Joanandjoe

If I were still communting to NYC by bus, instead of driving to Westchester, I might have seen Freedom of the Seas, which arrived in Bayone at 8 a.m. this morning. The ship will be sailing from Manhattan on Saturday, the same day that our ship, the Zenith, sails from Bayonne. I don't know if we'll see her or not, especially since it's supposed to rain Saturday afternoon. If I do see it, I'll report when we get home. We've never started a cruise in the rain, so we hope the forecast is wrong. Some of my fellow Zenith cruisers are TAs or extra good RCCL customers, and they'll have a short preview sail of Freedom before they cross the river to Zenith. Has anyone seen the ship yet? Will anyone be sailing on her? Huge ships are not our cup of tea, but I know that many CCers love them and will sail on them. Here is the initial schedule for the ship: Wednesday, May 10, 8 a.m.: Freedom of the Seas sails into New York Harbor and docks at Cape Liberty Cruise Port (in Bayonne, New Jersey). Thursday, May 11, evening: Freedom heads back out -- this time into New York harbor where it will anchor off of the Statue of Liberty. An official handover will take place onboard at some point in the evening. Friday, May 12, morning: Is anybody seriously going to miss the ship's debut on American national television? Set your alarm as NBC's "Today" will broadcast live, all three hours, from the ship. Afterward, the vessel will briefly head back to Cape Liberty and then mosey on across the Hudson River to Manhattan's cruise terminal. Saturday, May 13, daytime: The ship will dock in Manhattan -- so the public can take a peak -- until 4 p.m. Saturday, May 13, nighttime: The ship departs for a two night preview sailing; guests include travel agents, past passengers and journalists. Monday, May 15 - Wednesday, May 17: A few more preview sailings. Thursday, May 18, morning: Freedom of the Seas heads north, to Boston. Friday, May 19: Freedom of the Seas arrives in "Beantown" where it will be docked at Warehouse Berths 6 and 7 through the weekend. Monday, May 22: The ship heads south -- this time toward its home in Miami. The trip will take three days and Freedom is scheduled to arrive on.... Thursday, May 25 - Saturday, June 3: Finally! Miami. From this day onward, more (lots more) preview sailings and hometown events. And then.... Sunday, June 4: Freedom of the Seas officially sets off on its first cruise, a seven-night Western Caribbean itinerary that calls at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Royal Caribbean's private Haitian beach in Labadee.

CNN has picked up this story. The article focuses on the original period for the ship, when it was the France. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/05/0...p.ap/index.html

Congratulations on your switch. Too bad you can't do both. We've had one switch, in 11/04, from 10 days in the Caribbean on HAL Volendam to 14 idays in the Med. on the Windstar (sister line to HAL) Wind Surf. One of the best decisions we've ever made, even though that was my 30th or so (probably more) trip to Europe, and I've only been to the Caribbean (other than business trips to Puerto Rico) twice and Joan once. The Mediterranean sun is wonderful, and I'm not even a sun worshiper.

Thanks, everyone. Sure, K & R, we'll check her out for you. We'll be back on CC after our trip. 3 days to go for Zenith 5/13, 199 days for Noordam 11/25. <]

Happy anniversary, Sherry. Have a great trip on our favorite ship.

Have a wonderful trip, Sherry. We hope you'll love the Seven Seas Navigator as much as we did. Are you sailing with Travel Bug (or are you Travel Bug)? If you're two different cruisers, not one cruiser with two postings, the ship is small enough that you'll be almost certain to see her. Since Travel Bug is named Sherry, I wonder if these two Bon Voyage messages are one and the same. So if we're wishing you Bon Vogage twice.

You're welcome. The article is actually about a video, but I think I'll pass on the video. Too depressing.

St. Thomas is one of the few islands I've been to, so it's hard to venture another guess. Bonaire? Dominican Republic (Punta Cana)? I haven't a clue.

Congratulations, Thomas, on your excellent review. It is THE featured review on another cruise board.

I read on another cruise board that this former luxury liner, once the pride of the French Lines (as the SS France), then of NCL (as the SS Norway), is being towed to India, where it will be scapped. How sad! Here is an article from a cruise history web site, Maritme Matters, on Alang, India, the place where Norway is headed, and where many ships have met their end. http://www.maritimematters.com/mall_alang_pk.html

We've had a lot of threads on this subject, so we'll keep our comment short. Obviously a lot of people want biggest and newest. One of my co-workers just go back from a cruise on a huge Princess ship, and her comment was: the more features, the better. We like smaller ships, and we're afraid we'll get frozen out of cruising in the future, as the medium ships get retired and the small ships get huge price increases.

Jason, we're puzzled. This post seems to be the same as Cruise and Shmooze.

That's great for the cruise lines and the sales people, not so great for the rest of us. One of the reasons we'll be sailing on Zemith to Bermuda on Saturday, instead of on our favorite ship, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator, is that the Navigator has been chartered. Bad for us, good for Sherry (Travel Bug), who will be on the charter. Even when sales groups don't charter a whole ship, they take over. A group of extroverted people (as most sales people are) who are part of a large group can make it difficult for everyone else, even on a big ship. They take over lounges or pools, sometimes even an entire dinner sitting.

St. Thomas?

tee3871, welcome to this crazy board. Post often, and soon you'll go from inside to outside, to balcony room. This isn't the biggest cruise board, but it's the friendliest.

I agree. It's not worth worrying about and you can't do anything about it. It does make the cruise line excursions a little cheaper, or at least no more expensive, they are priced in dollars. Good point, James. The dollar priced tours from the ship turned out to be a better value in 11/04 than private tours. I do believe, however, that Joey and David have booked several private tours or cars with driver; and those, of course, are priced in Euros. Still, 1000 of Euros might cost $50 more than before the recent drop in the dollar--not a big deal.

We hope you have fun. With Joe's work schedule, the only months we can take a vacation are May or June, and November; so January is not a possibility. A most propitious date for a cruise: 1/13/07, the 40th anniversary of the day we met each other.

edluch, welcome to this crazy board. Post often, and soon you'll go from inside to outside, to balcony room. This isn't the biggest cruise board, but it's the friendliest.

OK, don't get up at 4 a.m. (although we've heard that the Canal at night is fascinating); but do get up early. Seeing the Canal is worth it. Have a great time!

Don't worry about the little stuff that you can't do anything about. When we were in the Med. in 11/04 the Euro was $1.32 to $1.35. We still had a greaat time!

cannon fodder, welcome to this crazy board. Post often, and soon you'll go from inside to outside, to balcony room. This isn't the biggest cruise board, but it's the friendliest. We assume, from your CC name, that you're a vet.

Your comment cracked me up, Mebert, and here's why. On our last three cruises (two on Windstar, one on Radisson) there were NO formal nights. One of our concerns about our upcoming Zenith and Noordam cruises is that we'll be uncomfortable on X or HAL having to dress up. I haven't worn a suit on a ship in more than two years. And here you are, placing a post about how you're afraid you don't have the wardrobe for Regent. Of course you do! What you don't have (I suspect) is the body or the wardrobe of the "mature" models who pose for the Regent ads. Few people wear jeans to meals on Regent; but then, few do on X or HAL.

Keith makes some good points, but you still want to know if your money will be well spent, or if you're better off going to a nice hotel and location on land. I'm not sure what part of CA you're from; but if, for e.g., you're from San Francisco, maybe a weekend in Monterray or wine country would be better than RCCL. That's why you need input, and why you asked the question. There should be plenty of people who have actually sailed on RCCL, maybe even on this ship. We haven't sailed on either. C'mon, CCers, let's help Joey!

This will be your cruise to Bermuda, and you'll be boarding the Zenith the day we disembark. Goombay dances are appropriate, so we'll dance one for you. As the Talbot Brothers used to sing, to a Goombay rhythm: "Bermuda's still paradise It still has its charms. Just waiting to welcome you. Once again in its arms. So when you're feeling beat, worn out on your feet, This is my wise advice: Come to Bermuda, It's still paradise!"

Bon voyage, r12thnurse. We hope you have a wonderful trip on the Victory.