cleung

Well, I've been on the Adventure of the Seas and service was not a problem. I would think that they would keep the staff to customer ratio pretty decent. Clint [ Link removed due to its violation of the Terms of Service ]

Well, I've been on the Adventure of the Seas and service was not a problem. I would think that they would keep the staff to customer ratio pretty decent. Clint [ Link removed due to its violation of the Terms of Service ]

Well, I've been on the Adventure of the Seas and service was not a problem. I would think that they would keep the staff to customer ratio pretty decent. Clint [ Link removed due to its violation of the Terms of Service ]

I've been to Freeport before and if you are not into beach or shopping, then there's not much else. But then again, many ports in the Caribbean are like that too. I'm actually going back specifically to Freeport this summer. Why? Because it's actually a great place to scuba dive. Freeport is the only spot in the world where you can scuba dive with dolphins who will interact with you while under water. Scuba divers can also dive with sharks there. If you don't scuba, there might be some good snorkelling areas. Freeport is a known location for scuba divers. Clint Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Indian Art

I've been to Freeport before and if you are not into beach or shopping, then there's not much else. But then again, many ports in the Caribbean are like that too. I'm actually going back specifically to Freeport this summer. Why? Because it's actually a great place to scuba dive. Freeport is the only spot in the world where you can scuba dive with dolphins who will interact with you while under water. Scuba divers can also dive with sharks there. If you don't scuba, there might be some good snorkelling areas. Freeport is a known location for scuba divers. Clint Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Indian Art

I've been to Freeport before and if you are not into beach or shopping, then there's not much else. But then again, many ports in the Caribbean are like that too. I'm actually going back specifically to Freeport this summer. Why? Because it's actually a great place to scuba dive. Freeport is the only spot in the world where you can scuba dive with dolphins who will interact with you while under water. Scuba divers can also dive with sharks there. If you don't scuba, there might be some good snorkelling areas. Freeport is a known location for scuba divers. Clint Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Indian Art

Of course your US dollar goes farther up here in Canada. Lots of things to see and do in the Southern Ontario area. If you folks are going as far as Toronto, perhaps you might want to go an extra 1 1/2 hours to see Niagara Falls.

I live in Canada and I must say that I was quite surprised when some of the cruise lines started coming up to Eastern Canada. I would like to read some opinions and perhaps reviews of cruises that included Eastern Canada as part of the routes.

I actually saw this river rafting on the TV in our stateroom of our cruiseship. They were plugging this as one of their tours. As for Dunn's Falls, I'm glad we went there and did the climb. No regrets at all but once is enough for us. We have one of Jamaica's biggest attractions now under our belt. There's just so many other places we want to experience, especially as scuba divers. On to other destinations.

You are all more than welcome. My girlfriend was so impressed with both Grand Cayman and Cozumel, we would like to return to these locations in the future. Labadee and Ocho Rios we can bypass next time though.

We were on the Radiance of the Seas for the western Caribbean cruise on November 28/04. This was our second cruise with Royal Caribbean with our first last year on the larger Adventure of the Seas. After one cruise with RCI, I expected roughly the same standards with the Radiance and in general, I wasn't disappointed. Staterooms: Our stateroom was an inside aft cabin and we were not disappointed. It was roomy enough and the lighting was adequate. Closet space and drawers were also sufficient for our use. We noticed that the double beds here were actually a bit better than the one we had on the Adventure since we couldn't really feel the split between the two separate beds like we did last time. If there's one thing that can be improved is the shower curtain. The one installed was not adequate in keeping in all the water from the shower. The shower on the Adventure utilized a double glass door system which was far superior. Otherwise, the cabin was nice and dark for sleeping at night. Although we heard a little noise from the cabins next to us, it was minimal. We didn't miss having any window or balcony at all since we were hardly ever in our stateroom. We were either at port or elsewhere on the ship and went back to our cabins just to relax or sleep. We would definitely book an inside cabin again with RCI unless we had a free upgrade. Dining: The main Cascades dining room was nice and meals were good. Breakfasts had the same menu every morning. Lunch at the dining room was okay. The dinners were good but not every meal item was a winner. There was the odd appetizer and dessert that was not up to par. One thing that my partner noticed was that the portions of the main courses seemed to be smaller than those served on the Adventure. We usually went upstairs to the Windjammer to get more food after dining at the Cascades. In some parts of the Cascades room, the tables were placed too cramp so walking to out own table was tricky at times. The self serve Windjammer was good. It usually had more variety of food than served downstairs at the Cascades. Breakfast and lunch were busy at the Windjammer but during evenings, most people chose to dine at the Cascades. The two other optional restaurants onboard Portafino and Choppe House were available at $20 US per person but we never tried them since the meals already included at the Cascades and Windjammer were fine by us. Other passengers who did go to these optional rooms told us that they were nothing special. There was another cafe available during late evenings called the Seaview and they provided fare such as sandwiches, salads and burgers. This was a nice feature. One thing we did object to was that they charged for the coffee and tea there. There was also a specialty coffee place on the main centrum of the ship and they also charged. We had more availability of free beverages on the Adventure. Service: The service by the stateroom attendants and dining room staff was top notch as expected. Entertainment: The evening shows at the Aurora Theatre were a mix of the ship's own crew of dancers and singers plus some outside comics and singers. In general, the shows were quite good. We would have liked them to mix up the entertainment each night rather than allocate music, comedy and magic into different evenings. Rather than an entire show of magic, we would have preferred each night featuring a variety of entertainment. Live music around the ship was a nice added touch. Amenities: Although smaller than the Adventure, the Radiance had fine amenities including the gym/spa, mini golf, pools and the shops. There was internet access but at 50 cents per minute, the service is a bit steep. There were things to do during the days at sea such as art auctions, cooking demos and dance classes. However, we felt that there was more offered on the Adventure. As for embarking and disembarking, there was no problem on the Radiance. The 6th level contained the casino and for non-smokers, this was a problem. The ventilation in the casino was not great and as a result, cigarette smoke travelled to adjacent areas near the casino. My partner wanted to avoid going on the 6th level whenever possible. In summary, we enjoyed our cruise on the Radiance of the Seas. However, comparing it to the larger Adventure of the Seas, we would rate the larger ship a bit higher. We liked the huge promenade on the Adventure which was not available on a smaller ship like the Radiance. Given a choice in the future, we would opt for the larger ship. For first time cruisers, the Radiance would still be a good ship to vacation on. This is simply the case of where veteran cruisers would expect more especially if they have been on higher end ships.

Thank you so much. I will also refer others interested in cruisingf to this forum.

Both Grand Cayman and Cozumel are ports where you don't need to pay the expensive cruiseship tours. For Grand Cayman, I would suggest the turtle farm, Hell village and Stingray City. You can do these by cabs. If you folks are into scuba diving, you can hook up with many local operators rather than go through the cruiseship. For Cozumel, it is the same. Scuba diving is the thing here. You can also rent a four by four or some scooters and go around the island within 2 hours by yourselves. I did.

I won't buy anything on board and no more souveniers at port since my house is full of stuff already. I will buy the odd bottle of liquor if the price is right and will spring for a t-shirt if it is scuba diving related. Clint Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Indian Art

We prefer the early sitting because we like to see the evening show at a decent time and it leaves some digestion time before the midnight buffets. We have found that the early sitting leaves ample time even after a long day of activities. Clint Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Indian Art

One of the ports visited on our recent Royal Caribbean cruise was Grand Cayman. This was an eagerly awaited port since I've been there before but wanted to take my girlfriend scuba diving there. We were worried that we might miss this port since the Caymans were hit pretty hard by the hurricanes and indeed, they had closed the islands off to tourist travel for part of the summer/fall. Fortunately for us, Grand Cayman had reopened just about two weeks prior to our cruise at the end of November. Getting to Grand Cayman is by tender since it had a shallow harbour. This can be a potential problem in itself because we were told that if the wind and waves are too rough, the captain would cancel the port and spend the rest of the day at sea. Apparently in the past, one of the tender boat workers had fallen and got crushed to death between the boat and the dock during one of the rougher wave days. This resulted in the cruiseships being much more careful in deciding whether to allow tendering or not given the conditions. Again, fortunately for us, the weather was picture perfect during the day we were in Grand Cayman last week. The downtown area pretty well recovered from the effects of the hurricanes and the shopping was business as usual. There were four ships at port during the day we were at port. Grand Cayman is above average in terms of cleaniness and the attitude of the locals for a Caribbean island. It is also one of the pricier island though. Bargains can still be found though, especially in the liquor where there are examples of certain liquors being even less expensive in Grand Cayman than even Cozumel. For example, Malibu rum was $10 US in Grand Cayman, $13 in Cozumel and about $19 back in the Miami home port. Everything else like restaurants and activities were generally more expensive than other islands. According to other passengers who ventured to other parts of the island, the damage from the hurricanes was more visible with fallen trees and some buildings still not repaired yet. A few of the organized tours by the cruiseship were also not available. We decided in advance to do some scuba diving off the shore and Eden Rocks Scuba Center was a 5 minute walk from the port. There are two decent shore dives right in front of their dive shop and we spend the morning diving the site called Devil's Grotto. Instead of paying $85 US for a typical Cayman boat dive trip, I ended up paying just $8 US for a rental for a tank. I didn't go to other parts of the island during this trip but have been to the turtle farm, Hell village and Stingray City before. They are all worthwhile sites to visit. I wanted to take my girlfriend scuba diving at Stingray City in the afternoon but for some reason, only the snorkelling sections of Stingray City were available that day. So after returning to the cruiseship for lunch, we went back ashore to do some shopping. We would like to come back to Grand Cayman again for a longer stay in the future. In summary, most of Grand Cayman appears to be back in business again after the hurricanes. It is one of the nicer but pricier ports to visit in the Caribbean. Clint Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Native Art

The first port for our Royal Caribbean cruise of the western Caribbean was Labadee, Hispaniola which is actually a part of Haiti. This specific port is leased out to Royal Caribbean so only their cruiseships come here. Labadee is actually a peninsula with a few beaches. Getting to land from the cruiseship is by tender. There is a small section for kids with floating fake icebergs to climb and water slides but they charge an admission fee. Flotation mattresses are also available for rent for those who just want to float in the ocean. There are also locals who help with getting beach chairs for you but they expect tips. So things here are a money grabber. The cruiseship did have optional tours for snorkelling, parasailing, waverunner and kayaking tours but we thought that they were overpriced. Most passengers just spent the day relaxing around the beaches. The area around Labadee was pleasant enough but the beaches and shores themselves were fairly rocky so wearing sandals in the water would be advised. Royal Caribbean had organized a beach BBQ at an outdoor picnic facility which was okay but nothing special. There is a market there consisting of two buildings. One is a store where the souveniers and items have marked prices and the other building is like your typical market where locals try to hustle you for business. The locals inside the market were aggressive but polite. If you don't mind haggling, you could get some pretty good deals but if you dislike this type of pushy atmosphere, then you best avoid the market except for the fixed price store. One big difference between this port compared to others is that since it is pretty well being used as a private beach, you will not be hassled by locals. The vendors coming around with drinks at the beach locations are actually Royal Caribbean staff so if one wishes to buy a drink, the cruiseship passcard is all that is required. As for concerns about being in Haiti given the poverty and political situation, Labadee was not a problem because the entire site is enclosed by a high steel fence. Other passengers later told us that they wandered off near the perimeter of the site and saw many Haitians along the fence begging for handouts and food. The fencing was mostly concealed in the distance from the main tourist areas. We found Labadee in general to be a bit of a waste of time for us. The beaches were too rocky and we didn't have access to inexpensive activities since everything was run by Royal Caribbean. If one wanted to just go lie on the beach all day and not much else, then Labadee would be a suitable place. For those who want to experience some culture, do water sports without going through the cruiseship, or shop duty free, Labadee would not be the place to go. We decided to stay on board the ship after the BBQ lunch for the rest of the afternoon. I like Royal Caribbean and would definitely cruise with them again but would not want to go on an itinerary that included Labadee in the future. Clint Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Indian Art

One of the ports of call for our Royal Caribbean cruiseship during the week of November 28/04 was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Probably the most famous site in the region is Dunn's River Falls and we chose to tour it on our own rather than through one of the cruiseship tours. Once we disembarked from the cruiseship, there were cabs and shuttlebuses available at the pier. Cabs to Dunn's River Falls were $22 US for a return trip. Cabs allowed 1-3 people per vehicle. We were also told at the pier that small shuttlebuses also go to the Falls at $5.50 US per person. These were also based on return trips. The only problem with shuttlebuses was that we had to wait until they filled up the shuttle before leaving for the Falls so since we were the first on the bus, we had to wait about 15 minutes for it to fill up. The driver then asks you when you want to be picked up at the Falls for the return trip. Our driver suggested 2 hours to see the Falls so we agreed on this time duration. Once at the Falls, a woman then came onboard the shuttle to sell tickets for admission to the site at $10 US per adult person which was the same rate at the park's ticket booth. Once inside the Dunn's facility, there were rentals for special rubber shoes as well as lockers. We carried a small backpack so we didn't require paying for a locker. We also brought along our scuba diving booties so we didn't have to rent those rubber shoes on site either. The cruiseship shop was also selling these rubber shoes in advance. Shoes of some type are highly recommended as the rocks on the Falls can be slippery and some of the bottoms of the water pools are a bit rocky. If you have old sneakers you don't mind getting wet, they will be suitable for the climb up the falls as well. Our scuba diving booties turned out to be sufficient. The entrance to the site is at the top of the falls so we took some stairs that were adjacent to the falls to the bottom where the beach and entrance to the climb were. There are official guides dressed in blue polo shirts and shorts who will take groups up the falls. Normally, they will ask to carry all cameras for you so they can take photos of you as you climb. Of course, they expect to be well tipped for their services. Also, groups were told to hold hands forming a human chain up the falls. This was suppose to make things safer but as we witnessed, this method of going up the falls is not a guarantee against falling. We saw a woman let go and she fell down the rocks during one of the steeper sections. She wasn't badly hurt but we imagined that she sustained some nice bruises. There are various points along the falls where you could get off the falls and back on the stairs to walk up the rest of the way. Not everyone there attempted to climb the falls as many were happy to just walk dry along the side on the stairs. We chose not to go with any of the groups which tend to go up the left side of the falls. We made our way up on our own mostly on the right side. With some breaks for photos, we made it all the way up the falls in about 30 minutes. Going with a group would have taken longer for sure. The water is a bit cool and if you have a wetsuit, it is highly suggested that you wear it for the climb. Cameras used there up the falls are also recommended to be water resistant since they likely will get wet. We left our digital camera on the ship and took one of those $25 underwater cameras. After climbing the falls, we headed back down to the relatively small but uncrowded beach where the ocean water was warmer until it was time to depart. The exit back at the top of the falls was strategically located at the end of a market so we did have to go through some locals who tried to sell us their souveniers. These locals who worked inside the Dunn's site were hustling but not as aggressively as those in the town of Ocho Rios. The shuttlebus arrived at the site parking lot on time as agreed. The total amount we spent including the park admission and the shuttle was $31 US for the two of us. Taking an organized tour through the cruiseship would have cost more than double this amount. So it is quite possible to tour Dunn's River Falls on your own rather than take the more expensive tours. We were glad that we did see Dunn's River Falls but we thought that it was not nearly as impressive as depicted on photos in travel brochures. The official website for Dunn's River Falls is http://www.dunnsriverja.com Clint Free Spirit Gallery [url=http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca]http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca Exquisite Eskimo Inuit Art & Northwest Indian Art