Lois R

Happy to help🙂 I hope you have a wonderful time.

This cruise was very port intensive and all the ports were new for me except for Ephesus, Rhodes and Mykonos. I loved Istanbul and we were docked overnight. One day I took a private tour which was worth every penny..........fantastic tour guide. I had a 1/2 day tour and went to the Topkopi Palace, which I have stay, was totally amazing. We could have spent the entire day there but it was about 3 hours....I really loved it and highly recommend going there. The history and beauty are fantastic. We were going to Sophia Mosque but when I saw the line, I decided to pass. We went to the Spice Market but it was so crowded, I just didn't want to stay long. Ended up walking around and then the driver picked us up and drove me back to the ship. I would say we were gone about 4 hours or a bit more. The 2nd day I went on boat ride on the Bosphorus River. It was very good too. We only had about 10 of us and the guide was very good. And no, I never went to the Grand Bazzar and am ok with that. We also went to Marmaris and I went on a bus tour and we had about 20 folks (I think) Good tour guide on this one as well. I took a 1/2 day tour to Ephesus and our guide was excellent. The last time I was there was way back in 2012 and I am glad I went again. It is a really amazing place. Dikili was our only tender port and it was one of those good tours but the tender experience was just that.......a very harrowing one. One of the tenders had lost power AND the water was VERY, VERY rough......this was at the end when we were going back to the ship. We had to be moved to another area so the tenders could actually dock and there were LOTS of people who had finished their tours waiting....and waiting......everything was backed up for over an hour.......I am sort of shortening the scene but lets just say, the communication between the ship and the dock area? It was TERRIBLE. We also went to Aghios in Crete.......I went to an Olive Oil Factory and it was very interesting. Rhodes, Mykonos and Thessaloniki I stayed on board the ship. My tour guides were all good to excellent and I made sure to tell shore excursions as well. The tender fiasco? Well, many of us made sure they knew about it as well.

I don't own any dresses or skirts so if a cruise line ever "required them"? I would not be sailing with them.

There were a few families on my cruise last week.. Not ALOT but I did see a few kids and there were some younger couples with babies/toddlers. And they all seemed to be very behaved. I don't expect to see "lots" of them but I have seen multi-generational families on several of my sailings.

From what I have been told, they will be doing new hirings across the fleet---without an agency as the "middle man". I don't know when all the ships will be having this done but I also think the voices I have seen have been pretty good. So I guess entertainment can be subjective.

No worries about that........I am not a caviar gal so you can have all you want and as for the bubbly? I can take it or leave it. So you should be fine in that category too😀

I have never sailed with Scenic but I have also never heard of any line requiring a woman to wear a skirt or a dress

Aussie's are some of the nicest people I have met on any of my cruises, ocean or river.

It is not a stupid question....you are asking for help and that is what these boards are supposed to be about🙂 I never wear makeup during the day and especially on a cruise.....when I get ready for dinner I put on some eye shadow, mascara and some lipstick. I am just not a person who wears foundation/powder, etc......I just got home from a cruise and I guess I am lucky really, I had several people compliment my skin and asked me what I wear LOL.........I told them....NADA.......the could not believe I am 65. Maybe I just have good genes?

Hi Melody, yes, I think so too. I just keep going over what I would have to do before going away for 3 weeks.......but then I realize, it is a year out and I really don't need to worry about that at this point in time. And worry is really not the right word......if you know what I mean. get all my bills taken care of before I leave, etc...etc...etc.....

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I am going on the crossing.Lisbon to NY, Nov 7th.

You will have to tell us all about it upon your return🙂 I am sailing her in November!

Hi girls, the plumber came and the disposal is now working fine and now I know where that switch is too. Oh well, at least I know I didn't need a whole new disposal. The whole thing only took him about 5-7 minutes. I had a Caribbean cruise booked for Feb 2024 but just found out the ship is being chartered so looking for another cruise and my gal at SS gave me some fun news. I have never done the Panama Canal before and they are having one in April (a year from now) so I am thinking about taking it. It would be my longest cruise ever......23 days🙂 sails from Ft. Lauderdale ending in Vancouver and would transfer my deposit from that charter to this cruise so already reducing the price and they are having a 25% Single Supplement on this sailing too!

Oh wow, good to know. Thank you🙂

Hi Terry, I only attended one show this cruise and I know there were speakers but I never went see one. My tours and tour guides were a BIG highlight of my cruise. Will go into a bit more detail later.

And as to the reviews I have recently read, I can only go by own experiences. I found the food on this sailing good to excellent throughout the 11 days. I know I have read many posts about poor food. Not the case for me. I had lamb several times and it was moist and very tasty. I ate at the Grill once and found my steak tender and flavorful. I went to LaTerrazza multiple times and it was really good. And I didn't have any issues with wine. I always found one that was to my liking. Dinners were normally spent with 1 or more other solo guests which was very nice. There were quite a few solo guests on this sailing. We usually met for drinks in Dolce Vita and then some of us went to dinner together. I also had a few dinners with staff, which I always enjoy and I think the folks who joined me had a good time too. I was in cabin 632, mid ship, just forward of the elevators. Excellent location and had a good butler and cabin attendant. More later........

Hi, I remember my first cruise with SS back in 2017 out of Barcelona. I was on the ship before noon.

Hi, that makes sense except for the fact about needing to go to a specific city for Global Entry. I am 2 hours from the nearest city that offers Global Entry. Our airport doesn't offer anything.

Actually, I met quite a few solos in Dolce Vita this cruise.....never met any in Panorama so there are multiple venues that you can meet other solos🙂

I have VERY short nails.......actually my nails have always been one of my vices (bite them). Please no judgements. We all have them (vices) but even when I try to let them grow, they never get very far and break all the time. I never paint them and to be totally honest, the last time I had fake ones that looked nice was back in 1985 for my wedding. Got divorced within a year (just didn't last) so in 2025 I will be divorced 40 years and my nails? Well, the acrylics last for all of a few months. Just wanted them to look decent for photos.

I just checked "Global Entry" and yes, you have to go in person and the closest one to me is over 2 hours away😧

I don't do reviews anymore (sometimes I do a "Live From") but in this case, I will post a bit about my recent sailing. I flew from here to Atlanta and then on to Athens and a SS was waiting at baggage claim with a nice large sign. There was a group of us who were staying at the Hotel Bretagne. It is a lovely property in a really good location. Breakfast the next morning was included and very nice with beautiful views of the Acropolis. I met quite a few folks at the hotel and we all chatted about cruising, life, etc............there were actually 7 buses taking people to the port. I was on #4 and we left the hotel at 1:00 and arrived at the port at 1:30 with one of the fasted checks EVER. I was on board the ship in 10 minutes. They never asked to see my vax card. I had already filled out the health form and there was no line whatsovever and there were already folks on board so that 2:00pm boarding time was not in effect for this sailing at all. From some folks I talked to they were on board at least an hour ahead of me, so closer to 12:30. I wonder if future emails with that 2pm boarding time will ever be updated. Will continue this later.........

Good morning, just got off the phone with the plumber and the gal was very nice....she asked me if I had tried to re-set it but I cannot find a button and I am NOT getting on the floor to look under the sink. I used a flashlight but don't see anything. Anyway, they will be here this afternoon so that is a good thing. Hopefully it will be a quick fix.