Royal #@$%^&* Caribbean

While I am in whining mode I may as well tell you all the things wrong with our bargain cruise. Keep in mind, we are on a 14 day cruise that we originally paid $899 each for, then found a cheaper price and got a $300 refund each, plus a $100 on-board credit each (Following the math means we ended up paying less than $500 each or $36 per day each for hotel, food and entertainment). As bargain shopping world travelers, this was an ideal deal. Our itinerary included a visit to Bermuda for an overnight and day, the Azores, Lisbon, Cadiz, Malaga and finally, Barcelona. We heard prior to departure that the stop in the Azores was cancelled without explanation. So, why the whine?

First of all- let me tell you about the Navigator of the Seas, one of the largest ships on the water. Part of Royal Caribbean’s new Independence class ships it holds 3500 passengers plus crew. It has a skating rink, a huge climbing wall and a promenade deck that looks like a street of shops and pubs. When it is empty I bet there are few ships to rival it for beauty and diversity in venues. But, when it is full of fellow bargain hunters it is like Wal-Mart on the day a going-out-of-business sale is announced. You have to wait for elevators then ride them fully packed, line up fifteen minutes before the doors open thirty-minutes prior to show-times to get seats for the ice shows, and walk hunched over your plate in the buffet line so that the crowd doesn’t knock it out of your hands or cough all over it. Our New Zealand cruise was aboard Rhapsody of the Seas, a smaller ship in the fleet and we thought it was wonderful. So, we have decided not to take the large ships again.

Second whine- On the trans-Atlantic cruises you spend quite a long time at sea. In our case, over half our 14 days involved no stops at all. Many people really enjoy this time, taking full advantage of the day time activities (climbing, skating, trivia, bingo, etc) and the evening activities (gambling, dancing, game shows). We don’t participate in any of these. We spend our time in more private pursuits like reading, walking, watching politics on the news (Mike is SOOO into this political season) . We treasure the shore days as breaks in the routine and a chance to see these exotic ports of call. Unfortunately yesterday as the ship was set to depart Lisbon the captain announced that we had broken a stabilizer (or if you are speaking in his Norwegian accent…stab a li zer.) The Portuguese authorities to whom this had been reported were not granting us to permission until it is fixed, so the captain was busy trying to figure out how to get a crew in to fix it. Every few hours we have had updates. First news… today’s stop in Cadiz/Seville was cancelled. Next news….we had to leave the Lisbon dock because another boat had it reserved so we were going out to float in the river and would apply for permission to anchor. After idling for a day in the river, next word was that we were granted to travel two hours away into the ocean where we were out of risk of the tides and could anchor. Then we had to wait for a barge and equipment to arrive so that the divers could make quick repairs to last until Barcelona. Oh, and the Malaga stop was cancelled. Next announcement…we will be traveling directly to Barcelona whenever we can go, and hopefully we will make it in time for connecting flights. This is our second cruise to involve damage to the ship. Our New Zealand cruise has a broken rudder which caused a skipped port made up by a $100 credit. No word on what the cruise lines will do to make up for the missed ports this time. Free cruise, anyone? With 3500 Wal-Mart shoppers.

Assuming we make it off the ship in Barcelona in time to reach the airport for our 2:00 flight to Rome, we will be on track for our reunion with Caitie in Florence on Saturday night. Keep your fingers crossed.

Now that I am in the swing of things again I will write tomorrow and let you know what happens to the marooned traveling gypsies floating around outside Lisbon.

Love, Deanne