Norwaylady

Tender information The Retreat, Phuket

Departure information on the bed:

Tonight’s show is Matt Hale. He is a hypnotist. So this can be fun or not😅 It’s fun if you like this type of humour and maybe not if you don’t… 😅 let’s just say it was 50/50. After the show we went to watch the flair show. They are getting into shape now🥳🥳 We had a chat by Mihail hotel director. Things are changing in the industry, so some things are for the better or worse. It’s has been harder to get senior crew back. So training is something that takes time and patience. After our chat, it was time to go for dinner. It was still a bit crowded, but people was eating desserts, so it calmed down quite quickly. Today’s menu: Chefs taste We had the asparagus for starter and then we ordered scallops, lobster and the lamb. So we had a little buffet bonanza😅 Lamb was much better then last time we tried a lamb dish😉 Food tasted good 👍🏻 sauce on the lobster was really tasty and not too strong of taste. So you had the taste of the lobster and the sauce😋 Dessert menu We had ice cream. The peanut gelato was extremely powerful. It was like eating a bag of nuts😅😅😅 So probably very good together by some chocolate or caramel sauce. By itself a bit overkill😅 After dinner it was time for bed…. The dreaded departure letter and tags had arrived on the bed😩

We picked up breakfast there from the self-service buffet this morning. We eat on the balcony in the retreat. We have had som cocktails before dinner 2 days. They have afternoon tea delights from 15.30-16.30 daily. It’s scones, fruit and sandwiches in minis. We rushed by once. They have a snack bar from 17.30 to 20.30. It’s nuts and fruits. They have 2 servers in the lounge taking orders for drinks. But at peak times it’s very busy. The self-service beverage is open 24/7 style. It’s sodas, water and sparkling water. A coffee machine and tea serving. It’s like an airport lounge style. and the retreat hostess has their “office” so they can help you during their work hours. Im not sure what I think about it…. It’s not that I hate it. I just don’t know what I think about the concept. In one way i feel a bit “airport” over it. On the other side I feel it’s a good place to be social. Specifically if you travel by friends in several suites. Then you have more space to meet and mingle. Personally it’s not worth double price compared to a veranda stateroom🫥 But that’s my opinion of it.

yes🙂 He is a very good captain. Very visible and seems like a very genuine good person🥰

Captains Club Senior Officers party, here we come🥰 Today’s party was all according to plan. Drinks, canapés and sweets 🍭🥂🍹🍸 Captain Matt introduced the entire family of senior officer crew and he was giving out diplomas to employees that reached 5, 10, 15 and 20 years in X 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🍾🥂🥳

I woke up to clouds and showers of rain. The rain was drumming on our balcony. You could see the showers coming. I tried to have a family chat by my mother, she was in transit in Dubai from Thailand. She’s on the way home after a visit to Hua Hin. Connection was not great. So message worked well but no phone calls. I went upstairs to deliver the immigration cards to Thailand 🇹🇭 at 09.30. It was several people in the retreat. I went back downstairs to check on Mr. What was his wish…. We agreed that we should have breakfast on the balcony of the retreat. Since they have yoghurt, fruit, pastries and cold cuts. Then we would be able to sit outside under the roof and enjoy the food on a large table and walking distance of collecting all of it. It was almost empty when we arrived at 10.20. So we had a nice breakfast in the rain. Temperature was good, so no reason to sit inside. We had coffee and just enjoying life for a while. We went downstairs to change into pool clothes. It’s just showers of local rain, so no need to be sad. Go to the jacuzzi, enjoy the day and have fun🙃 We had some showers, but not a problem😎 Around 13.30 it started to clear up😎😎 So then it was time to move over to a sun lounger and play a round of Ludo🎲 at 15.30 we called it for today’s outdoor party 🎉 Don’t want to get grilled lobster 🦞 since we have a full day outside tomorrow😎 Its captain’s club senior officers party tonight at 17.15 in Eden. This was waiting on our bed back on arrival: Tender priority information for Phuket. Elite and above

It’s an amazing trip! love your photos and videos. We feel very confident that it’s a great trip for us in 2025❤️👍🏻 we made the correct decision to book it🤩

Love love this! im so happy for your live and the other from Galapagos❤️ We are booked for 2025 and it seems like a perfect fit for us as of now👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Cruise Compass Day 10, Sea Day. Clock turned 30.min+. We are now in Bangkok, Thai 🇹🇭 time

Information regarding Thailand & arrival cards (same you need to fill by air arrival in Thailand)

Afternoon and dinner arrived fast… (you see, those sea days are running of) Mr sat in the tub for a long time, I was just taking it easy. The sunset was beautiful (tonight it was a sunset veranda million dollars hit🤩) so we could only see the colours from the side of the balcony. Around 19.15 we were ready to go downstairs. We had a coffee from Al Bacio and Mr wanted to try out the “healthy” martini 🍸…… 🥬 kale martini 🥬 It’s green😆 it smells like a vegetable smoothie and looks like it. Celery, kale, ginger….. And it taste like it😅 So it might count as 1/5 daily vegetables🤣🤣🤣 After seeing the flair show and listening to the live music, we decided it was time to go for dinner. We arrived around 20.45 and it was less crowded than yesterday. So that’s good 👍🏻 Tonight’s menu: both of us said synchronous: this menu isn’t great. The Tuna main course looks good…. Luckily for us… our waiter came by to say that tonight they had a chef’s special. Chicken tikka. (Same we had earlier this week) We said bring it on😋🇮🇳 chefs taste Again, excellent taste and chicken was delicious. 😋 Dessert menu: For dessert, we had sorbet.

@Ken the cruiser when we had concierge on last part. It was no problem to get a fixed table in same zone. Just ask, and they can add a “fixed” every day booking. We choose to do a Tour’MDR voluntary. Since we find it a bit fun to test out what’s going on…. I completely agree by you. For E-class we will probably do sunset/porthole/front window/biggest window. For S/M-class some sort of balcony.

He suddenly realised that when he gets home, and it’s time to take it away…. He will have a white moustache 🥸😂😂 So he was a bit 🤔🤔🫣 no…. No tanning moustache😝

Some thoughts about our sky suite experience as of now, day 9. This is really not easy. I feel that you are walking on a thin line of offending people and their preferences. What I will make absolutely clear is that the crew are working their socks off. This is not a crew issue on the ship. It’s connected to corporate decisions and their lack of contact to the their product. Cut backs is a major part of this problem. So, we are b2b. So we did board the ship in Italy in a concierge cabin. I know this sailing is very special in all ways. Number of captain’s club higher levels are far over the usual numbers. Specifically Zenith’s. So they shouldn’t cut anything in butler’s or people connected to the retreat before after the ship arrives in NZ/Aus. It’s a demanding crowd onboard🤓😅 What would be the correct decision was to keep the number as before until they reached NZ/AUS. I was in one way a bit surprised that we received no contact or letter from the retreat wishing us welcome to us on your next part of your sailing adventure a day before turnaround day. I was following our mail box as a hawk to hide it from Mr…🤭 Nothing….. Upon boarding in Dubai, we were lucky. Since we could walk straight on, due to clearing of b2b in the morning. But there was a group of ladies in front of us sailing in SS on the gangway and they were greeted and followed onward by someone from the retreat standing on the destination deck. They had made it very visible and loudly marked we sail suites😅(we are not there😝….) We just walked on as normal. It was a made house of chaos. So not angry or upset. But it’s the lack of personal touch and the cherry on the top. We did not see our housekeeper until we tried to find him at 21.05 in the evening. Then we walked in the hallway back to the fun downstairs… Our room had not received turndown service yet…. So we went out again so they had a chance to get thru the staterooms. Our deck is definitely overwhelmed in housekeeping. It’s many suites and our fellow passengers are demanding in many ways. It’s stacks of plates and glasses in the hallway. People bring food from the OceanViev and don’t want the plates in their stateroom. (Fair enough, but team housekeeping is running a marathon picking up all of this on the floor in our hallway. I’m really surprised over the amount of this on our deck) They should definitely have an assistant on those floors containing several suites. To help off the pressure. To force on service from a butler to a housekeeper is not by chance possible. They lack training and don’t have time. They are already working on max capacity to serve their staterooms in ordinary housekeeping duties. (It’s already very clear to me that they are behind schedule of what corporate office thinks is possible and what in reality is possible to do in x hours) I can, but will not in a million years call my stateroom attendant to get coffee, I know he’s already overwhelmed by work. This was just another example of missing cherries 🍒 on the top…. We had to ask on day 2, is the 2 bottles of water for us or do it belong to the mini bar? No notice or any information in the stateroom. (Communication is really not to underestimate😜) Breakfast from room service paper order has worked okey. We had to ask for them. It has arrived as requested and contained what we ordered. But they don’t follow it completely. Last delivery we ordered fruit and I always write in big letters and ! NO Pineapple 🍍! I’m allergic…. On our fruit it was pineapple…. The orange juice is concentrate. It has tasted so sour that your hair is raised. Why can’t they serve real juice? It’s just the detail of attention. It’s not ruining my stay. The biggest problem is the lack of a table to eat on. It’s very low and not really good for eating. This is a design error and they don’t use a pop-up table for serving. So it’s either sit on the floor or have you plate on your lap or in bed. So we have a balcony but no table suitable for eating🙄 There’s no paper menu for room service daytime available. Only in the app. No options of pre ordering a fruit plate or something when you return from a shore excursion. We can walk to the buffet and pick up something. But I have this really nice balcony that I want to use also😜 at least offer me a tray to carry it with me🙃 So I can get something to eat and drink on one tour🤪🤪🤪( or X probably prefer that I go to the retreat… but half way dirty and done after my day. It’s nice to just land in your own home) Would I be welcomed and allowed to sit in the sofa if I were arriving as after my ship tour on Sil?😝🤭🫣 What can we ask for? Can we request dinner delivery? So we can eat private on our own balcony. We can probably ask for some of it. But no one has greeted and told us from day 1 in our own home away from home. This is mega important for new people! It’s honestly a very important way to connect and make a good first impression! (And we all know that the first impression is important) We needed to raise some of our questions in the retreat(how do we order breakfast, should we have order forms?). The message is just call us, room service … or housekeeping. Again, my apologies for not wanting to be the demanding lady on holiday. (I really hate to call people I know is super busy and have loads of work. So I can put extra work into this….🫠) Things that they could have easily answered and made in order if they had time to stop by on day 1 in our suite or your housekeeping had time to actually visit and say hello. This and this works like this and this and this is the best way to make it happen. In one way, it seems to me that The Retreat team assume everyone is regularly sailing in a suite. We have sailed several times on X, but none in suites on X. (Only JS suite on Royal, Voyager, and that’s only a bigger room and nothing more. We where extremely underwhelmed) I find it a bit difficult to have to ask all this questions. It’s not my job. When we have stayed at places you want/can compare to The Retreat experience/SS to in Mauritius/China/Japan/Hong Kong/Dubai/USA/Thailand/Singapore. We have had a personal connection from the first few hours after arriving and they have talked us thru how to proceed for different services and how things work. We have not had anything near that. That’s our feedback…. We didn’t see/hear the butler before day 6. He meet us in the hallway. He knew us from pictures. He is definitely overwhelmed in people to take care of and serve in a decent way. 3 butlers for all suites are crazy overloaded. Luminae is a nice restaurant in many ways. The crew works hard and nothing wrong in the crew. The biggest issue is the compose of the menus. Some days it’s an excellent selection and the next day is really hard to find something. (This is a personal preference, from a fish/seafood eater perspective) Both me and Mr agreed on that it’s good, its details and what level they want to be that lacks the details. Personally we leaning towards Blu in menu options for vegetables and fish/seafood. Some things are better than others. But we are not wowed from a food perspective. My preference point is high, since it’s marketed and sold as excellent. Yesterdays dessert was on target+ of all parameters. We can pick up water and soda drinks in the retreat self-serve section. Okay, but I feel like a bad person when I stuff my x shopping bag full of water and sparkling water. Why can’t you just on day 1 tell your preference and what you need. So housekeeping can put it inside your fridge during day service? Not a full container, but 4 bottles of water at least. I’m not joking, we get 2 bottles of water in our stateroom and we need at least 3 more bottles of water and 4 bottles sparkling water. That’s what we drink every day in warmer climates just in our stateroom. I need to drink at least 1l after my 1 hour power walk in the hot sun. This is so far our experience and we are a decent distance from wowed about it. Mr likes the tub and likes the retreat area. But he’s not sold as of today. Crew is friendly and they work very hard. But corporate has taken the cut too far to deliver what they advertise. In my eyes it’s a miss/match of what they are advertising and what they deliver in reality. So we will see if we change our minds, but I think we will stick to “steerage class” if this is what you can expect from a SS experience.

No, it’s the same thing every night so far…..

All suites received a voice message from the Retreat today. Thay said that all passports will be delivered back after Phuket. Thai immigration officials has requested that the ship give them all passports for inspection. So not a face to face. Just the passports👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 They reminded everyone that you need to fill out the entry form for Singapore online. If you needed help, please come by.

That is tomorrow 22.11. So we plan on going🙃

Sea days…. I was awake 06.30 new time. Not ready to leave the bed. So it was time to post yesterday’s dinner and today’s cruise compass. Read the Norwegian newspaper and order some Christmas gifts on black week campaign😌 Mr started to wake up around 09.30. But was I now hurry😎 So at 10.45 I left for my power walk on deck and he went to the retreat pool deck. I walked for a good hour. After finishing my walk I went downstairs to change into pool attire and go to Mr. My inner my said that that my first choice would be the lounger on my balcony. But room was still not made up. We didn’t go to breakfast and after my walk and everything, I was starting to get a bit hungry. So around 12.30 we decided to go for a lunch/brunch on the outdoor patio by the pool in the retreat. Mr wanted the Caesar salad, fruit and some fries. I asked for the burger (yes, your reading correct) Mr had it twice since we moved into the retreat. First go was okey. Last time it was really good, fresh herbs and spices inside the meat. I had a taste and it was really tasty. Really juicy and delicious. So I hoped for the best😇 Well, not my luck….. it was really nothing to say yes about (sorry chefs… you can really do better) The Caesar salad can definitely be better in presentation, visually appealing. Looks like a Mc Donald salad. Mr said it was okey, but the one he ordered on site in OceanView for lunch last cruise was better. Fruit was as usual. All good. They walked a round of lemon 🍋 sorbet around 14.00. 😋 one of my favourites💛 After a little more time on the sun lounger, it was time for a swim. Well, I got into the pool and after a little while it started to rain ☔️😆 Captain Matt said it was a chance of local rain during the day😂😂 it arrived, rained and cleared up to sunny again😎 I decided to call it for the day outside. So I went downstairs to shower and start the evening process🥰

@Jim_Iain SQ is my all time favourite! They deliver a great product in Biz/First/premiumeco/eco. It’s always my first choice no matter class of seating🥰 Enjoy your flight❤️

Go for it! 🇳🇴 The waterfalls are not frozen in June! it still may be snow in the mountains. It deepens on the temperature for melting. But the fjords are all green and lush. This is from Geiranger in mid June Pack for layers and different weather during the daytime. (It can change radically in a very short time) A decent rain/wind jacket is ideal. Bon Voyage⚓️ from the Norwegian

Cruise Compass Day 9 Sea Day, time change +1h to Yangon, Burma.

After our tour adventure we needed some downtime. Mr took a bath by the ducks 🦆 and I was just relaxing on the balcony😎 We left on time from 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka. As you can see, they are making more space in the harbour. The harbour area is really enormous. Think Hamburg for those familiar. When we were ready for the evening we decided to go downstairs to grand plaza/martini bar for a pre dinner cocktail and enjoy the live music. As we sat there, our neighbour table was occupied by someone we meet on our walking tour yesterday. At the brew stop, we shared table. So it was nice to have a chat. They live in Seattle. So they live in the same area as several of Mr’s relatives🙃 We went for dinner close to nine. Several people were eating late. Normally it’s just a few tables but it was almost full. Tonight’s menu: We had the same for dinner. Poke, tuna tartare and trout. Chefs taste The poke was delicious The tuna tartare was good. The tartare was great, but the bread was just a plate filling. it was 2,5 pice of sandwich bread in height. Trout was good. If you take away the glacé on the fish and plate, it’s a very tasteless dish. dessert menu It’s time to make it 🔥🔥🔥 Chocolate dessert…. IMG_1365.mov And sorbet for sharing😋

Yes, he will take you the rest of the way from Singapore 🇸🇬 It will be 👍🏻

I will walk off when @Jim_Iain walks on❤️🙃