jbond

Click here to view the cruise review

Click here to view the cruise review

Click here to view the cruise review

Click here to view the cruise review

It's no contest, go on the Adventure. We cruised AOS last year, the Southern Caribbean itinerary, a great cruise, very busy but lots of fun. Our album/review is at http://family.webshots.com/album/443215490zEmNPO

We have sailed Halloween twice before and we'll be on Vision of the Seas this Halloween. Participation was very low, although there were a lot of Halloween theme t shirts. In the dining room and around the ship, I thought that Princess did a better job than RCI.

I personally wouldn't fly five hours to take a 4 day cruise on Monarch. Monarch is the oldest class of RCI ship sailing. It was great back in '98 when we did a Southern Caribbean cruise on her, but 8 years later, she's dated. The ports of call are not that exciting. Last time in Ensenada, we didn't even bother to get off the ship. Jost my opinion, but I'd rather spend a little more and take the 7 day Vision cruise that actually visits Mexico, not just Ensenada.

We are sailing Vision on October 29th. We will be driving to San Pedro on the Sunday morning and plan to arrive around 11:30. Previously we have had no trouble arriving at that time. We'll be leaving our car in the port parking area, $12 a day and they only accept cash, no cheques or credit cards. Have you been to any of the ports before? We've cruised the Mexican Riviera several times and really enjoy it. It's very different to the Caribbean. We haven't sailed Vision, but we have sailed Legend and Splendour twice before. They are the same class as Vision. It's a nice size ship, the dining room has all that RCI wow factor that their ships have. You should enjoy it. If you have any specific questions about the ports of call, I'd be happy to try and answer them.

That's interesting. We haven't cruised Glacier Bay and almost everyone we know says you haven't seen Alaska if you haven't seen Glacier Bay. Of course they haven't seen Hubbard Glacier. Good to hear from someone who's seen both.

When we cruised Alaska, we didn't go into Glacier Bay. We cruised Disenchantment Bay and the Hubbard Glacier and got to cruise Misty Fjords. I'd go back to Alaska again, but mainly for the land experience. I was disappointed with the Inside Passage.

In Santorini we took the funicular up to Fira. It's a cute little town, but not too big. We found a tour shop very close to the funicular and took atour out to Oia. I think it cost us about $10 each. It was about a three hour tour. We had time for lunch in Oia and got to see a lot of that very spectacular island. Santorini is SPECTACULAR If you want to see what we did, checkout http://family.webshots.com/album/206657814nAwpVB

We used Spiros in Athens. It's a large, crowded city and getting around could be difficult unless you know where to go. Taxis would be very expensive and with the traffic, very slow. Joey, the traffic in Athens was 10 times worse than the Santa Monica Freeway at rush hour, and all the drivers are maniacs. On our tour we went out to the Temple of Poseidon in the morning and the Acropolis in the afternoon. We got to see the Royal Palace, Changing of the Guard, the old Olympic Stadium, the new Olympic Stadium and the Temple of Zeus. We spent about two hours in the Acropolis. Make sure you take water and wear a hat, we were there in October and it was hot.

I think that's baloney. He had the option to take the tour but decided to pay more for a virtually identical tour. Duh! He had the guarantee of being on a tour that was approved by HAL. He didn't have to make any arrangements himself, was assured of getting back to the ship in case of a breakdown etc, etc. He took the easy way out and now he wants to sue HAL. Give me a break.

I think that you would have to be pretty naive to think that the cruise lines print excursion brochures, have an excursion desk and supply crew members to participate in the excuursions at their own cost. It's a business and like rogue, we also have stock in the cruise lines and hope that they keep making a profit. As to the first allegation, if it's correct, then HAL should be punished. There's no excuse for that kind of behaviour.

Like everyone has said, it's smooth. We've been there four times, September through October and it's been very smooth. A great area to visit.

I don't understand where these people are coming from. Missing four days at school is going to ruin your son's education? Give me a break. So, if he gets sick and misses a week or two, he's lost his opportunity in life. Those folks need to get real. Enjoy your vacation and let the small minded people worry about the unimportant things in life.

On a recent LA-Hawaii-LA cruise, we bunkered in Honolulu and Ensenada. The QE2's fuel oil tank capacity of 4,381.4 tonnes is sufficient for 10 days' sailing at 32.5 knots, equalling 7,800 miles. One gallon of fuel will move the ship 49.5 feet. I would think that most cruise ships are similar, if not better than QE2. Cruise ships use bunkered oil, which is the literal bottom of the barrel when it comes to fuel.

We use Mobal for travelling. It's a one time buy, $99, and no monthly service charges. It's good all over the world. On our last European cruise we used it quite a lot. Calls cost $1.50 a minute from the ship to the US and $1.25 from the UK to the US. We initially bought it three years ago when it took our kids over a day to get in touch with us when we were on a Panama Canal cruise. It also cost $80 in calls to the ship, just to leave a message to call home. Last year in Barcelona when we were stranded, it was worth a million dollars. We used it to rebook airlines, for ourselves and several other passengers. RCI had dumped us outside Barca at a hotel with no phones!! We also kept in touch with our family and the family of another couple we had met. I'd never leave home without it.

I think that Princess has the best Piano Bars, TP excepted, and great pianist. We spend a lot of time, before and after dinner, listening to the piano music.

Enjoyed your pictures. Great photo of you and your wife in Papeete, with Moorea in the background. Interesting pictures of the home of James Norman Hall. We missed that. I was always interested in the Mutiny and Captain Bligh. Have you read the book?

I can't remember the cabin #, but it was a balcony and just about mid ship. We are pretty good sailors, never had a problem. We didn't have a problem on TP, it was just a very rough ride. Felt like a drunk several times staggering down the hallways. I can understand why Renaissance went belly up. R3 & R4 are really not that old, at least when Princess took them over. The showroom/theatre was definitely old style, the only good seats were on the front row. I thought the dining room was nice and intimate, but again the Panorama Buffet was 1970's. The bars were my biggest complaint, I have almost as much bar space in my house. :shocked: Do they still have that Mickey Mouse Piano Bar that seats about six people? But as you said, the service was first class throughout the ship.

Same here. If it's anything like webshots, you have to bring your album up on the screen and then copy and paste that address.