Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, island lady said:

 

IMHO...about as much as they would on any other shorter cruise.  

On one of the you tube blogs they said there was quite a lot of  enrichment lectures. I know they've had these on transatlantics and I've usually enjoyed them in the past 

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

You know it's going to be real fun when hey stack/tie up all the Deck Chairs and Drain the pools

They've done that on most of the TAs I've been on.  On an Anthem TA, we had 40-45 foot swells for several days.  Good thing Anthem is an "indoor" ship.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Wow...yup, that is Bucky's favorite  wine.  He has had a standing order for a glass of Oberon Cab with dinner for over 3 weeks now, but 2 nights ago...was told they are out.  

 

Now...they are even out of Kim Crawford SB, my go to wine.  Really bummed out about that one!!  There is no Sauvignon Blanc they have on board that even comes close to it.  😠

 

Sad, as up until now, there were no shortages.  Not sure what happened in Rio, but I guess they did not pick up any supplies...and being a large embarkation port, I saw a lot of supply trucks down there when we were docked up. Maybe they were just for the other cruise ships.  Not sure what happened, or why they did not bring on the wines.  It's not like we are a full ship.  

Live Oberon. On Navigator now and it's available in the MDR....but not any bars...with a voucher and $1 upcharge.

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

 

Edited January 2 by ZoeyVictoria
Deleted - wrong info.

[BND]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

I have a slightly different question:

Will the Serenade be refurbished/refreshed after it gets back from the last leg of the WC?
Will the changes that they made the WC (for example laundry rooms) be left or torn down?

And is there any crew that will sail the entire 274 days like the cruisers or every segment will have a complete crew change? I can see fun in cruising for 274 days, but it is a lot of work days if a crew member is working for that long.

 

 

The laundry question has been discussed before.  They will not keep the laundry rooms.  

[Jimbo]

3 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I just saw one of the vloggers do a short clip on YouTube, that they are running out of some of the wines. They mentioned Oberon Red, and they have already gone through 3 pallets. I’m not a wine drinker, but that must be a popular wine.

Hopefully next  pick up for wine isn't LA.  😉 That would be poor planning.😉

[orville99]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Hopefully next  pick up for wine isn't LA.  😉 That would be poor planning.😉

Poor planning from RCL - blaspheme😱

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Poor planning from RCL - blaspheme😱

Money man in charge: “There’s an awful lot of free drinking happening on the WC. Those loyalty tiers are going to drink us into bankruptcy.”  
 

Minion: “I will take care of that,” as he cancels liquor orders at several port stops. “Bwahahaha!” 
 

All kidding aside, my husband would be ready for a mutiny if he couldn’t get his wine. 😬😂 

 

Hopefully the ship will get restocked in the next port of call. 

[GimmeOcean]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Poor planning from RCL - blaspheme😱

The logistics of resupplying the ship for the WC have to be quite a bit more involved than the usual situation where a ship would be back in its home port every week or so. Not too surprising that some issues are occurring.

[kernow]

12 hours ago, Arzeena said:

I have a slightly different question:

Will the Serenade be refurbished/refreshed after it gets back from the last leg of the WC?
Will the changes that they made the WC (for example laundry rooms) be left or torn down?

And is there any crew that will sail the entire 274 days like the cruisers or every segment will have a complete crew change? I can see fun in cruising for 274 days, but it is a lot of work days if a crew member is working for that long.

 

 

We were on the Canal cruise before the WC and chatted to some of the staff about what they were doing. I think most of them are just on their normal rotation, bar tenders and our waiters were on for the next few months and then going home at the end of their contract as usual. I think the senior staff will also rotate as usual.

[island lady]

14 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I guess they did try to replenish in Rio, but no luck. I do like the Kim Crawford SB when I have wine. I did a wine tasting in NZ in April, and their wines are so good…OK, I do drink wine sometimes, but prefer my Dirty Gin Martini…😉

Shocked and surprised...when we got to dinner last night, our always cheery and giggling asst. waiter told us she had both the Kim Crawford AND the Oberon for us.  Yaaahh!!  🤗

[island lady]

14 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

I experience at least couple days weather/wind similar to this each yr, actually enjoy feeling like we're on a Ship. In 35+ yrs of Cruising only once got Sea Sick, not throwing up was in bed most one day. While on my first 13niter in North Atlantic about 12yrs ago, was also my first true Aft Cabin on highest passenger Deck. You know it's going to be real fun when hey stack/tie up all the Deck Chairs and Drain the pools

 

LOL....so far neither of us has been the least bit sea sick...and even better, no "barf" bags on the stairwells yet.  (That is when you get real worried).  😮 

[island lady]

14 hours ago, doghog said:

Agree. Our go to SB also. No matter the cruise line or ship. You and Bucky need to speak with the F&B manger before your next port stop with your requests. 😉 Enjoy your HH. 🍻

 

Situation resolved...errr...at least for now.  Never sure how long it will last.  😮 

[island lady]

13 hours ago, sgmn said:

On one of the you tube blogs they said there was quite a lot of  enrichment lectures. I know they've had these on transatlantics and I've usually enjoyed them in the past 

 

The best so far for us was the Captain's lecture on the difference between his home land (Norway) and Antarctica...being opposite ends of the world.  

[island lady]

13 hours ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

Live Oberon. On Navigator now and it's available in the MDR....but not any bars...with a voucher and $1 upcharge.

 

Same here...dining room only.  1.00 upcharge along with .18 grat.   We have a long list of 1.18 charges on our account.  😉   And we always tip our Asst. waiter for the wine she brings...in cash as well.  

[island lady]

14 hours ago, LadyZolt said:

An appetizer on the menu for the MDR tonight is "Egg Drop Soup."  😄

 

LOL...yeah I saw that...AND watched as they collected the unbroken eggs to put them back in the egg carton.  😉  

 

Though when I ordered the egg drop soup...I swear it had a beef broth and little meatballs...kind of like the "wedding soup".  Not a real egg drop soup I have ever had anywhere.  😕

[island lady]

13 hours ago, Arzeena said:

I have a slightly different question:

Will the Serenade be refurbished/refreshed after it gets back from the last leg of the WC?
Will the changes that they made the WC (for example laundry rooms) be left or torn down?

And is there any crew that will sail the entire 274 days like the cruisers or every segment will have a complete crew change? I can see fun in cruising for 274 days, but it is a lot of work days if a crew member is working for that long.

 

 

 

No idea...but definitely should have been taken out of service for a couple of weeks to refurbish before the WC.  Yikes.  Too many things broken from the start.  One of the outbound elevators still not running (Centrum).  Stuck on 12.  

[island lady]

8 hours ago, GimmeOcean said:

The logistics of resupplying the ship for the WC have to be quite a bit more involved than the usual situation where a ship would be back in its home port every week or so. Not too surprising that some issues are occurring.

 

Though with the ship far from sold out...the initial stock up should have been plentiful...but apparently was not.  

[A&L_Ont]

Just now, island lady said:

 

Though with the ship far from sold out...the initial stock up should have been plentiful...but apparently was not.  

Seasoned cruisers know how to drink. 😀

[island lady]

Just now, A&L_Ont said:

Seasoned cruisers know how to drink. 😀

 

Oh yeah...I would say we are pretty seasoned.  Hiicckk!!  😵😄 

[island lady]

Another interesting thing from the big storm we hit during the egg drop event (which ironically was good to be going on then to have most pax inside and mid ship during that time).  

 

The forward elevators had to be shut down.  Power went out and they were taking in water from that first blast.  Yikes. 

[Ocean Boy]

13 minutes ago, island lady said:

Another interesting thing from the big storm we hit during the egg drop event (which ironically was good to be going on then to have most pax inside and mid ship during that time).  

 

The forward elevators had to be shut down.  Power went out and they were taking in water from that first blast.  Yikes. 

From videos that I've seen on FB it looks like quite a bit of water was coming into the ship. I hope no one was stuck in those elevators. Interesting time to say the least. 

[grapau27]

On 1/1/2024 at 3:30 AM, island lady said:

Happy New Year!!  

 

 

Happy new year Pat and Bucky.

[island lady]

55 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

From videos that I've seen on FB it looks like quite a bit of water was coming into the ship. I hope no one was stuck in those elevators. Interesting time to say the least. 

 

Yeah, no word on if that happened.  Had a friend get on the elevator when it was dark inside and wet...but it still worked.  Me, I would have been too chicken to do that.  😮 🐔

 

They later announced the elevators were shut down.  Not sure how long that lasted, have not been up that way yet since the storm.  

 

 

 

 

Edited January 3 by island lady

[island lady]

43 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Happy new year Pat and Bucky.

 

Awww...thanks Graham!  And Happy Healthy new year to you and Pauline as well.  🙂