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

[mking8288]

45 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

@graphicguy you left an indelible mark on the Prima forever…

 

The spot is dry, for now 😸  Dan, if it looks good, talk w GF and book it !  It's safe to walk past that area, apparently 😁

 

Edited May 6 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Standby only, sold out 😔 😕 😤

 

[mking8288]

Data usage in Iceland, included & free, no charges 

 

 

 

[Fogfog]

Iceland was great.

we had a Golden a circle at our with access friends here yesterday..11 of us experienced lovely incredible sites, walks and short hikes, laughs, rain, sleet, hail, sunshine, local brews and food at an off the beaten path wine-gastro pub that also had hydroponic greenhouses.

 

Since we were in Iceland early..we were up and out to use the free shuttle yesterday to explore town before lunch on the ship and then the tour. Back to the ship late..in bed by 1130p.

 

We took s historic tour via ship tour today which was a good way to see the area, burbs etc ..and despite the rain, we had fun.

We were onboard and sat for lunch with the snow flurries.

 

sail away is sunny and gorgeous.

 

Iceland showed off in lots of ways. Don’t like the weather, wait 5 min.

 

On the Face to Face..nothing said Iceland in the daily..clearly caused confusion with poor editing. 
See ya in the Commodore tom.

 

Need to look at entertainment…got so busy with Iceland we forgot.

I thought tonight was 80s in Syds, no reserv, and something later in theater..dancing..no reserv?

On room service..if we use it..it’s normally early am

 

Anyone know if those late 4 pax made the ship?

seems like they ran late provisioning..as we left late

 

Edited May 6 by Fogfog

[graphicguy]

35 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

The spot is dry, for now 😸  Dan, if it looks good, talk w GF and book it !  It's safe to walk past that area, apparently 😁

 

Thinking a round, brass plaque on that spot with my image.  Thinking something along these lines.

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/gX8H1K7rGCB2zDvXA

 

GF left to go back to TN last night.  We spent all day yesterday trying to come up with a cruise we can do together.  I still have a couple of CN certs left.  I booked Joy/Bermuda for next month.  But, neither of us have been to northern Europe.  So, partially based on the posts here, we're thinking we could pull this off.  

 

Again, I can cruise whenever.  She needs a lot of runway as far as time off.  We were looking at Europe cruises yesterday.

 

She's camera shy, but she found this one from a few years ago.  I think we were sailing the Epic....????  There was no label on the photo.

 

BTW...she's a Nurse and it's "Nurse's Week".  So, thanks to all the nurses who really heal us when we're broken.  

 

Edited May 6 by graphicguy

[Sugar Magnolia]

As you all know, we arrived Reykjavik yesterday very early in the morning instead of at 2pm due to a medical emergency. With the additional time, I took my posse on a quick walking tour of the city before they headed off to their private Blue Lagoon excursion. 
 

We waited a few minutes for the free bus shuttle for a 10 minute ride from the port to Harpa Concert Hall. From there we walked straight to Hallgrimskirkja, an Evangelical-Lutheran Church and the most visited site in the city. Built from 1945-1986 and standing 73 meters high, it is the largest church in Iceland and houses the largest organ in Iceland. 

 

Leif Erikson, the Norseman who likely was born in Iceland, was thought to have discovered North America centuries before Christopher Columbus. His statue, which was commissioned by the U.S. government, was a gift to the people of Iceland and proudly stands in front of Hallgrimskirkja. 
 

 

 

We arrived shortly before Sunday church services was about to begin at 11:00 so we quickly purchased tickets for the tower at the gift shop (1.400 ISK) so we could see a panoramic view of the city center. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

BTW...she's a Nurse and it's "Nurse's Week".  So, thanks to all the nurses who really heal us when we're broken.  

Nurses are angels on Earth ❤️

 

[Dukemstr]

51 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Standby only, sold out 😔 😕 😤

 

It was quite annoying to me to. 

 

Reservation for entertainment were never open before the beginning of the cruise and I never managed to find anywhere where I can actually make a booking for one. 
 

I am quite the person who like to book all dining and entertainment reservation in well before well before the start of the cruise

[graphicguy]

15 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

As you all know, we arrived Reykjavik yesterday very early in the morning instead of at 2pm due to a medical emergency. With the additional time, I took my posse on a quick walking tour of the city before they headed off to their private Blue Lagoon excursion. 
 

We waited a few minutes for the free bus shuttle for a 10 minute ride from the port to Harpa Concert Hall. From there we walked straight to Hallgrimskirkja, an Evangelical-Lutheran Church and the most visited site in the city. Built from 1945-1986 and standing 73 meters high, it is the largest church in Iceland and houses the largest organ in Iceland. 

 

Leif Erikson, the Norseman who likely was born in Iceland, was thought to have discovered North America centuries before Christopher Columbus. His statue, which was commissioned by the U.S. government, was a gift to the people of Iceland and proudly stands in front of Hallgrimskirkja. 
 

 

 

We arrived shortly before Sunday church services was about to begin at 11:00 so we quickly purchased tickets for the tower at the gift shop (1.400 ISK) so we could see a panoramic view of the city center. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy..Moly!  Love these pics.  You're making it very hard for me not to book this same cruise. 😉

 

9 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Nurses are angels on Earth ❤️

 

You will get no argument from me.  Couldn't agree more.

[Sugar Magnolia]

After church we visited the Icelandic Phallological Museum. I figured anything with the word “logical” in it would be scientifically-based. 
 

Sorry no pics. 

[Sugar Magnolia]

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Oh my......feeling a bit infamous.....I wonder if I can somehow capitalize on that to have a Prima doorway named after me. 😉

Happy to negotiate on your behalf. And, it is easy enough to have your face or profile etched onto those glass sliding doors as well. 
 

[Sugar Magnolia]

After the museum stop, we spotted the famous hot dog stand nearby and thought the juxtaposition was rather humorous. We were not yet hungry so we walked toward the old harbor area. 
 

There were many fun looking restaurants to try next time. This was also the area where I hope to join a puffin tour in the near future. From the old harbor we were able to get a nice view of the Harpa Concert Hall and the Prima, on an overcast day. 
 

 

 

 

 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

We are now on the move, bye 👋 bye  Reykjavik, Iceland - next 2 full days at sea, then Amsterdam w private shared van tour, 4 of us with 2 other CC couples to see the turnips & flower show, etc.  The sun is out again.  Today, we'll be dining in Paloma again @ 6:30 PM 

 

There still 75+ guests waiting to be seated in the Hudson for (late) lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best place to see flowers, especially tulips, is the Keukenhof Gardens,

[ontheweb]

57 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

After church we visited the Icelandic Phallological Museum. I figured anything with the word “logical” in it would be scientifically-based. 
 

Sorry no pics. 

OK, what was that museum about. I tried to look up phallological in the dictionary, and it was not there.

 

If I knew any of you were looking for a museum, I would have recommended the Perclan Museum, which is a museum about Iceland's geology. DW said we are not waiting in the airport forever, so she booked for us an excursion to the airport with a stop at that museum. It was truly fascinating.

 

Sad, we ended up with a long wait anyway at the airport as our plane was delayed 😒, but at least it was less than if we had not taken that fascinating excursion.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Tummies were growling so we made our way to Café Loki. 
 

I ordered the Baldur plate which comes with two pieces of Icelandic rye bread, one with mashed fish (Plokkfiskur) and one with herring and egg, and rye bread ice cream. I enjoyed all of it, even at the steep price of 4.750 ISK. 
 

The bread was delicious and different from the rye bread I am used to in the U.S. The Icelandic rye bread is darker, denser and mildly sweet. 
 

Plokkfiskur is an Icelandic dish made with fish mashed with potatoes, sautéed onions and a béchamel sauce. It was tasty. The pickled herring was exactly what I expected and tasty as well. 
 

The rye bread ice cream was the highlight. I liked that it had texture. I am not a whipped cream fan but I thought this whipped cream was delicious…lighter and tastier than any other whipped cream I have tasted. 

I give Café Loki 4.5 out of 5 stars. The half star deduction is for the steep prices, though it might be unfair if those prices are in line with other Reykjavik restaurants of similar quality. 
 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

OK, what was that museum about. I tried to look up phallological in the dictionary, and it was not there.

 

If I knew any of you were looking for a museum, I would have recommended the Perclan Museum, which is a museum about Iceland's geology.

Have you googled “Icelandic Phallological Museum?”

 

Agree the Perlan Museum was very interesting and well done. I spent a few hours there last time but we had limited time yesterday. 
 

[Fogfog]

@Sugar Magnolia

Looks yummy.

Similar to open faced sandwiches of Denmark?

 

Thought of you the other night re LB.
 

Talking about food…

well L.B was not as we remembered, and was loud etc. Filet was HUGE. slightly underdone which says a lot because I like tartare…

Nice sized piece of f.g. On top.

Escargot was missing salt imho, and idk what..I salted. That helped.

Endive salad was heavy on Blu cheese…

Had the marron clementine pastry. Delicate. Would have liked more clementine inside.

Moved our next SD back to Palomar 

 

 

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

No port visit is complete without picking up the obligatory local chocolates for my fans back home. Thanks to @YVRteacher’s advice, I went to the local supermarket Bónus to buy these beauties. It was 695 ISK for one bar at the supermarket versus 1.375 ISK at the other shops. 
 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

3 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Escargot was missing salt imho, and idk what..I salted. That helped.

My sentiments exactly…missing salt and a certain je ne sais pas. 
 

 

[cruiseny4life]

8 hours ago, bedfordmom said:

Did you get anything at the grocery store. Most interesting things to bring home ( or eat ) are chocolate and all types of  black licorice and salt. There is even a Costco located near the airport if you are a member that had just opened when we were there in 2019. Just loving your review as well everyone else’s experiences. It is helping with my TA withdrawal. 

If we ever go to Iceland, I'm so not telling my husband this. He'll demand we go get a hot dog and pizza at Costco. I don't know what culinary delights Iceland has 👨‍🍳, but I'm going to have whatever those are, not some silly hot dog! 🍽️

 

EDIT: Ok...reading on with the review, apparently hot dogs are quite the...uhhh..."thing" in Iceland. I didn't realize. No offense intended to those that enjoyed the sauce covered hot dog. @Sugar Magnolia - despite me not wanting to offend everyone that had the hot dogs, I'm still going with you to your lunch place!

Edited May 6 by cruiseny4life

[Sugar Magnolia]

3 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

My sentiments exactly…missing salt and a certain je ne sais pas. 
 

 

Whoops…that should be je ne sais quoi. Better brush up on my French before they let me loose in Le Havre. The French will likely snicker at me regardless. 
 

[mking8288]

Our dinner time is 7:15 PM at Paloma tonight, should give those w 5 PM time slot to finish & for the table to be ready for us when we check in. Will peek across Food Republic & Surfside Cafe to see how busy they are.

 

This evening, we are rocking & rolling a bit against wind direction & modest waves as we turn SE away from Iceland toward Europe.  That's perfect for party girls late night like Sy and our niece. Bonjour 🎊🎉

Let's rock the boat ... 😁 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6 by mking8288

[Sugar Magnolia]

3 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

@Sugar Magnolia - despite me not wanting to offend everyone that had the hot dogs, I'm still going with you to your lunch place!

You sailed with @mking8288 last time, I am sailing with him this time, it would naturally follow that you and I would sail together next time. 😊

 

[mking8288]

FSD - Day 10 ... oh, no - our onboard days are numbered 

 

[mking8288]

Yes to nurses' week, older cousin of mine in San Francisco, CA was going to retire but kept going due to global pandemic and one of my young nephew as ER nurse in the Bronx (NY)

 

As we're returning to the ship after dropping our rental AWD off  - we saw 3, maybe 4 crew members with roller boards and carry-on luggage heading into the terminal building before noon. 

 

 

 

Sadly 🙏 I come to the realization that more than 3 passengers will not be onboard again to continue the TA to reach mainland, EU ... up to 3 guests were taken off the ship for medical emergencies - and while we do not know for sure of the outcome. Pray that they & their love ones are doing well & as best as they can be. Wish them speedy recovery and in good hands. 

 

 

Edited May 6 by mking8288