Live From IOS Transatlantic April 12-25!!!!

[darkauf]

Ian - we have friends who were on a recent cruise and they had a problem with their cabin. They kept calling downstairs to have the same thing fixed. That was the key - they kept calling - they keep a log of all the calls. They complained to Royal after the cruise. Once Royal received the logs from the cruise and proved that they kept calling to get things fixed and taken care of they were given $600 credit towards their next cruise. I would document what has happened and request some compensation for your inconvenience.

 

Darlene - on this cruise next year...but in a D2 on deck 9

[CulverCityCruisers]

LORNA?????

 

Still waiting for that picture!!!!!!!:p:p:p:p:p

 

Love ya

 

Ira and Marsha

[snowbird1]

Hello,

 

The weather continues to be absolutely amazing! :eek: One beautiful day after another with warmer temps the last couple of days. If you were ever looking for a TA with good weather and calm seas we found it so far thank goodness. So far I am 2 for 2 on the weather for TA's. We had ours slot pull today with over 100 people in it. The slots really seem tight on this cruise so we ended not winning all our orginal money but then again we go some of it back. Cabin crawl is this Sat if I am correct. For the most part it seems this has been a fairly heathly cruise, I have not seen or heard a bunch of people who seem like they have colds so perhaps the great weather has helped there as well. Diamond lounge being hosted in the Pryamid Lounge in the eve has been packed every night with tonight being the most crowded I have seen it but it has been a great place to socialize and meet people. During the morning the whole VC lounge is for Diamond members and they have done a nice job of have a light breakfast up there.

 

 

That is all for now.

[mjldvlks]

Hi from the beautiful Independence of the Seas! Sorry we have been so busy hard to find time to write. Thanks for following our thread - keep the questions coming and we'll make sure we provide lots of information once we get home. Take care!! Mary

 

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Hi from the Transatlantic Fanatics!! We have been so busy on this ship there is no extra time!! So lots to share with all of you.

It is day 5 and we started heading NE towards the Azores the morning. It is beyond beautiful weather. Everyone is amazed. It is 1 in the morning and it is 56 degrees. It has been in the mid 70’s all day!!! The seas have a little white cap on them today but I’m from Kansas and I’ve seen bigger white caps on our local lake!! Smooth, smooth, beautiful sailing. It doesn’t get any better than this.

We slept in this morning – which is unusual because we never miss morning trivia. Morning trivia is held at 10:00 am in the Schooner Bar. I would recommend you get to trivia in the daytime about 20 minutes early to get a seat – at night for progressive trivia you need to get there 30 minutes early. We grabbed a quick lunch in the Windjammer and I headed to the Casino Royale for our slot pull. We had 105 participants pay $15.00 ea to play. We found one $1.00 machine that had a clear path to it that could hold the most people. For organization we had all the names listed, whether they had paid, etc. We collected all money the first day and a little at the Meet and Mingle – and if you ever organize any activities I would strongly recommend you tell everyone that you will only be collecting money the first day or just before or after the Meet and Mingle and that is it. You need to enjoy the cruise too! It took about 90 minutes to run everyone through the line to do 5 pulls ea. We had 3 people hit the Wheel of Fortune 100 bonus. Each person got $10 back – so $5.00 worth of entertainment. We had them meet in the Schooner Bar at 4:30 to collect their “winnings” to allow time to divide the winnings up appropriately.

My DH Dennis, and ladylawyer (Bill and Lorna) did Pub Trivia at 3:00 and were the winners – so they kindly brought me a medal to since I was there in spirit!

After trivia up to Deck 11 for frozen yogurt outside – vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and mixed. Of course it’s free!!

This was our third night of progressive trivia tonight – arrived at 7:30 to get a seat for 8:00 trivia. We got 16 out of 20 so I think we are holding our own for the week – all the prizes go to top combined score at the end of the week I believe.

Dennis and I headed to the schooner bar after dinner for a short time to listen to Paul O’Shea the pianist who was playing and singing all shorts of songs – people were singing along – very nice time in there. At 11:00 we headed to the Pyramid Lounge to hear to Rock the Boat Band play while people sang Karaoke. It is called Rocka Roakie. It was one of the best Karaoke’s we have been to. The Rock the Boat Band is great – we love listening to them.

Tomorrow night the IOS celebrates its 1st birthday on the Royal Promenade at 10:45 – will let you all know how it goes. Thanks for joining us on this great trip!! Mary

[flames]

Hi Mary, good for you for getting to sleep in, I would like to do that some time on a cruise:D

 

It really sounds like you are all have a lot of fun, so when do you get to your first port?:cool:

 

Carol:)

[emmy]

Hello,

 

The weather continues to be absolutely amazing! :eek: One beautiful day after another with warmer temps the last couple of days. If you were ever looking for a TA with good weather and calm seas we found it so far thank goodness. So far I am 2 for 2 on the weather for TA's. We had ours slot pull today with over 100 people in it. The slots really seem tight on this cruise so we ended not winning all our orginal money but then again we go some of it back. Cabin crawl is this Sat if I am correct. For the most part it seems this has been a fairly heathly cruise, I have not seen or heard a bunch of people who seem like they have colds so perhaps the great weather has helped there as well. Diamond lounge being hosted in the Pryamid Lounge in the eve has been packed every night with tonight being the most crowded I have seen it but it has been a great place to socialize and meet people. During the morning the whole VC lounge is for Diamond members and they have done a nice job of have a light breakfast up there.

 

 

That is all for now.

 

Good Morning Vince.. one more sleep and I am on my way to Mariner. So are there so many Diamond/D+'s on this ship that they are not using the Diamond Lounge in the evening?

 

I have happy to hear about your weather as you know one of the reasons I canceled was I was a bit worried about cool weather the whole way. Thanks for taking the time to post

[emmy]

Hi from the beautiful Independence of the Seas! Sorry we have been so busy hard to find time to write. Thanks for following our thread - keep the questions coming and we'll make sure we provide lots of information once we get home. Take care!! Mary

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hi from the Transatlantic Fanatics!! We have been so busy on this ship there is no extra time!! So lots to share with all of you.

 

It is day 5 and we started heading NE towards the Azores the morning. It is beyond beautiful weather. Everyone is amazed. It is 1 in the morning and it is 56 degrees. It has been in the mid 70’s all day!!! The seas have a little white cap on them today but I’m from Kansas and I’ve seen bigger white caps on our local lake!! Smooth, smooth, beautiful sailing. It doesn’t get any better than this.

 

We slept in this morning – which is unusual because we never miss morning trivia. Morning trivia is held at 10:00 am in the Schooner Bar. I would recommend you get to trivia in the daytime about 20 minutes early to get a seat – at night for progressive trivia you need to get there 30 minutes early. We grabbed a quick lunch in the Windjammer and I headed to the Casino Royale for our slot pull. We had 105 participants pay $15.00 ea to play. We found one $1.00 machine that had a clear path to it that could hold the most people. For organization we had all the names listed, whether they had paid, etc. We collected all money the first day and a little at the Meet and Mingle – and if you ever organize any activities I would strongly recommend you tell everyone that you will only be collecting money the first day or just before or after the Meet and Mingle and that is it. You need to enjoy the cruise too! It took about 90 minutes to run everyone through the line to do 5 pulls ea. We had 3 people hit the Wheel of Fortune 100 bonus. Each person got $10 back – so $5.00 worth of entertainment. We had them meet in the Schooner Bar at 4:30 to collect their “winnings” to allow time to divide the winnings up appropriately.

 

My DH Dennis, and ladylawyer (Bill and Lorna) did Pub Trivia at 3:00 and were the winners – so they kindly brought me a medal to since I was there in spirit!

 

After trivia up to Deck 11 for frozen yogurt outside – vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and mixed. Of course it’s free!!

 

This was our third night of progressive trivia tonight – arrived at 7:30 to get a seat for 8:00 trivia. We got 16 out of 20 so I think we are holding our own for the week – all the prizes go to top combined score at the end of the week I believe.

 

Dennis and I headed to the schooner bar after dinner for a short time to listen to Paul O’Shea the pianist who was playing and singing all shorts of songs – people were singing along – very nice time in there. At 11:00 we headed to the Pyramid Lounge to hear to Rock the Boat Band play while people sang Karaoke. It is called Rocka Roakie. It was one of the best Karaoke’s we have been to. The Rock the Boat Band is great – we love listening to them.

 

Tomorrow night the IOS celebrates its 1st birthday on the Royal Promenade at 10:45 – will let you all know how it goes. Thanks for joining us on this great trip!! Mary

 

Mary ~ hello and thank you for posting :) no extra time is a good thing:)

Have fun at the birthday party for Indy

 

Happy to hear that your are being blessed with smooth calm seas.

[Lynnees]

Lynnees, you're going to have to give me a bigger hint than that. We have over 225 in our group! :eek::D

 

That wasn't very helpful of me was it - Rob & Sharon are their names.

[luv2cruise3]

Thanks for letting us tag along and for you all to take the time to post along the way. Glad that you are having calm seas............Patricia

[isdoo]

Ian - we have friends who were on a recent cruise and they had a problem with their cabin. They kept calling downstairs to have the same thing fixed. That was the key - they kept calling - they keep a log of all the calls. They complained to Royal after the cruise. Once Royal received the logs from the cruise and proved that they kept calling to get things fixed and taken care of they were given $600 credit towards their next cruise. I would document what has happened and request some compensation for your inconvenience.

 

Darlene - on this cruise next year...but in a D2 on deck 9

 

they are giving us $100 on our account - better than nothing I guess.

[ladylawyer]

Hi Mary, good for you for getting to sleep in, I would like to do that some time on a cruise:D

 

It really sounds like you are all have a lot of fun, so when do you get to your first port?:cool:

 

Carol:)

 

Hi Carol!

 

Our first port is the Azores on Sunday, April 19th. I have a private tour arranged for some of the folks in our group.

 

The seas are a little choppy today, but still nice and warm out. I've been in short sleeves and capris and sandals. It feels more like a Pacific cruise than Atlantic. We're just loving it! ~ L

[ladylawyer]

Good Morning Vince.. one more sleep and I am on my way to Mariner. So are there so many Diamond/D+'s on this ship that they are not using the Diamond Lounge in the evening?

 

I have happy to hear about your weather as you know one of the reasons I canceled was I was a bit worried about cool weather the whole way. Thanks for taking the time to post

 

Hi Emmy!

 

I know it's somewhat of a sacrelige but we haven't been to the evening Diamond Lounge, yet (too danged busy). However, our tablemates, Ellie & Mike, have reported crowding (in the Pyramid). It sounds like it was for us on the Freedom C&A cruise. I don't have the stats on the number of Diamond/Diamond Plus. I'll try to get that for you and report back.

 

This morning, they gave the Diamond/DPs a breakfast in the MDR. Very nice. I had the stuffed French Toast, but wish I'd ordered the smoked salmon tart in puffed pastry. Unfortunately, Bill's tastes run a bit more along the "bacon and eggs" line, so he enjoyed a pastry while we ate. Then it was off to the Windjammer (our first visit there for this entire cruise), so he could get some "real food." :rolleyes:

 

I really wish you and Carol (and the other Carol [MM]) were with us. Have a GREAT time on the Mariner. Please send my love and hugs to all the peeps there! ~ Lorna

[whalingcity]

Ian! So good to read your message ... as we haven't met yet, on board. I think that Mary didn't want to disturb the Honeymooners. However, I'll mention that you're offering your nice big cabin to her.

 

Our cabin (the one with the Stripper Pole) isn't on the Crawl either, but I'm making it available to anyone who would like to have a look!

 

We are having SUCH as great time. True ... the slot pull was not a big money maker (we got back 2/3rds of our initial investment), but fun, nonetheless!

 

DH and I cut out early, for a quick lunch (slept thru breakfast) and Afternoon Pub Trivia. We won!!! It was a lot of geography. Shockingly ... we won Pub Trivia - beer and spirits - yesterday. I don't drink beer, so I was not a great contributor. My "haul" thus far: RCI rubber keychain; Crampon key chain (something new and I might have spelled Crampon... but it definitely isn't spelled w/ a "T"); and today was a gold medal! :D

 

For all these "lazy sea days," we sure have been busy! Hope everyone had a Happy Fill in the Blank!!! I'll check in later, too!!!

 

I miss the Panamaniacs! ~ Lorna

 

Glad to see that are special Panamaniacs family members are having a great time. Mary looks like you will be elected activity director for the Panama Cruise. From the sound of it, you should win the Trivia games even though Miss Betty and we are not with you.

 

The BOS thread is very quite and looks like the "Original BOS crew" will be passing us this weekend. No posts for almost a week.

 

Looking forward to lurking on this thread.

[whalingcity]

Hi Emmy!

 

I know it's somewhat of a sacrelige but we haven't been to the evening Diamond Lounge, yet (too danged busy). However, our tablemates, Ellie & Mike, have reported crowding (in the Pyramid). It sounds like it was for us on the Freedom C&A cruise. I don't have the stats on the number of Diamond/Diamond Plus. I'll try to get that for you and report back.

 

This morning, they gave the Diamond/DPs a breakfast in the MDR. Very nice. I had the stuffed French Toast, but wish I'd ordered the smoked salmon tart in puffed pastry. Unfortunately, Bill's tastes run a bit more along the "bacon and eggs" line, so he enjoyed a pastry while we ate. Then it was off to the Windjammer (our first visit there for this entire cruise), so he could get some "real food." :rolleyes:

 

I really wish you and Carol (and the other Carol [MM]) were with us. Have a GREAT time on the Mariner. Please send my love and hugs to all the peeps there! ~ Lorna

 

 

The 1st "hold on to your hat" test on the 19th. It may get windy on some parts of the island. Looking forward to hearing about the port.

[whalingcity]

Sure hope the pole is portable, since we can set it up in Ira's cabin in 2010

[emmy]

Hi Emmy!

 

I know it's somewhat of a sacrelige but we haven't been to the evening Diamond Lounge, yet (too danged busy). However, our tablemates, Ellie & Mike, have reported crowding (in the Pyramid). It sounds like it was for us on the Freedom C&A cruise. I don't have the stats on the number of Diamond/Diamond Plus. I'll try to get that for you and report back.

 

This morning, they gave the Diamond/DPs a breakfast in the MDR. Very nice. I had the stuffed French Toast, but wish I'd ordered the smoked salmon tart in puffed pastry. Unfortunately, Bill's tastes run a bit more along the "bacon and eggs" line, so he enjoyed a pastry while we ate. Then it was off to the Windjammer (our first visit there for this entire cruise), so he could get some "real food." :rolleyes:

 

I really wish you and Carol (and the other Carol [MM]) were with us. Have a GREAT time on the Mariner. Please send my love and hugs to all the peeps there! ~ Lorna

 

So Ellie & Mike are your tablemates...great and say hello to them for me. Look forward to meeting them on our Oasis sailing

 

I am surprised at the high number of Diamond/D+ members. Am packed and head to the airport in 8 hours to your 'time zone' :) California Will give your best to all your friends that are on that sailing. Look forward to meeting them. I will just say 'who knows Lorna' :)

 

Give my best to all my buds on your sailing too :)

[mimikens]

LORNA?????

 

Still waiting for that picture!!!!!!!:p

 

Love ya

 

Ira and Marsha

 

Ira - don't you think Lorna should be demonstrating how much fun she is having with the pole?

 

Hey guys! Glad you are having such a great time. I am having such a grand time at work! :rolleyes: I do love TA's. I don't get to go on another until Sep 2010. Lorna - I think you should join in...

[mimikens]

So Ellie & Mike are your tablemates...great and say hello to them for me. Look forward to meeting them on our Oasis sailing

 

I am surprised at the high number of Diamond/D+ members. Am packed and head to the airport in 8 hours to your 'time zone' :) California Will give your best to all your friends that are on that sailing. Look forward to meeting them. I will just say 'who knows Lorna' :)

 

Give my best to all my buds on your sailing too :)

 

Hey Emmy - Bon voyage! Have a great time.

[CulverCityCruisers]

Ira - don't you think Lorna should be demonstrating how much fun she is having with the pole?

 

Hey there!!!

 

Actually I thing the only one getting the demo on the stripper pole is Bill:p:eek::p:eek::p LOL!!!!!!!!!

 

We all only want to really see Lorna working it with a boa!!!

[flames]

Hi Carol!

 

Our first port is the Azores on Sunday, April 19th. I have a private tour arranged for some of the folks in our group.

 

The seas are a little choppy today, but still nice and warm out. I've been in short sleeves and capris and sandals. It feels more like a Pacific cruise than Atlantic. We're just loving it! ~ L

 

Lorna, I am looking forward to hearing all about the Azores as my nephew's wife is from there and my Bother in law said it is like Hawaii with all the volcano rock:cool:

 

Carol:)

[flames]

 

I know it's somewhat of a sacrelige but we haven't been to the evening Diamond Lounge, yet (too danged busy). However, our tablemates, Ellie & Mike, have reported crowding (in the Pyramid). It sounds like it was for us on the Freedom C&A cruise. I don't have the stats on the number of Diamond/Diamond Plus. I'll try to get that for you and report back.

 

 

Lorna, I see Ellie & Mike are you tablemates, I have met them when they came to Victoria on an Alaska Cruise, we went down to meet them, they are very nice people so say Hi to them for us:cool:

 

Carol:)

[flames]

Ira - don't you think Lorna should be demonstrating how much fun she is having with the pole?

 

Hey guys! Glad you are having such a great time. I am having such a grand time at work! :rolleyes: I do love TA's. I don't get to go on another until Sep 2010. Lorna - I think you should join in...

 

Hi mimikens, I'm with you, I think we should see Lorna Demonstrating the pole:D

 

I'm going on this cruise next year, why don't you think about coming, we could have lot of fun:eek:

 

How is your new home doing? are you all settled in now?:cool:

 

Carol:)

[drarill]

Hello everyone:

Hope that you are all having a great time. I'm enjoying reading your thread. We will be on the IOS in 7 weeks (June 6). Who's counting the days??? Well, I tried to find old compasses from last year, but didn't find any. If any of you have access to the CL or the DL can you ask any of them how many formal nights are we going to have and if they already know which days?? We have five days at sea and will like to have this info to make some plans.

Thanks for everything;

Lydia

[ladylawyer]

Hello everyone:

Hope that you are all having a great time. I'm enjoying reading your thread. We will be on the IOS in 7 weeks (June 6). Who's counting the days??? Well, I tried to find old compasses from last year, but didn't find any. If any of you have access to the CL or the DL can you ask any of them how many formal nights are we going to have and if they already know which days?? We have five days at sea and will like to have this info to make some plans.

Thanks for everything;

Lydia

 

Lydia, how many days is your cruise? Ours is 13 and we have 3 formal nights. I discovered, when unpacking, that I left my formal gown in the closet at our home :eek: so we're doing the last formal night at Chops. If your cruise is less than 10 nights, you'll probably only have 2 foral nights. I'll check for you, tho. ~ L

[ladylawyer]

It's great to see the Brilliance/Infinity family checking in!!! I have mastered going up and down the stripper pole; next, I'll master going down upside-down! ;) LOL!!! The cabin crawl is this afternoon. I'll be doing demonstrations... :p

 

Someone needs to tell Patty (cruisaholics) that the wonderful Adrianne is on board! I sat in Boleros, last night, and savored one of his Mojitos!!! He's absolutely ruined me for Mojitos from any other bartender. His are unequaled!

 

The seas are a little more choppy, but still it's fairly stable. We lost another hour today. (At his Noon Report, Capt. Teo announces: "By the power invested in me, I declare that it is 1 o'clock!")

 

We discovered, last night, that our team is tied for 2nd in Progressive Trivia. Like Avis, it's our cue to Try Harder.

 

Hi Mimi!!! It's great to hear from you. I really wish you were here. Carol, I hope that Bob is recuperating well. I will give Ellie & Mike your (and Emmy's) greetings. Emmy, thanks for spreading the hugs for me!

 

TTYL!!! ~ L