Dirk

It seems to be that voom is coming to Navigator.

I just visited the "my cruise"-section on the RCI-website and found the option to book voom for my cruise on Navigator in september. I am super-excited and hope that is not just an error on the website.

Sep 18 2016; Navigator

Terrific topic, so here is my top-five-list:

 

1. Binoculars - I could sit on the balcony and watch the horizon for hours.

 

2. Books - I could not travel without any "real" books. I also use kindle, but I will never gip up old school reading. And I always buy at least 2-3 books at the airport before boarding.

 

3. Pills for stomach and anti-sickness - on our first cruise we experienced the Noro-virus on board and that was not so amusing. 

 

4. Enough earphones for my iphone/ipad - I am always searching those and never have enough at hand.

 

5. My Pipe - Enjoying a pipe after dinner is a real pleasure for me an I never got negative response from nonsmokers. 

Before taking any pills or other things with side effects, I would recommend to try ginger ale. Ginger in any form is good for the stomach and helps to prevent sea sickness. And eat enough, but that should be no the problem on a cruise ship  :)

July 26 Rhapsody, East Mediterranean

On our 12 night cruise on Brilliance back in 2013, the menu changed every day and they had one local speciality of the visited ports every day. We enjoyed it very much and had not the impression, that there was too less variety.

 

The bes dining experience was on our 16 night transatlantic cruise, where they tried new things and the food was better than on any other cruise before.

We did a transatlantic last year. It was an absolutely amazing experience. If you love sea days, than it is the right choice for your. Plenty of time for any activities, a lot of things are going on the whole day long. We especially love the trivia team competitions and lunch in the Main Dining Room withe the salad bar. Even enough time every day for a visit in the fitness center to loose some pounds. But what I enjoyed most, was that my cell phone and my ipad weren't online and I couldn't check my emails and messages, it was such a peaceful atmosphere, like a time travel back some centuries ago.

Install automatic doors in the restrooms to avoid contact with the doors after washing the hands.

Just back from our transatlantic crossing on board of the Serenade and we were given a couple of WOW-cards.

when I was on board of the Mariner back in 2012 they were televising the CL-Final between Chelsea and Munich, so I think you will have a good chance to see some great soccer games!

We do our own thing usually but are VERY cognizant of this possibility.  We always make sure we plan on being back at least 2-3 hours before we have to so we pad extra time for unforeseen delays.

Until our visit to Stockholm we planned to be back one our before the scheduled departure time. When we were there sitting in a bar in Stockholm and enjoying our drinks I suddenly looked at a clock above the counter and realized that we had entered another time zone the night before and we had forgotten to set our watches to the correct time! I literally felt the adrenaline pumping! So we hurried back and arrived at the pier 5 minutes before departure! 

Lessons learned? 

1. Read the cruise compass and don't forget so set the watches to the correct time!

2. Plan to back 2 hours before departure!

Hello friends of RCCL,

 

just four more weeks for us until embarkation and time has come to think about the cruise details and the things we want do do and see in the different port of calls. 

 

I was wondering what the favorite form of shore excursion would be among the community. Do you prefer organized tours or do you go on your own? 

 

For ourselves we prefer the individual approach. Yes, it takes more time to plan and prepare the excursion but I always have the good feeling that the I really can do and see things I really want to see. And I can take my time if a special place is of more interest than expected, nobody forces us tu hurry up and we are not depending on a group. Sometimes we do something together with other people we have met on board that share the same interests. I just have the feeling that one have a deeper experience when you are traveling around buy feet, with public transportation or a rented car than driving around with a tour bus. 

 

In some places organized tour are making perfectly sense, for example in Ephesus/Turkey (too far away from the port or St. Petersburg/Russia (without a purchased tour ticket you won't cross the russian boarder (if you don't have a valid visa), but most places can be explored individually, just give it a try!

 

What do you think about it?

 

Greetings from Germany

Dirk

 

We are looking forward to our 16 night cruise on the Serenade from New Orleans to Barcelona  (April 26 2014)

Hello friends of RCCL, my name is Dirk and I am from Cologne / Germany. I did my first cruise with Royal C. back in 2012 when my wife Claudia and I sailed on the Mariner in the East Mediterranean Sea. Now we are looking forward to cross the atlantic on board of the Serenade (from New Orleans to Barcelona) in April  :)