World "shakedown" cruise on Serenade starting next week (Semi-Live Review)

[island lady]

57 minutes ago, orville99 said:

 

Some things that were promised are still invisible, and I doubt we will ever find the exact locations of the laundry facilities.

 

Thanks! Indeed...really confusing as to the laundry machines.  At first we (the lowly quarter leg cruisers) were told we could use them.  Though we are actually on half of the WC (first and last quarter) we apparently are banned. 

 

Drats...I was hoping to leave my "do it yourself" laundry equipment out of the checked bags...but..it is what it is.  Back to the beating of my clothes against a rock in the stream.  😄 

[heatherb1958]

Thanks for posting lots of photos ,  I  keep looking for our Irish cruise friends who are onboard  in the background 😀.  

 

We have done the canal east to west twice , first time on Radiance in 2002 and last time was Vision Nov 2018. The first bridge in your photos was due to open when we were there , we took a local taxi tour from Colon , drove over the lock gates and returned by a ferry which I am sure is probably defunct now due to the new bridge. It was an amazing experience .

 

[orville99]

5 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Ok you won me back and I say both sorry and then thanks.

will you be on the WC?

No, too long for us, and quite frankly not the ship I would have chosen. We will be doing a shorter (154 day) WC on Regent Seven Seas Mariner in 2026 instead.

[orville99]

14 hours ago, kernow said:

If you get a chance when you leave the ship in Puntarenas would you mind looking if there are many people offering tours. We'd like to do a trip to the Tarcoles river, all the ship excursions are sold out and someone on the roll call said we should be able to pick one up at the pier. Thanks.

Just back on board. There’s were still a few offering private excursions when we got off the ship at 11AM. Didn’t ask what types since we already had one booked.

[orville99]

2 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

Thanks for posting lots of photos ,  I  keep looking for our Irish cruise friends who are onboard  in the background 😀.  

I’m sure they are on board, and we probably have run into them in the pub (lots of Brit’s, Irish, and Scots in there watching either cricket or football (soccer to us colonials).😇

Edited November 15, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

5 hours ago, island lady said:

Back to the beating of my clothes against a rock in the stream.  😄 

They removed the sheer curtains from our stateroom and haven’t replaced them yet, but they left the curtain hangers DW hangs her hand wash stuff on those and lets them air dry in the breeze - works real good. 

[orville99]

Next stop Huatulco, Sea day tomorrow.

Edited November 15, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

On 11/14/2023 at 5:42 PM, orville99 said:

The agenda for tomorrow:

 

This was a total bust. Nothing in the description was actually delivered.

[Jimbo]

8 minutes ago, orville99 said:

This was a total bust. Nothing in the description was actually delivered.

Go ask for your money back at guest relations or the tour desk. They should know what they are(n't) selling.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Jimbo

[Oceansaway17]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

No, too long for us, and quite frankly not the ship I would have chosen. We will be doing a shorter (154 day) WC on Regent Seven Seas Mariner in 2026 instead.

I would not have picked it either.

[Sunshine3601]

On 11/14/2023 at 8:31 PM, orville99 said:

The new mattresses are great. Haven’t slept this well on a cruise ship in years. Not so much with the new pillows - a bit to firm for us.

I pack my own pillow for every cruise.  

[emeraldcity]

8 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I pack my own pillow for every cruise.  

Me too!

 

[Jimbo]

18 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I pack my own pillow for every cruise.  

Bet that doesn't happen if flying?

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Bet that doesn't happen if flying?

Pack it then too.  Pillows don't weigh much.  

[emeraldcity]

7 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Bet that doesn't happen if flying?

Yes it does. My pillow is wonderfully fluffy and I'm adept at squishing it into my suitcase. It recently went with me to Rome and then on the Explorer TA to Miami.

 

[Jimbo]

2 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Pack it then too.  Pillows don't weigh much.  

yes, but they take up space

[Sunshine3601]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

yes, but they take up space

Not really, I use packing cubes for majority of my clothes then just lay pillow(s) on top.  Plus my pillows are nice fluffy downlite pillows.

[orville99]

Sunrise off the coast of Nicaragua. Got woken up at 3AM by a massive thunderstorm. Need coffee badly😇

 

[orville99]

11 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Go ask for your money back at guest relations or the tour desk. They should know what they are(n't) selling.

Have an appointment to meet with the shore excursions manager this morning to do just that.

[orville99]

Apparently a tighter fit in the canal locks than I thought😱

 

[Jimbo]

Yes, that usually happens. Probably see them painting at the next port you stop at if conditions are right.

[orville99]

14 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Yes, that usually happens. Probably see them painting at the next port you stop at if conditions are right.

Doubtful until after we go back through the canal next week.

[BillB48]

46 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Apparently a tighter fit in the canal locks than I thought😱

 

Those are affectionately known as Pan Canal Service Stripes😁

 

 

[island lady]

14 hours ago, orville99 said:

They removed the sheer curtains from our stateroom and haven’t replaced them yet, but they left the curtain hangers DW hangs her hand wash stuff on those and lets them air dry in the breeze - works real good. 

 

Good idea as well!  I use my hook magnets on the ceiling, hanging stuff on them to air dry.  🙂 

 

 

[heatherb1958]

13 hours ago, orville99 said:

This was a total bust. Nothing in the description was actually delivered.

 

That is a shame. Hope you get recourse from your meeting.

We did the ship tour to the Tarcoles River back in Nov 2018 and have to say it was very good , got to see a big crock and lots of  bird life.

In Huatulco we did a ship tour to a beach, you had to pay to use the toilets in the bar at the beach and there was no warning given, no one had loose change or small dollar bills .So annoying .

Edited November 16, 2023 by heatherb1958