Live - NCL Prima - 06/23-07/04/2024 - Southampton, Belgium, Amsterdam, Norway and Iceland - Is it more beautiful than Alaska?

[Seas2mountains]

The next stop was to go to the SeaCity museum about a mile away. It is focused on the history of the crew members on the Titanic as most crew members lived in Southampton.  
 

I didn’t take photos of the displays but it was interesting and I would visit again. 

[akeka]

19 hours ago, TRTLscout said:

Need help please with the NCL Prima cruise 7/14-25 Southampton to Iceland. We are new to shore excursions and wondered if this group has recommendations or could direct me to reviews of specific ones and, answers to questions like: what if we just want to explore Amsterdam on our own? Is transportation from/back to the cruise terminal easy or challenging?  We have 8 ports to decide how or what to do.  Does anyone just do "their own thing" or should we book through NCL? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.

You should start a separate topic so this live isn't hijacked.  There's also a group on the book of face and a roll call for the sailing.

[akeka]

If you're looking for things to do in Southampton I recommend the Dark Arts Potion Bar for fun cocktails presented theatrically.  We also enjoyed the Dancing Man Brewery and Titanic Walking Tour (booked via Get Your Guide).

 

Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

[PhillyTravelBug]

Enjoy your sailing! We did this last year and did Alaska in 2019.  
 

i would say Norway is the most stunning and then Alaska out of both itineraries. But they are so close for different reasons. So much beauty. Geiranger is the best port I’ve ever been to.

 

take it all in and I look forward to following along.

[Seas2mountains]

We had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant called Bill’s. This was located at the Westquay Shopping Centre. The weather was perfect again with sunny skies and temperature were in the low 70’s. When we arrived at the hostess stand, we were asked if we had a booking. We did not but the hostess said she could seat us outside. Wonderful - because we wanted to eat outside anyways. 
 

My husband saw olives as an appetizer at another table and he loves olives almost as much as cheese. 
 

The peach and mint iced tea was nicely garnished.

While we were waiting for our entrees, it was fun to watch people walking past or in the water fountains. If you look closely at the first photo you can see part of the medieval wall of what looks like a castle. 
 

 

 

 

My husband ordered a cheeseburger with fries. He said it was good but he couldn’t eat any of the fries as he felt too full.

I ordered pan fried sea bream fish with couscous and green beans. It was delicious and I would order it again. 
 

 

We would recommend and go back to Bill’s if given the opportunity. 

[Seas2mountains]

Here are more photos of the city walls. 
 

My husband has really enjoyed looking at these walls and wondering about life back in the days when the walls were built. I have been amazed how well they were constructed and are still standing after all these years. 
 

Here is a church with similar architecture. 

 

Edited June 21 by Seas2mountains

[Seas2mountains]

By the time we got back to the hotel room about 3pm, we had walked 19,000 steps. 
 

The goal is to be totally worn out so we will sleep well tonight. At about 15,000 steps, my husband started feeling pain in joints such as his knees and ankles. I’m blessed to not feel any pain (so far -knocking on wood) after these long walks and feel like I could have walked another 10,000 steps or more. 
 

After naps, our afternoon entertainment involved watching  Anthem of the Seas do an almost 360 turn at sail away. 

[Seas2mountains]

Dinner at Emmio’s Italian restaurant was exceptional and we definitely recommend it even though it was a little pricey.  But hey, we are on vacation. 

We made a “booking” for 6pm and were the first and only customers for about 15 minutes. 
 

We don’t usually eat bread to avoid carbs, but today was an exception. 

We also ordered mussels as an appetizer. The mussels were served with a lovely, creamy sauce and were delicious. 

While my husband is so sweet to claim that I make the best lasagna, he really enjoyed his lasagna with yummy garlic toast. 

I ordered the “trout” with mash (mashed potatoes)  and Asparagus. It was steel head trout and not trout from a fresh water lake or trout as I expected. 
 

 

My husband said it was one of the best experiences he has had for service in a restaurant. He noticed that each employee seemed trained to do each others job. When the host stepped away and some customers walked in, he noticed that a waiter stepped in to pull up the booking (reservation) and quickly seated the couple. 

Part way through the meal, a large party came in. One said they had a booking for 6 people and another had a booking for 4 people but they wanted to be seated together at a table for 10 people.  This group definitely stressed the wait staff as they tried to explain to the customers the  tables that were reserved for later bookings. This group didn’t care and insisted on being seated together. 

 

[Seas2mountains]

Now we are at over 21.000 steps and are fighting to stay awake a little longer to try to adapt to our new time zone. 
 

Good night from Southampton. 
 

 

[Seas2mountains]

1 hour ago, akeka said:

If you're looking for things to do in Southampton I recommend the Dark Arts Potion Bar for fun cocktails presented theatrically.  We also enjoyed the Dancing Man Brewery and Titanic Walking Tour (booked via Get Your Guide).

 

Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

Thank you! We tried to make a booking for Dancing Man Brewery but they are booked until next week on Wednesday. It was too windy tonight to join the young people outside enjoying beer and cocktails at the outside tables at Dancing Man Brewery. 

 

We appreciate the other recommendations and will see if we can fit either in tomorrow. 

[Seas2mountains]

21 hours ago, TRTLscout said:

Need help please with the NCL Prima cruise 7/14-25 Southampton to Iceland. We are new to shore excursions and wondered if this group has recommendations or could direct me to reviews of specific ones and, answers to questions like: what if we just want to explore Amsterdam on our own? Is transportation from/back to the cruise terminal easy or challenging?  We have 8 ports to decide how or what to do.  Does anyone just do "their own thing" or should we book through NCL? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.

I don’t mind if others who have been on this itinerary can give recommendations for @TRTLscout .   We have NCL excursions booked in Reykjavik with the Golden Circle tour and in Geiranger for a mountain tour. We are doing the other ports on our own. 
 

We have an NCL airport transfer from the ship to the airport in Reykjavik booked. We had a private car through BlackBerry cars to go from LHR to Southampton. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Seas2mountains said:

I don’t mind if others who have been on this itinerary can give recommendations for @TRTLscout .   We have NCL excursions booked in Reykjavik with the Golden Circle tour and in Geiranger for a mountain tour. We are doing the other ports on our own. 
 

We have an NCL airport transfer from the ship to the airport in Reykjavik booked. We had a private car through BlackBerry cars to go from LHR to Southampton. 

We changed our NCL transfer to the airport in Reykjavik to one that included a museum, IIRC, the name of the museum was Perclan. It was a museum dedicated to the geology of Iceland. It was fascinating.

 

Actually, we booked that because DW said she did not want us to just be stuck in the airport for hours waiting for our flight. But we were anyway as our flight was delayed, but it would have been an even longer wait with the regular transfer. Actually, she had wanted a different excursion on the way to the airport, one that involved a hike. It was either full or more likely cancelled as it was pouring that day. We were very happy with the choice we ultimately made.

[laudergayle]

 

Ohhh if those walls could (would) talk.  Must have been a very interesting story behind this guy (and yes, def a guy). 

[maggieq]

On 6/20/2024 at 5:18 PM, Seas2mountains said:

We went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The fish and chips were calling my name although I should have asked to skip the traditional mushy peas as I knew I didn’t care for them based on past travels to London. I’ve enjoyed fish and chips on past visits and this dinner did not disappoint.  
 

That was definitely one of the biggest pieces of fish I’ve had for fish n chips. 

My husband got a pizza with different types of meat. He said it was okay but had too much tomato sauce and not enough meat and cheese.  He would not order it again. He said the chorizo promised as a pizza ingredient on the menu was missing. 
 

Service was excellent. The waiter let is know a 10% service charge was automatically added to the bill but could be removed if requested. We were happy it was added and know this is typical. 

@Seas2mountains  thanks for this live review. What hotel are you staying at?

[Seas2mountains]

11 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Enjoy your sailing! We did this last year and did Alaska in 2019.  
 

i would say Norway is the most stunning and then Alaska out of both itineraries. But they are so close for different reasons. So much beauty. Geiranger is the best port I’ve ever been to.

 

take it all in and I look forward to following along.

Thank you! We are really looking forward to seeing the beautiful fjord and mountains in Geiranger. 

[Seas2mountains]

6 hours ago, maggieq said:

@Seas2mountains  thanks for this live review. What hotel are you staying at?

I promise to share hotel photos and details after we check out tomorrow. 

[Seas2mountains]

The ships in port today are Silver Spirit at berth 101 and MSC Virtuosa in berth 102. 
 

Prima is scheduled to arrive tomorrow at 5:15am with a sun rise time at 4:51am. We are so excited to be one day away! 
 

There are other cruise ship terminals in Southampton besides these two terminals. 

[Seas2mountains]

Good morning! 
 

We had breakfast at the hotel and we walked about 0.8 miles to the Southampton Central train station. We are now on a train to Salisbury. We plan to get on a bus at the train station to go to Stonehenge followed by Salisbury Cathedral.  
 

It’s a 38 minute ride. There is an app that makes it easy to find the train schedule and stops enroute. 
 

When I lived in Germany about 25 years ago, I learned how easy it was to use the trains to get around in Europe.  This is new to my husband with the exception of using trains in the US. 
 

[Seas2mountains]

There it is in the distance.  We are still on the bus as we work through traffic. 

[Ellis1138]

Popping in. Our United flight was on time. Going through customs was quick and the Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow Terminal 2 was clean and quiet. 

We decided on a private car transfer with Gunwharf. Marc was our driver and he was very good.

We're a bit away, as I needed a Hilton, so it’s Hilton at Utilita/Aegeas bowl. There are only 2 items on Beefy's menu that I can have, but husband liked the fish and chips. 

Tomorrow, we'll try an Uber or Taxi to get to the cruise terminal. 

[Muckyduckway]

Enjoying your posts very much.

I was going to recommend Bill's based on a delicious breakfast we had there but had no personal experience of the rest of the menu so didn't want to lead you astray. Love eating outdoors, but really like the rather eccentric interior too.

 

Glad to see info on Southampton too as so many cruisers either arrive on the day or have a brief overnight (having visited London for obvious reasons).

 

I know you said you avoid bread, but I'd highly recommend fresh cinnamon or cardamom buns in Norway (if that's to your taste). Sitting at the top ofMount Dalsnibba savouring the view and a still warm bun is one of my favourite memories - a feast for all senses.

[Muckyduckway]

If you're interested in checking out the much loved British department store chain Marks & Spencer - there's one in the same complex as Bill's.

[ShannonSC2]

On 6/19/2024 at 3:13 PM, Seas2mountains said:

Here is our itinerary.

 

We are doing the opposite itinerary in Sept. 2024.  I can't wait to follow along.  

[ShannonSC2]

On 6/19/2024 at 6:26 PM, Seas2mountains said:

This will be our first time on the Prima. I’ll do my best to share more about our experience on the ship along with the itinerary. Feel free to ask any questions. 

We did Pr1ma last year from NYC to Bermuda.  It is a nice ship as there were many people who don't like it.  And of course you could hear all the complaints on the ship.  I love the outdoor.  The observation lounge was a bit small especially when they had events such as the latitude party.   I will be interested of how it does in the cooler climates though.  

[Seas2mountains]

After having breakfast at the hotel, we left at about 8:10am to walk about 0.7 miles to the Southampton Central train station. We took the 8:37am train to Salisbury which arrived after 9:15am. It was interesting to see the very beautiful English countryside.  

We walked around a little and then were among the first people to line up for the Stonehenge bus tour which was scheduled to start at 10:00am. The bus arrived at 9:40am and we were allowed to get on the bus. The driver sold tickets to anyone who had not prepurchased tickets.  This added time to each transaction. After cooking in the sun with no airflow whole the bus was idle, we finally left the train station after 10am. Then we went to city stop to do the same thing with collecting payments from those who had not booked online.  We were finally react to go to Stonehenge but then hit a lot of traffic. 
 

We finally got to Stonehenge after 11am and after being able to take photos from the road while stuck in traffic, my husband said he was done with Stonehenge and the crowds and he was ready to take the bus back to the hotel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 08:03 PM by Seas2mountains