Sarge6870

I remember many years ago while staying at the Ron Jon Resort in Port Canaveral, they had a gambling ship that ran twice a day called "Ambassador II" and run by Sterling Casino Lines. We decided to give it a try on their 11am to 6pm sailing. It was pretty cool. The vessel was an old car carrier that was transformed into a casino ship. The funny thing was it would sail beyond the 3 mile limit so they could open the casino and the ship would do ovals in the ocean (yep, once they got out there, they just did circles). Every time the ship made a turn, they would announce over the P.A. to hold on to something. The ship would do a tight 180 degree turn and the ship (because of it's age and not equipped with stabilizers) would list....severely!! The casino ship stopped operating some years ago due to not being able to reach a lease agreement with the Port of Canaveral. Also, because of it's short trips, it was a great way for new cruisers to check out their sea worthiness in regards to sea sickness.

I'm on it brother!!! So many cruises....so little time

I agree!! But when I think about some of the things I've seen on past cruises such as passengers loading up trays at the buffet with enough to feed a whole deck of passengers, people changing dirty diapers poolside, people that seem to not be able to figure out how the shower in their cabin worked and more, I can see the safety reason behind their statement. In May when we sailed on RCCL, that was the first time I experienced their approach. They had dining crew at the entrances to the buffet and the main dining room that would offer hand sanitizer. Also, RCCL crew will not shake hands with anyone, they will accept a "fist-bump" with a smile though!!

I remember when I was boarding the then Celebrity Meridian in N.Y. enroute to Bermuda back in the early 90's, a sign placed at the gangway of a ship across from us (I think it was a Premier Lines ship) that stated "This vessel has not passed CDC inspection". Although the Coast Guard can't force cruise lines to cancel a cruise due to inspection failure, I sign like that at the gangway would SURELY cause me to think twice!!!

All's good here Shon and your breakin' my heart with the B2B's you been on. Wish I could have been there to "console" you ...REALLY!!! :) Just realized today we have to weeks for final payment for the Brilliance cruise in November!!! Can't believe we are a bit over 90 days for our NEXT cruise!!! And of course...we'll be visiting Paradise Beach again when in Cozumel. This is the first time were doing 2 in one year....PUMPED!!!!

What a wonderful, WONDERFUL story!!! Seems being spontaneous worked for you and your marriage! I kind of did the same thing this past April to my wife of 23 years. We weren't facing the "D" word but I like to surprise her once in awhile. She was in N.Y. visiting family and while she was gone, I got bored. So, what did I do....some research. We already had the Brilliance of the Seas booked for November but Chrissy and I work so hard, I felt we deserved it. A CRUISE that is..for May on a ship and with a line we have never sailed with before. I booked it, paid in full then posted it to Facebook knowing she would see it. At first I got the normal "YOUR AN IDIOT" response... but already knowing that I AM, her remark didn't really affect me much!! The best way to kindle or re-kindle a relationship is on a cruise. Just the way you did. No interference. No phones ringing and no "opinions"!! Congrats to you and your hubby and wishing the brightest future together ;)

Hi Carol. I've been on the "Dream" and did the same exact itinerary you are doing. Hope you got a Cove Balcony, their great and close to the water with a lot of privacy!! In Mahogany Bay, the beach near the port is awesome. We rented a cabana on the private beach. Between the 4 of us, the cost was $50 each ($200 total). On the private beach, you have waiter service for all your needs, an air conditioned cabana that looks like a living room, hammocks and more. When in Cozumel, be sure to visit Paradise Beach, a co-sponsor and member of the site where I held my live chat session online back in May. You can read my review of Paradise Beach here on the site and also view a video interview I did the day we were there. Be sure to email them prior to going and tell them you are a Cruise Crazies member and they WILL take good care of you!!! As for Belize, not much to say but I was not impressed by my past visits there. You'll enjoy the Dream, it's a wonderful ship.

Here's the scenario, your on a cruise and due to bad weather, your ship has to deviate from it's itinerary for your safety. It has to skip a port of call and "maybe" dock at another port or spend a day extra at sea. In most cases, even though in your cruise contract it states the cruiseline has the right to do this, they may compensate you for your inconvenience. This may come in the form of an OBC (On-Board credit) or a discount on a future cruise with that line. They give you "something" for the change of schedule. The other day, my niece flew home to N.Y. from here in Tampa, FL. via a major airline. She originally was scheduled to depart at 7:05pm. Due to bad weather along the East coast, her flight was delayed 4 hours. She arrived home near 3:00am. The difference here is the airline offered NOTHING! No free drinks, no apologies and no discounts on future flights due to her inconvenience. See where I'm going here? The reason of this post is to bring to light one comparison between flying and cruising. When a ship has to change itineraries due to bad weather, people jump up and down with complaint. Even though the cruiseline may already have a remedy in place for such occurrences as part of their standard operating procedures. But, how many have complained to airlines because of cancelled flights, late departures or arrivals or lost luggage. How many airlines offered anything in return for your now scrambled schedule? I had an occasion back in 2007 when flying to Aruba where our connecting flight in Miami was delayed 3 hours because of what the airline deemed as "SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE"! I couldn't understand why they would schedule a plane for a flight when it was scheduled for maintenance. They offered nothing for our inconvience. That is until I called the airline and complained but all they did was reverse my miles on my account (which expired 2 months later). So the next time you experience a changed itinerary on your cruise, remember this post. And remember, it could be worse....you could be FLYING!!!!!

For me, I think that most of the cruise lines have began to become more "Family Friendly" as opposed to "Amusement Park" when it comes to their ships. You have to think back to when cruising began. It was mostly for the elite, adult crowd. Then, cruise lines began to see how moms and dads with kids take vacations with them but the amenities onboard were lacking when it came to kids activities. It just seems to me that the lines began to adapt to the needs of their prospective passengers and began to design their ships with a more family friendly approach. In short, the cruise lines selling method became "If you build it, they will come".

If you tell me which ship and the cabin numbers your looking at, I can do some research and find out if they have obstructions for you. :)

It's amazing Jan!! Were about to embark on our 10th cruise in November and we STILL print out a Crazies packing list for every cruise! Even still, we ALWAYS seem to forget something. Prior to our last cruise on the Jewel in May, I brought a new digital video camera that records in HD. I bought an extra, heavy duty battery as a backup for it and extra SD cards to record on. I packed everything related to the camera AND our still camera in the camera bag. On the way to the port, Chrissy decided to do some video taping while I was driving and held onto the camera. When we finally arrived at the parking lot near the Port of Tampa, we excitedly unloaded the luggage, gave it to the driver and he put it on the shuttle. When we boarded the Jewel, I realized the camera bag was still in my truck at the parking lot. I hope the cameras cables, extra battery, my tablet charger and all the camera accessories had a great vacation for the week....in my truck at the lot!!! And I was hoping after this many cruises, I would have it down to a science!!!

I'm sure "Air Partner" would LOVE to have multiple contracts with the various cruise lines. I don't see it to be necessary. From what I have read in the past about cancelled cruises away from their respective homeports, cruise lines have done a fine job in providing last minute transport by air, bus etc. to get their passengers home as quickly as possible. Look at it this way, if cruise lines have a contract with Air Partners for the "POSSIBLE" event of having to provide passengers with an alternative form of transportation home, it means big costs for the cruise lines. It would be like having an attorney on retainer in the "Possible" event you get arrested. If you are prone to being arrested, then having an attorney on retainer like that is worth it. But, if your not prone to being arrested, it would be throwing money out the window!! Look at how often cruise lines have to cancel cruises mid-way and provide an alternate form of transport to the homeport. It's almost non-existant! If cruise lines embark (pun intended) on Air Partner's money making endeavor, rest assured cruise prices will go up. Like I said, I don't see Air Partner's reasoning to be, well, reasonable or necessary!

I agree with both Jacketwatch & DebbieandJerry. We have had inside, oceanview (with the window) and balcony cabins. It kinda makes me look at it this way, when you fly 1st Class on a plane, you never want to go any other way!!! We love the balcony for the morning cabin service of danishes and coffee while we get ready for the day and for when we cruise in and out of ports. All in all though, if I just have a chance to be on-board....an inside cabin is JUST fine!!!!

What hasn't changed though is it still takes less than 2 day's to get to Bermuda (from N.Y.). When we twice sailed from N.Y. to Bermuda, it was 1 1/2 days there, 4 day's on the Island and 1 1/2 day's back for a 7 day cruise. It seems now that most of the lines don't spend 4 days there anymore! I guess they are spending more time at sea to get you to buy more on board and spend more in the casino!!!!

Of course, this was in 1909.... Remember the stories that your parents used to tell about prices so low that you could barely imagine them? Taking inflation out of the equation – because it ruins all of the fun if we don’t – it really is a great joy to close your eyes and picture the days of five cent bottles of soda, brand new cars at a few hundred dollars, and other items that had cost a very small fraction of what they do today. Assuming you enjoy that imaginative endeavor and have taken a cruise sometime in the past 10 years, you’re sure to enjoy this ad from the Bermuda-Atlantic S.S. Company promising a Bermudian cruise for a mere $40: Promising Bermuda to be “a paradise on earth,” the ad raves about the island’s lush foliage and warm seas, while throwing in a guarantee of sporting events to make the trip even more interesting. Providing an added bang for your buck is the fact that your $40 includes stateroom, berth, and all meals. SOURCE: Bermuda News(bernews.com)

Welcome to the site Eric & Bernedette!!! We did the Grand Princess prior to having the Skywalker Lounge removed. We loved it. Being that we are in Tampa, the ship pickin's are slim (and I'm usually too lazy to drive to P.C. or Ft. Lauderdale lol). Have a great time on the Royal!!!

As you know, I had sent a review to RCCL about our May 2nd cruise on the Jewel of the Seas. I also wrote a post about the importance of mailing a post cruise review to the cruise line corporate office and sending a copy to your cruise agent. As I mentioned near the end of my post about writing the cruise line post cruise, it does take some time to receive a response. I also mentioned how I have done this with every one of the 8 prior cruises I had taken. It took two months to receive a response from RCCL. Once again, my approach was well received by RCCL. Not only did their corporate office respond but so did an associate in their office in a separate letter. They were grateful I had brought the short comings and positives of the cruise to their attention and were apologetic for them and said they would be investigated and closely monitored to assure these things will not happen on future RCCL cruises as well as the crew members I stated in the review would receive commendations for their performance. They also offered us a $50pp (not per cabin, per person) OBC for use on any future cruise booked on RCCL. We will use that OBC on our booked Brilliance of the Seas cruise in November 2013 ALONG with the $150 OBC our cruise agent has offered for being a customer with them since 1990 AND the (up to) $250 OBC just because we booked the Brilliance cruise with our Mastercard. So were looking at up to $500 in OBC for our November cruise!!! Now please keep in mind, I do NOT send these reviews to the cruise lines for gain of any type. Cruise lines have so many vessels and as I have stated in my posts, they do appreciate the feedback and offer these future amenities for taking the time to share your insight into your cruise and into their line. Just remember, you have to send your review to the corporate office, not their online "Contact Us" link to get a response. Their corporate office is where the "controls" are.

And if I may add Jan, If you have a booked shore excursion that is early, some cruise lines allow for early disembarkation at ports provided you can show proof of your excursion time. In other words, you get to jump the line. If you don't have anything planned in port, WAIT. It seems that many passengers want to be the first ones off hence the long line at the gangway. I usually try to book a balcony cabin that is (or mostly is) on the side of the ship where you can see the dock (or tender loading). When I see the line(s) are getting less, that's when we disembark.

"Problems on cruise ships can vary from complications with a passenger's food to the steward being late to clean your cabin, says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of x." This statement coming from a website that does nothing about members that are really nothing more than "Trolls" that are there just to insight anger in unsuspecting members and their staff does nothing about it!! cc also has a problem with responding to messages sent to them via their "Contact Us" link when it comes to reporting these infractions (they don't). So, any statement made by them in my opinion is MOOT!!! Now, to my feelings on this report....... Complications with food and the steward being late to clean your cabin? REALLY???? I would like to know how many of the people taking the poll were experienced cruisers or first time cruisers. If you are not happy with your food in the MDR, you can have it replaced with the same served correctly or you can order something else. Your cabin steward does not have a specific time to clean your cabin!! I have always been amazed on my past 9 cruises on how it seemed our cabin steward was peeping at us from down the hallway waiting for us to leave so he could clean our cabin. There were times I would leave our cabin, then forget something and go back to the cabin minutes later just to find it cleaned perfectly!!! And, your cabin is not the only cabin they clean!! If you have spoken to any cabin stewards, they would tell you there are those passengers that are just right out SLOBS and those passengers cause the steward to spend more time cleaning their cabins and delaying cleaning yours. I have found that you will ALWAYS find passengers on a cruise that will not be happy with ANYTHING!!! I'm sure YOU have too!!.

NIIIIIICE Rose

Thanks Kev!!

And if I may add, make sure you contact your credit card company or the bank you have your card through to advise them of your trip. Some credit card's have daily limits as well as extensive usage of that card during your cruise may send up a flag thus suspending the card. Nothing worse than not being able to spend on your vacation and having to make an international call to the bank to have the card reactivated!!!

First off, there is a difference between a "Travel Agent" and a "Cruise Agent". A Travel Agent (aka T.A.) usually dabbles in various forms of vacation needs such as airfare, hotel packages, car rentals etc. A Cruise Agent or Cruise Agency (not the actual cruise Line) will focus primarily on cruise vacations where they can incorporate added options such as car rentals, airfare and post-cruise hotel stays. Because the Cruise Agencies sell mostly just cruises, the cruise lines may offer them discounted cruise rates that T.A.'s don't get. Many T.A.'s because they don't primarily sell cruises will only be able to offer the brochure rate. There was a time years ago where many Cruise Agents could offer their customers greatly reduced rates for cruises because of the sales they made of a particular line or because the cruise line wanted the cruise agent to focus on just THEIR line. Times have changed and the cruise lines have come more "in line" with the discounts they offer customers. Cruise agencies buy "blocks" of cabins in various sailings on cruise ships in different categories so you may not always be able to get the cabin you want in a specific category. The cruise line can offer you any cabin in any category if the one you want isn't already sold. A cruise agent may also offer you "On Board Credit" (aka OBC's) that are offered directly from them and not the cruise line. This OBC can be added to any other OBC you get from the cruise line if offered and in some cases can double your OBC!! Rule of thumb Lindsey is shop around. Call the cruise line and see what your cruise will cost through them. Then, call the other cruise agencies and see what they are offering for the same cruise. And when shopping around, make sure the agency is a member of CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association). I have used the cruise line to book a cruise once in the last nine cruises I have taken. The other eight times, I have used a cruise agency which I have used since 1990. Just seems that my cruise agent is more "personal" then dealing with the cruise line. Hope this helped!

You don't actually get money back....They just adjust the total price of the cruise thus lowering your final payment 90 days prior to your cruise date. If you have paid for the cruise in full, they will debit the difference back to the credit card you used to book the cruise initially. If you see the price listed by the cruise line or your agent has gone down, call them (depending on who you booked the cruise through) and ask them to honor the reduced fare.

Good for you Rose!! :) Much deserved. You have great insight and you and Howie are fun to sail with