Serenade of the Seas - 300+ staterooms cancelled

[Cuizer2]

Haven't checked this thread for a day or so, but I can't let this one go. I'm assuming that the previous poster saw this through a bridge viewing window? If you had gone up there any other night, you'd see the same thing. Every ship's bridge operates completely blacked out at night to preserve the officers' and crew's night vision, so simple things like looking for the ringing telephone are done by flashlight. This is particularly true when navigating confined waterways like the Miss River. Gives me a good chuckle, though.

 

They need a flashlight to find a ringing telephone on the bridge that they spend eight hours per day, seven days per week working on?

[chengkp75]

They need a flashlight to find a ringing telephone on the bridge that they spend eight hours per day, seven days per week working on?

 

To reliably get it picked up without dropping it, many times, yes. Perhaps he has been watching the radar screen, and even the dim screen there will affect night vision to the extent that you can't distinguish small items. But there are many things on the bridge that require knobs to be turned, or switches thrown, that are not lighted, as these would be added distractions to the watchkeepers. Only truly critical items are lighted. It takes a few minutes of acclimatizing your eyes when you walk on the bridge before you can even see your hand touching your nose. Even then, things are generally just different shades of black, and small items don't tend to stand out. I live in Maine, and go into the woods and back country a good bit, but nothing prepares you for the totality of blackness of a ship's bridge at night.

 

If it were not for alarms sounding, the last people onboard that would know that some of the lights went out would be the bridge crew at night. Required bridge lighting (like at the chart table) is provided by a separate feeder than even the cabins directly aft of the bridge, from the emergency system.

Edited January 28, 2015 by chengkp75

[cricketts]

To reliably get it picked up without dropping it, many times, yes. Perhaps he has been watching the radar screen, and even the dim screen there will affect night vision to the extent that you can't distinguish small items. But there are many things on the bridge that require knobs to be turned, or switches thrown, that are not lighted, as these would be added distractions to the watchkeepers. Only truly critical items are lighted. It takes a few minutes of acclimatizing your eyes when you walk on the bridge before you can even see your hand touching your nose. Even then, things are generally just different shades of black, and small items don't tend to stand out. I live in Maine, and go into the woods and back country a good bit, but nothing prepares you for the totality of blackness of a ship's bridge at night.

 

If it were not for alarms sounding, the last people onboard that would know that some of the lights went out would be the bridge crew at night. Required bridge lighting (like at the chart table) is provided by a separate feeder than even the cabins directly aft of the bridge, from the emergency system.

I appreciate your insight. It's clear from your Avatar that you are very knowledgeable!

[Cuizer2]

To reliably get it picked up without dropping it, many times, yes. Perhaps he has been watching the radar screen, and even the dim screen there will affect night vision to the extent that you can't distinguish small items. But there are many things on the bridge that require knobs to be turned, or switches thrown, that are not lighted, as these would be added distractions to the watchkeepers. Only truly critical items are lighted. It takes a few minutes of acclimatizing your eyes when you walk on the bridge before you can even see your hand touching your nose. Even then, things are generally just different shades of black, and small items don't tend to stand out. I live in Maine, and go into the woods and back country a good bit, but nothing prepares you for the totality of blackness of a ship's bridge at night.

 

If it were not for alarms sounding, the last people onboard that would know that some of the lights went out would be the bridge crew at night. Required bridge lighting (like at the chart table) is provided by a separate feeder than even the cabins directly aft of the bridge, from the emergency system.

 

Do the watchkeepers give the watches back when they are done?

[Cindy]

The ship never lost power. A portion of the HOTEL lost power. At no time did propulsion, engineering, or navigation systems go off line. People, get a grip.

 

To reliably get it picked up without dropping it, many times, yes. Perhaps he has been watching the radar screen, and even the dim screen there will affect night vision to the extent that you can't distinguish small items. But there are many things on the bridge that require knobs to be turned, or switches thrown, that are not lighted, as these would be added distractions to the watchkeepers. Only truly critical items are lighted. It takes a few minutes of acclimatizing your eyes when you walk on the bridge before you can even see your hand touching your nose. Even then, things are generally just different shades of black, and small items don't tend to stand out. I live in Maine, and go into the woods and back country a good bit, but nothing prepares you for the totality of blackness of a ship's bridge at night.

 

If it were not for alarms sounding, the last people onboard that would know that some of the lights went out would be the bridge crew at night. Required bridge lighting (like at the chart table) is provided by a separate feeder than even the cabins directly aft of the bridge, from the emergency system.

 

Thanks for adding your knowledge to this thread. I always appreciate your input on technical matters!

 

The bridge being in total darkness makes sense. I've often read that passengers in cabins at the front of the ship are required to keep their curtains drawn at night so their lights don't interfere with the vision from the bridge.

[Big_G]

Haven't checked this thread for a day or so, but I can't let this one go. I'm assuming that the previous poster saw this through a bridge viewing window? If you had gone up there any other night, you'd see the same thing. Every ship's bridge operates completely blacked out at night to preserve the officers' and crew's night vision, so simple things like looking for the ringing telephone are done by flashlight. This is particularly true when navigating confined waterways like the Miss River. Gives me a good chuckle, though.

 

Thanks again for your expertise. Having never seen lighting on the bridge at night, I wondered if that was the case.

[cricketts]

Thanks for adding your knowledge to this thread. I always appreciate your input on technical matters!

 

 

 

The bridge being in total darkness makes sense. I've often read that passengers in cabins at the front of the ship are required to keep their curtains drawn at night so their lights don't interfere with the vision from the bridge.

 

 

I hadn't heard that... We have some friends on Celebrity in June in the balcony that looks into the bridge... I'll have to ask if they need to keep the curtains closed!

 

 

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[chengkp75]

Do the watchkeepers give the watches back when they are done?

 

They're supposed to, but that's why alarm clocks are never right on the ships, because the next watch loses time going after the off going guys to get the watch back. The phrase "turning over the watch" goes back to sailing days when time was told by hour glasses, and the last thing you did on watch was to turn the glass over.

[critterchick]

This is not true. I used to work for Princess Cruises (well 20 years ago now...), on the Purser's Desk. For my six month contract I worked, there were only 2 or 3 cruises that entire span that we were not 100% sold out. Those couple of weeks that we were not sold out, there were no more than 5 or so cabins unsold. Now, that does not mean that there were not some empty cabins available. Sometimes people did not show up for the cruise, but we had to keep those cabins back until we were 100% sure they were not going to join us in the next port because they missed the ship. A few times, there may have been a medical emergency and people left the ship mid-cruise, so their cabin became available mid-trip. Those cabins were usually reassigned to people who were having issues with their booked cabin or as a measure of goodwill if there were any "incidents" on board where upgrading someone may let that guest enjoy the remainder of their cruise more than the initial days of the cruise. If Princess could sell all their cabins 100% of the time, they would do it. They do not keep back empty cabins "just in case" something may happen.

 

I should never post in absolutes.:o RCI holds back cabins, at least I've been told by a source I consider to be reliable.

[chengkp75]

I should never post in absolutes.:o RCI holds back cabins, at least I've been told by a source I consider to be reliable.

 

Yes, at NCL I never saw more than a couple of cabins held out of inventory. And God help us if we had to take one out for maintenance issues, I never finished the paperwork to corporate as to why it happened before the cruise was over.

[stones902]

I would think that in a cruise ship with anywhere from1000 - 2500 cabins a few would have to remain vacant. Someone could have a mechanical issue with their accommodations, quarantine, etc.

 

I recall several years ago I was able to upgrade directly from the pier coordinator. These days I don't even bother asking.

 

 

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[VickyMcG]

Say, what's happening, guys? Are you going to get to go to any ports? for those of you displaced or on the cruise, so sorry for your disappointment.

[chermilo]

Friends of mine are on the cruise and he posted on FB that they were going to all the ports but in reverse order. Far as I know, he said everything was working.

[Cindy]

Say' date=' what's happening, guys? Are you going to get to go to any ports? for those of you displaced or on the cruise, so sorry for your disappointment.[/quote']

 

Friends of mine are on the cruise and he posted on FB that they were going to all the ports but in reverse order. Far as I know, he said everything was working.

 

 

"Havana Daydreamin" is doing a live review from the ship. They were in Nassau Tuesday, missed Coco Cay due to weather yesterday, and are in Key West today.

[Paulette3028]

Who is the Activity Manager onboard?

[Cuizer2]

Who is the Activity Manager onboard?

 

Didn't we already go through this once? Who is the first baseman.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Cuizer2

[Paulette3028]

Didn't we already go through this once? Who is the first baseman.

 

If I missed someone posting it, I'm sorry; but I did a search of this thread and it did not come up with any mention of the Activity Manager on board.

 

Here is hoping that those on board are having a good time, and that the repairs have been made that were necessary so those anticipating cruising on her next can totally enjoy it.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Paulette3028

[Mystaken]

If John Blair is the Cruise Director, his wife, Katrina, is the Activities Manager. They were both onboard for Serenade's TA in November.

[Janet524]

If John Blair is the Cruise Director, his wife, Katrina, is the Activities Manager. They were both onboard for Serenade's TA in November.

 

I understand that the Blairs are off Serenade as of this week. From another thread, I saw that Bill Brunchorst (spelling?) is going to be the CD, but don't know who the AM is.

[tiessa]

Just off of the Serenade. Not a great cruise. Of course there was the 5 hour standing in line to board. I heard 1300 passengers either kicked off or chose to leave on their own. 417 staterooms had to be vacated. Some people stood in line for 4 hours or more before they were told they couldn't board. Royal Caribbean couldn't have handled it any worse. They were very slow to communicate. Unforeseen things happen which most people understand but Royal just mishandled the entire process. That is what upset so many. It was a total failure.

 

Once onboard it wasn't much better. Very little to do. The food was OK but there was little variety. Obviously they are pushing people toward the special restaurants. No place to get food after midnight. No place to get coffee, tea, etc before 5:00 AM. Park Cafe was very hit and miss if they had anything available or not. Couldn't get into the casino when closed. Usually they leave the machines on and you can still play but not on this ship. They tried to convince us canned milk was half and half. The coffee wasn't too good and the canned milk made it worse. Deck 5 starboard for smoking was also not great. Parts of 2 days they had all of the chairs put up so nowhere to sit.

 

The service desk was also hit or miss. One rep told me we were getting a 100% refund of our cruise cost as she had told others.m they next one I asked said they didn't know if there would be any compensation. They ended up giving balconies $200 per stateroom and lower costing cabins $125. I don't know what suites received. They should have given everyone 1/7 if the cruise cost back since we lost a day. Since they opted to just do an onboard credit everyone should have gotten the same since everyone had the same inconvenience.

 

We did get to 2 of the 3 ports so that was good. I doubt missing Coco Cay had anything to do with the delay mess up. I imagine it was just rough seas that happens half of the time.

 

Not impressed with Royal Caribbean or the Serenade.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

Just off of the Serenade. Not a great cruise. Of course there was the 5 hour standing in line to board. I heard 1300 passengers either kicked off or chose to leave on their own. 417 staterooms had to be vacated. Some people stood in line for 4 hours or more before they were told they couldn't board. Royal Caribbean couldn't have handled it any worse. They were very slow to communicate. Unforeseen things happen which most people understand but Royal just mishandled the entire process. That is what upset so many. It was a total failure.

 

Once onboard it wasn't much better. Very little to do. The food was OK but there was little variety. Obviously they are pushing people toward the special restaurants. No place to get food after midnight. No place to get coffee, tea, etc before 5:00 AM. Park Cafe was very hit and miss if they had anything available or not. Couldn't get into the casino when closed. Usually they leave the machines on and you can still play but not on this ship. They tried to convince us canned milk was half and half. The coffee wasn't too good and the canned milk made it worse. Deck 5 starboard for smoking was also not great. Parts of 2 days they had all of the chairs put up so nowhere to sit.

 

The service desk was also hit or miss. One rep told me we were getting a 100% refund of our cruise cost as she had told others.m they next one I asked said they didn't know if there would be any compensation. They ended up giving balconies $200 per stateroom and lower costing cabins $125. I don't know what suites received. They should have given everyone 1/7 if the cruise cost back since we lost a day. Since they opted to just do an onboard credit everyone should have gotten the same since everyone had the same inconvenience.

 

We did get to 2 of the 3 ports so that was good. I doubt missing Coco Cay had anything to do with the delay mess up. I imagine it was just rough seas that happens half of the time.

 

Not impressed with Royal Caribbean or the Serenade.

 

 

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How did it feel with so few passengers aboard

[John&LaLa]

It is not a matter of getting it, those posts are very disruptive and completely off topic. Putting a poster on ignore only helps so much as people quote the long, ridiculous "jokes". Hopefully, someone will once again delete some of the posts soon.

 

Maybe you should apply to be a host. :rolleyes:

[UpstateSCUS]

My husband and I were also one of the cancelled cabins. This was to be our first cruise. So disappointing. We drove 9 hours to get to New Orleans, stayed a day in NOLA. The morning of the cruise we received a text message that we should delay our port arrival until 12. We requested a late check out from the hotel and then took a shuttle over. The porter would not take our luggage as we were on the dreaded "list". We sat for 2 hours with no information. Then at 2 pm they handed out a letter to those on the list, promising a refund and a future cruise. After a while longer they started to board some passengers and announced that if you were on the list you could go down to the shops at Riverwalk nearby. But we could not, as our luggage was not checked and we did not want to drag our bags around. We wound up, hours later going back to the hotel and staying the night, too late to drive back. Hoping that they come through as promised and that we actually get to take a first cruise, maybe next year.

 

A news article reported that they were not able to set sail until Sunday afternoon.

[Cindy]

Just off of the Serenade. Not a great cruise...

 

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Sorry you weren't able to find anything you liked about the cruise or the ship.:(

 

FWIW, in all my cruises on 5 different lines, I've never seen slots available outside of opening hours. The hours for slots are frequently longer than the hours for tables, but when they're closed they're closed.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Cindy

[MADflyer]

Sorry you weren't able to find anything you liked about the cruise or the ship.:(

 

FWIW, in all my cruises on 5 different lines, I've never seen slots available outside of opening hours. The hours for slots are frequently longer than the hours for tables, but when they're closed they're closed.

 

I caught that as well and find it interesting that was an issue. There are always exceptions.

 

While on most RCI cruises I have been on defined 'late' as 2 to 3 AM, I was disappointed that Legend found midnight to be ok on the September Transatlantic. I had a Brilliance sailing into Copenhagen where they just decided to close the Casino while I was at dinner as we were 'close' to land and were scheduled to be open until Midnight.

 

Princess has started now with 24 hour slots and there might be other examples.

 

Norwegian Getaway had 'Cabin slots' 24 hours played on your shipboard account on the cabin TV, but that was a little much for me.