skigrams

Pete, you are positively amazing and much appreciated.  As someone who had to cancel at the last minute due to health issues, I feel that I was able to attend Gus's Q & A through you.  What a great job you did of reporting the issues which, by the way, have not changed since my first WC in 2019 when Orlando came onboard.  Getting double Mariner points for singles paying double came up back then also.  It would be a wonderful addition for those of us who travel solo.  Loved the response to the "more plant-based food in the MDR" - we do love our cuisine in the dining room!!  Thanks again for a job well-done.

My first cruise was on the SS Florida in November 1960.  I was hooked from then on even though I got sick immediately leaving from Miami (used to be called Port Everglades).  In 1974 the family went on the first Carnival Mardi Gras to Jamaica, Haiti, etc.  Children had a great time on each island choosing a souvenir and bargaining for it.  Upon returning home, headlines in the Miami Herald warned of an anthrax scare and advised all souvenirs that had any kind of animal skin, to be taken someplace (forgot where that was) to be burned.  Naturally everything that my children purchased had skins and we had to load the car and make that trip to turn them over.  They are not too keen on buying souvenirs to this day.

On 6/6/2021 at 2:14 PM, Worldcrzr said:

We are taking this cruise because we have been home quarantined for over a year. My husband is disabled and uses a walker and a motorized scooter chair. In looking at the ports, most use tenders. Many do not have motorized scooter chair access and it weighs almost 200 pounds so cannot be lifted. I can take an additional travel chair but I would have to push it. So, we are trying to figure out what would be a good way to see as much of the islands as possible. We spent 19 days in French Polynesia visiting islands back in 2004 but my husband was in good health. We walked the islands, went ashore by Zodiac and had a wonderful time. Many of the islands we have already been to but still want to get off the ship in as many ports as we can. Most of the excursions say "Wheelchair Access Limited". He has Parkinson's disease and his balance is very unstable. Does anyone know what the Zuiderdam does to accommodate handicapped passengers who want to go ashore and the tender is the only option? I fully understand in rough waters, the crew would not be able to assist. When we visited the islands before, the waters were very calm which we hope will be this time. All HAL can tell us is that my husband has to be able to walk down the stairs to the tender. I read somewhere that the ships now have lifts to help with wheelchairs. Any information you can give us would be most appreciated. 

I suggest you call the Accessibility Department 800-547-8493.  They will be able to give you all of the correct information for the Zuiderdam.  I know for the last cruise on the Amsterdam that I was on, Tales of the South Pacific, the lift for wheelchairs was not working and therefore, unless one was able to walk down the stairs, there was no other way to board the tender.  I did manage to do that once (I am also in an electric wheelchair) and the crew was positively wonderful about getting me and my wheelchair onto the tender and off.  

Some cruise lines have a very strict ruling that you MUST have six months left on your passport when you board the ship. You really should check with them as well.

Whatever you do, don't forget that the Lido has the best salad bar every day and also bread pudding every day for dessert. The bread pudding is the best. Try not to miss it.

Why don't you ask your TA to get in touch with the agency's BDM at HAL. They usually have ways of doing extra things like that. At least, the TA could get some ideas from the BDM as to the best way to get around the problem to solve it. Good luck.

You are a wealth of information! Perhaps I can turn the tables, and give you names and you tell me what ship! I am trying to find Lynn and Larry Lehr, (FCCs) that I met on one of my HAL cruises. Would love to catch up with them again on one of my future cruises.

Thanks again for your information.

Since you have helped almost everyone with their requests, perhaps you know who the Future Cruise Reps are going to be on the Maasdam from Sept. 26, 2016 - Dec. 02, 2016. Thanks so much in advance.

So surprised that no one on this forum has even mentioned going to LaSpezia. It has been several years ago so I do not remember train details, but it was rather easy and LaSpezia is simply wonderful to roam around for your day in Livorno. We did all five areas by either walking on a trail or taking the train to the next village. Then, at the last village, we took a boat back to our starting point. Seeing the villages from the water was spectacular.

It was a fun day and quite easy to do on your own.

Well, I tried to get the recipe from RCCL for you but they replied that they no longer give out the recipes from the ships. So, I did a search and found this which is probably what you are talking about. Hope they taste the same as those in Samba's Grille!

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} – Gluten Free!

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)

1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

*you can play around with the cheese. I’ve used Monterey Jack, low-moisture mozarella, swiss, and even gruyere in place of the cheddar. All great!

Optional: extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add. Try rosemary and or garlic powder, my favorites!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and pulse 2 times. Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less. If desired (and I recommend), sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan. Serve warm. {Que Gostoso!} These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.

Bobi

I tried to get you the recipe from RCCL but they wrote back that they do not give recipes anymore. But, I went onto the internet and searched and came up with this whch sounds fantastic and looks similar to the picture you posted.

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} – Gluten Free!

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)

1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

*you can play around with the cheese. I’ve used Monterey Jack, low-moisture mozarella, swiss, and even gruyere in place of the cheddar. All great!

Optional: extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add. Try rosemary and or garlic powder, my favorites!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and pulse 2 times. Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less. If desired (and I recommend), sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan. Serve warm. {Que Gostoso!} These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.

Hope this works for you. Tasty eating to you.

Why don't you either call or email Royal Caribbean customer service. Usually all cruiselines will be happy to share their recipes with you. I have gotten many from Princess and Oceania.

Stephen is correct. MARDI GRAS was originally built in 1962 as Canadian Pacific's EMPRESS OF CANADA (name aside, she was a BRITISH ship) for the liner run between Liverpool and Montreal. She was the last CP liner to be built and while quite modern behind the scenes (for her day), aesthetically she was one of the last classic British liners, with interiors that could almost pass for (very) late Art Deco (or the mutated version thereof that appeared on British ships like QUEEN MARY).

 

CP sold her to Ted Arison in 1972, closing out CP's passenger service. He renamed her MARDI GRAS and she became the very first Carnival ship.

 

Carnival kept her all the way through 1993 when she was sold to Greece's Epirotiki Cruises. They initially renamed her OLYMPIC, but then chartered her to a company out of Galveston which renamed her STAR OF TEXAS and used her for short gambling cruises from Galveston. She was later renamed LUCKY STAR and operated from Miami, but was returned to Epirotiki in 1994 and renamed APOLLON. She was laid-up in Greece, during which time Epirotiki merged with Sun Line to form Royal Olympic Cruises, until 1999 when she was refurbished and entered service on a charter to the UK tour operator Direct Cruises, who used her on cruises from UK ports. Sadly, in a move to limit competition, the then-dominant UK tour operator Airtours took over Direct (paying rather more than market value I might add - a "deal they couldn't refuse if you will). Airtours did not continue Direct's cruises from UK ports, and returned APOLLON to ROC. She was laid-up once again, except for a brief stint in service in 2001.

 

In 2003, with ROC in dire financial trouble, they sold three laid-up classic liners, including APOLLON (the others were STELLA SOLARIS and STELLA OCEANIS) for scrap in India. APOLLON was beached at Alang on 9 December 2003. ROC are presently operating under bankruptcy protection from the Greek government, having lost much of their remaining fleet earlier this year.

 

The scrapping of APOLLON is particularly sad because I believe that of all the remaining former British liners out there, she was probably the best candidate for preservation. She was in excellent condition and after all these years, she amazingly retained almost entirely original interiors. What's more, she was a particularly historic vessel, having both closed out the liner services of Canadian Pacific, the greatest transportation system on earth in the 1960s, and started out the massive Carnival empire in the 1970s, serving with them for over two decades and helping to catapult them to success. Sadly no concerted effort was made to preserve the ship, and as she would not be economical for further trading, she was sold for scrap. A sad end to a very fine vessel.

What memories!! I too sailed on the Mardi Gras in perhaps '74 or '75. I also sailed on whatever the second Carnival ship was named (I don't remember back that far.) But, I will bet that no one has ever sailed on the SS Florida. It was almost a tug boat. Sailed on that one in 1960. Didn't know that the Stella Oceanis was scrapped. Did a Mediterranean cruise on that ship back in 1979. Personally, I like what has happened to the cruise industry. I am planning to try the Oceania line which should be small and intimate compared to the large ships I have been sailing on. Planning a Baltic cruise in September on the Star Princess. Thanks for the memories. Bobi