Is there typically an itinerary offered called "Ancient Mediterranean Isles"?

[OnTheJourney]

7 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

So as long as there's no conversational competition about who suffered more,

LOL....sorta like, "I caught a much bigger fish than you did....",  "no you didn't", etc.  😁 Although a totally moot point,  but were it not for covid...I'm suspecting this whole reunion would take on a much more relaxed and truly joyful atmosphere. It just seems that, with all that has transpired since we were on the Sky, the personal impact of that event is diminished compared to what it would have been. As i said earlier today, at the time it seemed like one of the worst things to have come along - at least for us haivng been very fortunate with no serious accidents and so forth (although DW broke her arm while we were on a DIY sightseeing tour by car last year - so that ranks up there really high). 

Edited February 9, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[JDincalif]

30 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

I'm suspecting this whole reunion would take on a much more relaxed and truly joyful atmosphere. It just seems that, with all that has transpired since we were on the Sky, the personal impact of that event is diminished

 

Even more reason to see this as a time to celebrate life - that we're still here despite everything that's happened since 2019.

[DGHOC]

27 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

 

Both groups - those who were airlifted and those who had to remain onboard - endured harrowing experiences. So as long as there's no conversational competition about who suffered more, we'll enjoy raising a glass, sharing stories and celebrating life with all our fellow Sky passengers on the Mars.

How sensible you are JD, I think we will only bring it up fleetingly when we meet, we most of us certainly have never dwelt upon it repeatedly here. I only once read a comment from someone who suggested that those who were evacuated by helicopter had had a worse experience than those who stayed on board for 24 hours. Luckily that was never repeated. Of course nobody could ever know that unless they had  experienced both.

 

It will be lovely to get together and as you say raise our glasses to all those good souls who worked so hard to support and keep us safe.

 

 

[JDincalif]

Just now, DGHOC said:

. I only once read a comment from someone who suggested that those who were evacuated by helicopter had had a worse experience than those who stayed on board for 24 hours.

...on another Sky thread a person who was evacuated wrote about looking down on the Sky from the helicopter and wondering if he'd ever see his possessions again 🤯...  Definitely a different perspective! But shock will do that to a person, I suppose 

 

Looking forward to meeting in person those we met on the voyage and all of you lovely people that we've met only on CC! 

[OnTheJourney]

41 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

on another Sky thread a person who was evacuated wrote about looking down on the Sky from the helicopter and wondering if he'd ever see his possessions again

Quite honestly that exact thought surely crossed our mind, albeit very briefly I'd think, while dangling and twisting / turning on the rope en route to the waiting helicopter 100 ft. or so above deck.

 

Since it seemed that we were in safe hands (rope...don't break!), at least one of the next leaps of logic would probably be to wonder about the fate of valuable items - jewely left onboard, wallets, whatever....certainly I'm sure some folks had an immediate concern about medicine and whatever else. I say this in a way that is not intended at all to mitigate what was still taking place on the ship nor to express a lack of concern for those who were still on, but realizing that the plan was indeed to evacuate everyone, probably most of those being evacuated (until it was deemed safe to discontinue that phase of the operation which we were all totally unaware of anyway) felt that ALL pax would be transferred to a safe location.

 

So, getting back to the idea of losing possessions, it would appear to not be outside the realm of logical and expected concerns. DW and I didn't even have time to go back to our room and get anything. I had my camera, the clothes I was wearing, no meds, nothing else. It's surely not as traumatic, I expect, as standing in the front yard watching your house burn down and wondering if anything is salvageable.

 

I'm sure, speaking of needing meds, that many pharmacy-related personnel were woken up and moved quick to get us what we needed. They went around door to door in the hotels and brought the proper meds, even contact lens solutions!!!  We were treated so well - a blessing to be thankful for. It kind of felt like a refugee situation - only the clothes on our backs.

 

Viking was great in taking us to a shopping mall the next day so as to buy what we needed. I still have the overcoat I bought and plan to never get rid of the sweatshirt I was wearing that day. With no coat, it was brutally cold on the way up to and also in the helicopter.

 

We didn't even have any ID with us, and so the police had to check everyone in at the staging area. So, again, yeah, hoping I'd at least see my wallet again was surely a thought somewhere along the way. Hope that doesn't seem unreasonable. Those who stayed onboard at least stil had their possessions though I believe I'm right in that you weren't allowed room access, at least for awhile (?) Surely wearing a lifevest for however many hours probably got old. Apologies for anything taken offensively but I did feel the need to address the post. 

 

49 minutes ago, DGHOC said:

I only once read a comment from someone who suggested that those who were evacuated by helicopter had had a worse experience than those who stayed on board for 24 hours.

I hopefully never said nor implied such along the way. I will go so far as to say that watching my wife being hoisted off the ship was the scariest site I've probably ever seen. Brought me to tears. We don't even like roller coasters! So, yeah, it was the most terrifying thing I've ever had to do. Many people I've talked to following the event assumed that we were placed in these nice contained cages and such to be transferred to the helicopter, but such was not the case. Experiences of evacuees versus the stay-on-boards was surely quite different. One can't fully relate to the other but it's interesting for sure to swap tales. 

 

52 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

that we're still here despite everything that's happened since 2019.

Amen...

Edited February 9, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[JDincalif]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

Those who stayed onboard at least stil had their possessions though I believe I'm right in that you weren't allowed room access, at least for awhile (?)

 

Correct - it was well after the tugs guided the Sky into correct position to proceed to Molde

 

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

Surely wearing a lifevest for however many hours probably got old

Wearing the lifejackets all those hours was less tedious than waiting to see if the ship (and we) would remain intact  😉

 

What will bring us together on the Mars is the extraordinary experience of March 2019, varied though it was for each of us. We can give that time a nod and move on to enjoy this new experience.

[OnTheJourney]

47 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

less tedious than waiting to see if the ship (and we) would remain intact 

For sure! Admittedly, I was a tad relieved, once in the helicopter, to be off the ship, but also very much mixed with sadness to leave her. Our time onboard ship for us, was over (well, except for when we got back on to pack...another long story relative to busting our butts to try and make a flight that we turned out missing cause there simply wasn't enough time). Once home, we put together a video with cllips I had taken at the request of the local newspaper (who had obviously heard the story and wanted to feature us) so in conjunction with an interview they put something together. At one point, where my wife refers to being in the helicopter, she said for the newspaper article, "I'll never forget the sight of the Sky shrinking from my view". For all of us, NO idea what was going to happen next. We were all amazingly fortunate. 

Edited February 10, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[JDincalif]

3 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

For all of us, NO idea what was going to happen next. We were all amazingly fortunate. 

 

Agree enthusiastically and completely!

[OnTheJourney]

You know, until I read that recent (LONG) report, I had no idea how close we really came to the rocky lee shore. The report indicated that we were probably mere meters from the shoals. OK....enough of that I suppose. As you say, "We can give that time a nod and move on to enjoy this new experience."  Am hoping to join you on the Mars. We'll see....

[Haworth]

I haven’t thought about that night for a long time but this thread does make you recall things, I said to my wife in the theatre that if the ship goes down we have no chance to survive given the water temperature, in a strange way that helped. The hard thing was messaging our 2 sons, different one to each as they are very different characters, once we were safe I asked them individually to delete them.

[OnTheJourney]

7 hours ago, Haworth said:

this thread does make you recall things,

Wow does it ever, though whenever I'm on CC or even talking to fellow cruiser friends, the Sky story is never all that far from my mind. Speaking of the theatre, my wife was in there watching a movie in the afternoon. I had (hoped to) visit the spa - having not gotten there yet. I still recall the spa attendant telling me "the captain will reopen the spa once conditions are ok to do so" 🤔  Oh well...maybe some future voyage...like maybe this one if we go?  Anyway, most disappointingly I went back to the room after the unsuccesful spa attempt, then figured I might as well join her at the movie. Sort of lurching my way along, I got down there. Then, of course, followed the "code echo" announcement and the sound of them trying to get the anchors to set. I distinctly recall saying, 'something seems really wrong here' or such, and then soon after came the 'mayday', and "the rest is history", as the saying goes.

 

As to the ship "going down" (or at least hitting the rocks with who knows what level of damage), I agree - it would have gone bad for a large number of passengers I suspect. By God's graces did the anchors serve their purpose just enough to slow the rate of (signifcant) drift thereby preventing actually coming in contact with the shoals and rocks. 

 

Now...on a slightly different topic - were you assigned the same room you had on the Sky? I could swear I was initially on MVJ but last night it was different - actually upgraded. Will call Viking again today and find out. 

Edited February 10, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[Haworth]

We are still in the same room, happy with the location, no bad rooms on Viking

[OnTheJourney]

6 minutes ago, Haworth said:

We are still in the same room

Huh...then I bet something got changed by mistake. Needs to be clarified to avoid a "what are you doing in my room?"..."what are you doing in MY room?" scenario....lol  The only way this can really work IS to have everyone use the same staterooms, especially if nearly everyone goes. 

[OnTheJourney]

9 minutes ago, Haworth said:

no bad rooms on Viking

Well, yeah, but some rooms ARE better than others. 😉

[Haworth]

3 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Well, yeah, but some rooms ARE better than others. 😉

True, but happy with our room 3040, it was handy for the theatre🤣🤣🤣

[JDincalif]

On 2/9/2022 at 12:32 PM, DGHOC said:

It will be lovely to get together and as you say raise our glasses to all those good souls who worked so hard to support and keep us safe.

 

DGHOC - Just reread this and absolutely agree - heroes and guardians on land, sea and air!  We remain in awe of the Sky crew, especially, who remained steadfast and supportive thoughout. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by JDincalif

[Haworth]

7 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

 

DHHOC - Just reread this and absolutely agree - heroes and guardians on land, sea and air!

Equally, did not pick this up earlier, we should apprecaite and celebrate the skills of those who kept us all safe

[OnTheJourney]

I noticed that the shore excursions are now on MVJ - at least to look at. Most exciting!!  I'm leaning towards the Knights of Malta tour in Valletta being that Torstein highly recommended St. John's Cathedal in the invitation. The Noto excursion in Syracuse looks great also since it visits the church of St. Francis. The included one in Syracuse also seems good - maybe time to do them both but probably not. Always tough choices with excursions.

 

Funny story - we have an upcoming Bahamas cruise wherein the itinerary got shifted all around. As a result, the shore excursions I bought wound up falling on days that no longer work. RCL took care of redoing most of them but seemingly overlooked the one on Grand Bahama Island. It is currently set to take place the day we're at Coco Cay, so I called them. Not sure what was going on with the agent I spoke to, but he didn't seem to "get it" that the ship is scheduled for an island different from where the excursion takes place.  This is not complicated. He promised to change it but nothing ever happened. We don't yet have the technology to teleport, so told my TA to see if she can get it straightened out.

 

The one thing my in-laws mentioned, having just come back from a cruise a few weeks ago, is something their captain told them; namely, that you need to "have an open mind" right now and that if you're really set on a particular destination that's on the itinerary, now might not be the best time to cruise since so many changes have been made with itineraries. Hopefully it'll all get better soon. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by OnTheJourney