Pitzel

If you are taking a yoga class in the gym, mats should be provided. If you wanted to do yoga anywhere else onboard, bring your own or use the provided beach towels (or two) instead. I have never seen mats for rent on NCL, nor have I ever seen anyone take the mats outside of the gym.

Reservations for entertainment should open up at 26 days before for suites and 21 days before for everyone else.

Yes, they are very different ports with different things to see and do. Catania is at the base of Mt. Etna, if you are interested in venturing there.

Fill the ice bucket or a large refillable water bottle with water and bring it out to the balcony. Considering how small it is (2 feet across and only a few inches deep), a few containers worth should be more than enough. As for draining, you could either do the reverse (use the ice bucket to scoop out the water and then pour it in the sink), very carefully cary the whole pool (water and all) into the bathroom to drain it, or you could pour the water into the drain on the balcony. As long as you weren’t careless about it, the neighbors and cabins below should have no idea that there was ever a “pool” there.

Yes! THIS!!! My family refers to me as their "travel agent" because I research absolutely everything and prefer to either plan ahead of time or at least know what my plan A/plan B/plan C options are for a given situation. My in-laws, in fact, will just ask, "So, where are we going on our next cruise?" because they know that I probably have a good idea of the best ships, itineraries, and deals going on. Fortunately, my husband knows this about me and knows that the planning adds to my excitement for and enjoyment of each cruise. For my 40th, he surprised me with flights to Florida and said, "I would have booked a cruise to surprise you, but I know that you would miss out on all of the research and planning. So, here are the 5 cruises that leave out of Florida that week and that would work with our flights. Go ahead and pick your favorite one and we'll go."

Yes, though the court may require a reservation. When we attempted to play, we were told that it was completely booked for the day! We were shocked because the court was empty at the time (someone had left about 5 minutes prior), but we were told that we would not have enough time to play before the next reserved time.

Yes. There are water dispensers in the buffet. As Bird mentioned, use a clean glass to fill your water bottle. You can also ask any bar tended to fill your bottle for you from the water gun.

I stand corrected. I was under the assumption that it would be ok since there isn't really any standing water in the splash pad to sit or swim in (unlike on other ships that have a wading area), but alas you are right 😞 Something like this would probably be pretty portable and could work on the balcony. It could even double as a bathtub, if your cabin doesn't have one.

Oh, and if it were me, I would leave the stroller at home or bring a collapsible umbrella stroller. A backpack or front carrier will be much easier to maneuver, both on and off the ship.

The Prima doesn't have a ton of things geared towards young kids, though there is a "splash pad" that they could use. It is mostly a solid-surface area with some water jets and rainfall areas. Not a pool or a wading area, necessarily. SO...you might want to bring a small inflatable "tub" to give your little one a place to splash or cool down if you are going during the warmer months. You could set this out on your balcony, if you have one, or bring it up to the splash pad. Depending on what your baby is eating by that age, think about bringing some baby food along or figuring out what you might need to request in order to keep your little one fed and happy.

No need to do that. We have always requested extra hangers and the room steward brings us plastic ones to use. Normally, they bring 4 or 5, but you can certainly request more than that. We have gotten a dozen brought to us before.

I am assuming that this is the form being mentioned. This is the form that is usually required if minors are traveling without their parents: https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/ParentGuardianForm_01302012b.pdf While the parents will be on board, since the children are not booked with them in the same room, NCL may want to confirm that the grandparents have "responsibility" for the children during the cruise, since the children are not booked in the same cabin as their parents (even if that is where they will eventually be staying).

We got the P+ package on our most recent Prima cruise and this is what we enjoyed most with it. Note that not all of these may be available when you sail: - Fresh squeezed juices! We would head to the bar in the buffet and order OJ, mimosas, and other orange-juice based cocktails (like a rum swizzle) and ask them to make it with fresh juice rather than the pre-packaged juices. SO much better. - Bottles of Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino. We would often request extra 1L bottles to bring back to our cabin after dinner. - We drank a lot of Veuve, but we understand that it may no longer be available or may no longer be covered by P+. YMMV. We also enjoyed many of the other champagnes available, including the Pommery Rose. - We tried all of the Macallans. Enigma was our favorite. - Journeyman Featherbone bourbon is from a very small distillery in Michigan. We were surprised to see that it is now carried onboard at some of the bars. Definitely one to try, since you really can't get it everywhere. - Loved the Woodford Old Fashioned. It is actually priced under $15 as a cocktail, even though Woodford is usually more on its own. - If you are on a ship that has Whiskey Orchard Press (one of the "Cocktails on Tap"), it is worth trying. Also under $15, but tasty! - Starbucks! I am usually not a big Starbucks drinker, but I really loved the nitro cold brew coffees (try it with any of the flavored cold foams). Walk your Starbucks over to any bar and you can ask them to add a shot of Baileys (or your liquor of choice) to it. Unfortunately, none of the wines really jumped out to us as memorable. Also, supply chain issues seem to be impacting the wine lists onboard, since many of our first choices weren't available (or weren't available in every restaurant).

Port fees and taxes of almost $500 for a 3 night cruise?!?

Edinburgh is a tender port, so account for some time needed to get from the ship to the town and A LOT of time needed to get back onboard. I recall the lines to get back on the tender were at least an hour long. We had been to Edinburg before, so we didn't feel like we had to cram in all of the sights in one day. We took public transportation around, visited the castle, met up with friends who live in the area, did a bit of shopping, and then returned back to the port to catch a tender back to the ship.

Onboard credit has to be spent onboard and cannot be applied before sailing. The daily service charges will appear on your onboard account daily. If you have $90 in REFUNDABLE onboard credit, that credit will automatically be applied towards any charges in your account. Non-refundable OBC, like your shareholder credit, cannot be used for the DSC.

Yes -- if you have refundable credit, you can request it back in cash at any point prior to the last night of the cruise. You should be able to do this at Guest Services or at the Onboard Credit desk, if there is one on your ship.

We had a forward facing suite on the Prima earlier this year. While we loved the size of the balcony, we probably wouldn't do it again. As another poster mentioned, the balconies in the front are solid, not glass. When you are sitting down, you really can't see much of anything. Also, there is a large windscreen of glass to minimize wind and spray coming into the cabin -- but it also minimizes your ability to see out and is uncomfortable to stand behind.

You can cancel some or all of the FAS before sailing as long as you do it more than 3 days in advance. If you don't drink much or don't want the specialty dining, just call your TA and have it removed. You said you booked a week before the sailing -- do you still have at least 3 days left or are you already within that window? If you can't cancel FAS or if you still have OBC to spend, you could: Pay for on-board activities, like an escape room, Canvas by U painting class, or the go cart track (availability depends on the ship). Pay for a fitness class or personal trainer session. See if you can apply it towards a CruiseNext certificate. Buy something from one of the onboard shops. While many things are overpriced onboard, they often have a 2 for $25 T-shirt sale or similar. Pay for your daily service charges (only if your OBC from your TA is "refundable" OBC). Add a an extra tip for anyone who goes above and beyond. It is easy to add a tip to the check at the end of a specialty dining meal. You have to go to guest services, though, if you want to arrange for a tip for a specific individual onboard, like your room steward or a favorite bar tender. If the OBC from your TA is refundable, you can also ask at guest services to take it back in cash. As long as you do so before the last night of your sailing, you can get all refundable OBC returned to you. On my past 2 sailings, I have gotten $400-600 back in cash because I pre-paid my daily service charges and had very few purchases onboard.

Yes, it looks like the library is no more and the space will be divided between the two H2's to creating dining areas for each suite that overlook the Horizon lounge.

Interesting. When we were in Bermuda on the Prima this April, there was someone checking key cards coming back from St. George to confirm that everyone was an NCL passenger.

It looks like they are getting rid of the Haven library, then. The dining areas in the H2s overlook the Horizon lounge. Not terribly private, but the view should be nice.

Yes, though you may need to specify what that means. Not everyone knows what "keto" entails. Want cheese and fruit? Nuts? a plate of bacon? You may not be able to get all of that as snacks, but you can certainly ask. We love getting a fruit, cracker and cheese tray for an afternoon snack. It is perfect to go with champagne or a glass of wine on the balcony.

The only issue that I can imagine is if the minors who are booked in the grandparents' staterooms would not be able to check in or get key cards without their grandparents present because they are booked in the same rooms. But, that could be avoided if the grandparents inquire when they are checking in on the best way to handle the situation: - It might not be an issue at all. In which case, yay! OR - It could be an issue, but they could see if it would be possible to board and then disembark and come back to the check in area later once the minors arrive in order to help check them in. OR - It could be an issue and they will not be able to board until the minors are present. So, the question becomes: How much earlier do you think that the grandparents will arrive vs. the rest of the family? Would it be a problem for them to wait in the terminal for the rest of the family to arrive or get to the port later, at the same time as everyone else?

On the Bliss, there is a much larger Splash Academy, Entourage, and arcade than on the Joy — all of which are on Bliss’s deck 5. There is a lot of crew space on Joy’s deck 5 that could be converted over in a similar fashion.