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Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

island lady

By island lady,
in Royal Caribbean International

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CSHS1979

CSHS1979

Posted
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4 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

I decided to do a little digging.  Fortaleza is HUGE.  It dwarf's Miami's 56 square miles and 450K population, though this I think it just within the city limits.  Fortaleza is 120 square miles and 2.7 MILLION people.  If you include the surrounding counties of Miami, then you'd have a similar population base, but still, that's a MAJOR metropolitan area.  Chicago has 2.6 million. for scale.

 

Before this, I've never heard of the city before.

 

Many of those buildings are vacant and in disrepair. Fortaleza is typical SA city. Massive wealth and extreme poverty 

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Rogueperson "Live from...." Rare

Rogueperson

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5 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

Many of those buildings are vacant and in disrepair. Fortaleza is typical SA city. Massive wealth and extreme poverty 

I saw pictures elsewhere that noted this.  I am not surprised unfortunately when you get such a big city, you're going to have a huge separation of wealth 😒

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crzndeb

crzndeb

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19 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

Twist and shout

FWIW, I would have stayed in the balcony, but someone else went up first

Yup, saw this on a vloggers video on YouTube. I said to myself, That’s Laura up there, shaking her groove thing…haha

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CSHS1979

CSHS1979

Posted
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9 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:


 

Love the red gown!  

 

This was the gown our FB ladies chipped in to buy for the Loyalty Ambassador for the Gala. John and I delivered it in September but Jasmine said it didn't fit so she gave it back to me onboard. 

 

John calls it Jessica Rabbit

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

Late show was better😉

 

Etta May found me in the CL last night...she was out of her costume (she is beautiful BTW) and gave me a hug and a thank you.  😉   🥰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CSHS1979

CSHS1979

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1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

They need to get Abbacadabra aboard. They know how to get an audience involved.🙂

 

Ran into the Beatles band in Fortaleza terminal. We asked if they would be back later in cruise 

 

They didn't know, but said they'd to come back near end and see how we survived

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ONECRUISER

ONECRUISER

Posted
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6 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

I decided to do a little digging.  Fortaleza is HUGE.  It dwarf's Miami's 56 square miles and 450K population, though this I think it just within the city limits.  Fortaleza is 120 square miles and 2.7 MILLION people.  If you include the surrounding counties of Miami, then you'd have a similar population base, but still, that's a MAJOR metropolitan area.  Chicago has 2.6 million. for scale.

 

Before this, I've never heard of the city before.

Miami Metropolitan Area is the ninth-largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern USA and the largest metropolitan area in Florida with a population of 6.14 Million

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

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And...yet another day at sea!  😲  Oh well, we get used to it on TAs anyway.

 

For us so far, with almost 3 weeks into it.....has felt like any other longer Caribbean cruise...and we knew it was going to be a PIA to try to go into town in Fortaleza, so we didn't try.  😉 

 

Tomorrow we have an all day tour (our first tour) and really looking forward to it.  Being a bit of a "foodie" we have the Recife Gastronomic Experience tour booked.  Following a Chef around the large fresh market, picking out veggies and fresh fish for lunch.  Then watching him cook it up in one of his restaurants, and enjoy the fruits of his labor with a couple glasses of wine. 

 

Mmmmm....hope I am not getting my hopes up...but it is the kind of tour we love, since we are not the types that do the beach, souvenir shopping, or the tour to see 12 cathedrals in one day.  😉 

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

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Saw the show last night...Brazilian jazz singer.  Not great...not bad...just pleasant and a nice way to end the evening.   Theater was barely 1/4 full.   

 

Dinner was not up to usual...still good service, but my seafood stew "special" was fishy tasting (must have been trying to get rid of some leftover seafood) and Bucky's Tuna was drenched in way too much Fennel.  Oh well....there was always dessert!  😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CSHS1979

CSHS1979

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46 minutes ago, island lady said:

Saw the show last night...Brazilian jazz singer.  Not great...not bad...just pleasant and a nice way to end the evening.   Theater was barely 1/4 full.   

 

Dinner was not up to usual...still good service, but my seafood stew "special" was fishy tasting (must have been trying to get rid of some leftover seafood) and Bucky's Tuna was drenched in way too much Fennel.  Oh well....there was always dessert!  😉 

 

 

We went to dinner so John could get his favorite Poblano soup. It rarely disappoints. They had it in WJ as well

 

20231226_190026.jpg

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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53 minutes ago, island lady said:

And...yet another day at sea!  😲  Oh well, we get used to it on TAs anyway.

 

For us so far, with almost 3 weeks into it.....has felt like any other longer Caribbean cruise...and we knew it was going to be a PIA to try to go into town in Fortaleza, so we didn't try.  😉 

 

Tomorrow we have an all day tour (our first tour) and really looking forward to it.  Being a bit of a "foodie" we have the Recife Gastronomic Experience tour booked.  Following a Chef around the large fresh market, picking out veggies and fresh fish for lunch.  Then watching him cook it up in one of his restaurants, and enjoy the fruits of his labor with a couple glasses of wine. 

 

Mmmmm....hope I am not getting my hopes up...but it is the kind of tour we love, since we are not the types that do the beach, souvenir shopping, or the tour to see 12 cathedrals in one day.  😉 

What is the port tomorrow?

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CSHS1979

CSHS1979

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14 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Yup, saw this on a vloggers video on YouTube. I said to myself, That’s Laura up there, shaking her groove thing…haha

 

Do you recall who did the video.

I looked around You Tube, but couldn't find it

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

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Some of the things that are happily (IMHO) missing on this ship/cruise so far for us.  (Your experience may vary).  😉  

 

Smoke:

The one thing I dread on Radiance class ships (though I love most of the rest of the elegant ladies) is the way the big open entrances of the casino face the Centrum.  Normally heavy smoking in there on sea days/nights will billow out and up the open Centrum like a chimney...disbursing it up into the various decks.  

Not on this cruise.  Have not smelled it at all for the last 18 days, and even smells fresh in the casino when we walk through (when it's not busy).  

No smoke smell on our balcony...no cigar, no cigarette, no pipe...or "other type" of tobacco. 😉 

Very little smokers outside, but the few there are...being very polite to smoke only on the designated  starboard side of the pool deck.  No smokers on the open deck of 12.  Very little on open deck of 5 smoking area.  

 

Kids running wild in the hallway:  

Now it may be different on other decks, but we have never even seen any children at all on deck 10.  Which means ...so far anyway...no "precious snowflakes" running down the hallway ringing the door bells at all hours.   Have seen them in the lower decks, and heard crying, screaming children's voices coming though the doors of the inside cabins when we walk by to get from  aft/forward through that area.  Which makes me shudder to think of a family of 4-5 in one of those small cabins on long sea days, and on this long cruise!  😮 

 

Long wait for food or service in dining areas.

Never a problem with food served promptly, as the dining venues are just not that busy.  

 

Supply issues:  

Except for a few days missing fresh bananas...we have not experienced any supply issues with food or alcohol.  

 

Getting a seat at the shows:

No reservations required and always easy to find plenty of seats in the theater, even a couple of minutes before show time.  Theater rarely more than 1/2 full.  

 

Crowded in Chops for breakfast: 

After almost 3 weeks...there has never been more than 10-12 pax in that venue.  Some mornings, it was just myself and Bucky.  Plenty of bored crew members, but all more than happy to see us every morning.  Very happy and friendly group  🙂 

 

Bar service:

Once again, lightly populated and no real wait for drinks at all.  

 

Yeah, happy to have so much missing on this cruise.  🤗

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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