Steeler Nation At Sea

True, but, I'm certain the OP meant Sabor, since he specified Harmony.😉

Interesting. I'll look it up. Wondering if it's actually doable in the 4.5 hours on shore that the MSC itinerary is effectively allowing. Not that I'm likely to book another MSC cruise, but, I never say never.

Sailaway was also in daylight. I stayed up on deck the whole way out. I was sad to skip Guernsey on that one.

I get that. I'm just thinking when does one sleep? And the townspeople running tours are up all night, too? Not sure I could do it. Sorry to go so far off topic everyone.

Thanks for the response. Did you note the hours in port?

What does one actually do on that Honningsvag stop? 🤔

In Aug. '22, several sailings from Amsterdam were altered last minute due to Port traffic restrictions caused by low water levels. I was on the Jewel and we had to skip our last port, and speed back to make an assigned lock time. We overnighted in Amsterdam instead and disembarked next day as scheduled. Everyone received OBC for the altered itinerary. I suppose it's possible that RCL will consider this when looking at future Amsterdam departures. 🤔

Jo'burg is an inland city. South African larger ports are Cape Town and Durban. Other cruise lines often include planned stops in the Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion Islands on the East side of Africa. On the West, Walvis Bay, Accra, Dakar, the Cape Verde Islands and the Canary Islands are often called. So many port options, but, to fit into the time frame to get to Athens would surely be a challenge. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, and not just for UWC, but, so that all the unrest, shelling, mayhem, loss of life and heartbreak in the region can end peacefully, as soon as possible, and for all involved.

People are traveling to Antartica in record numbers the past 2 years, over 100K each year up from 70K pre pandemic. Much is being written lately about the danger of overtourism in such a fragile environment. It's such a short cruise season and with the increasing demand, there certainly are a lot of ships sailing. I'm surprised to see 8 ships in one day in such a small area though. No wonder people are concerned.

$2310 USD Standard $3270 USD Plus

Very cute! You will have to take her on the Hello Kitty bullet train in Japan or on Taiwan's EVA Air Hello Kitty plane. 😺

Same. This was the broken bit that floated past me on the starboard side. 20220914_121231.mp4

I was able to download and view your 2nd file. Here it is. I was on the Voyager Arctic crossing in '22 and remember thinking that to me , and from a longer distance, that you wouldn't know you weren't looking at a city skyline filled with tall buildings. I have some video of whale spray in front of that scene, too. Magic.

I think I've received one or 2 of those surveys. The part that makes me LOL is I'm pretty sure they ask you to agree to non-disclosure of the contents. Obviously, non-binding, yet still, it is absolutely stunning how fast the outrage appears on CC and FB. Makes me chuckle. 😃

Be sure to seek the advice of your doctor. The patches are contraindicated with some pretty common health conditions, as is dramamine, for those with heart problems. In other words, don't take meds based on us armchair docs on a cruise forum using similar! 😉

Hearing them in some of the FB videos posted. And the creaking! Kind of exciting and wishing I was having the experience live!

I could not agree more with your assessment. When specialty dining first began with supplemental fees of $10 to $25ish, it was a very nice change of pace from the MDR and held value for me in both the quality of food and the elevated level of service. The price of the experience aligned with my expectations. Nowadays, at $60 a head for a barely elevated experience, not so much. I have long held the opinion that Chops is possibly the most overrated restaurant at sea. I've had better steaks at Outback and that red velvet cake that people love is the worst red velvet I've ever tasted, consistently. If I want to go to a spendy steakhouse, I'll do it on land and get far better quality for my money. The one thing that I know for sure is that I will never starve on a cruise eating the included food. Fortunately, I'm not a picky eater, but, I'm pretty careful about what I order in MDR to avoid disappointment with a poorly cooked cheaper cut/grade of protein.

Not at all. MSC was unique, in my experience this past fall on 2 different ships. Even when I informed someone a hand sanitizer needed refilling, it went empty for days.

Been to Vic Falls a few times and the mist from the falls while in flood is quite impressive. It can be seen from 25 miles away, can be heard from miles away, creates it's own rainforest surrounding the falls and once a month at the full moon, displays the rare moonbow phenomenon. This is also best seen with a camera rather than the naked eye, like Aurora Borealis. My phone camera photos from that event aren't great, but, if you Google it, you'll see some impressive photos taken from far better cameras than mine. The falls themselves are very impressive. I hope to one day get to Iguazu, as well.

I wonder if @chengkp75 could possibly be so kind as to explain what happens to crew that are too intoxicated to perform their assigned emergency duties in the event of a real emergency. I imagine they must report in to someone above them who makes that assessment upon arrival?

It was your observation that "half" of the cruise has been impacted by bad weather that I took to be an exaggeration and I don't believe that's accurate. They are on day 27. Bad stormy weather beginning in Brazil was only a couple of days ago and the photos from both Montevideo and Iguazu Falls today look like the sun is shining again.

I think you have an entirely inaccurate impression. I've been watching plenty of videos since this began and they have had typical tropical weather with occasional heavy rain showers and clearing. The day of the flooding was the first full day of indoors only weather that I can recall. One of my friends posts the daily weather forecast on his FB every single morning!

Those WC cruisers aren't back on the ship yet. Still on their way according to some other social media posts. Long day of travel for them.

Long Caribbean cruises are not yet released. Due on Feb. 12th. 2025-2026_Deployment_Opening_Schedule.pdf

Similar to my repos, as well, all but one on much larger ships with a much higher passenger count than Serenade currently has. That's why it seemed worth wondering about. Think I've seen helicopters on 8 of 9 TA's and returned to previous ports or sped up countless times.