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2018 Crystal World Cruise as seen by a 4-Star Mariner


rafinmd
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Roy, Hope you have a great cruise. I also hope you will still be able to check in for some of the sailaways while you are on the cruise, as I enjoy your comments. Bon Voyage.

 

Neil

 

Thanks. I have an odd thought. Would it make sense to create a "coming sailaways" thread that would be a copy of each thread's opening post? I probably won't spend a lot of time perusing new threads but if we had something like that I could subscribe to it and know when a sailaway is coming up and be ready for it. Between being involved in the cruise and being in obscure time zones I expect Kathi and I would not be in much of a position to watch very often.

 

I also expect that if I do participate others will have to be my eyes and ears. My recollection from last year is that when I did try to tune in there was something Crystal did that led PTZ to assume I was using an ad blocker.

 

I will try to be around for Wednesday's sailaways although it's my last night at home so I'll be very busy. I hope to watch the Amsterdam's sailaway from the 17th street bridge and the Westerdam;s Friday sailaway from Serenity's upper decks. I also have requested a wave hoping there will still be a little light when we leave. I plan to be on the Promenade deck immediately above the last lifeboat.

 

Roy

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Roy, I made a list of coming sail-aways for my 2014 WV. I can't remember if I was able to watch even one. Between time differences, excursions, activities on board, and the unpredictability of Wi-Fi, it was very difficult. With unlimited Wi-Fi, you would likely be in a better position to watch than I would.

 

Do you have the Port Everglades app on your iPad?

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Thanks. I have an odd thought. Would it make sense to create a "coming sailaways" thread that would be a copy of each thread's opening post? I probably won't spend a lot of time perusing new threads but if we had something like that I could subscribe to it and know when a sailaway is coming up and be ready for it. Between being involved in the cruise and being in obscure time zones I expect Kathi and I would not be in much of a position to watch very often.

 

I also expect that if I do participate others will have to be my eyes and ears. My recollection from last year is that when I did try to tune in there was something Crystal did that led PTZ to assume I was using an ad blocker.

 

I will try to be around for Wednesday's sailaways although it's my last night at home so I'll be very busy. I hope to watch the Amsterdam's sailaway from the 17th street bridge and the Westerdam;s Friday sailaway from Serenity's upper decks. I also have requested a wave hoping there will still be a little light when we leave. I plan to be on the Promenade deck immediately above the last lifeboat.

 

Roy

 

I expect to be watching Friday's sailaways, so I'm glad to know where you will be. Hope it will be warmer there for your sailaway than what we are expecting here in the Orlando area all the rest of this week. We have friends sailing on Princess Friday, so now I'll have both of you to wave to! :D

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Thank you Nancy. Now sitting in my room at Embassy Suites waiting for luggage. I've been following some threads on Serenity's current cruise. They were in Charleston and had snow on the pool deck. I think the weather in Ft. Lauderdale is now about what it would normally be in Baltimore this time of year but I'm really glad to be away from Baltimore today. I had planned to watch Amsterdam's departure from the 17th Street but it's chilly enough I may stick with the webcam. So close but no cigar.

 

I did spy Amsterdam briefly from the plane and from Route 1 then walked up on the 17th street bridge after lunch. I know there's a World Cruise Logo on the Amsterdam's bow but I couldn't quite pick it up either on the webcam or my camera.

 

Wakeup at home tomorrow is 7F with a wind chill of -13. I'll take what we have here.

 

Roy

 

Ro

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Thank you Nancy. Now sitting in my room at Embassy Suites waiting for luggage. I've been following some threads on Serenity's current cruise. They were in Charleston and had snow on the pool deck. I think the weather in Ft. Lauderdale is now about what it would normally be in Baltimore this time of year but I'm really glad to be away from Baltimore today. I had planned to watch Amsterdam's departure from the 17th Street but it's chilly enough I may stick with the webcam. So close but no cigar.

 

I did spy Amsterdam briefly from the plane and from Route 1 then walked up on the 17th street bridge after lunch. I know there's a World Cruise Logo on the Amsterdam's bow but I couldn't quite pick it up either on the webcam or my camera.

 

Wakeup at home tomorrow is 7F with a wind chill of -13. I'll take what we have here.

 

Roy

 

Ro

 

🎉🎉🎊🎊🍾🍾

I’m sooo happy for you Roy with this fantastic adventure! Wow,

Wasn’t that long ago I was following you on your last exciting journey !

With Kathi ‘s blog and yours I will be set! Kathi’s pics of her stateroom are perfect. I enjoyed seeing your windows of the cabin. Very interested on this cruise of yours since we are thinking of trying her.

Today’s Sailaway with Kathi and all and yours tomorrow will be a great start! Back to my coffee and reading in the am!!!LOL

Enjoy your promenade walks!

Denise:)

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You're right Denise. Any chance you'd like to get lunch with me onboard when Serenity visits San Diego Jan 22?

 

Day Serenity0. Thursday, January 4, 2018, Fly to Ft. Lauderdale

 

The Crystal Symphony is at Walvis Bay, Namibia, 6231 (nautical) miles away. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Charleston to Ft. Lauderdale,

 

I normally take the Airport Shuttle to my first embarkation point when leaving on a big trip. I had a 6:55 reservation to get to BWI for my 8:35 flight. They called Wednesday evening and moved the pickup point back to 7:10.

 

Until a couple of days ago the weather forecast looked good for my departure. At pretty much the last minute a winter storm warning came into the picture. When I rose in the morning there was about an inch of snow on the ground (it had stopped) but things had gotten much worse to our north, south, and east.

 

The airport shuttle called at 6:30 and moved the pickup time again, this time forward to 6:40. Fortunately, I was ready and my bags went out just as the van was driving up. After we got away from the side streets the roads were fine and I was dropped at the airport at 7:15 with the flight still listed as on time.

 

Traveling light has totally eluded me this time. I shipped one fifty pound bag to the ship When Christmas. I had another 50 pound suitcase and a 29 pound large backpack on the plane along with a 22-pound carryon. I added another 16 pounds to the mix with my shopping in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/flightbags.jpg

 

TSA precheck was the easiest time ever. I was carrying 2 laptops and 2 IPAD’s along with a phone. NOTHING had to come out of the bag . I spent more time walking to the checkpoint with the precheck line than I did going through security. I stopped at McDonalds for hash browns and coffee and then checked out my gate. The plane ahead of that was supposed to be gone was still boarding passengers. It left about a half hour late. Our plane arrived just as boarding was due to begin, and left about 20 minutes late with an additional delay for de-icing.

 

The flight itself was fairly routine with a little more turbulence than usual. Despite being on the wrong side of the plane I got brief Glimpses of both the Independence of the Seas and the Amsterdam as we neared the runway.

 

I booked the Airport Shuttle again for the ride to the Embassy Suites. I got to the Embassy Suites about 1:30 with no room ready yet. The bell staff took my bags and I headed off to lunch at Panera on 17th street, also bringing back a dinner entree. After lunch I walked up the 17th Street bridge for a better look at the Independence and the Amsterdam, embarking today on her World Cruise. I have several friends on the ship and a few of the passengers will be transferring to the Symphony as I get off for a return home via the Panama Canal.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/shuttle.jpg

 

I got a text that my room was ready about 3, and started settling in, and also stopping at burger King for skim milk and ice cream and making shopping runs to CVS and Publix. At the Embassy they have added a canvas extension to the doors to provide an air lock with the current cold snap.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/embassy.jpg

 

The Amsterdam was due to sail at 8 and I left the hotel about 7:30 to watch the Amsterdam leave. She looked quite ready when I arrived and a call from a passenger confirmed that. She was visibly moving about 8:03 and I watched as she came down the Intercostal Waterway and turned into the channel and out to sea. None of the usual toots but a lovely lady moving gracefully through the night. I did a little bit of shopping and watching TV after the Amsterdam’s departure before returning to my room and some TV.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/halwcoff.jpg

 

My parting shot will be a wish for a quick recovery by our storm ravaged regions.

 

Roy

Edited by rafinmd
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Happy you were able to beat it out of town as well as you did. Must have had a couple of tense moments there first, though.

Best wishes today getting everything aboard, then placed in that cabin. Lots of 'stuff' for a World Cruise to put away.

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Glad you made it Ft Lauderdale safely and without any problems. Thousands of flights along the east coast have been cancelled during the last 3 days.

A couple of years ago the Embassy Suites had the canvas up at the doors when we arrived due to high winds and rain and cool temperatures -- that was in March.

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Thank you for this thread and I really appreciate your cost analysis. It's getting me starting thinking about my future world cruise...in about 15 years :rolleyes:.

 

 

Bon voyage, safe travels, and have a wonderful time!! I will be reading along!

 

ETA: I'm curious...why did you not board the ship in Charleston? Thanks!

Edited by EeyoreFan1967
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Good morning Roy!!!

Thank you so much for the wonderful opportunity to see your ship and lunch!!!!

We are leaving To go up to our high desert in Ridgecrest Ca.

My husband will be going to China Lake Naval Weapons Center where the Navy is doing

Training with the pilots.

To make a long story short remember Top Gun? He helped design a program to help Top Gun Pilots with on board computer programs! That’s all I know won’t elaborate. That is why we’re able to travel all over the world when he works.

For about 5 minutes in the movie you see Top Gun pilots with computer simulators that were done at Cubic where at that time he worked.

We leave on January 15th 2 weeks!

Small Navy town in the middle of nowhere! We will go up to Mammoth Mt. for some skiing.

Today though we are watching Sailaway and Bon Voyage to you!

Enjoy Roy and stay healthy and marvel in the many wonders of your World Cruise!

Denise:)

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Enjoy! Glad you are there safe and sound. I am sitting in an airport three hours delayed so far and will most likely miss our flight to Hawaii and we’re on the west side of the country!

Can’t wait to read your posts! Safe travels!

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Roy,

Saw you! So excited. If you read my post on Sailaway I was texting too fast and

Words got messed up.

The camera stayed zoomed in on you for a long time.

Great advertising for the webcam. Not very many people were out. Looked cold too!

🎉🎊🍾smooth sailings Roy!

Denise:)

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Roy,

Saw you! So excited. If you read my post on Sailaway I was texting too fast and

Words got messed up.

The camera stayed zoomed in on you for a long time.

Great advertising for the webcam. Not very many people were out. Looked cold too!

🎉🎊🍾smooth sailings Roy!

Denise:)

 

Denise,

 

Please bear with me, as I am learning....where did you see him? Was it one of the web cams? Is it gone?

 

Thanks!

Eeyore

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EeyoreFan1967, I didn't board in Charleston for a couple of reasons. Primary is that I'm treasurer of my local Volunteer Fire Department and need to do some tax filings early in the year. If I had boarded in Charleston I would have needed to leave home January 2 and would have only the one chance to hope things worked right with the filings on New Years Day. By waiting a couple of days I was able to take a bit more time and also brief the office manager on what to do to tie up any loose ends.

 

The other consideration is that Southwest has about a dozen daily nonstops from Baltimore to Ft. Lauderdale. It's a lot easier to get to Ft. Lauderdale than Charleston. Considering how Charleston got socked in by the storm it's a good thing I did make that plan.

 

The "view" that was mentioned was on the Port Everglades webcam:

 

http://portevergladeswebcam.com

 

A number of HAL cruisers are kind of fanatics about watching the sailaways and Boytjie starts a thread for each sailaway. I usually watch when I'm not on a cruise. This is the thread for today's sailaway:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2580948

 

Roy

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Thanks everybody. Krazy Kruizers, it sounded like my sailaway went off pretty well, and a number of people saw me. I know I'm late posting and actually I'll be a bit longer. I chose my pictures before going to bed but hadn't written anything yet and now the computer I post from is in the middle of a SLOW windows update. Lets just say it was a good start. I had a bit of a concern about the bag I shipped with Luggage Concierge but it did show up.

 

Great sailaway.

 

Roy

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