Sancho_proudfoot

 

3 days later I held a door open for her, she walked through without saying a word.

 

"Oh THANK YOU" !!!! I said to her sarcastically

 

"RESPECT YOUR ELDERS"!!!!!! She shouted back in my face.

 

As I say - SILLY COW !

Same thing happened to me, and the response I had was "YOU'LL BE OLD YOURSELF ONE DAY!"

and my reply was "Yes I hope I will, and I also hope I won't have lost my manners"

....................sour face, but no verbal reply.

we were there in mid-December last year. Certianly warm enough to have swum (not that we did)

Of course one of you can participate while the other doesn't! On the Independence in May, I was the appointed "male" alternative to our female team leader, so when the CD asked for a man to do something I bobbed up to oblige. My DW sat tight in her seat - laughing like a loon!

We travelled to Southampton the preceding day, Monday 5th. After a morning's shopping we headed down to the dock at 1.30. Moored just in front of the Indy was The Queen Victoria, and to her stern was the Aurora, but the big, beautiful IOS dominated the seafront.

Luggage drop off, and parking was staggeringly easy, as was check-in - such a marked difference from airport check-ins! We found our stateroom - 2671 - easily, and were pleased with what we found, although it was made up as a twin when we wanted a double, but our attendant assured us it would be adjusted during the evening. Our luggage arrived swiftly, and by 1450 hrs we were fully unpacked and ready to enjoy this wonderful ship.

We sailed on a glorious, sunny afternoon, with the entertainment staff making the sailaway party great fun.

We had asked for - and got - second dinner sitting, on a table for 6. We were on the top floor of the three level dining room, all Shakespeare-named. We were in King Lear, the others being Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet. We were fortunate that one of the other guests on our table was the Activities Manager from another RCCL ship, enjoying the ship wholly off-duty.

Ken Rush - rather a legend among CDs - was already much in evidence, and hosted the first Headliners show in the impressive Alhambra theatre.

after an enjoyable show, a few drinks in the very plush Schooner Bar, and a few dollars spent in the Casino - so reminiscent of Vegas! - before bed. As promised, our room was now a double, with chocolates on the pillow and tomorrow's Cruise Compass out ready.

The next two days were at sea. This is, perhaps, the only area where I was disappointed with the RCCL offering. The weather was cold, overcast windy, and with an occcasional rain shower. Much of the daytime activity was planned for the pools and associated areas, and in the poorer weather there wasn't much "fallback" planning of alternatives inboard.

The Alhambra shows continued to be enjoyable, with singers, dancers, and an amazingly versatile and talented multi-instrumentalist named Samantha Jay. Some habitual cruisers disliked the show style, featuring one main act, instead of the big-cast spectaculars apparently found elsewhere.

The ship presented two different ice shows - "Strings" and "Freeze Frame" .These shows were, quite simply, magificient.

The parades and shows along the Royal Promenade were well-presented, and spectacular, with good use being made of the flying bridges.

I found the meals in the main dining room to be delightful, and well-presented. Our waiter and assistant waiter were friendly and cheerful; sadly I cannot say the same of the Head Waiter who came to our table exactly twice in the entire 11 days.

we were welcomed at most Ports of Call by local singers, dancers and musicians, and usaully we were escorted into and out of port by tugs with their water jets saluting the Indy.

We only ate once in the Windjammer. It was very popular, and consequently very crowded and noisy. We ate twice at Johnny Rockets, both for the food and the entertainment. It's mad, but great fun.

We ate one night - my birthday actually - in Chops Grille. This was probably the best meal of 11 nights of great meals. The setting is elegant and the food is extraordinarily good. Well worth the additional cover charge.

On arrival back at Southampton, our final SeaPass bill was some $400 below what we had budgeted for, which was pleasing, as we didn't stint ourselves and try to save money.

Departure and disembarkation was as smooth as the arrival. By 7.50 we were back in the car homeward bound.

Photographs will follow somewhere when I find the battery charger for the camera to download them!!

The Dining Room names now are King Lear, Macbeth , Romeo & Juliet

....or do we have to call it "The Scottish Dining Room"?

:D Oh, my word! So much news and excitement; everyone posting wonderful videos and photos........

.........................next week I'm aboard! See you all (6th May Canaries cruise) on the Indy!!!!:D

This just makes me want to do it more

....we're already booked to do it, so maybe see you there!!!!:eek:

For readers who like the 'Inspector Morse' type police story, I was introduced to Chief Inspector Alan Banks, as created by Peter Robinson. Edgier than Morse, less morose than Rebus; set in North Yorkshire, there's over 15 to choose from, and I'm working my way through them all!

Postman's just been and brought our tickets! :D ( so no Upgrade Fairy Dust then..............:rolleyes: )

What about that music :confused:

Nowt wrong wi' a decent brass band.....lovely bit o' triple-tongueing there!:rolleyes:

Any of you guys going on the Canaries cruise and have booked the tour in Madeira where you ride in the wicker baskets????

 

We are going on 21st May, and that is one thing we definitely want to book but are a bit confused as to which one includes the ride in the price. I think 3 of the tours mention that you 'may' take the ride down and one says that you do.... Unfortunately this one takes you round an embroidery factory and all that stuff, which we are not so bothered about (and our 2 sons definitely arent!!!)

We're on the 6th May cruise, and in our Explorations! booklet there is one called "City, Monte, Cable Car and Toboggan", which clearly does include the wicker basket trip. ( I hope so as we've booked it!)

On of our party will celebrate a birthday while on the canaries Cruise. Will RCCL pick up the relevance of the date from passport and passenger info or should we alert them?

Super, many thanks Liz

As we're a few hours over one month away from sailing, a couple of specific questions, please ( from SWMBO!:p )

A) The hairdryers in the staterooms: In the bathroom or by the dressing mirror?

B) As irons aren't allowed, how about hair straighteners?

(Hopefully folks who've been on the FOTS may know)

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the good news on the dockings.......SWMBO didn't fancy tender crossings!

Pix from AKERbuilder look wonderful, just heightening the anticipation!

Cheered by her safe and prompt return to Turku after seatrials.

Got my Explorations! booklet yesterday for our trip on 6th May. Anyone know which -if any - of the Canaries Ports of Call are tender ports, or does she dock at them all?

I've been watching the forum for a while now, as we're on the Canaries cruise sailing from Southampton on 6th May - less than 5 weeks away, whoo-hoo. I agree about the seeming lack of excitement about this fabulous new ship. For those of you who - like me - are excited, here she is leaving for sea trials on Monday.

I saw a documentary on TV the other day about the Freedom's New Year cruise, whichgave me a good taster of what she'll be like, and the CD there was Ken, so that's interesting to learn too!