Sand$!

Thank you Hattie 

I had a link to the roll call for this cruise starting Jan 2024 and now cannot find anything. Can someone help please direct me to the right page. 

My dislike of Astroturfing some surfaces is it looks tired very quickly at the edges. Silly thought only.  I love old wooden board decks from memories as a child on board some of his ships as a captain!! Not glamorous at all. Merchant Navy on oil tankers 🤣

Brilliantly executed report. Love your detail and personal reflection along with all the pics. 
 

Thank You

one minor question from someone who has yet to sail on this ship. Is there that much Astro turf on board? On older ships it is usually decking. Knock me back on my gribble of course it is not to take away from this marvellous insight of a cruise

Good Times it is and the same format as John sent for last November. We are just off Adventure Tuesday this week 

As others have said and I echo. Fly out and cruise back is excellent way ….. I call it flat bed home!!!

all being said though itinerary is our most important factor and did a repositioning years ago Brazil to Barcelona which was 14 days transatlantic cheaper than a flight at that time. 
 

Research Singapore well for accommodation and think about cost of drinks and food. We did three days before a reposition back to Sydney and spent more in those three days than the whole cruise cost back. Though we did stay at Marina Bay Sands!!

Have loads of fun!

3 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Thanks Sand$! Have you sailed with Ambassador before? 
Do you particularly like the size of a smaller ship or do you like the more simple design of an older one? 
I have to say I rather like the all singing, all dancing big ones but am happy to experiment new cruise lines and their ships too!

Hi we have not sailed Ambassador yet. Have London to Sydney booked for the New Year. I like smaller ships after our first cruise repositioning Brazil to Barcelona was a great relaxing sea day’s experience. We tried a larger ship out of Sydney for a short break and were frazzled getting around! Older ships give me a smile on layout and I think they feel more of being on a ship than the huge floating cities. That being said I cruise anything that brings us the right itinerary. We have found the time onboard with a smaller set of people also relaxing with staff getting to know you and it is the one time I pack away my computer work and switch off!! Ambassador fits for us on the trip we want and am hoping for a Cuba trip in the coming years. I really hope you have a fab time on your trip and will love hearing about it. The added extras of the right entertainment for you should be a blast. We just finished a 4 day 80s cruise here in Sydney which was on an older ship which means cheap enough but great entertainment. 

Excellent Planning. Looking forward to your  review especially as you will be in a small older ship which is exactly what I love. Enjoy

Update on my saving, my saving is a thousand in Aus dollars at the moment but that could be also due to conversion fluctuations so very interested in late booking drops information not for this cruise information but in general. Thanks

Big big thank you for the detailed review. We are sailing London to Sydney in Jan 2024 on Ambiance and getting very excited now and your review helped calm a few nerves. We have sailed a number of times from cheap and cheerful quick to a number of longer world repositions. Your detail and personal observation in the review also made me laugh. We booked for value not premium so liked your comment and made us feel comfortable in we can make our cruise what it is. On the drinks package side we booked so long ago our top drinks package was included for free in the price so I believe we will be “quids in” for a having a few coffees and imbibing as and when with wine at dinner. Interesting you say the later deals reduce pricing, is that on direct website? I can see the individual pp price for an inside cabin which we like is currently still a couple of thousand more than we have paid. Is the price reduction usually after the 90 days out pay in full has passed. Because we are British expats living in Aus and still working, planning cannot be last minute but interested in this area of booking later as retirement looms might be a way to get things even better value? Again thank you for the review your time spent writing it up is well appreciated. 

My Sailing on Radiance OTS has an itinerary with us in Bora Bora; French Polynesia at 8.00 am. 27th September 2017

I am trying to arrange a private tour and the operator is telling me that he has others booked on starting at 8.15 am.

This is only my second cruise so I have no status to be able to try and get a pass for an early tender.

Would you agree it is not sensible for me to book this tour. I thought I would be able to make possibly a 9.30 am start to be on the safe side.

Any opinions?

I found the best thing to do is make your own and leave them for the attendant.Really messes with their heads.:D

I agree :)

I have a photo of our contribution but cannot upload !! sorry -please can someone let me know how to do a simple photo without it looking like a thumbnail

I would be straight up for the All inclusive holiday - save the money and go on a cruise not in a Junior Suite later

There are some glasses of wine that have been reported to be over the limit

Limit was $14 on my transatlantic in April and there was the $17 a glass white that I really liked....was fairly naffed off at that because it was only a standard Kim Crawford Sav Blanc. I did not pay the difference I found another wine.

Hi - I totally agree with the OP ... I loved reviews of all sorts before I left on my first cruise. So I thought I would try and say thanks and write my own. Not sure if my style is so odd it only helped a few....or being kind to myself I put it on the wrong board

http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2363131

Hope I got the link right.

but trying now to find the time to finish and I will because as an earlier person on this thread stated it is helping me relive my experience.

I have a little more to tell myself.....and will post that later this weekend I hope. Cheers for now

Events on board and evening entertainment

We went to virtually nothing – I do not know where the time went – we were so laid back – we did not make evening plans mostly lounging around chatting after dinner. I caught a couple of moments of the Arial display in the centrum – nice enough. I watched some different events happening in the centrum also, dance off and some other things. We went to the theatre one evening and watch some musical artist, again nice but left in break.

Like the singers and piano people in the schooner bar which was our most frequent haunt.

Dancing is something DH and I do as our thing and we actually found many places to do this and classes to join in. A couple of times I had to give up as the floor got so crowded with the South Americans – gosh they love love to dance and party as I said. No I did not walk off as a petulant child, I just sat down and watched more than danced.

Evening dancing was something we could do for at least an hour somewhere on the ship and we did frequently also.

I did see snippets of the Quest (a riot) and Love and Marriage (slightly flat) but is was not because I disliked anything or had an issue with any entertainment. DH had found our groove and we where enjoying each and every day in our own way

Tipping

We are Aussie Brits and I hear we are not known for our tipping – well bull**** – we had pre-paid gratuities and did not remove these. We tipped extra at bars usually at some point in the evening. We tipped extra as we went along with our Cabin Steward three or four times. The service we received was deserving of extra and we never had an issue anywhere. We put extra in an envelope for the dining room staff at the end of the cruise and our steward. These are not massive amounts I am talking about but just an extra thanks from us. I have no opinion about other people and what they do and do not want to give – it is your choice – and feel relaxed about whatever choice that is.

Shore Excursions

The pre-planned one via Royal Caribbean was as good as one can be to the Christ the Redeemer. It is a tourist hotspot in Rio and as such needs 5 hours organised tour for 20 mins at the top maybe 40 mins depending on your slot. Lots and lots of queuing. The tour was on our first cruise day as is it only a short hop up from Sao Paulo port to Rio.

This was the one time I heard DH whinge on the whole cruise (well that and chefs table later) he wanted off the tour bus at end badly he was over it.

That set the scene for our other ports of call – no amount of anything was going to change his mind to get on another tour. Lucky for us as I said at the start this was not a cruise about the ports. One last stop in Brazil at this point and two ports before Barcelona. DH had been to Tenerife so nothing new there and Malaga in Spain was Spain for us – been there done it numerous times. I am not being dismissive I think planning trips on port days is important for many and if there had been something I wanted to do it would have happened.

We did notice at the next three ports plenty of individual cab drivers and tours offerings as you get off the ship – so with a little pre reading I think you can find out relative costs and compare these to RC and then probably get a reasonable trip for two people to wherever you want to go.

So what did we do on the three other port days – we got off ship and walked and walked – we found coffee shops and general wanderings found us in interesting places. Lucky for us all three ports are close by the cities and meandering was fun. Getting off the ship after the busses have left meant it was an easy and quick exit for us and usually no issue getting back on ship.

No pier running for us – but we did see an incident in Salvador de Bhai where it seemed that some people had to leave the ship – have no clue what it was all about only noticed it because it was right underneath our ocean view window.

One lovely incident on shore was meeting our forlorn man (the one at the beginning with the gaggle of ladies in the airport). DH had chatted enough to know his name and vice versus (language no barrier with smiles and gestures I think). Anyway he shouted to us in a shop and proudly showed off his purchases- handbags for his other daughter at home – he was smiling and laughing and having a wonderful time. In 14 days this was only the second time we had seen him and this was day 10 I think.

There was then time for us to spend time aboard a nearly empty ship so we had solarium time and general laying around – possibly the only time we spent around the pools. Not our thing usually. Yes sunny days could see the pool deck crowded – but it was nice crowded. Lots of dancing and music and people enjoying themselves – the South Americans like a party and many times it was fun to watch.

Up Charge Restaurants

Over the course of the 14 days we did meet some people (will let you know about that a little later) and joined them for two evenings one in Giovannis and once in Chops……. now this was excellent. Over 14 nights I now wish I had bought the five-night dining package but did not that worry me at the time.

The service was as always good and being on the drinks package meant our wine was catered for …. It helped both restaurants link up with the schooner bar behind the scenes and the bartenders in there knew by then our likes and dislikes. Meaning in my case only the one brand of Pinot Gris and lots and lots of ice. I was stuffed on these two evenings but still wanted to keep eating because I found it all delicious.

Lunchtimes

We ate in the Windjammer – fine – busy and sometimes the one place I found crowded. Food was more than adequate and I found something I liked enough to eat most of the time. I think we saw the BBQ nearly every other day on deck but never joined the queue – looked like a lot of hassle for us. Lunchtime was not a big deal for us as evening meals and the MDR was our point of reference for dining.

Mornings- breakfast

Never ate in the dining room – too much effort on our part, Windjammer came into its own here and found everything tasty and hot. To the end of the cruise we started skipping breakfast and settled for a coffee and tea with Danish collected from Café Lattitudes and back to Cabin.

We did try the breakfast in bed room service but seriously wished we had not bothered it was the one time the cabin felt crowded with dishes and trays and without a balcony there was little place to sit and enjoy. Note to self I am not paying for a balcony to eat breakfast!

Chefs Table

I am not going over this in much detail – because I thought it was a waste of time and money for us. DH and I do many fine dining evenings and had had a ball in Argentina with fine food and excellent choices of wine. It was not to our taste and the wine pairing was deathly, cheap and nasty choices for the most part including a substandard port. No I did not drink any of it – my choice.

The table people were all lovely including another couple we had already met and had gone to the other restaurant’s with.

Summary – please experience this for yourself and not pay any heed to my thoughts, but at $100 a head this would have covered nearly the five-night dining package I wished I had bought.

Yes we still Tipped

And it all comes together….

I will not take you through day by day (I hear the big sigh of relief) just my main items and how we actually found things for us..... but as you know by now that possibly will not be short .....

The Evening Dining Experiences

From the first night we loved the Main Dining Room, My Time Dining for us worked a treat I had booked all but the chefs table night at 8.15 pm. When plans changed I called and cancelled or changed times.

The service on the first night was a little confusing for us but we loved our servers and they showed us the ropes – so much so we did ask to be seated in their area every time we went. Yes, the tables are packed in tight for the couples seating but you could easily keep yourself to yourself or chat depending on how one felt each evening.

The food was great – not over the top brilliant – I like being served and this adds to the ambience of what you are eating for me. I found the serving sizes a little on the large side for me and my servers worried I did not like the food if I had to leave something. Never had an issue with food and never found myself sending anything back.

Wine from the first to the last night was with us within minutes and our habits noted and catered for every time we arrived. Coffee and liqueurs as usual with desert etc.

My observations in the MTD room – it all seemed very organised and well attended every evening – people dressed in smart casual for the most part and a mixture of very formal to casual on the formal nights. Did I care what anyone else wore…nope not at all I possible only took a fleeting glance around as I entered and then enjoyed my meal with my partner. It really is true what they say on this forum, wear what you want within reason follow the guide of no beach wear and you will be right.

We enjoyed the MDR so much we never ever went to the Windjammer for an evening meal.

I know I know...

I sound like a petulant little girl who cannot have her way. But I seriously have issues drinking some wines due to the sulphates added and would rather do without than suffer the consequences.

DH is saying drink what you like and pay the difference per glass of course – I think he has already had a drink finished by this point. Kim Crawford is $14 a bottle in Aus dollars so I was baulking at paying bottle prices for a glass.

Oh get over myself I start internally shouting it is a holiday do not spoil it. Bartender gets me to try a nice Pinot Gris – sure why not – I cannot fall further through the floor.

It was nice…quaffable at least and not from California which is usually a no no for me because of sulphates. I smiled weakly thanked and tipped him well – he was a credit to RC that he helped this quivering wreck of an A1+ planner who dreams had been shattered!

Glass in hand and a mental check of the name of the wine….we went to walk around…The smile was soon back on my face. I had searched every picture of Rhapsody and it was all as good as I had hoped. The other point to me I noticed on boarding….where were all these 2000 plus people? the place looked empty.

This feeling lasted most of the cruise apart from a few times I will tell you about. The main feeling at had was it was so special for us and we felt it. The few people who know me well before the cruise thought it might be Bultins at sea for me, but, I had purposely read the negatives and given myself a list of what to not get annoyed about if it happened. Pity I did not have the wine choice on that mental list!

We checked out stateroom and thought it was decent enough, time would tell if we felt cramped once we had all the luggage in and 14 days of spreading ourselves about.

Three checked bags were in the hall one missing! Did I panic, nope I am a CC pre-reader and was pretty certain our bag would be in the naughty room. DH thought I was mad as I came out with this statement! We had not pre bought drink with us as who needed it with the drink package. I was right it was my bottle of heartburn medicine (taken for bad wine) but it only took me a sec to show the guys doing luggage checks and I was back with the fourth suitcase.

We usually throw bags in hotel rooms and dash off out at this point in normal holidays but as we had some nice formal gear we hung that up first this time and then actually spent another 30 mins unpacking and making ourselves at home.

Wine sipping as we unpacked I emptied bags and baggage and stored under beds and in cupboards - it was roomy, amazing considering the amount of c**p we had.

Cruise compass that I had heard and seen so much about was on the bed…but this one was MINE….off we went with guide in hand and off to find another wine (lapping it up at this point) and somewhere to sit and plan the remainder of the day before dinner.

At this point I will tell you I had read enough to know it was one of the smallest ships in the fleet and also one of the oldest – care factor on these points was zero. I just knew I was going to make the most of whatever she had to offer because it was all new to me.

Now I had read about the disorganised entry onto the ship at times and decided I could hold on to my good mood a little longer and wait for whatever greeted us in the embarkation hall. I was rewarded with long lines of roping and no queue, none whatsoever. Our weary band of travellers from the Buenos Aries flight who had wandered around Sao Paulo airport had done our penance and waiting time already....

The boarding moment. I was in love with the whole process at this point I was about to do something that I had planned and read about for ages. The pre reading on CC meant I was very well informed of course so had all my documents ready actually at this point in Triplicate and in different bags in case one got lost. I only needed the one in my back pack. The checking in people were very nice and because there was virtually no one getting on now at around 2.00 pm it was a breeze.

Now for the pre boarding photo shoot. DH was by now informed of the photo package and I told him to relax it was paid for and there was very little he could do but bear with me. Then off for the actual on board moment. I have read here about the first ding and it was as some people have said......for me it was the moment the cruise started.

Ding….we are on board

We went on at deck 2 and had to walk up to get to the foyer and our stateroom. Wow and wow I loved it all at first sight. It was fun and I was determined to have a blast.

We went straight to the middle of ship and the Centrum to try out my drinks package! I wanted a sail away drink or three and to make memories as I had read on the boards.

Ha ha I can plan for everything including knowing there was a specific wine on the package I could drink, and on all that I had seen to date in was in the price range….NOT. Kim Crawford Sauvignon blanc had been moved to the $17 range. Poop I fell at the first hurdle on the drinks package. I nearly dropped then and there and cancelled the damm thing. Barman was understanding and tried to be nice he left me try a sip of a few others – I wish I had a tasting bin because most of what I tried would have been in a spittoon.

Now for My Cruise

almost we have to get there first....

Sunday 10th April - We left Buenos Aires on the 7.00 am flight, lucky it was the ‘local’ airport so we had less travel time first thing and only hand to be getting up at 4.30 am. It was at this point we had a few things on our mind…would we have delays and would we get the luggage on without too much expense.

It all seemed quiet in the airport but that just 5.30 am for you. The check in guy was a sweetie and put three of the cases through and let us take one cabin size on with us for a total cost of $0. We also had laptop bags and satchels as well so I was impressed. So far so good but I seriously thought we were facing a large charge at that point.

There was another thread on these boards about flying through South American countries where people all seem to cue up for the flight even before they see the cabin crew arrive and that was so true on this flight…I got excited at one-point thinking oh yes we must be leaving as people have formed a queue. Nope it all dragged on and 7.00 am was approaching and no flight information was displayed. We moved towards the queue and sat down! More and more people joined the queue even moving from the seats right beside the queue to join in…..and stand

…. eventually a couple of flight crew turned up and we were off the queue moved straight through the gate and we followed them on a to a half empty plane. Three hours later and plenty of seats to stretch out in we arrived in Sao Paulo.

Collecting luggage was a breeze and then someone was gathering people up by asking cruise, cruise, cruise – no signs no badges at this point so we followed like sheep gathering more in the flock as we went through customs to a very large hall and then out to the curb and then waited and waited and people from the group started wandering off.

Then by default I wandered back into the terminal and found a lady checking names. So name given we started standing about again. One gentlemen had a gaggle of ladies with him and he herded them along and then lost one or two and started over. He looked so forlorn and confused my DH was even trying to help but we had no more clue than he did about where we were supposed to be or doing. None of us spoke the same language and there were no signs at this point.

There were about 40 of us milling around and then someone seemed to think we should be at another terminal – a very brief glimpse of the back of Royal Caribbean coloured shirt led me to suspect someone had been told something - so off we went to get a transfer bus, it was serious chaos and a lot of Latin gesturing. We had landed on time at 10.00 am and I knew the transfer buses ran up to 12.00 am so I did not think 40 plus people would be left so decided not to get upset and see what happened.

We struggled onto a transfer bus with all the cases and then some of the group started to get off, what!? Anyway we stayed put and the people got back on. I was even starting to see the humour in all of this.

The transfer bus arrived at another terminal and one of the group let out a yelp he could see a Royal Caribbean sign. Off we trouped off the bus following blindly this other group who seemed to know where they were going. NO NO the shout went out our group was to go into the airport terminal and get stickers. Like a gaggle of geese, the group changed direction and bumped bags and cases over into a terminal building. Yeh – there was an official person with a list and stickers!

We lined up (not true the gaggle of geese do not do lines) and they pushed and shoved and shouted loudest to the lady- she was surrounded.

In due time (we were last with the forlorn looking man) we got stickers which denoted our coach number and we are then told to hurry up and wait. We sat around for another hour. Believe me at this point I did not care I was counted I had a sticker and I was on time for my cruise I was NOT going to have to fly to Rio or even Salvador I was there!

When the time came the driver took bags and we all climbed on including every Royal Caribbean staff member (and there where now 6 of them) – we were the last bus. The coach trip down (and I mean down) took around 2 hours – it was seriously boring for the first hour and then we started climbing down a mountain side – amazing and sickening at the same time. I could see seas glimpses at various point and was starting to get very excited. I knew at that point I had never mentally got past the age of 12 going to the seaside. I was bouncing like tigger. I wanted a glimpse of the ship and thought I saw it for a fleeting moment…..The Rhapsody

…ah one last planning moment before we join the ship…Roll Calls and Meet & Mingles

I really did not know the form and how active one was to be on these threads but after lurking and reading most other people’s information I tried to join in on the Roll Call – not sure if I helped in anyway but did start to get a few names and hear interesting stories from people who were coming from all over the world to be on this trip.

I signed up for the Meet and Mingle and a great guy on the thread organised a gift exchange and a slot pull. Putting yourself out there to do this type of organisation sometimes puts you in the front row for criticism if things do not go well.

I was impressed someone was going to the effort so decided come what may I would attend and participate. DH had other ideas and thought I was mad planning to meet people I did not know on a holiday. Obviously it is not something you do when going to a hotel resort for a couple of weeks and I kind of got that, but I wanted to try lots of new things on this once off holiday so I signed the grumpy bum up as well.

Wonderful review !

For a moment, it reminded me of something from, "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night".

 

“From Basrah we sailed, day after day, night after night, over the sea, visiting island after island and land after land, selling or bartering our goods at each.

One day, after some weeks of sailing out of sight of land, we saw an island in the sea with such fair greenery that it appeared like one of the gardens of Eden.

At once the captain made towards this delectable land and, when the anchor had been cast and the ladder lowered,

allowed his passengers to disembark.”

 

How lucky we are, being shattered in a good way.

Are we all looking for the same Eden?

Regards,

Michael

Thank you kind sir - I think!

I write in a style that it a sort of - stream of consciousness - also known as interior monologue, it is a narrative mode or device that depicts the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind.

For closer friends this is translated as Sandra is waffling again.

For no other reason now that it is amusing me and bringing back wonderful memories I will continue as I can always cut and paste this back in to a document and make my children read it as a punishment :D

cheers Sandra