Live Review from Explorer of the Seas - 24 Night Transpacific - Sydney to Seattle

[aussie1944]

Day 8: Suva, Fiji (Day 1)

 

We arrived in port in good time, although I was feeling worse for wear from my vertigo incident. I hadn’t really slept between 4am and 7am and certainly was feeling dehydrated and weak. But I wanted to see what I could in Fiji and we had an all day ‘private’ sightseeing tour booked. We went to Chops Grill where I ordered toast and apple juice – the staff were very courteous and got me just what I wanted / needed. I felt nominally better afterwards and we went back to our cabin to get ready to leave, as well as to wait for the Captain’s clearance of the ship. It was anticipated at 8:30am – by 8:45am we were a little surprised it hadn’t happened yet. A few minutes later the clearance was announced and as our tour was due to start at 9am we headed down.

 

Unfortunately for us, as we had a very small roller bag with a change of clothes, swimsuit, and my laptop, they refused to let us disembark as they said customs would need to clear us. We were sent back to Guest Services (who we had spoken to the day before about staying off ship and they’d said there was nothing we needed to do), who then, as soon as we arrived, said they were soooo sorry but there had been a mistake and actually we CAN disembark with our bag no problem and they had told security this. So back down we went and disembarked a few minutes later, around 9:15am.

 

We met with our tour company ‘leader’ who directed us just outside of the port and to a waiting taxi with a guide. I will say that this was not the highlight of our trip. Fiji was beautiful, and we saw many beautiful things while we were there, and the forests were just abundantly gorgeous. But our guide was not the best and it very quickly became apparent to us that this was not going to be as wonderful of a trip as when we were in Vila. The main issue was that our tour guide was not quite fluent in English. He could speak a lot of English, but he didn’t understand us almost at all. So this made it very difficult to communicate, as if I asked a question or said something, he would misinterpret it and just respond with anything he wanted. This made for a very, frankly, boring day, as we couldn’t interact with him at all. He also did not seem to understand that I was very weak, tired, and dehydrated, and kept insisting that 93 year olds had had no trouble doing the things I was saying I simply wasn’t up to doing. More on that…

 

We started off by driving high up into the local area and he parked out front of some houses to show us the stunning view, with the port of Suva on the left and the wide expanse of Fijian rainforests on the left. He showed us ‘the thumb’, which is a jut of mountain that looks like someone has their thumb up. He showed us a river that runs through and talked about some things, most of which I didn’t quite understand but nodded along. The view was really spectacular and we got some shots of the ship from there which will probably be in the ‘favourites’ of mine (I always try to get a nice picture of the ship in port from a distance on my trip). We then got back in the car and I asked what was next on the agenda. He said visiting the local village. I asked if it was a far walk to the village or if we’d need mosquito repellent, as this had been the case for our last ‘village’ visit. He said no no it is very close, no mosquitos, no problem.

 

15 or 20 minutes later he announces ‘we’ll just visit the waterfalls first’ and pulls off the main road. I figured the waterfalls involved a bit of a hike and gave my DH one of my ‘looks’ but we just tried to go with the flow. We were driven into the park quite a ways and then we parked and set off on the trail. He showed us the trail map which included some big red writing saying ‘STEEP HILLS’ which worried me but off we went. It was not a long trail, and in normal conditions, I would have been okay with it – it would have been tough, as I’m not super fit, but I could have done it okay. But the rainforest was warm, humid, and the climb sloped gently uphill for a few minutes. We crested a bit of hill and then the path went down – so far so good. As we turned a corner I could hear the waterfall splashing very VERY far down below. I looked and was just like, nope, I can’t climb that far down because I can’t climb that far BACK up. The tour guide at this point kept insisting it wasn’t too far and he would ‘massage my legs’ when we finished to relieve my sore muscles. I’m like, it’s not sore muscles, it’s fatigue, it’s exhaustion, it’s dehydration – I don’t have the stamina for this. I insisted my DH go ahead and so he did and the tour guide waited with me (I would have preferred it the other way around but oh well!). DH came back a few minutes later and we made our way back. I will say, it was maybe, MAYBE, a 10 minute walk. But I was very unwell, and I just didn’t think I could manage it at that time. Later on in the day, yes, but at that moment, no. I was already feeling a little queasy again from all the driving and just was still dehydrated. (My DH said afterwards that the climb down involved some very steep steps which I would have struggled with on the way back up. It's just an FYI – it wasn’t much further, but the steps in the path were apparently quite steep.)

 

After we got back to the car we drove to the village which was only a few minutes away. Fortunately this time he was true to his word and the village really was just a few steps away from the car park. We were greeted by the locals, one blowing a shell and some others gave us fresh flowers and fern necklaces. (Please note: these did seem to have bugs in them, they were quite fresh, so do NOT try to bring them back on board as a souvenir!) We were shown to the community hall for some watermelon, I wasn’t up for that but the hall was not very big and it was quite creaky, I did worry for them but this is their style of life. The village itself wasn’t made up of straw huts or anything – it was what most of the island housing was like, which is corrugated iron pieces comprising roofs and sometimes walls, while other times concrete made up the walls.

 

There was a working toilet out back, I did use it but it was a bit creepy looking. But it was a western style toilet so thank goodness for that.

 

We were then escorted to watch the villagers do their routine, which started with one boy doing a ‘Kava ceremony’ routine, and then he came and gave Kava to everyone interested. My DH and I passed on this opportunity – it probably wouldn’t have ended well for me on my empty stomach!! Next a bunch of the ‘boys’ (they called them boys but I would say late teens, early 20s) did a warrior dance of some sort with big spears. Then they had the fire dancers who were very impressive with their massive torches. And then there was ‘the best dance’ which was basically a conga line for the guests to join in on.

 

Afterwards we were given the opportunity to try some of their locally prepared foods, fish, chicken, and some vegetables, all in coconut milk. At this point I took the opportunity to buy a bottle of Powerade, to try to help me feel better. I did try two bites of chicken and two bites of fish, as it looked well cooked and very juicy/tender. It was very tasty.

 

I looked at the other stalls for souvenirs but nothing caught my eye so we headed back towards the driver. After a few minutes we set off again and this time we didn’t seem to have a destination in mind. He just drove us around for about 1.5hours… At one point, as we pulled up to a local market, complete with live chickens in cages, he asked if we wanted to go inside. We declined – the market hall itself was full of fresh spices, and the scent probably would have knocked me out, and the live chickens weren’t really my thing either. It was GENUINELY a local market for local people, not tourists like ourselves. With all of the quarantine laws etc, we couldn’t have bought anything anyway, not to take with us at least, so we weren’t really sure what the point was other than to experience local life, which is great, but … again, considering how I felt, not the best idea! We stayed in the car, he drove us around, and then we kept driving for another half hour or so.

This was when a few of the highlights of our trip came… First, the driver pulled over to a local stall and bought some cabbage. This wasn’t too bad. Then he was driving us and pulled on to a smaller road and was explaining that this was where the army barracks are and where the boys come for basic training for 3 months. We could see a typical ‘field’ of obstacles, ropes courses and big walls to climb, etc. We’re nodding along and then he comments that there is a prison nearby as well. At this point a large, open bedded truck pulls in front of us, complete with two dozen prisoners sitting loose in the back, all in bright orange jumpsuits. The driver then proceeds to follow the prison vehicle along a dead end road, and as soon as the prison vehicle stops at the end, he pulls up ALONGSIDE IT and stops the car. We’re sat there as he starts talking about what the prisoners do, which is to work gardening in this particular area. The prisoners all jump out of the prison truck and surround our vehicle as they walk towards the garden area. No one is in shackles or anything and I didn’t even see a prison guard. The driver, at this point, while the vehicle is surrounded by people in bright orange jumpsuits, decides to REVERSE and nearly runs over multiple prisoners. At this point I am in such shock, thinking I can’t believe this is happening to us. But it did, and fortunately we reversed away and drove out safely. A few minutes later, the driver stopped and said ‘this is my house, I’ll be right back’ and jumped out, leaving us in the car with the car running. He came out a few minutes later with some sort of power tool that he threw in the back and off we went again.

 

At this point it was about 1pm and we could check into our hotel at 2pm. I was hungry by now, and the village ‘meal’ had in no way satiated either of our hungers and had been a good 2 hours or so before. We came to a pretty stretch of road so I asked if he could pull over so we could take some pictures. He did and DH was taking photos and I asked if there was somewhere he could take us for some lunch. He suggested a Chinese food place and as rice is a good thing for an upset stomach, I quickly agreed as did DH. A few minutes later we set off for the Chinese place and he told us it was air conditioned which is why it’s so nice. That sounded good to us! We arrived and he had some trouble parking so we headed to the restaurant alone, got a table and while we were looking over the menu he joined us at the table with a menu. We all ordered a meal and then I was asking about how to make payment – I had Fijian dollars but I wanted to keep some for our taxi ride back to port in the AM, and possibly for dinner etc later that day, and we asked and they did say they took Mastercard. At this point, mentally, I decided I would just pay for our guides meal, as it was only, maybe, $7USD and that was really not a huge amount for us to pay.

 

We ate our lunch, mine was just right, it wasn’t spicy or anything (unlike DH’s squid which was swimming in chilli, poor thing!) and it really hit the spot. When we had all finished, the guide rubbed his belly and said ‘thanks for the delicious meal’. I hadn’t yet offered to pay for his meal, and his assuming I would really rubbed me the wrong way, especially after our day. But it was nothing to me, I had no problem paying for his meal, and so graciously paid. Unfortunately the card machine was broken, so I did have to use my Fijian money, but these things happen – at least I had come well prepared!!

 

At this point we said, just to the hotel please. He started talking to us saying he would give us his number and we could call him for a taxi anytime, he’d take us anywhere, but we just wanted to get away from him at this point – the prison incident had really scared the heck out of me.

 

We stayed in the Holiday Inn in Suva, which was just a quiet oasis after our perplexing day. I can’t say that our day was terrible – we saw a lot, it was VERY cultural, and amazingly I had managed to power through despite feeling so unwell. But it was not the day I had envisioned, our guide was not good, and we had been placed in danger and I felt very uncomfortable with the whole thing. The hotel was just what I needed – a safety harness and a bit of relaxation and respite. The air conditioning was good, our room was clean, and the wifi worked – finally, a bit of decent wifi!!!! I quickly set to doing one of my two 2-hour lectures, and finished that before we got dressed for the pool and went out and sat on two sun loungers, watching the sun set. It was beautiful, calming, and just what I needed. Afterwards we got changed for dinner and had a lovely meal in the hotel restaurant. Not adventurous, but I’d had enough adventure for the day! Afterwards I was pretty tired, we watched some Comedy Central which was amazing to watch in Fiji, and maybe an hour or so later we drifted off to sleep.

 

Londongal, I am totally confused as to why you would stay in a hotel on Fiji when you had your room on the ship to go back to. We never eat or drink anything off of the ship as we don't want to pick up any parasites. Anyway, I am enjoying reading your posts and hope to see one a day as you sail across the Pacific. I notice you said you ate in the MDR but then paid $10 for an entrée. Did you go to another restaurant also?

[Firefighterhoop]

Thanks for the updates! I board in Seattle the day you arrive there.

 

Excited to do Explorer again. I haven't been on Explorer in 10 years since she left Miami.

[little britain]

How/who is the CD?

 

What were the celebrations like for crossing the date line?

[sunshine755]

Awwwww.......I am disappointed to learn that they are not turning Zoom on for your trip. You would think they would go a head and get it started in case there are any kinks in the system. I would think crossing the pacific would be a great time to do this. That being said, it does sound like it will be up and running by the time you get to Seattle. It has a stop in Hawaii and since that lag of the trip (Hawaii to Seattle) begins after May 1, perhaps this is when they will turn it on. I would be curious to know if anyone is boarding in Hawaii, did they offer Zoom for your sailing at the 30% discount? If so, this should confirm this is when they will "flip the switch."

 

Great updates.....I look forward to each and every one :)

[londongal796]

aussie1944: I have mentioned this a few times, but I am in the middle of a Masters degree which is all done online, and I have a minimum of 2 two hour lectures each week that I attend 'online'. Fortunately if I cannot attend live I can watch a recording; however, the recording is NOT downloadable, it can only be streamed, and the quality of the internet on the ship is not good enough to do this. I knew about this in advance, so I planned to have two overnight stays in ports (since we were overnighting anyway) in hotels with good internet. My other alternative was to sit in some sort of cafe for upwards of 4-5hours, trying to watch/listen to my lecture with loads of strangers around me, probably in an uncomfortable chair, nursing a cold cup of coffee and watching in horror as my laptop battery slowly died -- it never would have coped with 4-5hours of a lecture, the battery life isn't that good. So I took a practical approach and booked a hotel night for each of our overnight ports -- giving me the luxury to watch the lectures in the comfort of a hotel room and with the better wifi and more comfortable desk.

 

I will admit it felt very weird staying the night in a hotel when we had a perfectly good ship to go back to; however, it meant I could 'go' to one lecture the first evening and go to the second one the next morning, which was a nice break, instead of trying to do 4+ hours of lecture all in one go. I also am fortunate enough to have lots of points with IHG and so I booked our night in Suva as a rewards night, so it didn't cost us anything.

 

little britain: It is Graham Seymour, I believe? He is funny -- and British, so always a winner for us. We didn't notice any special celebrations for crossing the date line but we do intend on watching Groundhog Day today :)

 

sunshine755: Nope, we think it is insanely ridiculous not to turn on the Voom considering we have more time left than most single cruises, but they are following the corporate line and deciding they'd rather not bother. We are very very disappointed and angry about their decision, as there is absolutely no valid excuse NOT to turn it on -- they just are choosing not to. But we can't do anything about it.

[londongal796]

Day 10: At Sea

 

This morning was stunningly beautiful, and by the end of the day, the view from our balcony was like looking out at a swimming pool – the ocean was perfectly calm and just had the tiniest of ripples going across it. It was breath-taking. Both my DH and I were left speechless when we saw just how calm the water was, and stayed, throughout the day. (The Captain confirmed in his noon announcement that there was absolutely no wind at all at the moment – perfect conditions!)

 

We started our day off with breakfast in Chops Grill. We then went to see if we could join the Bridge players, as we saw they were looking for beginners; unfortunately for us, the ‘beginners’ sessions started on the first days at sea, which we were still settling in during, and they have already progressed and can’t take any new players in. Maybe another time! We did get offered the chance to watch other beginners, but the tables were full very quickly (everyone seemed to know who they wanted to play with) so pulling up an extra two chairs wasn’t really feasible. That’s okay – we like doing other things instead!

 

Other things such as … retail therapy! They finally brought out those lovely charm bracelets that I have seen every cruise I’ve been on, and this time I really wanted to get them for some friends of mine, so I had been waiting anxiously for their arrival. So I indulged in purchasing a few of those for my friends (and maybe a few for myself!). Afterwards I went to the ‘Book Club’ which was in our Cruise Compass, and I was delighted to find out that it was a real Book Club where we’re going to all read a book together and make comments throughout. I have three chapters to read for tomorrow, so I had better get on that!

 

After that we went back to our cabin and watched some tv – and eventually ordered room service for lunch, as neither of us fancied the Windjammer again (I don’t like the chaos of trying to find a seat, and my DH hadn’t really liked the selection – I mentioned recently he’s a bit more picky than me, though I’ve had no problems finding things to eat for lunch, he’s not had a great time of it). We were also a smidgen too late to do the MDR for lunch, hence room service it was! We decided to order by phone to be able to tweak our order, as in the past we’ve always just done it on the TV but this time I could ask for extra sweet potato wedges etc. Very nice! It arrived in the precise 35minute window they gave us and was as delicious as room service food can be expected to be.

 

After this we watched some more tv and then I felt sleepy and took a nap for a while. Woke up and popped to the Concierge Lounge as we’d been told they had come up with a resolution to our wifi issues – we had high hopes but were met with them saying we’d used it for 267 hours (this is wholly untrue, we didn’t USE it for that long, but both my laptop and my phone automatically ‘connect’ to the royal-wifi network and therefore it ‘thinks’ that we are ‘using’ it anytime it connects). Anyway, they basically said, no, there’s nothing wrong with the wifi (despite there being issues) and we could have a refund of 50% if we cancel it right now. We weren’t interested in that, we need SOME internet access, we just wanted better connectivity – it isn’t an issue of speed, it’s a matter of the wifi dropping our connection constantly. It’s actually been a bit better for most of the day, except around 1pm to 2pm when I could not connect at all, no matter how hard I tried. My DH was on, no problem, but every time I tried to get the login page to load, it would just fail and say ‘DNS Not Found, No Internet Found’. It’s okay – Jorge, our Concierge, said he would continue our ‘negotiations’ with the wifi team, and they called us later to see if they could find out our issues but we were just heading out to dinner so we weren’t able to have them swing past.

We went to Izumi for dinner and had a very good meal. The service was very good this time, and the food was exactly what we ordered so we had no faults, no problems at all.

 

We both had read the Headliner show information and we weren’t too sure about going (something about singing and dancing by one guy – not the whole RC Cast), we simply chose to stay in our room and watch a movie together, which was very nice indeed. It made for a lovely quiet end to our evening. We did miss the 70s Parade on the Royal Promenade, which I had been looking forward to, but I decided to just stay in as once we’d come back to our room and I’d gotten in my PJs for the movie, I didn’t really feel like getting dressed up again! I’m sure everyone had a wonderful time as the crew are very friendly and enthusiastic on this ship and the CD seemed to be rather … shameless in a recent Morning Show he produced, so yeah – I’ll bet it was a good time!!

 

Another day at sea dawns… in fact, it is the same day as yesterday!!

[Setting sail for fun]

Glad you are feeling better and now have calm seas!

[sunshine755]

So RC announced that they rolled out Voom to all the ships now. Does that mean that they finally decided to upgrade the internet for your trip? :)

[londongal796]

Day 11: At Sea

 

It’s been another day at sea, and in fact, the same day as yesterday – as we have travelled over the International Date Line. It is funny for us as our first-date anniversary is 3 May, but the ‘repeat’ day has been 2 May, so we just missed out by a day for getting to celebrate our anniversary twice. Not a problem but still funny!

 

We slept in a little bit but managed to make it to the MDR for breakfast. DH had a pretty decent meal and for the first time his eggs benedict came with runny eggs – he’s had it almost every morning and so it was nice to finally get some runny eggs! I had a little less success – I asked for banana pancakes and got plain (not the end of the world, they were still yummy), and I asked for decaf tea and they brought a herbal one, and I clarified that I did indeed want a decaf black tea, they nodded but never returned with it – oh well! Not my best meal or service there but it was food and heaven knows I’ve eaten more than enough of it to last me a few lifetimes!!!

 

Afterwards I left early to finish our reading for the Book Club from the day before where we’d been told we’d be meeting again the next day. Most of us turned up even though it wasn’t in the Cruise Compass. We had a brief ‘informal’ chat about what we’d read (more on this in the next installment) but the ‘host’ didn’t make it so we broke up after about 20 minutes.

Afterwards we went back to our cabin and decided to watch some of Groundhog Day, our way of celebrating our ‘repeat’ day. About halfway through we stopped for a little bit to go to the ‘Chilli Cook Off’, by two of the chefs on board, out on the poolside. It was HOT HOT HOT and sunny so we melted after about 25minutes and had to go in before the competition ended, but it was a cute activity and guests were invited to eat the finished product afterwards. Instead, after cooling down for a few minutes, we headed to the Windjammer before it closed for serving lunch. I found plenty to nibble on but again, DH only managed a piece of pizza and some fish – I really think he could try harder (or go back for more pizza etc) but I just let him be. He just eats more at dinner instead!!

 

We went back to the cabin and finished Groundhog Day, it is a very funny movie! Afterwards we got ready to go out in the sun – I gave us upwards of 2 hours out there but I only managed one, it was soooo hot and sunny still. We came back to the cabin and got dolled up as it was our second formal night. We had Bay Leaves as the menu (and I forgot to say, the day before the menu was Basil). I’d never seen the Bay Leaves menu before – it was a nice selection. We both had the calamari fritti to start and I had the lamb chops (delicious!!!) and DH had the pork scallopine wrapped in prosciutto, we both shared our dishes and his was good but a little on the dry side, especially compared to my super tender and moist lamb chops. It felt like I was the winner that night in terms of picking dishes to eat!!

 

Afterwards we went to nearly every single photography station to make the most of our ‘unlimited’ photo package. I think we have over 100 ‘studio quality’ photos right now. The package was $250 for every single digital photo from the cruise (and another $50 for the prints, but we don’t really have the luggage space for them so we decided to just do the digital package instead and make prints up of anything we particularly like). As this is the same price as the package is for a 7 day cruise, we have definitely made the most of it and we pose for photos everywhere we can. We have some really great ones (and a few duds), but we’ve had a lot of fun with the package. We don’t plan on doing this every time but for a 24 night cruise like this, you can really get your moneys worth!

 

We did go to the Headliner Show afterwards, a comedian called Sam Laughlin I believe – we found him to be hilarious, not the funniest comedian I have ever seen but we laughed a LOT and found him funnier than the previous one. What is interesting to note is how different everyone else’s opinions are about the comedians – we met a couple outside who said they really didn’t like the comedian and had left early. But they had really enjoyed the previous one – which is the exact opposite to us. We all have differing opinions, and obviously some people will love an act more than others, so it’s always good to keep that in mind when reading a review!

 

After the show we went back to the cabin, watched a little tv and then off to bed…

[londongal796]

Day 12: At Sea

 

I’m sensing a trend here… another day at sea!

 

This time we woke up so late we didn’t even manage to get to a restaurant before it closed for breakfast. We had a light bite to eat in the Café Promenade instead (danishes or muffins, they had a nice assortment). Then I set off for the Book Club (this time it was in the Cruise Compass!) and we learned we will actually be meeting every other day Sea Day moving forward.

 

We met for about a half hour and discussed the book we have just started to read. This is an activity hosted by RC, definitely the first time I’ve seen them doing anything like this. We read the first three chapters (or days) of the book ‘Follow Your Heart’ by Susanna Tamaro, it is the English translation from the Italian we are reading. It’s good so far and our discussion has been enjoyable. I have another three days / chapters to read for next time!

After this we headed for lunch in the MDR and sat at a table with an interesting mixture of folks and had some lively discussion about politics – I won’t go into it but it was refreshing to hear some of the people’s thoughts, comments, and jokes. DH just had the Tutti salad and I had the salad and the fusilli pasta. The salad was a bit … lacklustre. They had three types of lettuce but not many other toppings – I think just cucumber, olives, tomato and red pepper. Normally there is also sweetcorn, carrots, and sometimes other veg like broccoli or cauliflower, but not today. They also only had two dressings and the option of olive oil / balsamic vinegar. They also only had one protein (shrimp) and no crouton-type item (never seen croutons at the Tutti salad but they did have tortilla chips the first few days which people used for the ‘crunch’ factor). Anyway – it was still okay, but DH had planned on it being his main ‘meal’ and found it to be very much so just a light salad. Other than this, the food was all fine, our server was a bit rushed and took a good 20 minutes to take our order but afterwards everything was quick and efficient. He apologised beforehand and said he’d get to us when he could.

 

Afterwards we went back to our cabin and as it was a rainy day, we just a quiet hour or so back at our cabin (I forgot to say, the clocks moved forward one hour today so our afternoon was that little bit shorter). We watched some tv and then headed to the Ice Show, it was called ‘Seasons of Change’ I believe. We’d been given a letter in advance of all of the Ice Shows for Suite guests letting us know we could attend any (or all) of the showings. However, in fairness, we decided to wait until our regularly ‘designated’ show time based on our Assembly Station, so that’s why we chose to go this afternoon. We were told to meet at 3:25pm at Studio B, and we were shown to a separate queue for just the Suite guest and Pinnacle guests (those with gold cards). Around 3:30pm we were allowed early access to Studio B and allowed to choose whichever seats we liked best. We went for perfectly centred seats in the third row (the first and second filled up quickly as people had gotten there even earlier than us, and we’d arrived at 3:15!). In any case, they were excellent seats and afforded a great view over the whole ice rink. It is the first time I’ve ever really sat in the centre section, I’ve always sat elsewhere, and it has to be said – the experience wasn’t hugely different, but it was nice to see the show front-on, which is how it’s designed to be viewed.

 

The show itself was honestly one of the best I’ve ever seen on RC. The performers were excellent as they absolutely always are – I have never been able to fault the talent of the performers, who are passionate and hugely talented. In the past, I have struggled with some of the ‘themes’ of the shows, where they throw together some sort of semblance of a ‘plot’. This show did not have a plot, per say, but it was based on the four seasons, and went through each of them, starting with fall. It was a really easy theme / plot to follow and they chose really upbeat songs for the most part, along with a few more touching ballads, for the performers. I think one of my favourite things about the ice shows is how up-close and personal you get with them and you can really see how passionate they are about what they are doing, and how very much they are enjoying doing their performance. Sometimes you imagine staff may be a bit tired of their work, but certainly not the ice show performers, who work beaming smiles throughout. The show lasted almost a full hour and was definitely in the top 3 ice show performances I’ve ever seen with RC and may even score a little higher…!

 

Afterwards we were back in our cabin for a little bit and watched a little tv before going to Chops Grille as it was a ‘special occasion’ for us. (The MDR menu was Sage for those interested.) We had told them it was the 7th anniversary of when we met when we made our reservations. The service at Chops this time even excelled our previous visit and was easily the best we’d ever had in any Chops Grille on the RC fleet. Our waiter was super attentive and asked us to please let him know if absolutely anything was wrong, if he could get us more of anything we’d enjoyed, or if there was anything else he could do to make our experience better. He asked us this multiple times throughout and did the same at every table he served—he was certainly top notch and we left a generous tip at the end of our meal to let him know!

 

We both had the scallops and the ‘bacon’ to start – both delicious. The bacon we’d had on the Allure was a little too peppery – this time it was light on the pepper and had a lovely glaze, much better tasting than what we’d had previously. I had another filet mignon while DH opted for the porterhouse steak – it is an extra cost but we’ve factored in the price of buying such a steak in the UK and we’re still coming out ahead, despite all of the extra fees for eating in Chops. For whatever reason, beef in the UK is hugely expensive, and since I’ve no way of cooking the meat to perfection as they do in steakhouses, I save it for the experts and pay the cost when we come across good meat and good services in steakhouses!

 

We had an assortment of sides again which were all very delicious. For dessert, DH had the same as last time, the warm chocolate cake, and I opted for the ‘classic’ red velvet cake. Usually this is a towering piece of cake with about 5 or 6 layers of red velvet cake with some cream cheese icing in between. This time it arrived as a three-tiered piece of cake and more than half of it was composed of the icing – personally, all cakes should have a higher cake-to-icing ratio than the other way around. I got around this problem by splitting it into two halves, and skipped the middle layer of icing, as otherwise the cheesy-ness was just too strong to make it a ‘dessert’. It would have been a bit of a downer to end on this note but – just after we asked for the bill, we were greeted by our server and the main host of Chops with a little piece of cake and a candle, with the words ‘Happy Anniversary’ on the plate and they sang a ‘Happy Anniversary’ song to us haha. We were sooo embarrassed – I hadn’t expected them to make a big show of it but it was a nice treat. Plus the piece of pineapple upside down cake was really yummy!

 

The Headliner Show was a jazz theme and so we decided to give it a miss. We went back to our cabin and watched ‘Spy’ with Melissa McCarthy. A little crude at times but it had us laughing hugely – a very funny movie! After that it was bed time… a really lovely day at sea, despite the rain.

 

 

As an aside: Still no Voom on board. Apparently they are sticking to the line that they will not introduce the upgraded wifi until the next cruise sailing. Everyone I have spoken to agrees this is ridiculous but they have their reasons. The wifi has been marginally better, I'm not sure why, but I am still unable to get it on my phone reliably so I am only accessing it from my laptop at the moment.

[BEENSAILING]

Too bad about the internet. But when Voom comes "on line" for a long cruise will be extremely expensive - even the option without streaming and Skype. Rain - too bad - hope it doesn't follow you to Maui and Honolulu. And now I have a taste for Red Velvet cake...

[ronpes]

Hi there,

Once again thank you for your great reports and it makes my day to be reading this during your journey.

 

I was intrigued by your comments when you crossed the International Date Line on how you had two days, both at 2nd May! That’s sounds great to have an extra day.

 

I guess if we are to do this trip in reverse, I assume we would lose 24 hours and jump a day but hey-ho, not a lot we could do about that !

 

Thanks again for your great reports.

Ron.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Have you tried exercise for your vertigo

 

http://www.webmd.com/brain/brandt-daroff-exercise-for-vertigo

 

 

http://cuanschutztoday.org/two-home-exercises-treat-vertigo/

 

It helped me

[Coralc]

Hi there,

Once again thank you for your great reports and it makes my day to be reading this during your journey.

 

I was intrigued by your comments when you crossed the International Date Line on how you had two days, both at 2nd May! That’s sounds great to have an extra day.

 

I guess if we are to do this trip in reverse, I assume we would lose 24 hours and jump a day but hey-ho, not a lot we could do about that !

 

Thanks again for your great reports.

Ron.

 

LOL. :D You lose it (the day) when you fly there Ron. You arrive in Australia a day later than when you left. But you do get it back when you sail back, and it is nice to enjoy the extra day on a cruise! :D

 

~Patti :)

 

We are very much enjoying your trip report. Best wishes for your Master's program.

[ronpes]

LOL. :D You lose it (the day) when you fly there Ron. You arrive in Australia a day later than when you left. But you do get it back when you sail back, and it is nice to enjoy the extra day on a cruise! :D

 

~Patti :)

 

We are very much enjoying your trip report. Best wishes for your Master's program.

 

 

A-ha ! Of course. I was forgetting about the flight there in the first place. Woops.

Thanks for that.

 

I hope this finds you guys keeping well and Serenade seems such a loooong time ago now. I need another cruise quickly.

We are looking forward to a week on Oasis in September, however reading this fantastic thread is keeping me sane until then and also providing a great insight on this trip if we choose to do this or the reverse route in 2018.

 

Best Regards

Ron and Lorna.

[Thequietone]

Many people are complaining about the bad attitude from the "Next Cruise Team" on board they have little knowledge and are very rude to many guests giving out duff information, talking down to guests . One of them is being dropped off in Honolulu for so many customer complaints.:(

 

Thanks for a great review love reading it:)

[sunshine755]

Thequitetone: Did I miss something? What is this about a team and complaints? What team? Are they with Royal? Where did you hear this? I don't remember the OP saying anything about this. Can you elaborate on what this is about please? :confused:

[Thequietone]

Thequitetone: Did I miss something? What is this about a team and complaints? What team? Are they with Royal? Where did you hear this? I don't remember the OP saying anything about this. Can you elaborate on what this is about please? :confused:

 

The crew that work in Next Cruise. Some guests have complained about their bad attitude to guests on the ship:(

[sunshine755]

Sorry....I am still confused. I guess my confusion begins with.....what is the "next cruise?" :confused:

[Thequietone]

Hi they are located on Deck 6 and sell future cruises to guests on board the ship. There is a guy and 3 ladies. Hope that helps

[BEENSAILING]

Sorry....I am still confused. I guess my confusion begins with.....what is the "next cruise?" :confused:

 

That is the 2 or 3 people on the ship who work in the designated "Next Cruise" area (you can see each ships's Next cruise location on deck plans for each ship) for people to book future cruises with Royal.

[sunshine755]

Thank you so much.....I understand :) This is my first time with RC and I have never heard it called that. I am sorry to hear they are not very good because I was holding off booking another cruise until I got on the ship. I hear you get better deals if booked while on board. Does anyone know what incentives they offer?

[BEENSAILING]

Thank you so much.....I understand :) This is my first time with RC and I have never heard it called that. I am sorry to hear they are not very good because I was holding off booking another cruise until I got on the ship. I hear you get better deals if booked while on board. Does anyone know what incentives they offer?

 

your incentives are based on the type of stateroom you book - and if for a specific sailing. best incentive is on board credit. the amount of deposit is always less than if you book when not on a cruise. your discounts for booking a specific cruise are based on your tier status with Royal, the type of stateroom you are booking, and whatever promos are offered with Royal, your age and where you live.

 

you can also do an open booking - for a non specific date/ship - which does not give you future on board credit but for $100 USD it means when you go to book another cruise you don't have to pay a higher deposit.

 

we have found that some of the next cruise people are great to work with. some are not.

 

they should all be consistently great to work with but sadly not always the case.

[MikeC1610]

The crew that work in Next Cruise. Some guests have complained about their bad attitude to guests on the ship:(

 

We were on Voyager last December and also found the Next Cruise staff to be very average.

 

It seemed to us that they were just "going through the motions" and would happily book a cruise you suggested but when asked for suggestions etc they were very poor and we found we knew more than what they did.

 

We were interested in booking an Oceanview on Voyager Sydney to Singapore in April 2017. The lady booked us into an oceanview on deck 3.

The next morning we were having breakfast with another couple and they just happened to be in one of the new panoramic oceanview cabins on deck 12. We told them that we had just booked an oceanview on deck 3 for our next cruise and that we were not even aware that the panoramic ocean views existed.

 

They invited us up to their cabin for a look. We were very impressed and went back to the Next Cruise consultant to enquire about a panoramic oceanview. As it turns out the panoramic oceanview was only sightly more expensive than the normal oceanview on deck 3 so we changed our booking.

 

We asked the Next Cruise consultant why she did not recommend the panoramic oceanview cabin to us and her answer was "because you did not ask for that category". We said we did not ask because we did not know they existed. We were not impressed.

[sunshine755]

So MikeC1610, did you find you saved any money booking on board. I hear they don't combine with other offers and right now they are having a 60% off second person, 30% off third, a $100 savings just cause and it is military month so there is a small discount for that. I just don't know what to do. I was going to book while on board but why wait if it doesn't offer any real incentives. I am new to RC. My first cruise is in 9 days and it is only 4 days long. So my tier level is "0" at this point. What would you do? Any advice would be appreciated. We want to book one in Sept, 16 and thinking about the transpacific in Oct, 17.