Eph60

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Married couples that work on a cruise ship will be given a room just for them. They will not be sharing a room with others regardless of rank. At least that is the way it was on the ships I was on.

Do I think Carnival should pay the bill for the rescue of their ships? Yes the as well as others that the Coast Guard rescues. Do I think any political party or politician will do anything that will really mean anything that can accomplish this? No getting politicians involved will ultimately make things worse in the long run if you ask me. The senator is speaking up to try to get votes is what I think. JMHO and I am I sorry if I offend anyone with my opinion.

I love this ship and I have given money in the past towards saving her. They have been asking for money for many years. I would love to see something done with this ship other then turn her into scrap, however I am afraid that is what is going to happen. Different outfits come up with different plans but there never seems to be any follow through on any of the plans, just asking for more money.

I think it would be a shame for this ship to go to scrap and I believe it shouls be saved but I cannot keep donating to a cause when I see nothing getting done. I started donating well over ten years ago and the only progress I see is more flyers and more requests for money. Someone with a lot more money than me is going to have to start contributing.

Maui is a typical stop for a cruise to Hawaii. Maui at one time was where the big battle for control of the Island brought all the different tribes under one rule. That battle was fought in Iao Valley.

Iao Valley is extremely beautiful. There are various gardens there that the different nationalities of Hawaii have put together. You can spend many hours here looking at many different gardens.

Halleakala is the biggest mountain on Maui. Many people take a trip to the top of Halleakala to watch the sunrise over all the islands. In many cases you actually head up through the clouds to get to the top of the mountain. It does get cold at the top of the mountain. There are bike tours that go down the mountain. The bike tours use to go from the top but no longer do that do to the narrow roads and due to an accident. The ride does go from high up where the road is wider and safer.

The road to Hana is a big tour to take. This road is only about 50 miles long, however it has hundreds of turns in it. The large tour buses cannot go here. All tours are by car or small bus.There are so many turns it is common for people to get sick if they get motion sickness easily. The views of the coast along this road are well worth seeing. If you can handle motion sickness I would definately recommend this trip.

Maui is known for sea life. There is an excellent aquarium here. During the winter months this is a hot spot for humpback whales. I personally have sat on a ship deck and counted over 90 whales in a hour and a half time period. There is also a whale museum in Lahaina Maui. Lahaina at one time was known as the whale capital of the world.

Lahaina is a beautiful little town. There are train rides here as well as many boat and scuba tours.

Maui is also one of the places that you will find luau tours. At a luau you will find your local foods made as well as the dancing of Hawaii. These are popular tours and do fill up quickly.Yes there will be a roasted pig as part of the meal and the pig will have been made in a traditional pit.

Juneau will more then likely be on every Alaskan cruise. Juneau is the capital of Alaska. Juneau is a city that is about 24 miles long and at the widest only about 5 miles wide. You can only get to Juneau by air or by boat. Juneau is surrounded by water and the Mendenhal Glacier. The airport for Juneau is actually on an island out in the waterway. If the plane runs long on landing you are in the water.

The Mendenhal Glacier is a big draw. You can actually get quite close to the glacier. You can do river rafting down the river from the melt of the glacier. There are many tours that go to the glacier but you can also get there by the local bus service.

There is a tramway in Juneau that will take you high up on the mountain for some very impressive views. Gold mines were a very big part of Juneau and you can also visit some of the old mines and still do some gold panning on tours. If you find gold on the tours you get to keep the gold.

Flight tours are very big here in Juneau. There are plane and helicopter flights, they are expensive but well worth the trip. A flight tour out onto a glacier is really a must do if you can afford it.

Fishing is also big in Juneau. If like fish there are many shops here that will specially pack it and ship it home for you.

Juneau is one of the hottest spots for whale watching. I personally have always seen whales when I take a whale watch in Juneau. The cruise line has tours that will take you out on larger boats, but there are several excellent local whale watch outfits that take you out on smaller boats.

There is a great cultural center to learn about the Alaskan past and some of the native tribes that live there. The Red Dog Saloon is a big attraction here. It is not in the original spot that it once was but it is easy to find and is known for fun and good food and drink.

You will find many shops to buy gifts in Alaska and many of the shops will be related to the cruise industry and shops that you find anywhere in cruise ports. If you want the true Alaskan products head off the main drags and check the side streets. Juneau will also have the franchise food stops such as McDonalds or Subway if you want them.

Juneau has an excellent bus system that is reasonable in price if you want to see much of the area on your own. You can spend a lot of time checking out Juneau and a lot of money if you are not careful.

The unique thing about cruising Hawaii over say the Caribbean is that every island in Hawaii is different where the Caribbean has a lot of similarities in every island.

The truth is that you see very little of Hawaii. There are actually over 2000 Hawaian islands. Most people have heard of 4 or 5 islands.

I will post more on other islands but I will start off with Kauai. Kauai is the oldest of the islands that are visited by the ships. Kauai is also considered the most beautiful of all the islands. The truth is you have seen Kauai many times but did not know it. The majority of movies made in Hawaii were made on Kauai. Many war movies were made here. Jurasic park was made here, Indiana Jones movies were made here as well as many many other movies.

Many people come to Hawaii and are looking for the big waterfalls, well there really is one big waterfall worth seeing and that is on Kauai.

The Fern Groto is on Hawaii. This is where many Hawaiian weddings are performed. You take a river boat ride and then a short walk to get to the Groto. The smells from the plant life are phenominal as you head up the river. Most tours will have them perform the wedding song for you at the Groto.

One thing that is unique on Kauai is the fact that you will see hundreds of chickens and cats walking around together. These at one time were owned by families but during a large storm were set free so they could survive.

Kauai is where you should take some time to head to see some of the big gardens. You will see many beautiful flowers at these gardens. The macadamian nut farms are an interesting trip here.

There is a tour that will take you to what most call the little Grand Canyon. This is extremely beautiful and you have also seen this in the movies.

Taking a tour by one of the companies that use 4 wheel drive vehicles will get you to some of the most beautiful places on this island. The views they provide are unbelievable.

Like all the islands there are some nice beaches but that is not what Kauai is known for. You can rent scooters here very easily and get around on your own if you wish. Scooter rental is fairly cheap.

I see this section of the board is pretty quiet, however the Alaska cruise season is coming up quickly, so I thought I would post some information on some of the ports. I will start out with Ketchikan.

Ketchikan is a rainforest. It is one of the wettest places on earth. Bring rain gear because you will most likely get some rain. Ketchikan also has a tide that raises and lowers up to 30 feet. What does this mean? It means you may get on and off the cruise ship on different floors as the tide changes during the day.

Ketchikan at one time was a big logging area. This is not the case today due to regulations. Ketchikan is an excellent place to go fishing. The totem parks in Ketchikan are very interesting and full of history.

Flight tours are great here and it can actually get quite interesting watching the ships dock or leave with all the sea planes flying in and out of the area.

Ketchikan has a very interesting and fun lumberjack show that is close to the pier. It is well worth seeing especially if you are with kids or a family.

One of my favorite tours here is kayaking. It gets you close up to some sea life as well as some beautiful scenery. Riding the Ducks can also give you a good perspective of the town from the sea and the land.

Ketchikan is an easy town to walk around. Walking Creek Street can also provide a lot of history. My biggest complaint about Ketchikan is that it has been taken over by the cruise line related gift and jewlery shops. After all I do not go to Alaska to see Caribbean Jewelers as I step off the ship. If you want some true Alaskan products I suggest you walk farther into the town and find the true local shops.

If you look in the brochures or online of the cruise lines they will list a crew to passenger ratio. These numbers seem pretty impressive, however you really see a very small percentage of the crew members. The majority of the crew are never seen by passengers. Much of the crew, due to their job, are never allowed in passenger areas of the ship. They are vital in the operation of the ship but the only time they see the light of day is on their time off going into ports or going to the open parts of the crew deck areas.

These crew members are on the decks below the water level in many cases. They move around the ship through stairwells or elevators that passengers never see. These crew members are in the majority over the wait staff, room stewards, bar staff or shop staff. They do take care of the supplies for all areas of the ship. They do keep the ship running and they will keep the supply of food going for everyone.

WeCruiseToo as far as room assignments go they try to put people working in the same departments or related departments together. This way they know each others schedule or can have their supervisors work out a schedule that works for the room. The only time it really gets to be a problem is if some roommates must work in the middle of the night and their alarm clock may wake up the others for a short time while they get ready for work. Most crew try to be respectful of the other crew members becuase they know how tired the crew can get.

WeCruiseToo My favorite tours were any flight seeing tour or a tour that I could watch whales. I love seeing wildlife and I love having views from the air. The one advantage of selling tours is you get paid to take all the tours LOL. You need to really know what they are and how they work.

Sarge6870 To answer your question about crew dating, there are many crew members who date. There are married crew members also. The crew members can and do request to work on the same ships. The one problem with crew members dating is if they break up. There is nowhere to go to get away from each other.

As far as a place to get a hold of past crew members I am sure there is one but the ones I keep in touch with we exchanged email addresses before we left the ships. Facebook use to have an area to look up different cruise line employee's.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!