Debbie's Mother, grandmother and aunt drove us from Bonita Strings to Fort Lauderdale to catch the ship. They had been cleared as Voyager guests about a month ago, so they could visit the ship as they dropped us off. We left the west coast of FL about 11 am, and got to Port Everglades just after 1 pm. We had about 8 pieces of carry-on luggage, including 3 roll-around bags, 2 laptop cases, a printer in a box to which Debbie had attached a handle, a camera, a spotting scope in a case, a backpack and a world map in a tube. A Radisson employee guided us through and the checkin process was quick, but the cabin would not be available until 3pm. Nothing would do except that the Radisson rep. separate us from Grandma, so we boarded while she wheeled Grandma off somewhere else and we had to wait on the ship to see her again. We don't really understand why because we all took the elevator at the port to see Grandma off the ship without any separation or assistance. So, we dropped the carry-on pieces in the cabin. First thing we did was have lunch. We were handed a letter on boarding telling us what was open and where for "early embarkation" when we boarded right at 1:30pm. LaVeranda was listed as open until 2pm and we arrived there at 1:45pm to be told it was closed and only the the pool grill on deck 11 was open for lunch. So, pool grill it was for It was a pleasant day, sunny but not too hot as we sat on deck eating hot dogs, sandwiches and salads. After lunch, we toured the ship with our guests, and finally got to the cabin just after 3pm. About 10 minutes to 4, we saw Debbie's relatives off as they had to leave the ship by 4. The muster drill was at 4:15 and we were to sail at 5pm. We then spent an hour or so waiting anxiously for our shipped luggage to show up. About 2 hours later, all pieces had been delivered but someone had pilfered the bags taking miscellaneous stuff.
The Luggage
Our five bags that we shipped via IPS finally got delivered to our room. Four of the five bags were delivered just as the ship left FLL. About 1 hour later, the final bag was delivered. Voyager departed FLL more than an hour late because IPS had not delivered the World Cruisers' baggage before the scheduled departure time.
One hardsided bag was completely opened only being held together by the strap we had wrapped around it. Three of the soft sided bags had been pilfered. For example, someone had removed a pair of Debbie's shoes that had been packed inside Clay's patton leather tux shoes which were inside cotton shoe bags. The tux shoes were gone, and one of the cotton shoe bags was also gone, but Debbie's shoes were still in the suitcase. Other things missing included a 35 oz bottle of Nutragena Rain Bath, 10 batteries, a box of Lance nabs, a pair of Minolta binoculars, and other miscellaneous things. It did not make for a good start. We checked our inventory lists against the contents of the delivered bags and submitted a copy of the inventories with the missing items marked Tuesday night to the Guest Relations manager onboard. So far (morning of December 29), we have not heard anything regarding the missing items.
The Compass Rose Dinner
We took time out of unpacking to eat dinner in Compass Rose, the main dining room. Debbie had the chicken and Clay had the pompano. Our only previous experience with Radisson was on the Diamond in February. Clay thought the Sommeliers on the Diamond were a little more attentive when it came to keeping the glasses full, but Debbie did not notice this. There was unlimited wine and we certainly had a sufficiency. We stayed up past midnight working on preparing our luggage report.
