I'm not sure what it is, but it seems like every time Mike and I take a cruise, we've gotten out of town right before a major snowstorm. 2009 we drive to the airport in a snowstorm and after de-icing the plane we take off leaving the rest of the family to fend off the blizzard. 2010 we sail out of New York and come home to 20 inches of snow. Now, for 2011, our track record remains intact: a 14 incher is heading our way and should start to rear its ugly head about 5 hours after we land in sunny Florida.
I finished all of my packing over the weekend and this time I actually remembered to pack the cruise documents and put the cruise luggage tags on the suitcases so I'm already way ahead of the game. I just heard the sound of wheels rolling across the kitchen floor so I am assuming that Mike has finished his packing as well. As always, I put all of his outfits together and packed for him earlier, but I know he always likes to throw some last minute stuff into his bag.
It's so weird; I keep having this thought in the back of my head that I'm going to arrive at the port tomorrow and they're going to say to me that my cabin has been changed. It's probably just a lingering thought from having had the chance at a Penthouse Suite but it would be wild if it happens. At this point, I'd just be happy moving to a different deck - 8 through 10 - that features a launderette. I just know I'm going to have to do some ironing and as far as doing laundry, well that just goes without saying.
Found out tonight that our sailaway is going to be broadcast live in HDTV on CLICK HERE TO SEE ME WAVING LIKE A LUNATIC and it's supposed to be a 6pm sailaway but when I checked the Port Log it shows the Mariner departing at 5pm so who knows? But the wonderful gentleman (Lou) manning the cameras said he would catch it live and also capture some still shots so whatever time we sail I'm sure he'll be recording it for posterity.
Okay, so if I get to bed (sleep!) right now I can get 5 hours of shut eye and then the bags under my eyes will be slightly less noticeable than if I were to stay up all night. What are the chances??
Showing posts with label Cruise critic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cruise critic. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Less Than Two Weeks Away
Sitting here I just realized that we are leaving in LESS THAN 2 weeks, and since things didn't seem to work out with the diet anyway I decided to just grab a couple of Oreos and bring you all up to speed.
I started pulling out some of my summer clothes to pick some outfits and get them ready for packing. Of course all my skorts and shorts are wrinkled because they've been folded up sitting on wire shelves in the closet since September. Logically, I decide to throw them in the dryer with a damp bath towel to "steam" the wrinkles out. Mike asks why I bother, his "solution" is to just wear wrinkled clothes and if anyone doesn't like it well that is just their problem. I try to explain that, NO it is MY problem because people will think that his wife is too damned lazy to iron his clothes. Which of course isn't true; the truth is his wife is too damned lazy to throw them back in the dryer! Anyway so that leads to a discussion of just what exactly he wants to pack because he refuses to pack any long sleeved button-down shirts but all of his short sleeve button-downs are either batik (oh, I LOVE my monkey shirt, he says. I don't bother telling him that those are LIZARDS not Monkeys!) or retro vintage style bowling shirts. Neither of which really go with the dress slacks I have selected for him. Unless he suddenly morphs into Cosmo Kramer which might not have been a bad thing during Kramer's halcyon days of Seinfeld but not such a good thing now post the stand-up rant...
Crap, I've eaten like 5 Oreos already
Finally I just agreed to let him wear what he wants even if that includes a pull-over windbreaker if it's chilly in the dining room and he only has short sleeved shirts, and he agrees not to throw me overboard once we're out at sea.
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The upsell fairy came to visit and it was soooooooo painful to have to tell my TA to turn down the offer. It was a really good offer, too, but we just couldn't justify the extra expense for features that we don't even have any need of. (i.e. butler service). But I appreciate my agent getting right on this and attempting to hook me up! I'm sure I've said this before, but I'll say it again, if you are looking for a good luxury travel agent (and looking for a good price as well), I highly recommend Joe and JP from CHIC LUXURY CRUISES click here! Seriously I wonder if we'll be chilling out in our cabin or on our balcony and look at each other and say, "we shoulda....."
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Speaking of my TA, he finally got confirmation from Kristin at Regent that my group meeting space had been arranged. Not at Horizon Lounge (which I had requested specifically for its outdoor seating area) but they have given me Observation Lounge for the date and time I wanted. Further investigation, however, leads me to be happy about the change of venue because the Observation Lounge bar generally opens at 11am which is one of the earliest to open! So we can get this party started right away :-) Another interesting side note about this whole meet & greet affair is that I did finally get a response from someone in corporate addressing my dissatisfaction with the lack of ....hmmm, I can't think of the word..... shown by Regent compared to other cruise lines. I also expressed my surprise at the Regent staff acting as if they had never heard of Cruise Critic when at least three of the mucky-mucks at Regent do in fact post on CC (Frank Del Rio, Mark Conroy, Tim Rubacky)
So, I did finally get a response and I'm pasting it here without the to/from info:
Neither Regent nor Oceania do the CC parties as we limit these types of functions strictly to those group functions arranged through our agent partners.
One of the most valuable resources we give our agent partners is the ability to host cocktail parties or private functions for their clients and to do so for CC, or any other internet forum, would dilute that substantially.
The beauty of the Oceania and Regent vessels is that they are human sized and thus, guests find each other quiet easily, unlike say on the 3000 passenger Celebrity ships.
I certainly hope you understand.
Well, sorry, I don't understand and I think that is the lamest excuse/rationale I could ever envision. But I got my way so it's all good!!
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10 Oreos down.... time to stop writing before I can't zip the wrinkled shorts!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Mingling with fellow passengers
I am coordinating a Meet and Greet with some of my fellow passengers who are members of Cruise Critic . For those of you who are new to cruising, Cruise Critic is an online community of cruise travelers who share their experiences and can offer great advice. Anyway, I have hosted Meet & Greet events on NCL for fellow passengers and they are always well-received. Not to brag or anything, but one of my three God-given talents just happens to be bringing people together and creating a fun event, so the Meet and Greet concept is something that I'm really cut out for. (Oh, you're wondering what the other two are? Well, one is spelling and the other is..... sorry! If I told you I'd have to kill you!!!)
The event planning for both of my recent previous Meet & Greets on NCL were handled seamlessly with the NCL staff at Corporate and onboard. Basically, an e-mail to the event coordinator on my particular ship letting him/her know that I wanted to set up a Meet & Greet was all that was needed. In return I get an e-mail letting me know that the date/time/location I have requested is okay -- or they offer a different location or time if my request conflicts with another event. When I arrive onboard, there is a letter from NCL confirming my event information. NCL handles everything else. In fact, at the one I conducted in February, many of the ships' departments were represented by their department heads (i.e. hotel director, excursions manager, food & beverage manager, etc.) and each of these individuals gave a brief introduction of themselves and an overview of their departments' processes. It was a top-notch exhibition. For the first Meet & Greet I did on NCL, approximately 4-5 officers or staff attended, and while they didn't give speeches, they were on hand to answer questions of the M & G guests. In addition, both times the ship provided a sign outside the designated area indicating that a Meet & Greet was "being held here" and they provided refreshments (non-alcoholic) and pastries or cookies. I'm writing all of this down for you so you have some background into my mindset. Also, keep in mind that NCL is a MAINSTREAM cruise line with rockbottom fares -- nothing at all like Regent with its elegant and refined atmosphere, clientele and matching prices.
Okay, so let's fast-forward to my upcoming Mariner voyage. My last time out on the Mariner, there were only 6 cruise critic members that I was able to "hook up" with so the idea of a formal Meet and Greet obviously wasn't going to happen (although I did end up meeting everyone eventually and actually spent quite a bit of time with a couple of them......hey Ralph & Tony!) But this time, wow, we have got a boatload (pun intended) of CC'ers setting sail on January 11 so naturally I am coordinating a Meet & Greet so we can put some faces to our screen names. After amassing a group of approximately 30 potential guests, I contacted Regent to advise them of my plans and to find out the e-mail address of my ship's event coordinator. Silly me, I thought it would be as easy to do this as NCL makes it, but here's what happened.....
FIRST EMPLOYEE: Representative had never heard of Cruise Critic -- okay, that's understandable -- immediately switched me over to someone else
SECOND EMPLOYEE: Seemed to grasp the idea of a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet but had never heard of anyone ever doing one and did not know if there was an event coordinator on the Mariner, suggested I call a different number
THIRD EMPLOYEE: at the "other number", offered to sell me a cocktail package at $16.50 per person and when I explained that it sounded lovely but 1) we could all very well go pick up our drinks for free before entering the room and 2) I spent all of my money on my cruise tickets and didn't have $500+ left to unnecessarily pay for cocktails for a bunch of strangers, she was totally flummoxed
FOURTH EMPLOYEE: day 2 of phone calls because I was starting to get irate during my initial calls, and didn't want to come across as harsh in the unlikely event I actually got to talk to someone who could help me. Employee #4 actually had heard of cruise critic (hooray!) and stated that the request had to come from my travel agent. "Do you understand that my travel agent did not book cabins for all 30 of us?" "Well, then their travel agents would have to set it up." "But I don't KNOW any of these people!!!" "Is there a manager or supervisor available I can talk to?"
FIFTH EMPLOYEE (possibly a Manager, but I have my doubts): "This has to go through your travel agent"
Let me break here to assure you, kind reader, that:
1. I was speaking English during all phone calls as were the Regent employees
2. I am very well spoken
3. I was not inebriated or otherwise verbally incapacitated
The point I was trying to get across to all of these employees:
1. I was trying to do them a favor by requesting an out of the way location of their choice for our gathering, rather than having 30 passengers suddenly storm in to some inconvenient area
2. I was giving them the OPTION of having some staff there to promote the Regent brand
3. I was NOT asking for any other assistance -- I WILL DO announcements, I WILL DO invitations, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING
So basically, I just gave up and called my TA, apologized for making additional work for him and sure enough, the next day he got an e-mail from Kristen at Regent who said she would "look into it but couldn't confirm anything until December."
Meanwhile, I had this really cool idea for the Meet and Greet which I'm now going to have to tweak because not having the final confirmation until December will not give me enough time for my original plan. I can't say what it is because I suspect that some of my fellow roll callers might pop in to read this so the rest of you will have to wait until January 13th or later for pictures!!!!
The event planning for both of my recent previous Meet & Greets on NCL were handled seamlessly with the NCL staff at Corporate and onboard. Basically, an e-mail to the event coordinator on my particular ship letting him/her know that I wanted to set up a Meet & Greet was all that was needed. In return I get an e-mail letting me know that the date/time/location I have requested is okay -- or they offer a different location or time if my request conflicts with another event. When I arrive onboard, there is a letter from NCL confirming my event information. NCL handles everything else. In fact, at the one I conducted in February, many of the ships' departments were represented by their department heads (i.e. hotel director, excursions manager, food & beverage manager, etc.) and each of these individuals gave a brief introduction of themselves and an overview of their departments' processes. It was a top-notch exhibition. For the first Meet & Greet I did on NCL, approximately 4-5 officers or staff attended, and while they didn't give speeches, they were on hand to answer questions of the M & G guests. In addition, both times the ship provided a sign outside the designated area indicating that a Meet & Greet was "being held here" and they provided refreshments (non-alcoholic) and pastries or cookies. I'm writing all of this down for you so you have some background into my mindset. Also, keep in mind that NCL is a MAINSTREAM cruise line with rockbottom fares -- nothing at all like Regent with its elegant and refined atmosphere, clientele and matching prices.
Okay, so let's fast-forward to my upcoming Mariner voyage. My last time out on the Mariner, there were only 6 cruise critic members that I was able to "hook up" with so the idea of a formal Meet and Greet obviously wasn't going to happen (although I did end up meeting everyone eventually and actually spent quite a bit of time with a couple of them......hey Ralph & Tony!) But this time, wow, we have got a boatload (pun intended) of CC'ers setting sail on January 11 so naturally I am coordinating a Meet & Greet so we can put some faces to our screen names. After amassing a group of approximately 30 potential guests, I contacted Regent to advise them of my plans and to find out the e-mail address of my ship's event coordinator. Silly me, I thought it would be as easy to do this as NCL makes it, but here's what happened.....
FIRST EMPLOYEE: Representative had never heard of Cruise Critic -- okay, that's understandable -- immediately switched me over to someone else
SECOND EMPLOYEE: Seemed to grasp the idea of a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet but had never heard of anyone ever doing one and did not know if there was an event coordinator on the Mariner, suggested I call a different number
THIRD EMPLOYEE: at the "other number", offered to sell me a cocktail package at $16.50 per person and when I explained that it sounded lovely but 1) we could all very well go pick up our drinks for free before entering the room and 2) I spent all of my money on my cruise tickets and didn't have $500+ left to unnecessarily pay for cocktails for a bunch of strangers, she was totally flummoxed
FOURTH EMPLOYEE: day 2 of phone calls because I was starting to get irate during my initial calls, and didn't want to come across as harsh in the unlikely event I actually got to talk to someone who could help me. Employee #4 actually had heard of cruise critic (hooray!) and stated that the request had to come from my travel agent. "Do you understand that my travel agent did not book cabins for all 30 of us?" "Well, then their travel agents would have to set it up." "But I don't KNOW any of these people!!!" "Is there a manager or supervisor available I can talk to?"
FIFTH EMPLOYEE (possibly a Manager, but I have my doubts): "This has to go through your travel agent"
Let me break here to assure you, kind reader, that:
1. I was speaking English during all phone calls as were the Regent employees
2. I am very well spoken
3. I was not inebriated or otherwise verbally incapacitated
The point I was trying to get across to all of these employees:
1. I was trying to do them a favor by requesting an out of the way location of their choice for our gathering, rather than having 30 passengers suddenly storm in to some inconvenient area
2. I was giving them the OPTION of having some staff there to promote the Regent brand
3. I was NOT asking for any other assistance -- I WILL DO announcements, I WILL DO invitations, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING
So basically, I just gave up and called my TA, apologized for making additional work for him and sure enough, the next day he got an e-mail from Kristen at Regent who said she would "look into it but couldn't confirm anything until December."
Meanwhile, I had this really cool idea for the Meet and Greet which I'm now going to have to tweak because not having the final confirmation until December will not give me enough time for my original plan. I can't say what it is because I suspect that some of my fellow roll callers might pop in to read this so the rest of you will have to wait until January 13th or later for pictures!!!!
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