Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[Jimbo]

6 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

The updated itinerary 

How would one use this document above for insurance purposes? Most everyone knows the cruise line is allowed to change itinerary if need be?

[CSHS1979]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

How would one use this document above for insurance purposes? Most everyone knows the cruise line is allowed to change itinerary if need be?

 

I think some policies have payouts for missed ports. Ours doesn't 

[Oceansaway17]

wow now the Africa portion is having drama as well.

Too bad no Seychelles as they are supposed to be beautiful.  

[lovesthebeach2]

17 hours ago, gatour said:

Every so often I see ads for pink pineapples, never tried one and hadn't thought where they come from. My guess genetics.

In our community we have a farmers market on Mondays and Fridays and last week they had Pink Pineapple! I have never heard of it before.  They sold it already cut in half so you could see it was pink…..we didn’t get it as I had already paid and didn’t want to stand in line again.

[DelMom18a]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

wow now the Africa portion is having drama as well.

Too bad no Seychelles as they are supposed to be beautiful.  

Drama?  All I've heard about is weather related and there's no planning for that.  

[lovesthebeach2]

5 hours ago, Jimbo said:

How would one use this document above for insurance purposes? Most everyone knows the cruise line is allowed to change itinerary if need be?

Have you ever done this? When our Holy Land cruise last year got changed to remove Israel from our itinerary 1 week before our cruise, the last thing on my mind was calling my insurance company to try to get money back for the changed ports. Yes, we had to miss all of Israel, but gained beautiful ports that were never on our radar

Do people do this?

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Have you ever done this? When our Holy Land cruise last year got changed to remove Israel from our itinerary 1 week before our cruise, the last thing on my mind was calling my insurance company to try to get money back for the changed ports. Yes, we had to miss all of Israel, but gained beautiful ports that were never on our radar

Do people do this?

If you have been on for the entire WC, might be nice to recoup some funds along the way if it's covered through your insurance company for missed ports and is willing  to pay it out. Why not take it if you can get it?

[ATG]

2 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Have you ever done this? When our Holy Land cruise last year got changed to remove Israel from our itinerary 1 week before our cruise, the last thing on my mind was calling my insurance company to try to get money back for the changed ports. Yes, we had to miss all of Israel, but gained beautiful ports that were never on our radar

Do people do this?

If you paid the premium for the coverage why wouldn’t you file a claim?

[lovesthebeach2]

1 minute ago, ATG said:

If you paid the premium for the coverage why wouldn’t you file a claim?

On the world cruise I guess you would need to keep track of all the ports missed, I guess it’s a hassle to me. On many cruises we’ve had to skip a port due to a multitude of reasons, and it’s not worth it to me, especially if they make it up with another port. 
 Not sure my annual policy covers that anyway, although I’ve never looked at it in detail.

[Oceansaway17]

4 hours ago, DelMom18a said:

Drama?  All I've heard about is weather related and there's no planning for that.  

Yes more drama overall with this way too WC.

Missing Seychelles is hard to swallow as no other chance now.

Wonder what else will get cancelled.

Perhaps this is why this area RCI had never sailed before and got stuck with because of Suez Canal. 

[sgmn]

20 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 

Missing Seychelles is hard to swallow as no other chance now.

Wonder what else will get cancelled.

 

I believe they stopped at Mahè Seychelles. It was the second Seychelles port that was cancelled along with Madagascar 

[Oceansaway17]

1 minute ago, sgmn said:

I believe they stopped at Mahè Seychelles. It was the second Seychelles port that was cancelled along with Madagascar 

Oh good to hear

[dahirsh]

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Yes more drama overall with this way too WC.

Missing Seychelles is hard to swallow as no other chance now.

Wonder what else will get cancelled.

Perhaps this is why this area RCI had never sailed before and got stuck with because of Suez Canal. 

it might be disappointing, but drama?  

[CSHS1979]

14 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

wow now the Africa portion is having drama as well.

Too bad no Seychelles as they are supposed to be beautiful.  

 

They went to Mahe

[BecAus]

We arrived in Port Louis, Mauritius this morning. It was a lovely sunny day, about 27 degrees. We did a tour with RCI down to the south of the island including a nice buffet lunch

 

 

We went to a Tea Factory - this machine was making tea bags

 

 

All the teas which we got to try afterwards on a lovely veranda overlooking the tea plantation 
 

 

Our view while enjoying the teas

 

 

A sacred Indian (I think!) lake with many statues around the edge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monkeys near the Sacred Lake

 

 

 

Male Indian statue

 

 

Female statue
 

 

 

The view, including waterfall, at Black River Gorge

 

 

Monkeys at the Gorge car park - 

 

 

 

 

The view from the verandah out towards the ocean where they took us for lunch near the Gorge

 

 

Bananas growing near the restaurant 

 

 

The Dodo bird is a big thing here, apparently the last place they were before becoming extinct 

 

 

They took us to a ship model shop, quite famous apparently 

The model above is the Titanic 

 

 

Black Pearl

 

 

View from the top of the volcano lookout over Port Louis

 

 

Trou aux Cerfs - the dormant volcano  - we were looking down into the volcano here. It was quite hard to capture what we were looking at

 

Below is a (tour) photo I found elsewhere - we were standing at the top looking down into this

 

 

We had a great day, it was a good tour and we saw a lot and had a nice lunch

 

We’ll be spending overnight and tomorrow here as well.

[bobmacliberty]

22 hours ago, BecAus said:

We arrived in Port Louis, Mauritius this morning. It was a lovely sunny day, about 27 degrees. We did a tour with RCI down to the south of the island including a nice buffet lunch

 

 

We went to a Tea Factory - this machine was making tea bags

 

 

All the teas which we got to try afterwards on a lovely veranda overlooking the tea plantation 
 

 

Our view while enjoying the teas

 

 

A sacred Indian (I think!) lake with many statues around the edge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monkeys near the Sacred Lake

 

 

 

Male Indian statue

 

 

Female statue
 

 

 

The view, including waterfall, at Black River Gorge

 

 

Monkeys at the Gorge car park - 

 

 

 

 

The view from the verandah out towards the ocean where they took us for lunch near the Gorge

 

 

Bananas growing near the restaurant 

 

 

The Dodo bird is a big thing here, apparently the last place they were before becoming extinct 

 

 

They took us to a ship model shop, quite famous apparently 

The model above is the Titanic 

 

 

Black Pearl

 

 

View from the top of the volcano lookout over Port Louis

 

 

Trou aux Cerfs - the dormant volcano  - we were looking down into the volcano here. It was quite hard to capture what we were looking at

 

Below is a (tour) photo I found elsewhere - we were standing at the top looking down into this

 

 

We had a great day, it was a good tour and we saw a lot and had a nice lunch

 

We’ll be spending overnight and tomorrow here as well.

 

Fantastic photos!  Thanks for posting.

[BecAus]

Day 2 in Mauritius

We had a private tour booked today to go to the local market, try local snacks, swim with turtles & local lunch on beach, visit old Fort / Citadel

 

 

 

 

Pineapple - peeled ready to eat. Our driver stopped & got us some at a fruit cart on the way back to the ship - so sweet & delicious!
 

 

 

The beach from where we went out to swim with turtles - they’re wild so not guaranteed - we saw some, perhaps 3 - was cool to see in their natural environment & some fish. Water was really nice - not too cold at all!

 

 

 

Noodle dish we had, cooked by van at beach. I said I was vego - not game to try ‘beach meat’. My husband did, no ill effects so far. Was very tasty!

 

 

Saw LOTS of sugar cane in this area - there was a large sugar mill on the dock next to where Serenade was berthed.

 

 

 

View over Port Louis from Citadel

 

 

Previously used as a fort and a gaol

 

 

 

Looking down from Citadel hill to where Serenade was docked

 

 

Our home away from home!

 

Lovely couple of days in Mauritius - off to Reunion Island tomorrow  : )

[Arzeena]

The port pictures are lovely! Thank you! Where does this leg of the sailing end?
 

I was also interested in learning about the ship's condition and maintenance, please? Does it seem very battered? Is it kept clean and up to date? Thank you.

[Jimbo]

15 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

The port pictures are lovely! Thank you! Where does this leg of the sailing end?
 

I was also interested in learning about the ship's condition and maintenance, please? Does it seem very battered? Is it kept clean and up to date? Thank you.

Ends in Amsterdam where he started, when he stays onboard for his second cruise. He is doing a B2B. Second cruise is going to Norway.

 

The sailing he is on, is the 1st sailing since the ship was in dry dock. So right now the ship is as good as it is going to get.

Edited May 19 by Jimbo

[njkruzer]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Ends in Amsterdam where he started, when he stays onboard for his second cruise. He is doing a B2B. Second cruise is going to Norway.

 

The sailing he is on, is the 1st sailing since the ship was in dry dock. So right now the ship is as good as it is going to get.

I think you've got the wrong ship. This board is the Serenade.  Twangster is on the Jewel. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Ends in Amsterdam where he started, when he stays onboard for his second cruise. He is doing a B2B. Second cruise is going to Norway.

I think the poster was talking about the Serenade (the topic of this thread) not Jewel.

[Arzeena]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I think the poster was talking about the Serenade (the topic of this thread) not Jewel.

Yes, about the Serenade. Thank you.

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Ends in Amsterdam where he started, when he stays onboard for his second cruise. He is doing a B2B. Second cruise is going to Norway.

 

The sailing he is on, is the 1st sailing since the ship was in dry dock. So right now the ship is as good as it is going to get.

Thanks Jimbo, but I think we are talking about different ships.

[BecAus]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

The port pictures are lovely! Thank you! Where does this leg of the sailing end?
 

I was also interested in learning about the ship's condition and maintenance, please? Does it seem very battered? Is it kept clean and up to date? Thank you.

The current leg ends in Cape Town on the 27th May - we arrive there for an overnight stop on the 26th.

 

For the Africa diversion RCI offered a couple different options. Basically split into 2 sailings - Dubai to Cape Town & Cape Town to Ravenna. You could get off for one or both of these and receive a full refund.  Quite a few people took up the option.

 

We are getting off in Cape Town and back on in Ravenna. We originally wanted to reboard in Bari, Italy a couple of days before Ravenna but once I realised we would be forgoing the full refund for the 24 days off ship if we did that I quickly changed my mind on that!

 

There is then 2 mini legs following that - Ravenna to Rome and Rome to Barcelona where S3 officially ends.

 

I can honestly say the ship is in excellent condition with no sign of wear and tear. They are constantly doing the regular maintenance that they always do.  IMO you would not think this ship is 20yrs old.

The bed has been super comfortable and our stateroom shows no sign of age and I’ve seen no wear and tear around the ship that I could mention - she looks in great shape. We have really enjoyed being back on a smaller ship after a few years sailing the Quantum class!

[Arzeena]

18 minutes ago, BecAus said:

The current leg ends in Cape Town on the 27th May - we arrive there for an overnight stop on the 26th.

 

For the Africa diversion RCI offered a couple different options. Basically split into 2 sailings - Dubai to Cape Town & Cape Town to Ravenna. You could get off for one or both of these and receive a full refund.  Quite a few people took up the option.

 

We are getting off in Cape Town and back on in Ravenna. We originally wanted to reboard in Bari, Italy a couple of days before Ravenna but once I realised we would be forgoing the full refund for the 24 days off ship if we did that I quickly changed my mind on that!

 

There is then 2 mini legs following that - Ravenna to Rome and Rome to Barcelona where S3 officially ends.

 

I can honestly say the ship is in excellent condition with no sign of wear and tear. They are constantly doing the regular maintenance that they always do.  IMO you would not think this ship is 20yrs old.

The bed has been super comfortable and our stateroom shows no sign of age and I’ve seen no wear and tear around the ship that I could mention - she looks in great shape. We have really enjoyed being back on a smaller ship after a few years sailing the Quantum class!

Thank you.
We are booked on the Serenade for October, so was wondering about her condition. I had other choices on newer Royal or X ships, but an aft facing balcony, cruising out of Tampa, and great prices trumped.