Anyone on fall Diamond transatlantic or 11/13 caribbean?

[JoAnne B]

I know both of these cruises are pretty much booked full. Anybody sailing with me?

[dougburns]

Lynn and I will be aboard from Rome-San Juan. Joe&Karyn Doucet(kmd) and another couple of our friends will be aboard as well, but they're boarding in Venice. Ngaire's office has said that our cruise is full. Only a week to go and we're off for Rome and a 3 day pre-cruise.

[JoAnne B]

Great! Maybe we'll finally meet in person. I had hoped to have a pre-cruise brunch at our house in Madeira, inviting those who are on the full Rome-San Juan trip, but my documents say that we sail away at 2:00. That won't leave much time for exploring this delightful port. Hubby is dropping me at the port and flying home the next day for a business meeting. We've requested a boarding pass for him to have lunch on board so he can at least see the ship. (We're on the spring crossing as well..his first RSSC cruise). Then he can rush home and video the ship as it passes our house.

[dougburns]

Will look forward to seeing you. You're always welcome to join our group, but we have a smoker with each couple, so we will generally eat in the smoking area. Joe, Alice and I smoke; Lynn, Karyn and Bob don't. Lynn and I are in 930.

[JoAnne B]

Unfortunately I am highly sensitive to smoke and have to avoid any smoky places. Maybe that's why our paths haven't crossed on previous cruises. However, we will have to do a meet-up, maybe at sail-away in Funchal.

 

I like the Diamond's approach to smoking in the dining room. There is a large separate room for smokers, and both groups can enjoy their meals without disturbing the others. It's by far the best handling of a sensitive issue that I've seen on a cruise ship.

[Marylis]

So how does the Navigator handle smoking?

[JoAnne B]

Haven't been on Navigator, but don't recall smoke being a problem on the Voyager. Except that my neighbor smoked cigars on his balcony, and there were a lot of times when I couldn't go out on the balcony because of the smoke wafting over onto my balcony. I especially missed having a glass of wine on the balcony before dinner. But other than that it was a non-issue. RSSC seems to accommodate both smokers and non-smokers quite graciouslly. Again, I'm not trying to open debate about smoking rights. For me it is a serious health issue.

[JoAnne B]

Hubby Phil's visitor's boarding pass arrived. It lists embarkation as starting at 10:00 am with sail-away at 2:00 pm. I'd be willing to bet that as soon as embarking folks are all on board, they'll want to sail away no matter what time it is. They're always pressured for time on the transatlantic.

 

Unfortunately, that won't allow much time for folks to visit this great island. Hopefully in-transit cruisers will take an organized ship tour, otherwise y'all will be limited to the crowded downtown Funchal area.

 

We leave for Funchal on Thursday. So far the weather there has been great (low 70's), but I figure it will turn cold the minute we arrive. See y'all on board.