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and so it begins.....RTW16


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We all met at the Epic Hotel in Miami at 5pm today and it was great to finally talk to the people we had been chatting with on the roll call for many months.

 

The Epic Hotel is beautiful and wonderfully located on the Miami River and the Port of Miami. I think all of us have been given water view rooms by O and there was a concierge just for us in the lobby until 7 tonight.

 

Everyone was given a letter from O stating location and time to meet for transfer to the ship, breakfast hours, check in/out information, luggage pick up times from inside our rooms, and what to have on our person to present at the cruise terminal.

 

From our rooms we have a great view of the ships in port and Riviera just set sail at 6pm.

 

Breakfast is at the hotel from 7-9 and is part of our RTW package. We are taken to the ship tomorrow at noon.

 

Everyone is in great spirits tonight and looking forward to wonderful adventures.

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After months of watching the RTW16 group plan for this trip on the roll call, it is exciting to see it is here. Have a fabulous trip. We look forward to joining for the last segment and hearing about all the adventures you have had.

 

Catherine

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I am waving, but it is 6:40 and you are still there. Was to leave at 5. I is there a problem? Let us know. Hope all is O.K.

 

I was just wondering the same thing. Hope all is ok, these folks have waited a long time for this.

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wow 7pm and she is still there, tugs and security are ready to go.

Starting to wonder what is wrong. I guess a few hours on a 180 day cruise is no big deal but after last year it is food for thought. Good luck.

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I think we left late because literally tons of cargo and food was being loaded. Don't know if it arrived late or there was just that much to load! We did leave after 7 but all is well with calm seas.

 

Boarding process was long and tedious; not well done but we all finally got on board. Long lines and O probably is to blame for this.

 

Muster drill seemed to last longer than it normally does so that we barely finished in time to make our 6:30 Polo reservation. Polo was wonderful and wait staff were lovely.

 

Enrichment tomorrow is Greg Wheeler lecturing on Coral Reefs, Pat Grillo is the Artist in Residence with Dragonfly Cards and Still Life Painting, various levels of Bridge, Tammy is making Ribbon Roses, David Smith is giving Travel Photography Tips Lecture, and various other O activities.

 

Captain Flokos' cocktail party is tomorrow night so perhaps we'll find out how many are making the 180 day trip. We're estimating ~100. Seems like there are many newbies on board --some for the 1st segment and interestingly enough for the 180 days. (Don't know that I would have been willing to try a cruise line for the 1st time for a 6 month cruise!)

 

Hopefully some of the other ccritic folks on board will post periodically.

Good night from off the coast of Miami. c

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We weren't on a RTW cruise, just a TA, about 5 years ago on Regatta. We also left Miami late because they were loading foodstuffs. We felt that given the amount of ocean we were about to cross, having enough food on board was a good idea. :D

 

Mura

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