Joanandjoe

This would be a standard one week Bermuda trip on the Zenith from Bayonne (Cape Liberty) to Bermuda, with 4 days in Bermuda split between Hamilton and St. George. The dates would be either May 6 or May 13. The savings over the Celebrity web site seem to be between $60 and $100 per person.

We've just gotten an email from a cruise discounter offering Bermuda trips on the Celebrity Zenith from $740 inside (forget it, instant claustrophobia), $830 outside. We sailed on the Horizon, Zenith's sister ship, and enjoyed it; but that was in what was called a suite. What do you think, Crazies? Should we jump on the offer? We'd also like to discuss whether the cruise agency is worth dealing with, or whether the offer is likely to be a Con. Can we discuss that on this board? On another crise board, discussion of specific TAs is strictly Verboten.

As Homer Simpson would say, "Duh! Uh!" We gave up on broadcast journalism a long time ago, when Joan's aunt and uncle were the victims of a sensational crime. The journalists, especially the TV one, wouldn't leave the family alone. They even came to the funeral of Joan's Aunt Nettie. It still makes us shiver to thin about it. If there's one consolation to your loss, Lisa, at least you MIL died peacefully. Our condolences. Getting back to the QM2, if Cunard had handled the situation well, there would have been no need for sensational journalism. From what we've seen, bad handling by the ship was followed by outrageous behavior from a lot of PAX. Jack was able to ride through everything with a British "stiff upper lip", but others weren't. The final compensation offered by the line was ludicrously high.

I think it's hard for most people to choose a best cruise, when most cruises are wonderful. In choosing the two we chose, that left out, among other things, our first cruise (Alaska) and a suite on Celebrity for a Panama Canal/Caribbean/Central America cruise. Even the cruise on the old Regal Empress was very good.

No argument with you, Mebert. I think the cruise may have originated in London or elsewhere in Europe, then gone to NYC, then Miami.

The way I read Jeff's posting, only people who would have borded in Florida were given the choice of not going on the cruise. Ongoing PAX were not given that choice, and probably could not have been given that choice, for legal reasons already discussed.

If we happen to be on a cruise, that's the best because it's happening NOW! If we're not on a cruise, the best one is the last one. However, if we try to be objective, the last two cruises we've been on were the best, but for reasons so different that we can't choose one. By far the most exciting cruise based on itinerary was two weeks in the Western Mediterranean on the Wind Surf in November, 2004. While our Radisson Seven Seas Navigator itinerary last September, Montreal to NYC, was much less exciting than the Med., it was a jazz cruise with 12 wonderful musicians, all fantastic, most of them famous. Both lines had wondefrul food and service, so how can one choose between them?

More QM2 news from another board. What do the PAX want now, blood? ______________________________________________ The squeaky wheel really does get the grease. After a technical delay forced the cancellation of three port calls, a group of passengers onboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 threatened to stage a sit-in unless they received a full refund of their cruise fare -- and the cruise line has decided to pay up. Cunard has increased the original compensation offered to guests disembarking in Rio, which was a 50 percent refund. These guests now have two options: Receive a refund of full cruise fare including air, or take 50 percent of their refund in cash, plus another 75 percent as a future cruise credit for another Queen Mary 2 departure between now and the end of December 2007. In a statement, Cunard says that they had hoped their guests would have "found much to enjoy during this liner voyage" and apologizes that "this has not proved to be the case for a significant number of people. In particular we recognize that the mood onboard may have further contributed adversely to our guests' experience ... while we believed that our initial offer would have been fair compensation, we have decided to make an additional compensatory gesture." The ship is also running a day late and instead of arriving in Rio on January 26 as scheduled, it will arrive on January 27 -- which means some passengers will miss return flights. Because of this, all passengers on the leg to Rio will also receive a full refund of their airfare, whether it was booked by Cunard or by the passengers themselves. Cunard's President Carol Marlow will meet the ship in Rio and is planning to personally apologize to guests onboard, and to thank the officers, captain and crew for doing their best under difficult circumstances. Queen Mary 2 will depart for the second leg of its voyage tomorrow at 5 p.m. At this point, Cunard does not anticipate canceling any other port calls (though visits to Montevideo and Acapulco will be shortened); the ship will arrive in Los Angeles as scheduled on February 22.

If Mebert can count a two night Imperial Majesty cruise on the grand old Regal Empress, which we took in 1999 on a Canada/New England trip, I guess we can count our one night Miami to Grand Bahama cruise in 1973, even thought it's so long ago that we don't remember the name of the ship*. That makes 54 nights, not 53. * We remember the trip, though. Our cab on Grand Bahama got into an accident, we never made it to the casino, and the folks at the hospital refused to treat Joan's injured foot. We haven't been to the Bahamas since.

Mazel Tov! You're way ahead of us. Of our 7 cruises, 5 have been 7 days, 1 8 days, 1 ten days. That's 53. Even our next, 11 day cruise, won't get us close to 100. Guess we'll have to keep cruising.<]

And what else would a true Brit be doing on a cruise with no stops? Onward to the pub!

Once again, here is a posting from another board, with the names removed to protect the innocent and not so innocent. Apparently the ship is scheduled to arrive in Rio tomorrow. _________________________________ The mood onboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 this week is not as pleasant as you might expect to find on one of the world's most celebrated cruise ships. According to CNN, some passengers are threatening to protest last-minute itinerary changes by not getting off the ship when it arrives in Rio on Thursday. The ship was delayed in Ft. Lauderdale for two days last week due to mechanical problems with one of its four propulsion pods. Work was done to put the problem pod temporarily out of service -- affecting speed and ultimately prompting Cunard to cancel calls at St. Kitts, Barbados and Salvador (basically every port on the first leg of a 38-night journey) and send the Queen straight to Rio de Janeiro. The passengers have reportedly met with the captain to discuss Cunard's offered compensation, which they are unhappy with. The cruise line previously announced that passengers on the initial segment from New York (or Ft. Lauderdale) to Rio would receive a 50 percent refund; guests continuing through the second segment ending in Valparaiso on February 8, or the last segment ending in Los Angeles on February 22, will be provided a pro-rated refund for six days. One question disappointed passengers have posed to Cunard and the media is "Why didn't we have the option to just get off in Ft. Lauderdale?" One reason could be the Jones Act: Cruise lines face stiff penalties if ships embark and disembark passengers in the U.S. without having called on at least one international port. According to CNN, Cunard did not know how many ports would need to be canceled when the ship left Ft. Lauderdale. As far as ongoing itineraries and repairs are concerned, a spokeswoman for the line tells us that "there is still much assessment going on" ... and not much else. We'll keep you posted as things develop. Meanwhile, XXX community member YYYY reports on the situation live from QM2 in our Cunard forum: "[The passengers] had another meeting with the commadore [saturday]. Disgruntled people were saying that they were not going to get off the ship in Rio if they don't get all their money back. One gal said she had called CNN about it and others were all in agreement not to spend any money onboard. Yesterday while I was at the shore excursion desk a gentleman was telling all in line to not buy any tours from Cunard and not to spend a dime onboard ... the meeting looked like a Parliament session with many boos and cheers when someone suggested that no one get off the ship and to stay in their cabins. One lady did point out the clause in the cruise contract stating that Cunard did not have to give them anything but she was shouted down. "[At] yet another meeting with the commodore, they said they have 1,100 signatures [for] a class-action suit against Cunard. One guy stood up and blabbed that he was going to bankrupt Cunard and shut it down. All the complainers are now sunburned from yesterday. They are having such a bad time laying in the sun ... believe me it is only the 1,500 that are complaining, not everyone, in fact most people I have talked to are thinking these people are nuts." While some folks are sympathetic to those missing port calls, just as many are appalled at passengers' behavior: "I think some people just go on vacation so that they can complain in a new location," writes zzz. And while there is equal disdain on the topic of mutinies and sit-ins, what troubles most is idle talk about witholding tips from staffers. "Through all of this, no one has complained about the quality of the service or staff," www points out. "It seems unjust to hold them responsible, even if it was Cunard's fault."

We've only sailed on one of the cruise lines shown. Where is HAL? It has better food than Celebrity, which is supposed to be the best of the lines in your poll. Ranking the five lines on which we've cruised: 1. tie. Radisson and Windstar. If we must have a tiebreaker, Radisson, because wine is included. 3. Holland America, which we liked better than Celebrity. 4. Celebrity. Too salty and bland for our taste. We like spices but not salt. 5. Regal. No longer in business, but the food wasn't all that bad. In effect, we agree with Lisa regarding the Regal Empress: this was a bargain line with much better than bargain food, possibly better than Celebrity. However, Joe had a cap on his tooth fall out when he bit on a hard roll, which is why this is rated last. That gave us an interesting day going to a dentist on Martha's Vinyard (but that's another story).

I have no more comments regarding who's right and who's wrong. I am curious, however, as to what happened with the sit-in, and whether the ship has sailed from Rio. Does anyone know?

Lisa63, I have the same question as JohnG, since there are ships that sail from Seattle to Alaska with a minimal 2 to 4 hour stop in Victoria (which certainly isn't distant) or Prince Rupert (which might be distant).

No, Joey, breakdowns are not normal, but (stuff) happens. Pods are particularly prone to mishaps, but they also make modern cruise ships possible. A tough trade-off. Other ships have had pod problems, but they weren't publicized as much as for the QM2. Celebrity has cancelled cruises rather than send the ships out in the sad condition of the QM2. (And to think it's just 8 days since I saw the ship in NYC, and thought it was a monster.)

Welcome aboard, Convert 94. Ouch, aren't you being a bit harsh, even in fun? If every ship that's had trouble with propulsion pods were scrapped, that would eliminate most ships built in the past five years. Shari, I don't know if the Jones Act would have permitted people boarding in a U.S. port, New York, to get off in FLL, unless there was a stop outside the U.S., such as Bermuda or Bahamas. This isn't my area of the law, so I have no idea if there's an exception when there are problems with the ship. I suppose they could have sailed to Nassau, then sailed back to FLL and let the PAX off. J. Bond, when things go wrong, many of us, whether individually or as corporations, try to cover up with lies. Sad, but true. If there is a cruise line that excels in fixing mistakes, without lying or stonewalling, let me know--that may the cruise line for me. Maybe Easter Bunny (or Tooth Fairy) Cruise Lines, but probably no actual line, would meet this standard. Joey, as a NYC DJ used to say"Opinionated, but...Loveable?" If we can't express opinions here, as J. Bond does, where can we do so?

Welcome aboard. We hope you work your way up to the penthouse. Quite a first post, QM2 is doomed (so scrap it). Let's hope you have many, many more interesting posts.

Yes, the QM2 PAX have been lied to and misled, but the ship isn't exactly the Bounty. Mutiny is a rather strong term. Having said that, here's what Carnival/Cunard should do. 1) Fix the darn ship before they go any farther. 2) Give bigger discounts than 50%. 3) Arrange for hotels and/or special excursions for the PAX who were supposed to board in Rio. 4) Fly PAX who don't want to stay on the ship home, or to the next boarding point on the cruise. What they're doing is unfair to everyone.

Yes, there are lots of things to do n Cozumel, if you get there at all (and not to Costa Maya). By the time we reached there, we were "excursioned out". We took a cab into town, then walked inland a few blocks so we could get away from the tourist area and see a bit of the real Mexico. Lovely town square, nice local market, and lots of tourist shops on the way back to the waterfront. We played a round of miniature golf, had a great meal at a Mexican restaurant, and went shopping. Oy, did we go shopping! Joe bought a guayabara shirt at a low price, after we walked out of the store and the owner followed us out into the street, dropping the price as he followed us. Joan bought two necklaces after TWO visits to the same shop: the final price for both was, of course, less than the origonal price for one. Fun, without any excursion.

Rose has an excellent point. By May or so, there should be established transportation patterns for the new piers. Mkae tentative arrangements, but be ready to change them based on recommendations of people who have used the port.

We haven't been to Jamaica; however, people on other cruise boards recommend getting together a group, and going to Dunn's Falls. In Grand Cayman, we suggest a private trip to Stingray City. It costs half what the ship's tour cousts. We used Nativeway and loved it; others have used Captain Marvin and a few other providers. You might want to avoid all tours, and take a cab to seven mile beach, or around the island. George Town is small, but it has some shopping, and may be one of the few "developed country", instead of third world, ports on your trip. I would check carefully with your cruise line regarding Cozumel. As of a few days ago, the piers were not yet open following sevire hurricane damage. Some lines are tendering people to shore, but it's slow. Others are going to a port called Costa Maya. Make sure you know what Royal Carib. will do, then get back to this thread. For certain, if you go to Cozumel and not Costa Maya, look carefully at what RCCL offers. You may want to take a cab to a beach, arrange your own diving, or just shop in the only town on the island, San Miguel. If you're a diver, Cozumel is exceptional. Tell us what you like, and we on this board can give you more advice. In Cozumel and Grand Cayman it certainly is possible to take cabs to where you'd like to go.

Brooklyn is not a prime hotel area. There's a fairly new, very pricey Marriott in downtown Brooklyn, and not much else. On the other hand, there are lots of hotels in lower Manhattan, so you may want to go there. Hopefully someone who lives in the City can suggest a car service. Most people simply take cabs, but who knows what will be available at the pier after the cruise? Ft. Lee, which is about three miles from us, is about 20 miles from the pier. If you want to see your family, do you really need a rental car? Maybe you want to have your relatives call a local car company, such as Babe's taxi, to take you from LaGuardia to Ft. Lee, Ft. Lee to the pier, and the pier to LaGuardia. If you are renting a car at the airport, either return it to the airporrt and take a cab, or see if you can find a rental co. which will let you rent at Laguardia and return to downtown Brooklyn (after dropping one of you at the pier, with your luggage). A search on Travelocity, Expedia, or a similar site can probably uncover rental car sites near the pier.

This seems to be my day for posting stuff from another CC board onto this board. The Spirit presumably got caught in the same storm that I discussed in the "Awful weather in NYC" thread on the General Discussion board. The name of the other board has been abbreviated, but most of you know what it is. On its way back to New York from Tortola on Wednesday, Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Spirit hit rough seas with waves approaching 50 ft. -- breaking windows in cabins and flooding others. There have been no reports of injured passengers. A spokeswoman for the line tells us that four cabins were damaged, and that those passengers will receive a free future cruise. Passengers in seven additional cabins that filled with water will receive a 50 percent refund of their fare. (Other board) community member ___ tells his tale on (the other board's) NCL forum: "We just got home from the January 8 sailing and we did hit extremely rough weather. We went back to our cabin on Deck 5 portside at about 5 p.m. [Wednesday] and encountered winds in the hallway, with all kinds of ship personnel ... the seas were listed on the TV ship info at about 27 to 42 ft. waves and the captain eventually came on and said the winds were about 75 miles per hour. We did have waves breaking over the top of our window, and it definitely took out one of the cabins, about 10 further aft from us." Rough weather is not uncommon at this time of the year, though damage to this extent generally is. Ironically, NCL's Norwegian Dawn was slammed by a 70-ft. "freak wave" last April that broke windows in two cabins, flooded another 60 and launched a similar bit of a media blitz, particularly on New York-based news channels. Yet even in light of other, more recent cruise-related media hype, some disembarking passengers were hesitant to give reporters more fuel: "When we departed the ship, there were a bunch of reporters from Channel 7 News asking all kind of questions about our bad weather," member jimrsalem posted. "...all they got was, 'it was a little rough but it was OK.' They asked if we got seasick and we both replied no. They seemed very disappointed and moved on to the next person who said basically the same thing ... it was rough but I'm not one to give the reporters any negative news for them to run with." According to NCL's spokeswoman, temporary repairs have been made to the affected cabins, and are closed off to passengers until permanent repairs can be made after Norwegian Spirit's current cruise, which sailed today as scheduled; passengers originally booked in those cabins for today's sailing were accommodated elsewhere onboard and no cancellations were necessary.

QM2 has left FLL Here is a news posting: UPDATE: QM2 Underway After Delay; Ports Canceled Cunard's Queen Mary 2, which was delayed in Ft. Lauderdale since Tuesday due to mechanical problems with one of four propulsion pods, is finally underway. The ship left Port Everglades yesterday at 6 a.m. following technical work to decommission the problem pod. Because of the holdup in Ft. Lauderdale, Cunard has altered Queen Mary 2's sailing schedule (the ship had barely just begun its 38-night South American voyage); calls at St. Kitts, Barbados and Salvador have been canceled, and the ship is instead proceeding to Rio de Janeiro. The ship is expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro at approximately midnight on January 26. Passengers will receive a 50 percent refund for the initial segment from New York (or Ft. Lauderdale) to Rio; guests continuing through the second segment ending in Valparaiso on February 8, or the last segment ending in Los Angeles on February 22, will be provided a six-day pro-rated refund, according to a statement released by the line. Though Queen Mary 2 can operate on three pods safely, speed is affected; after Rio de Janeiro, Cunard will continue to review the itinerary and make additional changes as necessary.