LIVE Norwaylady sails on Edge World Cruise from Rome to Singapore 30.10 to 25.11.23 , 26.night

[hcat]

sorry but I coild not follow what this was?  did it taste as bad as it looks?

[theopup]

9 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

We decided have a pice of palace cake together by our coffee🥂

Beautiful presentation, looks delicious 

[theopup]

5 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

All packed, prepped and ready for moving tomorrow😁

Thank you to Mustofa for excellent service❤️ Stateroom and everything in-room from him has always delivered❤️👍🏻 10/10

Glad to read this

 

Your pictures are stunning, thanks for posting 

Edited November 12, 2023 by theopup

[Barwick Cruiser]

51 minutes ago, hcat said:

sorry but I coild not follow what this was?  did it taste as bad as it looks?

Pretty sure she said it was risotto and was good, other than the vegan cheese. 

[dianedebuda]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

sorry but I coild not follow what this was?  did it taste as bad as it looks?

I also assumed it was the risotto.  Awful presentation - looks like dog food or barf.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Pretty sure she said it was risotto and was good, other than the vegan cheese. 

thanks odd color for risotto we are used to

[hcat]

22 minutes ago, dianedebuda said:

I also assumed it was the risotto.  Awful presentation - looks like dog food or barf.

i didn't want to go there!

[DaKahuna]

13 minutes ago, hcat said:

thanks odd color for risotto we are used to

Maybe squid ink risotto? 

[Lena11033]

24 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Maybe squid ink risotto? 

Not if vegan 

 

maybe truffle?

[Norwaylady]

5 hours ago, peanut head said:

Thank you for taking the time to write about your journey and taking us along.

 

I was wondering how you were dressing for the ports?  Shirts/blouses with long sleeves?  Having your knees covered?  Are credit cards readily accepted by taxis?  

Clothes: I have dressed “conservative” (not that I do own a string bikini, hot pants or other tiny tiny pieces😂😂😂

as Mr says… “you can wear it, it looks fine” and I will reply back: No, to much cleavage, to short to revealing😂😂😂

 

So for me this is not a big issue. 
In Oman I had my linen pants, they are loose fit 3/4 length and I had a linen loose fit top sleeve to elbow+ and a matching flowing scarf, so I could cover hair if necessary and is giving the illusion of wearing a longer dress. 
 

In Emirates Palace the concierge sends you on the confirmation of the booking what clothing you are required to wear. 
They ask you to wear Resort casual. 
And it’s says clear: For men, No shorts, sandals, t-shirt. Shirt and sport pants (chinos or dress pants only) 

Ladies has restrictions for bathing attire, sports wear, short/mini skirts and shorts. 
 

So I had a dark blue dress in cotton that goes to underneath my knees and are loose fit. 

 

The personal on the hotel are wearing dresses for ladies that stop on the knees and short sleeve. 
 

Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi is very open, you can wear almost as you will. The only place that is very restricted is the Mosque. 
 

On the public beach in Abu Dhabi there was lots of people, majority of tourists yesterday and they had tiny bikinis and walking around on the beach. 
It has softened up since my first visit to the region in 2011. 
 

So you don’t have to walk around in a aboya in public when you visit. 

[Norwaylady]

5 hours ago, hcat said:

sorry but I coild not follow what this was?  did it taste as bad as it looks?

It’s truffle risotto! Taste of truffle was good but that cheese….. No. It has definitely a taste of “green” as Mr said😂😂😂

 

I can agree that presentation colour was not perfect😂😂😂 it looks like something my parents dog could leave as a souvenir…..

[Norwaylady]

Good morning from Dubai! 

 

Turnaround day🙃🤪🙃

We went for breakfast at 07.30 in the buffet. It was controlled chaos and not wildly. Outside on the terrace is was quiet and perfect. 

Mr had his usual omelette and had my “cat pellets” and fruit. 

 

We had booked tickets to The View on the Palm for 09.30 so we need to skip the instruction for our time on the letter received last night…..🥸

Travel time to the palm from cruise port is 35-40.mins depending on traffic🏎️🏎️

 

We went downstairs at 08.00 no big line or anything. 50/50 of scanner said ping and bing (you all now what that sound is for b2b🥳🥳🥳) 

 

We where ready, all paperwork in hand, transit pass and cruise card ready to be delivered to security👍🏻

Ping!!! My card said PING😱

And security looked at me since I was reacthim my card🤪 

I sad I’m transit b2b. 

 

He asked Mr to ping his card. That said BING! 

Security looked at us and said are you sure Madam?

Do you have transit pass? 

YES, 👍🏻 

Security took the cards and asked us to proceed to immigration/check in for transit. 

 

So the concierge did print the transit pass, but it was not registered and done correctly. 

Why does it always happen to me🤪🙈

Mr is immune against problems like this🙈🙈🙈

 

It was no one in line, so we were directly at a counter….

Our counter was a person in training😅 

So this was definitely a proof of waiting client game….

 

I had everything ready in paperwork and copies for the ship. 

Our process due to training in progress took 20.minutes. 

Suddenly at a point the supervisor arrived and said, everything is in paper and all is good, send them off😂😂😂

 

At the immigration zone, Mr Mihail hotel director was walking around. So we stopped him to say hello and tell him, that something was wrong. 

My cruise card was delivered into the ships security, but something is not correct….

So he was advised that we are b2b both of us🙃

Hopefully everything is in order when we return to our new stateroom. 

 

So back to our plan for today😎

We jumped into a taxi 08.45 from port to the View, Palm. 

Traffic was luckily not horribly. So we arrived at Nakheel Mall 09.20. Taxi fare 98 dirham. 

We went straight upstairs to the entrance of The View. 

I had printed tickets and it was just to walk inside. 

 

The tour started by a multimedia video on the floor, then it’s a video presentation before you have an area for timeline in pictures and explanation of the process constructing the Palm. 

After this you take the elevator from 4 to 52 floor😎

 

You have a beautiful view overlooking the Palm and nearby areas. 

Unfortunately it is a little hazy today. So it was not Cristal clear view all the way to our port. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But who did we see? 

Azamara is docked by the Palm🤩

 

We had a great walk around enjoying the view🤩 

Nakheel Mall is located in the basement. So we decided to have a look. 

 

50% of the stores/area of the mall I closed off. 

Big contrast to my last visit just before covid😱   Then everything was in use. 

The grocery store in Nakheel Mall is big, a party for Mr to walk around and see what you can get🤩 ( no beers 🍻 muslin country) 

 

Mr tried a bbq briscket sub from the take away section😋

It smelled delicious and Mr said it was good 👍🏻  not a crumble left for me😂😅

 

After our view & window shopping 🛍️ it was time to return to the ship. 

We took a taxi from The Palm at 12.45. 

Traffic was not bad, so it went smoothly back to the ship. Taxi fare 85 dirham. 

 

We arrived in the terminal 13.20 the lines for check-in was long😫

But for once, the transit pass worked🥳🥳🥳

We we went straight to security check and into line for boarding the ship🥳🥳🥳

It was 5.minutes to wait. 

 

Things moved slowly on boarding deck, technical issues for check in system made the process for security delayed and slow. 

I pinged on easy as 1-2-3….

Mr had a ping, but no picture🫥 But security fixed that in 2sec😁 just needed to show his id-card. (Good for us, we have passport delivered to the ship, but we also have government id-cards issued as a driving license card) So no problem to verify him😅👍🏻

 

Then it was up to muster station for the obligatory ping👍🏻

Mr wanted to have a stop in Al Bacio, so I why not?

 

He tried to say, I can run upstairs to collect the new cards….. I said why, they can just scan and register on our new room😁👍🏻

[Norwaylady]

That look on your face…..

 

When you realise your card is grey…… 😁

[Norwaylady]

Paperwork in stateroom on arrival: 

 

 

 

 

Not to be super picky or angry….🤪

When I spoke to the concierge about my missing transit card, she said, whiteout me asking, that our level of captain’s club was taken care of and that everything was in order for next part of our cruise. It would be Elite Plus on our cards… 

 

Well…… it’s not. 
It’s not the underground of the world or holiday❤️🥸🙃 It’s just the attention to detail. And seen in the fact of the missing transit card, it’s just a little more sand in the machinery of minor things… 

We will see if we bother to try to get it sorted. It’s not a big game change for us. 

 

Cruise Compass Day 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

[upwarduk]

Which Cunard ship is in port?
Is it the QE2 that was supposed to be converted to an hotel?

I have failed to keep up with the news about the conversion.

[Norwaylady]

1 minute ago, upwarduk said:

Which Cunard ship is in port?
Is it the QE2 that was supposed to be converted to an hotel?

I have failed to keep up with the news about the conversion.

QE2 is a hotel👍🏻 They have afternoon tea a few times a week and you can stay for the night🙃

 

[KKB]

@Norwaylady What fun a Retreat surprise is!!

Edited November 13, 2023 by KKB

[BOB999]

Glad you were able to get processed (reasonably) okay before you got off the ship and thus able to avoid what appears to be a trainwreck in the terminal right now.

[81Zoomie]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us!  We will be sailing the Edge B2B in the spring next year.  We will also be raising to E+ after the first leg, so we are following your tips and experience closely. Hopefully the Retreat hosts can sort our your cards.  And I have to ask, does the OV have black oats, or did you bring them along? Love your pictures 😁

[Norwaylady]

18 minutes ago, BOB999 said:

Glad you were able to get processed (reasonably) okay before you got off the ship and thus able to avoid what appears to be a trainwreck in the terminal right now.

It was a looooooooong line when we arrived….🤪🥵😰😱🤯😱😱😱

 

I was 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 that we cleared this morning! 
 

It’s 17.12 and they are still not finished. 
 

They had it problems already this morning and it has really slowed down the speed of check in and a combination of people missing visas for Sri Lanka etc…

 

Hopefully they will soon be ready for departure and having everyone cleared for travel….❤️

[Norwaylady]

4 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:And I have to ask, does the OV have black oats, or did you bring them along? Love your pictures 😁

I did bring the black oats from home. 
I run very poorly on sugar🙈 So to make sure I get something good for me, I eat them for breakfast. 

[agape01]

4 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for making me excited even more in my upcoming cruise from Yokohama to Singapore on the Millennium in a sky suite in a few days time. This will be my third Celebrity cruise but the first time in a suite. 🤩  

[hcat]

4 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

Paperwork in stateroom on arrival: 

 

 

 

 

Not to be super picky or angry….🤪

When I spoke to the concierge about my missing transit card, she said, whiteout me asking, that our level of captain’s club was taken care of and that everything was in order for next part of our cruise. It would be Elite Plus on our cards… 

 

Well…… it’s not. 
It’s not the underground of the world or holiday❤️🥸🙃 It’s just the attention to detail. And seen in the fact of the missing transit card, it’s just a little more sand in the machinery of minor things… 

We will see if we bother to try to get it sorted. It’s not a big game change for us. 

 

Cruise Compass Day 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might think about the QR code to report the paperwok  lapses, and also  leave an attention to detail card for the hotel director.  These glitches slow things down and leave a sour note!

 

you are easy to please but enuff already!

 

 

[Norwaylady]

So, I unpacked our luggage again. 

Mr was very happy for a balcony! 

 

We went for a view and visiting in The Retreat. Mr was very happy for the view forward! 

He had this smile on his face😁😁😁 (this guy is a hopeless poker player🤣🤣) 

 

Things where not running smoothly in the terminal today😰🤪😫

Luckily we cleared immigration this morning and could go straight onboard again🙏🏻👍🏻

Athens was peanuts compared for todays issues…..❤️ 

 

At 18.30 we could finally hear Captain Matt speak and proceed the mandatory safety protocol. 

 

Tonight’s show is Stephen Barry.

 

 

 

 

 

Good mood and orchestra! What more can you ask for? 

[Coates55]

Been wonderful following along on your cruise journey. Can I ask a question about visas for both India and Sri Lanka? Are Celebrity helping with visas for either country i.e. issuance onboard or on arrival or were they strict in checking if you did not have the correct visa you could not board? There is an argument that Transit visas for both countries should suffice but this is open to interpretation give the overnight call in Colombo.

 

Have fun in The Retreat.