B2B on Indy ~ Dec. 1 & 7 ~ My Diary

[The Big Booper]

Reading your thread, I have a new found appreciation for the Oasis class. It is big which seems to frighten the seniors away, all that walking (they think). In actuality, the width gives it the gigantic specs, not the length, which is not that much longer the the Independence class. Indy holds 4200 at full load, same as the new Royal Princess, which is 12% smaller. I have been lurking over on the Princess board and that ship is seeing fist fights over elevator issues as well as pissed off seniors dumping wine glass contents over somebody's head.:eek: Elevator frustration and all that.

 

In this same time frame we took the Celebrity Silhouette out of Bayonne in Dec 2011 and they couldn't fill the ship until they REALLY cut the prices and then Brighton Beach showed up in full force (da) all 900 of them on a 2,800 pax ship. No large concentrations of seniors in NY that cruise. The lines always have problems in early December before the families descend for the holiday sailings.

 

I won't bitch over the snapped cable on Allure's Lifeboat # 1 any more.:D

[Rogueperson]

Here's one more:

 

 

At 3 o'clock I went up to the Sky Bar for a pre meet and greet of our roll call' date=' but only Franca and another couple were there. Briefly another couple stopped by who had just gotten in....but they were starving and went off in search of food. We all chatted for just a little bit, but no one else came.

 

[uR!![/size']

 

Yeah. We stopped by. We left our house at 7:00am with no time for coffee. We got about 15 minutes down the street when Katryna realized she forgot her camera. We turned around headed back home to get her camera and then try again to get to the airport. We got to the airport about 9:40. Fortunately we were able to get coffee at the hotel where we parked our car, but we arrived pretty much as they called first boarding. So, no time for breakfast. We got in at 1:00 got our bags and went to the port. We got on board pretty much exactly at 3:00. We had enough time to get to our room, drop our stuff off and meet at the sky bar. We wanted to stay, but it was pushing 20 hours since either of us ate.

 

I will never fly in day of embarkation again. Too much stress. Fortunately, our next cruise is the Grandeur out of Baltimore. No flight for us.

[maxs mom]

Yeah. We stopped by. We left our house at 7:00am with no time for coffee. We got about 15 minutes down the street when Katryna realized she forgot her camera. We turned around headed back home to get her camera and then try again to get to the airport. We got to the airport about 9:40. Fortunately we were able to get coffee at the hotel where we parked our car, but we arrived pretty much as they called first boarding. So, no time for breakfast. We got in at 1:00 got our bags and went to the port. We got on board pretty much exactly at 3:00. We had enough time to get to our room, drop our stuff off and meet at the sky bar. We wanted to stay, but it was pushing 20 hours since either of us ate.

 

I will never fly in day of embarkation again. Too much stress. Fortunately, our next cruise is the Grandeur out of Baltimore. No flight for us.

 

Really appreciated you stopping by the Sky Bar.....especially after your long travel day. And yes.....always try to travel the day before!!! Hope you will enjoy your cruise on the Grandeur.

[maxs mom]

Next up.....the Meet and Mingle. There were lots of folks on our roll call.....well over 100. It was hard to keep up with most folks. Some posted a lot more than others. I didn't have a clue who most folks at the M&M were and I posted a lot!

 

We had the M&M in the dining room! A first for me. Not a good venue at all. A huge crowd showed up. It was hard to do a lot of mingling here because everyone was sitting at tables.

 

 

The activities manager presided and he did a good job.

 

 

But this could have been handled much better than it was. This guy was funny and basically just raffled off the prizes. There were some good ones. Tobyhilda, from our roll call (and who had to cancel, by the way) got extra prizes from Laura at Cruise Critic. So there was lots of raffling to do. My friend, Karen, won a prize.

 

 

And I won a bottle of wine.

 

 

Too bad we couldn't have this in the Pyramid Lounge where there was more room and we could have gone around and introduced ourselves, etc.

 

Immediately afterwards, a good many of us went on down to the casino for a slot pull. I believe there were 52 of us that participated. Carmen and Franca bravely took this on and did a nice job. With that many people, it took a while, but in the end we all won $5 more dollars than we put in. That was the first time I have ever won money at slot pull. Good deal. We even had a spin land on $500. Pretty cool. Lots of fun.

 

 

 

]

Edited December 26, 2013 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Here's one more picture from the slot pull:

 

 

Afterwards we went on to lunch in the WJ. It was crazy crowded! So many scooters and walkers! Oh my!

 

Later I went to turn something in to the Loyalty Ambassador.....and several ladies and their walkers came up behind me and wanted to know if this was the place for Bingo!?!

 

Spent the afternoon reading and relaxing in our cabin.

 

Formal night tonight! The CL was not quite as crowded tonight. We all had a place to sit.

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Next we went down to dinner. There was a long line to get in, but it moved along fairly quickly.

 

 

 

Cynde reserve a very nice table for us......perfect location. We had a very nice dinner tonight with great service. And yes....there was escargot!

 

 

 

I had the salmon salad again and it was wonderful. Chocolate soufflé for dessert. They brought a chocolate sensation slice with a candle in it for Michael and Andrea's anniversary, and of course they sang "Happy Versary" to you.

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

After dinner we strolled the promenade. First we made a bridge picture:

 

 

Then made a couple more pictures along the way:

 

 

 

We ended up at the Christmas Tree and had a professional picture made:

 

 

Andrea, Michael, and I went on to the casino. I managed to win a little bit more.....so I cashed out and went to bed! We had to move our clocks forward one hour tonight.

[PCWalton1]

Jane,

How did I miss this? You are already on the second cruise. :(

 

You are doing your usual superb job of reporting, thanks for taking the time to do this during the holidays. Much appreciated. :)

[maxs mom]

Monday ~ Dec. 9th ~ At Sea

 

Coffee in the CL.

 

Down to breakfast at about 8:20. No problem getting in today. The wait staff seemed to be a little more efficient today in the D/D+ area. Not many people eating there today. When we left.....the line was way back beyond the elevators again!!

 

 

At around 10 o'clock I went down to the Schooner Bar and met Karen and Dan for trivia. Michael and Andrea didn't make it until after we finished. They had a late night and were dragging!!! We had a respectable score, but didn't come close to winning.

 

 

 

We meandered back up to the Concierge Lounge and had some coffee and tea and visited for a while. Andrea got her internet set up. When I went back to the cabin....John was sleeping, so I read for a while.

 

We ventured up the WJ for lunch around 2 o'clock and it wasn't very busy at that time!

 

At 2:30 or so, I went down to Studio B for the 3:15 Ice Show. The line to get in was already backed up. I was meeting Karen and Dan and Michael and Andrea for that. Everyone was pushing and pushing forward and finally they opened the doors. Karen and Dan joined me and we tried to find some seats. We had no sooner sat down in some second row seats when this woman screamed at us that those were her seats!!! We politely told her that saving seats was not permitted. Well.....she started screaming at us even louder..."Oh yes you can save seats"....and she had had those tickets for a long time! (We all just got the tickets that morning!) We just started laughing at her and moved down a few seats. Sheesh! A girl in front of us had the entire front row saved! Many people tried to sit there but she wouldn't let them. Her people didn't come to the show until they dimmed the lights for the performance. Security came and talked to her but they did nothing about it! Sheesh, again!!

 

This was just one incident that we encountered or heard about over the week. There were many more. I have never seen so many rude and brash people on a cruise ship in all our 29 years of cruising.....and we've been on cruises with 1000's of children. I'll take them any day over these senior cruisers. (Now....I'm no spring chicken.....but we felt like young whipper snappers this week!)

 

Anyway.......the Ice Show was fabulous. I had seen this particular one before .....Strings. I think it's the best Ice Show on any ship. It is not to be missed!

 

 

 

 

Just to interject here.....not all the seniors we met this week were rude. We also encountered some lovely people. But there were some real doozies on this sailing.

[maxs mom]

More Ice Show photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Jane,

How did I miss this? You are already on the second cruise. :(

 

You are doing your usual superb job of reporting, thanks for taking the time to do this during the holidays. Much appreciated. :)

 

Well....hey, Bill!! Nice of you to drop by! And thanks for the compliment.

[SherriZ366]

Oh Dave.....It was worse!!! I've read about cruises like this and laughed about them but I've never experienced it. It was unbelievable. We heard from some friends that they won't go on the Allure' date=' so that is something to keep in mind this time of year.

 

I overheard some ladies talking and they were saying how many busloads they brought with them.....all from retirement communities in Florida. Unbelieveable! I was so glad that we had our own little group this week![/size']

So glad to find your B2B Indy thread and "sail" with you again.

 

I think another reason for the huge groups of Seniors was that RCI had been having a Diamonds in December for the past few years where you get an extra cruise credit per night and other gifts. They did not have this promotion this year but many folks who had reservations sailed anyway. I would think for this would be true for folks who were part would be true of the big buses from the Retirement Communities. They got a cheap price and were with folks from their communities. Freedom has had huge D/D+/Pinnacle crowds and used the Pyramid lounge for the CL Happy Hour.

 

One thing I have found about these heavy older senior demographics is that they want to eat early so after the first day or see, we see less of them. This was true on Princess also.

 

Interesting to hear that these older seniors avoid Oasis class ships -- may look into one of those some December. We are doing a 9 night on EX on 12-4-2014 out of Port Canaveral that goes to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Labadee but it is selling so fast that they have added more sailings in Jan. and Feb. and pushed the ship's drydock/refurbishing back.

Edited December 26, 2013 by SherriZ366

[TheGaDawgFan]

Congrats on your retirement! I love teaching but look forward to some day vacationing at non-peak times.

 

We're fairly novice cruisers and new to Royal, so we won't have access to many of the areas you're writing about, but I'm really enjoying your pictures and info.

[The Big Booper]

Really nice photos of the ice shows. They are the hardest to get good results, what with the skaters moving all which ways and the lights constantly shifting. What camera and what settings do you use?

 

We saw Strings in 2010 and would love to see it again.

[Sports Dr]

anyone have these?

[maxs mom]

So glad to find your B2B Indy thread and "sail" with you again.

 

I think another reason for the huge groups of Seniors was that RCI had been having a Diamonds in December for the past few years where you get an extra cruise credit per night and other gifts. They did not have this promotion this year but many folks who had reservations sailed anyway. I would think for this would be true for folks who were part would be true of the big buses from the Retirement Communities. They got a cheap price and were with folks from their communities. Freedom has had huge D/D+/Pinnacle crowds and used the Pyramid lounge for the CL Happy Hour.

 

One thing I have found about these heavy older senior demographics is that they want to eat early so after the first day or see, we see less of them. This was true on Princess also.

 

 

Interesting to hear that these older seniors avoid Oasis class ships -- may look into one of those some December. We are doing a 9 night on EX on 12-4-2014 out of Port Canaveral that goes to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Labadee but it is selling so fast that they have added more sailings in Jan. and Feb. and pushed the ship's drydock/refurbishing back.

 

Hey Sherri!

 

I definitely think that some retirement communities sold big blocks for this cruise. Will definitely look into Oasis or Allure next time. I noticed the same thing on Freedom.

 

I want to look into those Explorer cruises! but we don't book anything until late, so hopefully we can find something.

[maxs mom]

Congrats on your retirement! I love teaching but look forward to some day vacationing at non-peak times.

 

We're fairly novice cruisers and new to Royal, so we won't have access to many of the areas you're writing about, but I'm really enjoying your pictures and info.

 

Go Dawgs!! (Says the girl who went to Clemson! BEAT OSU!) Keep cruising.....you'll get there!

[maxs mom]

Really nice photos of the ice shows. They are the hardest to get good results, what with the skaters moving all which ways and the lights constantly shifting. What camera and what settings do you use?

 

We saw Strings in 2010 and would love to see it again.

 

It's a great show and I'm not big on Cruise Ship Shows!

 

This is a new camera that I have had since June. It is a Sony Nex-5R. I love it! I have no idea what settings I use!! I just point and shoot and it acts like an SLR. It does so many things......I can't even begin to figure it out! With the touch screen in the back, I accidently hit stuff and get some interesting shots! The Captain was fascinated with my camera.

[maxs mom]

anyone have these?

 

Maybe someone else can help you out. I throw those things away as soon as the day is over.

[maxs mom]

John was not feeling well this evening, so he skipped dinner. As soon as we sat down in the dining room, I told the waiter that I would like to take a plate to him....and just like that...he brought me a plate of what I ordered for him.

 

Franca came to the dining room and sat in John's place. She had already had dinner, but wanted to visit with us.

 

 

 

One of the assistant waiters played his guitar and we all sang "American Pie" It was fun.

 

 

 

I had one of my favorite desserts tonight. A dark chocolate orange thing. It's good!

 

 

Cynde came by for a pose!

 

[maxs mom]

After dinner we went over to the Promenade for 70's night. Lots of fun once again. Us girls had a great time dancing and singing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

More 70's Party. It was fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

After the 70's Party I went back to the cabin to check on John. I just stayed there. He was still feeling lousy.

 

There was a little surprise in our cabin tonight. Some beautiful flowers that Raj sent!! What a sweetie!

 

 

 

 

[smeck]

Monday ~ Dec. 9th ~ At Sea

 

Coffee in the CL.

 

Down to breakfast at about 8:20. No problem getting in today. The wait staff seemed to be a little more efficient today in the D/D+ area. Not many people eating there today. When we left.....the line was way back beyond the elevators again!!

 

 

At around 10 o'clock I went down to the Schooner Bar and met Karen and Dan for trivia. Michael and Andrea didn't make it until after we finished. They had a late night and were dragging!!! We had a respectable score' date=' but didn't come close to winning.

 

 

 

We meandered back up to the Concierge Lounge and had some coffee and tea and visited for a while. Andrea got her internet set up. When I went back to the cabin....John was sleeping, so I read for a while.

 

We ventured up the WJ for lunch around 2 o'clock and it wasn't very busy at that time!

 

At 2:30 or so, I went down to Studio B for the 3:15 Ice Show. The line to get in was already backed up. I was meeting Karen and Dan and Michael and Andrea for that. Everyone was pushing and pushing forward and finally they opened the doors. Karen and Dan joined me and we tried to find some seats. We had no sooner sat down in some second row seats when this woman screamed at us that those were her seats!!! We politely told her that saving seats was not permitted. Well.....she started screaming at us even louder..."Oh yes you can save seats"....and she had had those tickets for a long time! (We all just got the tickets that morning!) We just started laughing at her and moved down a few seats. Sheesh! A girl in front of us had the entire front row saved! Many people tried to sit there but she wouldn't let them. Her people didn't come to the show until they dimmed the lights for the performance. Security came and talked to her but they did nothing about it! Sheesh, again!!

 

This was just one incident that we encountered or heard about over the week. There were many more. I have never seen so many rude and brash people on a cruise ship in all our 29 years of cruising.....and we've been on cruises with 1000's of children. I'll take them any day over these senior cruisers. (Now....I'm no spring chicken.....but we felt like young whipper snappers this week!)

 

Anyway.......the Ice Show was fabulous. I had seen this particular one before .....Strings. I think it's the best Ice Show on any ship. It is not to be missed!

 

 

 

 

Just to interject here.....not all the seniors we met this week were rude. We also encountered some lovely people. But there were some real doozies on this sailing.

 

i can say this since I'm 60 myself. It seems the older you are the more entitled you feel.

[SherriZ366]

Hey Sherri!

 

I definitely think that some retirement communities sold big blocks for this cruise. Will definitely look into Oasis or Allure next time. I noticed the same thing on Freedom.

 

I want to look into those Explorer cruises! but we don't book anything until late' date=' so hopefully we can find something.[/size']

That sounds logical about some TA's buying big blocks of rooms. They do it for our Sun City here (the demographics might be more mixed as there are lots of folks in their 50's and 60's as well as 80+). I don't think they would be attracted to the EX ABC Island Cruise because of the price. It has gone up considerably and JSs are now over $2,000. Hope they only look at cheap 7 nights on sub-Oasis class ships. We have had big older groups on cruises out of Port C but we did not see much of them after boarding as their being on Early seating puts them on a different schedule. Lots of scooters in the halls.