Skicruiser and all, the crossing was a piece of cake....real smooth so don't worry. The ship and crew are wonderful. We were upgraded to a Cat A Penthouse cabin and we're enjoying the balcony and TB. Today it is warm and sunny in Bermuda, a high of 77* Spoke to some that went swimming today and they said that the water is cold. We are not booking any swimming or snorkeling excursions.....still a little too cool for us. They have replaced the Nonsuch Island tour with another type of boat & native species tour until July.......something to do with scientists working on the island. The admirals tour at the Royal Dockyards is also cancelled for this sailing but we have the same tour for our Giant's Select excursion so at least we won't miss it. The highspeed WildCat tour is not available either. New York on Tuesday was hotter then here about 86*. We stayed at the Plaza after all and it was great. Wonderful service and our room was in tip top condition. They even upgraded us to an Executive Suite. Had some drizzle on and off and then it rained on the crossing. It is cool at times on the ship so make sure you bring a sweater or a wrap. Especially for the first night out of N.Y. I'll give your cabin a ring when we get back on in Norfolk. If you have any questons before you board just post here and I will try and check back later. I just love this ship.......even better than the P.G. You will not be disappointed! Catch you later.

Thanks for the update - looking forward to meeting you!!! Glad everything is so wonderful. See you on Tuesday. ENJOY!!!


Kathy

How was the dress for the first informal night with the Captain?

Hey Pat!

Glad you are having a great cruise! It sounds wonderful. Keep posting if you can -can't wait to hear more.

Pat - have a wonderful time for all of us! and keep us posted!

Masaki

Hi Pat

Have a wonderful time. Looking forward to hearing from you, when time allows. Enjoy!

Hey Pat - glad to hear everything is going well. And such upgrades! WOW! You must live right...

Look forward to hearing more from you. <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />

Pat & Al:

You deserve this one!

Cheers! Ray & Penny

Will be happy to hear all the details. We will do the same cruise 7/14. Am interested to hear the clothing details...I am famous for overpacking and for once would like NOT to do that!

Hi Pat, glad to hear you are having a good time so far! Thanks for keeping us updated while onboard. Here's to a great week!

Tennispretzel,

I am currently packing. The car company in NYC will not take us if our luggage does not fit in the trunk. Trying not to take more than 3 suitcases for the two of us. Packing it in and taking it out. Trying to limit the shoes to no more than 6 pairs. Laundry? What kind of vacation is that????? What's a girl to do? Cold weather? Warm Weather? Beach and Pool Clothes? Informal? CC Casual? I am certainly in trouble here even with the Chicos Evening wear!

Hi again, friends! Regarding the dress onboard. I am finding that it is more casual then the norm.
On informal night about half of the people barely made the country club casual category.....it was very casual and I even saw people in the showroom in shorts and shirts with running shoes. On CCC nights people were dressed like they were going to the mall. No shorts but not what I would call elegant resort wear. Today was another beautiful sunny and hot day in Hamilton. Today was about 79*. By the time the rest of you get here it should be warm enough to swim. The beaches are breathtaking and the water has that beautiful blue green color. Re: the TB. He is around when we need something but we are pretty self sufficient so he does know to give us our privacy. A delightful gentlemen though! He brought crab claws last night instead of the canapes. Yummy!
Gotta run!

Pat:

I am surprised by your report on attire. When we were on Voyager, I saw a gentleman sent back to his room to get a coat on an informal night. Are they actually letting men into compass rose without jackets?

Pat,
Sounds delightful...especially that lovely blue-green water color....enjoy!!
Thanks for the update on "dress".

Pat:

The wave forecast for tomorrow looks good all the way to Norfolk. Have a great crossing!

Marc,

I'm surprised as well. Todd and I both felt people were more dressed up than we expected rather than less. Many men wore ties on Informal night on our cruise. Perhaps Pat's cruise has a younger demographic?

Kathy

We noticed that the on longer sailings and where the passengers are from as well as age impact the way they dress. On our Panama Canal Cruise, there was almost a 50-50 split between New Yorkers/Floridians and Californians. The age spread was 30's - 70's and was a spotlight cruise with a Food and Wine theme. The East Coasters were much more dressed than the Californians on the informal and casual nights. Same for Alaska - also about equal. On our Celebrity Carribbean (10 days) and RCCL 12 Day Carribbean (An older crowd) there were few Californians and much more formal all the nights.

St George's yesterday was very warm.....about 86* so I know you will all definately have good swimming weather from this date forward. Don't miss the ducking chair in the town square at 12:00 noon just in front of the pier. The poor girl. I thought they were going to only dunk her once but it seems they dropped her in the water about 10 times at least. We had our laptop onboard and we could pick up free internet signal in our cabin while docked in St. George's as our cabin is port side and we were docked with our balcony facing the town. In Hamilton we were docked with our balcony facing out into the harbor so I don't know if we could have picked up a signal there as well also if we had been docked the other way, but as we were positioned we could not. The internet in the computer room works much faster when in port then at sea. Today the temps at sea are about 72* and windy but sunny. The waves are starting to pick up more this afternoon but nothing out of the ordinary. Marc: our second informal night was last night and this time I saw people more dressed up. All the men did have their jackets on but most had no ties which is optional anyhow. Perhaps the crew were a little forgiving the first informal night (which was our second day out, Thursday). Maybe people were simply not aware of the dress code and did not read it in the daily newsletter. I know it took me until the third day before I caught up on all the literature that came in our door. The only thing we did make note of when the newsletter came in was the dress code for the evening. Tonight will be our third informal evening. Our demographics on this cruise seems to range from mid 50's to early 80's with only a few couples that look like they are in their mid 20's and are newlyweds. I have only seen two children on board. A boy about age 5 and a girl about 2 and both have been exceptionally well behaved, considering their ages. We are definately sold on the Navigator and her crew. They all seem to enjoy their jobs and do their jobs exceedingly well. Always with a friendly smile and no attitude. I have not encountered one grumpy crew member on this cruise. It has been a most delightful experience and we are sorry that it will soon be ending. Bermuda was wonderful also. So very civilized and the people are warm and so very curteous. It was nice to see hardly any cars or people after the hustle and bustle of N.Y. city. Ahhhhh but soon we will be thrust back into reality but it has been great having this little escape. This cruise in my opinion has lived up to the Radisson standard of being top notch in every way and a truly upscale experience. We have been disappointed with nothing. I just can't say enough good things about this ship and her crew. We have already made our next onboard open booking. Even though our ladies group decided not to chance the Voyager because of the vibration problem, hubby and I are hooked on Rad. We received our Seven Seas Society pins yesterday. Must run, canapes await.

Thanks, Pat,

It's so helpful to hear the reports. We are on the same side of the ship (724) that you are on. Are we missing something by not being on the Starboard side for this itinerary?

Pat, about how many people at SSS party? Which tour did you take in Norfolk? How did you like it?

thanks,

Pat,
Thanks for all the good information...am so glad you are not disappointed in a thing and that everyone of the crew is so nice and helpful. Can meet "grumps" at work--don't want to meet them on vacation!
Have you done much sightseeing or gone to a beach you've loved?
We will have two little ones in our group for the cruise...Radisson won't know what hit them when our very active 18 month olds come on board(as one of the grandmas, I will, of course, assure you they are well behaved angels and charming, haha.)

Well, that blew my theory about why the casual dress code is allowed in the Compass Rose on informal nights as I previously posted above. I purposely took my glasses with me to dinner (I can't see far away) on our 3rd informal night and just in our section alone of the dining room I spotted 4 gentlemen without a jacket and they were not even attired in long sleeve dress shirts but short sleeved Tommy Bahama type of shirts. I do think that Radisson is being very tolerant and not wanting to make a fuss if a pax is not suitably attired. I do see the trend of people doing their own thing more and more. Not saying if this is good or bad as both have their merits and downfalls. Marc, my husband rented a scooter in Hamilton but I did not go. I chickened out at the last minute. He said the roads were fine and had a grand time zipping around the island. Believe them when they say to use sunscreen. He came back a pinkish hue. Me, I opted for shopping.
We had a wonderful tour of the entire island and the Royal Naval Dockyards with our Giants Select Host. I only wish we had more time to spend at the dockyards. Lots to see and do there. We took the walking history tour in St. George. It really is not a hard walk and the tour guide seems to focus more on the flora and fauna then anything else. But after the tour I discovered why and that is because he and his Mother run the local florist shop. He also has another title but that is a surprise that I will leave for you if you take the tour. There are not many stores open on Sunday in St. George. Just a few on Water St. Warwick Beach was beautiful and both Al and I would like to take a direct flight back to Bermuda from Toronto for a 4 or 5 day long weekend and stay at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel. We spied their private beach and facilities and they are gorgeous. In Norfolk Al took the 3 1/2 hour Naval base and city tour and he enjoyed it alot. He wanted to do the 7 hour Triangle tour but it was cancelled as they did not have enough people. I went shopping again of course at the Waterside market and also at the MacArthur Mall. Just call me a shopaholic. I just was not very interested in naval stuff and it was so hot out that I just wanted the air conditioned comfort of a mall. It was 92* in Norfolk. I'm just not acclimatized to those kind of temperatures yet. When I left Toronto it was only 68* and we don't usually get temps of 92* until about June or July. People kept coming and going at the SSS party so I can't give an accurate count on how many were there but when we showed up their were about 10 in the room. Tennispretzel, I wouldn't worry about your little one. They will probably be the stars of the cruise. The ship's crew just love children and I saw them gushing and awing over the little ones on our cruise. The key is not that the children are bad cruisers but that certain parents let their children run amok instead of keeping watch over them. Your toddler will have fun I'm sure.