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An announcement was made last evening requesting volunteers to donate blood as someone needed a transfusion. Sherri

Currently on this cruise, so far we are enjoying it. The ship is in much better shape than when we sailed in November, 2021. The only crowded areas appear to be the bars in the evening😂. The new library is great! Lots of shiny new books, most do not look like they have been touched. The gym really could use some new weight machines as the current ones have a lot of rusty areas and are difficult to adjust. They did bring in some new stuff today, a new rowing machine and some type of strange running contraption but I did not see anything that looked like it could be replacements for the weight machines. Food has been amazingly good but they are repeating stuff in the MDR, for example, warm apple cobbler has been one of four desserts on the menu every night so far. We had very good steaks in Chops Tuesday evening, but they were not busy at all. There were only 2 other couples beside us the restaurant, I don’t think I’ve ever seen waiters just standing around before. Entertainment has been ok, but not great. I did think the Royal singers did a very good show but the magician/comedian put me to sleep last night. Bed is comfy, pillows are nice and the new towels and robes are amazing! Our cabin is in very good shape. Looking forward to the next 24 days! Sherri🙂

Thanks Kat! I’m sure the owners appreciate everything you do for them! We are in LA, just waiting for time to go to the port. This is my last day to have internet for awhile but will catch up when I have the opportunity. I hope you all have a wonderful 6 weeks😂 Sherri🙂

Thanks Melissa! We were in New Zealand in 2014, such a beautiful country! We did a wine tour when we ported in Picton and it was a gorgeous sunny day. We had a port day in Wellington and it was cold/rainy. I am prepared for anything😂 Sherri🙂

Thanks, Lois! We have been on Serenade several times, in fact, we sailed from Australia to Hawaii on this ship in 2014. That was a fun cruise! I know what you mean about sharing a cabin, I can’t imagine sharing with my sister. There are times when I wish I did not have to share with the husband😂😂 Sherri🙂

Thanks, Cynthia. We are on Serenade of the Seas, it is a mini segment of the World Cruise they are doing. Sherri🙂

I was thinking of them this morning as well! We are leaving in the morning to fly to LA, will board ship on Sunday. This has been a challenging packing experience as we had to pack for 28 night cruise plus 10 days in Australia. I’ve been monitoring daily temps in Melbourne, it seems to vary widely as it will be in the high 90s for a few days then drop to highs in the mid 60s. I’ll be back March 23😂 Sherri🙂

Then this should make your day😂. We are leaving on a 28 day cruise Saturday to Australia with an extra 10 days to visit to visit our son. At this point, I have reduced the number of shoes I am packing to 11😂😂 Sherri🙂

Have a great cruise Melody! Sherri🙂

We’ve done over 20 cruises since cruising resumed post pandemic and only one port was strict in our experience, Tampa. That was in November of 2022. However, when we cruised out of Tampa in September, 2023, no one cared. Sherri🙂

https://pe.usembassy.gov/demonstration-alert-u-s-embassy-lima-peru-january-26-2024/#:~:text=On%20January%2025%2C%20local%20organizations,been%20suspended%20until%20further%20notice

I read on another site that Machu Pichu is closed due to riots so tours may be cancelled. Sherri🙂

It depends on the ship, the hairdryer on Mariner was not hard wired and could be removed. Sherri🙂

Happy birthday, Melody! Looks like you had a great celebration with family. And good to know Les is doing better. Sherri🙂

Condolences on the passing of your dog Christy, it’s always hard to lose a longtime pet. Sherri😔

We had this event on our Odyssey TA last October. It was very nice but extremely crowded and noisy. Waiters were passing around with trays of drinks, wine, sparkling wine, rum punch, and margaritas were some of the drinks I saw. Plus different finger foods. It reminded me of what top tier parties used to be years ago.😂 But, even though we enjoyed it, I do agree with the OP as it does not seem fair to close down a popular area during sail away, especially on the first day. On our cruise, they actually closed the solarium at 2pm to start setting up, you were allowed to walk through but staff chased away anyone who tried to sit down. The event was from 4 to 6, long time to have it closed. Sherri🙂

Wow, Melody, sounds like Les (and you!) have had a really rough time. I hope he is on the road to recovery soon! We are still in SC with the grandkids but driving back to Satellite Beach on Wednesday. It will be nice to get back to some warmer weather. SC has had some big storms and cold temps, but we have enjoyed being with the grands! Sherri🙂

We sailed on Mariner in August. No tickets need. Sherri🙂

We found it did not notify whether it was a cabin mate or non cabin mate. We used it quite a bit on Independence in July with family spread out over 5 cabins but no one received any notice. Sherri🙂

Yes, you can use the app to message each other. The only problem we have had with it is you have to check it frequently as it does not notify you when you get a new message. Sherri🙂

The first thing I do after boarding is connect to app through ship’s WiFi as a guest and make my show reservations then. I’ve always been able to get reservations for the comedy club. Sherri🙂

We received this on our Oasis cruise out of Miami last month. It was kind of exciting, when I finished answering the health questions, balloons floated across the page along with confetti and the page said congratulations, you have been selected for express boarding. Instructions were to follow the signs. There was no one in front of us at the express boarding sign, we were quickly scanned and directed to security which also had no line. We went upstairs and were seated, I was expecting that was it as far as express but we boarded after pinnacle, suites and key. We were on the ship at 1040. I was told they are testing this at the new terminal in Miami in preparation for Icon. Sherri🙂

We stayed on deck 6 with an obstructed balcony on the recent TA. We chose this cabin as it was a crazy low price, $1600.00 total for the two of us for a 15 night TA. We could see over the lifeboat, we were ok with that as we really don’t use a balcony much and are hardly ever in our cabin. Odyssey is a great ship, we loved it! Sherri🙂

We’ve done 20 cruises since 8/2021 from Canaveral, Miami, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Boston and Civitavecchia. Only once, in Tampa, has anyone checked our time. Sherri🙂

I agree with you and I always get the feeling most of the waiters would prefer to skip it. Sherri🙂