TRIP REPORT: NCL Prima~Northern Europe

Updated February 4, 2024

This trip report is wildly different from my other trip reports as my main priority was ensuring that the trip went as smoothly as a multi-generational trip for 15 people can go. And to boot, it was to celebrate my parents’ milestone anniversary so lots of pressure to deliver even as I was in the midst of another crazy year with my knee.

I am not sharing full financial details for this trip as I do for my own trips since most of the spending wasn’t mine BUT I am sharing lots of tools and travel hacks that I used to save us loads of money that you can apply to any cruise/trip. Plus sharing all of the info that I learned that may be helpful for those embarking on this sailing, ship and/or cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL).

This isn't to say that there wasn't any travel hacking involved because that would be antithetical to who I am amirte?! I used this as an incredible opportunity to earn an INSANE amount of points - over a million to be exact. Not sure what travel hacking is?: here are my 8 top tips for travel hacking. Or maybe you want to just dive in: this post helps illustrate how I put the 8 travel hacking tips in action to obtain those million miles + points from this trip and for good measure, some FAQs that came up when discussing this

SAVINGS BREAKDOWN

We booked in September 2021 which was almost two years out from the sailing date so we were able to get really good pricing and NCL’s More at Sea add-ons. More on what the More at Sea cost us and the realized/actual savings in the respective categories (I am not using cash costs for this posts unless miles/points were used as a basis of comparison)

FLIGHTS

_{Beautiful tip: DO NOT fly in the day of your cruise ESPECIALLY if it is international – in this day and age of things going wrong, saving a little bit of money could cost you your entire vacation as many times you would not be permitted to embark at the next port!}

Savings: $500/person from NCL More at Sea BOGO Airfare deal

• We did use NCL to book our flights as it allowed us to take advantage of the free airfare for half of the group
• PROS:
  • Pricing was hard to beat as it was $999 BOGO for the entire party. $500/person for round trip tickets to Europe in the middle of peak tourist season/summer on a multi-city itinerary (when you fly into one city and out of another) was quite frankly a steal
  • NCL did keep everyone on the same flights (some flew in two days early and some flew in the day before and everyone but me flew home the day of disembarkment) *but not sure if this is typical
  • Ability to add 1 or 2 day(s) deviation to cruise (AKA you can fly in early/stay later up to 2 days before/after your cruise) for no additional charges
• CONS:
  • You have absolutely NO control over the flights (ie choice of airlines/# of stops/etc) and I was told that they are not booked until 35-45 days out! Luckily that was not the case for our cruise as we got our confirmations on 5/22/23 (even more annoying was that the flights were booked mid-April and they waited for a month to give us the info!) This is not a lot of lead time for planning the other logisitcs which I am sure is quite strategic with NCL betting that the majority of people will go through them for hotels + transport when using NCL for flights.
  • Your ticket is booked through NCL Air which is considered a third party booking by the airlines which is problematic when you want to make changes (we had super short connections in JFK so I wanted to switch to a longer one to give us more leeway) and NCL Air was not willing to help us.
  • The airfare is one of the lowest fare classes booked so miles earning is accordingly impacted (ofc I care about that!) and may also impact if you have to pay for baggage and seat assignments. FYI for our flights: those that checked bags did not have fees nor did we have to pay for seats
  • NOTE: NCL has since changed this Free Add-on as BOGO for the 1&2 guests, guests 3-8 on a reservation will pay full airfare amount

LODGING

Savings: over $3,000 USD We did not use NCL to book our hotels as the rate that they were charging was insane (something along the lines of $300/person/night!)

Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo

_{Beautiful tip: If you are booking hotel rooms for more than 2 people in Europe, you NEED to search with the correct number of people otherwise you will be denied at check-in due to capacity controls. You will find that booking for families with room size + fire code restrictions is a lot tougher than in the US.}

It was pretty stressful with the timing of when NCL Air sends flight info so I preemptively reserved rooms at multiple hotels (big unknowns were: when would the flights arrive ie if the flights was in the evening, it might make more sense to stay at a hotel near the airport and which airport would we land at!) since we had to book so many rooms + most being family rooms!

• Once I saw that all flights had morning arrivals, I decided on this hotel for the following reasons
  • Hotel had rooms that could accommodate four (see beautiful tip above which definitely came into play for London hotels)
  • Location! For most of our party, this would be their first visit to London so this was a great spot to be based from. While London public transport is really easy to use, it is also nice to be able to walk around where you are staying and see some iconic London landmarks especially post overnight flights. Bonus is that we were also within walking distance to the Waterloo train station
  • Free brekkie: I had read the reviews and I would agree that the breakfast spread was really wonderful – not a deal breaker/maker but it was a nice addition and money saver for a party this large.
  • Status + points earning: the hotel was great about recognizing my Diamond elite status and gave me F &B credit for everyone! (ha! if you are surprised by this, then you are either new to the site or haven’t been paying attention!)

Hilton Reykjavík Nordica

I stayed an extra two nights and decided on this hotel as I was unsure if I wanted to use points or pay cash. Iceland is PRICEY and it was really nice to have breakfast and executive lounge access with my status to help save on food costs.

NCL CRUISE

Cruise Details: Norwegian Cruise Line Prima 11 Nights Northern Europe

Savings: $1350 + My Cruise fare! AMEX Offers: at the end of 2022, $350 & In 2023, AMEX had another offer $250 off $1K but this was on multiple peoples' cards so we were able to use 4 offers! Booking direct with NCL group reservation team, I was designated as group leader so that why my cruise fare was refunded back.

NOTE: I was so focused on the logistics and shepherding people that I honestly do not know if I remember enough to do a full review on NCL and/or the Prima. For the time being, observations and such will be added to the itinerary section.

FOOD & DRINKS

Savings: SIGNIFICANT We had booked so far in advance that the Free at Sea was a phenomenal deal for those that added it! We had FOUR specialty dining meals and while the beverage menu was changed a few months before our sailing, we only had to pay gratuities $217.80 for the beverage + $22.80 for the specialty dining!

TRANSPORTATION

NCL was charging $75/person for transportation but would only add on if we were also booking accommodations through them but we saved money and it was really easy to take care for both London and Reykjavík (more information about transportation can be found in the itinerary and port posts-lol as they are written and linked!)

For the party that came in the day before, I booked a van that took them directly to the hotel from Heathrow through Viator for $311.04 ($34.74/person). The company was great to work with and I was able to give them my dad and SIL’s info for who would be at LHR that morning. They were very responsive the morning of with having to make late changes since unfortunately the flight had been delayed.

ACTIVITIES

_{Beautiful tip: You can book through Rakuten for additional cash back and if you have never used this shopping portal, learn all about it here and also sign up using my link for an additional $30!}

Savings: SIGNIFICANT This is where we saved the most money as we didn’t book through NCL for any of the excursions and instead booked via Viator and GetYourGuide. Here’s the reviews and how to for each: Viator / GetYourGuide. More information on the activities will be covered in the respective port posts!

MISCELLANEOUS

My spend is always for the same items here with my souvenirs being magnets + cash (bills) to have as keepsakes. One way to save money if you also like to have physical bills as mementos is to ask when purchasing items (ie magnets) if you could also have the smallest bills as cashback: probably 50% of the time I have been successful with this. Otherwise I use either my Fidelity or Schwab debit cards which have ATM rebated to me (my second choice because you don’t typically get a choice in denominations)

ITINERARY

NCL opens check-in 21 days before sailing and we were able to reserve tickets for some of the shows then (Price is Right and Donna Summers)

Days 1-2: London, UK

Day 3: London, UK – Travel to Southampton Port: Embark NCL Prima

_{Beautiful tip: but also A HOT TAKE: I think it’s worth it to spend more time in the city than get on the ship early PLUS is you board closer to the end of embarkment time, the lines are SIGNIFICANTLY shorter which is also a huge plus.}

Of the three options to get to the Southampton port from London, we opted for the train since the hotel was so close to Waterloo. (Other options would be to take a motor coach bus or book private transportation). The journey was direct from the Waterloo station to Southampton station and took 1:25.

Cost: $172.48/£137.95 (£12.10x 10 adults + £5.65 x 3 children) as we were able to get a large group advanced purchase discount. A lovely representative from South Western Railway arranged a call to charge my credit card and also gave me a number of pointers/tips as listed below

_{Beautiful tip: I have taken this journey twice now and both time there have been significant delays – so I would put at least an hour cushion so that you don’t miss the cruise. PS you are entitled to compensation for delays on British rail.}

Days 4: Zeebrugge, Brussels

_{Beautiful tip: I still have not found a better source of information than Facebook groups: for the specific ship and sailings. I was able to find the most up to date information and also some tips such the mid cruise laundry service for $29. Between the 15 of us, we had 5 different attendants and all of them honored the price even as we all took advantage of the deal at different points during the trip.}

Day 5: Amsterdam, Netherlands

It was a recurring theme for the cruise that finding seating/space was a struggle – not only for the large group but even when I ventured around the ship by myself especially in the observation lounge and eating spaces.  

Day 6: at Sea

On sea days unless you were up at the observation deck early, it was nearly impossible to find seating from 7 AM to 9 PM but it was a really lovely area. On two of the three sea days, two of the slides were not in operation due to weather/temps and the others were fun but not something we opted to do more than once.

Day 7: Bergen, Norway

Thoughts re: NCL specialty dining and beverage package. We had booked a long time in advance, so we were given 4 specialty meals which were far superior to the MDR and buffets for dinner (another hot take I have is how cruise food is not great like people had hyped it up to be)

The packages were a very good value based on how much food you were given (ie a three course meal) but especially since the quality of service and food was significantly higher than what we would have encountered elsewhere on the ship. Onda (Italian) was the best + Palomar and Los Lobos were also great ~ the sushi restaurant, Cageney’s and Food Republic were the least favorite in that order.

Indulge Food Hall was definitely the best free dining option with a variety of foods available – we all found the Indian food to be the best especially the hot bread straight from the oven!

Day 8: Geiranger, Norway

_{Beautiful tip: wake up early and stake out a space in the observation lounge. This is one of the most beautiful places I have been in the world and well worth losing a couple hours of sleep for!}

Day 9: Ålesund, Norway

A few of the group booked massages and everyone reported that they had good experiences.

Day 10: at Sea

Internet was fine (caveat no one worked during the cruise) ~ we had 250 mins/cabin with teenagers getting unlimited internet and most of us had iPhones that we were able to use without connecting officially to the wifi

Day 11: Akureyri, Iceland

The entertainment was mixed: Magic show was okay, Price is Right was a ball, Donna Summers show had mixed reviews from us but the dancing afterwards and the cast was really fun. We went to many of the theme nights + family karaoke + saw many of the live music acts so most of us still managed to have a lot of fun at night. 

Day 12: Ísafjörður, Iceland -> Akureyri, Iceland

Only because of Facebook groups was I prepared that the ship wouldn’t be docking here (and we were not notified by NCL until we were on the ship) – so I made sure to book a whale watching tour in Akureyri.

Day 13: Reykjavík, Iceland: Overnight

Day 14: Reykjavík, Iceland: Disembark NCL Prima

Days 15-16: Reykjavík, Iceland

Hilton treats me really well as a Diamond member (which funny enough I have only because of my AMEX Aspire credit card!) I am a big fan of this property which takes the sting out of having to use points here