sgmn

51 minutes ago, blackjack24 said:

Which port would you choose? Is one better than the other or closer to the airports? Thanks!

Depends really if you want to spend some time in a particular city before or after the cruise. 

Purely on logistics for boarding the ship, Barcelona is best as its right in the city, half an hour or so from the airport.  Very organised, last years Symphony cruise we were off the ship and at the airport by 7am.

Rome port is actually Civitavecchia, a town about an hour plus from Rome.  Lots of info on the Europe cruise port pages of CC about both ports. 

16 hours ago, Biker19 said:

It was reported on Spectrum and maybe at least one other ship, though that may have been a test/temporary.

We had it on Spectrum in February. We had booked MTD and pre-booked slots to fit in with tours and shows, only to find a card in our room on boarding saying we had been given 6.30. 

It was also printed on our sea pass

Would be happy if we had it on Serenade this July.  Normally we have late or MTD but hubby asked for early instead. This is our first early and in my opinion is too early. There's only 2  sea days (16 night cruise) and half the time we'll still be ashore at 5.30

On 4/2/2024 at 12:51 PM, aussielozzie18 said:

I liked this year’s April fools from Sydney Bridgeclimb:

 

 

 

One of my favourite was years ago when pasta was still thought of as 'foreign food',  the national breakfast show led with an article on how pasta grows on trees showing strands of spaghetti draped over branches .....and thousands believed it

On 4/1/2024 at 1:36 PM, LadyZolt said:

Hi, Sue!  Here are my answers:

 

Q:  Are the headliners and ships singers and dancers still up to the same standard as normal for Radiance ships ? Do they change round the pub singer and other 'round the ship' musicians regularly?

A: They have had folkloric shows in many areas around the world, and then will have headliners like a Beatles group who are all from Australia when we were in Australia, or general headliners like magicians, comedians, or singers. But they also have the Royal Caribbean singers repeating the same shows (which I know that's what they know -- but after seeing the same or very similar show two or three times, we don't bother going now). The pub singer and other musicians generally have stayed for a long time. Some of them have changed by now, though. 

 

Q:  How often are the menu's repeated?

A.  It's a 28 day menu -- you'll usually see the same thing regularly (like a Cesar salad and a strip steak) and then other items appear only once in a while. 

 

Q: Does the Captain hold regular Q@A sessions?

A:  Both captains have had a few. It's called "Captain's Corner."  With Captain Stig, I think it was just the captain talking, but the two I've gone to with Captain Kjell have also had other officers with him answering questions.  

 

Q:  Do they have guest lectures?

A:  Regularly, and I consider most of them to have been excellent.  We've had a photographer who is knowledgeable about a variety of topics and world areas; we've had a geologist; we had a husband and wife team who portrayed Presidents and First Ladies who were related to Hawaii becoming a state; and of course many travel experts who talk about what to see and do in the upcoming ports.  Lots of variety of lectures!

 

Q: And finally as a lowly Diamond on a ship full of Diamond + and Pinnacles is there any chance we'll get to use the Crown Lounge or indeed might the whole Viking Crown area be roped off for happy hour when we join in Barcelona .  We love the Viking Crown bar for a drink pre dinner.

A: Diamonds can use the Crown Lounge. At night, they will divide the area so that the Crown Lounge is larger to accommodate folks.  In the morning, you can get espresso there along with some food items, and they also have evening food items. I was Platinum when we started and I'll be Diamond Plus by the end of April, and I personally have only gone into the Crown Lounge maybe ten times. It didn't ever seem crowded to me. I don't think you'll have a problem enjoying your before-dinner drink.  🙂

 

 

Thank you very much Lady Z for the detailed reply.  I find it fascinating to hear about the cruising experience for such a long time.  Can't wait to hear about the African section. 

Looking forward to boarding for our short 16 day stretch.  I think the European sectors are very busy but hope at least the Viking crown Lounge will be open in the evening. 

40 minutes ago, ranchette said:

Can someone tell me how does diamond status work giving free drinks?

40 minutes ago, ranchette said:

Can someone tell me how does diamond status work giving free drinks?

Once you reach diamond level in the crown and anchor loyalty scheme you automatically get 4 drinks pppd added to your sea pass.  Up to the value of  $14 per drink. You pay the extra if it goes over but it covers most cocktails and wines 

Looking at the current Symphony sailing,  Vintage bar, in the app. They've got two Pinot Grigio's. One $10 and one $17 (plus mandatory tip of 18%).  Other bars just show the cheaper version 🤷‍♀️

Believe the package is only up to $14 per drink, so you would still have to pay $3 plus tip for the more expensive drink even with the package 

24 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Weather's been mixed but some sunshine which is a relief after all the rain we've had this winter.

Had our big family get together on Good Friday. Saw my brother and partner on Saturday and Easter day spent babysitting Theo.  Today, which is a bank holiday here, is clear and then childcare for Isaac on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Just about to go out to cut the lawn 

Spoke to soon, currently having a hail storm here 🌦️

Just now, Sunshine3601 said:

Thank you😊

I hope you had a nice Easter day with decent weather.

We had a nice sunny weekend and now expecting 4 days of Spring showers.   That's okay with me since I'll be at work.

Weather's been mixed but some sunshine which is a relief after all the rain we've had this winter.

Had our big family get together on Good Friday. Saw my brother and partner on Saturday and Easter day spent babysitting Theo.  Today, which is a bank holiday here, is clear and then childcare for Isaac on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Just about to go out to cut the lawn 

Agree with @firefly333 seems to be worse since covid, including so many excursions are deemed strenuous and not available to anyone who has ever had a mild heart condition or procedure

9 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

An Australian exclusive on Quantum class, not only are we getting The Wiggles characters appearing on board during the 25/26 season,  we are getting this…

 

Yep, it’s April 1st here in Australia…

Wonder if they will franchise the wiggles to Europe. My kids might even come on a cruise with us if the Wiggles were there.  Its the grandkids fav and I know most of the songs off by heart now.

Ha ha to the slide, I'm a sucker for April Fools jokes

18 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Same to you Sis😍

Today is also Eric's Birthday!!    

He has the smoker all cleaned and ready to go.

Spiral ham is seasoned and ready to go in a couple of minutes.    

When just about ready (about 3 hrs) he will then put on a brown sugar glaze.

Dinner should be ready by 3:30 / 4 pm.

Beautiful sunny day here with temps expected to be in low 60's.    

The "kids" will be here around 2 pm.   

I'm going outside soon to get my hands dirty and do some yardwork and enjoy the beautiful day.

 

I hope Everyone has a Wonderful Day!

 

 

Happy Birthday to Eric for yesterday. Hope you had a fab day with your family (had to look up what spiral ham is 😋)

7 hours ago, LadyZolt said:

 

Yes, Ishigaki was humid.  Taipei was actually quite nice -- not too warm and not humid.  

Thanks for the updates and photos @LadyZolt and @CSHS1979

Can I ask some questions about life on board to anyone there or who has been on part of the cruise.  

Are the headliners and ships singers and dancers still up to the same standard as normal for Radiance ships ? Do they change round the pub singer and other 'round the ship' musicians regularly?

How often are the menu's repeated?

Does the Captain hold regular Q@A sessions?

Do they have guest lectures?

And finally as a lowly Diamond on a ship full of Diamond + and Pinnacles is there any chance we'll get to use the Crown Lounge or indeed might the whole Viking Crown area be roped off for happy hour when we join in Barcelona .  We love the Viking Crown bar for a drink pre dinner

Thanks for any replies 😊

I would love to know how day to day life works on this unique cruise 

Thanks, Sue

5 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Makes me wonder if it is indeed Evian they are sending to the cabins...if not, I will go back to ordering the water to have waiting in the cabin when we check in.  Easier than schlepping it onto the ship.  

We had evian with the water package on Serenade last September.  I've booked it for Serenade out of BCN this July, and in the planner the pic is Evian 

7 hours ago, vjmatty said:

Free food on a cruise ship isn’t really all that special, especially since the quality of the appetizers has dropped. That being said, I do think a better solution would be to have a longer happy hour such as 4-8pm with the first two hours for Diamond and the second for Plus and Pinnacle. Or, just divide the current happy hour in half and assign accordingly. 

Some ships are better than others. Serenade great, Spectrum and Symphony not so great. Also where it is makes a difference.  Love the Viking Crown area

24 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

We're just back from a 15 nt RT Hawaii cruise on Discovery Princess. We've cruised RCI and Celebrity since 1987 and can only say WOW! about the entertainment offerings on Discovery Princess. 

Wow in a good way?

On 3/28/2024 at 9:31 PM, MomentsNotice said:

Any classical music on Royal. Either in the main stage or pre-post-dinner at the bars? Am considering a cruise Singapore to Dubai next month on Serenade. First time Royal although I've cruised quite a bit primarily on Holland America and Cunard. 

This is part of an unique one off world cruise (274 nights) so things may be different than normal.  Because of its uniqueness there's a lot of people blogging on other sites, may be worth checking those out. There's also @island lady cruise critic blog but she's not on it at mo and it's gone a bit quite. 

On my four night cruise out of Singapore last month on Spectrum the headline acts were acrobatic and magic type. I don't remember any classical or jazz, just a pub singer.

Serenade is one of the smaller Royal Caribbean ships

We did a four night cruise in February from Singapore.  Sounds similar to ours. Over 5000 on board and 1000 children (Malaysian school holidays). 

Mostly, as expected, Singaporeans and Malaysian citizens. 

Wonderful cruise to Penang and Phuket, wish we could have had longer on board. 

The indoor family pool was packed with young children and the main pool also very busy. 

Bars very quiet,  just a handful there at any time. 

Found entertainment to be good. Loved Silk Road in Two70

We had issues with the Singapore Arrival card. I scanned our passports in the app but it read the 0's as O's . On arrival the e-gates wouldn't work because of this and we had to queue and go through the manned channel. 

On arrival back into Singapore after the cruise I went in and edited the scan to correct digit and all well. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip and looking forward to hearing more 

18 minutes ago, springaussie said:

The Wiggles are a Oz Children Band.

My 3 year old grandsons favourite programme. 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:40 PM, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Finally!  Maybe this time it’s for real.  We are getting ready to board our flight to Japan after 6 attempts at visiting there since 2019.  Each time, it was cancelled because of chartered, changed ships, COVID, and lift and shifts.  But we stuck with it, hoping someday it would happen.  So, here we are, finally, 2024.  I am feeling nervous and excited.  We will be on a 2 week adventure on our own before boarding the Celebrity Millennium for a 12-Night cruise around Japan.  I am really excited about sharing this trip with you all.

 

 

Safe travels, Gary really wants to visit Japan,  hopefully I'll pick up some hints and tips from you

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

One question please. What is the Diamond water?

 you get a few bottles of water , seems to vary how many, once you hit Diamond level in the crown and anchor programme. 

On 2/16/2024 at 9:56 PM, ukestrummer said:

WHY LUG WATER THROUGH

Cheaper I guess.

 If its a long cruise with long days ashore I buy the Evian in the planner.  12 litres waiting in our cabin, along with the Diamond water.  Great for excursions and at night .  But the ships water is fine too

21 hours ago, thefog said:

they will be on quantum of the seas.

We had a guarantee balcony on Spectrum. We knew on this class we would probably get a obstructive view on deck 6, which we did. But it was also a connecting cabin.  We did an Royal Up to a unobstructed balcony for £35 each and got a nice balcony on 8th floor, not connected.

Thanks for the recommendation to watch The Gentlemen on Netflix. Saw the first two episodes yesterday and enjoyed it very much 

19 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

So I decided to check out the "Bella 3.75" cruise on the Celebrity web site.  I'd heard about the infinite veranda cabins (some good, some bad) but figured that I'd opt for a regular balcony.  Other than a few aft balconies and a few porthole balconies, it looks like that doesn't exist.  I like being on the balcony for morning coffee, for an afternoon cocktail while Micheline is getting ready for dinner, watching sunrise/sunset, looking at the stars, etc.  In short, I spend a fair amount of time out there.  The biggest knock on the infinite veranda cabin seems to be that the AC shuts off when the veranda window is lowered.  In humid areas like the Caribbean, the room quickly gets warm and humid.  I think I'd end up using it as a floor to ceiling window rather than as an open balcony for that reason.  Not ideal.

 

I know that this has been discussed ad infinitum on the Celebrity board but I'm looking for some quick input from those here who have experienced an infinite veranda cabin.  I guess the Retreat is an option but for Retreat pricing, we'd probably do a land trip somewhere or try one of the luxury lines.  The Bella 3.75 trip looks appealing to meet and cruise with some of you on a good itinerary, at reasonable group pricing (that's not available for suites).  Am I being overly concerned with the infinite veranda?

We enjoyed it in Beyond. Would I prefer a proper balcony, probably yes, but it didn't spoil our cruise. We up'ed to concierge class which gives you a few extra perks and supposedly a better placed cabin.

The infinity balcony gives you the feeling of more space as the balcony area is incorporated into the room

The itinerary of Bella 3.75 sounds fab

On 3/19/2024 at 11:10 AM, Scottdalfonso said:

 I can't think of why they need to be in your room twice. 

It was nice to come back to the curtains pulled, glow light left on, bed straightened,  clean dry towels ready for the morning shower. Necessary no, nice yes.

It was a luxury perk of cruising for everyone, now just for suites.  Now with an increase in gratuities for less service received. 

As far as hotels having a daily service. We rarely stay more than a night, prefer air bnb. But last month our mid price hotel in Singapore had a daily clean.