Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[island lady]

16 minutes ago, pstone1 said:

It will be interesting to see how many snarky comments are made as if they are the first!!  😉🙄

 

LOL...I did not know the difference.  😉  Still did not want to go there.  😄 

[island lady]

8 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Does anyone remember the movie Moon Over Parador with Richard Dreyfus and Raul Julia?

 

Yes!!!   Loved that movie!   Richard Dreyfus as hilarious in that part!  😄 

[Jimbo]

@island lady So did you hear from anyone that took the cruise lines excursion to Machu Picchu? Did they or did they not get there to see it? Was it a success or disappointment? What did they end of doing in place of MP if they didn't get there?

Edited February 1 by Jimbo

[island lady]

7 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Getting to your next quarter could be a bit more intense, but at least the flight home from that one will be brief.😇

 

Hmmm...not really.  One way flight to Barcelona booked months ago, and hotel stay set up for two days in advance of re-boarding Serenade.  If the ship does not arrive in time...or at all...I will book a return flight for a week later, extend our time in Barcelona (which we adore) and take it from there.  😉  

 

When our Radiance B2B Alaska cruise was cancelled a few years ago due to Covid....I simply booked a VRBO cabin in Homer for two weeks to replace that time...and still flew out there, as we also had a 2 week land hop booked as well.  Had a great time!   Have now booked (again) the B2B Radiance for next year, followed by a 3 week stay in Homer after the cruise...since we loved Homer so much.  🥰

 

Yeah, we are flexible...make lemonade from lemons.

[CSHS1979]

27 minutes ago, pstone1 said:

Amazing!  There are so many interesting things to see in Lima!  I’m sure we didn’t even scratch the surface!

 

I forgot, did you see a pyramid? We didn't stop, but drove past it slow. Seemed so out of place

[island lady]

Current position just a bit ago....another day at sea, another night, another day at sea and one more night to get to Central America.  Puntarenas Costa Rico next port.  Have a tour booked to visit a Macaw and Jaguar sanctuary there.   Will be very...very hot and humid.  Jungle time!  🦜

 

Time to apply the bug spray heavily!  😮 

 

[island lady]

While having breakfast in Chops we were amazed to see a Bull Dorado leap out of the water right next to the ship, chasing what looked like a tiny duck!  Beautiful fish!  Didn't want to tell him we cooked and ate one of his relatives yesterday.  😉   Looked like this....did not have phone with me.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CSHS1979]

17 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

@island lady So did you hear from anyone that took the cruise lines excursion to Machu Picchu? Did they or did they not get there to see it? Was it a success or disappointment? What did they end of doing in place of MP if they didn't get there?

 

John says Pat can't see your posts unless someone replies to you.

 

No one saw Machu Pichu. Most people seemed satisfied on the other sites that were available. Had a lovely Gala event on the first night

[island lady]

Seas are totally calm today....hazy warm and humid.  More like a lake!!  

 

Not only makes for smooth sailing, but enables us to see the marine wildlife easier.  Saw huge pods of Dolphin yesterday, lots of Booby birds chasing them, and a pod of large Humpback whales having fun in the distance yesterday.  

 

Will be scanning the surface today!  🙂 

 

 

[orville99]

27 minutes ago, island lady said:

Yeah, we are flexible...make lemonade from lemons.

We make limoncello😇🍹

[pstone1]

25 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

I forgot, did you see a pyramid? We didn't stop, but drove past it slow. Seemed so out of place

Yes, that was odd!  We also drove by however, we were sitting on the wrong side of the bus, so no photo!  I think the fenced ruins were a couple blocks long!  We never traveled that way again so didn’t get a second chance!

[orville99]

21 minutes ago, island lady said:

Puntarenas Costa Rico next port.

There is a little tram that takes you from the ship to the end of the pier, and all the shops and things to see in town will be to your left as you exit the pier. Tour busses for ship booked excursions typically back down the pier to pick you up. Independent tours are to the right as you exit the pier.

[pstone1]

9 minutes ago, island lady said:

Seas are totally calm today....hazy warm and humid.  More like a lake!!  

 

Not only makes for smooth sailing, but enables us to see the marine wildlife easier.  Saw huge pods of Dolphin yesterday, lots of Booby birds chasing them, and a pod of large Humpback whales having fun in the distance yesterday.  

 

Will be scanning the surface today!  🙂 

 

 

Same here!  I called it a dolphin train - so many swimming past!  Looked like some were having a blast jumping the ship’s wake!

[island lady]

12 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We make limoncello😇🍹

 

Good choice!!  Even more creative!!  😇

[time4u2go]

46 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

@island lady So did you hear from anyone that took the cruise lines excursion to Machu Picchu? Did they or did they not get there to see it? Was it a success or disappointment? What did they end of doing in place of MP if they didn't get there?

It would be a shame if they didn't get to see it.  It truly is amazing.

[island lady]

9 minutes ago, orville99 said:

There is a little tram that takes you from the ship to the end of the pier, and all the shops and things to see in town will be to your left as you exit the pier. Tour busses for ship booked excursions typically back down the pier to pick you up. Independent tours are to the right as you exit the pier.

 

Just checked on our meeting time...noon.  Ugghh...touring the jungle in the heat of the afternoon.  😮 

 

Weather reports for the area near 100 degrees.  😵  Think I may want to find out if bus ride (one hour each way) has A/C.  

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

It would be a shame if they didn't get to see it.  It truly is amazing.

 

They did not get to see the ruins.  The peaceful protest was still going on, which shut down the train. 

 

But everyone I talked to told me that RCI did a great job of creating a new itinerary for them, of which they loved.  Once again....get creative.  🙂 

[RFerrington]

4 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Just checked on our meeting time...noon.  Ugghh...touring the jungle in the heat of the afternoon.  😮 

 

Weather reports for the area near 100 degrees.  😵  Think I may want to find out if bus ride (one hour each way) has A/C.  

It seems like just yesterday you guys were in subzero Antarctica !  I know it's been longer but to us, observers, it was just yesterday !

[doghog]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

I agree....the long flights are never fun, and I cannot sleep at all on red eye flights.  Not a problem for us on this one, since we only had to fly from Orlando to Miami to pick up our first quarter, (which we did same day...35 minute flight 😉  ).   Then we are disembarking in LA to fly back to Orlando.  No foreign country airports to deal with either...bonus.   

What airport? 

[island lady]

8 minutes ago, doghog said:

What airport? 

 

LAX

[orville99]

20 minutes ago, island lady said:

Think I may want to find out if bus ride (one hour each way) has A/C.  

The busses had AC on the ship booked tour we took when we were there in November. Bring an umbrella to shade yourselves while you are waiting to board the busses. It was hot as heck on the pier, and there were no shade structures set up for our afternoon tour.

[pstone1]

Jim just read that the there is a huge (estimated at 22K) population of Manta Rays off the coast of Ecuador!  Some have wing spans more than 20 ft.!  Will be watching for those this afternoon too, as we are sailing north!  Honestly, who would have thought - Manta Rays off of Manta, Ecuador!  🤣🤣

[ILCTCRUISER]

6 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

LAX

Booking flights has all to do with schedules and fares.  When we can, we really like using Long Beach (LGB) for cruises out of LAX.  Hop, skip and jump from ship to airport and usually in morning you’re driving opposite rush hour traffic.  Long Beach airport area?  Wasn’t that where Steven Douglas worked?

[island lady]

5 minutes ago, orville99 said:

The busses had AC on the ship booked tour we took when we were there in November. Bring an umbrella to shade yourselves while you are waiting to board the busses. It was hot as heck on the pier, and there were no shade structures set up for our afternoon tour.

 

Definitely taking my big hat.  Just checked with GS desk.  She said there is no guarantee of the condition of the buses...yikes.  Remember that movie Romancing the stone...I now have visions of that bus in my head.  😱

 

Went back up to talk to Bucky, he seems to want to still go...so if it is a mess...guess who's fault it is?  😉 

[island lady]

31 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

It seems like just yesterday you guys were in subzero Antarctica !  I know it's been longer but to us, observers, it was just yesterday !

 

I am already missing the ice bergs!  😄