Saga Rose Greenland Voyager August 2007

[Saga Ruby]

The Captain quickly asked, "Problems? What problems? Please tell me. I want to know." Good to know that the Captain is attentive to those who are not big-name VIPs. Donald.

 

A tip of the sailor hat to that Captain. Good businessmen know that loyal customers are the heart-and-soul of any successful business. Herb Kelleher at Southwest Airlines built his business on recognizing that good, happy employees make it tick and customers make it go. In my opinion, VIPs are good only to make headlines and trouble.

 

You have arisen to the top of loyalty customers with Celebrity and it's good to know that you are recognized. Congrats, Donald.

 

Ruby

[Saga Ruby]

Spiralling fuel costs have forced Classic International Cruises to cancel Princess Daphne’s maiden season in Sydney.

 

Classic International Cruises managing director Grant Hunter said rising fuel prices had made it “financially impossible” for the company to bring two ships from Europe to Australia. “If the four long line voyages had proceeded, we would have been forced to impose hefty levies on passengers on these voyages to cover the massive cost of fuel, which we felt would have been unfair and untenable,” Hunter said.

 

That is a daunting story and, as Mr. Hunter has said, if fuel prices remain at these levels, much fall-out in the travel industry can be expected.

 

Marion, were you and Barry booked on any of these itineraries?

 

Ruby

[CGTNORMANDIE]

LOOKING GOOD DONALD!!! I hope the wine was good too. How nice of X to remember your loyalty. Sounds like you were treated royally...how nice!!!

 

Ross

[Kapricorn]

LOOKING GOOD DONALD!!! I hope the wine was good too.

 

Ross, the cabernet sauvignon was very good! It is a special Celebrity wine made in arrangement with a vineyard in California. None of my five table companions drink, so I had the wine to myself over three nights. One bottle equals six glasses of wine, and I had two glasses each night. My travel agent also gave me a bon voyage bottle of pinot giorgio. These two bottles certainly helped to cut down considerably my expenses on this cruise.

 

Donald.

[MMDown Under]

Ruby - No we weren't booked on any of these ships. I just thought this thread would be interested.

 

Donald - Yes, one does wonder what the near future of the cruise and airline industry will be.

 

Qantas, a profitable airline, has just announced that they will be putting off 1500, as well as squeezing industrially their engineers refusing to consider a small wage claim.

 

I think the industries most heavily effected by the high fuel costs are already make adjustments to tide things out.

 

Trouble is they are letting the bean counters run the show, thinking of shareholders, but not listening to their customers.

 

Travel is a perishable product. They may find their market has moved on and may not return after this downturn.

 

Donald - Not you. They should be listening to cruisers like you big time. Your recognition as a loyal customer of Celebrity is one good example of what the industry needs to do more of.

[Kapricorn]

Qantas, a profitable airline, has just announced that they will be putting off 1500, as well as squeezing industrially their engineers refusing to consider a small wage claim.

 

Air Canada is laying off 2,000 employees in October. I am sure that this will be a pattern worldwide.

 

Donald.

[Kapricorn]

I forgot to mention that shortly after entering my cabin on Mercury after embarkation, I pulled out the chair from the desk and was surprised to see on it a pair of old, soiled and smelly runners with a note: "Yours if you want them." What nonsense! I had the cabin steward toss these out. I also found a Canadian dime underneath the desk.

 

Have any of you encountered items left by previous occupants in your cabins?

 

Donald.

[MMDown Under]

I wonder what made the person who put them there think the next cruiser's feet would be the same size, let alone want them?

[MMDown Under]

Just read in SMH that Orion Expeditions, a local cruise ship, will be charging $50 fuel surcharge pppd for all new bookings. This is in addition to base cost of $700 pppd!

[franu]

I wonder what made the person who put them there think the next cruiser's feet would be the same size, let alone want them?

 

I have seen and been thoroughly disgusted by behaviour like this. I don't think that the next cruiser in that cabin was who the shoes were meant for. I believe it was meant for the cabin steward. There are some people who think that the ship's crew are so poor that they will take anything. Don't they understand that poor does not mean without self-respect.

 

Used, dirty and/or torn clothing can be left either in the garbage can or by asking the cabin steward how to dispose of it. If it is something that can still be appreciated by someone else, they will say that "if it is OK with you I would like to keep it". If not, they will dispose of it for you.

 

The person who left those filthy, worn shoes left it in a coward's way, for when he was gone from the ship. He knew that they were not good for anyone but insulted his cabin steward.

Fran

[MMDown Under]

I would never have dreamt that could have been the case.

 

I give my stewards the same Australian souvenirs, which I give my friends.

 

My first cruise back from the UK was on the last P&O cruise ship which called at Bombay to exchange its crew, as it had become less expensive to fly crew in.

 

In our cabin I had found a false bottom in the wardrobe, under which there were lots of cakes of soap. After we left Bombay, it was all gone. The poverty I then saw in Bombay still haunts me.

 

However, this is balanced with happy memories of the grandeur of our departure, with a band on the wharf farewelling the last P&O ship to India.

[Kapricorn]

Used, dirty and/or torn clothing can be left either in the garbage can or by asking the cabin steward how to dispose of it.

 

That reminded me of the woollen gloves which I had purchased in Alaska a couple of years ago, and these had started to become thin and was not too effective in cold weather. I brought these with me on the cruise last week, with the intention of throwing them out after I had purchased a new pair in Alaska.

 

The cabin steward saw my discarded old gloves in the trash can, thought that I had made a mistake, and left them on the floor next to the can. I put them back in the can, and that was the end of it. It was nice of the cabin steward to double-check, though. That was professional of him.

 

Donald.

[franu]

I would never have dreamt that could have been the case.

I have actually heard someone bragging that they did this. They thought that it was so kind of them.

 

I would never dream of this on my own.

Fran

[Saga Ruby]

The person who left those filthy, worn shoes left it in a coward's way, for when he was gone from the ship. He knew that they were not good for anyone but insulted his cabin steward. Fran

 

Well put, Fran. I agree that the gesture was meant as an insult by a dastardly passenger.

 

The cabin steward saw my discarded old gloves in the trash can, thought that I had made a mistake, and left them on the floor next to the can. I put them back in the can, and that was the end of it. It was nice of the cabin steward to double-check, though. That was professional of him. Donald.

 

Donald, you brought up an interesting subject about trash/no trash. Last August, with Saga Rose pitching like a bucking bronco outside Greenland and constantly clearing my dressing table, it was nice to know that Edward was making sure it was actually trash in the bin.

 

Digression - I felt really sorry for the hotel staff on that cruise. They would clean and prepare the rooms for the day, then have to give up their personal time in the afternoon to go back and straighten up the rooms yet again after the gales had calmed slightly. The entire staff worked constantly to keep that ship in tiptop shape during difficult times. I found it all quite admirable.

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

The person who left those filthy, worn shoes left it in a coward's way, for when he was gone from the ship. He knew that they were not good for anyone but insulted his cabin steward.

Fran

 

My cabin steward, from India, is somewhere in his 60s and is the Buster Keaton of all cabin stewards. No matter how often on a daily basis I smiled and greeted him, and was polite and genial, I could not coax the slightest hint of a smile from him. Compared to him, Mona Lisa had a wide grin. That's just the way he is - practical and down-to-earth. He did a great job of keeping my cabin tidy, however, which was the important thing and which I appreciated.

 

Perhaps the previous occupant simply didn't care for his personality and so insulted him with these shoes.

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

I had the chance to sail on France in 1963 when she was only a year old. She was a beautiful vessel with great food and elegant surroundings. I never returned to her when she was Norway. The sight of the first class Chambord Dining Room filled with tables for ten was almost as sad as the pictures of her on the beach in India.

 

Conte, can you or someone refresh my memory? In 1965, my parents booked a crossing on the France and, in those days, bon voyage parties were de rigueur. So my father brought me to NYC to visit with relatives Up East, then many of us went onboard the ship for the farewell party.

 

If memory serves, my parents' bedroom had a curtain that separated it from the sitting area which could easily accommodate the party. And my remembrance of the stateroom colours were in the manner of Monet - soft blue, perhaps a touch of orange, creams, but I don't really remember. I do remember walking the promenade deck and wondering if I would need roller skates to get around as a passenger. To my young eyes, that ship was huge after sailing on Empress of Britain and Acropolis. Do you recall the ship's interior colours?

 

My New York aunt (my father's sister) was practicing her rusty French with the cabin waiter at our party and asked if she were correctly pronouncing "a little bit," something like "un peu." The waiter very kindly helped her with the pronunciation. Just think - French hotel staff on a French ship. Ah, those were the days!

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

This is a picture of a first-class cabin on France. Was this the kind of cabin which your parents used?

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

Thanks Donald for the photo, but my parents' stateroom was a bit larger than the cabin shown. Their bedroom was large enough to walk around both sides of what I think was a double bed.

 

The sitting area (living room) comfortably held 8-10 guests and allowed enough room for the waiter to circulate easily. While my parents' stateroom was not large by today's standards, it was certainly large in the days when crossing the Atlantic was more of a transportation mode than a Penthouse/Verandah/Concierge Suite kinda thing.

 

Ruby

[CGTNORMANDIE]

AHHHH....the colors of the FRANCE. They were a bit incongruous to me. As you can see from Donald's picture...the blue and then vermilion accents with a striped bedspread...YIKES!!! Some of the colors in the public rooms were rather commercial...for my taste. My initial impression, in 1973, was that they could have done better. But then you would turn a corner and run into some stunning rooms, like the First Class library, the First Class indoor pool and the Music Room. I thought the Tourist Class public rooms were just as good as the First Class rooms, for the most part. Donald was right though...the Chambord Dining Room was stunning. I always thought the FRANCE was not as stunning as it could have been. It was the ambiance onboard the FRANCE that made it so wonderful. She was so comfortable and accommodating. The crew had a technique of making each day special and the fun just kept on building as the ship progressed through the Atlantic.

 

When the FRANCE became the NORWAY...they rebuilt the Club International...and, I think, they did it better than it had been on the FRANCE. The room became a favorite of those of us who had sailed on both.

 

Ross

[Conte Di Savoia]

Conte, can you or someone refresh my memory?

If memory serves, my parents' bedroom had a curtain that separated it from the sitting area which could easily accommodate the party. And my remembrance of the stateroom colours were in the manner of Monet - soft blue, perhaps a touch of orange, creams, but I don't really remember. I do remember walking the promenade deck and wondering if I would need roller skates to get around as a passenger. To my young eyes, that ship was huge after sailing on Empress of Britain and Acropolis. Do you recall the ship's interior colours?

 

My New York aunt (my father's sister) was practicing her rusty French with the cabin waiter at our party and asked if she were correctly pronouncing "a little bit," something like "un peu." The waiter very kindly helped her with the pronunciation. Just think - French hotel staff on a French ship. Ah, those were the days!

 

Ruby

 

The cabin which Donald posted was much like the one I occupied with my brother and a high school chum who was traveling with us that year. But perhaps the room pictured here was more like what your parents had. This is the Ile De France suite, one of the two largest on board, and has the soft blues you describe. If it is I'm very impressed. The service must have been spectacular. Much of the decor of the ship was cool and metallic, very, as they say now, "midcentury". My favorite room was the First Class Smoking Lounge which was toward the stern and had a wonderful outdoor terrace which was sacrificed when the ship was converted to Norway.

My other recollection about our transatlantic voyage was that the captain never put in an appearance. He did not host any reception or socialize with the passengers.

[Druke I]

Maritime Matters reports (7-19) that Clipper Pacific (ex Song of Norway) has been cleared by the US Coast Guard to continue its trip - next stop Florida.

 

Apparently the 66 deficiencies (including a cracked hull!) have been sufficiently addressed to allow it to resume its journey.

 

I for one have great faith and admiration for the USCG (and other services as well).

[Kapricorn]

Apparently the 66 deficiencies (including a cracked hull!) have been sufficiently addressed to allow it to resume its journey.

 

That's great to hear! I am looking forward to seeing her in Vancouver on August 8.

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

This is the Ile De France suite, one of the two largest on board, and has the soft blues you describe. If it is I'm very impressed. The service must have been spectacular.

 

My other recollection about our transatlantic voyage was that the captain never put in an appearance. He did not host any reception or socialize with the passengers.

 

Thanks for the photo of that magnificent suite but it is probably 50% larger than my parents' suite. This photo reminds me of the Royal Suite on the Jewel of the Seas that Ross books every year. It also reminds me that, over the many years I, as a solo passenger, am not allowed to book these kinds of suites nor the rear suites on Prinsendam because they are for couples only. If you think that doesn't steam me, think again.

 

The colours in the suite were similar to those in Monet's Impression: Sunrise which I do so admire. But just spending those 2-3 hours on the France did not do her justice; if I had only known then that I would have this glorious thread of ship historians and ship fans, I would have paid closer attention!

 

Funny you should mention the Captain - they can be invisible when they want to be, no?

 

That's great to hear! I am looking forward to seeing her in Vancouver on August 8. Donald.

 

Hey, Donald, a word, please? Would it be a bit over the top to meet Clipper Pacific in Vancouver whilst carrying the world's largest sticking plaster and ask if they might want to put it in Stores for future use?

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

Hey, Donald, a word, please? Would it be a bit over the top to meet Clipper Pacific in Vancouver whilst carrying the world's largest sticking plaster and ask if they might want to put it in Stores for future use?

 

LOL!!! Wouldn't scotch tape also help to cover up the holes in the rotting lifeboats? :D

 

Donald.

[Druke I]

Cruise News Daily is reporting that Clipper Pacific will be undergoing further repairs in Tampa, FL.

 

No time estimate given - but of course that might impact its arrival in Vancouver.