Curt From Canada

Following with great interest and anticipation.  We sail on Serenade on JAN 05 ... our ships will not cross paths.  However, we will enjoy every experience you describe and every picture you send.  Your posts are always inspiring.
Our cruise is not an expedition one (just a cruising one).  Please get a couple of autographs from Penguins as you spend time on "The Ice".
😉
Curt from Canada

Following with great interest and anticipation.  We sail on Serenade on JAN 05 ... our ships will not cross paths.  However, we will enjoy every experience you describe and every picture you send.  Your posts are always inspiring.
Our cruise is not an expedition one (just a cruising one).  Please get a couple of autographs from Penguins as you spend time on "The Ice".
😉
Curt from Canada

Just got back from Norway in June.  It was spectacular.  Do not assume all cruise sail ins (and sail aways) will be like the 2-3 hour Fjord "sail ins" you will experience.  Some quick thoughts:
1).  @JFCruise is 100% right.  If you have a balcony you are in for a treat.  We had breakfasts, pre-dinner drinks, after dinner drinks on our Balcony ... we spent more time on our Balcony in 1 cruise than on the 25 odd Balcony cruises we took before.  If you do not have a Balcony, find a quiet spot close to the water and "soak up" the fjords.  If you let us know what ship we could steer you towards some spots.
2).  For our 43 wedding anniversary (coming up in January), we booked a speciality restaurant for dinner.  If you do get stuck at a table for more than two, at least one night you will be able to focus on each other.
3). Once in port, the sight seeing is phenomenal.  It is difficult to go wrong in any port.  If you enjoy hiking, the sights are even more "other worldly".  If you know the ports, we might have more detailed suggestions.
4). Only for out of the box thinkers: If you want to really focus on each other, take basic dance lessons before the cruise and take advantage of the live music throughout the ship.  My soulmate and I spend hours on RCL ships (which have great live music) holding each other close and making every night "date night" on a cruise ship.
5). @JFCruise is 100% wrong about the Love & Marriage show.  YOU HAVE TO TRY OUT.  It will be the highlight of your cruise (or maybe the highlight for the other 2,000 to 4,000 other cruisers 🤣).  @JFCruise ... please say you were just joking 😉.  We need a steady stream of new competitors. 😉  They need to know it is very calm, sedate and not embarrassing in the least. 😉  The prizes are incredible. 😉😉😉
I set the record for 😉s in one paragraph.  I hope people get the humour in that paragraph.  As @twangster says ... "Canadian humour is sometimes hard to get".
Curt from Canada

Antarctica has long been a continent that has intrigued me and what better way to get there than on a cruise?  So it is that I find myself about to board the Silver Wind for 18 nights. 
Departing from Puerto Williams in the South of Chile, Silversea has gathered us in Santiago, Chile as our commercial airport of arrival and departure.  From here Silversea has chartered private aircraft to fly us to Puerto Williams to board the ship.  This is considered an "Expedition" Silversea cruise so a little different than their "Classic" offering.  
Encompassing both Christmas and New Years, the itinerary:

 

The UWC has only 690 “World Cruisers” and the rest is made up with:

1). “Long Haul” ones (doing one or more of the 4 long segments)

2). “Short Haul” ones (doing the “small” 18 to 29 night ones)

I only checked one of the “Short Haul” segments and it was not sold out. 


My soulmate and I will be on one of the short segments and we will post some general comments. 


Curt from Canada

The UWC has only 690 “World Cruisers” and the rest is made up with:

1). “Long Haul” ones (doing one or more of the 4 long segments)

2). “Short Haul” ones (doing the “small” 18 to 29 night ones)

I only checked one of the “Short Haul” segments and it was not sold out. 


My soulmate and I will be on one of the short segments and we will post some general comments. 


Curt from Canada

The UWC has only 690 “World Cruisers” and the rest is made up with:

1). “Long Haul” ones (doing one or more of the 4 long segments)

2). “Short Haul” ones (doing the “small” 18 to 29 night ones)

I only checked one of the “Short Haul” segments and it was not sold out. 


My soulmate and I will be on one of the short segments and we will post some general comments. 


Curt from Canada

The UWC has only 690 “World Cruisers” and the rest is made up with:

1). “Long Haul” ones (doing one or more of the 4 long segments)

2). “Short Haul” ones (doing the “small” 18 to 29 night ones)

I only checked one of the “Short Haul” segments and it was not sold out. 


My soulmate and I will be on one of the short segments and we will post some general comments. 


Curt from Canada

The UWC has only 690 “World Cruisers” and the rest is made up with:

1). “Long Haul” ones (doing one or more of the 4 long segments)

2). “Short Haul” ones (doing the “small” 18 to 29 night ones)

I only checked one of the “Short Haul” segments and it was not sold out. 


My soulmate and I will be on one of the short segments and we will post some general comments. 


Curt from Canada

Absolutely !  I do it on every cruise.

Although this is disappointing, for my next cruise I have devised a strategy for forgetting about most of it:
At 7:00AM, I will have Lovely Latte in the Diamond ... er Crown Lounge. At 9:00AM, I will have a Celebratory Caesar on the pool deck. At 12:30PM, I will have a Resplendent Rose with lunch.  (I can not believe they have one as good as they do on RC ships these days). At 5:00PM, I will have a Marvellous Martini at my favourite Bar (with a Bartender I have "trained" to make the Martini absolutely perfect 😉). At 7:30ish PM, I will have a glass of Wonderful Wine (probably as big a red that they can find). At 9:30PM. I will have a Superb Scotch in the Schooner Bar (probably one of their best MacAllan's) AND gladly pay the additional charge. As I roll into bed, none of the changes will matter.  I will sleep well.  If, and when, I wake up the next day, and I am a little bit down ... I will "rinse & repeat" steps 1 to 6 above.
I hope this helps ...
Curt from Canada

I agree with @need2cruz that the Downtown Emabassy Suites is a really great option.  Just to expand a bit, if you are looking for budget properties, then the Westshore Business District will offer the most options.  Many of the hotels in that area offer free airport shuttles.  Two examples include: Hampton Inn & Suites Tampa Airport Avion Park Westshore and TownePlace Suites by Marriott Tampa Westshore/Airport.  If you your flight arrives late, then Tampa Airport has a Marriott (Tampa Airport Marriott) that is right in the terminal, and while not cheap, it is very convenient for a late arrival.  If your flight arrives earlier the day before your cruise, then I highly recommend staying in downtown Tampa.  The Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Downtown Convention Center, JW Marriott Tampa Water Street, and the Tampa Marriott Water Street are all great choices.  From these hotels you can walk to the ship or use the free streetcar to get to the cruise terminal: http://www.tecolinestreetcar.org/home.html. If time allows, staying downtown gives you easy access to the riverwalk https://thetampariverwalk.com or you could take a waterfront tour on the water taxi https://piratewatertaxi.com.  If nightlife is your thing, then you could stay in Ybor City.  Two nice choices that offer easy access to the streetcar are Hampton Inn & Suites Tampa/Ybor City/Downtown and Hotel Haya.  These hotels also offer easy access to all of the restaurants/bars/clubs of Ybor City https://www.ybor.org
As for transportation from the airport, if you stay in downtown or Ybor, just take an Uber/Lyft/taxi from the airport to your downtown/Ybor hotel.  After your cruise, Uber/Lyft/taxi is your best way to get to the airport.  Tampa is a great cruise port, and I am sure that you will have fun no matter where you choose to stay.

I bet Icon has a really nice WJ. Just a thought. 😜

Although this is disappointing, for my next cruise I have devised a strategy for forgetting about most of it:
At 7:00AM, I will have Lovely Latte in the Diamond ... er Crown Lounge. At 9:00AM, I will have a Celebratory Caesar on the pool deck. At 12:30PM, I will have a Resplendent Rose with lunch.  (I can not believe they have one as good as they do on RC ships these days). At 5:00PM, I will have a Marvellous Martini at my favourite Bar (with a Bartender I have "trained" to make the Martini absolutely perfect 😉). At 7:30ish PM, I will have a glass of Wonderful Wine (probably as big a red that they can find). At 9:30PM. I will have a Superb Scotch in the Schooner Bar (probably one of their best MacAllan's) AND gladly pay the additional charge. As I roll into bed, none of the changes will matter.  I will sleep well.  If, and when, I wake up the next day, and I am a little bit down ... I will "rinse & repeat" steps 1 to 6 above.
I hope this helps ...
Curt from Canada

We were literally just talking about this, steer clear @OCSC Mike lol
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/11/11/taylor-swift-fans-group-cruise

As I was catching up on this thread, my daughter also mentioned that there is a fan based/fan led Taylor Swift cruise on Allure sailing 10/21/24. Hope you’re a fan if you are booked on that one. Might be a lot of kids on board 😂

Hey! We're about to hit D+ and definitely don't consider ourselves "the older crowd", lol. What are you saying?

Good news for @Lovetocruise2002 is there are no restrictions on the Mongolian grill in the Windjammer!

Although this is disappointing, for my next cruise I have devised a strategy for forgetting about most of it:
At 7:00AM, I will have Lovely Latte in the Diamond ... er Crown Lounge. At 9:00AM, I will have a Celebratory Caesar on the pool deck. At 12:30PM, I will have a Resplendent Rose with lunch.  (I can not believe they have one as good as they do on RC ships these days). At 5:00PM, I will have a Marvellous Martini at my favourite Bar (with a Bartender I have "trained" to make the Martini absolutely perfect 😉). At 7:30ish PM, I will have a glass of Wonderful Wine (probably as big a red that they can find). At 9:30PM. I will have a Superb Scotch in the Schooner Bar (probably one of their best MacAllan's) AND gladly pay the additional charge. As I roll into bed, none of the changes will matter.  I will sleep well.  If, and when, I wake up the next day, and I am a little bit down ... I will "rinse & repeat" steps 1 to 6 above.
I hope this helps ...
Curt from Canada

I think someone made a mistake when they told you that.  If you do not add your grats to your booking before 11-11 you will be charged the new, higher grats onboard.

Although this is disappointing, for my next cruise I have devised a strategy for forgetting about most of it:
At 7:00AM, I will have Lovely Latte in the Diamond ... er Crown Lounge. At 9:00AM, I will have a Celebratory Caesar on the pool deck. At 12:30PM, I will have a Resplendent Rose with lunch.  (I can not believe they have one as good as they do on RC ships these days). At 5:00PM, I will have a Marvellous Martini at my favourite Bar (with a Bartender I have "trained" to make the Martini absolutely perfect 😉). At 7:30ish PM, I will have a glass of Wonderful Wine (probably as big a red that they can find). At 9:30PM. I will have a Superb Scotch in the Schooner Bar (probably one of their best MacAllan's) AND gladly pay the additional charge. As I roll into bed, none of the changes will matter.  I will sleep well.  If, and when, I wake up the next day, and I am a little bit down ... I will "rinse & repeat" steps 1 to 6 above.
I hope this helps ...
Curt from Canada

Although this is disappointing, for my next cruise I have devised a strategy for forgetting about most of it:
At 7:00AM, I will have Lovely Latte in the Diamond ... er Crown Lounge. At 9:00AM, I will have a Celebratory Caesar on the pool deck. At 12:30PM, I will have a Resplendent Rose with lunch.  (I can not believe they have one as good as they do on RC ships these days). At 5:00PM, I will have a Marvellous Martini at my favourite Bar (with a Bartender I have "trained" to make the Martini absolutely perfect 😉). At 7:30ish PM, I will have a glass of Wonderful Wine (probably as big a red that they can find). At 9:30PM. I will have a Superb Scotch in the Schooner Bar (probably one of their best MacAllan's) AND gladly pay the additional charge. As I roll into bed, none of the changes will matter.  I will sleep well.  If, and when, I wake up the next day, and I am a little bit down ... I will "rinse & repeat" steps 1 to 6 above.
I hope this helps ...
Curt from Canada

You know what? I think I was hacked. You are right. Honeymooners SHOULD! try out for the LMS. It's looks so fun and I wish I did it during my honeymoon. And with those amazing prizes, we were dumb.
Or - y'know, do it because I need to be entertained.

You know the saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." 🤣
And I agree with @OCSC Mike, clearly pre-gold. The pros carry empty ziploc bags lmao, don't ask me how I know

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If you need a guaranteed internet connection stay home.