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Many thanks for your good wishes folks. We will drink a toast to you all at Crazies. Donna will keep a written record of each day's events and we'll pass them along to you on our return. Regards, James and Donna.

MaryLou, Donna and I came off the Emerald Princess in March after a 10 day cruise to the Caribbean. I think after we returned I posted a brief thought or two about it. We didn't have too many complaints really. Watered down drinks and their cost plus the lounge entertainment was rather ordinary were a couple of things. Also dining room service was very slow at times. The ship seemed to shut down for the night before midnight!! But service was O.K. and the ship was spotless except the 9 hole mini golf course which was tattered and beat up. I think at the time I mentioned that the level of quality had deteriorated from our 1st Princess cruise which we took 2and a half years ago. Regards, James.

A loaded question that if ever I read one!! Probably we would choose a bed and breakfast type holiday in one of the many places we haven't seen in Canada to start with. Or a farm holiday. We both like animals. I read with interest some of the opinions of All Inclusives. They make sense in one way. However, any holiday is what you make it-including cruising. I feel very strongly that we will see vast changes in the cruising industry over the next 5 years. Some for the better most for the worst from a passenger point of view. Royal Caribbean will be the major culprit. They are saturating the seas and islands with their mega and ultra mega ships. Not to mention their nickel and diming. What is it? $14.95 for a steak in their main dining rooms! No chocolates at night and room service charges after a certain time of night. I fear this is only the start of things to come from ALL cruise lines. Regards, James.

Well Joey it looks very much like all cruise lines are heading the way of Ocean Village Cruise and/or Easy Cruise where you virtually pay for everything. What this will do of course is drive more people to the All Inclusive Land Holidays. If Cuba opens up for Americans you will be amazed what you get for the dollar. And the beaches are fabulous. As I mentioned on an earlier post, if it wasn't for the lack of smoking restrictions at these resorts, we would take more of them. I love cruising but don't like the direction it's heading. If it gets any worse this nickel and diming, then we too will seek other kinds of vacation. The cruise lines are asking for BIG trouble if they continue their money grabbing ways. Regards, James.

Well you could be blunt and honest by saying you want to be alone-nothing more. If your friends are TRUE friends they will respect your wishes and understand. If they give you a difficult time or try to make you feel guilty-ignore it. After all it's your life-right? Regards, James.

Interesting topic.....here in Quebec we have liquor stores open 7 days a week, but you can also get beer and wine at all grocery stores (also open 7 days a week) and at every corner "Depanneur" which is basically your 7-11. It is very convenient! donna

Thank you Joey re the "T" shirt info. I have ordered 2. Regards, James.

Thanks Debbie for the article. It's absolutely true of course. But what upsets me the most apart from drink prices, extra dining charges etc is the automatic tipping which is added to your bill before the ship sails !!! I am totally against this nonsense and on embarkation evening I go to the pursers desk and have these gratuities removed. More so now after reading a recent article about a passenger asking a lido deck waiter if he shared in these tips. The waiter told him no. None of the servers or waiters get anything in the way of a shared payout. It goes to the cruise line which is what I suspected all along. I know if it wasn't for the amount of smoking permitted at All Inclusive resorts, we would probably take more vacations on land as they are more All inclusive than ships despite what others may think. Regards, James.

Hi Folks, Wow, you all write so fast and make lots of postings compared to me!!! I note the "T" shirts are available. Are these with the Cruise Crazie logo on or are they simply plain? Not really interested in plain shirts but if they have the logo on we'd like them. Donna takes small and I prefer extra large or 2 extra large. Please pass on the cost of them. Like a lot of you I love wine preferably red. Presently I'm enjoying a boxed wine too. It's from Spain and it's called Vina Franchesca. Has anyone tried this? It's not too bad-not the best I've had but for the price it's O.K. Donna is not a red wine drinker and prefers the lighter German sweet wines. No doubt we will order up a couple of bottles for our stateroom later on nearer the departure date. Regards, James.

Hi Folks, Thanks for replying to our queries re "T" shirts, pins etc . We are now booked into the Holiday Inn Express Doral for the 8th of November. Looking forward to our meal at the Ale House Bar with everyone. Regards, James.

Hi Folks, Donna asked me to ask you the following: Are there any Connie Goes Crazie "T" shirts available for this cruise? Is there a metal badge "Connie goes Crazie" available or just a printable paper door hanger? Also, a suggestion: Could we exchange small tokens representing our home town/state/province? Something such as a pin, fridge magnet, small inexpensive item related to where we are from? Regards, James

Joey- re the special dinner on a sea day. How about the day before we get to Aruba? That would be day 9 out of Barbados, However anytime really is O.K. by us. Regards, James.

Joey. Our e-mail addresses are as follows: Donna-rollerdonna###### James-jadon29###### Please add our names to the hotel list in Miami. I will call the hotel this evening. Another question for everyone. Are you interested in booking the speciality dining room "Ocean Liners" on the Connie one evening? Regards, James. Oh dear, obviously we cannot transmit our e- mail addresses. Makes sense I suppose. Joey you will have to contact John. Cheers, James.

Joey, Thanks for the info re hotel and eatery. Regards, James

So looking forward to our cruise and meeting everyone. I have a question. Is there a hotel picked out for those of us who will be arriving a day earlier than sailing date? It would be great to have a get together and have dinner in a nice but not too expensive hotel. Looking forward to the answer. Regards, James.

I tightly roll all socks, underwear,all shirts, trousers, sweaters and ties. My jackets (2) are usually last to be packed and I fold these on top. I use a medium to large suitcase for cruises of all lengths. If needed, I use the ship's laundry rather than taking along more clothes. Regards, James.

We usually spend a few minutes looking over the Atrium. Following that if we boarded after 1 p.m, we drop our bags off in our room. If we have boarded before 1 p.m. we'll hang around the main pool area and perhaps have a 'drink of the day' We will go for lunch normally after dropping our carry-ons in our room. Following lunch it's a little exploring until muster drill then Donna does her thing at the Sail Away party!! (if there is one) Regards, James.

Donna simply MUST pick up a pin of the country she visits. Her back pack is covered with pins mostly of the Caribbean and provinces/states of North America. She will also buy postcards of the places we visit for cruise scrapbooks which she makes up after each trip. Personally I will pick up a ship's model from the ship's boutique. Regards, James.

Well we have already booked a 10 day Caribbean with HAL for March 2010. I would also like to do a Transatlantic as well in June from Southampton to New York on the QM2 or new Queen Elizabeth. "The Crossing" I think this is known as. Convincing Donna is going to be difficult though as she likes to get off the ship after a couple of days at sea. I could spend weeks at sea as I'm a major ship and oceans fan!! Anyway we'll see. I don't believe in planning TOO far ahead. Regards, James.

Well we have already booked a 10 day Caribbean with HAL for March 2010. I would also like to do a Transatlantic as well in June from Southampton to New York on the QM2 or new Queen Elizabeth. "The Crossing" I think this is known as. Convincing Donna is going to be difficult though as she likes to get off the ship after a couple of days at sea. I could spend weeks at sea as I'm a major ship and oceans fan!! Anyway we'll see. I don't believe in planning TOO far ahead. Regards, James.

Because we only have travelled on Carnival, HAL, Celebrity and Princess, the thing I would like is a coffee/tea making machine in our stateroom. Otherwise I think we're pretty satisfied with what we have. Regards, James.

Because we only have travelled on Carnival, HAL, Celebrity and Princess, the thing I would like is a coffee/tea making machine in our stateroom. Otherwise I think we're pretty satisfied with what we have. Regards, James.

A very good question. Basically, Donna and I are"meat and potatos people" so to speak. It would take far too long to explain that! But we're not keen on exotic meats or bizarre combinations of herb and spiced food. Donna will stick with chicken dishes mostly whilst I enjoy most fish dishes along with beef or pork. When I research cruises I check the ship's sample menus. Thankfully most of the affordable lines have pretty straightforward food choices and so far that suits us. Regards, James.

MaryLou, Donna too thinks this is a great excursion! So I'm sure it'll be a great day for all Crazies! Regards, James.