Chocolate ships

[kelleherdl]

17 hours ago, phissy said:

Wondering if those who have received chocolate ships can report back.

Some reporting that ships are now poor quality chocolate?
Thanks

Just off Meraviglia.  I found them to be superior to before COVID. I would say a good 70% or higher.  And fresh.  Some we have gotten years ago had already started to whiten.

[phissy]

39 minutes ago, kelleherdl said:

Just off Meraviglia.  I found them to be superior to before COVID. I would say a good 70% or higher.  And fresh.  Some we have gotten years ago had already started to whiten.

Good to hear....this is one treat we enjoy.  It makes sense that they had to put off production of the ships until they knew they would sail again... So we get freshly made ships!

[GA Dave]

One thing I can tell you is the chocolate is not tempered.  I bought one for my daughter and SIL on my 8/27 Mera cruise.  I forgot it was in my "goodie" bag when I got back to Miami and placed that bag with my suitcase in my trunk.  Six-and-a-half hours later, when I removed it from my trunk, it was just a blob of chocolate at the bottom of the plastic case it came in.  My daughter and SIL said the chocolate was really good, but I was really disappointed that they never got to see it as the ship.  My mistake, but still.  I have brought chocolate gifts back from other vacations and never had anything completely melt in my trunk like that.

[eagletwo]

Just off the Divina. Met a few travel agents during the cruise that said the chocolate ships are going to be discontinued. I can't confirm if it's true. There were a few changes in our Yacht Club experience that we were surprised. 

This will be our first and last Divine cruise. 

[alyssamma]

11 minutes ago, eagletwo said:

Just off the Divina. Met a few travel agents during the cruise that said the chocolate ships are going to be discontinued. I can't confirm if it's true. There were a few changes in our Yacht Club experience that we were surprised. 

This will be our first and last Divine cruise. 

What was changed?

 

I sailed 8/23 on Meraviglia and didn't notice any changes at all (non-covid changes that is)

[no1talks]

1 hour ago, eagletwo said:

Just off the Divina. Met a few travel agents during the cruise that said the chocolate ships are going to be discontinued. I can't confirm if it's true. There were a few changes in our Yacht Club experience that we were surprised. 

This will be our first and last Divine cruise. 

Changes!?! Spill the tea, if you please. Enquiring minds want to know.

[hamrag]

2 hours ago, Couple-Somerset said:

The wonderful chocolate ship packaged in the plastic "box" is no more.

 

Now, it is a small white chocolate ship presented on a plate on the evening before leaving the ship - totally pointless at that time in a cruise....

 

Erm, on Virtuosa two weeks ago our two solid large brown chocolate ships were delivered mid-cruise.....beautifully presented and packaged in the transparent plastic box as always! 😉

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

 

Erm, on Virtuosa two weeks ago our two solid large brown chocolate ships were delivered mid-cruise.....beautifully presented and packaged in the transparent plastic box as always! 😉

Can’t wait to see what they’ll offer on Seashore.  Friends of ours will be on Grandiosa in a couple of weeks.  Must ask them what they get.  
 

Bytheway, G, have you seen the news about the IS lifting restrictions for vaccinated European travellers?   Hopefully that’ll sort your repo out.  

Edited September 20, 2021 by Beamafar

[hamrag]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

....G, have you seen the news about the IS lifting restrictions for vaccinated European travellers?   Hopefully that’ll sort your repo out.  

 

Many thanks for thinking of us Bea, much appreciated, but we wouldn't hit the US and won't be travelling through there either. The main boarding port for the Caribbean winter season with Seaview is Fort-de-France in Martinique with Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe as the secondary boarding port. That covers the non-Brits element flying from Europe and also many locals on these islands. We saw that on a 14 night cruise 3 years ago, and boarding appeared to be bedlam as we returned to the ship and watched the masses board up until 9 or 10pm in Martinique particularly....has to be seen to be believed, the locals didn't need to bother about luggage weight or quantity and we saw many pulling 2 large suitcases for a 1 week cruise.

 

The main way the Brits do this cruise is from Barbados, where the ship visits fortnightly, meaning only 14 nights is possible....that's what we did. From Martinique and Guadeloupe there are two 7 night itineraries which repeat.

 

What needs to happen for us to travel is the rule re only passengers from Schengen area countries boarding to be scrapped before November. That is currently in place through end September, but has been moving out every month since April when it was originally due to end. We just need to remain patient, and suck up the cost of last minute flight bookings if we are able to board in Barcelona....the only restriction there is to have a PCR test within 72 hours of boarding....time will tell.