CruiseMan3000

Shon -
I am so sorry to hear we won't be blessed with your quick wit and uplifting stories. You are a joy to read, and the site just won't be the same.
Favorite stories? Wow - that's a tough one. The piece about the father and son bonding cruise was very touching. Your being mistaken for Eddie Murphy was hilarious. But my most memorable was the heart wrenching memories of your dog, Zoe. I probably wasn't the only one to shed a tear.
Hope to see you around the boards, and maybe we'll even cruise together one day. Till then ... boy voyage!

Dear Shon:
Say it ain't so!!!! I love reading your blog!!! You are always informative and entertaining... and thought provoking... I may not always comment, but I do enjoy reading what you have posted...
I wish you well and hope you will continue to participate in other ways with us 'Crazies'...
The best of the smooth sailing seas to you my fellow cruiser...
God Bless...

Dear Shon:
Thanks so much for all of your posts and contributions. I will miss you and your words.
I truly understand what it means to be spread so thin that you don't know if you are coming or going.
I look forward to your participation as a Crazie Cruiser!

Hey Shon,
While we're sad to hear you won't have the bandwidth to continue the Cruisetacular Weekly blog after this year, thank you very much for all of your AWESOME blog posts and content contributions since joining us....And I look forward to seeing your active participation in the forums moving forward.

Funny story.

I totally agree, Miranda - it's Princess all the way! I also agree about Skywalkers. On the old Grand, it provided shade on a hot day in the Caribbean for those of us who like a break from the sun but still sit by the rear pool. Just the same, the ship looks great now with the renovations - especially the Piazza and the addition of the International Cafe. Just wish they would re-cover those cabin balcony floors.

Well as Princess is my favourite cruise line, it's one of those ships. I love the Crown Princess, because of Skywalkers and Club Fusion. I sailed the Grand as well and it really is a great ship, but Skywalkers is gone and that is a shame, not for the environment though. The new Royal Princess is a fantastic ship too, great Piazza, super Seawalk, fantastic Theatre. My next cruise will be on the Caribbean Princess where Skywalkers is still there.
Enjoy your trip on the Grand and let us know what you think about it!

We also have never met a cruise ship that we didn't like. We've been on smaller ships (in the 90's), older ships (SS Norway where you had to go up, down, around to get to different floors) and refurbished ships. And, we've been on ships that need to be refurbished! We try to steer clear of the mega-ships. But I'm guessing that pretty soon that is all that will be available.
There are 2 ships that stand out: One is a Royal Caribbean where we had a bathtub and shower. The decorations of that ship were "jungle" like and the pool at the very back of the ship had cricket sounds and bird sounds. They also had a Johnny Rockets that we liked to visit.
The other was a Celebrity where the stateroom interior was the most georgous wood that we had ever seen.

Shon - I never met a cruise ship I didn't like. But if I had to choose, I'd choose the Emerald Princess, for many reasons - the food, fresh water pools, International Cafe, and a true promenade deck!

Shon...saying prayers for the family. This is a terrible tragedy. .My heart goes out to them. Sarge I'm so sorry for your loss. I also lost a little girl at birth...life is not always easy, but with God's help we make it through the tough times.

Thanks, Shon!

Oh Sarge, I am so sorry to hear of your loss, but I pray the same peace that has come over your heart will also invade the lives of all those affected by this tragedy! Thanks for sharing your kind words and thoughts - as always, they're welcomed with smiles and open arms!

Sarge, my prayers and thought go to you and your family in the lost of your daughter... there are never words to express at the lost of a child period! Not for you and your family nor for the family of this precious one lost in this pool on board the Carnival ship... Accidents happen... nothing more nothing less... God does always have a plan we may not know it for years to come, but He always knows... it's hardest to trust Him when these situations are fresh in our minds and the pain is fresh in our hearts. The verse that comes to my mine is: Be still and know that I am God... If we as humans can remember and rely on this one statement, we can have hope.
God bless you in the loss of your baby and God bless this family in the loss of this precious six year old..
My prayers are with you all...And praying for you and your friends as well, Shon...

Oh Sarge, I am so sorry to hear of your loss, but I pray the same peace that has come over your heart will also invade the lives of all those affected by this tragedy! Thanks for sharing your kind words and thoughts - as always, they're welcomed with smiles and open arms!

The good thing about thrift stores Shon is you can buy brand new stuff there as well. On the other side of the coin, I haven't really looked for cruise items when I shop at the thrift stores near me but it's a good idea. I have sold cruise stuff I had an abundance of at garage sales I had (like those plastic DOD glasses where I had multiple duplicates of but saved the REAL glass one's for me). I have my fair share of TEE's too from past cruises but my favorite collectors items is the pictures of the ship Carnival used to give out on the last night of the cruise but don't anymore. I also collect the models of the ships that the lines sell in their onboard shops. Sorry, getting off topic here......

I've said it before, and I'll say it again Shon..."YOU DA' MAN"!!! When it comes to cruises, I'm more of an introvert. I like to watch fellow passengers like you bang it up. It makes for good memories of the cruise and dampens the display passengers make of themselves that spend their cruise "inspecting" the ship, looking for any failure they can find. Gotta get on a cruise with you man!! Be safe........

All I can say is AMEN!!! You are not going to see the people again anyway... so what difference does it make? You are either a participant in life or life will pass you by. You can do something or gripe about 'what might have been.' That applies to everything you do or do not do. You cannot blame it on anyone but yourself. You are given one life to live... It's up to you what you do with it... You can sit around and complain about what you don't have or you can work hard and make something of yourself... Get on that boat and live... Get off that boat and continue to live... Have fun... you only have one life and it gets shorter every day... Remember it's not about the storms in your life, it's about learning to dance in the rain!!!

Woohoo! I'm dancing with ya, Jan! You know I'm on Grand Princess for Hawaii and Mexico this Christmas/New Year's! Oh yeah, a brotha will be following along to hear of how she treated ya in Alaska! I'm getting pumped for YOUR cruise! Yay!
P.S. I hope they give me a greeting like that! Now THAT's truly worthy of the pre-cruise dance! Dance on, girl! :)

Oh yeah man, I'm always gonna sail Carnival and I'm glad you will too! Plus, why would I trade my Platinum status (working on that Diamond)! I agree, I've cherished some great high seas vacations with Carnival, too - they've got my support for life! Thanks for sharing your insight, man... I LOVE IT! Keep the comments coming!

Oh, how cool, Jan! Oh, I know exactly where you were! Fell's Point is one of my favorite places to hang here!
I am very familiar with that annual conference held here. I see those folks around the harbor and it looks like they have a great time!
And seriously - it stands! When you're back in Baltimore, let me know - I'll show why they call us Charm City!

Was great having you in on the live chat from Cozumel Shon!!! You had Krista (manager of Paradise Beach) crying with laughter!!!

Thanks, Shon! I really enjoyed that. I have no excuse for not cruising from Baltimore. It's much cheaper and quicker to fly to BWI than MIA for me, and if I really wanted to, I could do the 9-hour drive. Grandeur looks lovely, and I am just going to have to hop a jet and come down!

Always bring something with room in it to wear on the last days...LOL Usually I don't gain weight, though, with all of that walking on the ship and in port.

Thanks for sharing your fun with us Shon!

We were docked in St Croix and a cruise passenger "bungee jumped" in to the water off the balcony. He was safe, came up smiling and immediately escorted to the ship's brig