Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I've seen some gorgeous sunsets while in Aruba.   We like going to West Deck for food and drink and watching the sun set.  Or the restaurant near the CA lighthouse is another great place for sunsets.  A catamaran excursion sounds great too!

Awesome lighthouse and I like the restaurant that is there... El Faro Blanco... translates to The White Lighthouse.

[island lady]

Sailing into the hazy sunrise on our way to Aruba.  Day at sea today, time for breakfast and then get our laundry ready to send out.  🙂 

 

 

[lovesthebeach2]

6 hours ago, marquisite said:

I also disembark in Barcelona. Afterwards will spend about a week between Paris and the UK before flying home. Happy with those plans, but....

 

Just now imagining what could have been a more extended holiday by reboarding Serenade in Southampton for a B2B of Ultimate Denmark, Germany & Sweden + Norweigian Fjords. Could have used those 16 days between Barcelona and Southampton to independently travel to Paris and the UK. But like you, too late to make changes - my flight home is already booked. Oh well, still happy with the four mini segments I've booked. 😀

We’re only doing 2 segments. We’re flying back to Italy in the fall for the TA on Odyssey, and have other cruises in between, but I would have loved to stay on. See you in Ravenna!

[CruiszBug]

11 hours ago, Luckynana said:

How is Phoebe doing?

She is well, thank you! Just had her very last forever appointment with her completely awesome University of Florida pediatrician...😢 Now a Mayo Clinic girl. Excited for Christmas!

[island lady]

16 hours ago, grapau27 said:

It was a nice photo of you and Bucky Pat.

Pauline doesn't like her photo posted on here either.

Sorry to hear the weather hasn't been to good.

Regards to John.

 

 

Thanks Graham!  Yeah, I am totally camera shy.  It is still a bit bouncy out here in the open Carib sea, which is pretty typical on the scoot down to Aruba, and especially since we are back into very deep water...but it's OK.  Getting my sea legs..no worries.  And no "barf bags" on the stairwells yet.  😮😉 

[island lady]

14 hours ago, Whitewings2 said:

Great they have several copies of each book - saves people waiting.

 

On some ships that get totally packed up around the pool and in the Solarium...unfortunately some pax just use them as "chair hog props".  😣

 

We are far from being sold out...plenty of lounge chairs to go around.  We don't spend any time around the pool deck, so no idea if the hogs are out there so far on this cruise.  🐷

[island lady]

13 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

How is Phoebe doing?

 

 

Please say hi to Laura and John for me!

 

I think he has been following along on this thread.   Just saw him a few hours ago taking laundry to one of the self serve wash machines (which are only available for full WC pax).  

[island lady]

13 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

I remember it well and you were a great sport with it!

 

It’s great that you are sharing your journey, thanks. 
 

I hope weather improves for you. I am currently on plane heading from Ontario that has weather forecast with abnormal highs heading to Florida for Tropical like weather nds and heavy rain. Yaye!

 

That was such a fun cruise on the Odyssey...loved it!  Would love to see a Quantum type class come to PC.  🙂 

[island lady]

12 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I've seen some gorgeous sunsets while in Aruba.   We like going to West Deck for food and drink and watching the sun set.  Or the restaurant near the CA lighthouse is another great place for sunsets.  A catamaran excursion sounds great too!

 

Indeed, walking over to West Deck has been one of our favorites. My sister gave me gift certificates last February to use. 

 

 We have also done the sunset sail on the big wooden schooner boat several times.  Loved it...they do a great job with it, and the old wooden vessel is very unique.  🙂 

[island lady]

11 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

 

We've done the "Romantic Dinner" at sunset on the beach at the Bucuti & Tara all-inclusive, and it was wonderful.

 

 

Beautiful!!  🥰

[island lady]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Awesome lighthouse and I like the restaurant that is there... El Faro Blanco... translates to The White Lighthouse.

 

I think there is one with that name on Marathon Key as well.  Not sure if they are related.  

[island lady]

Wash and Fold sent out this morning, which we fondly call "boil and fry".  😬  But is good for exercise clothes, cotton undies, t-shirts, socks.  We don't send out anything that we really care about.  😮 

 

The rest I hand wash, which I just finished.  There will be times we will send out wash and press and dry cleaning also.  But the wash and hang method works for me, and something to do on a sea day.  😉 

 

Self serve laundry machines in keyed access and only for full WC pax.  There are actually very few of them available to the over 600+ full cruisers.  

 

 

 

 

[A&L_Ont]

28 minutes ago, island lady said:

Self serve laundry machines in keyed access and only for full WC pax.  There are actually very few of them available to the over 600+ full cruisers.  

 

Pat, I’m trying to remember the Pinnacle laundry perk… is it just the boil and fry?

[HBE4]

13 hours ago, Jimbo said:

@island lady  What are you plans for Aruba? Was looking at the excursions offered by  Royal and saw one called "Palm Beach at Night Transfer". Leaves at 5:30pm and returns to the ship at 9pm.

Palm Beach is a resort area on the northern coast of Aruba, a Dutch Caribbean island. It’s known for its calm waters and long sandy strip lined with bars and restaurants. 

https://travel.usnews.com/Aruba/Things_To_Do/Palm_Beach_42838/

 

Also see listed a "Aruba Sunset Catamaran" Leaves at 5pm , 2 hours long.

 

Both look like they could be fun since you are on the island later at  night. Might be a chance to get some cool sunset pictures.

 

12 hours ago, RFerrington said:

If you haven’t ever eaten at Madame Janette’s in Aruba, you must go.  Sooo good

 

12 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

 

We've done the "Romantic Dinner" at sunset on the beach at the Bucuti & Tara all-inclusive, and it was wonderful.

 

 

11 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We’ve done the sunset sail.  It was lovely to be out on the water when it was cooler, without the hot sun. 

 

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Awesome lighthouse and I like the restaurant that is there... El Faro Blanco... translates to The White Lighthouse.

 

51 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Indeed, walking over to West Deck has been one of our favorites. My sister gave me gift certificates last February to use. 

 

 We have also done the sunset sail on the big wooden schooner boat several times.  Loved it...they do a great job with it, and the old wooden vessel is very unique.  🙂 

 

Since Aruba & cruising often vie for my #1 favorite vacation destination, I've spent many vacations on the island and can attest that all of the above are excellent, solid choices.  A few of my own:

 

Dinner on the beach, little less romantic than Bucti

https://barefootaruba.com/

 

Dinner in Bed. Food is excellent, on par with Madam Janette. Note: I've never had dinner in bed there & the few people that said that while it's unique, it's not as comfortable as it sounds.

https://screamingeaglearuba.com/

 

EDIT: Dinner in bed might not be an option anymore. Nothing about it is mentioned on the website & any pics I google are from pre-pandemic times.

 

If you want to get a little Krazy & not act your age with a bunch of other that are not acting their age. Depending on timing, you may get a champagne  toast @ the California lighthouse at sunset.

https://www.kukookunuku.com/

 

Plenty of catamaran excursions but I find Red Sail Sports is consistently good.

http://www.aruba-redsail.com/

 

Can't wait to see what you end up doing, even if it's just here enjoying the scorpion shot or eggnog martini.  🙂

https://lucyssurf.com/location/aruba/

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by HBE4

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Aruba & cruising often vie for my #1 favorite vacation destination, I've spent many vacations on the island and can attest that all of the above are excellent, solid choices.  A few of my own:

 

Dinner on the beach, little less romantic than Bucti

https://barefootaruba.com/

 

Dinner in Bed. Food is excellent, on par with Madam Janette. Note: I've never had dinner in bed there & the few people that said that while it's unique, it's not as comfortable as it sounds.

https://screamingeaglearuba.com/

 

If you want to get a little Krazy & not act your age with a bunch of other that are not acting their age. Depending on timing, you may get a champagne  toast @ the California lighthouse at sunset.

https://www.kukookunuku.com/

 

Plenty of catamaran excursions but I find Red Sail Sports is consistently good.

http://www.aruba-redsail.com/

 

Can't wait to see what you end up doing, even if it's just here enjoying the scorpion shot or eggnog martini.  🙂

https://lucyssurf.com/location/aruba/

 

 

 

That Lucy's place sounds interesting.

[Ocean Boy]

52 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

That was such a fun cruise on the Odyssey...loved it!  Would love to see a Quantum type class come to PC.  🙂 

You got Allure from me and now you want Odyssey too?😡😉😄

[bobmacliberty]

15 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

Plenty of catamaran excursions but I find Red Sail Sports is consistently good.

http://www.aruba-redsail.com/

 

I can confirm.  We did a sunset sail with them and had a lot of fun.  I can also confirm that rum leads to line dancing.

[orville99]

45 minutes ago, island lady said:

Wash and Fold sent out this morning, which we fondly call "boil and fry".  😬  But is good for exercise clothes, cotton undies, t-shirts, socks.  We don't send out anything that we really care about.  😮 

On the canal B2B, they actually did a good job with our mash & mangle laundry loads. The only issue I had was the little iron in laundry tags that they put on everything - they were a pain in the butt (sometimes literally when I missed finding one of them) to get off of the clothes.

[HBE4]

50 minutes ago, island lady said:

Self serve laundry machines in keyed access and only for full WC pax.  There are actually very few of them available to the over 600+ full cruisers.  

 

Is it first come, first serve or can a full WC reserve a date/time?  Which I imagine would be really difficult to enforce.

[orville99]

6 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

Is it first come, first serve or can a full WC reserve a date/time?  Which I imagine would be really difficult to enforce.

Based on the way they were installed, some of those WC passengers are also going to have to reserve a step ladder to be able to load, turn on, and then empty the dryers🙄🧺

[island lady]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Pat, I’m trying to remember the Pinnacle laundry perk… is it just the boil and fry?

 

Yes, boil and fry one bag per Pinnacle per week.  Not much difference for us, even though offered as WC "perk".  We always received that as Pinnies anyway.  And WC deluxe drink package?.....we already get the six drinks a day per person.  

 

Pretty much the only real difference for perks for full and quarter cruisers are the prepaid grats...though we always tip in extra cash on top of our normally prepaid grats anyway.  

[island lady]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

You got Allure from me and now you want Odyssey too?😡😉😄

 

Haha!!  Hey...Yeah, I want it all.  😄 😄   Actually Allure not staying long...sigh.  And I still need to cruise with that ship...would love to see Momma Mia.  My sister just returned from being on board, and loved the show.  🙂 

[island lady]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

On the canal B2B, they actually did a good job with our mash & mangle laundry loads. The only issue I had was the little iron in laundry tags that they put on everything - they were a pain in the butt (sometimes literally when I missed finding one of them) to get off of the clothes.

 

Yeah, uggg....I just found one on a work out shirt from being fried on Wonder recently.  😮 Tough to peel off.  

[island lady]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

Is it first come, first serve or can a full WC reserve a date/time?  Which I imagine would be really difficult to enforce.

 

No idea.  Guess I should ask John how his laundry visit went this morning.  

[island lady]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Based on the way they were installed, some of those WC passengers are also going to have to reserve a step ladder to be able to load, turn on, and then empty the dryers🙄🧺

 

I feel like I need a step ladder to get out of the high based tub/shower in our bathroom.  Yikes, not for shorties like me!!  😮