Live-Prima 12/30

[molemaui]

32 minutes ago, vacation65 said:

I don't understand about the tax on the drinks, is this even with the drink package?? I also wanted to ask did you leave from Port Canaveral, if you did what terminal did you leave from 5 or 10? I'm a bit confused as to which one we leave from, we are going on Jan. 15

Enjoy your cruise, hope engine gets repaired soon.

Left from Terminal 5. No signage. Uber driver knew where to go. 

[vacation65]

18 minutes ago, macewank said:

You're still in the US/Florida until your ship is 3 miles out to sea. 

What I'm trying to say is with the drink package we already paid the taxes and gratuities  so that doesn't make sense. 

[macewank]

Just now, vacation65 said:

What I'm trying to say is with the drink package we already paid the taxes and gratuities  so that doesn't make sense. 

Not tax, just gratuity.  The taxes are only charged when you're in a US port.  It's annoying for sure, but there's no way you can "pre-pay" them.  

[vacation65]

3 minutes ago, molemaui said:

Left from Terminal 5. No signage. Uber driver knew where to go. 

Thanks we are driving and parking there ourselves so I just wanted to make sure. When we did our check-in it has the address for terminal 19, but on the Port Canaveral cruise schedule it shows terminal 5.

Thanks for the information,

Rita

[vacation65]

Just now, macewank said:

Not tax, just gratuity.  The taxes are only charged when you're in a US port.  It's annoying for sure, but there's no way you can "pre-pay" them.  

Wow that is weird, on Royal Caribbean we left from New York but didn't pay any taxes on our drinks while we were docked there. Good to know about Florida.

 

[KKB]

 

 

2 hours ago, molemaui said:

Cancelled theater reservations to back to Syd Norman’s. YES, it is that good. 
 

YES, IT IS.

 

Day 4. 

 

it’s about 1:00 ship time right now and we’re still not moving. It’s nice at the pool so we will stay here for the afternoon. Le Bistro and more Syd Norman’s tonight. 
 

We sailed Getaway in 2019 & fell in love with Syds & The Waterfront. Saw Syds every night.

I sailed her 2 weeks in August--WAS AT EVERY SYD'S SHOW! (ok, I did only go to one Fleetwood Mac show each week)

We booked her in April & then got worried when Syds has disappeared from all ships entertainment offerings on the NCL site, except Prima. (not sure why, I know a band member who is on Breakaway thru June). Worked out...I wanted to try Prima anyway so switched.

 

Loving your TR!

Edited January 2, 2023 by KKB

[unliketherest988]

I am sailing on Prima this Sunday. Hopefully the problems get resolved and doesn't require extensive repair. Is the ship moving at all? I saw it was at 13 knts a bit ago. 

 

 

4 hours ago, goldbullion1212 said:

On prime as well we lost an engine last night and  are now going to miss our stop in Belize.. Captain said at 9 am  they are working on it but no further updates… what was strange is we were told earlier last night it was possible that we  could miss Belize because of weather so I think they had been having issues since we left Cozumel yesterday 

 

[Liljo22]

31 minutes ago, vacation65 said:

Wow that is weird, on Royal Caribbean we left from New York but didn't pay any taxes on our drinks while we were docked there. Good to know about Florida.

 

NY also charges sales tax for purchases while in their waters.  Royal just eats those charges while NCL and Carnival do not.  

[SplashOfWater]

Just now, Liljo22 said:

NY also charges sales tax for purchases while in their waters.  Royal just eats those charges while NCL and Carnival do not.  

Seattle too. 

[Liljo22]

Just now, SplashOfWater said:

Seattle too. 

Thanks.  I think it’s pretty much all states now.   Not sure about Alabama and Maryland though.  

[Kirstys1]

1 hour ago, Liljo22 said:

Thanks.  I think it’s pretty much all states now.   Not sure about Alabama and Maryland though.  

cruise from the uk, or northern europe - never been charged tax there, yet... on ncl... 

[goldbullion1212]

3 hours ago, travelerblue said:

My son and dil are also on the ship now. They are so disappointed to miss Harvest Cay but that is just one of numerous issues. They have mentioned that slides are either not working or are closed, there's a broken staircase, only about 30% of one of the Escape Rooms is working and someone "stole" the key to another one and there's no backup key, lots of the statues in there are broken. Overall it is definitely not what they were expecting and my son has been on close to 20 NCL cruises. They were looking forward to the "new" ship but it's overall in the worst shape of any ship they've been on over the years. They did say the food is great and the ship is beautiful, just many things ate already broken or not working.

I would have to agree the condition of the ship is a bit surprising… all the interactive features of the Putt putt golf are not working as well. The ship is a labyrinth and is a bit frustrating to navigate but what I found to be most shocking ia that state of the furniture obviously keep in mind it’s a brand new ship and most of the outdoor cushions have stains and parts of the decking is extremely worn and discolored. 

[goldbullion1212]

2 hours ago, unliketherest988 said:

I am sailing on Prima this Sunday. Hopefully the problems get resolved and doesn't require extensive repair. Is the ship moving at all? I saw it was at 13 knts a bit ago. 

 

 

 

I think they have sorted it all out so you should be good to go!! 

[goldbullion1212]

The reason for the slow speed now is because since we couldn’t make Belize the ship has been just circling between the missed port and tomorrows.. I would assume after tomorrows port we should see the resumption of normal speeds 

[Karaboudjan]

13 minutes ago, goldbullion1212 said:

I would have to agree the condition of the ship is a bit surprising… all the interactive features of the Putt putt golf are not working as well. The ship is a labyrinth and is a bit frustrating to navigate but what I found to be most shocking ia that state of the furniture obviously keep in mind it’s a brand new ship and most of the outdoor cushions have stains and parts of the decking is extremely worn and discolored. 

 

I think almost all of the stains in your photo are soot from the exhaust.  It was all over the Vibe most days.  The midships funnel does not help.  That said we did see other stains on some of the furniture.  I think part of the problem is people messing it up with food from Indulge.  Other ships seem to have more of a separation between eating and lounging areas, and where the two might still mix, like in the pool area, you have more industrial loungers that probably clean up better.

[travelerblue]

24 minutes ago, goldbullion1212 said:

I would have to agree the condition of the ship is a bit surprising… all the interactive features of the Putt putt golf are not working as well. The ship is a labyrinth and is a bit frustrating to navigate but what I found to be most shocking ia that state of the furniture obviously keep in mind it’s a brand new ship and most of the outdoor cushions have stains and parts of the decking is extremely worn and discolored. 

That is exactly what my son said...deck chairs stained with what looks like soot and he also mentioned the mini golf. It is just not what they were expecting on a new ship at all.

[Karaboudjan]

14 minutes ago, travelerblue said:

That is exactly what my son said...deck chairs stained with what looks like soot and he also mentioned the mini golf. It is just not what they were expecting on a new ship at all.

 

Some of it might be because it is new.  For example, has that particular type of mini golf been done before on a ship?  Maybe that has introduced issues that need some time to be worked out.  Having some holiday weeks with swarms of kids might have stressed some of these systems like they have not been before.  I wonder if they had issues with the go karts when they were first introduced?

[vacation65]

6 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

NY also charges sales tax for purchases while in their waters.  Royal just eats those charges while NCL and Carnival do not.  

I'm surprised that Royal Caribbean eats that charge because they charged us 1 cent for a beer that my husband had because it was over the $15 max that is included in the drink package. That being said their drink package is much better then Norwegian.

[Beer Belly]

What is the band playing at Syd's ?. Our Getaway cruise in April 2022 it was Fleetwood Mac Rumors album, and Prom Night.

[KKB]

3 hours ago, Beer Belly said:

What is the band playing at Syd's ?. Our Getaway cruise in April 2022 it was Fleetwood Mac Rumors album, and Prom Night.

The Syd show is the same on all ships.

[Beer Belly]

2 hours ago, KKB said:

The Syd show is the same on all ships.

I was thinking maybe change it up for 2023, still a good show, I'll go see it again

 

[molemaui]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:48 AM, Beer Belly said:

What is the band playing at Syd's ?. Our Getaway cruise in April 2022 it was Fleetwood Mac Rumors album, and Prom Night.

Same. Absolutely phenomenal. Don’t know if it’s the same band but that is what they played. 

[molemaui]

Since my Monday post, cruise continues to be excellent. Next port stops were Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and today-Ocho Rios, Jamaica. 
 
I don’t have much to say about these ports as we usually stay on board and enjoy the ship (while empty) on Caribbean itineraries. Sort of a been there, done that attitude. 
 

Dining remains excellent. Enjoyed Cagney’s, Le Bistro and Onda by Scarpetta. Quality of dining in Haven and specialty restaurants is absolutely on par with lines such as Oceania, Windstar and Silversea all who have excellent food in my opinion. 
 

We went to see Noise Boys - excellent production technically but not our cup of tea. 

 

We discovered (I say discovered because it’s probably the furthest point from our cabin) the Observation Deck in the front of Deck 17. Beautiful place to relax, read or have afternoon tea. My wife and I enjoyed the scones. We’ve gone back several times just as a change of pace or to relax. 
 

If you drink, premium plus is absolutely the way to go. Between the better wines, champagne and great bourbons and single malts, I feel this is a worthwhile upgrade. 
 

Tomorrow is a sea day so plan on being at the pool all day. 
 

Continue to love this ship! 
 

 

 

 

[The Traveling Man]

On 1/2/2023 at 5:41 PM, Kirstys1 said:

cruise from the uk, or northern europe - never been charged tax there, yet... on ncl... 

It depends on the country of embarkation and whether your cruise is entirely within the EU or if you also visit a non-EU port.  We were on the Star several years ago when we were charged Barcelona taxes for the entire cruise.  The original itinerary was mostly within the EU, but with a couple of planned stops in Turkey.  Because of political unrest in the area at that time, NCL changed the routing to skip Turkey, adding a couple of additional port days in Greece.  As the Captain explained it, since we never left the EU, we were liable for the sales taxes that were due to the country of origin, in this case Spain.

[Beer Belly]

27 minutes ago, molemaui said:

 

Tomorrow is a sea day so plan on being at the pool all day. 

 

 

 

 

I'm interested in the pool experience, the Main Pool looks a wee bit small, and the Infinity Pools just look like big Hot Tubs.