Joanandjoe

Scirocco, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

Captaingail, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

Grandmax3, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

Kare erin, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

I think Jeff's views are right on point. Of course, I've made my position clear: I haven't worn a tux in about 30 years, and have no intention of wearing one*; so I don't see why a teenager should wear one. (*However, if our 31 year old son ever gets married, I would most happily buy and wear a tux, and then I'd take it on cruises. LOL) I would suggest a dark suit rather than a sports jacket for formal nights; but if 4444 doesn't own a dark suit, I wouldn't buy one just for the cruise. Joe

Andrea, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

Debberannne, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

Spotfin, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

Interesting. I looked for this on the Crystal web site, and found the press release that you've quoted, but no link enabling me to find out what the six cruises are.

Great idea, John, if we can get two other couples to join us. What is the approximate cost?

Mazel tov! It sounds like a great itinerary. It must be great to be able to book 17 days at the last minute: we can't even get away for a long weekend.

Mazel tov, K & R, on getting your docs. That's the first time we've heard of a TA who does house calls!<]

Bon voyage, Bibb and Karen. Enjoy Alaska, and have a radiant time on the Radiance!<]

Bon voyage. Have a triumphant cruise on the Triumph!<]

Thanks for the suggestions, and keep them coming. The synagogue is apparently within walking distance of the main dock, but not the Crown Bay dock where Noordam usually docks. As for going to St. John, we've heard what Rose says: that when St. Thomas is crowded, there is a spillover effect making St. John crowded, as ship's excursions and independent travelers head there.

We'll be in St. Thomas on 11/29 on the Noordam. This will be Joan's first trip there, my second (and the first was in 1958!). We did some research, and decided what we wanted to do, in addition to shopping: walk to the synagogue, take the tram to the top of the hill, take a taxi to Coral World and Coki beach. Then we looked at Cruise Calendar, and saw that there would be six ships in town, with over 14,000 PAX, plus crew. Ugh! We know that some experienced cruisers will stay on their ships, but that's still a lot of people for one's 1st or 2nd trip to a port. We would like suggestions as to what to do. Should we abandon our plans and either take a ship's excursion or go some place less crowded than Coral World and Coki? Will we be able to shop, or get cabs, with so many ships in port? Is there dock space for six large ships (Noordam, Zuiderdam, Disney Magic, Mariner of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, Costa Magica), or do some ships have to tender? As people who have traveled to a lot of cool places but few warm or "beachy" ones (our second Caribbean trip in 38 years of marriage), we would hate to miss out on good St. Thomas experiences; but are we doomed to disappointment with so many ships in port?

Joe and Pat, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

suzq, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

newcruiser, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

herbl38, welcome to this Crazy board. We're not the biggest cruise board, but we're the friendliest. Post often, and soon your inside stateroom will be upgraded to an outside, then a veranda, etc. Have fun here--we do!

I understand where they're coming from, given recent tragedies involving alcohol consumption. Still, banning passengers from bringing and drinking wine aboard, even in the Mediterranean or on ship's excursions to wineries, seems overly harsh. To the best of my knowledge, passengers who fell overboard were drinking stuff other than wine - either too much beer or too much booze. I think this policy will detract from the enjoyment of cruises. Joe

The new ship, Leviathan of the Seas (the name has been changed to protect the innocent) was the subject of a hilarious thread on another cruise board. Both RCI and Carnival have under construction ships that will, during school vacations, have more than 6,000 PAX, plus about 2,000 crew. That's not a ship, it's a city; but if there were no demand for "biggest and newest", it wouldn't be built. Some of the suggestions included: a full size football field, with a full football game on Saturdays. a auto racing track (not just an NCL simulator). using aircraft carriers as tugboats. using destroyers as tenders. having helicopter service from one end of the ship to the other. Alternatives included people movers and horizontal elevators. taxi service. as noted by Longboysfan, having the bow in one port and the stern in another. For me, the Freedom is way too big, and Genesis is obscene. Joe

Welcome back, Skaolboy. There's one thing all cruise lines have in common: a messed up front office. It sounds as if your TA is on top of thinks; hopefully, she'll get you a full refund, plus a little bit extra for your trouble.

Yes, a little bit of planning for special events can add to the fun by quite a lot. My all time favorite example of this was last September, in Prince Edward Island. Both of us are big fans of Lucy Maude Montgomery, and of her most famous character, Anne of Grren Gables. Anne is not normally a "guy thing", but as a redhead who excelled more in the classroom than on the ball field, and often wished he had "normal" hair, I empathized with Anne. Joan packed two sets of Anne costumes, and two red wigs, so she'd have a choice. On the day of our excursion to Green Gables, she put on one of the wigs (and carried the other as a spare, which she gave to our tour guide), a calico dress, and period jewelry, and carried a basket full of goodies from the ship. She spent most of the day "in character", and was a hit everywhere she went, from the "Anne" and the fiddler on the pier to whom she gave granola bars and cake, to the people on the tour, to the Japanese female tourists at Green Gables house. The day was a blast, thanks largely to Joan's planning and costume. Like Mary, Joan is a big kid at heart Joe

Yes, we did consider it; but we found the staterooms on Zenith to be so cramped that we decided to consider staterooms on Century (which are about the same size as on Zenith) only if the price was great. Instead, the price per day for a standard balcony room on Century, with the onboard stateroom credit taken into account (and not taking airfare into account), was more for a Northern Europe itinerary than we'll be paying per day for a full SA suite on the Noordam this November. For us, it was too much money for too little space, even though the itinerary was great. At least the Solstice class will have larger standard rooms than current X ships; but we can't imagine descending on a small port such as Ketchikan, Villefranche, or Dominica, with 3,000 other PAX and 1,200 crew, all having to tender to get to the port. That's our biggest problem with huge ships: there mere size restricts the ports they can go to, and changes the port experience. Joe