Lisa63

Would you elaborate? The opinion that both my husband and I shared was that it just didn't feel like the premium cruise line they claimed to be. Some examples: The food in the dining room was not very good. I realize this is subjective, but we are not the type to send dishes back, but had to do so several times. The cruise director constantly put down the Holland America Line, mainly by spewing untruths. The CD (!) also gave a comment card pitch on the last night of the cruise, telling us (and I quote from my journal) that, "Miami considers anything less than an 'excellent' a disaster." Seat saving was rampant, and the crew did nothing about it when asked. This was everywhere, including the show lounge and adult-only T-pool. In re-reading what I just wrote, I suppose it sounds a bit petty, but it was not what we had expected. I honestly thought it had been an off-week for Celebrity, so I never published a review. But, I have been reading others' reviews that have mentioned some of the same things. We had been on Celebrity ten years prior and it was superb. It did not feel at all like the same cruise line. I will say, however, that the SS United States exceeded expectations in many, many ways. So did the T-pool, where I spent a lot of time (although sans deck chair). And, as you can see by my signature, we are giving them another chance. Perhaps as we are not going to be on "just another Caribbean cruise" (their words), things will be better.

Bravo to you for pointing this out to someone. I agree, it should not have happened in the first place. I am sorry your cruise didn't live up to expectations. I hope this isn't a trend -- our February 2006 cruise on Infinity fell short, too. Our high points were the same as yours -- particularly the specialty restaurant. Thank you for the review. And, welcome home!

Each certainly has its pros and cons: Eastern Caribbean: More sea days (that can be either a pro or con) A lot to do in St. Maarten Shopping! (again, a pro or con) Western Caribbean: A new port Better snorkeling opportunities Tendering in one, maybe two ports On both itineraries, you can create your own sea day by staying onboard while nearly everyone else is ashore. Let us know what you decide.

We'd love to cruise the Baltic, or circumnavigate South America. Our other dream destination is already on the books... see signature!

I've told this one before.... it's an oldie but goodie, copied from my diary of that trip. "It was late 1996, and we had just encountered a fierce storm enroute to Cozumel on Dolphin Cruise Line’s OceanBreeze. Our tiny ship wasn’t tossed, but rolled ever so slowly from side to side, righting herself each time just before we seemed to have reached the point of no return. My husband, 3-year-old son, and I -- along with a dozen other passengers -- spent the evening in one of the lounges, where a two-man band provided entertainment to an empty dance floor. One man played an electric guitar, and the second man had a small electric keyboard slung over his shoulder. "After a few moments, our 3-year-old took to the dance floor and started to jump up and down to the reggae song, “Three Little Birds.” For the next 15 minutes or so, he continued to dance to whatever the band played, and even made a few requests of his own, which were all acknowledged. During this time, the ship continued to roll from side to side, and I suppose it got to be a bit challenging for those little legs to keep him upright -- so, he laid down on his back and looked up at the lights in the ceiling while the musicians played on. "The musicians looked at each other and laughed, until one of them said, “That’s a great idea.” With guitar in hand, he too lay down on the floor, and was soon followed by his bandmate. They continued to play as all three of them remained on their backs as the ship’s movement became even more noticeable. "Into the lounge comes another passenger -- quite inebriated, even had the paper umbrella behind the ear. He looked at the empty stage, and seemed to wonder where the music was coming from. He spotted the three on the floor, muttered, “That’s a great idea,” and lay down on his back on the dance floor next to them. "The room erupted into laughter. Wouldn’t you know – it was the one time we didn’t have the video recorder." As a postscript, this was also the cruise on which a man was convinced that every table in the eating area adjacent to the buffet was slanted. He asked us if our table was slanted, too, to which my husband responded, "The whole ship is slanted!"

I'll play slots, occasionally. (And, I follow Jeff's rules, which are good ones!) My best moment was on SS Norway, when I deposited 3 coins into the slot machine, spun, and 900 coins came pouring out! The only down side was that I was playing nickels... but still, it was exciting!

As some of your criteria are nice weather and shopping, I'd recommend the Eastern Caribbean itinerary you described. St. Thomas and St. Maarten, in particular, have good shopping -- but do some research on pricing before you go so that you know whether or not you are getting a good deal. As far as the seas, that can vary from week to week. I'll have to let someone else field the warm weather part. I'm from New England -- 70F is hot to me, lol.

Our first cruise was on our honeymoon in 1990. It was a four-night cruise from Port Canaveral to Nassau and a private island (Blue Lagoon Island... still the best!) onboard Premier's Atlantic. I was in my mid-20s at the time. But it wasn't my first ship. That would have been SS Rotterdam in the early 1970s, when we boarded to see off my grandparents. They were going on a cruise from NYC to Nassau and Freeport. I wish I remembered more about the ship as I grew up to become a liner nut, and this ship was a classic. Although I was young on that first cruise, I was actually well-traveled by then. My parents were teachers, and every summer we would take a long trip somewhere. By the time I was 20, I had been to about 35 U.S. states as well as several areas within Canada, Mexico, and Israel. I think travel is a wonderful gift to share.

So far, our favorite itinerary is New England/Canada. Favorite ports within this route are Halifax and Quebec City. At a close second is Bermuda.

Sorry, but I think "Eclipse" is a silly name for a cruise ship. It makes me think that something is missing...

If it's a port I've never visited, I usually take a cruise line's "port highlights" tour. If the town is small and within walking distance of the pier, we'll do some research before we leave and set out on our own walking tour. If we've visited the port before, we'll usually have lunch in port and get to talking with some of the people who live there. We also enjoy visiting museums in the cooler-weather ports, and beaches in the warmer-weather ports. My favorites so far: Halifax, NS - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and Pier 21 Immigration Museum Quebec City - Walking around the wall that encloses the old city Mazatlan - Colonial Villages Tour (5 hours visiting small villages in the Sierra Madre) Ocho Rios - Plantation tour (I don't recall which one, but it was so plush, and we were treated to a buffet lunch and allowed to use the pool. This was back in 1992, and is still remembered as a highlight.)

I'll usually buy something small that can be displayed on our cruise shelf at home -- typically one of the small pewter items (I like the bells the most). We'll also buy a refrigerator magnet, but I didn't start doing that until only a couple of years ago, so my set is incomplete. My favorite non-logo item is a handbag I bought on Diamond Princess two years ago. It is a light tan and has the design of an old world map throughout. As they say, "I saw it in the window and couldn't resist!"

Hi Sherri, and welcome to CruiseCrazies! I was on Carnival Victory six months ago. We were quite pleased with the ship. As Cheryl mentioned, I wrote a review of our cruise -- you can find it by clicking here: http://www.cruisecrazies.com/reviews/carnival/victory.php We did a different itinerary, so you can skip over those parts. I'm happy to answer any questions!

Congratulations on the booking, Howard. That sounds like a fabulous one!

Me too. We slept so well on our Carnival Victory cruise. I stay in some pretty nice hotels when I travel on business, and those beds don't even come close to Carnival's.

These are clever ideas. These places rely heavily on tourism, and I hope these promotions are successful.

As I missed your BON VOYAGE, allow me instead to wish you a hearty WELCOME HOME! I loved MAASDAM, and hope you did, as well. I sailed prior to the SOE enhancements and I always enjoy hearing how she's changed since then.

Bon voyage, cruiseduo (Howard & Pat)! Enjoy MSC LIRICA!!!

Bon voyage, nib1050! Enjoy MSC LIRICA!!!

Bon voyage, frostyboy! Enjoy SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS!!!

Many ships in the early '90s carried close to 2,000 passengers -- but the ships were less than 50,000 GRT. Although I prefer smaller ships to larger ones, the fact that some of these humongous newbuilds carry only slightly more pax is somewhat appealing. As for those that carry in excess of 3,000 pax -- I won't be among them. Just not my preference. And, as an aside: Norwegian Pearl will not be the first ship with a bowling alley. I'm getting rather tired of NCL claiming this. SS France had one, although it was not quite modern. In any case, what's ironic is that NCL ripped out the space in which it was located when they converted the ship into SS Norway in 1979. Of course, it was under different ownership then. (OK, rant over...)

I haven't done a horseback riding excursion for two reasons. First, my husband and I are both... shall we say... "fluffy" and I don't want to hurt the horses. Second, I think it would scare our son. Yet, nearly every passenger I have spoken with that has done this type of excursion gave it high marks, especially those that rode on the beach.

Thank you for posting your review... and so soon after returning. (I am delinquent in posting my own from several months ago.) One question -- is there just one concierge? The reason I ask is that we recently had a concierge on a ship that had just 22 suites, and she told us that one of the reasons she likes working on this particular ship is that she is able to give full attention to "her" passengers. She hoped she would not be assigned to a larger ship as she was fearful that she wouldn't be able to provide the same level. (As an aside, I'm sure she would have done just fine.) I'm certainly not excusing the service provided by your concierge (as it sounds like it was none) -- I'm just curious as we are booked in CC on Celebrity Century in July.

I remember when NCL first introduced the "hull art." I figured it had to look better in person. And, when I saw Norwegian Jewel up close.... I realized I had been wrong. Thankfully, the ship's interiors are stunning, and that's an understatement. I think I would like a set of glassware, though.

I've been following airfares for our April cruise out of Galveston. Yikes... they're close to $500 per person. I wasn't planning to use FF miles, but I may have to... assuming there are seats available. So much for saving them for Hawaii. btate, you are so right about the difficulty in redeeming FF miles. Our family has 3 seats for our July cruise out of Amsterdam, but we are waitlisted for the return trip...and even that is for a day later than we wanted to return. I have to call the airlines every other days to keep this request active. I am so worried about forgetting to call.