January 5
On board and underway. Oceania made the embarkation process much more difficult than it needed to be, and they embark a shipful of people almost every day. I would have thought they could do it better. I originally wrote a long diatribe, but rather we just put it in the background and continue with the cruise.
The Epic was a wonderful hotel in downtown Miami, and we had the opportunity to walk all around the Bayfront area. Even took the MetroMover, although we didn't experience the live shark that Dave Barry made so famous. Even after living for more than 20 years in South Florida we had never spent any time in Miami. It was a pleasant stay in Miami provided by Oceania.
At 11:30 we left our room for the bus trip to the ship, and by 3pm we were in our room aboard. The hours in between were painful and should have been handled better by Oceania. They should send the people in charge of this operation to Disney World to see how to manage people.
Once aboard, things were much nicer. The room is small but Cynthia planned well for storage. SIx suitcases worth of stuff had to go somewhere. Everything we have fits in the drawers and closets provided, with extra stuff under the beds. Only thing to mar the process was the apparent explosion of my smaller suitcase during transit. It arrived taped shut, although everything was still inside. During a particularly violent transition the zipper must have ripped open -- both zipper pulls were gone. So that suitcase became part of the trash pile, and was hauled off by the very nice cabin staff. I'll worry about getting everything off the ship later.
The Miami bayfront is a riot of color in the evening, significantly different than our last departure from Miami 10 years ago. The Intercontinental has a light show going on -- I wonder if the people inside are aware of it?
Today is cloudy and rainy -- I did my walking on a treadmill in the fitness center rather than walking on the open deck. The Captain has invited us (and a hundred others) for a reception for the World Cruisers. Mimosas for all!
...
Back from the reception and lunch with interesting news...240 people are Around The Worlding. There's even a special ATW Hostess and ATW Concierge for us. Not sure just what they do, but the attention is appreciated. We met Sue, a first time cruiser who is sailing the entire 180 days....what an introduction to cruising! And what a brave person.
Back from the reception and lunch with interesting news...240 people are Around The Worlding. There's even a special ATW Hostess and ATW Concierge for us. Not sure just what they do, but the attention is appreciated. We met Sue, a first time cruiser who is sailing the entire 180 days....what an introduction to cruising! And what a brave person.
Still another day and a half to the first port, Aruba. The sun has come out, it's hot and humid.
Dave
9 comments:
Bummer about the suitcase (and embarkation). You could look for a couple of cheap duffels at various ports to replace it....
240! That's a lot of around the world Ears!
Hi Dave and Cynthia,
We are from Adelaide,South Australia and will be following your blog. We join the cruise in Shanghai for the leg down to Sydney. You have got me interested enough to start my own blog which is something I haven't done before so will read and learn from your escapades.
Chris and Rhonda
Sorry to hear embarkation was less than organized. It's good to put it behind, but if you could elaborate just a bit, it would help those of us following in your footsteps next year to be aware of what to expect, and perhaps prepare for it in some way. Thanks. Have a wonderful voyage now that embarkation is behind you.
Not much to elaborate unless you're boarding in Miami and staying at the hotel provided by Oceania.
The hotel to bus transition was done poorly when they started making up new procedures not presented to the group as a whole.
Colored tickets were handed out for bus boarding but not everyone knew to get the tickets and O rep admitted that it had not been published that this was to be the procedure. Therefore, even if you had arrived in the lobby early, you could easily end up on the last bus.
Then the lines for checkin at port bldg were very poorly managed, essentially moving into a free-for-all with poor situational awareness by the O officials.
Four lines existed, 1) 60 people long, 2)40 people long, 3) 80 people long, 4) 60 people long -- although the turns of the lines did not make the different lengths evident.
The officials directed people equally into each line, then exited people from each line to a checkin desk with equal frequency. There had been a line coded to color of cabin level and one for RTW travelers but that had been abandoned by the time we arrived at the bldg.
Very unfair if you were in line 3. Great if you were in line 2. My best suggestion is to bypass O, take a taxi and arrive at terminal as soon as checkin starts, and miss most of the pain. We went to the lobby at 11:30am, and got to our stateroom at 3pm.......david
We had a similar embarkation with Royal Caribbean in Puerto Rico. It was a known weekly problem and they still didn't fix it....
We had a similar embarkation with Royal Caribbean in Puerto Rico. It was a known weekly problem and they still didn't fix it....
Thanks for the additional info. I will make note of the problems encountered and take action accordingly. We will be staying at the O hotel, but may opt for the taxi rather than the shuttle.
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