World cruise 2024 starts here !

[RichardBartlett]

Marcardo

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[RichardBartlett]

Gran Canaria
At last some decent weather. It's been so bloomin cold the first week but whilst we miss the culture of mainland it reminds us why we live here in the Canary Islands. 10.00am and 23c

The feel this year is more subdued and downbeat. The changes to the route has upset most passengers from wow to oh ok levels of excitement.

Last year the captain set the tone by walking the ship everywhere saying hello asking how are you type questions. That meant all the officers and staff were the same so it felt we were all together
This year this captain is invisible as are the rest of his team so it's the usual front of house doing the face to face stuff leaving a them and us feel.

Plus being a snob the level of passengers seems a bit lower. On gala night hardly any one bothered to dress appropriately . The different cultures make it tricky to all get along. Since the COVID restrictions in the far east have gone we have lots of sharp elbowed Chinese. Nice people but queuing isn't in their nature



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[emersm]

Looks like you're having a great time and the pictures are fantastic! Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

[RichardBartlett]

Las Palmas old town . This was and is the capital of the canaries. It's where the main parliament sits. Although Tenerife generates more money due to tourism which creates inter island rivalry

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[996marty]

Some great photos so far

[austinp]

Great Pics! Looks like you have the city to yourself.


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[JasoninDenver]

Can you post a pic of your cabin? Just curious about how its like living on board a ship for so long.

[RichardBartlett]

Originally Posted by JasoninDenver

Can you post a pic of your cabin? Just curious about how its like living on board a ship for so long.

Sorry been having internet issues.will do

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[RichardBartlett]

Cape Verde island just off the coast of Africa. There was a lot of disappointment about this port stop from previous visitors especially when they added the second day. But for us the second day made it worthwhile. One day is ok but two gave everyone time to breathe of ship.

Sure there isn't a whole lot going on but as we have 7 days at sea to get to Namibia but we all had plenty of beach time and as we live on a similar island we never sunbathe or beach days so it was nice and the beach was better than what we have. Not Clearwater beach level but not far behind

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[RichardBartlett]

Still having internet issues

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[RichardBartlett]

Fish on the docks

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[RichardBartlett]

Days at sea can be either relaxing, educational or a mad time
Today we crossed the equator which means a Neptune party .

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[RichardBartlett]

Originally Posted by JasoninDenver

Can you post a pic of your cabin? Just curious about how its like living on board a ship for so long.

We have an inside cabin

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[JasoninDenver]

Originally Posted by RichardBartlett

We have an inside cabin

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Wow, thats bigger than I thought!

[RichardBartlett]

Originally Posted by JasoninDenver

Wow, thats bigger than I thought!

It's a cost based decision. A balcony carries a hefty daily premium which over 4 months amounts to a tidy sum. The real advantage is we lose tract of time , not just due to the frequent time changes but that it's completely sealed and total blackout. We now leave the bathroom door ajar with the light on to give some dim hue in the room. Really helps for going to the bathroom during the night.

Had a very strange incident today with my wife who was at the Neptune party over the other side from me, a chap pushed her to get a better view.. she politely asked him not to push he huffed and went away
1 minute later a black lady (I'm pretty sure she's American although her husband looks British,TBC Dalia' being Lithuanian isn't very good at telling different English accents so couldn't say) stormed up and said "you f**k with my husband you f**k with me" and proceeded to eff and blind at her calling her a white xyz several times trying to race bait her to say something 'racist' , her final comment "I'm her for 4 months so I'm watching you an I will kill you"

Naturally we reported it and they escalated it up as a serious incident. Whilst discussing it with the head of security the couple actually walked past, Dalia' pointed and said "that's her" security immediately stopped them and brought them over. At which point we were told to leave so he could interview her.

People go a little crazy when cooped up and at sea but watching various short clips it seems more and more have little self control and feel they have the right to be abusive irrespective of the situation

The world is becoming less and less civilised sadly

[Kinnakeet]

I enjoy following your adventure. It’s too bad you had that incident.

[RichardBartlett]

Originally Posted by Kinnakeet

I enjoy following your adventure. It’s too bad you had that incident.

Small update
One of our table guests when told the story said "oh that must be Rita,she's known for this behaviour as on the last world cruise (on another MSC boat to ours) she kicked off big time in the restaurant and security was called to take her out...."

[enjoythemusic]

"take her out"... Squid Game style? ;)

Thanks for the many great pics of your fun adventures.

[austinp]

Don’t let that crazy lady ruin your trip! Keep the pics coming.


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[77T]

Loved the only cruise I was ever on.

But to have a loony’s wrath to boot?
I hope they have a brig onboard.

Thanks for sharing the cruise!


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[996marty]

Sorry to read of the incident with the aggressive passengers hopefully it doesn’t spoil any of your great looking adventures

[JasoninDenver]

I cannot believe the rudeness we see in people at our local ski resort on a regular basis. Just last week a tourist pushed my daughter out of the way as he cut a line and then yelled at her. When I intervened, he was ready to fight.

Man, if you cannot relax on vacation, you got a problem. Hope this woman gets booted off the boat quickly. I bet she will.

[BNA/LION]

Looks like a fun time so far, minus Crazy couple! Travel Safe, Enjoy and Create Memories Together you can look back on later in life.

[Moondoggy]

Thanks for pics i enjoy travel blogs

[piratfisk]

Originally Posted by RichardBartlett

Days at sea can be either relaxing, educational or a mad time
Today we crossed the equator which means a Neptune party .

The "crossing of the line" ceremony in the Navy is so much different than this. I'm honored to be a golden shellback (and the Order of Magellan). I'm glad you've transitioned from being a filthy pollywog :)

[codecow]

Looks like fun.

I did a 14 day cruise in 2022 and it felt like I dropped off the face of the planet. This summer doing one from Norway and then all around the UK, I think we’re gone for 21 days or something long like that. I don’t like being away that long but Mrs wants to do it so…

Generally I’m wondering if you avoid the riff raff by going up market? Something like Silversea is expensive and even though they’re relaxing their dress code a bit, it’s expensive! So far on expensive lines I have never encountered anyone out of order.

One issue I guess is that the ships are much smaller, so if there is a problem it’s magnified.

[RichardBartlett]

Ok so we made Namibia but due to the many schedule changes meant dalia's visa wasn't valid. So we had a day in port onboard

However the visa is dated for our return trip in a month's time so we have a overnight stop end of February.
On the way to Durban now as we port hop up to Mombasa Kenya

The ship had starlink internet fitted which whilst better than the old system of last year's world cruise, still isn't as good as expected so uploading pictures remains a challenge

[RichardBartlett]

Oh and we had a 5 day world cruise team quiz, 26 teams of 10 took part

We came second.!

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by RichardBartlett

Oh and we had a 5 day world cruise team quiz, 26 teams of 10 took part

We came second.!

Congrats!

[codecow]

Originally Posted by RichardBartlett

Oh and we had a 5 day world cruise team quiz, 26 teams of 10 took part

We came second.!

Wow!

I don’t think I have ever done well, I always like playing those trivia events though.