World's largest cruise ship docks at Limassol

[Paphos Life]

The largest cruise ship in the world, the Wonder of the Seas, recently acquired by American cruise giant Royal Caribbean, has docked at Limassol Port ahead of its maiden season. ...

Read the article and chat about it below...

[WHL]

The largest cruise ship in the world, the Wonder of the Seas, recently acquired by American cruise giant Royal Caribbean, has docked at Limassol Port ahead of its maiden season. ...

Read the article and chat about it below...

We have been on a cruise on this ship, and trust me there are times you forget your on a ship

[WHL]

WHL I had already guessed these massive cruise ships are actually floating cities. If it is so unlike a ship then is it really a cruise?

They have a central park with bloody trees growing in it

[Kili01]

Cant't think of anything much worse than going on a giant like this one with nearly 7,000 other people! Imagine how long it must take to embark or disembark them!

I much prefer much smaller ships!
Still horses for courses as the saying goes!

Dee

[trevnhil]

I have never been on a Cruise Liner. But I would not want to take a holiday on there.
But obviously, there are many many thousands of people who will want to be on board

[WHL]

Cant't think of anything much worse than going on a giant like this one with nearly 7,000 other people! Imagine how long it must take to embark or disembark them!

I much prefer much smaller ships!
Still horses for courses as the saying goes!

Dee

It doesn't take any longer to embark or disembark as any other ship, these ships sail out of Miami, and if you see their terminals you will know why.

[trevnhil]

The last sentence "Royal Caribbean has cast its vote of confidence in the island, announcing it will continue cruises from Cyprus, calling Limassol Port home for the next two years " seems to say it will be using Limassol Port.
Is this anything like Miami ?

[WHL]

The last sentence "Royal Caribbean has cast its vote of confidence in the island, announcing it will continue cruises from Cyprus, calling Limassol Port home for the next two years " seems to say it will be using Limassol Port.
Is this anything like Miami ?

I think they mean it will be parked up off Limassol for the foreseeable future until this covid is done, the only way these ships can operate at a profit, is to fill them up, that will not happen operating out of Cyprus. I for one haven't seen this ship being advertised for cruises out of Cyprus as yet.

[PhotoLady]

We've done several cruises on small ships and have enjoyed them as, like being in a reasonable sized hotel you get to see and recognise faces, have conversations and enjoy the company (sometimes) of table companions. The staff also get to know you too.

These massive ships don't hold any attraction for us but we have a friend and her husband who take a cruise out of Miami every couple of years.

But something she mentioned a few months back whilst trying to persuade us and another couple to go with them, threw any chance of us ever stepping foot on the gangplank.

Having to pre-order my meal for the next evening is not for me or my husband. Surely, after cruising specific routes with passengers boarding on a regular basis from various countries, the kitchens would be au fait with what their mixed nationalities will devour and the dishes that they tend to avoid.

We stayed in a hotel used by a Scottish coach tour operator one year when we came back to UK for a week during our property search for our intended return from Cyprus. Each morning at breakfast we were presented with the evening menu and a check list.
I was appalled, particularly as we'd just spent 5 nights in a different hotel further up the coast where no such thing existed.

We love arriving at new ports and exploring, mostly without any organised excursion and read up about what we want to see and how to get there. One time, our plans were thrown as one port visit was cancelled and replaced with another so we ended up at Volos, taking the excursion to the wonderful Meteora.

We have 2 people who are friends of our neighbours currently on the Azura which departed from Barbados over a week ago. Both late 70s and totally prepared to walk away from the trip just short of 2 weeks before their departure due to the technological difficulties they faced with the Covid protocols. They would have lost 90% of their holiday cost as their balance had been paid in full in October.
Like every other holiday they've had booked they expected it would be cancelled or rescheduled.
The cruise was booked before Covid existed in our lives.

I couldn't allow that loss so have mugged up on all what was required as after getting hold of the cruise agent and the cruise company to be informed cancellation wasn't an option, other than one or both of them contracting or having to isolate with Covid.

We've diligently gone through the process together over the remaining time, booking Covid tests which had to be performed by a health technician rather than a self test and spending 3hrs the day before, completing the paperwork together online with my husband printing it all off.
Three document wallets each later, they walked out of our front door, happier they finally understood the process and procedures.
We got a message from them to say the antigen test at the airport prior to boarding the flight was clear and they were in their seats.
Next morning, a further text - all unpacked and in their cabin.
Relief at this end was rather ecstatic!

Meanwhile, several passengers from various ships have been removed and relocated to another under quarantine isolation in their cabins. Some of these are people who opted to pay and add on extra sailing time whilst onboard the original cruise but then testing positive when they came to the mandatory test at one of the ports.

Definitely not the ideal time to be sitting in a block of apartments with thousands of others as it meanders to places you cannot visit unless you test and take mandatory excursions or sit on a beach but only after paying for an organised taxi by the cruise company.
Or worse, stuck in your cabin with every meal being delivered to your door while you either get the all clear and released or collected by the dedicated ship and escorted off in hazmat suits.

Nope, big ships are most definitely not on our bucket list.

[WHL]

We've done several cruises on small ships and have enjoyed them as, like being in a reasonable sized hotel you get to see and recognise faces, have conversations and enjoy the company (sometimes) of table companions. The staff also get to know you too.

These massive ships don't hold any attraction for us but we have a friend and her husband who take a cruise out of Miami every couple of years.

But something she mentioned a few months back whilst trying to persuade us and another couple to go with them, threw any chance of us ever stepping foot on the gangplank.

Having to pre-order my meal for the next evening is not for me or my husband. Surely, after cruising specific routes with passengers boarding on a regular basis from various countries, the kitchens would be au fait with what their mixed nationalities will devour and the dishes that they tend to avoid.

We stayed in a hotel used by a Scottish coach tour operator one year when we came back to UK for a week during our property search for our intended return from Cyprus. Each morning at breakfast we were presented with the evening menu and a check list.
I was appalled, particularly as we'd just spent 5 nights in a different hotel further up the coast where no such thing existed.

We love arriving at new ports and exploring, mostly without any organised excursion and read up about what we want to see and how to get there. One time, our plans were thrown as one port visit was cancelled and replaced with another so we ended up at Volos, taking the excursion to the wonderful Meteora.

We have 2 people who are friends of our neighbours currently on the Azura which departed from Barbados over a week ago. Both late 70s and totally prepared to walk away from the trip just short of 2 weeks before their departure due to the technological difficulties they faced with the Covid protocols. They would have lost 90% of their holiday cost as their balance had been paid in full in October.
Like every other holiday they've had booked they expected it would be cancelled or rescheduled.
The cruise was booked before Covid existed in our lives.

I couldn't allow that loss so have mugged up on all what was required as after getting hold of the cruise agent and the cruise company to be informed cancellation wasn't an option, other than one or both of them contracting or having to isolate with Covid.

We've diligently gone through the process together over the remaining time, booking Covid tests which had to be performed by a health technician rather than a self test and spending 3hrs the day before, completing the paperwork together online with my husband printing it all off.
Three document wallets each later, they walked out of our front door, happier they finally understood the process and procedures.
We got a message from them to say the antigen test at the airport prior to boarding the flight was clear and they were in their seats.
Next morning, a further text - all unpacked and in their cabin.
Relief at this end was rather ecstatic!

Meanwhile, several passengers from various ships have been removed and relocated to another under quarantine isolation in their cabins. Some of these are people who opted to pay and add on extra sailing time whilst onboard the original cruise but then testing positive when they came to the mandatory test at one of the ports.

Definitely not the ideal time to be sitting in a block of apartments with thousands of others as it meanders to places you cannot visit unless you test and take mandatory excursions or sit on a beach but only after paying for an organised taxi by the cruise company.
Or worse, stuck in your cabin with every meal being delivered to your door while you either get the all clear and released or collected by the dedicated ship and escorted off in hazmat suits.

Nope, big ships are most definitely not on our bucket list.

We have cruised most of the cruise lines, and I have never heard of having to pre book your meal.

[PhotoLady]

Believe me, WHL - our friend has done loads.
We're constantly regaled with the tales, time and time again.
Certainly, we won't be going on one with her and her poor suffering other half, who doesn't enjoy them!

Now the other couple who I did the paperwork for, are a totally different kettle of fish. No hesitation of travelling with them.

[PhotoLady]

Well done Photolady for kindly helping that elderly couple out. Even those of us who are moderately IT literate tear our hair out sometimes at the hoops you have to go through for the most simple task; must be an absolute nightmare for someone who isn't IT savvy.

Thanks Lloyd, it was good to get my brain into gear with something different so in a geeky kind of way, I embraced the challenge.

Part 2 will take place on Friday. They arrive back before breakfast and will be taking their LFT tests, which need to be photographed and uploaded to the testing company website.

We've used the company recently, so as long as their results are negative, I will pop round and do the technical stuff at the lady's house. She's only a couple of streets away.

Roll on March for us and 10 nights on the Costa Blanca. Lots of walking to be done!

[WHL]

Believe me, WHL - our friend has done loads.
We're constantly regaled with the tales, time and time again.
Certainly, we won't be going on one with her and her poor suffering other half, who doesn't enjoy them!

Now the other couple who I did the paperwork for, are a totally different kettle of fish. No hesitation of travelling with them.

They must be mistaken re, you must order your food the day before, we have been on many many cruises, (especially the cruise company they were on,) over many many years, not once on any cruise liner have we had to order our meal the previous day..... the only explanation might be they have some special dietary needs, that have to be prepared especially for them, and the kitchen needs prier notification.

[living the dream]

Truly a fabulous ship, its a floating city so much to do and a weeks cruise on one of these is not enough to really take in all these types of ships have to offer. Myself and the wife went on the Symphony of the Seas and it was truly an experience especially for a pair of first timers. WHL must have been on one of the sister ships as the Wonder of the Seas makes its first maiden voyage on the 4th March 2022

[WHL]

Truly a fabulous ship, its a floating city so much to do and a weeks cruise on one of these is not enough to really take in all these types of ships have to offer. Myself and the wife went on the Symphony of the Seas and it was truly an experience especially for a pair of first timers. WHL must have been on one of the sister ships as the Wonder of the Seas makes its first maiden voyage on the 4th March 2022

Just checked with wife, and we have been on two of those big boys, Symphony of the seas and Allure of the seas.

[PhotoLady]

They must be mistaken re, you must order your food the day before, we have been on many many cruises, (especially the cruise company they were on,) over many many years, not once on any cruise liner have we had to order our meal the previous day..... the only explanation might be they have some special dietary needs, that have to be prepared especially for them, and the kitchen needs prier notification.

No, she isn't mistaken and her husband confirmed this was the case when I questioned the comment made.

They have no dietary requirements either between them. We all go out for meals together regularly and stay in hotels together as a group.

This lady knows the in's and out's of a duck's backside and remembers every event in great detail of every single cruise her and her husband have been on.

I'm not sure what cruise you are referring to though, as I have not mentioned the ship? I have no idea of the cruise company, or the ship. I try not to get involved too much in the conversations but I couldn't believe what I had heard on this occasion. I generally tune out but we were being coerced to agreeing to a future trip and this was mine and my husband's get out clause...

They are seasoned cruisers over many years, whereas we have only done a few. We don't go for pomp and circumstance so won't go anywhere that tells us what we should wear and when.
Our friend is completely the opposite and loves the glitz and glamour of it all.

Each to their own.

[WHL]

I repeat unless your friends were cruising on a converted tug boat, that calls in to the local chippy for meals, then they are mistaken, there is no major cruise line on planet earth that request its passengers to pre order their meals the day before.

[Jimgym]

Ive cruised with Seabourn, Regent, Crystal, Royal Caribbean & MSC and never heard of preordering meals. Maybe it was one of the old style lines like Cunard etc?

[WHL]

Ive cruised with Seabourn, Regent, Crystal, Royal Caribbean & MSC and never heard of preordering meals. Maybe it was one of the old style lines like Cunard etc?

Like you we have been with the above lines and Cunard, Cunard do not ask you to pre order meals, although I was asked to remove my baseball cap at breakfast, and on the Queen Victoria I was told off for walking around the inside of the ship in tailored shorts, not allowed after 4pm old boy..... Cunard is the least of my favorite cruise lines because it seems to attract all the, last of the Raj old farts. who seem to delight in wearing badges stating they have been on 50 cruises etc, weird lot.