jbond

How about Honolulu?

Sorry John, but I have to disagree. It is different because it is not a gratuity, it's an added fee. NCL is not including it in the fare for several reasons. They want you to believe that it is a gratuity and secondly, they don't have to pay a TA commission on it. With 2000 passengers at $10 a day, that adds up to $140,000 per week. In a year, that is a cool $7,000,000. NCL has the TA commission staying in their pockets and it amounts to around $1M annually. Pretty sneaky all round. NCL knew about all these problems before they entered into the hair brained scheme. US citizens working on a US flagged ship out of Hawaii are subject to US income taxes etc. There must have been a red flag raised that the staff would have to be compensated a little better. If the non-US staff stay more than 182 days on their contract, they too become eligible to pay income tax, SS, etc. What will NCL's next move be? Raise the prices so that they can hire sufficient, competent staff and then complain to the US government to impose charges on the other lines sailing Hawaii to "level the playing field"? I have no pity for NCL, they made their bed, now they can lie in it. Instead of petitioning to change the Jones Act, they tried to pull a fast one and get a leg up on the competition. I believe that before this is over, NCL will abandon their endevour and return to the itinerary that includes Fanning Island.

As I said, it's been a long time since we were in Nassau, but that is just about what we did. The Queen's Staircase is pretty impressive. Is the Straw Market still in the same place? It burned down just after we were there. As a Bond fan, Nassau was also used in two movies, Thunderball and Never Say Never. When we were there, we overnighted and so I got to go to the Paradise Island Casino, but didn't see Domino or Emilio Largo. :cry:

You're correct, but as an excuse, I'm going to claim that your response wasn't as clearly written as usual.

I have not read that. All I have read is that the booking agency cannot offer anything that can be converted into cash. Come on Bicker, this is not inline with your postings on those other boards. The bottom line is, if you don't like it, go to another line that offers better prices, or go to an all inclusive, if you can afford it. As for "drkrawchuk" is that another way of spelling "troll". Go post your inflammatory statements somewhere else, or are Cruise Critics and all the others as tired of this dead horse as I am?

Is it your first cruise or your first time to these islands? If it is, my advice would be to take a tour. If you can set one up over the internet prior to your cruise, great. You'll probably save some money, but, if you can't, book an excursion through the ship. First time around, I believe that you need some help in getting the most out of the limited time that you have available. If you wait until you are on the dock to get a taxi, make sure that you know exactly what you want to see and get a fixed price before you accept the tour. We have not been to Tortola, so I can't advise you there. In St Thomas you can get a local tour for around $15-$20 pp for a 3 to 4 hour tour around the island. You'll get to see Magens Bay, Sapphire Beach, Drakes Seat, Mountain Top and a good all round view of, IMNSHO, the most beautiful island in the Caribbean. The best place to pick up tours in St Thomas is not at the dock, but downtown where the bus drops you off to do your shopping. There is a lot more competition and the prices are lower. Don't miss Drakes Seat, the views are awesome. It's been a long time since we were in Nassau, but I think that the same rules apply. There is a lot to see, don't miss it. We were in St Thomas in May and got a great tour for $17 pp. If you want to see what we saw, go to St Thomas Pages 21 through 28 show the tour that we took. We have been to St Thomas eight times and it still makes we say "Wow" when I see that awesome harbour.

This is a very old and much discussed question. Personally, I prefer to bring my own. If you see how they "disinfect" the equipment and see all those mouths that "inhale" those snorkels, I'm sure that you'll be glad that you brought your own. We usually leave fins at home, but snorkels are another issue.

Asolutely. We have had passports since we became citizens. Naturalization Certicates cannot be copied, against the law, and so we don't want to mess around with loose pieces of paper and chance mislaying them. Are passports required for cruises, not sure anymore. A couple of years ago Costa Rica said passports were required to visit their country, they have since changed it to multiple day stays. Same with Aruba last year, but after much confusion, passports were not required for cruisers. Personally I think that a passport is easier, it's a small document, sturdier than most single sheet BC's, and you only need the one document. Just renewed ours earlier this year. Costs $55 and lasts 10 years.

Asolutely. We have had passports since we became citizens. Naturalization Certicates cannot be copied, against the law, and so we don't want to mess around with loose pieces of paper and chance mislaying them. Are passports required for cruises, not sure anymore. A couple of years ago Costa Rica said passports were required to visit their country, they have since changed it to multiple day stays. Same with Aruba last year, but after much confusion, passports were not required for cruisers. Personally I think that a passport is easier, it's a small document, sturdier than most single sheet BC's, and you only need the one document. Just renewed ours earlier this year. Costs $55 and lasts 10 years.

I for one don't consider it a tip or a gratuity. It's an additional charge. NCL says, Pride of Aloha passengers are not obliged to tip for "service that is generally rendered to all guests," how long do you think that will last? NCL bit off a little more than they could swallow with this Hawaii deal. Now the passenger has to pay for it. Fanning Island may not have been to bad a deal after all.

I for one don't consider it a tip or a gratuity. It's an additional charge. NCL says, Pride of Aloha passengers are not obliged to tip for "service that is generally rendered to all guests," how long do you think that will last? NCL bit off a little more than they could swallow with this Hawaii deal. Now the passenger has to pay for it. Fanning Island may not have been to bad a deal after all.

We did Alaska a couple of years ago and took our kids and grandkids with us. The grandkids were 13 & 15 at the time. They enjoyed the cruise, we saw some wildlife, bears, orcas, etc and they were definitely impressed with the ice floes in Disenchantment Bay, Hubbard Glacier. They felt like they were reliving Titanic. We were there at the end of June and it was very cool. We sailed RCI Legend of the Seas and it has a fully enclosed Solarium Pool, so they got some pool time in. The outside pool was empty. They met up with a group of about 10 other kids and had a good time with them. I have a photo album posted at http://community.webshots.com/album/44070567WRGxPU Legend of the Seas 2 covers the Inland Passage.

Hi, I tried to respond to your message, but the programme wouldn't let me. So here is what I tried to send. To view the albums double click on this link http://community.webshots.com/user/jbond105 This will take you to my webshots page. There are three pages of albums, each identified with the ship's name. Double click on the title and this will bring up a page of thumbnails. You can then view each one by clicking on them or use the slideshow feature on the page. Hope it works.

We have sailed Legend and her sister ship Splendour. On Splendour we had the Royal Family Suite, they have since changed cabin names, so I don't know how it would compare to a GS. We had four adults and two kids in the RFS. No problem at all. We had the same suite on Enchantment also. On Legend we opted for two separate rooms. In a cat D, there was no problem with two adults and two kids in the one room. You can checkout some photos of oue Enchantment and Legend cruises at Cruise Albums The titles will tell which ship we were on. I didn't know that Legend will be going to Europe next year. We will be on Brilliance in the Med in six weeks and are planning a return trip on Brilliance for June of 2005. I'll have to checkout the Legend itinerary, it's a really friendly ship.

We were chased out by Hurricane Hugo a few years ago. We missed St Barts and docked in San Juan a day early. RCI had pre-arranged all the flights out and gave us a 25% discount on our next cruise. We missed Ocho Rios on a Splendour cruise in '99 due to high seas. We just got another day at sea, not even a free drink.

I hope that everything starts to improve for you. Sounds as if you are off to a good start. With your sense of humour and positive attitude, I'd say you were going to come out a winner. Good luck.

We just spent some time in San Juan. We stayed in Old San Juan at the El Convento. We went out at night and walked back from the restaurants that we had had dinner at and never felt that there was any problem. During the day it is crowded with people and felt very safe. A lot of the cruise ships have moved to the new International Pier. It's close to Isla Verde and is a good taxi ride into OSJ. We have previously stayed in Isla Verde area and in the Condado area. Nothing to see/do in Isla Verde. We always took a taxi to a restaurant in the Condado area, looked very busy and fast. We love OSJ, it's such a great historical city and the food is fantastic.

I have to agree with Dan. There is much more room on the newer ships than the older ones. There is for more open deck space on the newer ships and far more enclosed deck space. The Regal Empress is a 23,000 GRT ship with 1160 passengers. That's about 2000 cu ft of space per passenger. Voyager of the Seas is 142,000 GRT with 3114 passengers, that's about 4500 cu ft per passenger. While a lot of that is used for Atriums, theatres etc, the amount of deck space is huge. Balconies are a mere drop in the ocean. One of the reasons that the newer ships are so much more economical is because of the big advances in propusion systems and in ship design. We have sailed on ships from the 20,000+ to the 142,000 GRT size. I like the big ones. If you have ever sat outside the Pig and Whistle on the Royal Promenade on Voyager, you'll never complain about lack of space again.

That's pretty interesting. We've visited St Thomas many times, but never heard about the synagogue. We have been in the oldest synagogue in the New World, the Synagogue Mikvé Israel-Emanuel in Curacao. It was pretty awe inspiring to be in a 350 year old synagogue, walking on white sand brought over from Israel, even for a poor Catholic boy.

Congrats, I think that you'll love it. In February the weather should be great. LA will be cool, the first day at sea should be really good, but on the return trip the last day at sea will probably be quite cool. We have always experienced a high wind across the deck sailing north and cool temps. I don't know when you visited Cabo last, but we were there in April and have been several times before and never experienced any pushy vendors. Same in Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Huatulco. The only place on the Mexican Riviera that we have ever met pushy vendors is Acapulco, and they are really pushy, to the point of being obnoxious. As for the Queen Mary, it would be a great start to your cruise. Our youngest daughter was married on the Queen Mary and it was quite a neat experience.

Have you checked out the new format on the CC boards? Does it look familiar, kinda like the CruisesCrazies format? The big problem they have is that they are not too customer oriented and they have lost a lot of threads and don't really care. Don't get that way, with their attitude we will win and overtake them.

You must not have had as many as I did. :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

Wow, that didn't take too long. Charlotte Amalie it is. I love those little side alleys off Norre Gard, the main shopping street. They are so quiet and cool, and the beer is really cold! :grin:

The Mexican Riviera is completely different to the Caribbean. The water is generally colder and the beaches, while very attractive, are brown sand rather than the white. The atmosphere is also very different. I'll probably get into trouble for this, but I think that it is more cultural and historic. Mazatlan is a great city, split into two, the old city and the Golden Zone. Lots to see and a beautiful cathedral and Zocolo. Puerto Vallarta is a great place to walk around. Take a taxi to the edge of town and walk along the promenade, Pacific Ocean on one side and all the shopping you could desire on the other. Further out of town is Gringo Gulch and Mismaloya, Night of the Iguana Restaurant and our favourite place, Boca de Tomatlan. You can go inland into the jungle and visit El Eden, where Predator was filmed. Sailing into Cabo is for me a beautiful site. It's a marvellous bay and sailing past Los Arcos is just delightful. Cabo is totally different to the Mexican mainland. It is dry and arid and if you think that Hawaii is laid back, it's like NYC compared to Cabo. One other thing, the people are awesome. By the way, I like Mexico.

Nobody correct yet, but it was raining at the time.