marne-c

No Sunday Gala Brunches on Navigator? (Asked by an RSSC newbie who'll board in four days...) --Marne

@Kwaj girl and @Portolan: Thanks for the prompt replies! And yes, it seems to be waaaay too late to request a wine, Gewürztraminer or otherwise, for our upcoming cruise. I'm a RSSC newbie, and our cruise from Miami next Thursday on Navigator will be our first. At 25 nights, it should provide a good introduction to the line. --Marne

@Portolan First, I concur that a good dry Gewurtz is sensational! Second, how do I make a wine request in advance of my sailing? (Our ship will depart in a week, so I may have missed the window on this.) --Marne

The OP here… At last, there now are two itineraries that will view the 8 April 2024 total eclipse from the water. They’re on HAL. (See attached screenshot.) DW and I booked the 14-day Mexico cruise round-trip San Diego, departing 30 March 2024. The day of the eclipse, the ship (Zaandam) will hang out in the Pacific until the eclipse ends, then dock in Mazatlan mid-afternoon. —Marne

@mdunne48 MANY thanks for this! --Marne

Incorrect. It will be late-morning to early afternoon, Mexican time. See attached snippet from the Great American Eclipse website: --Marne

For our embarkation from Ocean terminal last Tuesday, post checkin all early arrivals were seated in a large room. When boarding commenced at 11am, Elite passengers were called. Shortly after that Full Suite pax were called. Then, few minutes later still, Platinum. —Marne

@Feebarn I’m curious — When was this? —Marne

YIKES!!! That was a scary article. But current research is more upbeat: Turkish Airlines is now rated as a seven-star airline for safety by the global rating agency AirlineRatings.com. Turkish Airlines' incident record over the past five years has been outstanding and has resulted in the airline's safety rating being lifted from five-star to the highest seven-star. https://www.airlineratings.com › ... › News › Industry News But still, it looks like we'll be on Iberia. --Marne

Whose? Turkish Air's or Iberia's?

Thanks, @ChadnKate, for this. My wife and I are plotting air routing for pre- and post-flights for our Med cruise on Marina next May. Both Iberia and Turkish Air are possible choices, but we have flown neither as yet. How did you find the service on Iberia and Turkish Air? If you flew Business Class, as is our plan, I'd be especially interested. --Marne

Thanks for your observation, @amajaa. I too noticed the reference to Mayflower and wondered how things would be at our embarkation from the Ocean terminal next week. And, @wowzz, I full expect Sods Law to be in operation at the terminal, although us (ex-) Yanks might use different terminology. --Marne

Now booked for Istanbul by Night for our cruise next May. Thanks, @RachelG! --Marne

My TA had the answer. He said, "The Seven Seas Voyager is chartered June 3 - 15, 2023."

@RachelG MANY thanks, Rachel! --Marne

I just was looking for a Med B2B for late spring 2023. There's an 8-night itinerary on Voyager I like which ends in Athens. I also like the next-listed Voyager itinerary, 10-nights, which begins in Athens. But the first cruise ends June 3, and the second one begins June 15. I had read there was a refurbishment planned for Voyager in fall of 2023. Is the June 3-15 gap for pre-refurbishment, or a charter, or...? --Marne

June 11, 2022–part two—Istanbul by Night (snip) We then took the bus to an area by the Bosporus where there is a pedestrian street lined on both sides by restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating. This was a bustling place with street musicians, guys selling flowers, and full restaurants. Fortunately we had reservations. (snip) @RachelG MANY thanks for your review! My wife and I will have a couple of overnights in Istanbul on a cruise in May 2023. Do you recall the name of the restaurant you ate at? Or at least the name of the night time ShoreEx you took? --Marne

@asnaleah While I cannot vouch for the veracity of this statement, an article in CruiseShipJobs says this: "The spa staff is on 10% commission to sell spa products and treatments...One spa employee recently posted in a cruising web site that commission was their only income. " That may explain the hard sell. --Marne

A plea... My wife and I missed our last attempt at seeing a total solar eclipse from a cruise ship. (Covid intervened...) But coming up on April 8, 2024 there'll be a great eclipse traversing most of the US. And for cruising purposes, the eclipse totality starts in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Cabo San Lucas, then heads northeast to Mazatlán. There are beaucoup cruises that sail from California ports to Mexico's Pacific coast, including several wonderful Princess ships. Do you know anyone who has the ear of someone at Princess to persuade itinerary planners to schedule a cruise that would hang out in the Pacific south of Baja California at noon on 8 April 24? Pleeeeeze!!!! --Marne