Hi -- I'm new here! I've been talking to Ngaire about next year's world cruise on the Voyager, and need all the info I can get. She suggested -- no, REQUIRED is a more accurate word! -- that I post something here. Bookings open soon, so time is more of an issue than you might think. Has anyone here done a world cruise? On Radisson or otherwise? Comments, complaints, suggestions, warnings -- all info is welcome!
Thanks --
Betty

Hi Betty and welcome to the boards! Read thru some of the threads and you will get a feel for what type of community this is. You will like it here very much. I no nothing about world cruises except that it sounds fun. I just wanted to say hi.

Welcome, Betty! I only WISH I knew about a world cruise, but when other posters see your message I'm sure you'll get lots of good information. This is a great group, as you'll see. Enjoy!

Hi Betty:

Welcome! While I haven't done a world cruise, I have done a 64 day cruise of the Pacific Rim. I'd sign on for a world cruise in a minute if my husband would agree, but right now we are planning cruises in the 30-40 day range.

There is a different mind set when planning a world cruise and preparing is so much fun.

Why don't you share your ideas and questions with us here. We can take vicarious pleasure in helping you prepare.

There are many experienced travelers who will have good suggestion, so please post away!

Slow Down Margo! I'm out of breath and can't type that fast!! LOL

Hi Betty! I was just telling Margo that I wished we would see some new posters and there your were!
How wonderful, we now have our first soon-to-be world cruise expert!
Welcome to the board and don't be afraid to ask any and all questions.

What Questions?? ALL questions!! We're not concerned about length. We've done 15 cruises so far of up to 62 days in length. The only problem with the 62-day trip was that they made us get off the ship at the end!! But this is a huge commitment of both $$ and time, so we want to have as much information as we can get.

Ngaire has been giving me some great information about the Voyager. She's recommending a G cabin on Deck 6 -- there will be no suite for this trip! Any comments here?

We're very happy that there are several ports with multiple-day-stops, and that the trip does indeed go all the way around the world. She's also been spectacular with ideas on how we can whittle the cost a little, but any more ideas in that direction would always be good -- but don't even bother suggesting we stick to drinking water the whole trip, that will never fly!

I've never posted on a chat board before, so please forgive me for all current and coming faux pas -- they're inevitable.

Betty

GrayWolf: Ngaire is the "wonder" woman - Joanna

I have sailed twice in Cabin 664, the farthest forward Cat H on the port side. We found the cabin wonderful. Not as much traffic as the midship Cat G. There is a vibration at the rear of the ship. It did not bother my wife or I. It was more noticeable in heavy seas and most noticeable with a following sea.

If you don't think the vibration will bother you, In my very humble opinion, it would be better to save the $4K or so on the Cat G and go for the Cat H instead. Especially if you going to be able to book the day it opens and get the farthest forward Cat H.

I should add that my mother was in 669. She found the vibration to be more bothersome. She has booked a midship Cat G, 651, for our next Voyager cruise.

Congratulations Graywolf for posting!!!!.

Your posts are great by the way, just like the way you talk, filled with personality.

Graywolf has been a lurker and I am so glad to see her post

Betty:

The good news is you're on the Voyager and every cabin is a suite! Also, wine and drinks with dinner plus all of the in-suite bottles should keep the bar tab pretty modest. On longer cruises there are many complimetary cocktail parties as well!

Is this your first Radisson cruise? There are many other items included that help to keep the cost reasonable.

You've found a great agent to help with the planning. We'll try to assist with the rest!

I've never posted on a chat board before, so please forgive me for all current and coming faux pas -- they're inevitable.

Betty [/QB][/QUOTE]

There is not much you can do wrong here except be mean or attack someone. You are free to be critical of your cruise experience and even disagree with another poster but we are not rude to each other here. We do not attack each other here. Those are Ngaire's rules and stickin' to 'em is easy. They make this forum a fun and safe place to visit.

So have at it, ask a million questions. The people who inhabit this community are a wealth of information and share it willingly and freely.

Enjoy!

Robert...I see you've lost your clock. What happened?

This is Graywolfs first time on Radisson. So all the answers you can give her the better. That is why I wanted her to post. DIfferent viewpoints are always great.

GrayWolf:

I see you live part time in Florida. Try to arrange to tour the ship 27 April in Ft Lauderdale.

Also, although Ngaire would know this best, it might be worthwhile to sail a short cruise prior to the world cruise to get your Seven Sea Society membership to get additional discount. If you will be in Washington in May, why don't you sail LA to Vancouver on the Mariner...it is still a two for one sailing.

Betty, welcome aboard lct! If it is your first Radisson cruise, you are sure to be impressed. Don't worry about having a "standard" cabin, as all cabins on the Voyager are "suites" with a nice sitting area, a curtain to separate the areas if one wants to sleep and the other stay up. The bathrooms are spectacular. I would go on a world cruise in a nanno second if I had the time and the money. Also, if the full-world passengers get all those extra perks like the last one, there will be incredible excursions that are gratis. I drooled just reading about them! Oh, and the lecturers on the long cruises are a cut above the ones on shorter itineraries, if my experience on a mini-segment in South America is correct.

Margo:

I am in clock hell. John is helping me. I thought I had it licked but my over inflated estimation of my computer skills is just that. Over inflated! Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

One of Ngaire's first (brilliant!) suggestions was that we book a 4-day Diamond trip so we could take advantage of both past-guest and onboard booking discounts. What a GREAT idea, and more than worth it! So as of today we're booked 4/18 on the Diamond -- the absolutely only available date we could go. Quite honestly we could give a rip about another Caribbean itinerary. But I've always been curious about the ship and our primary objective is every penny we can shave from the cost of this world trip!

We've cruised in everything from an 84 sqft cabin down the Amazon for 17 days to a 1400 sqft apartment on the World ... we've no doubts whatsoever about the quality of Radisson. Our confidence in their quality is a major reason we've chosen them for this huge trip. Of course we'd love to be booking a Master Suite, but that's simply not going to happen! We may have lived in Seattle for the past 30 years, but Bill Gates has yet to adopt us. I have tried ...

We're hoping to have three couples on this trip -- we met the other two couples on a 62-day circumnavigation of South America.

All of you sound like really 'normal' people, if that makes sense. Another reason we've chosen Radisson is that both Crystal and Seabourn just don't sound quite like our style. All of us like things very nicely done but not ostentatious. That's our impression of Radisson.

One of the things I'd appreciate feedback on is how formal things really are. I understand the numbers on 'x formal nights and y informal and z casual' but that really doesn't always tell the story. How formal does it feel?? For instance my perception (easily mistaken, I'll admit!) of Crystal is that on the (frequent) formal nights every single man is in a tux that was likely heavily starched AFTER he put it on. That's just not an atmosphere we find comfortable!

So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm looking for 'atmosphere' indications in general. Plus that, any insights from anyone who's been on a world cruise. And of course cabin suggestions for the Voyager!

You've all been so nice so far ... I do thank you!
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Betty

Hi Betty! I also know nothing about world cruises and our first cruise on RSSC is still coming up as well so I can't help even with questions re: RSSC. I just wanted to say hi and welcome!

Masaki

Welcome,
If my husband ever gets finished having all of his parts replaced I would sure love to go on the world cruise.That would even force me to retire

Betty,

I was catching up on posts and saw your questions about atmosphere on RSSC ships. I haven't been on the Voyager yet, but in our three RSSC cruises on other ships your phrase of "very nicely done but not ostentatious" would fit perfectly. RSSC's service is overall so courteous and competent -- the crew really seems happy to serve and help out, not just in an "it's my job" sort of manner -- and I'm sure you've gotten information about the lovely cabins. We were thrilled with our standard cabin on the Navigator, and my understanding is that the Voyager's are essentially the same.

As far as formal nights, my husband always has taken a dark suit rather than a tux, and he always has fit in just fine. Our experience has been that dark suits outnumbered tuxes on formal nights, although there were a considerable number of tuxes. I do not take evening wear as such, just either a nice dress or a black pants outfit. Basically, formal night feels "dressed up" and festive but not "formal" in a stuffed-shirt kind of way at all.

Ask away with anything else you wonder about!

Betty--we recently were on the Voyager for the LA-Sydney segment of the Grand Voyage--many people were staying on for the full 3 months. And I can tell you that they were much dressier than I had thought. We were traveling in AUS and NZ after the cruise for another 5 weeks and so did not want to bring too many extra clothes. My husband was literally the only man who did not wear a tuxedo out of about 470 passengers. The ladies wore evening gowns mostly for the formal nights (we had 4 in the 3 weeks)..."informal"nights for the ladies meant cocktail dresses. Even casual night wasn't what you might call casual. It didn't bother us to be somewhat underdressed--we enjoyed the fashion show! Packing for a trip like this is a challenge because you also have many climate changes from port to port. Anyway, what a great trip you have to look forward to!

Susan

Very interesting, Susan! Your formal night and informal night experience is so different from what we had seen. Maybe the Voyager is more formal than the other ships. Any other recent Voyager travelers who can comment?

By the way, Susan, welcome to the LCT boards. I see that you're a recent newcomer.

Betty,
your world cruise will be so fantastic. That would really be a dream come true!!

On our Voyager Mediterranean cruise in October (VOF- Voyager October First - as it is known amongst us as there were about 30 of us on the same sailing) I think either a tux or a dark suit was fine. I'd guess it was about 50/50 (my husband wore a Tux because he already owned it from daughter's wedding). A dark suit will be perfect! I do not think you will need to worry about clothes....on such a long cruise, you're going to do a lot of recycling your outfits and mixing and matching. With the self-Laundromat and ship's laundry service, you should be able to get by with close to what we brought for a one week cruise with 5 nights pre and post cruise....(with the exception of outer garments since you'll be experiencing such a variety of outdoor temps).

Hopefully, you'll find time to write a brief introduction on the "Introduction" topic. It's great reading about each other's backgrounds, hobbies, pets, etc. Welcome to this board! I think you'll always feel right at home asking any questions here....whether on topic or off topic as we often roam!

On the Voyager Panama Canal over New Years, we had four formal nights over 14 days. We had about 170 cruising who had boarded for the full Grand Asia Pacific. It sure looked like they would be a formal group.

Paul Gauguin, Alaska, and Bermuda are country club casual. The remaining itineraries have formal nights.

Betty, you can count on Ngaire to help you save money for this once in a lifetime cruise! If a 4 day Diamond cruise (to wherever) will get you that on-board booking and past passenger discount, go for it! The Diamond is a favorite of mine, because it is different from the other ships, being smaller. I love the dining room, the balconies, the ambiance of the smaller size, etc. But I would prefer the Voyager for a long cruise like yours. Bigger closet, bigger cabin, better bathroom, curtain between sitting and bedroom, more dining venues, and more varied entertainment and public areas. So they are really not the same physically, but share the wonderful service that is a hallmark of RSSC in my experience. I would think the passenger demographics of the World Cruise would closely resemble that which I encountered on the Voyager shakedown cruise with many cruisers with over 100 nights on Radisson. Usually people start out with shorter cruises. The longer the cruise, the older the average passenger, but only in age numbers! On the Voyager shakedown (my very first solo cruise) I found the passengers much more relaxed about reaching out to others, as they were very frequent cruisers. Most people are not traveling with a group of friends, (how many "groups" can you get to do a world cruise?) but hope to meet them on board. Once when I was out on deck at the rear of the ship taking sunset pictures, a lovely couple just stopped me (for no reason) on my way back to the cabin and invited me to sit down with them (they were dressed for dinner, I was not). We must have chatted for half an hour about everything. He was a retired surgeon, and on board I met people from all walks of life, from academia, law, business, medicine, public service, and a few who were still in the working world. You wanted to know about the "atmosphere". I would say that yes, RSSC passengers are "normal" people, just like most passengers are. The difference about the people that cruise on this line (from what I have seen in my 10 cruises with them) is that they don't try to pretend to be otherwise!

What a contradiction! But I expect it largely depends on the passenger mix that happens to be on board. Personally, we'd hope for something more like Priscilla described than what Susan described. I really liked what jhp said -- people don't try to pretend they're something they're not.

I did find what Marcie mentioned -- the Introductions section. I tried to do one, but lost it entirely somehow. So I guess I go start over!

By the way Marcie -- we saw the Voyager last October! I think it was in Malta?? If that's where it was, we were docked directly in front of you on the Oceania Regatta.

I must admit that the more I learn, the more excited I am to do this world cruise! I've really no doubt that RSSC is the right choice. I've printed everything Ngaire has emailed, plus she sent a brochure from this year's Grand Voyage. They're all dog-eared. This is a huge commitment, though -- my stomach definately has butterflies!

Betty

Betty,

I certainly can understand the butterflies. But what a wonderful trip of a lifetime the Grand Voyage would be! I can't imagine you being disappointed.

When Ngaire gets back I'm hoping she can shed more light on the "formality" of formal nights for you. Maybe the Grand Voyage has a little different atmosphere, given Susan's experience. I just don't know. (Wish I did!)

Sorry to hear you lost your introduction. We'll wait -- eagerly -- to read all about you.

Betty--just to clarify a bit more on the "formality" of the Grand Voyage. There certainly was no sense of stuffiness, or snobbishness. It was more a matter of people enjoying getting dressed up and having a good time. The people were very friendly and we didn't feel out of place. But the jewelry and gowns were certainly out in full force. And if you don't feel like going formal some nights you can order room service which is a real treat (we did this a couple of nights). The most important thing is that you will enjoy this most magnificent ship!

Susan