Cruise Report: To Begin The Voyage

For the Cruise we had decided to give Norwegian Cruise Lines a try.  They had a great offer going on for a Northern European cruise aboard their newest ship, Norwegian Prima.

The booking included airfare, an inclusive drinks package (alcohol of the adults, soda for the kids), a water bottle package for water to bring on shore excursions, a discount on shore excursions  for the first passenger in each of the two staterooms, and two included specialty restaurant meals.

That was a very nice offering and we took it.

When we booked in Decemebr, we had asked for an extra day in Iceland, and then in February after seeing what Iceland had to offer we asked via email to add an extra day to the return, and that was confirmed with Norwegian.

Or at least we thought it was confirmed.  Turns out, not so much.

Less than a month before the cruise, we get the flight itinerary:  1 extra day for Leah and Tash, and no extra days for me and Abby (due to the kids being teens, technically the booking had one staying with me and one with Tash, reality was, of course, different.  

That was not good, considering we had already booked a hotel and some activities based on having the two extra days.

After 4 hours (yes 4) on hold, Norwegian's Air Desk was far less than helpful.

First they stated it was too bad and too late as it was less than 45 days before the cruise so no changes were allowed.  I pointed out I had just received the flight itinerary, so it was kinda hard to ask for a change when we did not even know it was necessary.  They had to admit I had a point there.

I pointed out we had made these requests in December and February and had been told it was done. 

After about another hour on hold I got kicked up to their escalation desk who wanted to know what phone number I had called from who claimed everything is by recorded phone call per their policy. I pointed out that first,  no one ever informed me of such policy, and that their agent had called me for the December discussion and the February was by email. Of course they didn't have the December phone record - but I did have the emails which I sent to them.

Finally I was told they would give it on to the Air Desk and we would find out within 2 weeks before the cruise. Not exactly a great result.

We then got an updated Air itinerary three weeks before the cruise by email. It has no changes.  That was not happy making. I start looking for last minute return flights from Iceland and they are spendy. 

I sent an email to the Air Desk contact asking what is going on and again restating the issue and that this was something they had agreed to and we relied on that and had booked things that could not be cancelled as a result.  I also note they clearly had gotten the request as they had added an extra day for two of us at least. No response.

Finally two weeks before the cruise is set to depart we get a new itinerary that finally has the extra days for all of us.  Phew. That really was the worst part of the entire process.

On the evening of the July 15, we boarded the red-eye flight to London.  We flew through the night and got there at 7:15 am on July 16. Watched two movies on the flight: John Wick 4 and D&D Honor among Thieves.

We got through customs with no problems and easily found the Norwegian rep and got our transport to Southampton.  Norwegian reps at the airport were very well organized and helpful people there.

Got to the terminal and began the boarding process.  Took awhile, but it was reasonably efficient with only a couple minor issues by noon.

The rooms were not yet available, so we wandered around the ship and got some snacks and beverages.

The Prima is very easy to find your way around, unlike other ships I've been on. Lots of lounges and bars to sit in both inside and out of the ship, as well as many restaurants

Then the rooms were ready, and the luggage arrived almost immediately.   We unpacked and all headed down for a badly needed nap as our body clocks had announced they had gone haywire.  We missed the ship leaving the dock and didn't even feel the ship get underway, as we were all so zonked.

We then woke and had a great dinner in the main dining room, Hudson's, which was great.

Norwegian offers "Freestyle Dining"  which means no reservations are needed providing great flexibility and you can dress rather casually, which is nice.  Had I realized that from the start I would not have packed the suit and dress shoes and fewer dress shirts  and saved on the weight. Many people went to the main dining room in T-shirts even. Only rule is no tank tops, swimsuits or ball caps in the dining room.

Food was fantastic.  Probably it was the best food on any cruise I've been on and the desserts were awesome.

The view from the dining room isn't bad either:

After dinner, I headed to the Casino to try my luck at craps. I find I'm luckiest on the first night of a cruise for some reason.

Managed to turn $300 into $801, along with sipping on a very tasty Old Fashioned, and it was all rather happy-making.

So, it was a great first day.