paradiseken

Balconeylounger, this is Ken and Sara. We were on the Pacific Princess World Cruise in 2012 (also 2010 and 2011). You are from Houston. Might this be Roberta and Dennis I am addressing? We are on the Insignia 180-day World Cruise starting this January. We love the small ships and can't wait to be on one again!

I too was on the Miami-Montreal leg and had a very different experience from that of the OP. I didn’t meet anyone who was “affected.” As Lyn said, “just nice regular people.” Roughly 500 guests disembarked in Montreal, and many of those were Floridians. Several families with children also disembarked in Montreal; the children were adorable and for the most part very well behaved. Eighty-eight cruisers are continuing on for the full 180 days, including a lively, well-traveled 100-year-old gentleman traveling solo.

 

We had three sea days in the 16-day itinerary. There were at least two enrichment lecturers who did several presentations each: Terry Bishop, whose subjects included the Lusitania and the dramatic history of the city of Halifax; and David Wolff, who gave presentations on photography. Pat Grillo in the Artist Loft was a great addition too, with a scheduled activity every day; we surprised ourselves with talent we never knew we had. Executive Chef Mario Santoro and his staff presented two engaging cooking demos. I certainly felt enriched.

 

Breakfast offers many new choices, and the Taste of the World in the GDR for lunch is a gift of cuisine variety. If one chooses wisely from the menu in the various venues, the food is never boring and it’s way too good.

 

Just my viewpoint.

 

-Sukey-

Thanks Sukey for the positive reinforcement. Can't wait to meet you for our 180-day adventure in January. Let's all try to get together at the Epic on January 3rd.

Hi Folks!

Just wondering if anyone has experience with these cabins, especially for lengthy cruises. We usually book balcony cabins, but to save some money we are booked in cabin 3001 on Insignia for the 180-day world cruise starting in January, 2016. Give me your impressions. Thanks!

Hello everyone

 

We sailed Infinity in the summer and had a sweet sixteen cabin so I thought you might be interested in our cabin tour. Bon voyage!

 

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Jo and Rob,

Funny thing. We were in your cabin (6035) on our Feb. 15th South America and Antarctica cruise. Loved the cabin and wondered why it seemed so spacious. The balcony was wonderful, but weather prevented us from spending much time there. Thanks for the review. I also did not know about the pull-down bunker above. It was only two of us.

Just got an update from our TA. Parts have arrived in St. Lucia for repairs to the damaged engine room. Insignia will be repaired in port and sailed back to Miami. Also, no smoke damage. Looks like it will be a go for our world cruise. Still, I am deeply saddened by the tragic deaths.

Globevest, what a remarkable story and so well-written. You must be an author as your story read like it was out of a book. Kudos to you and Dr. S.!

We are scheduled on the Insignia 180-day cruise leaving Miami January 10th. I would gladly give up this cruise and money spent to have those three lives back. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the deceased and injured.

With that said, I wonder if Oceania will set up a fund for the families of the deceased. I know that a lot of the crew and contractors are sole bread winners and their families depend on their incomes. Just a thought.

Wow! Horrible news! My heart goes out to the family of the deceased and anyone injured. This will be our ship for the 180-day around the world trip.

Thanks, neighbor. Yes, second time for same procedure. Lawnwood is great, food is not Oceania. Dr. Downing has recently retired, Dr. Mangonon just as good. Dr. D says only 2nd time in his career has seen myxoma grow back. Surgery took over 7 hours, tougher to crack open an egg the second time.:D. Recovery going great, cutting back on pain meds, swelling reduced. Friends call me Iron Man.

Don, glad your recovery is going well. Looking forward to our 2015 world cruise and meeting great folks like you. I have been reading lots of your posts, and, like you, we are really stretching it a bit. It's funny about one's priorities. Here we are driving 15 year-old cars and instead of buying new ones (we could probably buy 4 - 5 new cars for the cost of this cruise) we opt for spending the money on travel. By the way Don, my wife and I met a really nice Florida couple joining us for the full 180 days. They are Chic and Robin and they post on the roll call. Take care!!!

I recall that the QE2 had a free laundry, with about a dozen machines (i.e. 12 washers, 12 dryers). Then again, NCL removed it's guest laundry!

 

I'm not sure at all which lines (if any) actually have free machines these days. I checked at Cunard but they don't really address the issue as far as I could tell, other than saying that "incidental charges such as laundry" are not included in your fare. But it isn't clear if they are referring to laundry done by ship's personnel as opposed to laundry you do in their laundry room -- they didn't even mention if they have laundry rooms on the current ships. (Or if they do mention it, I didn't see it.)

 

Mura

Free laundry on the Insignia 180-day world cruise!