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

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Ok, I am not trying to get myself banned from cc.  I am so bummed John will not be posting a blog on the world cruise on this site.  I enjoy reading his postings. I was looking forward to following along around the world.

 

Does anyone know if he is going to blog that cruise elsewhere?  If you give me a hint I will try to find him.  I tried searching using his CC name. I found the closed group on that other social media site--but. . .  it is closed. I am sure they do not want a bunch of random people to ask to join.  That is just for participants. TIA

 

 

 

 

[orville99]

4 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I was looking forward to following along around the world

I am certain that someone will step up and do a WC blog on CC.

[island lady]

33 minutes ago, orville99 said:

I am certain that someone will step up and do a WC blog on CC.

 

I was thinking about it...but we are only on half the WC...first quarter and last quarter.  And I would need help trying to post pictures.  Orville is top notch at it.  🙂  

 

Will be good to see John and Laura again.  He has mentioned helping me with the pictures before

[kernow]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

For a change in pace, we decided to have Thanksgiving dinner in the WJ last evening instead of doing the MDR. Very happy we did! They were carving a fresh roasted whole turkey, the mashed sweet potatoes were excellent, and the pumpkin pie and pecan pie were the best I have ever tasted. DW enjoyed her Brussels sprouts (UGH - I can’t stand those). The only thing missing was the cornbread stuffing (which we never eat anyway).😇

 

Another sea day today with calm seas and blue skies so far. Spotted three more whales yesterday, and have already been races by a pod of dolphins this morning.

 

Maintenance and refreshing continues on he ship, but at a much less noisy pace, and they managed to rescue all 8 slot machines that were flooded out last week.

 

We were treated to another beautiful Pacific Ocean sunset on Mylar seas last night as well.

 

We saw quite a few dolphins and a whale while sitting on the balcony yesterday afternoon too, also got a pic of the beautiful sunset. Really enjoying relaxing on these sea days with such beautiful weather.

 

Any ongoing work has not bothered us at all so far.

[kernow]

54 minutes ago, orville99 said:

I am certain that someone will step up and do a WC blog on CC.

I really hope someone does too, would love to follow it.

[orville99]

A little Captain Stig trivia;

 

When we do the eastbound canal transit, it will mark Captain Stig’s 43rd transit. On our westbound transit on 11/13, he was awarded an honorary Canal Pilot’s license from the Canal Authority. 🚢

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

Interesting back story on these two photos: 

I decided to play the dumb cruiser and go down to guest services last week and ask them how I was supposed to plug my 110V appliances into these outlets because they looked like 220V European outlets. The initial response from GS was that they were really 110V outlets and all I needed was an adapter plug. I asked how I was supposed to know that since the outlets were unmarked, and did he have any adapter plugs available. He put in a call to housekeeping, and they informed him that these were in fact 220V outlets and that only certain 110/220V switchable appliances would work.

 

Today we came back to our cabin and magically the outlets are now prominently marked 220V.

 

A Royal OOPS😇

Edited November 24, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

So calm on the bow of the ship this morning that we had company:

 

[orville99]

3 hours ago, kernow said:

Any ongoing work has not bothered us at all so far.

Today seems to be “let’s paint everything that is visible to passengers” day. There were crews out on the promenade this morning on their hands and knees cleaning all of the blue areas on the deck along the railings so they could be touched up, and crew with paint rollers touching up any surface that was white. I expect this type of activity to become more frequent the closer we get to the end of this cruise

[orville99]

Tonight’s sunset. I’ve seen bigger waves on a Florida retention pond. Looks like we made a wrong turn and are sailing on Mars.😇

Edited November 25, 2023 by orville99

[Jimbo]

53 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Tonight’s sunset. I’ve seen bigger waves on a Florida retention pond. Looks like we made a wrong turn and are sailing on Mars.😇

Windy.com say you are having 4ft waves now near Acapulco

 

https://www.windy.com/-Waves-waves?waves,16.688,-100.800,9,m:d6YadoB

[orville99]

18 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Windy.com say you are having 4ft waves now near Acapulco

 

https://www.windy.com/-Waves-waves?waves,16.688,-100.800,9,m:d6YadoB

Love windy. Use it every day multiple times, but it is off by a good two feet right now.

[orville99]

Welcome to Huatulco - again:

 

Edited November 25, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

When we were in Huatulco on the 17th (a Friday), the town square was empty and quiet. Back again today (a Saturday) and the entire square is filled with a huge farmer’s market. Also, they are getting ready for a wedding in the open air church.😇

 

Last week:

 

 

 

This week:

 

Edited November 25, 2023 by orville99

[kernow]

4 minutes ago, orville99 said:

When we were in Huatulco on the 17th (a Friday), the town square was empty and quiet. Back again today (a Saturday) and the entire square is filled with a huge farmer’s market. Also, they are getting ready for a wedding in the open air church.😇

 

Last week:

 

 

 

This week:

 

Think we must have walked by you, we are currently sitting in one of the bars in the square having a drink. We love this little town😀.

[orville99]

6 minutes ago, kernow said:

Think we must have walked by you, we are currently sitting in one of the bars in the square having a drink. We love this little town😀.

We probably walked past you. We are back on the ship now, but walked by most of the bars.😇 

 

Much more lively today than last week - if we stopped at every food vendor I would have gained 20 pounds by now. (1.25 stone)

[orville99]

A few parting shots as we prepare to sail on to Puntarenas this afternoon:

 

Walking trail that goes up to the pass between the seaside and the city: the “Corridor Touristico La Crucecita”

 

 

Public beach just off of the pier:

 

View to the south and another secluded bay:

More public beach

 

One of Huatulco’s grand old hotels:

Edited November 25, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

Interesting tidbit about entering the Panama Canal from the pacific side:

 

We will be sailing around Punta Mariato or Mariato Point (Spanish Punta Mariato) a cape in western Panama that is the southernmost point on the mainland of North America(7degrees, 42 minutes north latitude)

[orville99]

Tree lighting was last night - all decorated now🎁🎄

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by orville99

[lovesthebeach2]

When we were cruising back on the Odyssey TA , at one point the seas in the North Atlantic were so calm, I can’t remember seeing them like that, so I also took a picture

 

[Another_Critic]

5 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

When we were cruising back on the Odyssey TA , at one point the seas in the North Atlantic were so calm, I can’t remember seeing them like that, so I also took a picture

On the initial Anthem TA (Oct/Nov 2015) non-stop from Southampton to Cape Liberty, we had 40-45 foot swells for several days.  She road the waves fairly well.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

When we were cruising back on the Odyssey TA , at one point the seas in the North Atlantic were so calm, I can’t remember seeing them like that, so I also took a picture

 

This one was taken in April off the coast of St. Thomas on Wonder.

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by orville99

[orville99]

Sea birds were very active this morning:

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by orville99

[island lady]

25 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Sea birds were very active this morning:

 

 

 

Love...love watching them diving for flying fish!  🙂 

[island lady]

Interesting observation for WC cruisers....the ship is definitely not sold out.  

 

Could not find anything at all at JS and above...but wow....the inside, outside, and even a whole lot of balcony cabins are still up for grabs.   😮