World "shakedown" cruise on Serenade starting next week (Semi-Live Review)

[Jimbo]

20 hours ago, orville99 said:

Looks like they have a lot more things to deliver/install (this is the conference room this afternoon):

Remember that room well, that is where they put us quarantined people when getting off Jewel in September. Thank God we were only quarantined  1 day.

[orville99]

9 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Wish you would have took a few pictures of the set up of the vegetables and the meat choices. Had kind of a debate on another thread just how Royal is doing their stir frys now.

Sorry, I don’t do food porn but IIRC there were trays lined up with cabbage, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, onions, and spinach (there may have been another one, but those were the five I chose). Your choice of either rice (Thai) flat noodles, or wheat noodles, beef or chicken, and a variety of oils and sauces.

 

They did the stir fry right in front of me so I could watch everything they were doing.

Edited November 17, 2023 by orville99

[Jimbo]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

Sorry, I don’t do food porn but IIRC there were trays lined up with cabbage, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, and spinach (there may have been another one, but those were the five I chose). Your choice of either rice (Thai) flat noodles, or wheat noodles, beef or chicken, and a variety of oils and sauces.

Was the meat raw or pre cooked  within your reach to put your own meat on your own plate before handing it over to the cook?

Edited November 17, 2023 by Jimbo

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Was the meat raw or pre cooked  within your reach to put your own meat on your own plate before handing it over to the cook?

Precooked and not out where I could take it myself. I pointed at what I wanted and they plated it before handing it to the cook.

Edited November 17, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

10 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Loved Rita's 🙂

We did as well. We were very sorry to see it go away.

[Jimbo]

5 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Precooked and not out where I could take it myself. I pointed at what I wanted and they plated it before handing it to the cook.

Years and years ago it wasn't like that but very few remember when it was out front raw with the rest of the vegetables and you put everthing yourself on a plate(vegetables) (small like soup bowl) for the raw meat) and then handed everything over to the cook to cook.

Showing my age here I guess 😞

Edited November 17, 2023 by Jimbo

[orville99]

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Years and years ago it wasn't like that but very few remember when it was out front raw with the rest of the vegetables and you put everthing yourself on a plate(vegetables) (small like soup bowl) for the raw meat) and then handed everything over to the cook to cook.

Showing my age here I guess 😞

Haven’t seen it done that way since the restart. Just happy that they are doing it at all.

[Jasukkie]

@orville99 regarding the temp of the Solarium pool on Radiance class. The pool felt like hot tub temperature on one of the days in Greenland on Jewel. Absolutely lovely on a cold day. The second time we went it was definitely cooler, more what one would expect for a pool. I have no idea if that capability varies between ships in the class.

[orville99]

3 minutes ago, Jasukkie said:

@orville99 regarding the temp of the Solarium pool on Radiance class. The pool felt like hot tub temperature on one of the days in Greenland on Jewel. Absolutely lovely on a cold day. The second time we went it was definitely cooler, more what one would expect for a pool. I have no idea if that capability varies between ships in the class.

That has been our experience as well on all four ships in this class. What is ironic is that the only truly hot water in the solarium on this cruise (so far) is in the rinse off shower next to the pool. I don’t set the temperature that high in my shower at home.

[island lady]

19 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I have the exact same magnets, along with smaller lighter ones for other things like hats

 

Me too...one of the first things I hang up...our hats on the wall via on a couple of the smaller hook magnets

[island lady]

19 hours ago, orville99 said:

Morning in Huatulco. Beautiful sight to wake up to. Probably the cleanest and most laid back town we have ever visited in Mexico. Even the tour hawkers don’t chase you down the street, and no one tried to entice us into their store.😇:

 

 

Beautiful!!  Thanks for sharing!  Would love to visit there!  

 

Unfortunately we don't go there on the WC.  😞  Real shame...and in fact very limited Pacific side Mexican ports.  

[sjb317]

Orville99, thanks for taking the time from your vacation to do this thread.  We are booked for two segments of the WC so I am very interested in any changes.  I was unaware the laundry rooms, if added, would only be available to WC passengers; this had made me wonder if there are any other things that will be off limits for us segmenters?

 

Sherri🙂

[island lady]

9 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

Orville99, thanks for taking the time from your vacation to do this thread.  We are booked for two segments of the WC so I am very interested in any changes.  I was unaware the laundry rooms, if added, would only be available to WC passengers; this had made me wonder if there are any other things that will be off limits for us segmenters?

 

Sherri🙂

 

Not Orville...but like you, I am not on full 274 nights.  We are half, being first and last quarter.  

 

Was told in the beginning that we would have access to laundry machines, and now apparently we do not. 😞   There were a few more perks we will not have as well, as I understand.  

 

Guess we are the "red headed step children".  😉    "Sea" you on board real soon.  🙂 

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, sjb317 said:

Orville99, thanks for taking the time from your vacation to do this thread.  We are booked for two segments of the WC so I am very interested in any changes.  I was unaware the laundry rooms, if added, would only be available to WC passengers; this had made me wonder if there are any other things that will be off limits for us segmenters?

 

Sherri🙂

 

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Not Orville...but like you, I am not on full 274 nights.  We are half, being first and last quarter.  

 

Was told in the beginning that we would have access to laundry machines, and now apparently we do not. 😞   There were a few more perks we will not have as well, as I understand.  

 

Guess we are the "red headed step children".  😉    "Sea" you on board real soon.  🙂 

Just makes some friends on the WC portion and have them wash your clothes for you. I'm sure that will be happening.

[lovesthebeach2]

2 hours ago, sjb317 said:

Orville99, thanks for taking the time from your vacation to do this thread.  We are booked for two segments of the WC so I am very interested in any changes.  I was unaware the laundry rooms, if added, would only be available to WC passengers; this had made me wonder if there are any other things that will be off limits for us segmenters?

 

Sherri🙂

We’re also doing 2 segments on the WC. We just got home from 27 days from a B2B on Odyssey plus additional days before the cruises in Italy.  We only brought a carryon and backpack each.

 

I brought clothes for me that I could handwash in the sink and hang to dry on my magnet hooks, and being D+, we sent 4 bags of laundry total (2 each) which was hubby’s T shirts and shorts, socks… things that we didn’t mind being cooked to death. It won’t be a problem for us not having the laundry privilege, but it would have been nice.

[orville99]

First of three sea days on the way to LA. Just passed Acapulco, will be near Cabo San Lucas tomorrow morning and the captain just came over the loud speakers to let everyone know that there are whales and dolphins everywhere up there.

 

In the meantime, a bit of a WC ship maintenance update:

They are re-varnishing all the woodwork on the pool deck, painting up there as well, and there is still a lot of pounding going on on the promenade. Found out what is in those big boxes still on the promenade - the world’s largest supply of socks!

 

Also found the world’s slowest drying paint - the sign on the steps into the solarium pool has been there at least since February. Hopefully someone can find about a three foot long 5/4X6 piece of teak to replace the step that has been broken all year.

 

Internet is still humming like a top.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by orville99

[RFerrington]

What a great sleuth you are, @orville99

[heatherb1958]

The crew have to pay for their  day to day uniforms , I wonder how many pairs of thermals will given for free... 😂 

[Saab4444]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

First of three sea days on the way to LA. Just passed Acapulco, will be near Cabo San Lucas tomorrow morning and the captain just came over the loud speakers to let everyone know that there are whales and dolphins everywhere up there.

 

In the meantime, a bit of a WC ship maintenance update:

They are re-varnishing all the woodwork on the pool deck, painting up there as well, and there is still a lot of pounding going on on the promenade. Found out what is in those big boxes still on the promenade - the world’s largest supply of socks!

 

Also found the world’s slowest drying paint - the sign on the steps into the solarium pool has been there at least since February. Hopefully someone can find about a three foot long 5/4X6 piece of teak to replace the step that has been broken all year.

 

Internet is still humming like a top.

 

 

 

 

 

Is Captain Stig Nilsen already on board?

 

[orville99]

10 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Is Captain Stig Nilsen already on board?

 

He is the current captain.

[orville99]

5 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

This had made me wonder if there are any other things that will be off limits for us segmenters

We have not seen anything that would indicate any segregation of different segments of groups, but those types of things would probably not be visible yet (if at all)

[orville99]

Probably never going to happen, but was thinking that the video arcade (directly above the WJ and adjacent to Izumi) would make a nice little boutique seafood restaurant. Just sayin….

[orville99]

Quick update, and my apologies to all the WC cruisers if this grates a bit, but we are 12 days into a 15 day cruise and Chops has already run out of some of its side dishes, has dug down into the freezer for whatever proteins are left, and apparently has lost the ability to cook. Giovanni’s is even less prepared. Last night they served my wife an old cow shank and called it veal. Totally inedible - made stew meat look tender. Quite honestly, the only disappointing meals we have had in the past 12 days have been in the specialty restaurants. Just went online and cancelled our dining package for the return voyage next week.

 

I sincerely hope they figure it out before the WC group gets on board for 8 months.

 

[Jimbo]

10 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Quick update, and my apologies to all the WC cruisers if this grates a bit, but we are 12 days into a 15 day cruise and Chops has already run out of some of its side dishes, has dug down into the freezer for whatever proteins are left, and apparently has lost the ability to cook. Giovanni’s is even less prepared. Last night they served my wife an old cow shank and called it veal. Totally inedible - made stew meat look tender. Quite honestly, the only disappointing meals we have had in the past 12 days have been in the specialty restaurants. Just went online and cancelled our dining package for the return voyage next week.

 

I sincerely hope they figure it out before the WC group gets on board for 8 months.

 

Maybe best to pack a lunch or 2 before boarding for 8 months. Going to be alot of unhappy campers. 😉

I can just hear it now....8 months of supply issues. Maybe going to need a bigger boat to bring more supplies or serve smaller portions?

Edited November 19, 2023 by Jimbo

[kernow]

Not received any emails ourselves but apparently everyone else boarding on Tuesday has had an email saying to arrive at the terminal one hour later than scheduled time. 

Have those of you onboard heard anything about a delay? Hopefully it will only be an hour.