking8288]

Current status - what, where ... it's blank 

 

Today's foul ball ... this, I am calling

Showed up at Onda fir our 6:30 PM dinner reservations. It's full and they don't have a table ready for us ... apologize & asked us to wait outside at the Whiskey Bar  @ 6:50 PM 

 

 

It make sense, however, quite challenging to do a 3 or 4 course dinner service under 90 minutes - with the restaurant earliest seating at 5:00 

 

Host just came out & said the guests at the table that's ours ... having dessert now 😯  He will let us know once it's ready.

 

Edited April 30 by mking8288

[Sugar Magnolia]

I am on lucky deck 13. Would I miss anything if I skipped the Latitudes party tomorrow? Were there any special announcements? 

 

[blaurie]

Onda reservations tonight for 630p. It's 7pm now and they still don't have a table for us. Told us they're waiting for a table to have dessert so maybe another 15-20 minutes. 

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Not surprisingly, there are no cookies to be found on the Prima, not even at the studio lounge this time. 
 

Any cookie sightings in the Haven? Or are you guys sworn to secrecy, lest there be class riots?
 

I spoke to two crew members who were in the studio lounge at different times and kindly asked if we could have cookies in the lounge instead of pound cake every single day. 
 

The first member replied that he wasn’t in charge of the lounge, but he is aware that others have asked for cookies, that we should bring it up to the guy in charge, but that he would also mentioned the request to his boss. 
 

The second member replied that he was also aware of the cookies request, that he would bring it up to his boss, and that the reason cookies are not put out is because it is difficult to control the quality of the cookies. Another solo and I looked at each other and muttered under our breath: we don’t care…we’ll eat them regardless. 
 

They did have cookies in Feb, along with some other delectable deserts free for the taking on a kiosk on one side of CoCos.  Seems some ships are getting them, some aren't.  Crazy.

 

Waits for dining establishments is NOT understandable.  If they can't do better, then someone at their HQ.  Who's your Captain?  He was very hands on with my Prima Feb cruise.

Edited April 30 by graphicguy

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Not surprisingly, there are no cookies to be found on the Prima, not even at the studio lounge this time. 
 

Any cookie sightings in the Haven? Or are you guys sworn to secrecy, lest there be class riots?
 

I spoke to two crew members who were in the studio lounge at different times and kindly asked if we could have cookies in the lounge instead of pound cake every single day. 
 

The first member replied that he wasn’t in charge of the lounge, but he is aware that others have asked for cookies, that we should bring it up to the guy in charge, but that he would also mentioned the request to his boss. 
 

The second member replied that he was also aware of the cookies request, that he would bring it up to his boss, and that the reason cookies are not put out is because it is difficult to control the quality of the cookies. Another solo and I looked at each other and muttered under our breath: we don’t care…we’ll eat them regardless. 
 

I do not remember if there were cookies on our August Prima cruise, but I think not.

 

But on our recently completed river cruise on the Gate ! Monarch Express, there were always cookies available! 😊

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, blaurie said:

Onda reservations tonight for 630p. It's 7pm now and they still don't have a table ... maybe another 15-20 minutes. 

4 of us are finally seated by the window, got the bread after making our comp'd wine selection, and server just took our order at 7:35. With luck, we will finish dessert & out of here after 9 to 9:30. 

 

 

For others - the latest Platinum complimentary wine list - 

 

 

Host explained with 24 inside tables inside, they had 30 reservations for 5 pm alone, and with the weather, couldn't use outdoor seating as some guests prefer to be outdoors. Duh - who knew, we are sailing toward Iceland & not Bahamas 

 

No shows to catch tonight, it's a good thing.

 

All of the listed & available shows that are bookable - Donna & The Price is Right, all sold out per NCL app 😤😔😳 - fully booked already as of yesterday, for real ?  I don't know what else to say about this new freestyle cruising.

Prima Apr 2024 TA free-style-daily-04.pdf

[JIMESOPUS]

Problems with seating for Onda? Blame the weather, the booking system includes outdoor seating and assumes the weather is prefect everyday.

[mking8288]

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Would I miss anything if I skipped the Latitudes party tomorrow? ... special announcements? 

Yes, you'll miss all the hogs that got inside early, leaving the 2 long lines that spilled out into the pool area, plain speechless. Oh, the humanity - 1 woman reserved 3 chairs for her friends. Another couple seized a lounger plus a chair, saying 2 others are coming, plus blocked others from sitting along the window (next to / behind them) with space for at least 4 more.  

 

You won't miss the cheese & crackers.  CruiseNext manager said something about ... but ignored by most, nothing aside from more buying & booking onboard 

 

Go & enjoy lunch, you won't miss anything from the event, including the latest DoubleUp offer.

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Yes, you'll miss all the hogs that got inside early, leaving the 2 long lines that spilled out into the pool area, plain speechless. Oh, the humanity - 1 woman reserved 3 chairs for her friends. Another couple seized a lounger plus a chair, saying 2 others are coming, plus blocked others from sitting along the window (next to / behind them) with space for at least 4 more.  

 

You won't miss the cheese & crackers.  CruiseNext manager said something about ... but ignored by most, nothing aside from more buying & booking onboard 

 

Go & enjoy lunch, you won't miss anything from the event, including the latest DoubleUp offer.

That all sounds so tempting though 

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

That all sounds so tempting though 

I had to speculate, however, whether or not some of them were already inside when the doors from steerage were open, via special passage, from behind unmarked doors.

 

While we are know this is mostly a CruiseNext event hosted by the Latitudes team, one is used to seeing the Captain, GM and sometimes the CD to say a few sentences to welcome and introduce the leadership team.  Not this time.  Maybe Alvin was in the crew fitness center as he clearly gained a lot, life's been good but his image can be better with the waistline for someone in his age cohort, IMHO of course. 

 

Another gentleman sitting on the window next to me just sailed thru Asia last year (disappointed with the port experience & excursions) and questioned whether he's going to buy more CN certs) from Taiwan originally, retired to Florida after decades being a New Yorker. 

 

 

[mking8288]

Dinner tonight, despite the 45 minutes wait, was good, used 1 voucher for the wine plus 2 dining package - lots of food that challenged us to finish most. 

 

 

 

Pizzas - a meal by itself for 1 or 2 or more to share.

 

Why can't they do in the Surfside Cafe w the same oven 🤔

 

 

 

 

 

They used cookies in one of the 5 dessert - yay 😁 

 

The sides were just okay as per DW's subjective opinion.

[mking8288]

Day 5 onboard as it is 00:20 hour. 
 

Upgrade price to basic unlimited WiFi onboard for remaining 11 days using the 300 FAS minutes plan as a trade up is now down to $130, pretty sweet deal with the $145 credit.  
 

If we do this, we’ll still have $120 balance from the NR-OBC to spend on something else, i.e. $15 sale w 2 for $25 deal. 

 

[mking8288]

Too much unspent non-refundable OBC, no problem - make a stop here on Deck 8 Mid 

 

 

 

First world problem solved 😁 

[graphicguy]

On 4/29/2024 at 10:24 PM, mking8288 said:

WiFi 6 StarLink-powered Station Zebra now setup to sail & support "Live" CruiseCritic  posting over the next 5 full days of eastbound TA crossing to Reykjavik, Iceland. 

 

 

Use the same mouse and phone when I cruise!

[mking8288]

A smooth ride tonight, later this afternoon & evening might be tricky to cut a safer & smoother path in between 2 fronts while turning NE toward Iceland.  Thu, Fri & Sat. looking good - maybe getting in earlier than 1 or 2 PM on Sunday.