Dan

I'm going to say British Columbia Canada

If anyone is sailing on Carnival Victory, please check lifeboat 7 for me. I came home missing some underwear. It's been 3 years, but hey, who knows LOL

Jason, since you called out John in public about the terms of Service, how about another calling out? This is ridiculous.

I think that even if Carnival or the ship itself leave something lacking in comparison to your previous cruises, being with a large group makes it seem better anyway, since you will be with people you know, and hopefully enjoying the company too.

The ones that fancied you, was that before or after you were to shy to talk to them? There's a selling point for Thomson "sail with us, but lock up your 13 year olds"

It all makes sense now. We don't have time here for childish games, whether from a child or not. Jason was only a couple years older than you when he started this board a few years ago. Maybe you should take a lesson in maturity from him.

Of course. I'm usually reading the cruise boards in the morning before I eat breakfast LOL No, just once, usually from 6am to 10pm. :D No, since that would involve actually stopping thinking about cruising, which never happens. Usually before breakfast, during lunch break, after supper, and just before bed :D Not for formal night, but I like looking for loud, colorful shirts for casual night LOL So, do I qualify? LOL

Has anyone here used icruise.com before? Been doing some checking for our future Princess cruise, and everyone seems to be in the same ballpark, whether it's a US or Canadian TA. Except icruise, which is showing at least $150 US per person less, which even with the stronger Canadian dollar, is still a significant amount for 2 people. I am a little wary of using an online company from another country, but when we are looking at $400 CDN difference, it makes it hard to spend your money at home LOL. I tried the cruisecompete.com thing, but they don't list this ship that far out yet (Jan 2006).

Congrats Lisa. Sounds like you are doing the same trip we are looking at for the following January on Sapphire. Would be nice to know which port, since it seems that different websites say different things. Long Beach would be nice since we plan to stay on the Queen Mary the night before, but if we have to cab it over to San Pedro, then, oh well LOL.

Nope. We haven't booked yet, but are reasonably sure we are going in late Jan 2006, so that's only another 6 months on top of your wait LOL

When you say "just returned", how recently was "just"? If you were missing a private island, and you sailed in the last month, it's because of the hurricanes. None of the cruise line islands have re-opened yet after Frances, so far as I've heard. Disney does have a private island, but it was damaged like the rest. One of the hazards of late summer/early fall sailings.

I don't know where your next port was, but many times in the Caribbean, the next port is under 100 miles away, which won't take more than 5-6 hours to get to, and they have 13 or 14 hours to do it. Many times, they'll get a lot of the distance covered in the evening hours, then kind of coast along when people are sleeping. I'm sure this was a similar thing to what you experienced.

If you want to add a countdown clock to your signature, so it shows up in each post, go to http://www.geocities.com/quietman01970/maker1.htm and enter all the details. Then copy and paste that code into your signature which can be found in the My Controls tab at the top of the page. If you want to share your story, feel free.

I don't know. All the cruise lines are saying fares have been going up in the last year. It depends on what you want to sail on. The new ships will have higher demand, and higher prices. The older ships will be the ones where prices fall, which is great if you like a particular older ship.

We are looking at a cruise on the Sapphire Princess for Jan 2006, that stops in Mazatlan. Hopefully you are still around the board a year from now, so I can get some helpful hints.

I'm a Princess fan myself.

We only really look at cruises now, but we have enjoyed land vacations previously, including a couple trips to baseball spring training in Florida. I have no desire to spend a week in Cuba, Cancun or the Dominican, which are popular trips from here each winter.

In The Carnival release, they state that 2 of the ships will Conquest class (110,000 tons) and 2 will be Caribbean Princess-class (116,000 tons). They also state that Carnival and Fincantieri are working on the Pinnacle Project, the long rumoured 170,000 ton ship (or ships) to become the biggest in the world. No announcements yet about design or timeframe though. This will be followed shortly thereafter by the RCI Super Duper Ultra Voyager, which will in fact be Coney Island with propellers (Stuck that in just for you Jeff LOL)

It's been almost 4 years since we were at either of those ports, and Colon definitely was as dangerous as people say. You basically stuck to the plaza around the cruise terminal, and didn't venture across the road. When we were there, they had police armed with machine guns patrolling the area immediately around that plaza. My in-laws were in Cristobal in April, which is the other port in that area that ships dock at, when they don't go to the Canal, and it was the same there, minus the gun-toting cops. The reason the ships dock here, is, as you say, to sell excursions, and to not have to pay the huge toll to go into the Panama Canal. A Panamax size ship (Radiance, Millenium, Spirit etc) would pay in excess of a quarter million dollars to go into the Canal, which would tack another $100 or so per person onto the fare (which they'd also have to pay travel agent commissions on). They probably pay a very minimal port fee to dock in Colon, and then they can sell overpriced tours to see the canal. Limon didn't really impress me much, but didn't seem as dangerous as Colon. It's a very working-class town, and a couple blocks in from the pier looked like almost any other inner-city area you might have been to. If you go to the right when you walk out of the pier area, there is a rather nice looking park area long the seawall. If you walk up that way, I'd walk back the same way to the ship, instead of cutting across the downtown area. This is definitely an excursion town, since other than the market area at the pier, there wasn't much to see on your own. I have heard that people have very much enjoyed the excursions from here, but they tend to be rather long, and I don't deal with the cattle herd thing for more than a couple hours LOL.

What did you guys do, phone that number under that flightseeing sign and ask where they were? LOL

This can vary so much depending on what you plan to do, that it's hard to suggest a good amount. Most ships have ATM's and almost everything on board can be charged to your onboard account (which you will likely guarantee with a credit card). Depending on the line, you can get a cash advance for a small fee, or even no fee, in the casino. Plus, most ports have ATM's that will work for you well. We've usually taken $500 in cash with us for 7 days, but that was also when you tipped in cash at the end of the week, and I like to play in the casino a bit.

Hey Skip, try that site with Royal Caribbean again LOL. I posted on there a few weeks ago for the Mariner of the Seas, and with the new rules in place, all 4 of the replies were exactly the same. Now if they would only increase their Princess listings on there.

Enjoy, and who knows, by the time you sail, that other one brewing out behind Jeanne will come in and send you east again. LOL I'm sure the people in charge of ship scheduling are pulling out their last hairs by now.

Royal Caribbean is now reporting that the Mariner of the Seas will return there on Sept 19, and transport any passengers who need it back to Miami. * Mariner of the Seas, originally scheduled to depart Port Canaveral on September 12, on a seven-night sailing, made that sailing from the Port of Miami. The ship will not make its port call in Georgetown, Cayman Islands, today. Instead, the ship will spend today at sea. The ship will now return to Port Canaveral on Sunday morning, September 19. At the conclusion of this sailing, Royal Caribbean will transport guests from Port Canaveral to the Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami airports, as well as the Port of Miami. Mariner of the Seas, will resume its normal Sunday departures from Port Canaveral starting on Sunday, September 19.

We're pretty sure we are doing the Sapphire 7 day Mexico itinerary in Jan 2006. Just waiting to firm up details with our friends in Kentucky that will be joining us.