Roll Call - F.O.D - G.L.B.T - Independence of the Seas - December 21st 2010 - The Med

[554John_M]

Hello again - thanks for the info - we'll be there ! I booked any time dining, but when I tried to pre-book times everything was blocked up to 8.30pm so we are eating every night ( at the moment) at 8.30 every evening. More time for the bar I suppose !!

We're going on the bike ride in Palma - should be a laugh as long as it's not raining!

Cheers,

Ed

[cublet]

Hello again - thanks for the info - we'll be there ! I booked any time dining, but when I tried to pre-book times everything was blocked up to 8.30pm so we are eating every night ( at the moment) at 8.30 every evening. More time for the bar I suppose !!

We're going on the bike ride in Palma - should be a laugh as long as it's not raining!

Cheers,

Ed

 

Hello,

 

GG (and Dave) and I are on My Time Dining but when he tried to book and got nowhere was told by RCCL that times could be booked no earlier than 1 month in advance of sailing. I hope, from what you say, he hasn't missed the (booking) boat as I don't want to eat late.

 

From where do you pick up the bikes? If the weather was nice a gentle ride along the paseo maritimo would be very pleasant. But there's a bit of a ramp from the port to negotiate before you get there.

 

Best wishes,

 

Cublet

[554John_M]

Hi Cublet,

The bike tour in Palma is one of the excursions advertised on RCCI for this cruise. I assume they will be decent bikes with gears. I've never been to Palma before so don't know what to expect. Everyone tells me it's a very nice town.

We have booked three excursions , the walking tour of Lisbon, the bike ride in Palma and the coach to Seville. We plan to do our own thing everywhere else. I have been to all the ports in Italy before so more or less know the ropes there.

Ref my time dining, I will try again nearer the time to book a little earlier that 2030 hrs. We would normally go down for about 7.30 to 8.00 pm if we get a choice !

Cheers

Ed:D

[cublet]

Hi Cublet,

The bike tour in Palma is one of the excursions advertised on RCCI for this cruise. I assume they will be decent bikes with gears. I've never been to Palma before so don't know what to expect. Everyone tells me it's a very nice town.

We have booked three excursions , the walking tour of Lisbon, the bike ride in Palma and the coach to Seville. We plan to do our own thing everywhere else. I have been to all the ports in Italy before so more or less know the ropes there.

Ref my time dining, I will try again nearer the time to book a little earlier that 2030 hrs. We would normally go down for about 7.30 to 8.00 pm if we get a choice !

Cheers

Ed:D

 

Hello,

 

Water is generally flat so the ride along the paseo maritimo (the harbourside in Palma) will be easy. Not so Lisbon - they don't have trams and funicular railways for nothing! OK, when I did my walking tour it was summer but I came back to the ship like a piece of chewed string. Is the Seville the 'on your own'? You cannot have done Seville if you have not seen the buildings from 1929 Ibero American Exposition in Maria Luisa Park and they can best be seen from the top of a bus.

I've been in touch with my 'social secretary' about the dining bookings.

 

Best wishes,

 

Cublet

[554John_M]

Hello again,

Yes we are "on our own" in Seville. I've never been there either !

I have been to Lisbon and Barcelona before but only on business . Looking forward to being a tourist !, We have visited all the Italian stops previously.

Regards,Ed:)

[cublet]

Hello,

 

My 'social secretary' has now booked 6.45 My Time for the duration of the cruise.

 

Best wishes,

 

Cublet

[GlasgowGuy]

My 'social secretary' has now booked 6.45 My Time for the duration of the cruise.

 

 

Ahem! your social secretary? I shall be having words with Rudolf regarding such cheek, I'm sure he will keep you in line ;) All My Time dining now booked for us at 6:45 each night.

 

A big hello to Ed and Sid, I've not been on since 25th so only just spotted your messages. Dave and I are looking forward to meeting you. We'll be the 2 sitting at dinner with Cublet, if you don't spot us there our usual haunt is the Champagne bar.....hard to keep Cublet away from there :p

[554John_M]

Hello, Champagne bar is just fine by us :).

I had another look at the my time dining on line yesterday and I still find all the times blocked from about 1900 hrs to 2030.I don't really see the point of it. I may try again nearer the time. All our bookings are made for 2030hrs as we didn't want to dine particularly early. However we would rather eat a bit earlier than that. More champagne time I suppose....

I'll try again nearer departure date and see what it says then.Otherwise I'll have a go when we get on board.

Regards

Ed

[GlasgowGuy]

Hi Ed,

 

It might be worth booking the 6:45 slot for now and see if you can change it onboard. By the time you get to your table and peruse the menu it will be after 7:00 when your starter arrives.

 

All the best,

 

William

[cublet]

Hi Ed,

 

By the time you get to your table and peruse the menu it will be after 7:00 when your starter arrives.

 

All the best,

 

William

 

Hello,

 

As long as it's not after 7:00 that my bottle of wine arrives!

 

Cheers,

 

Cublet

[554John_M]

Thanks guys for the advice.

I have re-booked all our dinner times in the main restaurant for either 6.45 pm or 7.00 pm. That will be much better I think.

 

Regards,

Ed

[GlasgowGuy]

Hi all,

 

Went shopping today and got some more Christmas decorations for the cabin, very hard not to go overboard..hehe.. and buy too many.

 

We've had a look at the excursions and we'll be doing the 'Rome and Florence on your own' I booked a Segway direct for 3 hours while in Lisbon, I did that last cruise and it was amazing.

 

Hope you all have a great weekend,

 

William

 

P.S. Cublet, I wouldn't worry about your wine arriving late, the sommeliers have had an advance warning from the Eclipse crew :)

[cublet]

Hi all,

 

 

P.S. Cublet, I wouldn't worry about your wine arriving late, the sommeliers have had an advance warning from the Eclipse crew :)

 

If only one (or two) of the sommeliers or barmen could come too!

Disney's gain is Celebrity's loss.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[GlasgowGuy]

If only one (or two) of the sommeliers or barmen could come too!

 

I doubt very much if even Diamond+ would get you that benefit :p

[cublet]

I doubt very much if even Diamond+ would get you that benefit :p

 

But it would be interesting to see the number of different ways they could warm my bottle of red!:eek:

 

 

Best wishes,

 

Cublet

[GlasgowGuy]

Have a great time on the Adventure, you won't be home long before the Christmas cruise......not worth unpacking:)

[cublet]

Have a great time on the Adventure, you won't be home long before the Christmas cruise......not worth unpacking:)

 

Hello,

 

What you say is true as the laundry is cheaper on board than it is at home!

 

Day at sea tomorrow - let's see the tottie sunbathing:D

 

Best wishes,

 

Cublet

[GlasgowGuy]

Soon be time to set sail. Keep your fingers crossed the snow melts up here otherwise the journey down will be a nightmare.

 

TTFN

[cublet]

Hello,

 

Remind me about the Indy nibbles. Do we have to provide our own crisps like we did on the Eclipse instead of the dried veggies?

 

I've still got some nuts left over from the Adventure.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[554John_M]

Hey guys - have any of you ever used the Wi Fi facility on board one of these RCCL ships?

Is it a free service or do we have to pay ??

Anyone know how it works ?

Cheers,

Ed:)

[cublet]

Hey guys - have any of you ever used the Wi Fi facility on board one of these RCCL ships?

Is it a free service or do we have to pay ??

Anyone know how it works ?

Cheers,

Ed:)

 

Hello,

 

Nothing's for free!

 

I've not used it, only the internet cafe. The service is cripplingly slow unless it's either (a) some unheard-of time in the morning or (b) the ship is in port.

 

I have the actual range of costs at home but I paid a mid-range packet price with a discount of $0.50 per minute. You do need lots of minutes as, as I said, the service is so slow.

 

If you want to use your own equipment then either see the guy (usually) that hosts the internet cafe (at odd hours) or customer relations and they will give you some sort of access key.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[554John_M]

Tks - thought as much. I thought I had seen some prices on the RCCL website but I couldn't find it this morning. They appeared prohibitive from what I remember. That's why I was asking....:)

If Sid can't get his internet fix for nearly 3 weeks he will have to go into rehab:eek:

[GlasgowGuy]

Tks - thought as much. I thought I had seen some prices on the RCCL website but I couldn't find it this morning. They appeared prohibitive from what I remember. That's why I was asking....:)

If Sid can't get his internet fix for nearly 3 weeks he will have to go into rehab:eek:

 

Hi guys,

 

Internet costs are extortionate, not sure how much you would be charged for Wi Fi. The last experience I had of internet while at sea was on the Eclipse, it took 10 minutes just to log into my hotmail. If Sid can't get his internet fix onboard just head for the cafe's while we're in port. Have you guys started packing yet?

 

TTFN,

 

Will & Dave

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I have in my frozen tiny hand (I'm auditioning for the part of Mimi in La Boheme - joke!) the internet charges.

 

60 minutes - $35

100 minutes - $55

150 minutes - $75

250 minutes - $100

500 minutes - $150.

 

Reading the paper the wording suggests there is no difference in costs in the use of wifi as there is of the internet cafe.

 

GG is right - it is quite likely that an internet cafe on shore will be a better bet than the ship. If you want to do that on a sea day then let me know so that I can watch.:D

 

Best wishes,

 

Cublet

[GlasgowGuy]

GG is right - it is quite likely that an internet cafe on shore will be a better bet than the ship. If you want to do that on a sea day then let me know so that I can watch.:D

 

Best wishes,

 

Cublet

 

Tut tut! Watch what may I ask? I think your new name shall be 'Yoyeur Of The Seas' :)