(153,160,'8/11/06','In summary, the cruise was wonderful.  If you ever have the chance to sail on the Vision of the Seas, go for it...it was a wonderful vacation.','August 11-August 18, 2006, Alaska Cruise, Royal Caribbean, Vision of the Seas  <br /><br /><br />On August 10, the day before we were scheduled to leave on a flight bound for Seattle, a terrorist threat was uncovered in London.   <br /><br />I had been packing all week and was ready to go, using two suitcases and a hanging suitbag, plus one carry-on. Because of the terrorist threat, the security level was raised to orange in the United States, and rules changed regarding what items could be taken onboard an airplane in a carry-on.   <br /><br />I was a bit frazzled at this point, just because of the anticipation of the upcoming vacation, and the last minute packing change. I brought out another small suitcase and re-packed some things. Lip gloss, gels, lotions were no longer allowed in carry-ons. When we went on our Panama Canal cruise in 1999, the airline managed to lose one of our suitcases and I wasn&#39;t happy with the prospect of giving them the opportunity to lose 4 cases&#33;  <br /><br />We left early for the airport...our friends came to our house at 5:30am, and we drove to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. No traffic, and we arrived at the parking about 6:20am. By the time we got our luggage out of the truck and took the shuttle to the airport, it was 6:40am. We originally stood on line for about 5 minutes, outside the airport, expecting to check our luggage, but I was sure the line was for Southwest only, and we were flying Alaska. Asked both of the guys to go to the front of the line and check, and sure enough, Alaska Airlines was conducting check-in inside the terminal. Any suitcase weighing over 50 lbs is charged a &#036;25 fee, up to 75 lbs...more, if it weighs more. My one suitcase weighed in at 61 lbs. The girl checking us in brought back one of my suitcases and asked me to re-arrange my clothes so everything would weigh less than 50 lbs. I had been watching when she was weighing the suitcase, and asked her (very nicely) to weigh it once more, WITHOUT her foot on the scale. The same suitcase now weighed 44 lbs. Whew&#33; There was a somewhat long line waiting to go through the security checkpoint, and the sign said there would be a 15 minute wait. However, it went very quickly and we were through in about 5 minutes. A breeze, and the flight was uneventful.   <br /><br />We arrived in Seattle at 10:30am, picked up our luggage, which took a full hour(&#33;&#33;&#33;), and headed outside for the Shuttle Express to take us to the port. The ride took about a half hour. We had all our paperwork filled out in advance, so check-in was quick. The only problem with the check-in was when I asked for re-confirmation that the gratuities would be on our credit card. The girl assured me they would be, and we could adjust them up or down as we wished. Later on, we found out that in order to actually have the gratuities automatically on your credit card, you need to see the Purser and have that arranged. One of the remarks I left on my comment card at the end of the cruise was that they need to let the check-in people know that gratuities need to be arranged.   <br /><br />We walked onboard, and down one level to the 4th floor. The Centrum (middle lobby area) is beautiful with a very large metal sculpture, a lot of glass, and the elevators in that section are very fast (not so with the other elevators). We had a window cabin on one side of the ship, and our friends had a matching cabin on the other side of the ship, same floor. The room was very nice, however, there was not enough storage space for suitcases and clothes. I&#39;ve never had a problem with this before, and I actually packed a lot lighter than I normally would on a 7 day cruise, so I was somewhat disappointed with that. One suitcase had to remain on the couch, packed, and a small suitcase had to remain on the side table next to my side of the bed, packed. I was able to unpack one suitcase and the suitbag, and put things away in the closet. I brought a electric outlet strip with me and plugged in my cell phone, camera, curling iron, hubby&#39;s shaver, and our electric toothbrush. My friend decided not to bring an outlet strip, and ran out of battery for her camera during the trip...had to purchase a new one, and it wasn&#39;t cheap in Skagway.   <br /><br />Our cabin steward, Jay from the Phillipines, knocked on our door and introduced himself. He had us both sit down in front of him on the bed, facing him, and I got the feeling he was going to rail in to us for something we did wrong&#33; My hubby, Ray, said he had the same feeling. He was a little difficult to understand, so I found myself asking him questions a number of times. He was excellent in his job. As it turns out, everything was always done before we had to request anything, but we rarely saw him.   <br /><br />We explored the ship before it left Seattle, and took quite a few pictures of the Seattle skyline. We started out on a walk around the upper deck, but I only made it a few feet before I saw a clothing sale, located around the pool. My group had lost me at that point, and found me buying a new, warm, Alaska jacket. Can&#39;t pass up a sale&#33; Muster was at 4:30pm, and I thought it went very well, except that they lined us up on the sunny side of the ship, we were squeezed in tight, and it was hot. Our life vests were marked with the number 10, and there were three people standing in our group with different numbers. The staff wanted those three people to go to their groups, and all three put up a fuss...they wanted to stand with their friends. This is the only time the staff asks us to be serious and learn something in the case of an emergency, and I thought these people were just doing their best to be obnoxious.   <br /><br />On to the cruise: We were supposed to launch at 5:00pm, and didn&#39;t actually get going until abou 5:40pm. We later found out (many were talking about it, but I don&#39;t know if it was true or not) that they had a number of people late because of the flights being delayed, plus quite a few people had cancelled because of the terrorist threat. Like I said, I don&#39;t know iof that was true, but there were many seats left empty at the 8:30pm late seating for dinner. The waiters were told it was because people had cancelled.   <br /><br />We had helped ourselves in the Windjammer for lunch when we first got onboard, but we were already in &quot;FULL SPEED AHEAD EATING MODE&quot; by the time the ship actually got under way. Right after the ship left, we headed to the 9th floor for ice cream...just a little something to hold us over until 8:30pm dinner. After ice cream, we just took a walk through the Windjammer looking for fruit, but of course, the desserts were calling. I hadn&#39;t been on the ship more than 3 hours, and could already feel the clothes getting tighter&#33;   <br /><br />We managed to hold off eating anything more after that until dinnertime, where we met our table-mates in the Aquarius Dining Room, on the 4th floor. There were two other couples, all four were friends. One couple was from Washington, D.C., and the other couple lived in the Los Angeles area. We enjoyed their company very much, and will keep in touch by email. Our waitress was Zerrin, a girl in her late 20&#39;s, from Turkey. She just got married 3 months ago to one of the head-waiters, Villi. She has 4 more months on her contract, as does he, and then they intend to go back to Turkey and start their lives together. She was a sweetheart, and did an excellent job for us. <br /><br />The entertainment onboard the first night was a comedian, Louis Johnson. A quick routine, and he was going to do another show a different night. We missed his second show, but he was very good. Also, the cruise directors are a husband and wife team, John and Katrina Blair, and they were very good. He sang pretty well (as well as can be expected...I&#39;ve been known to complain about how bad the cruise director on a Carnival ship sang&#33;). There was also an Elvis impersonator who sang one song, but we weren&#39;t impressed. We didn&#39;t go back to see the night he did an entire show.   <br /><br />The food onboard was wonderful, plentiful, and always a beautiful presentation. We were at sea all day on Saturday, and we ate like there was no tomorrow. Saturday was the only day we ate in the dining room for breakfast. We seemed to enjoy the Windjammer for breakfasts and lunches more than the dining room. It was cloudy and cool (about 56 degrees), and not many people sitting by the outdoor pool. I was also surprised that the indoor pool, the Solarium was never crowded. That was reserved for people 16 and older, so there were not kids around. Saturday night was our first formal night and pictures were taken. The photographer that came around to the table was a little strange. We told him we were a group of 4 and would like a picture of the 4 of us, but he insisted on taking separate pictures of us all. My husband and I did get a picture taken of the two of us, but that was it. Later, on the second formal night, all 8 of us wanted our picture taken together, and the photographer walked away from us when we requested that...we all had our own cameras anyway, so had our waitress take the picture and it came out very nice. The entertainment that night was Tony Tillman...an excellent showman, who used to work with Sammy Davis Jr, and did a lot of his act. We really enjoyed the show. Saturday night there was a time change back one hour, so we gained an hour of sleep.   <br /><br />On Sunday morning we were scheduled for Juneau, and our first excursion. We all met for breakfast, and then got off the ship for our white water rafting trip down the Mendenhall Glacier. We arrived in Juneau at 11:00am, and our excursion was scheduled soon after that, so we were the first ones off the ship. We were driven to the rafting area in a bus, which took about a half hour. My husband and I had done this excursion 12 years before on our first Alaskan cruise, and all those years I had been saying I&#39;d never do it again. When the time had come to book the excursions, that was the first one I booked&#33; My friend was very nervous about doing this, but I tried to keep her calm. When we got to the place, they immediately outfitted us with rubber overalls, a slicker with a hood, and high boots. Underneath all that we were wearing heavy winter coats. The last time we had done this, the company had two different types of rafts...one with metal sides, where the trip was pretty easy going, and the regular rubber raft. This time, they only had the rubber rafts, which makes the trip much more adventurous. There were ten of us in the raft. I told the guide right off the bat that I wanted to sit in the back, and have no responsibility. Meaning, I didn&#39;t want to row. Turns out only the guide was going to row. The last time we did this, everyone had an oar, but they lost so many oars, they decided to change the way they handled it. The four of us sat on the plank in the back of the raft, directly behind the guide. He was sitting on a ice chest that was tied down to the raft. There was just a small bar to hold on to under the plank, and I didn&#39;t feel comfortable, nor safe holding on to that, so I grabbed on to the belt that was holding down the ice chest. I figured the guide wasn&#39;t going anywhere&#33; By this time we were already cold, and our hands were wet...pretty uncomfortable, but the ride was just starting. We hadn&#39;t moved more than a few feet and my girlfriend screamed&#33; This was going to be some trip&#33; There were a number of ice glaciers broken off in the water (the temperature of the water was 36 degrees), and we figured the guide would maneuver around them. Instead, he purposely went right into one to show it to us. Hmmmm, what about puncturing the raft? We continued on and finally we came to the river, and the rapids. It was so super-exciting, but scary&#33; Whitewater rapids have a grading system and these rapids are grade 3...i.e.: Class 3: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe a 3-5ft drop, but not much considerable danger. May require significant manuevering.(Skill Level: Experienced paddling skills). The entire trip took us about an hour, and we enjoyed it very much...we warned the guide beforehand that both my friend and I would most likely be screaming, and he was okay with that. He told us he expected to hear screams behind him&#33; We didn&#39;t disappoint him.   <br /><br />After the rapids we were treated to a light snack in the lodge, and then headed back to the ship. Our friends took a walk through Juneau later on in the day, we had done that before, so spent time lounging around on the ship. The entertainment that night was Brad Cummings, a comedy ventriloquist...very funny, terrific show. We departed Juneau at 11:00pm.   <br /><br />Day 4: We arrived in Skagway at 7:00am, and again, we all had breakfast together in the Windjammer. We then split up, and our friends did the White Pass Railroad excursion with a side trip of panning for gold and attending a salmon bake in Liarsville. While they enjoyed the scenery on the railroad trip, they did not like the panning nor the salmon bake, and would not recommend it.   <br /><br />Before our excursion, my husband and I took a walk into Skagway, shopped a little, saw salmon swimming upstream in the creek, and just enjoyed the little town.   <br /><br />A little while later we headed for a Musher&#39;s Camp to go dog-sledding. The bus driver was a retired airline pilot, and had no tolerance for children. There were 5 small kids on the bus, and while they were talking throughout the bus trip, they were very well behaved. The bus driver stopped talking every time the kids started talking, and once in awhile he turned around to them and told them they were rude. They weren&#39;t. But, we did learn a lot about Skagway in spite of him. We all arrived at the camp and a van picked us up, took us up a hill, and to the dog sleds. Each sled has 16 dogs pulling it. There were 4 adults, 3 children plus the guide in our sled. Since there was no snow, they pulled us along on a dirt road for a mile. It was so exciting and fun being pulled by dogs&#33; I wish we could have kept on going. Afterwards we met Sebastian, a German man who has run in the Iditerod four times, and another race twice. He lives in the Yukon with his 117 dogs, and his nearest neighbor lived 5 miles away but moved because of the dogs. He has no running water and no electricity, however, he hooks up a long cable at the camp and has a laptop, which he uses to buy everything he owns....his dog food, his truck, whatever medicines he needs for his dogs. He never takes his dogs to a vet...he has learned how to care for them himself. He was so interesting to listen to, and after his speech, he asked if we had any questions. I made the mistake of asking how he kept warm in -50 degrees, while he was in a race. He said he was happy I asked that and had me go up to the front of the stage. He put a very long, warm coat on me, a hat made of bear skin, with the fur attached, mittens made the same way, and he had very heavy boots. I actually started feeling quite warm wearing all this paraphanelia. After Sebastian&#39;s presentation, we were able to see the Husky puppies, hold them, pet them, take pictures. They were so beautiful. We really enjoyed this excursion and would definitely recommend it.   <br /><br />We departed Skagway at 8:30pm. Dress was &#39;smart casual&#39; for the evening, and many people don&#39;t seem to understand what that means. There were people dressed in everything from jeans to evening gowns. Hubby opted for Dockers and a nice shirt, and I wore Gauchos and a sweater. I figured we were &#39;smart&#39;, and &#39;casual&#39;.   <br /><br />Day 5: Our next day was spent in Icy Strait, Alaska. It was cloudy and 57 degrees, but the sun came out during the day and it was beautiful. We arrived at 7:00am and the guys headed out on their excursion at 7:30am to go salmon fishing. They each caught salmon and halibut, and the salmon has been filleted, smoked, and sent home. I expect to see a package this week. They had a very good time on their excursion.   <br /><br />The girls went to Icy Strait Point and were met by the owner of a restaurant who showed them how to fillet salmon and halibut, gave them some recipes for dips, rubs and marinades, and then we were able to cook and smoke our own fish. When we got back to the table after our cooking lesson, there was a feast in front of us. The fish we cooked, along with a crab, beans, cole slaw, salads, fruits, etc. There was so much food, we couldn&#39;t finish it all, and it was delicious. There really wasn&#39;t too much else to do in Icy Strait Point, so this turned out to be a very good excursion, since we both like to cook.   <br /><br />Departure was at 4:00pm, and we needed to change our clocks forward one hour that night. The entertainment was hilarious...Wilde and Haines who have performed on Comedy Central, MTV, Showtime and HBO. We enjoyed the show very much.   <br /><br />Day 6: We were at sea all day going through the Granville Channel on our way to Victoria. While the weather was supposed to be cloudy with a temperature of just 51 degrees, it turned out to be a warm, sunny day and we were all able to enjoy being outside. One of the nicest things they did on the ship that day was to have a Parade of Flags. Staff members from all the different nations paraded around the pool holding their nation&#39;s flags, and we all got to cheer, take pictures, etc. Hubby and I also entered into a ping pong tournament. I was elminated in the first round, but the guy I played was a ringer&#33; He brought his own ping pong paddle (protected in a case&#33;) onboard with him. I, on the other hand, only get to play ping pong once a year, when I&#39;m cruising&#33; I felt I did pretty well up against him, only losing by 5 points&#33; My hubby got to the last round, and came up with a silver medal. He also lost to a man who has a ping pong table at home and plays all the time. However, I did remind my hubby that coming in second means you are the FIRST LOSER&#33;&#33;&#33;  <br /><br />This was the second formal dress night, and pictures were taken again. Again, we all brought our cameras to dinner and took our own pictures, and were very pleased with them. The photographer had a hard time understanding us and vice versa.   <br /><br />There was a lot of dancing in the evening. There was a group of 26 people onboard who belong to <a href=\"http://www.dancersatsea.com\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.dancersatsea.com</a> These are people who come from all over the U.S., and schedule many different cruises during the year. It was such a pleasure watching them all dance, but when they did, they took up the entire dance floor. Hubby and I got up to dance a number of times and ended up laughing quite a bit because we weren&#39;t doing the dips, the choreographed steps, etc. We enjoyed being with that group...it was almost like having bonus entertainment.   <br /><br />Day 7: Victoria Canada. We arrived at noon and watched the ship dock. At 12:30pm, we all got off the ship for our excursion to Butchart Gardens. We were to have a picnic lunch on the grounds, and I was expecting a sandwich, potato chips and a soda. The tour bus guide told us that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip had this same lunch served to them when they visited. I whispered to my hubby that I think they weren&#39;t going to include any potato chips&#33; They ushered our group to a beautifully manicured lawn, and everyone around us watched as we headed towards ten red and white checked tablecloths, arranged on the lawn, with a large picnic basket holding down each of the four corners. Inside each one was a spinach salad with raspberry vinagrette dressing, a shrimp cocktail, a chicken dish with grilled veggies, and a dessert tray that rivaled the ship&#39;s desserts. A bottled water finished off the items in the picnic basket, and someone came around and asked if we&#39;d like wine, or champagne. The lunch was wonderful, delicious and plentiful...we couldn&#39;t finish it all (I made sure I had room for the desserts and cheeses). After our lunch we had about an hour and a half to just roam around the grounds as we wished, and I took pictures of all the beautiful gardens and flowers. My garden at home looks just like that, except for the brown leaves&#33; I&#39;ve never seen such a wonderful place.   <br /><br />We left Butchart Gardens and headed for Craigdarroch Castle. The castle is located near the downtown harbor and was built in the 1890&#39;s by Robert Dunsmuir, a coal baron, and the richest man in Victoria. He wanted his wife to come with him to Victoria, and promised her he would build her a castle if she accompanied him. The house has 87 stairs, 4 1/2 stories high and 39 rooms. A year before he finished building the castle, Robert died, and his wife and children moved in themselves...his two sons finished building the castle for their mother. It was quite a place to see...the original stained glass is still in the house, and the view from the tower is overlooking Victoria.   <br /><br />After this we headed to the harbor for a few minutes before returning to the ship, and we were able to take pictures in front of the famous Empress Hotel.   <br /><br />That night we had dinner (casual dress), and then went to karaoke for awhile and laughed. We went back to the room and packed after that, and again, it was a little more challenging because of the airline restrictions. We put three suitcases out to be checked, and kept the small one and our carry-on with us overnight. In the morning, when we were getting ready to get off the ship my husband noticed he couldn&#39;t find his wallet. No panic, I still had the passports in my posession, but it wasn&#39;t a good feeling, not knowing where that wallet was.   <br /><br />We headed to the Some Enchanted Evening lounge after a last breakfast in the Windjammer, to wait for our tour group to be called. We had decided to take a bus tour of Seattle that morning, and then they would drop us off at the airport later on. In order to do this we had to schedule a flight after 1:00pm. Our flight was scheduled for 3:00pm. We were one of the first groups called to disembark the ship, and we made our way to our suitcases immediately, where hubby found his wallet in the back pocket of the pants he wore the night before. Whew&#33; We both breathed a sigh of relief, and everything went smoothly from then on. We were very surprised we only had to present our claim documentation, but we never had to show our passports, even though we were re-entering the United States.   <br /><br />The bus took us to the Seattle Space Needle, and we were able to go to the top and take pictures of the city, then it continued on and gave us a tour of the city. I was disappointed the bus tour didn&#39;t stop at Pike Place Market (we have been there before and wanted our friends to see it). I would have opted for seeing the market as opposed to a tour of the various buildings around Seattle. The bus did get us to the airport around 1:30pm, and the lines were long for check-in. This time each of my suitcases weighed in at 44 lbs. Our friends&#39; suitcase weighed over 60 lbs, and they paid the fee....I think it was the way they packed, though, because they didn&#39;t buy anything more than we did. We had time for a leisurely lunch in the airport (had to throw away our water bottles that we brought in to the airport before going through security, then on the other side of security, they were selling all types of drinks, lotions, gels...everything everyone had to throw away). Our trip home was uneventful.   <br /><br />In summary, the cruise was wonderful. I would definitely recommend the white water rafting and the dog-sledding. The captain told us they hadn&#39;t seen sun for weeks, and we were very lucky to have had such great weather. The food was great, the service spectacular, and the ship was beautiful...everything very centrally located. If you ever have the chance to sail on the Vision of the Seas, go for it...it was a wonderful vacation.',1171232378,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]rccl.gif',1823,'Suzila',1,146,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL);
INSERT INTO `ftreview` VALUES (154,150,'2/5/05','Any day cruising is better then a day here in the cold........&quot;Cheers as I mix a drink with my carribean rum&quot; :-)','Feb. 3rd 2005 3:30 a.m. Time to rise and shine and make our way to the airport. Myself&lt;38&gt; hubby&lt;41&gt;son&lt;18&gt;daughter&lt;7&gt;. The flights were uneventful flying American out of Bangor Maine. We arrived at 10:45 a.m. in Miami got our luggage and proceeded to get the shuttle to Alamo to pick-up the van for our 2 night pre-cruise stay at the Fontainbleu Hilton. When we arrived the line was long and many were complaining as they have many computers and no employees to service you. We were however warm and happy to be in Florida. We proceeded to the hotel Hubby is helping me write this and he reminds me how we got lost...ok very lost. <br /><br /><br />But heh we saw sights we never would have seen. The 18 year old didnt seem to mind as he was able to see the &quot;ghetto&quot; so to speak. We had an hour or 2 to waste anyhow. We arrived in time for check-in. I have read many reviews and was concerned about our stay at the Fontainbleu. Our TA got us a wonderful deal or we would not have stayed here.I certainly would NOT pay full price for a stay in this hotel. The room was as expected a basic hotel room nothing special. The 1st room we walked into was not satisfactory for the view so hubby called, complained and they moved us up and at least we had a decent view. All was well as how much time do you spend in your room.?. Food was excellent at the pool bar, service was great&#33; Pool was magnificent as was the childrens play area and the boardwalk on the beach. Only complaint here was the hot tub hours was only till 6 and the childrens pool/play area closed at 5. Are children expected to sleep early on vacation??? We brought the van back to Alamo Sat. morn and waited for the shuttle to the pier. This seemed to take forever but we were still ahead of the time for boarding so no worries. <br /><br />Boarding was painless altho patience was needed. As we boarded we were able to go straight to our cabin and our luggage was already there. Unpacked a bit/got organized and up we went. We had a &quot;quad&quot; cabin and to our suprise had &quot;plenty&quot; of space including closets and drawers. The shower/bathroom area had been improved greatly since we last cruised even with a handheld shower massager. Day 1 Miami to Nassau. We all went to dinner that evening as we choice late seating. We could tell right off the bat our waiter was dry and unenthusiastic. He remained this way thru-out the cruise. It was nice tho as the children never dined with us again we had a table to ourselves for the reast of the cruise. Day 2 Nassau, what a lovely suprise to walk on deck and see how they have improved the port. Altho I did miss seeing the &quot;It&#39;s better in the Bahammas&quot; written all over the buildings. Us girls got our hair braided and the boys roamed around. Just enough time for this as we went back to the ship and explored. We put the lil one in &quot;Ocean Adventure&quot; and we enjoyed some adult time. We used the program for the lil one quite a bit and as a Day Care provider myself I would say I was mildly disapointed. I really dont think there should be as much viewing of television for the children. I can see a &quot;movie night&quot; or here or there but it seemed to be used alot. <br /><br />Altho she had ALOT of fun and they did many activities she enjoyed. More movement for the kids RCCL&#33; We did however really appreciate this evening as it was Super Bowl Sunday&#33; They set it up in Studio B with munchies and a good turn out. We won so no disapointment here..Day 3 at Sea...time to rest. Buckets of beer and poolside. We ended up making friends with a wonderful bartender and he made poolside fun&#33; Son found friends by now and we hardly saw him. Casino was fun altho found it small and being non smokers that made it difficult. I was shocked there was only 1 casino on board. Either way I won alot and had fun DH and son took my winnings but Im sure they had fun also. By this time the weather was being a stinker. Sun was bright and warm but the wind got the best of us. The boat was rocking and wind was making it difficult to sit out on top deck or even walk up there.Day 4 St. Thomas. It speaks for itself a beautiful port I would love to visit again. We booked the beach taking an open bus/jeep ride there. It took alot longer to get there then was said but all in all it was worth it. A beautiful beach crowded non the less. Ive been there done that cant say as tho I would choose this again. Food and drink here were reasonable and yummy. Day 5 San Juan. Another pleasant suprise. We hads heard this was on everyones bottom of the list to visit. <br /><br />We enjoyed just getting off for a few hours and doing a lil shopping. Beware tho...alot of imitation style stuff will get you&#33;&#33; You dont really think those &#036;10.00 Oakleys or Ray Ban sunglasses are real do you?? Altho I was a sucker for the &#036;20.00 Gucci bag as Hubby got himself a &#036;25.00 rolex...okok so we will let him think it..lol..Day 6 Labbadee...If you Ever Ever get a chance to go to this island.....Just GO&#33; Its a fabulous wonderful beautiful place. A perfect ending to a cruise. Bar b q was grand. Drinks&lt; coco loco&gt; yummy. Shopping fun altho the people can be rude. We won the family scavanger hunt and got ocean adventure tee shirts so we had a great time. Last day at Sea....Soak up the sun but beware of the wind. Still very VERY windy and rough. <br /><br />Exhaustion set in. Preparing to come home stinks but all good things must come to an end. All in All we all had a great time. Highlights for the lil one was a circus and talent show, swimming and meeting new friends she says. 18 YO son enjoyed the casino, the girls and meeting new friends Hubbys highlights were the ports as a couple we have not been to. I agree with him. We would do these ports again BUT......not on RCCL. This was our 1st cruise with them and felt as tho it was lacking entertainment, excitement, energy, laughs and fun. I would however tell people to take this cruise if you are older or with small children. We prefer a more rowdy bunch so Carnival here we come. We lacked &quot;great&quot; service thru-out. <br /><br />Shorted our Waiter a lil and gave it to the Assistant waiter as he did ALOT more work and spoke with us more often. We tipped many extras whom did make our vacation a lil more special as it should be. Chair hogs are chair hogs&#33; Why bother grumping about it along with the trying to buffet serve 2500 people. We did feel as tho we had to&quot;safe guard&quot; the towels. Is there really a need to do this on RCCL?? The &quot;Quest&quot; is a MUST&#33;&#33; Pizza was awesome&#33; Ports of call ...Awesome...Cruise Review for &#036;30.00 a 25 minute dvd I did buy only because my daughter was in it. All week and only 25 minutes??? Customs went smooth as we were 1st called. Flight home...well yanno how that is. <br /><br />Who really wants to go home no matter how bad the food or service was. P.S. hubby says........Was that really coffee they were serving?? ...Feel free to mail or ask us anything..By the Way..did I mention the ship was stunning&#33; Johnny Rockets..can say I finially had a burger there..yeah been there done that no need to do it again...final note....Any day cruising is better then a day here in the cold........&quot;Cheers as I mix a drink with my carribean rum&quot; :-)',1171232466,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]rccl.gif',1716,'elle',1,53,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(155,150,'5/15/05','All in all it was a great trip despite an outbreak of the Noro virus at the end of the first trip. The crew worked overtime cleaning and sanitizing everything and did everything they could to end the outbreak.','This review will cover not only the 5/15 Bermuda cruise but also the May 20th Western Caribbean cruise on the same ship.  <br /><br /><br />EMBARKATION; We arrived at the terminal in Bayonne a few minutes before noon. After dropping off the luggage, husband went to lot to park car (&#036;12 per day). We had priority status due to be Diamond members of the Crown &amp; Anchor and were processed immediately. We waited til approximately 12:30 in a comfortable waiting room. After 2 wedding parties were boarded we got on the bus for a short ride to the ship.  <br /><br />CABIN; We were in an E1 stateroom 9692 for both trips. The aft cabin had the usual accomodations but the balcony was huge. We had 2 chairs and table and 2 lounges and still had plenty of room to move around. It is quite a hike to the cabin from the elevators but we soon got used to it.  <br /><br />ENTERTAINMENT; With the exception of the Ice Show which was wonderful (we saw it during both cruises) the entertainment was fair to good. The production shows have gotten old and during the course of the 2 weeks we saw 3 comedians - 1 was excellent the other 2 so-so. Of course others may have found them funnier - they were just not to our taste.   <br /><br />FOOD; While I understand everyone has their own taste, to us the food was very good (perhaps that was because I did not have to cook and serve it) We always found something we liked to eat. We ate most breakfasts in the Windjammer and had lunch there as well about 1/2 the time. In the DR for lunch they have a fixed menu with one or two &quot;specials of the day&quot;  <br /><br />We also had diner one night in Portofinos. The food was wonderful there and well worth the &#036;20 extra per person they charged.   <br /><br />BERMUDA; It is a bit inconvenient docking at Kings Wharf but the ferry service is clean, fast and efficient. You can buy passes on the ship or right when you leave the ship. Bermuda is our all time favorite port and we love just walking around and talking withthe local people.  <br /><br />LABADEE: A wonderful beach day. The merchants can be very annoying. If you even slow down to look at their goods they are all over you. Had a nice BBQ lunch on the Island. Tender service was fast and ran back and forth to the ship all day.  <br /><br />OCHO RIOS: Docked right in Ocho Rios - a short walk to the Island Village and Margaritaville.   <br /><br />GEORGETOWN; Again, the tenders ran often and it was a great beach day. This is a great place to swim with the Stingrays. We did it last year and it is something we will never forget.  <br /><br />FREEPORT; Why they stop here is beyone me. Very little to do unless you are there for awhile. We arrived at 6:30AM (nothing opened at that time) and left at 1PM. Went to Lucaya to do some shopping and then back on board.  <br /><br />All in all it was a great trip despite an outbreak of the Noro virus at the end of the first trip. The crew worked overtime cleaning and sanitizing everything and did everything they could to end the outbreak.  <br /><br />Any questions, please ask. We would do a B2B again in a heartbeat.',1171232520,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]rccl.gif',488,'cruisetarp',1,49,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(156,150,'6/3/05','We went on this same cruise last year and everything seemed perfect. Maybe that&#39;s because that was our 1st cruise.','Let me start by saying the cloudy, rainy weather may be affecting my opinions. Our stateroom attendant was terrible,she didn&#39;t clean up very well and was constantly taking our beach towels and not replacing them. Our cabin was in tough shape with stains on the mattresses and cabinet doors falling off the hinges. <br /><br /><br />The entertainment was pretty good, especially Dreamscape and Revolution (Beatles tribute band). I love the Windjammer Cafe and Island Grill, and the dining room service and food was great. We couldn&#39;t go to Freeport because of tropical storm Arlene, and got no credits or discounts, just 1 hour of free Rum Punches. Thanks, but I&#39;m not a big drinker.',1171232591,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]rccl.gif',1819,'boba',1,41,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(157,150,'6/19/06','DEFINETLY ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN ITS AT LEAST A 9','IT ROCKS&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;  <br /><br />DEFINETLY THE BEST CRUISE IVE EVER BEEN ON&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;',1171232643,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]rccl.gif',2552,'brady121291',1,96,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(159,74,'8-21-04','This was our first HAL cruise, and it won?t be our last.','ms Maasdam  7-Night Montreal-to-Boston cruise  August 2004  <br /><br />First, a little bit about us. We are a family of three (DH and I are early 40s and our son is 10) who live near the ocean and love to vacation on it. We are content to just get away for a few days and enjoy great scenery, good food, a bit of pampering, and -- most importantly -- spending time together as a family. Our cruise history includes NCL, Royal Caribbean, Cunard, Carnival, Celebrity, and a few lines that are no longer in business. This was our first cruise on Holland America Line, and our fourth in Canada/New England.  <br /><br />?Pleasant? is the word my husband used to describe the cruise overall, and that was right on target, in my opinion. The cruise was chosen for its itinerary -- Montreal, Quebec City, Saguenay Fjord, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor, and Boston -- and that was clearly the highlight of the trip. And our other destination, ms Maasdam, did also not disappoint. While no cruise is perfect, this one was more than satisfactory and made for a very enjoyable vacation.  <br /><br />EMBARKATION DAY TRANSFER.  <br />As this was a one-way cruise, we took advantage of HAL?s complimentary motorcoach transportation to Montreal. The pick-up was at 6:00 AM the day of embarkation, and the trip was estimated to take six hours. About 30 passengers opted for this convenience, and we were met across the street from the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal in Boston, where we would disembark from the ship a week later. The ride was very comfortable. The bus was equipped with comfortable seats, footrests, individual tray tables, and lavatory. We were also shown a movie -- on our trip, it was ?Meet the Parents.? We made two stops along the way. The first was a snack stop at about 9:30, followed by a very quick stop at Canadian border control at 11:00. Approximately one hour later, our bus arrived in Montreal. We enjoyed the bus trip as it was effortless for us, and also enabled us to meet and chat with some of our fellow passengers before boarding.  <br /><br />CHECK-IN AND EMBARKATION.  <br />Check-in was quick, although there was one minor glitch, which HAL handled nicely. Apparently, all of the keys for cabins numbered 700 and higher had been erroneously taken by the Express Check-in agents for one of the local hotels. After a short wait -- no more than 10 to 15 minutes -- we had our cabin keys, which were packaged nicely in a folder that also contained a ship map and information on luggage delivery, Lido hours, and a reiteration of the new gratuity policy. (More on the last item later.) After posing for our Welcome Aboard photo, we entered ms Maasdam on the lowest level of the three-story atrium, a magnificent sight with its bright, yet understated, green Glass Pillar by artist Luciano Vistosi. A steward took our hand luggage and escorted us to our stateroom on A-Deck, two levels below.  <br /><br /><br />CABIN.  <br />We had selected cabin 728, a standard outside triple just forward of amidships on A-deck, the lowest passenger deck. Although this cabin was directly across from the steward station, we heard no noise whatsoever from this area or from neighboring cabins. We did, however, feel some vibration and hear a loud buzzing from below when pulling into port, but it was only mildly bothersome and we eventually starting joking about it. The cabin was laid out well and offered plenty of storage for all of our clothing, books, cameras, etc. The three wardrobes contained a variety of storage options, including shelving, hanging bars, and a small safe. The desk/vanity area provided more drawer space, as did the two night tables. I loved the lighted make-up mirror on the vanity. The only area that could have used additional storage was the bathroom, which had just one shelf. It wasn?t a big deal, as we simply placed our toiletry bags on the shelf and retrieved items when needed. It also made for a tidier bathroom, and made packing a breeze later in the week. The bathtub was a nice bonus. Our convertible twin beds were very comfortable, as was the sofabed that was made up for our son. We were also provided with two waffle-weave robes, and a fruit basket that was replenished daily. Overall, the cabin was clean and comfortable and, therefore, suited our needs.  <br />DINING.  <br />Shipboard dining is fairly important to us, and we value good service and the variety, presentation, and quality of the food. ms Maasdam excelled in all of these areas.  <br /><br />Rotterdam Dining Room.  <br />We had what HAL refers to as ?Early Upper Seating? for dinner. That meant that we ate at 5:45 PM in the upper level of the two-deck high Rotterdam Dining Room. We dined at table 49, a four-top that was a few feet from the large windows, enabling us to enjoy the lovely sea views throughout the meal. We had dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room on six of the seven nights. The veal, in particular, was excellent, and I also enjoyed pheasant and orange roughy. I had the cheese platter for dessert each evening, and it was nice to see the actual cheese selections listed on the menu -- it?s usually hit or miss with lines that do not utilize a cheese cart. Breakfast and lunch in the dining room were also nice. Because these two meals were open seating, we were able to enjoy several breakfasts with one of our on-line friends (Haze) and her husband. On the first morning, I ordered a wonderful yogurt and fruit parfait that immediately became a favorite. I only wish the dining room hours for breakfast and lunch had not been so limited. Breakfast was offered for just an hour and a half each morning (7:30 - 9:00), and lunch was typically just one hour (12:00 - 1:00), and the dining room was closed for lunch on two of our port days. I suppose this is a sign of the times.   <br /><br />The Lido.  <br />We utilized the Lido more on this cruise than any other, partly due to the limited dining room hours, and partly due to the wide selection for breakfast, lunch, and the occasional snack. I am generally not a fan of buffets but the Lido on Maasdam demonstrated just how far shipboard buffets have come. There were many, many items from which to choose, going well beyond the standard cheeses, cold meats, and salads. Among my favorites for breakfast were the made-to-order omelets (egg whites, green pepper, and onion was superb) and Dutch mueseli (lots of raisins, and not sweet, just the way I like it). Lunch was just as varied, with hot meals including choices of fish, poultry, beef, or pasta. There was also a nice selection of sugar free desserts. (Look for them in the glass-fronted refrigerator.) My son enjoyed the pizza (no surprise to those who know him). We also returned each afternoon for ice cream and frozen yogurt. I highly recommend the pineapple yogurt? very tasty.  <br /><br />Pinnacle Grill.  <br />Our travel agent had graciously presented us with a dinner for three at Pinnacle Grill for any night of our choosing. As we had a youngster with us, we opted for an early dinner and the best timing happened to be on the first formal night. The room was much larger than it appeared from the outside, yet was still intimate. As we had expected, everything was wonderfully presented, from appetizers to the fine desserts. For our entr?es, my husband had filet mignon, I had the rib-eye steak, and our son ordered halibut. Everything was excellent. (I admit to sneaking a piece of halibut before my son finished off the rest.) Our waitress was fantastic. I forget her name, but she was from Romania and a teacher by training. Pinnacle Grill was a nice change of pace from the main dining room, and I imagine it would be even more so for those with a large table in the dining room who are looking forward to dining alone for an evening.   <br /><br />SHIP LAYOUT AND D?COR:  <br />At approximately 55,000 GRT with a passenger capacity of 1,266, Maasdam was perfectly sized for me. She was neither too large nor too small, and it was easy to find my way around. The indoor spaces were wonderfully decorated -- not flashy, yet still visually appealing. For example, I loved the two-level Rembrandt Show lounge, adorned with many of HAL?s signature blue and white Delft tiles. The library was another favorite, and I spent a lot of time writing at the beautiful desks that overlooked the water. I also enjoyed the sheltered views from the Crow?s Nest Lounge atop the ship. Yet I was most intrigued by the artwork that was onboard. There were numerous paintings, furniture, porcelain, and other pieces dating from the 17th century to the present. My personal favorites were five paintings by Stephen Card, each depicting a ship that carried the Maasdam name. An ?Art and Antiques? pamphlet detailing the many pieces on board the ship was available at the Front Office. I was also quite pleased with the amount of outdoor space on the ship. In addition to an aft pool located on a deck open to three sides, there were several tiered decks aft as well as a full, shaded promenade deck with wooden chairs. Deck stewards provided comfortable chair mats and, when the weather turned chilly, wool blankets. This is the life&#33;  <br /><br />SERVICE.  <br />As with any cruise, the level of service from one crew member to the next ran the gamut. We found the dining staff to be wonderful in all venues. Our waiter and assistant waiter in the Rotterdam Dining Room were excellent and took extra special care of our son. As soon as he finished his first serving of macaroni and cheese, another one would appear almost instantaneously. Good service extended to the Lido, where I never had to carry my own tray. One time in the Lido, when I was waiting for my made-to-order omelet, the passenger next to me asked if I knew where the butter was. I told her that I didn?t know, but perhaps the omelet chef did. Before she could even ask him, a steward came by and placed several pats of butter on her tray. Now that?s service&#33; The attendant at the Java Caf? remembered our names and that I enjoyed a cup of Earl Grey in the evening. We also found the photography staff excellent. They were very patient in setting up photos, and I also liked the borders they created for the port-of-call shots (location and date) and how our photo with Captain Albert Schoonderbeek also included his name. Our only sub-par experience was on the first night, when our cabin steward did not prepare the beds for the evening. Ordinarily, it would not have been a big deal, but we needed the sofabed for our son and had no idea how to open it. A quick visit to the Front Desk took care of it. The person on duty called our cabin steward (it was after hours) and the cabin was made up promptly.   <br /><br /><br />AUTO-TIPPING.  <br />This leads me to automatic tipping, a policy that HAL instituted shortly before our cruise. In our document package, as well as our boarding package, it was explained that a gratuity of &#036;10 per guest, per day, would be automatically posted to shipboard accounts, and that adjustments could be made at the Front Office on the last full day of the cruise. The letter from the document package expanded on this policy by stating that ?dining and cabin stewards are required to turn in any tips they receive directly from those guests who have removed or reduced the gratuities on their onboard bills.? While this sounded reasonable to us before we boarded, our experience with our cabin steward made me wonder about the fairness of this policy. Fortunately, our cabin steward was fine the rest of the cruise, and we left the full amounts on our account (and gave additional gratuities to those we felt deserved it). But if that had not been the case and we reduced his tip, our fine dining room waiters would have been required to turn in any cash tips they received from us, assuming our interpretation of this policy was correct. This didn?t seem right to us, and was duly noted on our comment cards at the end of the cruise.   <br />DAYTIME ACTIVITIES. <br />Given that we had six port days on this seven-day cruise, I wasn?t expecting many daytime activities. HAL did, however, offer a number of options, although most were fairly laid back. Among the regular offerings were daily trivia and board games (Pictionary, Outburst, Scattergories). There was also a puzzle set up in the card room -- reminded me of last year?s voyage on QE2. Daily exercise classes were offered (aerobics, step, and stretch classes were complimentary and yoga, Pilates, and circuit training had a fee, which I didn?t jot down). There were a few athletic competitions as well, but I don?t recall any pool games (which was fine with me, actually, as I like the quiet). One afternoon, I attended a lecture called ?New England, New France, New Worlds,? in which I learned about the settlement of the Americas from 350 BCE through the 1700s, with a focus on the areas we were visiting on this cruise. This was marvelous, and was well-attended.   <br /><br />Daily Tea. <br />The one activity I participated in regularly was afternoon tea. This was just fine, in my opinion, but I?m sure my judgment was clouded from having experienced wonderful teas on QE2 last year. Regular ?afternoon tea? was offered for half an hour in the lovely Explorer?s Lounge, and started promptly. We were each given a teabag (yikes&#33;) and waiters circulated with pots of hot water. The treats were tasty, though, particularly the swan cream puff. A special ?Dutch high tea? was offered one afternoon in the dining room. Unlike British high tea, which is essentially an informal meal, Dutch high tea was a more formal affair and was considered a between-meal snack for the elite (making it more like, but not exactly like, British afternoon tea). The Dutch high tea was different from what I had expected. Upon entering, we stood in a short buffet line, from where waiters handed out finger sandwiches (salmon, cucumber, ham), sweets, and chicken a la king. After being escorted to a table, waiters came around with pots of wonderful, strong tea -- no bags this time. Overall, Dutch high tea was just OK, and I am glad I experienced it, even if I did prefer the regular ?afternoon teas.?  <br /><br />EVENING ACTIVITIES AND ENTERTAINMENT.  <br />We were pleasantly surprised with the quality and variety of acts in the Rembrandt Lounge. That was fortunate, as all other forms of musical entertainment shut down while the production shows were in progress. One of our favorite hangouts was the Explorers Lounge, where the ?Champagne Strings? -- violin, bass, and piano -- played light music that was perfect for after-dinner. We also enjoyed dancing cheek to cheek in the Ocean Bar to the fine sounds of the Moonlighters. Break time for bands in all venues were during the evening shows, which was a disappointment. Thankfully, the shows were able to keep us occupied. One of the highlights was ?Up on the Roof,? in which the Maasdam Cast musical troupe performed radio hits from the 1950s and 1960s. Another was ?Party Gras,? which was billed as a ?musical journey visiting parties around the world.? Both had wonderful choreography, costumes and sets. Another favorite evening in the Rembrandt Lounge featured David Levesque, who combined violin melodies with comedy. After the show each night, we would return to either the Explorers Lounge or Ocean Bar, and always ended up in the Java Caf? for a cuppa before heading back to the cabin with a bag of popcorn. (The Java Caf? was located just outside the movie theatre.)  <br /><br />CLUB HAL. <br />We generally don?t use children?s programs as our son has speech and cognitive delays, so an age-based program isn?t always appropriate for him. But we decided to try one activity with him -- tie-dying -- and he was hooked. He enjoyed playing basketball with the other Tweens (ages 9-12) and got addicted to the computers in the Tweens Center. What impressed me was how HAL welcomed the kids right away by giving them a soft CD carrying case at embarkation. Inside each sleeve was an activity sheet for each day of the cruise. Sure beats handing the kids a single sheet of paper. By the end of the cruise, his final tally included the CD holder, one tie-dyed Club HAL T-shirt, a lanyard/room key holder, small messenger bag, and a mousepad -- and that?s from just a few visits to the program&#33; The counselors were wonderful with the children. One of the Tweens counselors mentioned that there were just 69 passengers between the ages of 5 and 17 on our cruise.  <br /><br />THE WEATHER. <br />Weather in the Canadian Maritimes and northern New England can vary widely, but as many people asked me how ?cold? it was, I thought I?d give a report. According to the Cruise Log we received at the end of the voyage, our daytime low was 57F/14C during a rainy day in Saguenay Fjord and the daytime high was 73F/23C in Halifax. In fact, I fell asleep in a deck chair on board during our afternoon in Halifax, and woke up with a bit of a suntan. In most ports, the temperatures were in the mid-60s to low-70s on the coast (cooler inland), and except for the one rainy morning, we had sunny or partly cloudy skies.  <br /><br />PORTS OF CALL <br />The major highlight was the itinerary. This was a one-way cruise from Montreal to Boston, with visits to Quebec City, Saguenay Fjord, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, and Bar Harbor.  <br /><br />Montreal, Quebec.  <br />It had been a long travel day for us, so we decided to stay onboard once we reached the ship. Montreal looked lovely, however, and there was a harbor walk close to the ship. While the rest of my family napped, I went to the promenade deck for a quiet sailaway. I had a nice conversation with a gentleman from Florida as the ship pulled out of Montreal and made its way down the St. Lawrence River. Scenery along this part of the St. Lawrence is magnificent. We passed an amusement park, farmland, and many small houses and villages. This part of Canada is very pretty.  <br /><br />Quebec City, Quebec. <br />We had been to Quebec City several years ago, and became so enchanted with the city that returning was like coming home. With the landmark Chateau Frontenac looming overhead, we disembarked the ship for what would be a wonderful day of exploration. Haze and her husband graciously invited us to join them on their walking tour. It was spectacular. We walked the entire distance of the wall that surrounds the Upper Town, and Haze?s husband was the perfect guide. He is very well acquainted with the area and pointed out many sites from railroad stations (his passion) to historic buildings. I think the cruise lines should fly him in every week to conduct this tour for passengers. The five of us enjoyed a nice lunch at l?Omelette in the Upper Town -- the pea soup, in particular was superb -- and we rode the Funicular down to the Lower Town for a quick visit and return to the ship. We had left the ship at 10:15 am and arrived back at 3:15? a most splendid day.  <br /><br />Saguenay Fjord. Located just off the St. Lawrence River, Saguenay Fjord is indescribably scenic. There is no port stop -- the ship simply enters, turns around two hours later, and heads back out to the river. The highlight for many is the Virgin Mary statue atop one of the mountains. It was explained to us that years ago, a sailor was in the fjord when his ship sank. Swimming to shore was difficult as the water was so cold, and he prayed to the Virgin Mary to keep him safe. He survived, and eventually erected a statue on one of the hills near the fateful spot. It was assembled in pieces and, if I recall correctly, took three years to construct. As we passed the statue at 7:00 am, Ave Maria played through the ship?s speakers. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous -- mountains layered upon mountains. Although it was raining that day, I managed to get some beautiful photos, particularly of the sunrise. The remainder of the day was spent ?at sea.?  <br /><br />Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  <br />We arrived in Charlottetown not knowing what to expect, and it turned out to be a most intriguing port of call. I am embarrassed to admit that I knew very little about Canadian history before this trip. Thanks to the Maasdam daily program, I learned that in 1864, Charlottetown was the site of the meeting that would eventually lead to the formation and independence of Canada. We spent most of our day at this location, Province House. We saw the room where the historic meeting had taken place, as well as the room that is now used for provincial government business. We then walked around town and admired the beautiful pier area, complete with wooden pathways, flowers, and ?red dirt? stones. The approach to Charlottetown earlier that morning was amazing, as our ship had to pass under the multi-span Confederation Bridge. The bridge, which opened in 1997, links the island to the mainland and is the world?s longest bridge (12.9 km, or 9 miles) over waters that freeze.   <br /><br />Sydney, Nova Scotia  <br />I highly recommend a shore excursion in Sydney as there is not much to do near the port. We took a ship-sponsored excursion to the Fortress of Louisbourg, approximately 40 minutes from Sydney. The walled town is a reconstruction of what the area looked like while being occupied by the French in the mid-1700s. French colonists originally landed at Louisbourg in 1713, but the British captured the area in 1745 for its strategic location at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River. By 1760, the old French town had been dismantled. The area was restored in the 1950s, and is now ?stuck? in 1744. Only 20% of the site was restored, yet it provides a good representation of the era. Once we arrived, we had a one-hour tour by our marvelous guide, who happened to be a retired history teacher, and then we had another hour to explore on our own before boarding the bus back to the ship.  <br /><br /><br />Halifax, Nova Scotia. <br />This was our third visit to Halifax, and it is a port we hope to return to time and time again. We had been to Peggy?s Cove, the Citadel, and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on previous visits, but on this trip I wanted to learn more about the role of Halifax in the aftermath of the 1912 Titanic tragedy. Halifax was the main recovery site -- 328 bodies were brought here. While my husband and son spent the morning on the waterfront (after trying unsuccessfully to get on the Theodore the Tugboat ride), I took a ship-sponsored tour called the ?Halifax-Titanic Connection.? The tour included a bus ride past various landmarks (including recovery sites, churches where services were held, and two small cemeteries) and a one-hour visit to the fabulous Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (which houses an extensive collection of Titanic artifacts). The most emotional part of the excursion was a visit to Fairview Cemetery, where approximately 120 Titanic passengers are buried. The headstones are laid out in several rows forming the shape of a ship?s hull. Most of the markers are plain, while others are more lavish, yet all have one common characteristic -- all are marked with the date April 15, 1912. Amazingly, I had the same tour guide from the previous day, which pleased me as he was extremely knowledgeable. As sad as this tour was, I do recommend it for those who want to learn more about Titanic. Our museum tickets were good for the rest of the day, so a morning tour is best for those who want to spend more time there.  <br />Bar Harbor, Maine. <br />As we had previously been to Acadia National Park, we decided to keep the day low-key by exploring the town of Bar Harbor by foot. We picked up a walking tour map at the visitor center, and checked out the downtown area as well as the former summer ?cottages? of the wealthy that lined the street overlooking the harbor. The highlight of the day was lunch at the Island Chowder House, where my husband had clam chowder and a lobster roll, my son had fried clams, and I enjoyed a 1 ? pound whole lobster.   <br /><br />DISEMBARKATION.  <br />The disembarkation process ran very smoothly. As Boston is convenient to our home, we requested late disembarkation tags. We could have waited in our cabins, but opted instead to hang out with friends in the Crow?s Nest, where we had a fine view of the city. As we were among the last passengers off the ship, finding our luggage was easy (all three pieces were even right next to each other, imagine that) and we were driving away from the pier area within minutes of leaving the ship.  <br /><br />FINAL THOUGHTS. <br />This was our first HAL cruise, and it won?t be our last. While I had read on several cruise message boards that some veteran HAL cruisers felt the line had made cutbacks in service recently, we either didn?t experience any significant shortcomings or didn?t notice them. We were too busy enjoying this nice vacation. We are already considering a repeat of this trip for next summer, or perhaps trying Maasdam?s alternate Canada/New England itinerary (round-trip Boston).',1171828737,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',151,'Lisa63',1,55,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(160,74,'11-30-06','The food was quite tasty and the presentation was always fine.','The trip started off on a sad note. We had just left the pier in Norfolk and were about 100 yards out when we suddenly stopped and edged our way back to the pier. At the same time we saw and heard an ambulance coming through downtown Norfolk and pulled up to the pier. After about 15 mins they offloaded a passenger on a stretcher plus the 3 companions traveling with him or her. We never heard what had happened but I felt so sorry for them.   <br /><br /><br />We finally got underway about 1 hour later and slowly made our way past the Navy piers. Brought back many memories since I was stationed there about a million years ago. <br /><br />The first couple of days going down the coast towards Half Moon Cay it was a little bumpy. I love rough seas but my bride doesn&#39;t fair to well. She did the Bonine and that helped some. We finally smoothed out and Half Moon Cay was nice as always. St. Thomas was, well, just St. Thomas.I don&#39;t get to excited about jewelry stores. Dominica and St. Kitts were worth stopping and we enjoyed the tours that we took. Barbados is always nice. One of our favorite ports. <br /><br />The food was quite tasty and the presentation was always fine. Our waiter and asst. waiter were top notch and very attentive. We had the good fortune to have 2 different officers eat with us on formal nights. That is a nice touch that HAL does.  <br /><br />The shows were just ok. I know the young folks who do the Broadway stye shows are working hard and I applaud them for it but it was not much to write home about. The comedian and banjo player were first rate and we have seen them both before on other cruises. <br /><br />We were much impressed with our cabin. Very roomy and easy to move around in. Plus a bathtub and shower. The public rooms are very nice and the ship never seemed crowded though they were reported to be sold out. I did my 2 mile walk every morning on the promenade deck. 4 times around is 1 mile.  I would certainly recommend the Maasdam and would do it again. <br /><br />The one negative would be the embarkation at Norfolk. They are building a new cruise terminal and that should help. We waited 2 hours in line outside. Glad it was 60 degrees that day. They had experienced some Norvirus on the previous cruise and had to disenfect. For the first 3 or 4 days they had hand washing machines located all over the ship. At the Captains cocktail party on the 2nd night he greeted everyone but did not shake hands. They were very concerned about a new outbreak. But as far as I know we were virus free.  <br /><br />At the end of our cruise I was on deck watching them unload the luggage and saw a hearse pull up and they offloaded a poor soul who had passed away during our cruise. So the start and end of our 11 day voyage was interesting and strange to say the least.  Hope I didn&#39;t ramble on to much.   <br /><br />Thanks for listening.  <br /><br />Cheers  <br /><br />Tim',1171828893,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',2663,'saltydog',1,145,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(161,75,'11/25/06','I?d go back to the Noordam in a suite in a minute ?but maybe not to this area again.','Review of the MS Noordam <br />Note: ratings are on a scale of 1* to 5*+  <br /><br /><br />Member Name: Joanandjoe <br />Cruise date: November, 2006 <br />Embarkation: New York <br />Cabin Category: SA <br />Cabin Number: 7064 <br />Booking method: local travel agency  <br /><br />Overview <br />Rating: 4* (Joe) 5* (Joan)  <br /><br />What?s not to like about a full suite, with the Neptune Lounge, Concierge Service, and breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill? With that, and our membership in the thermal suite and hydrotherapy pool, we were surrounded by luxury.  <br /><br />The ship itself was rather large for our taste, but there were some nice touches, such as the Explorations Caf?. The dining room was quite good, but not up to the standard of Regent or Windstar. The Lido dining area had some areas that were well laid out, and the food (other than the excellent Asian food) was fairly good for a buffet and stem table type of meal. Entertainment and the ports are described below.  <br /><br />Parking and embarkation <br />Rating 5*  <br /><br />We arrived at the pier at around 11 a.m., and quickly found a porter to take our bags. Joe then parked the car (&#036;180, paid with cash, Master Card, or Visa, for 10 + days), and met me outside the boarding area. The car was there, safe, intact, and waiting for us, when we arrived back in New York.  <br /><br />After we walked into the terminal, we were given a card marked? S? for Suite, and were seated at the front of the boarding area. Boarding started at around 11:30, and was so fast that we were in the Neptune Lounge (NL), dropping off our hand luggage and having a nice snack, by 11:35. We were so comfortable in the NL that we made a mistake. We stayed in the lounge for about 20 minutes, meeting the concierges (angels: two wonderful Filipina ladies) and chatting with the other passengers. By the time we hit the Lido for lunch at 11:55, the place was packed with PAX and their bel&#33; <br /><br />I couldn?t get any food the first time through, since the lines were so long. It?s a good thing we had a snack in the NL, and that another couple agreed to share a table with us&#33; The place remained packed until rooms were ready, at around 12:45; then it began to empty out.  <br /><br />A note on the Lido: it does not seem to be very well laid out. There are two main food lines, and separate areas for salad bar, drinks (2 areas), sandwiches, Italian food, Asian food, and an outdoor grill. The salad bar was always mobbed, and the main lines were often mobbed. It?s a good thing we love Asian food: good sushi, seldom a line of more than 3 people. Even when the Lido was mobbed, the staff was always helpful, and always ready to carry a tray if one so desired.  <br /><br />Suite (SA) <br />Rating 5*+  <br /><br />We opened the door to our suite, and fell ? in LOVE. You could get lost in one of those suites. The relaxing color scheme, the space, the chilled champagne, the twin sinks with separate shower and whirlpool bath with shower, all add to the pampered feeling. Our luggage arrived after 4 p.m. (bummer&#33;) but it did arrive. We unpacked and went to dinner.  Although the storage space is oddly arranged, with few drawers and lots of shelves in cupboards, it was much more than adequate for two. The space was fantastic, as were the balcony and bathroom. The bed was the best away from home bed ever: huge, with a great mattress and coverings. Each night there were eight pillows, and most nights our steward made a towel animal. He was unobtrusive, but always seemed to meet our needs.  <br /><br />Dining <br />Rating 4* (Pinnacle Grill breakfasts 5*+)  <br /><br />We requested early seating and a table for two in August, 2005, when we booked the cruise. Instead, we were seated at a table for 10&#33; They were fascinating people, but we prefer to eat at a table for two. Our NL concierge was able to get us a table for two starting with the second night, after our request to the dining manager failed. Lesson: if you?re in a suite, ask the ladies to do administrative stuff for you, rather than doing it yourself.  <br /><br />The food was excellent for such a large ship. (It?s unfair to compare it with our small ship experiences on Windstar and Regent.) Each meal consisted of several courses, each of which was usually a relatively small portion. (Exception: a huge chunk of osso bucco.) Because the menu was arranged as starters, then soups and salads in one grouping, it was easy to do what we usually do: skip a course. Vegetarian dishes were superb. The ordinary food in the dining room was about what you?d expect in a fine, but large, hotel: decent quality, nothing much exciting, but quite serviceable. The only real failures were attempts to get fancy, such as escargot in puff pastry. Stick to the tried and true&#33;  <br /><br />We had one dinner at the Pinnacle Grill (PG). We?re not big steak eaters, but the steaks seemed quite thick and tasty. The service was excellent, both in the dining room and the PG. A word of warning about PG wines. They have interesting sounding ?flights? of Washington state wines. What you get is four large glasses, each of which has two ounces of wine. It?s far better to order a glass of wine, or a full bottle. Unfinished bottles can be saved for the next dinner. Also, beware of the chocolate lemon hockey puck that is a dessert special. It bounced when you tried to stick a fork in it&#33; They offered a replacement, but I was so full from stuffing myself with the cookies and candies that they bring with the coffee that I didn?t need another calorie.  <br /><br />If you?re a steak lover, the PG at dinner is worth the &#036;30 charge. If you?re not, one night on an 11 day cruise is sufficient for a change of pace. We went on the night when the dining room had the ?Master Chef?s? dinner.  <br /><br />Our comments on the Lido are above. It is, as noted, poorly laid out. The food itself is a cut above the buffet areas on Celebrity. Ag&#33; ain, it doesn?t have the elegance and quality of Windstar or Regent, but it?s a fairly good place to eat. At night, the Lido is a causal restaurant. It?s also a good place to pick up an extra dessert before 8 p.m., or pizza and ice cream until late at night.  <br /><br />Suite people may eat breakfast at the PG, and we did that as often as possible?six times in 11 days. We would have eaten there another two or three times; but we?re early birds, and were often up before dining room hours (which are also PG hours). We fell in love with the Spanish frittata (really Mexican, with salsa, guacamole, and sour cream) and the sunshine parfait (fruit, yogurt, and granola), served by a window with a view of the ocean. One of my most pleasant memories of the Noordam is those breakfasts. One of the least pleasant is the eight pounds that I gained during the trip. (Possibly because he?s allergic to chocolate, and avoided most desserts, Joe only gained two pounds.)  <br /><br />Service <br />Rating 4*(general), 5*+ (related to the suite)  <br /><br />Ah, the suite life&#33; Towel animals appear at the edge of your bed each night with the chocolates. You may inhale breakfast in the PG while New York City awakes to the sunrise. Concierges fit you into tours after they have ?closed? to the public. The Neptune Lounge offers chocolates, fruit and cold breakfast or tiny sandwiches or appetizers from 8-8, washed down with your choice of hot or cold drinks. You could have lattes, any variety of tea, coffee, cold drinks, and the best of a cold breakfast in a lovely suite. Comfortable chairs and tables, reading material, and artwork, all combine to enhance your pampering. HAL offered a reception solely for suite residents ? champagne, and more. Our clean laundry arrived in a wicker basket, folded in white tissue paper, and sealed with a HAL gold seal.   Even those NOT in suites commented on the personal, attentive service everywhere. The librarian was perky and eager to please. The internet manager couldn?t do enough to help. Our wonderful travel agent, Florence Lipson of Travel Wyse in Fair Lawn, found us a promotional fare which put us into a suite for a mere &#036;200.00 above the cost of a mini-suite cabin.   <br /><br />HAL Tours <br />Rating between 2 1/2*   <br /><br />Here, I fear, HAL must rethink and improve. Uniformly, the tour conveyances were cramped and hot. Most Americans in HAL?s demographic are overweight, yet the conveyances. are scaled for slender people. In Tortuga, we had half a tour. Arriving at 3PM, we were cramped into uncomfortable open air buses (which were also used in St. Thomas) which took us to the sailboat. The sailboat was mobbed, and could only do half the tour because it got dark at 5PM. The tour operators were as nice as they could be, handing out personal instructions and rum punches with equal generosity and skill. BUT it remained only half the scheduled tour at the full price. Other tours were equally crowded, with long stops at tourist traps and no time for fascinating natural wonders. A tour including Coral World spent most of the tour going to and from the scuba shop, with people jammed in severe discomfort. Our tour bus on St. Martin had no air-conditioning. The guides do their best, but they can?t change the laws of physics. Because the laws of physics apply, the HAL tour we were most looking forward to, river tubing in Dominica, was cancelled due to high water levels, Another bummer, but one can?t blame HAL for this one.  <br /><br />Far better were Glory Tours in Barbados, a full day including lunch for a mere &#036;52/pp. I sing their praises in another section, but it was one of the best days ever. Fredos in Dominica was one of the best tours ever: Four of us in a four-bench van, went all over the island in cool comfort. Old San Juan could be a fascinating walking tour, and everyone wanted more time there.   <br /><br />Shopping <br />Rating of HAL shopping hints 2*  <br /><br />Okay, there?s a guarantee for official HAL stores. Okay, you won?t be mugged. HAL continues to recommend the most overpriced stores on each island. I walked between two HAL-recommended stores to ?J.A. Nieff?, or some similar name, in Dominica, which was recommended to us by our Fredos tour guide.. Instantly, the prices went down and the merchandise became practical. Shopping where the tour guides shopped, I bought cloth ?wraps? for &#036;3.00 instead of &#036;10.00. True, the cloth was different, BUT if you?re giving gifts or merely want a remembrance of the island, why not buy what the natives buy? Don?t get me started on people who buy diamonds on vacation and then wonder why it?s hard to get customer service ? When you shop where the natives shop, nobody takes the booze away from you and puts it into the hold of the ship. You bring back true native delicacies like guava paste instead of lewdly painted shells with the name of the island painted on it. I?ve given up on those shopping talks. The shopping mall in St. Thomas run by ?A.J. Cohn? or some similar name just a block from the HAL-touted Havensight mall offered cute t-shirts at 3/&#036;10.00, caftans for &#036;7.00, and a ton of wonderful TRUE BARGAINS: dresses you wear after the trip, t-shirts people want to wear, and genuinely tasteful carryalls. We bought a &#036;4.00 bottle of rum we hated so much we later gave it away to another native on another island, and a &#036;5.00 bottle of champagne we liked so much we didn?t order wine that night.   <br /><br />Entertainment <br />Rating 3 ?*  <br /><br />We couldn?t get into the Vista Lounge most of the time ? and there was no alternative entertainment when the show was going on We adored those two performers (Allenby and Williams), but to find any seating in the Vista Lounge you needed to arrive a solid 30 minutes ahead of time, often a physical impossibility for us. If you didn?t get into the show at the Vista, you were on your own for entertainment ? books, DVD?s, all OK but nothing wonderful. Why not offer some piano bar music, or othe r music while the show is in progress? Since the Vista Lounge is full, it can?t take away from the main performers to offer alternatives. With the exception of Salina Williams playing the oboe and Will Allenby, most shows were packed before we got there. The piano bar was extremely popular AND crowded, but there was no entertainment during the shows. Perhaps, if the hours for piano bar performances were longer, more people could have enjoyed it. We spent most evenings reading a book or watching a DVD.  <br /><br />Daytime lectures were often superb. The lectures on the history of cruise liners and cruise ships were absolutely riveting. Thank you to the World Ocean and Cruise Line Society for its wonderful inclusion of so many of its subscribers. For a donation, we attended the talk and book-signing by the Captain, AND received one of his books signed by him AND toured the bridge, AND participated in the Walk for the Cure AND attended a cocktail party with free drinks AND met some wonderful people. The lectures on the prehistory of the area fascinated us. HAL really tried to offer interesting, educational entertaining activities for those of us who prefer that.   <br /><br />Walk for the Cure  <br /><br />This took place on the day after we left San Juan. For &#036;15 per person you get a T shirt, a pink lemonade and fruit reception, and a donation to a charity that seeks a cure for breast cancer. Why would you not participate? Joan walked about a mile, Joe the full 3 miles. Fun, and well worth doing.  <br /><br />Spa and gym <br />Rating 5*  <br /><br />As noted, we signed up for a full membership for two in the hydrotherapy pool and thermal suite, at &#036;250 for 11 days for the two of us. What a wonderful, relaxing way to spend time&#33; The thermal suite has six heated stone couches, and three or four steam rooms. The hydrotherapy pool is large, comfortably hot, and very relaxing. You get a robe, slippers, and a locker, and can change and shower in the ap&#33; propriate locker room.  <br /><br />We never tried the gym, and our only time in the massage rooms was when Joan was used as a demonstration patient on day one  <br /><br />Ports  <br /><br />Tortola. Arrival at 3 p.m., with departure at 9 p.m., is a sick joke. It?s too late to do much before sunset, but you leave too early for dinner and night life onshore. HAL needs to arrive earlier, or go back to leaving at midnight. Our excursion is described above, under excursions. Joan disliked being crammed into the open air safari bas, while Joe hated everything about it: the crowding, the feeling that you could fall out of the bus, etc.  <br /><br />St. Thomas. In the morning, we took a HAL excursion to Coral World, including a semi-submersible. Coral World was lovely, the semi-sub even better. On the negative side, the ride in a safari bus was much longer than in Tortola, and (as noted above) we really disliked having to stop each way so that some people could get snorkels and fins.  <br /><br />We had planned to go into Charlotte Amalie after doing some shopping near the pier (also described above); but it started pouring as we were walking back to the ship to stash our bargains. We ended up relaxing in the thermal suite.  <br /><br />We should mention immigration, which was painless both here and in San Juan. We filled out cards, went to the Queen?s Lounge, gave the cards to ship?s [personnel, showed our passports to the immigration folks, and were given landing cards. Easy as pie&#33;  <br /><br />Dominica. In the morning, we had a fabulous tour with Fredos Tours, with stops at overlooks, Trafalgar Falls, the Botanical Garden, and a few other places. We had planned our first ever river tubing, but it was canceled due to heavy rains the previous day, so we spent the afternoon at the tiny museum, the open air market, and the local store. We loved everything about Dominica except one thing: the weather. By the time we were done with Dominica, our third stop, w e realized that the Caribbean isn?t for us: we both hate hot weather, and redheaded Joe had to try to keep out of the tropical sun, effectively ruling out beaches. If we go back to the Caribbean (which is unlikely), Dominica would certainly be on our itinerary.  <br /><br />Barbados. As noted above, we took a ?Just BIM? tour with Glory Tours. The timing of the tour was messed up due to some passengers who got on our tour instead of the correct tour, causing us to have to start over again. Once we go started, the tour was quite nice, with Sunbury Plantation (a nice 19th century sugar plantation, but we would have preferred something older), overall island tour, botanical garden, lunch (wonderful), and the required, and to us useless, stop at the batik and pottery. We were supposed to go to the Bacardi factory; but, due to the timing problem, we went to the lovely synagogue instead.  <br /><br />St. Maartin. The biggest disappointment of the trip. We had wanted a private tour, but the standard tour had too much beach, too much shopping, and too little sightseeing for us. The one provider we found for custom tours was booked, and we found the taxi tours too confusing for us to take one. That?s how we ended up on a HAL tour, Delightfully Dutch, Fantastically French. The tour was relatively cheap (&#036;29), but the air conditioning of the bus was working poorly, and there was a smell of sulfur. As for the tour itself, we had nice views of a pretty island, but could have used much more than 30 minutes in Marigot. (The driver nicely offered to put us on another tour with more time in Marigot; but by then we were hot and tired.) Too much time was spent in shopping related matters: a stop at a store selling flavored gin or vodka drinks, including guava berry, and a stop in Phillipsburg, where most people on the bus got off. We went back to the pier, bought some champagne and brandy, and went back to the ship. Not a particularly interesting day.  <br /><br />What was interesting was our reaction to the weather. It was 85 degrees and sunny, with winds so high that the water taxi wasn?t running. We were both miserably hot and uncomfortable. More proof that the Caribbean is not for us.  <br /><br />San Juan. As with Tortola, the stop here is too short, ending at 1 p.m. We met Joe?s law school roommate and his wife, and they showed us around the town: beaches, business and tourist areas, their lovely house, and fantastic Old San Juan. They wanted to treat us to lunch, but we had to be back to the ship by 12:30. We made it with eight minutes to spare.  <br /><br />The weather was drizzly and unusually cool: about 75. Joe has had a bunch of business trips to San Juan, where the weather is usually very hot and humid. We would go back despite the weather, to see the roommate and more of this wonderful place.  <br /><br />Conclusion  <br /><br />I?d go back to the Noordam in a suite in a minute ?but maybe not to this area again. With the exception of San Juan, I feel we?ve seen most of what these islands have to offer. We?re not drinkers, gamblers, heat lovers, sun worshipers, ?shop till you drop? people, or beach people. We research the area we travel to thoroughly. Almost any temperate zone place we can think of holds more interest to us than the Caribbean, which simply isn?t for us',1171828965,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',2167,'Joanandjoe',1,225,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(162,76,'11-7-04','This over all experience has really soured me on Holland America, What is supposed to be a five star Luxury Cruise Line to me was more like what we would receive on Carnival Cruise Line.','I wanted to take this opportunity to write about our most recent cruise experience upon the ms Oosterdam November 7, 2004. This was a most disappointing cruise experience. I booked this cruise 7/20/04. I made a great effort in planning this cruise so that my partner would have the most exciting experience of his life, Planning the details with the cruise consultant required a lot of my time and his for that matter, details from the fact that David loves bananas and requesting that they be available in our stateroom on a daily basis as part of the ?fruit bowl that was to be in our cabin, Arranging a special spa treatment for us both, Asking that David?s Birthday cake be delivered to the cabin and NOT in the dining room, because David embarrasses easily, planning excursions, just making sure we had the best Vacation we could on Holland America.   <br /><br /><br />Day one after arriving on board we made our way to the our stateroom because I wanted David to see the difference between our accommodations from our first Holland ship the Ryndam where we were guests in a B class stateroom and now we are in a SS class. He was really excited about being in the larger cabin, and had no idea that we would be having fresh fruit in the cabin for a healthy snack, there was no fruit available at that time, which didn?t concern me at that time because we had entered the cabin before the announcement that the cabins were ?officially ready?. So with David excited we made our way back up to the Lido deck to have a first day cocktail and toast our Vacation&#33; To our surprise once up on Lido Deck we saw Ramon the bartender from the Ryndam that gave us such a wonderful experience, we ordered our drinks and caught up with Ramon. Just until the announcement that cabins were ready.   <br /><br />We made our way back to our cabin and to my surprise there were no flowers or fruit waiting for David. I eventually had to request fruit and flowers from our steward. Which we received late the next morning. Consisting of one banana, one apple one pear and one orange, very disappointing especially after telling the cruise consultant how much David liked his fruit. After unpacking I made our way up to the Spa to confirm and book our reservations for our message and facial experience that I had pre purchased. I scheduled it for 1:30pm the next day after our brief stay in Nassau. We also took a tour of the spa facilities and eventually signed up so that both of us could take advantage of unlimited use of the Hydro pool and sauna facilities. The &#036;250.00 couples package. The next morning I went to the spa for a sauna and hydro pool treatment and found that the pool was filthy, grime on the chrome resting bars and rust looking substance floating in the water. Very disappointing. Upon arriving at the spa later that day for an afternoon of pampering, we were greeted at the front desk and shown to the ?relaxation room. We received the massage but was told that they didn?t have time to do the facials because they didn?t know we were to receive one, and then were asked to make another appointment later in the week to receive the facial, needless to say I was disappointed because the whole idea of the pre package was to have a spa experience not a massage and facial, the staff at the spa made no apologies for the mix up, this was most disconcerting for me because once again my partner was disappointed. So now David and I both had two separate times for our facials His Thursday at 3:00pm mine Thursday at 4:00pm. Once again a couples experience was not to be had and once again no real concern was shown by any member of the staff. Later the appointments were changed again to accommodate both of us at the same time Saturday at 5pm.  <br /><br />It was almost like ?hey we have your money don?t bother me?   <br /><br />Dinner aboard ship that night was horrendous food that had a nice presentation but no flavor, Cakes delivered to our tables that were supposed to be delivered to our cabin, cream that had gone bad and curdled when poured into our coffee. I could go on and on but needless to say the food had no flavor, I remember one night I had the Peppered corned sirloin steak, but there was no taste or appearance of peppercorn. Our wine steward took our order for six bottles of wine to be served over several nights of the cruise, more often then not the wine had no ice bucket and was place on top of the table, I had to pour refills my self, I had requested that one bottle be delivered to our state room for consumption at our discretion, It was delivered but with no cork screw.   St. Maarten was a disaster, we were schedule for a tour of the island but there were not enough buses available to take us at 12:45pm and when the time reached 1:30 and buses had not arrived we decided to go back to the ship with out our tour, when I mentioned to the tour staff how disappointed we were, she said well? I?m sorry? but we had to ask for a refund and when I mentioned that this was a busted port stop as far as we were concerned she just looked at us, with no real concern for our satisfaction, It was a crew member from Princess Cruise line suggesting that we take a water taxi over to the downtown section of Philipsburg. The next morning we had breakfast in the dining room and .well let me just say, I?m still waiting on my V8 Juice ? so disappointing.   <br /><br />Enough was enough I decided to express my concerns to the Hotel Manager, when I made my way down to the front desk and asked to speak to the hotel manager. I was given excuses but when I insisted, out came the Guest Relations Manager, not who I asked to speak with, but I went ahead and expressed my concerns about the attitude and professionalism of the staff, the tasteless food aboard the ship, the cleanliness of the spa the fact that our cabin bath room smelled moldy, her response was ?yea, yea, yea? very condescending. I mentioned to her how disappointed we were about the suite life thing that I though we were getting when I originally booked my cruise in July, shortly after that time Jeph informed me that that was only for S Class and Penthouse guests, and he apologized to me for the misunderstanding, we had talked about and how that Marketing should do a better job distinguishing suite life from ordinary suite amenities; she offered to give us access to the Neptune lounge, which we never received.   <br /><br />And what really sent me over the edge was our day at Half Moon Cay. One of the biggest things for me personally on this vacation was my beach time, to my surprise Staff members allowed 4 service animals to run around unleashed and swim in the ocean. They showed no concern for this action I need not tell you that I didn?t pay the money that I paid for this cruise so I could swim with DOGS.   I left the island about 20 minutes after I arrived.   <br /><br />After returning to the ship I made my way down to the front desk and requested that all gratuities be removed from our bill and that we would be tipping those individuals that we felt were deserving, we were informed that we had the right to do this but the baker might not receive his tip&#33; Just another example of how the staff aboard this vessel isn?t interested in guest satisfaction. Acquaintances of ours that we made on board had purchased beverage cards for the island but were not able to use them until close to 12 noon because there were no beverages available.   <br /><br />You don?t throw a part then wait for your guest to arrive before going to the store for supplies. They mentioned to me that they got 3 cokes that afternoon, which made them some of the most expensive beverages on record almost &#036;7.00 a can. Day 4 and 5 the fruit bowl was never refilled. So David had No fruit. The evening of day 6 the fruit bowl and flowers were removed from our stateroom and the mini bar was locked. I really felt that was a tacky thing.   <br /><br />The last night in the dining room was just more of the same, after tipping our waiter and dinning room assistant, we ordered coffee I had an espresso and David ordered regular coffee. It took almost 10 minutes to receive our coffees and then the order was incorrect they had delivered 2 espressos, when I tried to correct David?s order it took another 5 to 6 minutes and once again the cream was curdled.  <br /><br />I reported this to our cruise consultant from the airport in Dallas Texas, when I was able to finally get someone at Holland America on the phone, and he tried to find a resolution, I wrote him a letter which he said he would walk up to Guest relations department. That was on the 16th of November. As of this date I have not heard from Guest Relations. We previously cruised with Holland America because of the high standards that are set, unfortunately this was not the case on this cruise, and I not only cancelled our next cruise which was booked before this cruise.and I have also stopped our plans for our European Vacation with Holland also. (This would have also included another couple.)   <br /><br />Just to recap... The staff was unprofessional, the food was tasteless, the spa and bathroom in our cabin was not as clean as it should have been, Crew members passing the buck, and No one wants to take responsibility. This over all experience has really soured me on Holland America, What is supposed to be a five star Luxury Cruise Line to me was more like what we would receive on Carnival Cruise Line.',1171829032,0,'Eastern Caribbean','[-review]oosterdam.jpg',2066,'JoeyandDavid',1,81,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(163,79,'12/1/05','A 10-Day Cruise aboard Holland America&#39;s RYNDAM sailing out of San Diego with ports-of-call at Acapulco, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.','Holland America&#39;s RYNDAM cruises the west coast of Mexico from September through April. On the third Thursday in November we boarded in San Diego for a 10-day cruise to the six major resort cities on the Mexican Riviera. <br /><br />San Diego may be the most picturesque and convenient cruise port in the United States. The waterfront is located right downtown and the airport and train station are within walking distance to the cruise terminal. For those driving to the ship, there is a secure long-term parking lot (&#036;12 per day) just across the street from the dock. <br /><br />Embarkation was one of the easiest we have ever experienced. We breezed through security and registration in about 20 minutes and were settled in the Ocean Bar by 11:30 AM. Within an hour our cabin was available and our luggage was ready to unpack. <br /><br />This was the Ryndam&#39;s 485th voyage since Holland America put her into service in 1994. She is of a class of medium size cruise ships which include the Statendam, the Veendam and the Maasdam. Ryndam carries 1250 passengers with a crew of 600 and is rated at 55,500 gross tons. She cruises along at 17-19 knots with a top speed of 22 knots. <br /><br />With two days at sea before our first port, Manzanillo, we had time to explore the ship and get acclimated. Since our last cruise aboard Ryndam, she had undergone an extensive upgrade through Holland America&#39;s &quot;Signature of Excellence&quot; program. <br /><br />In our cabin we found all new high-quality soft goods, drapes, linens and bedding. A DVD player and a flat panel TV replaced the former CRT unit which had taken up too much shelf space. <br /><br />There were extensive changes in the public areas of the ship. The biggest and most impressive change is the integrated Library, Internet Cafe and Coffee bar located on the Upper Promenade Deck. The library is the most extensive and up-to-date we have seen on any cruise ship. <br /><br />Eleven hundred and thirty nautical miles from San Diego we entered the harbor of Manzanillo. Manzanillo is now the busiest commercial port in Mexico. There were quite a few container ships and bulk carriers all busy loading and unloading. Even with all this activity, the water was amazingly clear. We declined any of the ship&#39;s sponsored shore excursions and opted to hire a van and driver. This was fortunate for our driver, Hector Garcia, spoke perfect English and was knowledgeable and informative. <br /><br />The highlights of our tour included the Cathedral of Saint Guadeloupe, the view from the Campos Lighthouse, the &quot;Green Roller&quot; surf at Cuyutlan and the resort area which included Las Hadas where the movie,&quot;10&quot; was filmed. <br /><br />Nine o&#39;clock the following morning we arrived at the Bay of Acapulco, one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. We docked at the Malec?n in the heart of Old Acapulco right next to Fort San Diego. Soon after we left the ship we found Louis Ramos Salmeron another English speaking tour guide who took us on a wonderful tour of the city. <br /><br />We visited the Hotel Casablanca. It is one of the original hotels built in the early 30&#39;s and now in dire need of restoration. But, from its terrace, one has a magnificent view of the bay and our ship at the dock. A short distance from the Casablanca is &quot;La Quebrada&quot;, the hundred foot cliffs where the famous Acapulco cliff divers performed for a huge crowd. <br /><br />Driving to the other side of the bay along the Miguel Aleman boulevard (&quot;La Costera&quot;), we passed the tourist center of Acapulco with its discos, time-share condos, markets, boutiques and high-rise hotels. Continuing on we visited the Acapulco Princess Hotel, the famous Las Brisas resort and from above the Mexican Naval Base, another great view of the Bay. <br /><br />By four PM we were back on the Ryndam relaxing in the theater lounge being entertained by a folkloric dance company. After dinner, the ship sponsored a Sail-Away Party on the aft deck that lasted through our 11 o&#39;clock departure from port. In retrospect, this day in Acapulco was one of the highlights of this cruise. <br /><br />Ryndam dropped her anchor just after dawn in the Bahia de Zihuatanejo. There are no docking facilities here, so we arrived at Zihuatanejo&#39;s municipal pier via the ship&#39;s tenders. Zihuatanejo (see-wha-tah-NA-ho) was just a sleepy fishing village a few years ago. But now along with its resort neighbor, Ixtapa (EEKS-tah-pah), there is a population approaching half a million. We were to be here only a few hours so we grabbed a cab to show us around. <br /><br />On the surface, there doesn&#39;t seem to be much of interest in Zihuatanejo.. it has a central market place, small shops and a generally disorganized appearance. But four miles north on the coast, Ixtapa could be Beverly Hills with it&#39;s wide streets, manicured lawns, lavish hotels and a Robert Trent Jones golf course. Ixtapa looks to be a great place to spend a week&#39;s vacation relaxing on the beach. <br /><br />All passengers were back aboard the ship when at one o&#39;clock we commenced our voyage to Puerto Vallarta. <br /><br />Hollywood discovered Puerto Vallarta in the 1960&#39;s and it&#39;s been a booming tourist city ever since. The entire 25 mile shoreline of Banderas Bay is developed or is being developed. We headed downtown for a stroll along the Malec?n where you can see some interesting statuary and sand art. On this day two other cruise ships were in town and it was crowded with tourists everywhere. There is an island on the Quale River which runs through Puerto Vallarta. It can be reached by stairways that lead down from the bridges which cross the river. A tree lined walkway extends about six blocks to the ocean. This is where you will discover the peaceful Puerto Vallarta. The island is uncrowded and has a good number of shops and two really nice restaurants. We recommend it highly. The ship remained in Puerto Vallarta until weighing anchor at 8:00PM. During the night we sailed the 180 nm to Mazatlan. <br /><br />Thanksgiving morning we docked in Mazatlan. After clearing Mexican customs at 9:00 AM, most passengers were off the ship and into the tour busses, vans or Mazatlan&#39;s unique taxicabs. We chose the latter and were off to the Zona Dorada, the area that includes the high-rise tourist hotels, beaches, shopping and entertainment. After some refreshment at Senior Frog&#39;s we witnessed a performance by the Papantla Fliers. They are a company of five Totonac Indians, who attach themselves by rope at the top of a 60 foot pole and leap outward to begin a maypole-like rotation. The fifth man remains dancing on a tiny platform at the top while beating a drum and playing a flute. This is all an ancient ritual going back 1500 years. Quite impressive. About 5:30 PM Ryndam left Mazatlan. We enjoyed the sail-away party on the aft deck and looked forward to Cabo San Lucas the next day. <br /><br />Los Cabos is the fastest growing of the Mexican Pacific resort areas. Cabo San Lucas sits at the western tip of the Baja Peninsula. On the Eastern tip, on the Sea of Cortez, is San Jose Del Cabo and in between the two cities there are 18 miles of of luxury hotels, condos, time-share communities and golf courses. <br /><br />As there are no docking facilities for cruise ships in Cabo San Lucas, we dropped our seven-ton anchor in the outer harbor and passengers went ashore aboard Ryndam&#39;s four tenders. We spent some time in the Puerto Paraiso Shopping Mall, walked some back streets looking for knock-off purses and finally settled in at Margaritavilla, a convenient bar- restaurant where they serve huge margaritas. It was then time to catch the last tender back to the ship which was scheduled to leave at four o&#39;clock. On the way back in the tender we passed a large number of charter fishing boats returning to Cabo accompanied by flocks of frigate birds and pelicans hoping for whatever leftovers the charters were willing to part with. Almost as soon as we left the harbor we caught sight of a gray whale spouting about a hundred yards off to the west of the ship. This was the only one we had seen on this cruise as the migration season had just begun. <br /><br />The next day and night was spent at sea before returning to San Diego. It was a time to reflect on the previous nine days. All in all, the cruise had been excellent. The rough seas that sometimes occur particularly in the run between Cabo and San Diego never materialized. The weather was mild. The daytime port temperatures never rose above 87?. <br /><br />This Mexican Riviera itinerary is quite competitive among the cruise lines so bargains are to be had. This is particularly true for those living within driving distance of San Diego as airfare is not a cost factor. <br /><br />Of the 1250 passengers, 135 were children. Holland America&#39;s Club Hal kept them entertained and generally unobtrusive. Our cabin steward was responsive, friendly and attentive, and the bar service couldn&#39;t have been better. Tony, our dining room waiter really looked after us. The dinner courses were served in a timely manner and we were never rushed.',1171829088,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',2349,'Downwind',1,75,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(164,79,'9/17/06','Overall the whole trip was everything and more of what I expected. I would not hesitate to go again.','My first HAL cruise, and I would think not my last. The Ryndam is an exquisite ship, with all of the fine little extra things that they do for you. As soon as I boarded I was impressed. After the life boat drill, I was able to explore the ship. I was getting more impressed as I headed to the Rotterdam Dining Room, every seat has a view of outside. The service along with the dining experience was very, very good. The dining at the Lido Dining area was good also, although I did have a problem of fried eggs being real oily, which was handled my the maitre d&#39; promply. Aboard the ship all of the staff was very polite, helpful friendly. Everytime they seen you they greeted you promply with &quot;Good Morning&quot; or &quot;Good Evening&quot;, I felt that because of their attitude it rub off on a lot of the passengers, because they were really friendly.  <br /><br /><br />My cabin was larger than expected, I had an outside view cabin on the maindeck, I believe that it was bigger than the balcony cabin that I had on the Sapphire Princess. My cabin steward Al (I can&#39;t remember or even pronouce his last name) was always attentive to my needs and kept the cabin very clean and organized with a fresh fruit bowl always full.  <br /><br />Inside passage was a beautiful sun shining day with spotting of many whales at a distance. Returning was again clear and beautiful with dolphins doing their ballet for us.  <br /><br />Juneau or first port of call. Really nice although the weather was liqid sunshine, very beautiful and Mendenhall Glacier was awesome.  <br /><br />Skagway was next very small and nice lot&#39;s of liquid sunshine again, took the Whitepass Train Ride then the bus tour to Yukon and Lair&#39;sville. Hopefully I will get to see this again someday without the liquid stuff.   <br /><br />Ketchikan was nice and cold lot&#39;s of rain and liquid stuff again. At the fish &amp; chip stand on the pier, I had some of the best New England Clam Chowder I have ever had before. Then off to see the Totem Poles.  <br /><br />Glacier Bay...what can I say? This was the highlight of the whole cruise. The weather was cloudy and chilly but it was beautiful. They brought split pea soup and hot chocolate on deck for everyone, really good. I must have taken 4 rolls of film and used up my memory on my digital. I was having lunch at the Lido with a view of John Hopskin Glacier...IT WAS AWESOME.  <br /><br />Overall the whole trip was everything and more of what I expected. I would not hesitate to go again. After all it is Alaska. The scenery was outstanding and we have mountains here in Colorado, but Alaska has mountains. September is a nice time of year, but it does get cold.',1171829131,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',2635,'rwams',1,109,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(165,80,'10/10/04','I treated myself to a balcony suite. This is the best treatment a person could have other than the penthouse.','Fresh flowers and fruit. The dining room was hot, so dinner in cabin each night. all those trays. But the food was hot and very good. <br /><br />The special service on your floor is perfection. No need to use the front desk. They will handle everything. Snacks all day long. Hot drinks, cold drinks.   <br /><br />I stayed in my cabin just watching things go by. But when i did venture out, the crew was very friendly and helpful.',1171829177,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',2148,'46blueeyed',1,31,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(166,81,'9/5/04','overall, it was a good cruise (are there bad cruises???), and we would willingly go again...','Alaska was beautiful: great weather even though it was late in the season; lots of calving on the glaciers. We chose this cruise because it included Glacier Bay, and we were not disappointed. It was great.   <br /><br />We loved the thick, comfy new beds on the Veendam as well as the great dining room service. HAL extras like hot chocolate and hot pea soup served on deck on glacier days was very nice. Our cabin was spacious with lots of storage space.    We were a little concerned about some lax maintenance on the ship: 3 of the 8 elevators were out of order all week, and we never saw any efforts being made to fix them; the laundry room on our floor was also out of order all week. We were given one shampoo which ran out on the third day and was never replaced. On lobster night, 1/2 a tail was served (that&#39;s even what the menu said, &quot;1/2 lobster tail.&quot;) We had been on the Veendam before when everything was well-maintained, so we were a little surprised when things were in poor repair or corners were cut... <br /><br />  But overall, it was a good cruise (are there bad cruises???), and we would willingly go again...',1171829220,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',1024,'ddjwms',1,39,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(167,81,'1/29/05','In summary it was a spacious, relaxed and comfortable ship with acceptable if not inspiring food. Would we cruise with Holland America again? Yes, though we still prefer Celebrity.','It was with some nervousness that we checked in at 12.30pm at Tampa Cruise Terminal 2 because the local newspapers, TV and radio had been telling us of the Novovirus outbreak on the Veendam?s previous 14-day cruise that had hit over 200 passengers. Barred from stopping at its last port of call, Grand Cayman, the ship had berthed a day early at 6pm on Friday to start an intensive cleaning exercise. On checking in we were offered the option of canceling and getting a full cruise refund but we later found out that passengers in only 12 cabins opted out. Because the cleaning would not be completed to allow boarding to begin until 3pm we were all offered a &#036;10 per passenger credit if we wanted to leave the terminal and get some lunch at the many restaurants on Tampa?s Channelside. So we went out to lunch and watch the ship being loaded and returned at 2.30pm. We boarded at 3.40pm. The ship didn?t sail until 5.40pm and with the early dinner sitting about to start lifeboat drill was put off until 10.30am Sunday.   <br /><br /><br />To counter any further illness the ship was on a complete hygiene clamp down and passengers were not allowed to serve themselves with anything. Even the salt and pepper, sugar, etc. were taken off the tables and had to be served. During Friday night the ship had taken all cabin pillows, blankets and comforters to commercial cleaners to rid the soft furnishings of the virus. The casino chips had also been baked in ovens hot enough to kill the virus but not so hot as to make them melt. Everywhere you went on the ship there were dispensers for hand cleaning, even as you entered or left the casino. We were probably on the cleanest ship in the Caribbean. Captain Albert Schoonderbeek adopted an open information policy so we were updated each day on the situation and exhorted to keep washing our hands regularly. On the Sunday there was one case reported, but after that there were none for the rest of the week. As people with the bug can generally infect others for 72 hours after getting it the restrictions were kept up until Thursday and then were lifted. After 5 days of being served everything we were all a bit lost getting back to normality.    <br />In our 11 cruises so far we had only been on one previous Holland America ship, the Zuiderdam, last November. The Veendam is smaller at 55,451 tons but it didn?t feel much smaller, just perfectly scaled down. Our interior cabin #750 was on A deck (deck 4), the lowest, nicely placed amidships. It had been set up with a queen bed as we had requested. The room was more spacious than the interior cabin we had on the Zuiderdam as it also had a sofa. There was more than adequate closet and drawer space for a 7-day cruise and the cabin was also very quiet so all in all we were very pleased with the cabin. There is a wrap around promenade on deck 6 with some lovely padded teak steamer loungers which we found to be a relaxing place to be either at sea on in port. The main passenger facilities are located on decks 7 and 8 or up on decks 10, 11 &amp; 12. Decks 7 and 8 have the two level dining rooms at the stern and the two level show lounge at the bow. All the other usual facilities are on these two decks. The second swimming pool is at the rear of deck 10 which otherwise just houses cabins. Deck 11 comprises the attractive and very airy Lido restaurant for casual breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, plus the Lido pool with its opening glass roof and the gym and spa. The Crows Nest lounge has a commanding forward view on Deck 12.   <br /><br />We had been wait listed for early dining and being unable to change when we boarded we were so tired that we had an early dinner in the Lido on the first night. The following day we were able to switch to 6.15pm dining because another couple wished to change to late dining. A lucky break&#33; Our table for 10 was J looking out over the stern. While we found the food variety and quality very good in the Lido for breakfast and lunch we would only rate the dining room food satisfactory. Rarely did more than one entree appeal and a few of those choices were uninspiring, nowhere near the standard we have enjoyed on Celebrity. However we could not fault the friendly and efficient service of our waiter Ono and his assistant Uus, both from the Philippines, as was our efficient cabin steward Suripto. Indeed all the staff and officers we encountered were friendly.   <br /><br />The first nights entertainment was Morry Coleman, reputedly the fastest banjo player in the world. Fast and entertaining he certainly was, and also quite a comedian. Sunday was the first of the production shows Ultimate Broadway. Two others were Up on The Roof on the Tuesday and Party Gras on the Thursday. All were very musical, colorful, entertaining and not deafening loud as on some ships. Monday?s show was the DV8 Reality Magic of Drew and Angela who amazed us with their illusions. Wednesday it was singer Karen Saunders turn to entertain us and she did the job admirably. On the last night the three main acts each did a shorter spot. On Monday we enjoyed an extra late night show, The Filipino Crew Show. It was well worth staying up late to enjoy their hidden singing and dancing talents. We enjoy all the shows, indeed they are a highlight of each day for us and they didn?t let us down.   <br /><br />The ports of call were Grand Cayman on the Monday, Ocho Rios on the Tuesday and Costa Maya on the Thursday. We did our own thing in all but Ocho Rios. We like Grand Cayman, having been many times. It is a relaxed, clean, friendly, hospitable place to visit. We had not visited Jamaica or Ocho Rios before, so we took a half-day ships tour to Dolphin Cove and Dunns River Falls, which we enjoyed. Then we had a walk around town, which was not so enjoyable, being pestered all the time by street sellers and store people. This was also our first visit to Costa Maya. It resembles a cruise company?s private island, though in this case it is a creation of Mexico. Few people, ourselves included, did little more than walk along the pier and enjoy the beach, swimming pools, free open-air theater, and stores. Apart from long tours to distant Mayan ruins and so called adventure tours there is nothing within reasonable distance anyway. Progresso is a better lesser-known port in that regard, but nevertheless we enjoyed a relaxing day in Costa Maya.   <br /><br />Two interesting differences: On Veendam the Java Caf? selections and the dessert Flambes were free, whereas they were chargeable extras on Zuiderdam last November. On Veendam we were offered a House Wine Special. We bought 10 vouchers for &#036;34 (plus 15% gratuity) each valid for one glass of house wine, which is a &#036;9.50 saving on the per glass price of &#036;4.35. A similar deal was on offer for premium wines by the glass. We enjoy a glass of wine with dinner but not being wine aficionados we found the house Merlot and White Zinfandel very enjoyable.   <br /><br />In summary it was a spacious, relaxed and comfortable ship with acceptable if not inspiring food. Would we cruise with Holland America again? Yes, though we still prefer Celebrity.',1171829260,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',1473,'FloridaKeith',1,70,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(168,82,'4/5/04','Overall: 7/10 <br /><br />I think my expectations were very high, given the enthusiastic reviews of cruises in general and Holland America in particular.','I didn&#39;t take any tours or go to any shows, just had a relaxing time wandering about the towns and sitting on the verandah. OK, maybe a little gambling (did very well at roulette) and music trivia and was very happy to be able to watch a Stanley Cup playoff game on TV (except when the signal was lost in sudden death overtime&#33;) <br /><br />Meals: we had some great dishes and we also had some very poor quality food. This is sort of subjective, as one&#39;s impression of the food would be based on what sort of stuff you nosh on at home. I had one of the best filet mignons I&#39;ve ever eaten, the fish dishes were excellent (except for the last dinner, fish and chips was ice cold and the batter soggy) and a superb salmon barbecue one afternoon. The veal was terrible, as were the Alaska king crab legs. Great taco bar for lunch. The desserts were sublime&#33; Breakfast in the Rotterdam dining room took ages. Table steward said that the kitchen crew were not good at breakfast and apologized for them. Suggested we load up on pastries as our cooked breakfasts would take a very long time - and they did. Horrible gluttony in the Lido buffet restaurant; people taking plates loaded with food and pastries and then taking a bite and leaving most of it. Really puts one off. The Lido buffet had a sense of disorganization about it; tables not cleared, no cutlery, etc., but very helpful people working there, carrying people&#39;s trays to tables, etc. <br /><br />Special Diet: One of our table-mates was on a gluten free diet and she was very pleased with the meals that she got. Every evening at dinner, she was presented with a selection of dishes for the next night. She really appreciated how it was made so easy for her, was not a &quot;big deal&quot; or a lot of trouble. <br /><br />Cabin: really glad that we opted for the verandah, as we spent a lot of time there; had coffee delivered to the cabin every morning and sat out and watched the world go by. The beds are SO comfortable. (wish I&#39;d spent more time there, but ended up going to bed late and waking up early). Toilets not functioning on the last night of the cruise (horrors&#33;) but fixed after about an hour. I wonder if they take on water in Vancouver, because my hair was looking really great on the cruise, and I live in Vancouver and it doesn&#39;t look like that here. Lovely white terry bathrobes provided. <br /><br />Gym: Fabulous&#33; I used it only once, because the weather was so great that I wanted to be outside so walked miles every day. Several treadmills, a few stairclimbers and bikes. Lots of weight machines. Gorgeous space on the bow, bright and airy. Towels available. <br /><br />Piano Bar: we loved this little place; felt like being in someone&#39;s home, so friendly. <br /><br />Daily special drinks: really way too aggressive pushing these drinks. if I say, &quot;No, thank you&quot;, I don&#39;t want to be asked again. <br /><br />Staff and Crew: didn&#39;t see much of officers, thought there would be more of a presence. The Indonesian and Phillipino staff, very gracious, though found the female staff a bit less so. Generally, wonderfully intuitive, friendly, remembering one&#39;s favourite drink or that there should be no ice in the water. Fabulous folks. <br /><br /><br />Captain&#39;s Cocktail Party: what a joke&#33; I talked mother-in-law into attending this, thinking that it would be a good chance to schmooze with other passengers, you know, walk around with a little drink, talk to different bunches of people, etc. We scurried down to the show lounge, dressed in our finest on formal night, only to be met by a line-up of people waiting, oh, about 20 minutes to have their photo taken with the Captain. Neither of us being particularly fond of having our photo taken, we circumvented the line and went straight to the lounge. We expected to see people standing about engaged in pleasant conversation, pictured grabbing a glass from a passing tray (or even buying a drink for that matter, as free cheap champagne was not the goal). What we did encounter was chairs set up in facing rows, and we were guided into the next available space by staff motioning with their arms saying, &quot;This way this way come on sit here&quot;. I felt like a jumbo 747 approaching the terminal, you know with those people on the ground dressed in orange that do all the waving of their arms? We sat, dumbfounded, for about three minutes and then looked at each other, and in silent agreement, walked out. I had to buy mother-in-law a drink in retribution for dragging her to that event&#33; <br />Scenery: I guess I&#39;m spoiled, living in British Columbia and seeing the mountains and ocean every day. I can imagine that the view is great for those that aren&#39;t used to it, but it was just more of the same for me. <br /><br />Dress: and I was worried about being dressed properly&#33; Totally casual during the day but a lot of people were dressed in the sort of clothes in which I walk my dog in the morning. Wearing jeans and sweatshirt is great, but please, people should not pack the ones with the food stains on the front. If you&#39;re spending money on a cruise, go wild and buy a new shirt. Formal nights were fun, everyone in their finery. I&#39;m probably sounding really snobby here&#33; <br /><br />Juneau: yuk <br /><br />Skagway: cool, funky little place; really like how they&#39;ve kept the historic buildings. I liked going through the grocery store and looking at the prices and selection. I sort of missed that on a cruise, as opposed to other types of travel, where you can just go wander about and discover things. All of the ports are very much geared to the shops at the end of the gangway. <br /><br />Ketchikan: very nice, could picture spending a few days there, Creek Steet is very cool. Best hot chocolate I&#39;ve ever had at the New York Cafe. <br /><br />Shopping: seemed a lot of either extreme, the usual cheap tourist stuff or high-end galleries. Did manage to buy a few things, though, of course&#33; Lots and lots of Russian stuff. If you&#39;re in the market for that sort of thing, know that a lot of the stores sell really low quality stuff. I have been to Russia many times to visit family so can spot the cheap stuff. In ketchikan, there is a store called Csar&#39;s Treasures that sells very good quality dolls, laquer boxes, etc. They are very willing to negotiate the price (don&#39;t know if that was just because I spoke Russian with them) Also in Ketchikan and not to be missed is a little shop called Ketchicandies - a chocolate lovers paradise&#33; Handmade choccies-delicious. Wish I&#39;d bought a larger box. <br /><br />Disembarcation (did I spell that right?) in Vancouver: hmmm, not great. From the time we left the ship, got our luggage, went through customs and got a taxi, it was two hours. Most of that time was waiting for a taxi. Were told that after docking at 7 am, disembarcation would take about an hour or hour and a half. We didn&#39;t get off the ship until 9:30. They give you a number and then when it is called you can proceed to the gangway. Glad that we could stay in our cabins until that time, though. Customs was a breeze. Our customs agent asked a question that I&#39;d never heard before, &quot;What was the most expensive item that you bought?&quot; And then, the line up for a taxi. I live in Vancouver, and should have tried to arrange for a friend to pick me up from the terminal, but, oh the poor folks were all working on a Wednesday&#33; <br /><br />Those are my recollections for the moment. I&#39;ll post more if I think of anything else.',1171829351,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',1034,'Tamara',1,59,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(169,82,'11/6/04','Would rate this cruise a &quot;5&quot; out of 10.','We stayed in a mini-suite. Wallpaper was filthy. Our sheets were NEVER changed in the 10 days we were on board. Gave our cabin steward a &#036;50 tip over and above the &#036;10/day automatic gratuity early on and asked that he keep our ice bucket full. He was not consistent in cleaning; the bathroom floor was never washed. We&#39;d leave for dinner and come back to find the room still not cleaned. It seemed as though he got our money and then took a hike. <br /><br />Dining room staff was fantastic; Waiter Andi, asst. waiter Max and head waiter Yusuf the best we&#39;ve ever encountered on land or sea&#33; Food presentation was outstanding. Excellent chef. Room size was great but with very high seas, the balcony was a salt shower. Room television channels very limited. Room &quot;music&quot; was of poor sound quality. Very little to do on board - cruise director should be scolded&#33; If HA wants to attract 40+ passengers, they need to at least play some music poolside. It was dead silent. <br /><br />We were unable to visit Half Moon Cay due to weather and excursions were canceled at Tortola and St. Thomas, leaving passengers on board to get bored&#33; Thank GOD we met some wonderful people which helped make the cruise quite pleasant, but HA needs to get their act together. The employees get to know your name, and you&#39;re always greeted with a smile. However, the ship rocked and rolled with the high seas - barf bags all over the place and poor quality entertainment and activities. If you want a very subdued experience, with time to read (unless the seas are too rough to hold the book up), this is the one for you. And if you&#39;re 75+ and wear a speedo, this is definitely your ship. <br /><br />If you want more activity, more than one hour of &quot;happy hour&quot; a day, music during the day on deck and exciting entertainment, book elsewhere The beds are fantastic - new mattresses. The &quot;flowers&quot; in our room consisted of a tiny bud vase with four flowers. The &quot;fruit basket&quot; had bananas, apples, oranges and pears but by day five the pears and bananas were no longer refreshed. Would rate this cruise a &quot;5&quot; out of 10.',1171829393,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',1236,'mrswynn',1,105,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(170,84,'12/28/04','Will we sail HAL again? Maybe, we never say never. Will they still be our first choice? No, they will not. Would we recommend them to others? Not as adamant as we once did. We would now recommend other lines before them.','Our Zaandam New Year cruise Dec 28, 2004 to Jan 8, 2005    <br /><br /><br />We booked this cruise in March, the longest wait for a cruise yet&#33; With the Florida hurricanes playing havoc on some of our scheduled ports, things were a little hectic for a while. As it turned out, the ports ended up almost as when booked. We were both kind of stressed out with the big snowstorm that hit a couple days before we were due to leave and the roof collapse at our family business. We were driving to Orlando first to see Rita&#39;s son and we thought that part would have to be put off and we would be driving nonstop to make the ship.     <br /><br />Christmas morning, after having our big family get together with my daughters and all our grand kids on Christmas Eve, we decided the hell with it all and took off anyway. The record 22&quot; snowfall shut down our little city and prevented Rita from getting to her hair and nail appointments before we left. After a visit and overnight stay with Rita&#39;s son and his girlfriend in Orlando, we continued our journey to Cape Canaveral to the Radisson for our park and drive stay. We left our auto at the hotel for the duration the cruise. The hotel was good and the shuttle got us to the ship fairly early, about 12:30. The return shuttle at the end of our cruise was another thing. We did not disembark the ship until about 10:00 and the shuttle was not around. We were eager to get on the road, so we took a taxi back to the hotel. The shuttles were there loading passengers for the Carnival and Disney ships in port. We probably would have had to wait at least an hour so taking the taxi was a good move.  <br /><br />We would say the embarkation went very well and the disembarkation was typical for other HAL cruises. There are always paxs not showing up for immigration and delaying the whole procedure.    <br /><br />The first thing Rita did after we boarded the ship was to book her hair and nails for that first sea day. They charged her one arm and both legs but, what the heck, she was happy&#33; After that we had a great time together on our cruise. We refuse to have it any other way&#33; We needed this time together by ourselves&#33;     <br /><br />Now for HAL it self. We have a good comparison as our last HAL cruise before this one was also the Zaandam. We were very disappointed in HAL as they are becoming exactly like their parent--Carnival. Maybe they need to change their name to Halival&#33; As soon as we got aboard they kept trying to sell us the &#036;50 soda cards. You tell one no thanks and they keep coming at you relentlessly.  We know they are just doing their jobs and are not blaming the messenger, just the message. We get enough spam at home--we don&#39;t need it on a cruise ship&#33; All the little things that made HAL unique that we fell in love with on our first HAL cruise on the old Westerdam are now gone. No more Dutch night, no more afternoon lemonade at the AFT pool. They spoiled us, so they are responsible for our disappointment. We don&#39;t except change very well, especially when we have grown accustomed to the way it was. Not that the service was bad, it was not. It was okay, just not quite like it was. It just seemed like they had so much to do they didn&#39;t have much time to spend with you. No more making things out of paper and cardboard like the last time on the Zaandam and all the other HAL cruises. Just talking with some of the employees gives us the impression they are not happy with the new auto tipping policy. They claim they now have to pay for all their uniforms. We were shocked they even talked about that. Always before they seemed content. We probably tipped more on this cruise than any we have taken, considering the auto tip of &#036;10 per day per person which equaled &#036;210.00 for our eleven days, and the extra we gave to our great Waiter Ross, his Assistant Felix, the Maitre &#39;D, Wine Steward, servers in the casino, Rolando and Arlene in the Piano Bar, Bartender in the Dolphin Bar, our Cabin Steward, and a few others who took care of us. We considered having the auto tip removed completely to make sure those who deserved it the most get their share of the tip, however, we choose not to rock the boat&#33;   <br /><br />By the way, we did get a Dutch hat--hand painted from Rolando.     <br /><br />Our wait staff was as good as any cruise we have taken. The service they gave us was outstanding at our 8:30 P.M. seating in the lower level of the Rotterdam. The food, however, was not. It was bland and had a lot of repeats. We were greatly disappointed as we get plenty of bland food here in our local restaurants&#33;  <br /><br />We attended open seating breakfast on four occasions in the Rotterdam, and on three of them the service was, well, it was embarrassedly lousy. They brought us and others the wrong orders and got angry when we tried to correct them. They would bring pancakes without syrup, forget juices, toast, etc., completely and take forever to correct the mistakes they claimed was others. We were shocked. One morning we arrived at a table for six with the women all looking into the sun. They refused to close the curtain, so we got up and closed it ourselves.     <br /><br />The breakfast and lunch buffet in the Lido were okay, with lunch better. Hamburger, etc., at the grill was good, except for the fact that the grill was not working properly and for a few days was not working at all. Could not get a well done burger. Oh well, that&#39;s life. One thing we did like was at entrances to all the dining facilities were motion activated automatic hands cleansing stations. They were also at the gangways. It is a great idea if they would enforce everyone using them--they did not. It seemed to be about fifty-fifty.  <br /><br />Our cabin 2626, mid-ship outside main deck port side, was exactly as we expected. Plenty of storage and a Cabin Steward who hides under your bed until you leave. Just kidding&#33; He did a great job except for keeping Rita supplied with fresh bottled water, which they rightly so charge for. I also used it for my bottle of scotch which miraculously showed up in our cabin&#33; Rita called him once for water and he told her we would have to get it from room service. Huh? After that we just picked it up at one of the bars on the way to our cabin.    <br /><br />Showroom entertainment was excellent as far as the singers and dancers. The Hoosier comedian John? Was very funny, of course&#33; The Xylophone performer, well what can I say, was kinda boring. The singer/impressionist, Paul Tanner, whom we have seen on two other cruises, is excellent, as well. The jazz trio in the Ocean Lounge was only so-so. We love to dance and ended up mainly in the Piano Lounge listening and dancing to Sonia Marie. We even showed up for her sing-a-longs and when she played the Tennessee Waltz, well by gosh we got up and did the waltz, by ourselves&#33; The group in the Crows Nest were A+ and we danced up there quite a bit. The showroom band was also A+. They played at most of the port sail-a-ways. Speaking of that the staff was very unimaginable and played the same stupid passenger games each time.  <br /><br />The Rock and Rolldies passenger show was very good and funny. We take special interest in that show since we were in it on the Maasdam. I was Elvis and Rita was one of Bobby Darin&#39;s splish-splash girls.    <br /><br />Now for the ship itself--we love it&#33; It is the perfect size and passenger count. It was kept spotless&#33; The crew should be proud.    <br /><br />The only new port for us was the Dominican Republic and we enjoyed going downtown for a little shopping. We bought all the daughters and grand daughters necklaces in Santa Domingo. As far as Cozumel, Caymans, Tortola, St Martin, &amp;St Thomas we have been there down that so we just got off and walked around or took a taxi. We did some shopping, or we just stopped for a drink. We did not book anything. I did find a nice bracelet in St Thomas to match a necklace, ear rings, and ring set I got Rita for our anniversary. At Half Moon Cay I went parasailing for my birthday, and with that and the long walk we always take on the island&#39;s beautiful beach, our time was spent. No time for anything else.    <br /><br />We hope nobody gets the impression we did not have a great cruise--we did&#33; We make do with what we have. As we stated above, nobody is going to prevent us from having a great cruise. Will we sail HAL again? Maybe, we never say never. Will they still be our first choice? No, they will not. Would we recommend them to others? Not as adamant as we once did. We would now recommend other lines before them.    <br /><br />We must state that this is only our opinion and is the only opinion we are entitled to have--our own.',1171829452,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',139,'Keith & Rita',1,56,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(171,84,'11/6/04','While there were a number of disappointments with this cruise it has not lessened our love of cruising. On a scale of 1-10 we give this an 8.','This was our fifth cruise and second with Holland America. Our previous experience with HAL was in March on the Zuiderdam. We booked this cruise about 3 weeks after returning.  <br /><br /><br />Some of you may have read our Zuiderdam review and are aware of Diane?s phobia on flying. Well, there was no wine on the plane to go with her ?feel good pills? so she drank champagne. Let me assure you she will NEVER try to replace wine with champagne again. The flight was an utter disaster.  <br /><br />We flew into Orlando a day early, rented a car and stayed at the Clarion near the airport. The room was nice. They had a complimentary cocktail hour and breakfast. The breakfast was supposed to start at 7 a.m. but was not set-up until 8 a.m. It took me 30 minutes to check-in and 45 minutes to check-out. We had reservations for the end of the cruise but we canceled them.  <br /><br />Saturday morning we drove the 45 miles on 528 E to Port Canaveral. Again, Diane?s fear of traveling in anything moving faster than ?It?s a Small World After all? ride at Disney World resulted in an 1.25 hour drive. Anybody else can make this trip in 45-50 minutes.  <br /><br />Embarkation:  Holland America makes this process so easy. There were porters there taking our luggage from the shuttle van onto their cart and we walked into the terminal. No hauling luggage at all. We arrived at the pier at 11:45, security check line took 20 minutes and check-in took 5 minutes. There is a separate line for suite guests.  <br /><br />Itinerary:  Anybody ready to be confused:  At booking the itinerary was: Cozumel; Grand Cayman; Ochos Rio, Jamaica and Half Moon Cay (HAL?s private island)  Before cruise: Due to Hurricanes Grand Cayman was dropped and sea day added.  Day of cruise: Grand Cayman back on itinerary and drop extra sea day.  Day 3 of cruise: Pick-up shipwrecked Cubans (3) and drop Ochos Rio from itinerary and add a sea day.  Yeah you read that right. The captain got a distress call and spent 8 hours sailing around looking for the people. He found them at 3 A.M. That took care of the 8 hours we were to have on Jamaica.   The Bahamian government refused to take the Cubans so Thursday day night a Coast Guard cutter took them off our hands   <br /><br />The Ship: You who have cruised know how you feel when you first board a cruise ship and so you know what we were feeling. We have been so blessed being able to cruise three times this year. Boarding just brought us into a totally different world. The Zaandam is not what I would call a beautiful ship. It has all the amenities you can expect but on a smaller scale than the bigger ships. It is clean and well maintained. There is the centerpiece pipe organ in the atrium which plays 4 times a day, a harpsichord which I told Diane was ?half a piano? which she beleived, guitars signed by numerous musicians, etc.  <br /><br />Rotterdam Dining Room: This is the main dining room. It is a two level affair with two dinner seatings for each level. We had a table for two early seating on the lower level at 6:15 (upper level early seating is 5:45). This was the first time we have not been seated with at least 4 other quests. We missed the companionship and conversation with other quests and will probably not do this again. Service was poor. The first night I got tired of looking at my empty coffee cup after 10 minutes so we went to the Lido Restaurant and got our own coffee. The next night the steward, waiter and assistant waiter were very apologetic and bent over backwards to take care of us. But on the second formal night the same thing happened. This time we waited and the steward and waiter again apologized for the delays. Worst service I have ever had on a ship.  <br /><br />The food is well presented and very good. However, I was not impressed with the selection. We had dinner menus in our room each day. With this knowledge we only ate in the dining room 3 nights. We ate once at the poolside on BBQ Night and at the Lido Restaurant the other 3 nights. The same meals served in both places (big disappointment) but at least we did not have to wait.  <br /><br />Lido Restaurant: The food in the buffet style restaurant is very good for breakfast and lunch. While there are not the multiple stations like other ships the lines ran smoothly and quickly.  I was disappointed with the dinner menu however. The food is good and well presented but it?s the same thing being served in the dinning room. It seems to me there should be a different menu in each dinner venue.  <br /><br />The other disappointment was the juice availability. On other ships the juice is available along with ice tea, tea and coffee. With the exception of breakfast the only way you could get juice was to ask one of the stewards who would get the juice from the back.  <br /><br />Grill/Pizza: Hamburg, hotdogs, tacos and pizza available by the pool. Very tasty.   <br /><br />Pinnacle: Sometimes I think cruises are over to quickly. We had planned to make reservations but never got around to it. Our loss. Others said the food and service were terrific.  <br /><br />Stateroom: The main requirement we had was a verandah. We prefer to relax and enjoy each others company and this is most easily accomplished in our stateroom and on our balcony. We booked an S suite 7012 on the Navigator Deck. The balcony had two lounge chairs and a table with 4 chairs. Great for breakfast while in our HAL robes.  <br /><br />The room itself is very spacious with a separate dressing room with lighted make-up mirror and a small sink. Diane loved this and had me take 4 pictures of her sitting there during the cruise. The bathroom has a water jet tub. There is one sink verses two on the Zuiderdam.  <br /><br />Lounges: Bunches of these each with its own atmosphere. We are smokers so we were limited to which lounges to visit and where to sit. For you non-smokers this should make you very happy. The entertainment varied and was enjoyable.   <br /><br />Casino: We aren?t gamblers so the fact that this was the smallest casino we have ever seen was not a problem. This was the first time I have won at slots on a cruise ship. To you big time gamblers my &#036;45 winnings are probably laughable. Diane won &#036;183 at Bingo.  <br /><br />Mandarin Lounge: The entertainment was varied, pleasant and enjoyable. The usual cruise ship fare.  <br /><br />Activities: The Cruise Director and her staff put on a number of activities throughout the cruise and there were around 7 different movies offered throughout the week.  <br /><br />Photography:  This continues to be my pet peeve as on every cruise we have taken. We enjoy pictures of our experiences. On each cruise I take between 200 and 300 pictures and purchase many of the pictures of the ships photographer. We purchase an album and additional pages on the ship to display the photos.  <br /><br />The embarkation picture starts off each of our albums. All I want is a simple 5x7 picture but no-o-o-o I have to also take the folder and a 5x7 picture of the ship and pay &#036;19.90. Then the photographers on Formal nights don?t know how to take a picture of a tall person (I?m 6?2?) without cutting off the top of my head but leave 2 inches of the bottom of the photo for the ships carpeting. I have mentioned this twice before taking the picture and they still get it wrong.  <br /><br />Excursions:<br />Cozumel: We were to snorkel but due to strong winds, all water excursions were cancelled. We just shopped at the market place.  <br /><br />Grand Cayman: We just did a little shopping here. Let me say one thing about a restaurant named Breezes by the sea. It is near the tender drop off. The pricing is in GCD NOT USD. The conversion is &#036;.80 GCD to &#036;1.00 US. The only way you know this is if you read the small writing at the bottom of the menu. Also at the bottom of the menu it mentions a 15% gratuity is added to the bill. Two Pina Coladas, a serving of peel and eat shrimp and a cheese burger w/ cole slaw (no fries) came to &#036;48.56 U.S. All the stores were priced USD but not this rip-off joint. They were doing a fantastic business the day we were there.  <br /><br />Ochos Rio: Swimming with the Dolphins cancelled as stop here was canceled.  <br /><br />Half Moon Cay: There have been a number of excursions added since our visit in March. Because we had missed out on snorkeling in Cozumel and swimming with dolphins in Jamaica we decided to snorkel with the sting rays. This offering had just begun the week before. It was great fun and we enjoy laughing at pictures of ourselves in the gear.  <br /><br />Staff:  With the exception of the wait staff in the dining room the staff was great. Our room steward, Shaq was excellent. If we had an issue we simply left a post-it note and it was addressed. When we entertained in our room it was cleaned as soon as we left. I am sure he was watching for us to leave so he could do his thing.  <br /><br />Conclusion: While there were a number of disappointments with this cruise it has not lessened our love of cruising. On a scale of 1-10 we give this an 8. We were never for want of food but the Lido dinner menu and juice availability have a lot of room for improvement. After the Zuiderdam cruise I was hooked on Holland America but now I think it?s time to try Princess and RCCL.  <br /><br />Keep on Cruising  <br />Keith &amp; Diane',1171829522,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',1338,'popdog',1,66,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(172,85,'3/6/04','Without a doubt, Diane and I rate this cruise a 9.999 out of a possible 10. We highly recommend the Zuiderdam and Holland America Cruise Line.','To avoid keeping you all in suspense as to our impression of this cruise let us just say, WOW. We are now hooked on cruising at sea as opposed to motorcycle cruising which I was already hooked on. This was only our third cruise and all have met our needs for fun relaxation and while Diane may argue this point, romantic. It took three cruises to determine to wonderful times we had on the first two were not aberrations.  <br /><br />We have booked another cruise for early November and started planning for next years cruises. This might sound like a big deal to you but let me give you some personal background.  <br /><br />Diane is one of many people who fears flying, riding in a car, any amusement ride that isn?t equal to the Teacups or Small World rides at Magic Kingdom. On a carousel, it can?t be the moving horse. The motorcycle cruising I mentioned earlier is Diane-less.  <br /><br />I on the other hand have traveled extensively visiting every continent except Antarctica. Any fears I have are not relevant to this review.  <br /><br />So, you ask, how did I get her to take this cruise? I must take you back four years when my parents, who 80 years of age and very experienced cruisers, were booked on a cruise to and around Australia. Two weeks prior to sailing my father, who to that point was in reasonably good health, had a stroke, broken hip and heart attack all at one time. Needless to say, the cruise was cancelled and until November of 2003 he has not been able to cruise.  <br /><br />My parents received an invitation to cruise with a group headed by Dr. James Kennedy with whom some of you will be familiar from television and/or his many books. My parents, especially my father, were very interested. They talked to my father?s doctor who felt he was physically able to take the cruise as long as he had someone to watch over him besides my mother. They decided to make it a family affair by asking my three sisters and me along with our spouses to make the trip.   <br /><br />Now it was just a matter of how was I going to get Diane to the ship? Some filler: We live about and hour drive; with Diane make it two and a half hours, to the airport and then a 3 hour flight to Miami and then a half hour BUS ride to Ft. Lauderdale.  <br /><br />Diane, for all her fears, knew how much it meant to me for my parents to be able to go on this cruise. She visited her doctor, got the appropriate amount of medication and, basically, psyched herself and got a huge amount of support and understanding from me.  Oh, yeah there were those wonderful glasses (Note plural) of red wine on the plane. <br /><br />OK, so now you know how Diane got there, what about the rest of the family? Two of my sisters were unable to make the trip and my father broke a blood vessel in his bladder one week before the cruise and my parents had to CANCEL.  <br /><br /><br />Let?s get on with it now that you don?t know whether to laugh, cry, or have sympathy for me or give-up on this review.   Airport reception: The Holland America representative met us at the luggage claim area with a cart so we did not have to carry our luggage to the bus. As a matter of fact, she even pushed the cart to the bus waiting area. Talk about service with a smile. I tipped the bus driver as he loaded our luggage in the underneath compartment and guess whose luggage was on a cart with a porter as we disembarked the bus? While others were waiting for luggage and finding a porter (which is not difficult by any means, there are plenty at the terminal) we were walking directly to the check-in counter. Suggestion: Have all your paperwork filled out and documentation readily available. I did and we were walking up the gangway in less than 5 minutes. And I saw others still filling out paperwork.  <br />Embarkation: OK, HAL makes money from the photography, but &#036;20.95 for an embarkation picture&#33; Absurd. All I want is a picture of Diane and I with the silly Zuiderdam life preserver on a stand. I don?t need an 8X10 with a bunch of sea shells and starfish cluttering it up.   <br /><br />We were greeted by a ship?s officer, introduced to a steward who took us directly to our stateroom, Suite 8070 on the Navigation Deck. This was our first experience with a suite having only cruised twice previously. While the suite is ?to die for?, the price can limit the number of cruises we take. The primary reason this time was to be near my parents. Oh well, we loved it.  <br /><br />Rather than break every day down, I will just categorize various aspects of the cruise. We did not take any excursion this cruise. We had planned a relaxing time without the hustle and bustle of excursion preferring to enjoy whatever the Zuiderdam had to offer as an alternative.  <br /><br />Stateroom: As I mentioned earlier, we had a Deluxe Veranda Suite. It was everything we expected and more. We fully enjoyed the spaciousness. We used this cruise to relax and rejuvenate ourselves and spent quite a bit of time in our stateroom and on the verandah. Many feel for the amount of time spent in a stateroom, a suite is an unnecessary expense. I fully understand. As with selecting a cruise if you want to party, that?s the ship you need to find, if you want to cruise Alaska, don?t book a Caribbean cruise.  We were offered an opportunity to extend our cruise another week at an unbelievable rate but no suites were available. We did look at the stateroom (Deluxe Outside w/ verandah. Quite honestly it was nice. It was larger than staterooms of that category on the other ships we have sailed. As I understand it, HAL is known for this. It took us until the next morning to decide it would not be possible due to home obligations.<br /><br />Ports:<br />Half Moon Cay: The island is absolutely wonderful. Everything from the yellow archway at the entrance to the miniature village, to the thatch roofed bar to the lounge chaired beach, etc. is breathtaking. Diane and I said and heard many of guests reiterate the words on the sign located on the walkway to the beach ?I could stay here forever?. The HAL private island is serviced by tenders which in and of itself is a rather enjoyable experience. The crew is very efficient in loading passengers and getting back to the ship after an enjoyable day on the island was a breeze. No waiting on line or waiting for another tender. With the exception of waiting on the dinner line waiting for the doors to open was the only line of ant significance all week. More on that under ?Food?.  <br /><br />St. Thomas, US V.I.: We took one of the open air pick-ups to the center of town which we could probably have walked to faster but been a whole lot more tired. The town has lots of duty free shopping but I suggest you price electronics, camera, etc. at home before you buy it here. I did and found most of it I could get in the states for the same price or better especially with internet shopping. The Port Shopping Ambassador, Richie gave a seminar the night before the ship arrives in port. He gives lots of good information, so plan on attending if you will do any serious shopping. He can be found walking around St. Thomas to provide on-hand shopping assistance for Zuiderdam guests.  <br /><br />Tortola, B.V.I: Again no excursions and I see this as a tourist trap wannabe. It?s quaint and Diane and I had fun bartering with the vendors at the make shift market at the dock.  <br /><br />Nassau, Bahamas: Diane?s heaven on earth. She just loves the aqua-blue water of the Bahamas.  Again no excursions but the bartering with the straw market was fun.  <br /><br />Food: Even with the extensive travel I have done, I am still a fussy eater. I don?t eat this, I don?t like that and don?t ever put fish on my plate. That said, the food was tremendous, the service is everything it?s cracked up to be and it only added to our enjoyment of the cruise.   Breakfast: Each morning we had coffee delivered to our room. I don?t wake-up until I?ve had at least two cups of coffee. The after planning our day, we dressed and went to the Lido Restaurant to eat. The way HAL has it set up is great. Multiple serving stations depending on what you desire. Eggs and omelets are prepared to order and the waiting was for the food to be cooked not waiting to order. We never ate breakfast in the main dining room.   Lunch: Again a variety of places to eat. On Half Moon Cay a great barbecue buffet was prepared. They have numerous roofed patios with picnic tables to eat at. Diane absolutely loved the roasted chicken at the Lido Restaurant and would have been willing to subsist on only that all week. There is a grill poolside with hamburgers and hotdogs. I don?t know what brand they are but they ain?t McDonald?s let me assure you.  Dinner: I mentioned waiting on line earlier. We only did that the first night after that we did not leave our stateroom until 5:45 which was our seating time. Then we got there, no line and went directly to our assigned table. Every night was something absolutely delicious. We ate all but one of our dinners at the main dining room with my sister and her husband and did not take advantage of the alternative restaurant but on our next cruise we will.  The one dinner we did not eat in the Vista Dining Room was the BBQ Dinner poolside. The steaks were grilled to perfection.   <br /><br />Entertainment:   Vista Lounge: Generally speaking the entertainment was just OK. It was something to do so we did but the song and dance was something I could have missed and not been sorry.   On the other hand there is Barnaby, the juggling comic. This guy is terrific and should not be missed. He involves the audience and the entire show is inter-active. Don?t miss him.  Then there is James Cielen, a magician, and very good at it. Magic or for you purist, illusionist, he was great. Magic has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I never get tired of watching a magic act.  <br /><br />Lounges and Disco: Very nice. The groups onboard are topnotch from the Crow?s Nest to the Piano Bar to the Explorer Lounge. The Disco spins discs and you can make requests which Diane did without hesitation. She even got things going with the Electric Slide.  Poolside: I would be remiss in not mentioning the reggae group at the Lido pool. They were terrific and Diane and I enjoyed basking in the sun to the music.  <br /><br /><br />Onboard Shopping: Great variety of items including everyday essentials, jewelry, tropical shirts, skirts and dresses, formal dresses, souvenirs and trinkets, etc. We felt pricing was very reasonable given our limited experience on other ships and cruise lines.  &#036;30 for a cruise line polo shirt on others was only &#036;19 on the Zuiderdam. Not a big deal to you none smokers but they didn?t have Diane?s Virginia Slims. Good thing we brought 2 cartons with us. We couldn?t find them at St. Thomas either.  <br />Photography: I won?t spend a lot of time on this but will make some comments:  <br /><br />1. Give the guest what they want. If they want only a small 5X7 of them at embarkation, don?t give them a 8X10 with a bunch of nonsense thrown in and then charge &#036;20.95.  <br /><br />2. When you are a photographing a tall person back up so you don?t cut off the top of my head (I?m 6?2?). There goes one picture by the ships photographer from formal night  <br /><br />The photographers are everywhere. Going to the theater for the meet the captain night, we were stopped 3 times for pictures and held up at 1 spot so they could take somebody?s picture. We missed getting to the line for a picture with the captain which is something Diane and I want from each cruise. By the third day I stopped being polite about it and simply ignored them. Enough said and I got that off my chest.  <br /><br />Staff: The staff is everything you could hope for except for the two occasions mentioned below. The room steward was super. We don?t ask for much but the couple times we needed something he dealt with it immediately (The bathtub wasn?t working properly when we went to dinner but an hour later it had been fixed when we returned).  <br />Wait Staff: Our Server and Assistant Server were great. They knew our wants and needs the first night and never had to be reminded. When I ordered one evening our server  suggested I order something else apparently he overheard a comment I made earlier in the week. Remember, I?m a fussy eater.   <br /><br />Three comments:<br /><br />1. A man and woman were attempting to use the Jacuzzi near the aft pool but it would not ?do its thing?. A couple of ships officers (they had 3 gold bars on their epaulets) were relaxing at the bar which was closed. The woman approached them and explained her dilemma. One of the officers said he would contact the engineering officer, which I believe he did using a walkie talkie. Then the two officers went back to their discussion.  At no time did either man advise the guests when someone was coming or even if anyone was coming to make necessary repairs. The guests finally left unsatisfied, I?m sure.   <br />2. The second night out, I was in need of a men?s room. After walking up and down the hallway near the theater, I asked a crew member where the men?s room was located. ?I?m not sure? was the response, then walked away. I decided to walk back to the dining room where I knew there was a men?s room. The next day I located a men?s room less than 30? from where I had encountered the crew member   <br />3. Then there is Honkie Dorie at the Lido Restaurant. He prides himself on his ability to remember names. The first time he?s talks with you he asks your name and puts it into memory. After that for the next 6 days, every time he saw Diane it was ?Hi Diane? even if it was from afar. She would have to search the crowd to see who was saying hi to her.  As for me, He got the K alright Hi, Ken, Kevin, Karl but I guess he was unfamiliar with the name Keith. He never did get it right.    <br /><br />Passengers: The quests on the ship where what I consider an ?older crowd?. I only saw one baby and two young girls, around 8 or nine years of age, one being the onboard doctor?s daughter on the ship. Diane and I enjoyed being able to relax at the pool without fear of children making to much noise or splashing us as we basked. Things got quiet early and some nights while walking the deck we thought everybody had abandon ship.  If they had, they were missing a great cruise. But I would see them all the following morning jogging around the deck as we drank our third cup of coffee and smoked our fourth cigarette.  <br /><br />Conclusion: You have now read the impressions of Diane and me. There were a few negative occurrences but the ship was beautiful, clean and well maintained, the food was tremendous and the service impeccable. Without a doubt, Diane and I rate this cruise a 9.999 out of a possible 10. We highly recommend the Zuiderdam and Holland America Cruise Line.  <br /><br />High Points <br />1. Roasted Chicken at Lido Restaurant<br />2. Barnaby <br />3. Half Moon Cay <br /><br />Low Points:<br />1. Photography<br />2. Staff attention to detail',1171829647,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',1338,'popdog',1,54,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(173,85,'11/6/04','I am hooked and would indeed go again. My husband would like to try out another line but I am not sure how this could be improved upon.','We had a wonderful time. All the staff were very attentive.  <br /><br />Let&#39;s start with our stateroom, an oceanview with an actual window. Our room was more than adequate with a king-sized bed, a small couch and chair and small table(plenty big enough for room service breakfast), a dresser with one side for storage and had a hairdryer to use, the other side was a mini bar which we did not use but was only cool not cold, a TV on the wall, 3 closets and safe in one of them(plenty of room for clothes). 2 american plugs by dresser and one in bathroom. Bathroom had tub and shower with shower massage and plenty of hot water, medicine cabinet and storage under sink. They provided you with fruit basket that was replenished each day if you ate any, along with a plate, knife and linen napkin. We had complimentary terry cloth robes for our use. Of course every night our bed was turned down with chocolates on the bed, the first night they left us a complimentary Holland America tote bag. Every day a small version of the New York Times was delivered with the other paper work.  <br /><br />What can we say about the dining room. Our steward and his assistant worked very hard but took good care of us. After teh first night he even had the drinks we ordered at our place when we arrived. The food was fabulous with four different choices each night for appetizers, soup, entree and one for salad. With alternate choices of ceasar salad, chicken or steak and baked potato if you did not like the gourmet fare. The dessert menu was at least 6-8 items with a no sugar added choice. We were seated with very nice and compatible dinner companions, two other couples.  <br /><br />Other food offerings-the Lido Restaurant(a cafeteria style) offered breakfast of just about anything, lunch with many types of choices and dinner if you chose instead of regular dining room. Also by the pool there was a grill open unitl 5PM with burgers, hotdogs, chicken and french fries as well as a taco and salad bar.   <br /><br /><br />Every night was a different theme for a late night buffet but we never went to it. Also around the pool at 4PM they had different themes of buffets or happy hour type fair.   <br />Coffee, tea, lemondade and water are free. Sodas and alcohol are not free. Bars are all over the ship if you drink.  For smokers you have your room, on the deck, near the bar at the inside pool, anywhere near the outside pool. My husband had no trouble finding somewhere to smoke.   <br /><br />There were plenty of activities you could be involved in:bingo, crafts, shows, movies,tours on ship, etc, as well as the casino.   The excursions we went on were fine just that we did not get to snorkel as we expected. We brought our own mask and tube, but need fins and vest. On the private island, Half Moon Cay, there was nothing to rent. On another trip we could rent fins but no vest. Our other trip which was a snorkeling trip was cancelled due to hurricane damage. This may have been different if we had been on a snorkeling trip. We had one complaint:on our first excursion they had everyone meet in a small bar and this was for several different excursions and it was hard to hear what was being said so you did not miss your tour. But by the second one we met in the large lounge where the performances occurred and things went much better.   <br /><br />They have a cashless system where you register your credit card and your room key card is your onboard account so you do not need money for drinks or purchases. Also they credit &#036;10 per person per day so you don&#39;t have to worry about tipping. You can change the if you like but that seemed reasonable to us. Also you can tip a certain person more if you wish. The breakdown of the &#036;10 is &#036;3 to stateroom steward, &#036;3 to dinner steward and the rest between the other staff.  <br /><br />I was impressed that I saw no paper or paper products throughout the ship. Even in the public restrooms were cloth towels for hands. The cafeteria had regular plates and linen napkins.   <br /><br />I am hooked and would indeed go again. My husband would like to try out another line but I am not sure how this could be improved upon. As far as passengers the average seemed to be 40-60 with a few older and a few young couples some with kids. We only ran across 2 people who were drunk.',1171829687,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]hal.gif',1365,'ellenbliz',1,125,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(174,95,'4/10/05','This was to be the first cruise for my girlfriend and I. This was also  to be the vacation where I would propose to her.','Schedule -- What Schedule?  We showed up at the docks in NYC an hour early at the advice of our  travel agent and were immediately confronted by a letter that said the  Bahamas destination has been changed and that we would not be going to  the Bahamas. When I expressed concern over why I was not notified,  their reaction was: &quot;you can always cancel&quot;.  <br /><br />Don&#39;t they get it? You cant just expect that people will cancel a  vacation that required significant coordination, planning and  scheduling. To make matters worse they did not even keep to the  schedule they gave us at the beginning of the cruise. Every day they  would throw a change up to the following day&#39;s schedule. Since docking  at the Bahamas was canceled we were supposed to spend two days in Miami.  At the last minute they changed the schedule to one day in Miami and two  days at sea. STRIKE 1&#33;  <br /><br />Primary and Only Activity -- Eating   When on board, we started to look at what the ship had to offer. My  expectation was that aside from eating there would be a plethora of  other activities such as Salsa and Ballroom dancing, etc.... When I  started to tour the ship to see what it had to offer, I was amazed that  anything worthwhile and of interest to us had an additional price tag  associated. Now mind you I am not talking about excursions like NASA or  Scuba diving. I am referring to activities like Yoga and spinning  classes at the gym. Furthermore, the activities I did attend were  pathetic attempts at what it was they intended to accomplish. All  efforts by the cruise line was put into marketing and getting you to pay  for the activity, once paid for, the quality of the activity was so poor  that it was not worth pursuing.   <br /><br />By Wednesday the cruise director didn&#39;t even bother to post these  activities and from that point on, aside from eating, the pool and the  occasional movie there was nothing else to be done.  <br /><br />Along the same lines a tremendous effort was put into the promotion and  marketing of off shore excursions. These excursions were extremely over  priced and as with the activities above, they were poor at best.   <br /><br />For example, we took a snorkeling trip that as all things on the ship  required additional &quot;incidental&quot; charges. We showed up at the  snorkeling location and they gave us the gear. When I asked for who the  guide was, I got a dumb look. When I asked where the marine life was,  the man behind the counter pointed to the ocean. When he saw my  annoyance at this he said &quot;I don&#39;t know, you should ask someone else&quot;.  When I asked whom I should talk to, the response was &quot;someone else&quot;&#33;  Needless to say the snorkeling was poor with minimal marine life.  Especially when there were 2000 people on the beach and in the water.  STRIKE 2&#33;  <br /><br />Dime, Nickels and Pennies  Point to remember about NCL -- All Inclusive means food and board only.  A request for water, soda, tea, or coffee garners a &quot;Can I get your  Card?&quot; response. Many of the restaurants require reservations and have  a cover charge of &#036;20.00 per person. This ended up being very annoying.  The majority of the efforts were put into promoting the for pay  restaurants. It took us a while to realize that there are three  restaurants on board -- Venition, Impressions and Aqua, which do not  require a cover charge. STRIKE 3&#33;  <br /><br />Better than a high school production  The shows were so-so. All cast members could sing and dance, but there  was no soul to the shows. The entertainment was nothing to write home  about. Since the shows were not that important to me, I am not going to  give them a strike on this, though you should not go on the cruise  expecting to be entertained.  <br /><br />One of Life&#39;s most dangerous activities -- Cruising with NCL&#33;  On Thursday evening after leaving Miami a day early, we encountered a  storm. The Captain decided to forge ahead and aside from the waves  outside all felt normal on the ship. Within a few hours that had  changed and by 7:00pm the ship was rocking and bucking violently.  Anything not tied down, including furniture, was being thrown about the  ship. The impact of the storm outside was such that the ship started  creaking from every joint. From creaks and the moans, this ship was  alive and suffering with the noises it was making.   <br /><br />The captain&#39;s announcements went from: &quot;everything is normal and this is  not unusual&quot; to &quot;Everything is under control&quot;  The ship stopped being a vehicle of leisure and the passengers and crew  bunkered down to weather the storm. There was a feeling of real concern  among all.  After nearly 24 hours of punishment the ship&#39;s aft quarters gave. Glass  broke flooding approximately 20 cabins and seriously hurting several  people. After that, the captain turned the ship to get out of the  storm. Personally, I was OK with weathering the storm for a few hours. But  after punishment that lasted so long the results where not a surprise.  STRIKE 4&#33;  <br /><br />On the positive side, the food in the for-pay restaurants was good and  the service in the restaurants and rooms was excellent. The crew work  their tails off and it seems work a grueling schedule. They did not look  like they enjoyed their Job.   <br /><br />In conclusion:  There are two ways companies can go wrong. One: An organization does  not have it&#39;s act together. Two: an organization is extremely  structured to the point of being disengaged with what they want to  accomplish.  NCL is the second. Their focus is parting you from your money, not  showing you a good time and in the course making some money at it. They  have dissected all of their processes to ensure anything and everything  leads back to additional charges. It is abundantly clear that is the  most important factor for them.',1171829778,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',745,'bpasdar',1,116,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(175,95,'9/25/05','Diane and I are committed cruisers. The itinerary was disappointing and the Bollywood entertainment was the worst I?ve seen. But everything else was wonderful and we look forward to again cruising on the Norwegian Dawn again in April 2007.','It?s been over a year since Diane and I returned from this cruise. I was going through my reviews and realized I never posted it. Some of the information may be irrelevant at this time but I hope readers will get something out of it and not think of me as an idiot  Introduction <br /><br /><br />Another September and another last minute cruise. Last year we cruised on the Carnival Legend. This year it was NCL Norwegian Dawn. I was feeling real disappointed that we had not cruised all year. We had planned a September cruise but had to cancel our plans in May. Events made it possible to cruise in September after all and being the 19th I couldn?t get us on the ship we had planned for the 22nd but I was able to get us on the Norwegian Dawn for the 25th.  <br /><br />For those of you who have not read any of my reviews of previous cruises?Diane absolutely hates to fly. After our November 2004 cruise she made me promise we would not fly for at least 2 years. We had taken the train from Boston to NYC last September and she loved it. This made it possible to book the Dawn out of New York.  Booking <br /><br />We have always used a local travel agency to book our cruises. I, being a cruise consultant wanna be, find the cruise, hotel, car rental, etc. then take to the agent to book it. I found this cruise at Vacations To Go and decided to try on-line booking. With only 6 days to the cruise, I was taking a chance but Lori Ortiz at Vacations To Go handled everything went extremely smooth despite the hurricane which resulted in the closing of the office in Houston. I look forward to booking with Lori again.   Itinerary <br /><br />The itinerary was less than impressive. Port Canaveral, Miami, Great Stirup Cay (NCL?s private island) and Nassau. Diane and I do few excursions and prefer to laze around on the ship while others are off enjoying the various ports. We do get off the ship and walk around the local shops for an hour or so than return to the ship. <br /><br />More about this under Excursions. <br /><br />Embarkation <br />What a difference from last year when embarkation was an absolute disaster. NCL definitely has its act together. We walked into the terminal at 11:12 A.M., checked in our luggage and proceeded to the check-in desk. We were sitting with our coffee all checked-in by 11:30. They had chairs set up and coffee, tea sandwiches and sweets available. Boarding started about 45 minutes later. We were on board and in our cabin at 12:30.  Ship <br /><br />The Norwegian Dawn is a wonderful ship, very clean and well organized. Lots of restaurants and lounges, a library with plenty of reading material, a movie theater, and more. <br /><br />The pool is great and plenty of hot tubs. The tiered area for sunbathing was great leaving the chairs around the pool for swimmers. <br /><br />Cabin <br />Of course the only thing left was Category N ? Deck 4, inside, front of the ship. Being past cruisers with NCL may have helped because we got upgraded to Category J ? Deck 8, inside, middle of the ship. This was our first experience with an inside cabin so we went to sleep with the T.V. set to Bridge Cam station (Dark) and woke to Sunshine. It was our porthole window.  The room was larger than I expected and plenty of storage areas. There was a coffee maker which we liked as we are big coffee drinkers.  <br /><br />There is a refrigerator but no mini bar. We picked up a few extra cans of soda at one of the bars and stocked the frig.  Our steward kept our room clean and the ice bucket filled with fresh ice.  Dining <br /><br />There is a huge choose for dining. This was our first experience with freestyle dining. Diane loves it while I prefer traditional cruise style dining. Rather than 1 large Main Dining room there are 3 smaller venues which have no surcharges and require no reservations (Aqua, Impressions and Venetian). Also the Garden Caf? for buffet style dining and the Blue Lagoon for snacks and open 24 hours.  <br /><br />The food was wonderful. I particularly enjoyed the Beef Wellington at Impressions.  <br /><br />Excursions <br />Diane and I are not big on excursions as I mentioned earlier but on this cruise there really was little to do. One thing we like to do in Nassau is to visit a little bar named Iguana?s. Unfortunately, for all intent and purposes EVERYTHING was closed. The exceptions were the shops in the terminal, a cheap souvenir shop and a bar. A native beer company was giving out free beer at the bar of which I took full advantage. This was after our traditional Bahama MaMa?s which we couldn?t have at Iquana?s, of course.   The other port worth mentioning was Great Stirup Cay. This is NCL?s private island and while it doesn?t meet HAL?s Half Moon Cay, it offers a nice day on the beach. There are two beaches. One of them is very rocky. I saw a couple of people with cuts on the feet from stubbed toes in the water. NCL puts on a nice spread of hamburgers, corn on the cob, fruit, etc.  Staff and crew <br /><br />Only good things to say about the staff and crew on the Dawn. The wait staff in each dining venue was wonderful. On ships with traditional sitting the wait staff gets to know the guests. They learn there likes and dislikes and close bonds are developed. Open sitting does not offer this opportunity but the wait staff compensates for this and I still felt I was being treated ?special? by all of them. <br /><br />There was one incident at the Chocolate Buffet which was held in the afternoon. An opportunity to take pictures prior to the eating was offered. As you probably know bathing suits and tank tops are not permitted in the dining room. I was wearing a sleeveless shirt and was told ?tank tops are not permitted in the dining room?. After explaining that it was not a tank top but rather a sleeveless shirt, the woman said it didn?t matter, I was not permitted in the dining room. I had bought 3 from L.L. Bean at &#036;29 each just before the cruise. That night was formal night. We were dressed appropriately, I in a tuxedo and Diane in a gown and seated next to us was a gentleman in dungarees and a t-shirt. When I mentioned this the head waiter simply shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Go figure. <br /><br />Entertainment <br />The various lounges have wonderful entertainment but the Bollywood performance in the Stardust Theater was horrible. We had never walked out of an act but after 10 minutes we did.  The performers where fine but the music?  <br /><br />Pictures <br />I have to talk about the onboard photographers in every review. Some day I will find a photographer who can take a picture of a tall person (I?m 6?2?) without cutting off my feet or head, because it hasn?t happened on any of our cruises.  The 6 photographers are out every night taking the ?formal? pictures. With all the complaints I read from people complaining about the picture taking, it?s amazing how long the lines are every night to have pictures taken. Just an observation.  <br /><br />Conclusion  <br /><br />Diane and I are committed cruisers. The itinerary was disappointing and the Bollywood entertainment was the worst I?ve seen. But everything else was wonderful and we look forward to again cruising on the Norwegian Dawn again in April 2007.',1171829819,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',1338,'popdog',1,133,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(176,96,'12/12/03','In summary, we loved it. We?ll definitely cruise NCL freestyle again. I was most impressed with an attitude of customer service throughout. Well done NCL.','I left for this cruise with some trepidation after reading mostly unhappy review written in November for this new itinerary. In addition, after 17 cruises, this was to be our first Freestyle dining, and we have always enjoyed late traditional dining. The cruise leaves from New Orleans and stops in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Cancun?. all great snorkeling/diving locations, and two of which I had never been to before. <br /><br />We left on Friday, Dec 12, for a two night pre-cruise stay in New Orleans, staying at the Riverside Hilton. There were about 200,000 extra visitors in town for the weekend, including a minor league baseball meeting. We took a limo from the airport for &#036;35 to the hotel. We walked to dinner at Mulate?s, a classic Cajun/Zydaco place across the street from the Juliet Street Terminal. The weather was cold and showers, but it doesn?t hold down the revelers on Bourbon Street. We lunched on Saturday on Acme Oyster House, enjoying oysters on the half shell and the Peacemaker Po?Boy, half oysters and half shrimp. We had seen it on the Food Channel. We also ate at Olivier?s and had oysters at Felix?s on Bourbon Street. We even won a bit on the slots at Harrah?s Casino&#33; <br /><br />On Sunday, after church at St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square, we packed and checked out at noon. The taxi ride, three blocks with luggage, was &#036;7 per person&#33;&#33; Taxis are expensive in the Big Easy. There was no delay in checking in and we were aboard in 15 minutes&#33; Due to all the news about cruise ship Norwalk virus, they had all passengers sanitize their hands before boarding there and in each port, as well as at the entrance to all dining rooms and buffets. <br /><br />We had a large ocean view cabin, 7246, on Deck 7. In addition to the queen bed, it had a single sofa bed, coffee table and chair and TV, separated by a curtain from the queen area, where the dressing table was located. Plenty of closet space in two closets but drawer space was not plentiful. I was pleased to find that even at noon, the cabin was ready and contained a bottle of wine from the TA and the champagne I had arranged through a pre-booked NCL anniversary package. Our luggage, however took about 4 hours to get to the room. <br /><br />There is no &quot;Lido&quot; deck. The only buffet is in an area called the Sports Bar overlooking the stern. It is really much more than a bar. It does have sports TV but it contains a buffet line?. two short ones really?. plus the beverage area. It serves three meals a day, and at breakfast there is a French toast/pancake station. While not large, we never had to wait for a table. The turnover is adequate. <br /><br />There are two regular restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Four Seasons is a pleasant large dining room the width of the ship on deck 9 but allows pedestrian traffic to flow through the room. Distracting, and while we ate there the first night and had exceptional service at a table for two, we didn?t return except for the night of the Chocolate Buffet. The other is The Terrace, a multi-level sunny dining room overlooking the stern pool on deck 9. We ate 5 dinners and several breakfasts there. This is also the restaurant designed as the optional formal dining room on optional formal nights. A third restaurant, open normally only for dinner, is an Italian-style Trattoria on deck 10 overlooking the stern, specializing most nights in Italian food, pasta, Osso Bucco, and so on. We chose not eat there. There is also a French-style restaurant called Le Bistro on deck 9 with a &#036;12 pp cover charge and extra charges for the top menu items, like surf and turf. The food if fine and well presented, but the service is slow and not on a par with specialty restaurants we have eaten in on other lines. In addition, we were seated by the curtain separating the room form a bar and passageway, causing unwanted noise in the intimate setting of the bistro. Even with a reservation we had to wait about 15 minutes for dinner with the restaurant only 2/3 full. <br /><br /><br />Another dining location is on the pool deck on deck 10. At breakfast there is a small continental breakfast buffet line in what serves as a cafeteria-style pizzeria in the afternoon. There is also an omelet and hot food line set up by the pool. At lunch and dinner every day there is a BBQ style meal, often with ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, etc. A great idea and alternative, but it was cool weather this trip, and a bit windy. There is not much for late night appetites other than some finger sandwiches in the casino from 1120-1230 nightly, and room service, which has a VERY limited menu. <br />We ate at various times from 7-9pm nightly and only one night had to wait about 10 minutes for a table for two, and that was the first formal night in the only restaurant reserved for formal dining. Except for LeBistro, the restaurants do not take reservations for dinner except for 5:30pm and after 9pm. The menus change daily in The Terrace and Four Seasons and Sports Bar, but the don?t change in Trattoria or LeBistro. <br /><br />A sampling of dinner menus included Prime Rib the first night, Lobster and Beef Wellington on the second night (first formal night), rack of lamb, sea bass, veal marsalla (Italian night in all restaurants), steak Diane at Captains farewell dinner, leg of lamb. In summary, the food was excellent, as was the service in all food venues except LeBistro. People remembered us, and while we varied out times, we felt similarly to when we dined in traditional dining rooms. The wait staff, with or 2 exceptions, work extremely well together. <br /><br />NCL also offered a buy 5 wines and get one free offer. The wine list is nice and is reasonably priced (many nice wines &#036;20-28). We took advantage of the offer. I had also purchase an Anniversary/Honeymoon package in advance which included a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on arrival, canap?s one night in our cabin, the cover charge for two in LeBistro with a bottle of house Merlot, and a reception one night with champagne and cake with our celebrating couples where they took a photo which was provided at no charge to us. An excellent value. The souvenir glasses for specialty drinks were in glass glasses, not plastic cups. Nice, but harder to bring home. <br /><br />The productions shows by the Jean Ann Ryan Company were good, but the adagio pair were superb?. especially on the nights when the ship was rocking and rolling. They also offered comedy and variety shows, and a Mardi Gras night in the showroom. There were two regular musical duos who played contemporary and dance tunes in Lucky?s Bar on Deck 9 and in the Observatory lounge on deck 12 overlooking the bow. We especially enjoyed a couple, the Two Tones, in Observatory Lounge and spent some time there every night before or after dinner dancing. There is also a piano bar musician playing evening in an open bar area, and a DJ playing in Dazzles nightclub. <br /><br />While we had read in their literature that one night would be an optional formal night, we found out to my wife?s consternation when we got aboard that there would be two. We enjoy formal dress. I found that the dress of passengers on these optional formal nights was better, and tuxes more widespread, than on my last cruise on Carnival Victory&#33; Freestyle&#33; And there were no lines for portraits, one of the things I most dislike. Prices were reasonable: &#036;19.95 for the first portrait and &#036;14.95 for a second pose if purchased at the same time/checkout. <br /><br />The internet caf? also offers wireless cards for your laptop for rent, as well as normal internet service/computers. The charge is 75 cents a minute, with some packages at &#036;55 and &#036;100 equating to 50 cents and 40 cents a minute, respectively. I didn?t use much internet&#33; <br /><br />The wine tasting is &#036;10 per person, with mediocre wines. I passed on this one as too expensive. Bingo cost my wife &#036;39 each time she played. Quite high. Slots were unproductive for us. The casino had various tournaments but was not crowded. <br /><br />The Ports<br /><br />The sea days were Monday and Saturday. We have been coming to the Caribbean the second week in December for 23 years and never had bad or cold weather?till this week. It started with cold and rain in New Orleans. Monday at sea was mostly too cool to sunbath or use the pool. <br /><br />Cozumel<br />Tuesday we arrived in Cozumel to 86 degree sunny weather. The ship berthed downtown across from Carlos and Charlie?s/Senor Frog?s at Punta Langouste, much better location than the new international piers. If you didn?t need to go to a beach, you would not even need a taxi the whole time in Cozumel. Everything is within walking distance. We taxied for &#036;15 to Mr. Sancho?s beach, just beyond Playa Sol beach where we had been last April. Sancho?s has everything Playa Sol has but no admission charge and no crowds. We loved it. Even the snorkeling was better near some sunken boats and debris about 50 yards out from the center of the beach. Taxi back to the ship to drop off our gear and then into town to shop for my wife?s ruby ring for her anniversary present, then to Carlos and Charlie?s to await the ring?s sizing. A nice excuse. We added to our collection of shooter glasses. Looked a bit like spring break in December, in fact. Liquor and cigarettes in the duty free shop at the end of the pier were cheaper than aboard ship, where the selection was VERY limited. They do hold all liquor purchased on or off the ship in bond until the last night. I did pack a few miniatures and two splits of champagne which came through intact. <br /><br />Roatan<br />Wednesday we arrived in Roatan with cloudy sky. We had to tender in, but after another ship left at midday, the Dream was berthed at a pier. An island 37 miles long and 2-4 miles wide, it is about 35 miles off the coast of Honduras and known for its diving/snorkeling. Taxi to the west end is about &#036;26, so we chose to sign up for an excursion for &#036;32 pp about 3 hours before it was to leave. As we left the ship the heaven opened and we were literally deluged. Onto school buses and over the mountains to Tabayana Beach. The BBQ there went on, but little else. It showered lightly on and off all day, and the lifeguards said don?t bother with a mask and snorkel, as the water was rough and murky from the storm. A beautiful beach but a disappointment. That night there was a note in our room that we had been credited 25% of the cost of the excursion. NCL was on the ball. It was very rough and windy the night we left, and the promenade deck was closed. <br /><br />Belize<br />Thursday was to be Belize, the other snorkel port I had looked forward to. I had signed up for a catamaran snorkel adventure scheduled to leave early in the morning. Up at 6:30 we found no land in sight. At 7:50am, the time we were to depart, the Captain came on the PA system and said that due to the rough weather and the need for tendering, they had decided to bypass Belize. They refunded the excursion fare. They had worked on an alternative and said we would arrive in Costa Maya for a 1-8:30pm visit. It was still cool and cloudy. The Golden Princess and NCL Sun were berthed there, too. This is a site developed just for the cruise lines. It contains a small shopping mall, several nice bars and restaurants, a pool, a performance area, and is a jumping off point for tours to various sites in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Still cool and cloudy, I didn?t want to pay a taxi to go anywhere, but noticed a beach immediately adjacent to the pier that had a swimming area shielded from the surf. A private area, we rented a chair and enjoyed the beach. I snorkeled and it was terrific. Many fan coral, many fish, including some large ones. I didn?t notice the lack of sun. The had some bars and a restaurant, and bathrooms available, too. We wound up back at the mall in a bar similar to a Carlos and Charlie?s with alcohol related activities on stage and a lot of fun. Not a bad day after all, but not Belize. <br /><br /><br />Cancun<br />Friday was Cancun, arriving about 8:30am. Weather was sunny and about 72 degrees. The ship anchors just off Isla Mujares. They are not permitted to use their own tenders, and must use Mexican tenders. They shuttled for two hours, with passengers using tender tickets to get aboard, until opening the runs. We went down at 10:30 to get a ticket and were aboard in 10 minutes. It is a 30 minute tender ride to Playa Tortuga. They offered a free shuttle bus to Playa Flamingo in the hotel zone, where Planet Hollywood and Pat O?Brien?s are located. We have spent two weeks total in Cancun and know the area well. We shopped at Flamingo, and then took a city bus for 50 cents each to Senor Frog?s for chips and afternoon refreshments. Another bus back to Playa Tortuga, where there is a nice beach with chair rentals, a Fat Tuesday?s on the beach, and a small bar/souvenir area. After a brief time on the beach we caught the last tender back. This was the second optional formal night and Captain?s Farewell Dinner. After the production show the Captain and representatives of the crew, including the ?Star Performer? voted by the passengers, went up on stage to say farewell and thanks. <br />The last sea day, Saturday, was 70 degrees and sunny. Baggage didn?t have to be out in the halls until a 1am deadline, leaving plenty of time for the last evening activities and the packing. From the Observation Lounge we could see the ship approaching the Mississippi. <br /><br />On Sunday, the ship arrived about 6:30am. Breakfast was available until 9am. Passengers can stay in their cabin until their debarkation color tag is called. Our color was called about 10:15. There was no line-up or document inspection by immigration for U.S. citizens. Very leisurely freestyle departure. Taxis to the airport are readily available at the terminal for &#036;28 for two people. They also had bus transfers available, &#036;10 pp payable at the door. We arrived at the airport about 11:30 for a 1:30 flight and were pleased to see an Acme Oyster House there where we could purchase po?boys again for lunch. <br /><br />In summary, we loved it. Freestyle offered us everything traditional dining offered plus the freedom to arrive in the dining room when we wanted to. The embarkation and debarkation were a joy. Food was terrific. And two of the four port days were lots of fun. We?ll definitely cruise NCL freestyle again. I was most impressed with an attitude of customer service throughout. Well done NCL. <br /><br />P.S. The staff we spoke with admitted that at Thanksgiving they had about 300 kids aboard and it made for longer lines. Over Christmas they were expecting 500 children. They do have youth programs for 2-5, 6-12, and teens, but the extra bodies do slow things down and can make for some lines. On normal weeks they seem to have worked all the bugs out on this new itinerary.',1171829883,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',131,'JohnG',1,60,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(177,96,'12/12/04','At no point during this cruise did I wish it would last longer... rather was glad when it was over. I&#39;ll sail again on NCL - only with the larger and newer ships, otherwise - Holland America is my favorite to date...','This was our 3rd cruise (2nd with NCL). Our first cruise last year (2/2003) was on the NCL Dawn - it was about 4 months old. We had a wonderful experience as newbee&#39;s. After crusing with Holland America (Veendam) in March 2004, we decided to try a later time of year and selected this cruise as it was before the Christmas holidays. Since my husband really liked the freestyle, we decided to go back with NCL. Let me tell you... what a difference a ship makes. The Dream was a nightmare in some respects. As the previous 12/2003 review (almost identical sailing); the Norwalk Virus was on the prior sailing and we had to santize our hands upon entry/exit of the ship.  <br /><br /><br />The check-in was terribly long and at time confusing. We flew in from Baltiore, MD the same date as the departure arriving with enough time (or so we thought) to eat on the ship. We arrived at the terminal around 2:00pm and promplty stood in line and then was shepharded along to sit and &quot;wait in line,&quot; to only stand again an enter and wait in the line for check-in. I had to inquire as to why were were sitting and waiting. No one directed us to the Lattitudes member check-in while waiting and if I had not inquired then our wait would have been much longer. By the time we boarded the ship, the lunch was over and we had to scrounge around to look for a meal.   <br /><br />The weather was cooler than we anticipated. It was too cold/windy to enjoy the party as the ship departs from the terminal. We were told by others that the hamburgers being cooked on the grill were raw (no wonder they had the Norwalk Virus); and they saw several hanburgers with only one bit taken out and the meat was not done.   <br /><br />The qualtiy of service ranged from fair to good to very good - depending on where you ate. The service was better in the seated resturants. A couple of the shore excursion staff were rude to other passengers - either very loud (and rolling of eyes) or dismissive in such was way that it was obvious to us that they did not care if the person was satisfied.   <br /><br />The cabin was quite a pleasant surprise - we had an outside cabin (esepecially after having sailed on Holland America - which has some very good cabins). The downside with the housekeeping staff - you have to ask to have your linens changed otherwise they do not get changed; unless they are obviously soiled. The space in the shower was quite limited and the mat for the floor always got wet from the shower overflow. The sofa bed definately need to be replaced it looked quite worn.    <br /><br />The biggest disappointment for the ship was the freestyle dining. We always had to wait in a line. The buffets were awful - you had to be served by the staff who wore the gloves and explain to the exactly how much and what kind of something you wanted or did not want. This action was a reason for the long lines. The ship is an older ship and had been stretched in 1998. When booking the ship; the ports was an consideration and the newness of the ship were considered. Stretching may have added addtional cabins, but the ship does not manage the flow into and out of its resturants very well, as there was generally always a wait; especially in the later hours.    <br /><br />The room service menu was terriblely limited and not very appitizing. My husband was not feeling well one night and I wanted to get the main course sent to us in our cabin and was told that was only for those in suites... what a difference from Holland America. There were times later in the eveing when we wanted something to nibble on and nothing was availalbe other than the poor choices from room service.   <br /><br />The food was mediocre at best... we had better on the Dawn and the Veendam. Would not recommend this ship to any one. It cannot accomodate a crowd and from what I have read (which I had read this before I booked the cruise) this Norwalk Virus seems to be common on this ship...what&#39;s that about&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;   <br /><br />The entertainment was excellant... Jane L. Powell was outstanding... this was the one bright spot on the cruise.    <br /><br />The weather was up and down... Cozumel was lovely -- we have been there 3 times; Roatan was cool and overcast; we missed Belize -- water to rough... of course they did not tell us until after the time were supposed to have been there. Which leads me to the fact that with early morning stops, more resturants should have been open - but there were not and you had to stand in a line even at 6:15 am to eat - if you had a tender ticket for 7:15 am. Since we did not make Belize - we went to Costa Maya -- it was a pleasant surprise... they have really built up the place since our visit in 2/2003. The last stop was Cancun... it was too short a trip to really stop - 6 hours (including the fact that you had to tender, etc). The weather was cloudy and overcast and cool.   <br /><br />At no point during this cruise did I wish it would last longer... rather was glad when it was over. I&#39;ll sail again on NCL - only with the larger and newer ships, otherwise - Holland America is my favorite to date...',1171829919,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',1713,'JTL1997',1,58,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(178,101,'10/29/06','Overall, we really enjoyed the ship and crew. The food was bad, in my opinion....but it wouldn&#39;t prevent me from cruising with NCL again if a great deal came along.','Some background...I&#39;m 53, DH is 60. We&#39;ve been on Carnival Legend twice, Celebrity Constellation once and Celebrity Zenith twice.  <br /><br /><br />We&#39;d just gotten home from an 8 day cruise on the Carnival Legend when my husband found a great deal on an 11 night exotic southern Carribean cruise for only &#036;549 pp for a BA balcony cabin on the 11th deck (military discount). It took very little convincing for me to book this cruise&#33; Besides, I hadn&#39;t even finished unpacking from the last cruise so packing was easy :-)  <br /><br />Although there were 3 NCL ships in port the day we left we had no problem finding parking at the port. It seemed like embarking was alot slower than either Carnival or Celebrity had been but we were on the ship soon after 12:30.  <br /><br />The crew was great&#33; Always smiling and helpful...a really nice crew.  <br /><br />The cabin and balcony were nice. My DH especially enjoyed having the little coffee-maker in the room. No refrigerators in the cabins. The only thing I noticed was that there wasn&#39;t alot of storage space for folded clothes and it might be cramped with more than 2 people to a cabin.  <br /><br />Food: Since there&#39;s alot of discussion about the poor quality of NCL food, I might as well put my 2 cents in....  <br /><br />Main dining room food was good but not alot of selection and on several nights I didn&#39;t see anything I wanted so we didn&#39;t even go to the dining room.  <br /><br />We went to Le Bistro one night. It was half price from 5-6 pm (&#036;7.50 pp). One of the beef dishes was extremely good, the other one was tough.  <br /><br />The buffet....I don&#39;t have much good to say about the buffet. The foods that were supposed to be hot weren&#39;t even warm and all the meats were overcooked and tough. The omellette and pasta stations were the only place where the food was actually hot. Salad area was good, rolls and danish were very good, desserts were bland.  <br /><br />Room service.... usually quick, basically the same cold selections that most cruise lines have. They did have pizza but it really wasn&#39;t very good.  <br /><br />Blue Lagoon....great for a late night snack of hamburgers, fries, etc  <br /><br />Beir Garten....good hamburgers, hot dogs and fries  <br /><br />I thought drink prices were high.....&#036;9 for the &quot;drink of the day&quot;  <br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed the casino. I should have stuck with Blackjack as I nearly always won but then I&#39;d go blow my winnings on the slots. Be sure to sign up for the casino players card. It costs nothing and earns you money off your sign and sail card (I &quot;earned&quot; &#036;38 off at the end of the cruise). I didn&#39;t see any really big winners at the slots but there were alot of &#036;200-&#036;500 payouts. A friend hit the machine for &#036;1000 on the last night.  <br /><br />Entertainment...I&#39;m sorry to say that we didn&#39;t make it to any of the shows. They had a really fun Halloween party and hundreds of passengers dressed up.......I was surprised ny the number. Also the bands onboard were some of the best I&#39;d heard on any ship.  <br /><br />We didn&#39;t take any organized excursions but went off on our own.   <br /><br />In Tortola we went to Cane Garden Bay Beach. We&#39;d been there twice before and the water was always calm and clear. On this day there were high waves and a dangerous undertow. We still had a blast there.  <br /><br />St. Thomas....the ship docks quite a ways from where Carnival and Celebrity docks. We didn&#39;t realize how far until we walked it...took us about an hour to get to town. We just strolled through some of the shops and then took a cab back to the ship.  <br /><br />Grenada...we took the water taxi to Grand Anse Beach (&#036;4 pp each way). This is a gorgeous beach and they have a really nice craft area but be prepared for the venders on the beach to pester you nonstop&#33; Great place to get spices&#33;  <br /><br />Dominca and Anigua.....just walked around and shopped  <br /><br />Barbadoes had a large mall type area  <br /><br />Disembarkation was quick as we did self-assist and were off the ship by 8:30  <br /><br />Overall, we really enjoyed the ship and crew. The food was bad, in my opinion....but it wouldn&#39;t prevent me from cruising with NCL again if a great deal came along.',1171830041,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',2439,'popsec',1,194,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(179,102,'8/14/05','We thoroughly enjoyed the Norwegian Star, thought the food was very good to excellent, and service was excellent with the exception of the one dining venue, Blue Seas.','Inside Passage &amp; Glacier Bay   <br /><br /><br />This was our first trip to Seattle and our first to Alaska, so we flew out a day early. We used Super Shuttle to take us the hotel. (&#036;30 plus tip from airport). We stayed at the Springhill Suites by Marriott, which was within walking distance of the downtown shopping district. We visited the Space Needle (&#036;13 per person), and Pike?s Market. Shuttle buses in the central downtown area are free during the day.  <br /><br />On Sunday we had reserved a town car to take us to Pier 66, Bell St Pier, where NCL sails from, which is much more convenient to the downtown than the industrial port used by Celebrity and Princess. Arriving at 12:45pm, with the Seattle temperature 85F, we found the line for Latitudes members (past passengers) and the check-in was very quick. We found our minisuite, Cat AF cabin 11657, a port side balcony. Traveling with two teens, the two twin beds and a convertible double worked well. The bathroom is very nice, with a sliding door to the shower and tub, and a sliding door to the toilet area, with the sink in the middle. Storage area and drawers were barely adequate for four, but would have been more than ample for two. Sound proofing is minimal, as we could easily hear the people in the next cabin talking loudly on their cell phone. Unfortunately, during most of the Alaska inside passage trip, cell phones work, and were in constant use. The cabin had a coffee maker and a refrigerator.   <br /><br />After lunch in the Market Caf?, a tour of the ship and the various restaurants, and boat drill, the ship was underway at 4:15pm. On the water it got cooler quickly. We ate in one of the main dining rooms, the Versailles, which proved to be our favorite for the week, over the d?cor in the other traditional dining room, Aqua. Arriving at 8:10pm with Freestyle dining, we had no waiting for a table for 4. The first night dinner of prime rib, salmon, and cr?me brulee was a good start. A comedian performed in the theatre the first night.  <br /><br />Monday: This was an at sea day in the Inland Passage, and the weather was overcast and cool. Breakfast in the Market Caf? had the usual breakfast fare, including pre-made omelets, but no eggs to order. The day?s activities included wine tasting (&#036;10), a martini class (&#036;5), and a cooking demonstration.   For lunch we decided to try Blue Seas wok and wings-style restaurant. We received our food items after a 40 minute wait. The tried this location later in the week for a snack and had similar service problems.  <br /><br />The Latitudes/repeaters reception was at 1:15pm, with cocktails, shrimp and appetizers. This was also the optional formal night, the only one of the cruise. Portrait photographers were available at several venues from 5-10pm. The Captain?s reception was from 7-8pm, followed by a show by the Jean Anne Ryan Company featuring the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber. Dinner in the Versailles Dining Room featured lobster and beef Wellington. After dinner we enjoyed a pianist in the Star Bar, and then visited a party in the Spinnaker Lounge. At dinner they offered a wine special that provided a 6th bottle of wine free when presenting the receipts for 5 bottles purchased. We set back clocks 1 hour this night.  <br /><br />Tuesday: We could see humpback whales in the distance, with the pod surfacing repeatedly. We anchored in Juneau at noon, as all the pier were full. The Norwegian Spirit was to leave in the afternoon, and the ship would be moved to the AJ pier at 2:30pm while most passengers were ashore. Tendering ashore priority went to those with excursion tickets, and it was 80 minutes before unrestricted tendering commenced. Shopping areas were available just off the tender, as was the tram to Mt Roberts (&#036;23.95). I had reserved a car with Rent-a-Wreck and arranged for it to be waiting in the Juneau parking garage and for return there. We had a seasoned red sedan that was fine for the day for &#036;56.45 plus gas. We drove to the Mendenhall Glacier and park. We found a path to hike to the waterfall near the base of the glacier. Weather was about 70F with overcast most of the time. We then continued out of town to the St Theresa?s Shrine and Retreat area, and as far as Eagle Beach. We dropped off the car and after a bit more shopping and purchase of an Ulu knife, which they confiscate for safekeeping at the ship, we retuned to the ship about 8pm. They provided a shuttle bus from the shopping area to the pier. Rack of lamb and roast tenderloin were featured in the dining room.   <br /><br />Wednesday: We arrived in Skagway about 8am. After breakfast I walked a short distance from the pier into town to the Avis office at 3rd and Spring St, where I had reserved a car. We drove first to Duyea, the original site of the settlement of Skagway and a park where evidence of the early settlement is still in the forest. We say numerous sea lions hunting salmon on the way. Still overcast this morning, high 60?sF. We stopped at the cemetery at the edge of Skagway, near the Yukon/White Pass Railroad yard, where the notorious Soapy Smith was buried, as well as the man who killed him. A walk through the cemetery takes you to Reid Falls, too. We continued on over the fog shrouded summit at White Pass by car, paralleling the route the railroad travels. However, the train only goes 35 miles. We continued on into Canada, and enjoyed a scenic drive in very different glacier built terrain, with large lakes, bald mountains, and the SUN&#33;&#33; We visited Carcross, and as far as Emerald Lake before making the return trip. Our excursion by car took us 5 ? hours for &#036;61 plus tax and gas. For dinner in the evening we had made reservations for dinner in the French restaurant, Le Bistro, with a &#036;15 per person cover charge. The show tonight was a singer, and we enjoyed another pianist in the Star Bar.  <br /><br />Thursday: Woke for an early breakfast at 6:30am as we entered Glacier Bay. Rainy, overcast, and at times dense fog. We could not see Mt Fairweather, the tallest peak there, at all. From 9-10 we visited Margerie Glacier in Tarr Inlet and the ship moved quite close. From our balcony we could see well. We also spent time on the pool deck and the teens used the hot tubs and pool slides (heated water). From 11-12 we visited Johns Hopkins Inlet and Glacier, and then passed close to Lamplugh (blue) Glacier. All was narrated by US Park Service rangers. From 1-5pm as we sailed back out I sighted numerous humpback whales slapping their tails while they were feeding, and a pod of Orcas. For dinner tonight we chose to do our own formal and made a reservation at Soho for dinner. (&#036;15 cover charge). The captain and some officers were dining there that night. Presentation of the courses is absolutely exquisite. The show tonight was a magician. We visited the pianist in the Star Bar again, as we were finding that ballroom style dancing in various venues ends early every night, just when we would have enjoyed it.  <br /><br />Friday: We arrived in Ketchikan one hour late at 7:15am. We had reserved a car from Alaska RentaCar, and with a call to them they arrived in about 5 minutes pick me up to get the car from their office, about 1 mile away. We drove to Settler?s Cove and Lunch Falls, visited Totem Bight Historic Park, Ward Lake, then back through town to Saxman Totem Village. The trip took us about 3 hours for the &#036;52.95 plus tax and gas for a 2005 Suzuki SUV. The cost of a private taxi rental for a similar tour is &#036;50 per hour. We had an earlier departure today, and, as the lines formed to reboard, it began to rain. The line took almost an hour to clear, and we left late, about 2:30pm. We were interested in trying the Italian Trattoria for dinner, no cover charge but reservations required. (A portion of what is the Market Caf? is set to linen and candlelight for the Trattoria.) However, it was booked full, as was Cagney?s Steakhouse with its &#036;20 cover charge. We enjoyed the Captain?s farewell dinner in the Versailles dining room again, with my wife enjoying a wonderful halibut dinner. The service every night in Versailles was superb. The show tonight was Cirque Pacifica by the Jean Ann Ryan Company. The Chocaholic Buffet was open in Versailles for viewing from 11:30pm-12:30am, followed by sampling. Clocks were set ahead 1 hour this night.  <br /><br />Saturday: Another gray day at sea until late afternoon. We arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, at 6pm.   We decided to eat in another of the specialty restaurants, Endless Summer, but this one does not have a cover charge. Specialties included fajitas and other Mexican fare. While they advertised tapas, none were available that night. After dinner, shuttle buses were available for &#036;5 per person to take us to the Empress Hotel in town and return. The city has many lighted buildings at night, and shops were open. However, due to Canadian laws, we couldn?t take the teens into any place, including a restaurant, which served any alcohol. Back on the ship they had an Italian buffet in the Market Caf? until midnight. I was able to print out my Delta boarding passes for our return flight in the internet caf?.   <br /><br />The other specialty restaurant, which we did not use, was the Ginza, a sushi, oriental, and teppanyaki restaurant with ala carte pricing. The sushi was all you can eat.   <br /><br />Sunday: We arrived back in Seattle at 5:45am. I had to go to a central location to pick up my Ulu knife and liquor. We had breakfast in the Versailles dining room, and because of the Freestyle, we could leave our carryon luggage in the cabin until we were leaving. Passengers with only carryon luggage were permitted to leave at 7:15am. Other tags were by the deck, and with a cabin on deck 11, we were free to go any time after 8:20. After a leisurely breakfast we picked up luggage and left at 9:30am. Shuttle Express, which we had prereserved, was waiting right outside the terminal. We left the terminal at 10am in a van, arriving at the airport at 10:30, used curbside check in and were quickly through security and at the gate by 11am for a 12:06pm flight.   <br /><br />We thoroughly enjoyed the Norwegian Star, thought the food was very good to excellent, and service was excellent with the exception of the one dining venue, Blue Seas. To recap, the 4 cover charge restaurants include Ginza, Cagney?s Steakhouse, Soho, and Le Bistro. The others 6, Versailles and Aqua dining rooms, Endless Summer, Blue Seas, La Trattoria, and Market Caf? have no cover charges, but reservations are required at Endless Summer and La Trattoria. An excellent itinerary with less expensive airfare to Seattle than Vancouver, a modern ship built for Freestyle cruising, and stunning scenery in Alaska.',1171830124,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',131,'JohnG',1,138,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(180,103,'7/4/04','Don&#39;t regret a single cent spent on the entire trip ---- BRAVO','My wife and I srecifically chose NCL because of &quot;Freestyle&quot; dining. We do not like &quot;dress-up&quot;. The appealing feature of this cruise was the notion that we could eat when we wanted, where we wanted and with whom we wanted.  <br /><br />We chose to eat in the main dining room for all of our meals. We never ate the same thing twice. We never saw the same items or menu twice. We were never disappointed. We did not want to spend extra money for our food in the &quot;pay&quot; restaurants.  <br /><br />We had an &quot;oceanview&quot; room which was very comfortable. The bed was king sized. We had been warned that the bathrooms would be small and this was no exaggeration. They were adequate for their purpose and since very limited time was spent in the bathroom why complain. The room was always tidy, clean and fresh towels etc. were always there. Except for sleeping we spent all of our time in activities, etc.  <br /><br />The shows on the Sun are worthy of high praise. The Jean Ryan Troupe (Colin Kerr - MC) provided a fresh show every night. These performers were first rate, entertaining and always on the go. Colin and his comments about his conferences with the Captain kept us in stitches.  <br /><br />Embarkation took 40 minutes and debarkation &amp; Canada Customs 20 minutes and I was in a wheel chair. The only flaw in the whole trip was the lousy sidewalk in Wrangel when I decided to be clumsy and tripped wrecking my knee.  <br /><br />This was a 35th wedding anniversary trip for us. The scenery is unimaginably beautiful. Turing the corner in Juneau and getting the first up close look at the Mendenhall Glacier takes your breath away. Later that day we went up the Tracey Arm to the South Sawyer Glacier - this was magnificent.  <br /><br />Don&#39;t regret a single cent spent on the entire trip ---- BRAVO  <br /><br />Nitro &amp; The Missus<br />Cambridge, Ontario, Canada',1171830168,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',1272,'Nitro99',1,71,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(181,103,'1/1/04','I can not say enough wonderful things about this cruise ship. I loved it so much I have booked another one in March of 2005.','I traveled on the Sun in January of 2004 and I had the best time. I went all by myself and didn&#39;t sit for 20 minutes alone. I made so many friends on that boat. I think that the Freestyle atmosphere really helps people relax right from the moment they set foot on the boat. I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the wild nights. The staff was super friendly, and my room was ALWAYS clean. <br /><br />I asked my room attendant the first day if I could have ice in my room 2 times a day so that I didn&#39;t have to buy water while in my cabin. He did and never forgot once. He also hung clothes back up for me, (you know us women try on everything before going out). I can not say enough wonderful things about this cruise ship. I loved it so much I have booked another one in March of 2005.',1171830209,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',1680,'lil_xxmissyxx',1,61,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(182,103,'1/10/05','I have no hesitation in recommending Norwegian as a cruise line, the Norwegian Sun as a ship and ?free style? as a concept.','This was a 15 night repositioning cruise as the ?Sun? had finished its summer duty in Alaska. The adventure took us from Los Angeles, down the coast of Mexico, through the Panama Canal and up through the Caribbean to Miami. My husband and I (I sound like the Queen&#33;) had a wonderful time on this trip. We have cruised many times before in a variety of parts of the world and experienced several different cruise lines but we keep returning to Norwegian as we love the ?free style? dining.   <br /><br /><br />Boarding in Los Angeles was trouble free and we were quickly settling into our stateroom. This was the first time we had splashed out on a balcony cabin and, although not large, the room was clean, pleasantly decorated, the bed was comfortable and there was adequate storage. The only disappointment was the size of the shower cubicle which was tiny and the curtain kept sticking to wet bodies. The bathroom on the ?Star? is much better&#33;  Standing on the balcony as we left port was a wonderful experience and we did use this facility a lot although, if it were a choice of cruising in an inside cabin or not cruising at all, I would not hesitate to have an inside cabin again.  <br /><br />The ports of call were all very different and I enjoyed each one in its own way. We usually do a Cruise Company tour if it is our first visit to a place as we find this is a good way of getting to know the area and we don?t have the worry of getting back to the ship on time. All the trips were O.K. but I do feel that they are over priced and there is always the hard sell at the ?shopping opportunities?&#33;  <br /><br />I must confess that, although we have been on many other cruises, we have always done 7 day trips so I was a bit concerned that we would not have enough to do on a 16 day one with so many sea days. I could not have been more wrong. There were so many activities to do on those days that we couldn?t fit all our choices in. There was plenty of sun bathing space and we never had to search for a sun bed although, if you wanted a position right by the pool, you had to be there quite early. We preferred to be in the quieter spots so it was never an issue.   <br /><br />The food was plentiful and of good quality with a variety of dishes at all meals. We found the staff to be courteous and, generally, the service was speedy and efficient. Some people worry about the ?freestyle? concept but we loved the freedom of choice of dining venues, times and companions. We also found that we had less wasted time as we chose to eat in small groups and rarely had to wait to be seated. We met so many interesting people and only had one disappointing experience with a couple with whom we had very little in common. The beauty of the system is that we didn?t need to sit with them again and there was no offence given as might have happened by asking to change tables in a more formal setting. You do get the option to have the same table, time and companions if you wish just by booking this on you first visit to the restaurant of your choice.   <br /><br />The ?free style? concept does give you total freedom of choice. I love the opportunity to dress up and take part in the formal evenings but there is absolutely no pressure on anyone to become involved and we saw a huge variety of dress styles.  <br /><br />The standard of entertainment was also extremely professional and varied. Our only problem was that some of the jokes told by the comedians were directed at the mainly American audience and, therefore, unintelligible to the Brits. Also, we love ballroom dancing but , although there was ballroom music played each evening, all the dance floors were too small to really do all our moves. These are very minor complaints and certainly did not spoil our holiday in any way.   <br /><br />Disembarking was relatively straight forward but there were very long queues at immigration. This was not the cruise company?s fault and they did try to make it as painless as possible.  <br /><br />I have no hesitation in recommending Norwegian as a cruise line, the Norwegian Sun as a ship and ?free style? as a concept. It appears that more Cruise lines are adopting a similar concept and we feel that it is the way ahead to attract more people to cruising.',1171830297,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',1,'Isabel',1,69,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(183,103,'12/29/05','NCL Sun, New Year cruise December 29, 2005 to January 08, 2006','When we booked this cruise it was out of New Orleans, which is the main reason we choose this cruise line and ship. It was to be our first on Norwegian and we were planning on driving in for a one night hotel stay in Kenner and on to the port.   NOLA is about a 10-11 hour drive from our house and this was a 10 day cruise--just what the doctor ordered. Well, Katrina changed all of that and the cruise port was switched to Houston, which is a tad over 1,000 miles from us. We decided that was just to far to drive so we contacted our TA and had her contact NCL to add on airfare, transfers, and a two night pre-cruise in Houston. This was to be our first flight since October of 2002 which was also to Houston for a cruise out of Galveston.  <br /><br />We flew out on December 27 to Cincinnati, and then on to Houston after a minor flight delay of about 45 minutes. After our arrival, and on our way to claim our baggage, we were pleasantly surprised when we saw a gentleman holding a NCL sign with our name on it. He told us he was here to help us with our luggage and had a town car waiting to take us to our hotel. In our cruise documents we had all transfers except the one for the airport to hotel, so we just figured we were on our own.  <br /><br />After about a 45 minute drive we arrived at the Doubletree Hotel next to the Galleria Mall. Our room was actually a suite and even had a fully functioned kitchen. Kind of a waste as we are on vacation and will not be doing any cooking. That evening, after walking around the mall for a while and checking out the ice rink, we decided to go to the bar and have a drink and try out the hotel restaurant. We were the only ones there and the food and service was very good.  <br /><br />We spent the next day relaxing and doing a little shopping at the mall, where we had diner. After returning to the hotel we went back to the bar for a nightcap. This nightcap ended about 4 hours later as we ended up hoisting a few with a bunch of Brits who starting arriving at various times throughout the evening. All of them were here for the SUN cruise. We had a great time introducing them to their fellow countrymen as they arrived.   <br /><br />The next day was finally here and we were ready for our first cruise in a year. The embarking process from the hotel to finally onboard the ship was one of those hurry up and wait events that began at noon. When we arrived at the port we were instructed that all the paperwork would be done on the ship because of the small port facility. It became quite a mess when 4 or 5 more buses arrived. NCL did a very poor job in this process, with no one really in charge. In one word it was a cluster-f***&#33; After finally completing the process around 2:30 we put it all behind us. We were here to have a good time and this bad time was over.   <br /><br />We met our friends from Texas and headed to our inside staterooms and off to the buffet and our tour of the ship. We loved how our stateroom was laid out as it had plenty of storage for all our stuff. The bathroom seemed a little smaller, but it was okay. We were on the Viking Deck 8 inside on the port side, stateroom 8121. When we booked for us and our friends all that remained were inside cabins next to each other. After Katrina and a lot of the Louisiana and Mississippi folks canceling, we probably could have rebooked our preferred outside but never did. Inside worked out fine for us. <br />We liked the design and layout of the ship, nothing really gaudy looking. The pools on deck 11 are separated by four hot tubs. The Observation Lounge on deck 12 and Dazzles Disco on deck 6 had decent size dance floors. The center atrium was nice and the layout of the ship was easy to learn. The walking/running deck 6 outside was nice and 3 1/2 of our walking laps equaled one mile.   <br /><br />This freestyle with all the pay specialty dining was new to us. We decided to stick to the &#39;free&#39; dining for now and play it by ear for other nights. Actually the first night is a better time to try specialty as the prices are half the usual.  The &#39;free&#39; dining rooms are Seven Seas (traditional) deck 5 aft and Four Seasons (contemporary) deck 5 mid. The menus are basically the same except for one entree. <br /><br />The food was probably as good as other cruise lines, however the service varied from poor to outstanding depending on your waiter and how busy she/he was. Some times they were doing double duty that an assistant waiter would normally do.  Also &#39;free&#39; is the Garden Cafe buffet and the Great Outdoor Cafe buffet, Pacific Heights (light), Las Ramblas (Tapas), and Sports Bar (snacks). The Casino has late night snacks, as well. <br /><br />We are not fans of buffets and the Garden Cafe buffet was probably the worse one yet of any cruise ship we&#39;ve been on. No trays, so you had to come back to get your juice and coffee in the morning and fight thru the gauntlet of folks from both sides and the buffet line. Also, the scrambled eggs were terrible. We found the cure for this, get your food (minus the eggs) and go back for your coffee and juice at the Great Outdoor Cafe. Better yet--have breakfast in the dining room.  <br /><br />The specialty restaurants with cover charges are: <br />Ginza Sushi Bar and Teppanyaki with varying prices <br />East Meets West Steak House at &#036;20 per person <br />IL Addgio Fine Italian at &#036;12.50 per person <br />Le Bistro French/Mediterranean at &#036;15.00 per person. <br />We thought about trying the Italian, but based on what other told us we never did.   <br /><br />Okay, so much for the food, now for the entertainment. We never attended any of the shows in the Stardust Lounge. We always seemed to be to busy dancing on deck 12 in the Observation Lounge to the great music of Wesley and Shelly, AKA &#39;Twice as Nice&#39;. They are definitely A+ entertainers&#33; We purchased their CD which has East Coast Swing, Fox-trot, Waltz, and Rumba music, as well as other songs.  We also went to Dazzles Disco a few times and danced a couple times and also listened to some karaoke until our ears started to hurt. <br /><br />We did attend the Martini tasting in the Windjammer. Four Martinis for 10 bucks. My favorite was the French and Rita&#39;s was the chocolate. We left very happy&#33; We also attend Dima&#39;s and Olga&#39;s Cha-cha lesson, however, it was just to crowded.   <br /><br />On the afternoon of New Year&#39;s Eve the Sun rescued two men in a un-powered makeshift styrofoam raft between the Florida Keys and Cuba. The raft was spotted and the ship turned around and went back to pick them up. One man was in pretty bad shape from dehydration. They were treated by the medical staff and evacuated to a Coast Guard ship later that day. We did not witness any of this as we went back to our stateroom and took a nap as we figured on being up very late for New Years. We did not even know the ship turned around&#33;  The NYE party was supposed to be outside on deck 11, but due to high winds was moved indoors around the atrium on decks 5, 6, &amp; 7. It was a great party with &#39;Twice as Nice&#39; providing the music and we had a ball welcoming 2006, and we were up very late&#33;  <br /><br />The ports were okay, but nothing to write home about. Great Stirrup Cay was not really great when we compared it to HAL&#39;s private island, Half Moon Cay. Nassau on Jan 2 was a holiday since the first fell on Sunday and not much was opened. The new port for us, Montego Bay, Jamaica was not as good as advertised in the song. Caymans, been there done that many times. Cozumel, did not get off the ship as Rita was getting sick watching the tender boats bounce around in the high seas. She said no way&#33; With five ships anchored the Cozumel economy sure needed the business, however we were a little surprised the cruise ships took the risk. Some who did tender told us how bad it was and how they got wet from the waves and how long the trip took. Others told us it was not as bad as it looked. The time to get there and get back seemed to long for us so we stayed aboard and hung out at the pool and drank rumrunners. We watched them set up the tables, etc. for the sail away party barbecue and watched them take it all down later as the winds picked up and rain threatened.  <br /><br />We were told about the person falling off the Costa ship the night before. The ship was still anchored in port when we left. We heard at least five versions of how the incident happened. Later in the early evening our ship encountered even higher seas and Rita was to ill to go to diner. Was it the seas or was it the rumrunners, or was it a combination of both? She said it was just the motion of the seas. Anyway, we just stayed in our stateroom and watched a couple movies. After we went to bed the seas got even worse, up to 15-20 foot swells. It was kinda like trying to sleep on a roller coaster, but we did manage to.  <br /><br />The next morning Rita was fine and very, very hungry&#33; It was a sea day and my birthday and the seas calmed down a lot from the night before. It was a little chilly for the pools, so we watched some football in the sports bar and made some additional donations to the casino to make up for missing a night. That evening we had reservations at Le Bistro with others to celebrate my birthday. We asked for a certain waiter that we were supposed to get, however when we arrived we were assigned to someone else. The service was not good. The food was fine, but in our opinion not any better than the &#39;free&#39; dining rooms. A couple of us ordered the chocolate fondue for dessert and they brought the fruit and forgot the chocolate. (duh)  <br /><br />The dreaded disembarkation day did not concern us to much as our flight was not until 4:20 in the afternoon and our day would be spent just waiting. We looked at taking a Houston excursion tour, however it did not include the Space Center or Aquarium and included the Galleria Mall. Not again, we were malled out. <br /><br />Once disembarking the ship we sat on the bus for at least and hour before getting into the log jam of buses leaving with the old and arriving with the new cruise paxs. We did not get to the airport until after 1:00. Our friends from Ft Worth were able to use express checkout and take their luggage off themselves. They were gone by 10:00. <br /><br />The first leg of our trip home was a couple hour layover in Memphis, on Elvis&#39;s birthday. Thank you, thank you very much&#33; We arrived home at 8:30 and a daughter and two of our grand kids picked us up and we walked in our door about 9:00 pm. Rita spent the next 3 hours removing the braids that took 2 hours to do in the Bahamas.  <br /><br />We had great weather the entire cruise except for the high seas on day and night 8. Although it threatened that day, it never rained. All in all we had a great cruise with great friends and met a lot of folks from all over--England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and of course, the good old USA. Freestyle dining is probably not our cup of tea. You don&#39;t really connect with any of your waiters and the service varies a lot. We are glad that freestyle is offered because it is a choice that many folks would like. With as many cruise lines and ships available there is plenty of room for choices, just like most other products.',1171830364,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',139,'Keith & Rita',1,128,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(185,110,'8/27/05','We liked Princess but would never do this ship again because of the layout and the size.','Background: DH and I have cruised more then 30 times on various lines but this is the first Princess cruise we have done in 5 years. There is no such thing as a bad cruise, just different from the others we?ve taken.  <br /><br /><br />Embarkation: Boarding was awful. They mean it when they say you can?t get on before 1:00. We were turned away by the port officials at 11:00 and told not to return until 1:00. Please know that if you take a bus you will be allowed in the terminal, not sure about cabs. This wouldn?t be a problem but we had to check out of our hotel so we really had no where to go. Part of the problem was caused by the hurricane and many parts of the city were without power. The beach was also impossible to get to due to the sand erosion. We?ll have a different plan next time for sure. We have also experienced long lines at this port before but not like the ones we noticed later in the afternoon. The line to embark stretched through the parking lot&#33; The worst we have ever encountered. Not sure if it is Princess or the design of the terminal. We arrived at 12:45 and were aboard in about 40 minutes.  <br /><br />Cruise Personalizer: They did put balloons outside our door on the day requested and my husband received a discount at Diamonds International coupon if he would like to buy me something??..I really laughed at that one&#33;   <br /><br />The Ship and the crew: The ship is lovely, not over the top but quite nice. There were some issues with the layout (like the stairs that suddenly stop) but we eventually got the hang of it. The crew seemed to be quite good upon our boarding but we really noticed that the service seemed to be lacking in some areas. More about that later.  <br /><br />The cabin: We had a balcony on Caribe deck&#33; Excellent&#33; Lots of room. We had 2 lounge chairs as well as a real table and 4 chairs. The 2 of us managed well in our cabin. We loved the design of the closet and the cabin. Only wish was for a bigger shower (of course). I kept hitting my arm into the grab bar. Storage was good and our cabin stewardess Elena from Romania was excellent&#33; Only 1 shelf in the shower and 3 small ones in the bathroom.   <br /><br />The food: The pizza on the ship was excellent. My DH liked the grill also. The buffets were lacking. The set up was poor and hard to maneuver. The food itself was drab to say the least especially breakfast. Lunch also lacked many days. Snack was pretty much the same things they served for lunch. The dining room menu was very similar to the buffet at lunch.  We had anytime dining and ate in the Palm dining room each evening. The first night was a disaster. We went to dinner around 7:00 and had no problem with lines. Our waiter however was poor and didn?t even ask if we wanted anything else, check on us during the meal, no small talk, etc. Very bad first experience with this type of dining but we decided to give it another shot the next evening. We found a marvelous waiter Radto from Thailand. He was perfect&#33;&#33;&#33; He was very courteous, friendly and eager to please. We wanted to eat with him each night since he was so good. We had an issue trying to get this arrangement but thanks to Radto who took on an extra table of 2 it was arranged. At this point I must say that the door matre?d tried to accommodate us but did a poor job until we gave him an extra tip. Now I don?t mind giving extra and usually do but I felt I had to in order to be happy. We took very good care of Radto at the end of the cruise.   <br /><br />Formal nights were Monday and Wednesday.   <br /><br />Ports: We have been to all the ports on previous cruises except Princess Cays. We didn?t spend much time there as the weather was cloudy and if you?ve seen one private island, you?ve seen them all. Jamaica we disembarked at the James Bond Pier. Awful&#33; Took a cab to do some shopping and returned to the ship. Cozumel we spent the day at Paradise Beach and loved it as usual. Grand Cayman we stayed on board and enjoyed the pool.   <br /><br />Disembarkation: The process was very long and they didn?t start calling colors until almost 9:00 AM. Fortunately the airport is close to the port for all those with early flights. Princess disembarks by floor, starting at the top for the general ship population. Early flights and Captains club got priority. Fortunately we were able to find our luggage quickly and headed out of the terminal.   <br /><br />Suggestions to Princess: You can take lessons from other lines with your Princess Patters. This paper is very difficult to read with things spread out way too much. The buffets were laid out poorly and they should be larger next time. Also the show lounges on this ship are way too small. If you didn?t arrive ? hour early you couldn?t get a seat. Also print more 6X8 photos&#33;&#33;&#33; Mostly expensive 8x10&#39;s available.  <br /><br />This was a lovely week for us DH and I as we were celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary. We try to get away once a year alone. We liked Princess but would never do this ship again because of the layout and the size. We have cruised on the Voyager class ships many times and they are laid out much better. We did do an open booking and will take another Princess cruise in the future but on a different class of ship.',1171839273,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',334,'Sailingrose',1,117,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(184,106,'2/25/06','Pride of America has sailing 10 months now, and is an excellent operation, in my opinion. But remember, opinions are like noses, everyone has one, but they are different.','My wife and I decided to take this cruise to celebrate her birthday. It was to be her first trip to Hawaii and my first in 36 years. We flew in two days before the cruise to visit Oahu, and rented a car at the airport. Despite the 13 hour trip from Virginia, we attended a luau the first evening, and on the second day we drove to Haunama Bay, where I had done my first snorkeling in 1967, and then to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north shore, almost a 2 hour drive. Roads are not well marked. We spent four hours visiting the villages representing each of the various areas of Polynesia, sampling foods like taro root and tapioca, and attending shows.  <br /><br /><br />On Feb 25 we checked out of the hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian village, and returned our Avis rental to a downtown location, where we caught a taxi for &#036;25 to the pier. We arrived about noon. There were no porters. Once inside the terminal the check-in process, through the Latitudes line, was about 5 minutes long, we were presented lei?s and shell necklaces, photographed, and we were on our way aboard. We were booked in a category BD balcony cabin, 9678, aft on the port side of deck nine. The balcony was very private with no one able to look down from above, equipped with two chaise lounges and a table. The cabin was fully ready, except for a missing TV remote and the packages of Kona coffee for the in room coffee maker, which our stewardess provided promptly. With in the hour they had announced that all decks were open for occupancy. The large refrigerator accommodated a champagne bottle easily. We had ordered the NCL romance package, which is a value that includes champagne and chocolate covered strawberries, dinner in the Bistro with a bottle of wine of your choice, canap?s one evening on formal evening, a 5x7 photo, and for those interested, a cake and champagne party?well worth the &#036;79 price.  <br /><br />We spent the early afternoon exploring the ship, and taking photos of the dining rooms and meeting facilities before the ship was crowded. While sailing full, it does not sail until 8pm due to the later day arrival of flights from the mainland. The ship was spotless, and in excellent shape. At lunch in the Aloha buffet, due to the less than positive reviews we had seen, I watched carefully to observe the staff behavior and general conditions. While the food selections are unlabeled, they are plentiful, with a selection of hot items, pizza, sandwiches, salads, desserts, and free soft ice cream. There were no tables left with used dishes, and staff appeared constantly to clear and wipe empty tables. It was no different than any other line I have been on in my 26 prior cruises. I made a point of speaking to staff throughout the cruise, asking where they were from. I was advised by the assistant hotel director that 75% must be US employees, and the rest US visa employees. They had just gone into the third 6 month contract period, and had major turnover in the dining room staff in December as a result. However, by February, it was not noticeable.   <br /><br />We made reservations on arrival for two specialty restaurant dinners, the Lazy J Steakhouse to eat with a group we were accompanying, and Jefferson?s Bistro, and ate in the Liberty Main Dining Room five nights, as we preferred the d?cor there to the Skylight Main Dining Room. The wait-staff in each of them was exceptional. I noted that the ship attempted to accommodate large parties at single tables, and saw groups of 12 to 24 frequently, even in specialty restaurants, something I have never seen on other ships. However, comments I heard indicated that the service was not as good/prompt for large parties as it was for small tables. We were accommodated at tables for two on the six nights we requested them, with out reservations, and with a short wait only on the optional formal night. Twice we were seated at window tables. The staff were very friendly, and gave us excellent service. I even ordered a bottle of Hawaiian produced wine which, after tasting, I declined and they provided me an alternative with no fuss. On another night, when they were out of the wine I ordered, they provided me a higher priced bottle at no extra charge. I had notified NCL that my wife was celebrating a birthday, and that night they sang to her and presented a large whipped cream covered cake, with no surcharge for it. It was excellent. My only comment was that there were only three entrees on the menu each night, a meat, fish and vegetarian choice. However always available was steak, salmon (a different presentation each night), and pasta. A lamb lover, I was a little disappointed that it never appeared on the menu.   <br /><br />The Japanese restaurant and Italian restaurants were kept busy, although my wife commented that the Italian restaurant looked, at least by daylight, more like an ice cream parlor than an Italian restaurant. The Jefferson?s Bistro was by far the most attractive and comfortable of the three NCL Bistro restaurants we have eaten in. Unfortunately, the menu is always the same, and less than imaginative in French offerings. In the Lazy J Steakhouse we ate with a group of 14 others, and interestingly they served the vegetable accompaniments family style, on plates to be passed. One of the party, all from England, was celebrating a birthday, and one of the waitresses, on request, sang several songs for the group. The group of Englishmen and women observed, from their viewpoint, the food was not served hot enough, and the wine not cold enough to suite the English. Personally, I didn?t notice, and thought it was fine.   <br /><br />There were two productions shows and I have to admit they among the best talent and performances I have see at sea, drawing a standing ovation on the night of the second show. They offered two performances each night. Other nights were juggler/comedians, and game shows. The day activities were lighter, as the ship is in port every day, but in Kauai, where it rained much of the two day stay, they revised the schedule of day activities to accommodate those staying aboard. There were opportunities to dance, and on Feb 28, Shrove Tuesday, they had a Mardi Gras party in, where else, the Mardi Gras Disco, where my wife even won a bottle of champagne. Two comfortable stops were the Pink Champagne Bar, where a pianist entertained in the evenings, and the Lanai Bar and Lounge on Deck 13, where a guitarist/singer entertained. This bar was closed for private functions the first two nights.  <br /><br />On the optional formal night I was one of about only a dozen men wearing a tuxedo or dinner jacket. There were officially one Hawaiian night, one Polynesian night, one optional formal night on Tuesday, and the rest listed as Resort Casual. In fact, it was Hawaiian night every night.   <br /><br />While NCL and NCL America are very strict about x-raying and confiscating any liquor or wine even in checked baggage, they will sell a bottle of wine at the bar for consumption in the cabin. I didn?t try to purchase other alcohol for the cabin. Drink prices, in my opinion, a higher than on other ships, which may be due to Hawaiian taxes, and gratuities are not automatically added, causing me to have to calculate between martinis&#33; I would prefer they automatically add the gratuity, as I suspect may servers get ?stiffed? on drinks, and I wouldn?t have to calculate every time.   <br /><br />The itinerary included a day berthed in Hilo, followed by a narrated sail at night past the coast where Kilauea Volcano is dumping fiery hot lava into the sea. Visibility was excellent. The next two days were spent pier side in Kahului, Maui, including an overnight. In a rented car we drove the road to Hana, and then continued on around the southern end of the island, stopping at the Tedeschi Vineyards before returning to Kahului. Early the next morning we drove the short distance to Maalaea harbor for an snorkeling excursion to Molokini, a rim of an eroded volcano 6 miles offshore. On the way to and from the site we stopped numerous times to view humpback whales surfacing, and occasionally breaching, sometimes less than 200 feet away. After a stop to visit Lahaina, where Island Princess was anchored, we returned to the ship for our sail away to Kona. Kona/Kailua was the only port in which we were anchored and required tendering, as did the HAL Amsterdam. Feeling that the Kona ?strip? was like the Lahaina ?strip? which is like most other cruise ports, we rented a car and drove 26 miles south to a lava covered beach touted as one of the best snorkeling spots in the area. Indeed it was, with absolutely beautiful coral in water of moderate depth, complete with moray eels and a variety of fish. But this harbor, adjacent to the City of Refuge State Park, is where spinner dolphins congregate. In deeper water, at one time I saw 37 dolphin below me, and on occasion they rose and swam within yards of me. A thrilling experience. From Kona we sailed to Nawiliwili Harbor in Kauai were we were pier side for a day and a half, including an overnight. The first day was occasionally rainy and the visibility of the higher mountains was occluded by clouds and fog. However we enjoyed the drive to Princeville and Hanalei Bay, stopping in Hanalei for lunch to enjoy marlin and tuna. The next morning we drove to Waimea Canyon, again partially obscured by clouds, and then back along the features of the southern coast of Kauai, including the blowholes and the beaches at Koloa and Poipu. Then, with a 2pm sailing, we sailed north around Kauai and past the NaPali coast, inaccessible except by sea. Narrated again as we sailed past, the vision was partially obstructed by fog, but the captain brought the ship quite close to the cliffs. We saw whales, again, during this passage. In fact, we saw more whales on this cruise in Hawaii than we did in Alaska.  <br /><br />The ship returned to Honolulu at 7am on the last day. Because of Freestyle debarkation, we were able to leave our carryon luggage in our cabin and enjoy breakfast in the dining room, which was open until 9am. Our flight home was not scheduled until 6pm, so we debarked about 9:30am, and took a taxi to the airport to rent a car. We placed all our luggage in the car and drove to Pearl Harbor to tour the museum and the Memorial. The 80 minute wait for our tour was spent touring the museum. The parking lot is patrolled by security, so we were not worried about the luggage in the car. After the visit, we drove around Diamond Head, and back into Waikiki for an early dinner, as there would be none on the plane. We returned the car at the airport and began our 11 hour flight home.   <br /><br />It was a memorable trip, on a beautiful ship, and a voyage we thoroughly enjoyed. While we left with some misgivings due to the unfavorable reviews we had read, we experienced none of the problems those reviews described, and I was looking for them. One might keep in mind that when a cruiseline brings out a new ship, they take experienced crew from other ships to man it. NCL America has a limitation. They cannot draw much from the rest of the NCL fleet, as the crew of each new ship must be at least 75% US. When Pride of Aloha was introduced, they had service problems, which mostly were eliminated by the time of the crew?s second 6 month contracts. When they introduced Pride of America, they had to take half of the Pride of Aloha crew to staff Pride of America, with 50% new hires. With this Pride of America staff into their third contract period, they will now be affected by the need to staff Pride of Hawaii with 50% drawn from Pride of Aloha and Pride of America. As with any line, I would not want to sail on a new ship until it had been operating 6 months to a year, to smooth out the systems problems and staffing issues. Pride of America has sailing 10 months now, and is an excellent operation, in my opinion. But remember, opinions are like noses, everyone has one, but they are different.',1171830437,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]ncl.gif',131,'JohnG',1,115,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(186,110,'7/8/06','Overall it was good, because the islands were incredible.','The entertainment is unmatched, hilarious comedians, and great shows, It was the best I&#39;ve experienced.  <br /><br /><br />The service as always was excellent, my kids always mentioned how great their steward was, and how great he treated them.  <br /><br />The cabin wasn&#39;t great, a bit small, but that is only because we were unable to get a mini - suite, although it was no dump, it wasn&#39;t great, but still good.  <br /><br />The food is my problem, the dinners were great great food, and excellent quality, although the buffets lacked content, and there just wasn&#39;t enough generic food such as pasta, or pizza, the food bars were delicious, tons of burgers and fries.  <br /><br />Overall it was good, because the islands were incredible.',1171839301,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',2552,'Brady121291',1,134,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(187,110,'9/2/06','All and all it was a great cruise to celebrate Rita Ann&#39;s early retirement&#33; Our first Princess experience was a good one and we would cruise with them again.','Caribbean Princess Sept 2-9, 2006  <br /><br /><br />Our trip began Sept 1 at our little airport. Our flight to Atlanta was at 6:00 AM, so we had to get up at 0-dark 30. Upon arriving at the Airport, at about 5:15, we were given the option of flying to Cincinnati instead on the 5:30 flight. We jumped on that deal as it would eliminate a 3-1/2 hour layover in Atlanta and get us to Ft Lauderdale 2 hours earlier.  <br /><br />When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale the Princess Rep greeted us at the baggage claim. She was there picking up others and was surprised we arrived so early. We had to wait about 20 minutes for others and then we loaded up in the bus to our hotel. We let Princess make all the arraignments and they put us up at the Marriott north, which is near nothing. It would not have been our pick for a pre-cruise hotel. The hotel was okay, just an inconvenient location. Rita&#39;s son Rob drove down from Orlando and met us at the hotel around 3:00. That evening, in a driving rain storm, we met up with some roll call folks at Mangos restaurant, which was about 10 miles from our hotel.  We had a nice meal and a few drinks and socialized for a couple hours. The food and atmosphere was very good. We give Mangos a thumbs <br /><br />Rob took us back to the hotel and spent another hour or so with us. It was a tearful good-bye as he headed back to Orlando that evening.  <br /><br />We slept in Saturday morning and had a late breakfast, as our bus was not arriving until 1:30 to take us to the ship. We arrived at port around 2:00 and were awestruck by the size of this ship. Wow, it was huge. They had the embarkation lines set up per decks, and we got in ours, the Riviera deck 14. In line we talked to some folks behind us that were taking their very first cruise. They wanted us to explain the procedure. I told them after they were checked in and received their key cards they would be on their way, with a stop to have their photo taken and their weight in&#33; They said WHAT?  I explained to them they would have to weight before and after the cruise. Their smiles dropped to a shocking look until they realized we were only kidding. They were good sports and got a good laugh out of that.  <br /><br />After finally getting on the ship about 2:30, we were surprised that no one was taking anybody to their cabins. They had staff giving directions and had the whole area jammed up with folks waiting for theirs. We slipped thru the crowd and took the stairs on up to deck 14, port side and found our cabin. We were pleasantly surprised with the size and we had our first balcony. It was very small with a plastic table and two chairs, however it was a balcony&#33;  <br /><br />After a meal in the buffet we did a quick tour of the ship and found our dinning table for our traditional late seating in the Island dinning room.   <br /><br />The standard lifeboat drill was unusual for us as all we had to do was grab our life jackets and head to the Club Fusion down on deck 7. We were a little early and got comfortable seats. The drill consisted of listening to an eight minute prerecorded message. After that you just put the jacket on briefly and you are finished. No standing out in the heat and humidify for 15 minutes wearing those hot jackets. We liked that&#33;  <br /><br />After the drill we returned to our cabin and unpacked, as our stuff showed up. That made us about 15 minutes late to our sail away meet with our roll call mates at Blackbeards. The band was playing a good Jimmy Buffett Rumba so we opened up the dance floor in front of the bar. Unfortunately no one joined us. We are not shy when inspired&#33;  We did not get to meet everyone, however we met a lot of the folks there and another meeting the next day at Outriggers.  <br /><br />Although large, the ship was very easy to negotiate and to get around. Since we were on deck 14 almost aft, all we had to do was walk a short distant and out the aft door and up about 3 steps to the aft pool and Outriggers Bar. Now that was very convenient. The buffet was just thru the sliding glass doors. There was two buffets, however they almost seemed like one.  Our dining room was mid-ship deck 5, the same deck as our original booked outside cabin. The other 2 dining rooms for free style, or as they called it, personal choice dining was on deck 6.  There was a pay steak house and an Italian restaurant, however since we liked our table mates we just stuck to our dinning room and table 253.   <br /><br />The food was okay, not the best and not the worst we&#39;ve had on a cruise ship. It was definitely better than what we get back home again in Indiana. Our table mates from Nashville, TN and Raleigh, NC were great. It was me and another Keith with six lovely ladies for a week. Life is grand&#33; The service was outstanding and we slipped an extra to our waiter and bus boy on our final evening. We had all the standards, lobster, beef wellington, crab legs, cold soups, etc. Do not get the cold pumpkin soup--it was terrible. Not the same as what we once got on our first Carnival cruise. Baked Alaska and the standard conga line was on our last evening. I asked for bread sticks on our first evening and never had to ask for them again. There was not a separate wine steward, just our waiter and he was very knowledgeable. We even attended a wine seminar and picked out a nice white wine. We also enjoyed a bottle from our TA.  <br /><br />The buffet was okay for breakfast and lunch, just not anything to write home about. The little round pancakes are like rubber. To get regular pancakes you had to have breakfast in the dining room, which we did on a couple occasions. We had lunch in the dining room a couple times, as well. We do enjoy the great service and setting with and meeting fellow passengers.  <br /><br />The only show we attended was to see the comedian Carl Strong. We met him at the Wheelhouse bar a couple days before his show and promised him we would attend. He was very funny and we enjoyed his show. We also met Bert Stratton and watched him a couple times in the standing room only Crooner&#39;s Martini Bar. He put on a very good show.  <br /><br />We mainly hung out at the a fore mentioned Wheelhouse as they played live dance music most of the evening and sometimes as late as 1:00 AM. The Jackie Harrison Trio played early and Phoenix Rising played later, after our dinner. We danced before and after dinner and it helped by burning up some of those extra calories we were accumulating.  We also danced a couple times in the Explorer Lounge to the music of Domino and in Club Fusion to the Music of Vibz. We visited Skywallker&#39;s Nightclub a couple times but the psychedelic hip-hop was not for us.   The music and dancing in the Wheelhouse was the best part of the cruise for us.  <br /><br />We donated to the casino and received our donation back. That was a first as we broke even for the week. We also entered the slot tournament and for a while I was on the board for the finals and Rita was on the board for the lowest score. I did not make the finals and her low score was surpassed right at the end.  <br /><br />We had the usual great cabin service and we tipped our steward extra beyond the auto tips being added to our account each day. As far as the balcony, we hardly used it. The only breakfast that could be ordered from room service was continental. One morning they did offer the Champaign breakfast for &#036;25, however we did not order it.  <br /><br />The itinerary was St Thomas, St Martin, and Princess Cays. In St Thomas we shopped and Rita found a nice dance dress. We also shopped in St Martin and found a few things. In Princess Cays we found a nice spot under a palm tree where Rita laid out while I snorkeled with my digital camera in a waterproof pouch. Actually I and just swam under water at the man-made reef taking photos and video clips without the snorkel equipment.  <br /><br />Other notes: The coffee in the dinning room was great but sometimes stale in the buffet. The photographers did a good job and we purchased a couple of our formal photos. The Australian Cruise Director was pretty funny and did a TV show each morning describing the upcoming daily activities. It was called Whazup TV. The AFT and FWD pools are adult only. We mainly laid out at the AFT pool and on the first sea day security actually enforced this and ran off some kids. The whereabouts of their parents was unknown.  All and all it was a great cruise to celebrate Rita Ann&#39;s early retirement&#33; Our first Princess experience was a good one and we would cruise with them again.   <br /><br />A highlight was meeting Cheryl and Wayne and their lovely daughter at the Lauderdale airport. They treated us to a nice lunch and we thank them for that. We now understand how their son Jason does such a great job with CruiseCrazies--he has tremendous roll models, and they are very proud of him&#33;',1171839373,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',139,'Keith & Rita',1,146,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(188,112,'6/18/05','I would highly recommend the Coral Princess for an Alaskan Cruise.','Arrived Anchorage about midnight and went straight to the hotel to crash. Next morning took Alaska Railroad (independently) to Whittier. It was a wonderful trip, half the price of the Princess tour and they delivered you luggage directly to the ship. Embarkation went quickly and we were in our cabin by 1PM. The Coral Princess is a wonderful ship you never feel crowded on her even when viewing the Glaciers. <br /><br /><br />The only thing in my opinion that was lacking was a lounge on the upper decks that you could view the sea while having a cocktail or just relaxing when underway, although you could hang out in the Horizon Court, but each table had a sign that asked you to not do this if you were not dining. We chose to use Princess Personal Choice Dining because we love the flexibility of dining when we wanted to. <br /><br />We never had to wait although on &quot;Lobster Night&quot; we were given a table in the Provence restaurant instead of the Bordeaux, it just happened to be time for the late seating. All of the ports were wonderful and the naturalist on-board was excellent. I would highly recommend the Coral Princess for an Alaskan Cruise.',1171839415,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1559,'jtutak',1,61,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(189,112,'9/20/05','Overall, an excellent cruise. I?ve tried to find some faults, but I can honestly say that I can?t complain about anything, well maybe the 130 mile drive to pick up my luggage.','Coral Princess - Panama Canal Transit - 9/20-10/5  <br /><br /><br />Pre-cruise. <br />Because this cruise was leaving out of LA we didn?t have a pre-cruise.  We cruised with my brother and his wife, who flew in a few days earlier from Georgia. We had a great time reminiscing and visiting with our kids. <br /><br />We stayed overnight on board the Queen Mary prior to boarding the Coral Princess. It was an interesting experience, but it does make you realize how far cruise ships have pushed the state of the art. The QM is not in really good shape, it has management problems and is deeply in debt. Haven?t spent a night on board I?m not surprised. Food prices are very high. A simple breakfast, two eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and coffee was &#036;15.50 per person.  We enjoyed the stay and would probably do it again as it was convenient.  <br /><br />Embarkation. <br />The following morning the weather was terrible, raining really hard. It was the first rain that we had seen since April. We got a taxi to the dock around 11 o?clock. Dropped off our luggage and checked in. We had Platinum priority check in, but even so everything was so well organized it was a breeze. We sat in the Platinum Lounge for about 15 minutes and then we were escorted onto the ship, This was about 45 minutes after leaving the QM. Our rooms were ready. We dumped our hand luggage and went into the Horizon Court for lunch.  <br /><br />Room. <br />We had a category AB mini-suite on Dolphin deck. It was outstanding. Not only was it spacious, it was very well designed and nicely decorated. The bathroom was quite large and contained a full size tub. The main area of the room had two TV?s and lots of large mirrors. Ample closet space, lots of drawers and a nice sized refrigerator. Room service started at 2:00 pm, so we ordered a bottle of champagne and a liter bottle of Absolut and toasted to a great cruise. The cabin steward was excellent. He was both personable and very efficient. Our room was made up very promptly and any extras we wanted were available immediately. We are always early risers. The steward remarked to us that early risers make his job easier and late risers sometimes cause his day to drag out.  <br /><br />Food. <br />As always a personal thing. The food was overall fair. There seemed to be less choice. Lamb was on the menu six times in the 15 days. I like lamb, but I?ve definitely had better than was served. There was lobster on two occasions and my Princess favorite, king crab legs once. The appetizers were excellent as was the soups. The desserts looked very good, but I always had the sorbet, Princess has the best sorbet.  Food in the Horizon Court was quite good, with a wide choice.  We enjoyed the afternoon snacks. We would get a plate of cheeses, cold cuts, etc and have them around 4:30 on the balcony.  We had the ?Balcony Breakfast? as we sailed through the Panama Canal. It was delightful. Princess really outdid themselves. It cost &#036;25 per couple, but was worth twice that. If you get a chance to do this breakfast, don?t hesitate. In the dining room we had a table for eight and we had the company of two delightful couples. Everyone was so compatible and dinner was always enjoyable. Our waiter and assistant waiter were very good, very efficient and quickly learned our likes and dislikes. I kept them busy with wine service and they never faltered.  <br /><br />Dress. <br />We expected this cruise to be fairly dressy. It wasn?t. We had three formal nights and the rest were smart casual. Princess?s idea of smart casual is slacks and collared shirt for men and dress or pant suit for women.  On the formal nights, I?d estimate about 40% tux?s for men. The rest being suits or long sleeved shirts with and without a tie. There were some men in sports shirts on formal night.  On smart casual night there was the whole range from suits to jeans and sleeveless tee-shirts. For the men, ?joiner? pants, the ones with lots of bulky pockets, were quite prominent. For the women, there were a lot of capris. We dressed for dinner on four smart casual nights in what used to be semi formal, suits and tie for men and cocktail dresses for the ladies. We were definitely in the minority, but we enjoyed it. I did not see any shorts in the dining room at dinner. One reason I took special note of what people were wearing was because of all the controversy on Cruise Critics about dress code in the dining room.  <br /><br />Ports. <br />We did only one organized tour, in Puerta Caldera, Costa Rica. In all the other ports we just walked around, sampled the local food and brews, and did some shopping. Most unusual for us, but we decided to spend our time with my brother and his wife and they are not big tour people. We had a lot of fun, however. In Acapulco, the ladies decided they wanted to buy some clothes and shoes. Acapulco has some really nice dress shops and every other store is a shoe shop. It rained very heavily in Acapulco and we got soaked, but had fun imitating Gene Kelly in ?Singing In The Rain?.  Huatulco is the new gem of the Mexican Riviera. It?s a beautiful little town and is growing very fast. Had a great time shopping and sitting on the beach eating pulpo (octopus) cerviche.  Aruba is fast becoming one of our favorite ports. My wife especially likes the jewelry stores. She bought a beautiful gold bracelet, probably not a bargain, but very different to anything you see in the US.  <br /><br />Entertainment <br />For once I thought that the entertainment was above average. One thing that I like about Princess is the piano music that is available around the ship. We especially enjoyed David Juneau playing in the Atrium every night before dinner. The big production shows were well done and very entertaining. We thought that ?Tribute? was well scripted, choreographed and very well performed.  <br /><br />The Ship. <br />The Coral is a very spacious ship, lots of public areas and it was in immaculate condition. The pool area was very spacious with lots of empty deck chairs, no hogging. The four story Atrium is very attractive and well laid out, lots of room and plenty of seating. We were so impressed that we booked on board to sail on Island Princess, Coral?s sister ship, next March. One thing that was very obvious was the attitude of the crew. I can?t remember a cruise where every single person that we met/saw was so upbeat. It was quite amazing. Even the two mechanics who came to fix a minor problem in our cabin were so pleasant and polite.  <br /><br />Debarkation. <br />Debarkation was a breeze. We walked off the ship, picked up our luggage, cleared Customs and took a taxi to the airport. We did curbside check in and in less than 40 minutes from leaving the ship, we were having a cup of coffee in the airport. That included paying for the overweight luggage that belonged to you know who.  Inside the airport, we had a little excitement. We had to evacuate the terminal because of an emergency situation. It lasted about a half hour. Never did find out what it was.  When we arrived home, we found American Airlines had lost my garment bag. It took three days to get it back and I had to drive 130 miles round trip to pick it up.  <br /><br />Overall, an excellent cruise. I?ve tried to find some faults, but I can honestly say that I can?t complain about anything, well maybe the 130 mile drive to pick up my luggage.',1171839458,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',590,'jbond',1,80,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(190,112,'5/30/06','I would rate this Coral Princess an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. The overall experience was excellent.','Ports of Call:  <br />Port Everglades; Aruba; Panama Canal, Port Amador; ; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Huatulco; Acapulco; Cabo San Lucas; San Francisco. Eight sea days. Total distance at sea: 5,037 Nautical Miles.  <br /><br /><br />Cruise Experiences: <br />This was our 18th cruise with Princess (168 days total) and our 46th cruise overall.  <br /><br />This was our first time aboard the Coral Princess. Our last Princess sailing was in January of 2005 aboard the Diamond Princess. The Coral Princess is a largest ship capable of a Panama Canal transit. Checking in at 91,627 gross tons and with a passenger capacity of about 1970 and a crew of 900. In command was Captain Georgio Pomata. The Coral was built by in 2002 and is beginning to show her age in some areas.   <br /><br />Embarking/Disembarking: <br />Check in was great for us as Captain?s Club Elite Members (16+ cruises). We arrived at the cruise terminal in Ft. Lauderdale at about 1:30 PM and there was no one at the Elite Member counter, so we literally walked directly on board after giving the desk our credit card imprint and picking up our room card/key.  <br /><br />Disembarking was the best we have experienced in all of our cruises. We were off the ship at 8:30 AM and at the Oakland airport by 9:15 AM. Prior to disembarking we cleared U.S. Customs and had breakfast in the dining room.  <br /><br />Stateroom: <br />We had a stateroom with balcony, B514 on the Baja Deck. The room was almost identical the rooms we had aboard the Grand and Golden Princesses. Quite large as cruise ship staterooms go. I really enjoyed the little detailing that was evident in the room. Some of the extra touches included crown molding, a wood trimmed archway between the closet, bathroom area and the bedroom area. I would rate the stateroom as excellent to outstanding. We used the queen bed configuration and there was ample room on both sides of the bed to navigate. Stateroom did include a refrigerator which in our case was stocked at no charge because of Captain?s Club Status. Bathroom was typical of cruise ships. Shower was the smallest we have experienced aboard a cruise ship&#33; Don?t really know how some of the larger folks aboard were even able to use it. I experienced no change in water temp. Supplied amenities were excellent (Lotus Spa soap, shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, etc.) I really don?t know if these were upgraded in any way because of our CC status.  <br /><br />Restaurants and Food: <br />There are two dining rooms aboard the Coral: The Provence on Deck 6 and The Bordeaux on Deck #5, both are located midship.   <br /><br />Breakfast and lunch were served in the Bordeaux Dining Room (open seating) and in the Horizon Court Buffet (Deck #14 midship). The quality and variety of the food was excellent throughout the cruise. We ate most all of our dinners in the Provence with the exception of a couple of evenings following long shore excursions, when we ate in the Horizon Court. All of our breakfasts and lunches were in the Horizon Court. Selections were all great; we particularly enjoyed the ?cooked to order? egg station, which had been missing on the Diamond. I am not fond of the large oval plastic plates used in place of a tray and smaller dishes. Missed the china used on Celebrity. The coffee all over this ship was outstanding except for the Horizon Court where it was made from syrup.   <br /><br />Entertainment: <br />There were the usual mix of musical revues and guest entertainers spread throughout the ship in various lounges and of course in the theater. They also had the usual audience participation show (newly wed game, Deal or No Deal, etc.). Their show times and locations were quite a challenge to figure out and made it a job to plan your evening?s entertainment. I felt the Coral Princess Singers and Dancers did an outstanding job. This troupe was somewhat larger (in number) than we have seen on other ships. The only problem with the entertainment was that every show, lecture and presentation was packed to ?standing room only? regardless of venue. In order to get a seat for anything you had to arrive at least a half hour prior to the start, and if you wanted a ?good seat? it was more like a full hour.  <br /><br />Cruise Director Gavin Chandler did a creditable job, but I would not rate him as exceptional. Paolo Noonis and the Coral Princess Orchestra were outstanding.  <br /><br />For an after-show drink and dancing, I would recommend the Wheelhouse Bar. A great, comfortable lounge with fantastic furnishings, not quite as spectacular as the Wheelhouse aboard the Diamond however. The dance floor is exceptional and the music was above average.  <br /><br />The Princess Casino was the very well laid out with a British theme. And, since I live in Las Vegas I?ve seen a lot of casinos&#33; There was actually room to walk around in this casino. They did not cram in all that they could as they do in most shipboard casinos. We did not spend any time in the Casino, but when we passed through it never seemed over crowded.  <br /><br />Other:  The pool areas were great, especially the indoor pool. The exercise room in the Lotus Spas looked great although I must confess we did not use it.. The ship featured a so called ?Internet Caf?? which IMHO is somewhat of a joke. About a dozen computers placed in two corner areas of the Atrium on Deck #8. No privacy whatsoever and at any given moment about 5 or 6 of the units would be out of service. Connections were very, very slow and unreliable. At &#036;.35 per minute it took about 10 minutes to get your email server open. It was free for us because of our CC status and I?m sure glad I did not have to pay for it&#33;&#33; This setup is a real bummer.   <br /><br />The gift shops were well stocked and stayed open most nights past 10 PM. The photographers were around the ship but never intrusive. Announcements over the ships intercom were kept at a minimum.  <br /><br />Ports of Call:  <br /><br />Aruba <br />We were in port in Aruba on Saturday, May 6th from 8:00 AM till 5:00 PM. Ship tied up right downtown, so shopping was within easy walking distance. We window shopped for a couple of hours and returned to the ship for lunch and a relaxing afternoon on board.  <br /><br />Panama Canal and Port Amador <br />The canal transit was fantastic and a ?must do? for every cruiser&#33;&#33; Our full transit took all day Monday, May 8th. Our evening stop at Port Amador was a joke. Don?t even bother with this port. We tendered in, walked through their ?Mall?, and walked directly back to the tender pier and returned to the ship. Heard a number of complaints aboard about the two shore excursions offered here.  <br /><br />Puntarenas <br />We were docked here from 7:00 AM until 6:00 PM on Wednesday, May 10th. During the morning we walked down the pier to an informal shopping area along the beach. Lots of very nice handicrafts and Costa Rican items. A very enjoyable experience and, yes we did purchase some things to bring back with us.  <br /><br />During the afternoon we did a bus trip to Sarchi about an hour and a half inland. Visited a factory where hand painted Ox Carts are made. A truly amazing place. We purchased a very small ox cart which is now on our bar. Almost purchased a much larger one for our screened porch to use as a serving cart, but simply ran out of time.  <br /><br />Huatulco <br />We docked at the new pier in Huatulco from Noon till 6:00 PM on Friday, May 12th. This is a new port being created by the Mexican Government and reminded us very much of Costa Maya. Prime attractions here are the many unspoiled beaches.  <br /><br />Acapulco <br />Docked from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 13th. We did an all day tour which was privately arranged by a fellow passenger we ?met? on the internet. We had six passengers in our van with our driver/tour guide. A fantastic day for a great price (when compared with what the ship offered.)  <br /><br />Cabo San Lucas <br />As most cruiser know this is a tender port. We did however, have a full day here rather that the typical half day on most of the other cruises we have been on. Just wandered around town shopping and enjoying the sights of a port we have been to many, many times.  <br /><br />Overall: <br />I would rate this Coral Princess an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. The overall experience was excellent. I have deducted for the small shower, the internet caf?, and some little items needing attention like the railing of the balconies.',1171839497,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',920,'The Skipper',1,147,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(191,111,'7/2/06','This was the great cruise for us. I would have liked to go to Grand Turk. The extra sea day we had was also a fabulous day, and any day on a cruise is better than most. I highly recommend this ship.','This cruise was our 2nd on Princess and our 7th cruise overall. We had great service and a lot of really nice fellow cruisers.  Living near Philly, we like to sail out of New York when we can because it&#39;s a drive of about an hour and forty-five minutes.  <br /><br /><br />Embarkation  <br /><br />The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is brand new, and it shows. We drove up on a Sunday, so traffic wasn&#39;t too bad. I read that other people had trouble finding the terminal, but we found it with no problem. There are lots of police in the immediate area directing traffic, and it moved well. Once we got to the terminal, we pulled up and dropped our bags off, and then drove to the parking lot. The lot was adjacent to the terminal, and there were pleanty of spots for all the people who drove.  <br /><br />Once we got into the terminal, the line to check-in seemed very long. The terminal itself is spotless, but not many places to sit. They send you through a maze like you were going on one of the rides in Disney, and the line never stopped moving. We got to the registration desk in about 30 minutes, which wasn&#39;t bad considering the amout of people there. With express check-in it took about 3 minutes to get past there and get on the ship. For those of you who have sailed out of NY from the cruise terminal on the west side, the difference is day and night. No traffic horrors, and the terminal is clean and new.  <br /><br />The Ship  <br /><br />The Crown Princess is a brand new ship. We were on her third voyage. She is a beautiful ship with lots of art work throughout. It isn&#39;t the best laid out ship that we have been on, but it only took a couple of days to get our bearings. We were on the Riviera deck which is right below the Lido deck. This made it very convenient to the buffet. We were located under one of the pool areas, and could here people walking above us during the day, but never really heard anything at night. Never a real problem The problem is that the cabin (a balcony cabin) was the smallest cabin we have ever cruised in. There was pleanty of storage space, though, and we got used to the size pretty quickly. The balcony felt about the size of all the others we have had in the past, with 2 chairs ( lounges) and a pretty large table. It was covered by the Lido Deck which jutted out quite a bit. We had some rain on the trip, but never got wet on our balcony.  <br /><br />The unique thing about this ship is the atrium. The bottom of the atrium is an area called the Piazza which is set up like a street scene in Italy. There is constant entertainment in the courtyard there, including any thing fom a piano player playing classical music, to juglers, to acapella sings, to magicians.You can view the goings-on there from the two decks above it as well. This is a real plus for the ship. Also in the atrium are two decks of boutiques, a piano bar, a wine bar, the internet bar,and the registration desk. The casino is right off the atrium, but since I never use it, I can&#39;t tell you much about it.  <br /><br />Another unique area is the Sanctuary This is an adults-only lounging area above the spa. There is a &#036;15 charge to use the area for half a day (4 hours). The chaises in the area are much more plush than any I have seen on a cruise before, and much of it is covered. There is a pool there and food and beverage service. We never used the area, so I don&#39;t know what the sevice is like (as a matter of fact, we never even met anyone who said that they used the area). There always looked as if there were lots of space there.   <br /><br />The Terrace Pool aft is also an adult-only area and that area is where we were if we were out by the pool.  <br /><br />Food  <br /><br />Over all the food was very good. We had dinner in the Botticelli Dining Room which is a fixed seating dining room. We had late seating. We requested a large table for dinner, but when we found our table, we were at a table for two. his was disapointing to us as we enjoy meeting new people and talking about our day with them. Luckily, the 2 tables for two right next to us had great people and it was almost as if we had a table for six. There are many more tables for 2 in this dining room than I have ever seen before. The menus are much more limitted than in the past, but I had no problem finding something I enjoyed each night.The lobster was excellent, probably the best I&#39;ve had on a cruise. The next night was King Crab legs, and they were great also. Lots of seafood on the menu. Two formal nights: 1st sea day and 3rd sea day.  <br /><br />We ate breakfast every day in the Horrizon Court, and this too was good. The selection didn&#39;t vary greatly, but it seldom does.Lunch was either in the Horrizon Court, or pizza, or burgers. The lunch in the horizon court was consistantly good, but we just are never used to having such fancy lunches. The burgers were fine, but the pizza was not the best we ever had on a cruise. Since my wife is addicted to pizza, we still had to have some.  <br /><br />There were no midnight buffets that we noticed on this cruise, not even a grand buffet. The only place on the ship to get food late at night was in the International Cafe in the Piazza. They had specialty coffees and sanwiches. They also had pastries and cookies. These cookies may have been the best cookies that I have ever had on a cruise (possibly in my whole life), and they were free and always available. I can&#39;t stress it enough, if your on this ship, get some of these cookies.  <br /><br />Entertainment  <br /><br />The entertainment was only fair on this cruise. The Cruise Director is James Lay, but we have had better. He is a very nice gentleman. We never really get into the entertainment around the pools, but from what we heard, other ships do a better job of it. The Princess Theater shows were hit and miss. A couple of good comedians, and a very good singer, but another of the comedians was just plain bad. They have two productions shows. The first is called &#39;Destination Anywhere&quot; which I enjoyed, and the second is called &quot;Motown&quot; which was hit and miss. I must say, though, that the kids who perform in these shows are some of the more talented performers that we&#39;ve seen on cruise ships.  <br /><br />We really enjoyed the Art Auctions that they had on all of the sea days. Princess does a much better job on their auctions than the other cruise lines. We really learned lots about art on this cruise.  <br /><br />Ports  <br /><br />We did St Thomas, San Juan, and Bermuda . This is where the major problem with the cruise comes in. We were supposed to leave New York at 5pm, Well that came and went. A couple of hours later we heard that the reason we haven&#39;t left yet was that the ship didn&#39;t receive enough fuel from the company supplying them. We were told that they were expecting more fuel about 9 pm and then we would depart. 9 pm came and went also, and we were still in Brooklyn. We went to bed and were awoken at 12:30 by the captain telling us over the intercom that the fuel they brought was not the correct fuel for this ship, and we were going to sail anyway. He said tat we would refuel at our 1st port-of-call. Unfortunately, due to leaving late, we would be missing Grand Turks altogether, and our 1st port would be San Juan. We found out the next day that they were giving everyone on the ship a &#036;200 credit per person and an extra day at sea. To be honest, there was not much grumbling at all about missing the port after this.  <br /><br />San Juan was just OK. Lots of police waking around the Old City with flak jackets on. That can make you a little nervous. We toured the city and forts, and did a little shopping.   <br /><br />St. Thomas is just flat beautiful. We toured the island and took lots of pictures, then we shopped. We really loved this island.  <br /><br />Bermuda is one of our favorite places. Unfortunately, we got there on a Sunday and most srores were closed. We took a glass-bottom boat and snorkelling excursion. This was very good. The snorkelling was great with lots of fish to see.   <br /><br />Service  <br /><br />This was also great. The crew was helpful whereever you were on the ship, and very friendly. Our Cabin Steward was one of the best we ever had. He was vaery attentive to our requests, and was never intrusive. Our waiters in the dining room were great also. There was some minor problems, but I have to chalk them up to the ship being brand new.  <br /><br />Over all  <br /><br />This was the great cruise for us. I would have liked to go to Grand Turk. The extra sea day we had was also a fabulous day, and any day on a cruise is better than most. I highly recommend this ship.',1171839530,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1210,'rogue',1,177,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(192,111,'9/21/06','If your looking for a relaxing cruise Princess fits the bill. We spent much time doing absolutely nothing&#33; It was wonderful.','We have cruised more than 35 times. This is our 3rd Princess cruise.   <br /><br /><br />Pre-cruise: We stayed at the Comfort Inn on 46th Street in the heart of Times Square. Excellent location but the church next doors bells start ringing at 7 am. Didn&#39;t bother us since we were already partly awake. We did some shopping and grabbed a deli sandwich when we arrived. Hotel was clean and the staff good. We arranged car service to the pier with Carmel Limos. They sent us a driver that had no idea how to get to the pier but he had GPS and since I had the address we had no problems.   <br /><br />Embarkation: We embarked the Crown at the new Brooklyn Terminal. Princess did a wonderful job and we waited only about 10 minutes to board the ship. We went right to our cabins and settled in. We were in Caribe 714. Good cabin with a balcony 1/2 shade 1/2 sun. Excellent location.  <br /><br />The Ship: The Crown is a beautiful ship with lots of room to roam. It is very similar to the Caribbean Princess. We never really felt crowded but we avoided high traffic events like the Champagne waterfall and the Captain&#39;s party. We loved the addition of the International Cafe and the Coffee Bar. I purchased the coffee card for &#036;24 + tip. Well worth it to this coffee lover. We did not go to the Sanctuary but did use the aft pool. Get there early for a seat. Bar staff at Mermaids there was wonderful. The piazza where the International cafe (charges for some items) and the Coffee bar are located was great. Also there is Vintages wine bar. There were several performances there each day, jugglers, bar demos, food demos, singers, etc. Fun place to hang around. We did experience a short blackout in San Juan but it was handled well. Some of the crew was still there from the list and a few looked pretty nervous. I couldn&#39;t blame them as I was thinking the same thing. At least we were in port.  <br /><br />The Crew: The cruise director was Omar Lugo who used to work for RCI. All the cruise staff was wonderful but we loved Matt as he had great spirit. Our cabin steward Nora was good and we had no issues with our cabin whatsoever. All the bar staff was great, especially Stefano in the International Cafe.   <br /><br />Dining: We had traditional 2nd seating and were very pleased. Last year we tried anytime and felt it was missing something. We loved our waiter Jozeph and our Head Waiter Francesco. They were excellent and took very good care of our special requests as well as surprising me for my birthday with a cake. Francesco really spoiled me with Calamari, Focatti bread, and Octopus just to name a few. All excelllent. The first few meals were just OK. Once we got to Italian night everything got much better. The last evening was the baked Alaska parade and we loved it. This is one of the things we were missing with anytime dining. Also we were able to develop a nice relationship with our waitstaff, also missing from anytime. We never felt rushed. We sat next to a wonderful couple we met through another cruise board and enjoyed each others company all week.  <br /><br />The buffet was typical cruise food. I thought the quality dropped a lot since last year on the Caribbean. The sandwiches and the Quiche were excellent as well as the cookies. The cakes looked great but not worth the calories. Ice cream is served on the closed side of the dining room from 3:30 to 4:30 each day. 4 flavors to choose from, try the Rum Raisin and the Melon sorbet. We tried lunch in the dining room and had excellent service as well as good food.   <br /><br />Ports: We went to St. Thomas, San Juan, Royal Dockyard Bermuda and Grand Turk. We didn&#39;t get off the ship in San Juan and St. Thomas except to pick up some wine and other small items. Princess allows you to carry on wine and no one even attempted to take it from me. Grand Turk was HOT and very expensive. This will be a great port once it&#39;s built up more. Many of the stores are unoccupied and the only real stores here are Goodmarks Jeweler and Del Sol. There were a few huts with local crafts, pretty much what you can get anywhere in the Bahamas. Jimmy Buffet&#39;s Margaritaville was here and looked great. They had a pool with a swim up bar and many said it was wonderful. Bermuda was the main attraction for me. We took the water taxi to Hamilton and enjoyed strolling the streets and talking to the locals. We stopped for some refreshments along the way and enjoyed our fact finding mission. I plan to return again to see more. We were docked at the Clocktower mall and there were some good shops also more of the usual souveniers. I did enjoy going into the &quot;Bermuda Triangle.&quot; Great little store and supposedly part of the real Bermuda Triangle. Met the owner and she was lovely to speak to and she helped my pick out true Bermudian souveniers.   <br /><br />General: If your looking for a relaxing cruise Princess fits the bill. We spent much time doing absolutely nothing&#33; It was wonderful.',1171839562,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',334,'Sailingrose',1,141,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(193,113,'5/10/04','Back to Back Alaska 2004 <br />Author: Paul Bjorlin<br />Age: 51<br />Number of cruises taken: 14<br />Cruise ship: Dawn Princess<br />Date: May 10 and May 17, 2004 sailings','I will give a little background information of myself for those who may not know me. I hope this will help in understanding some of my review. Even though I have cruised in the Caribbean, Hawaii and the Panama Canal, Alaska is my favorite place to cruise and I do keep returning. I am not a person who is looking for a shopping destination or a good beach to lie on. I do not spend my time looking for stains on the carpets and drapes or looking for rust and dirty windows on a cruise. I am an easygoing type person who just loves to cruise and meet new people while onboard a cruise. I will also say that I do sell cruises but I am making my review on my own personal time spent on a cruise and I am NOT making the review to try to sell anyone a cruise. This is just my own personal honest opinion and nothing more. <br /><br />First off we booked this cruise at this time based on the price that Princess was offering at the time. Princess does happen to be our favorite cruise line but we were looking to cruise with some other people on a Celebrity ship. We just could NOT pass up the price they had for the sailings we took. We booked back to back because we only had so many vacation days to use and seeing we had been in Alaska several times before we decided to not do any land portion and just cruise back and save on airfare. <br /><br />We did book our own airfare from our hometown and we flew into Vancouver a couple days early so we could meet up with our tablemates that we had during our Panama Canal cruise in 2001. They live in Vancouver and gave us a great tour of the city while we were there and had us over for a nice barbecue at their home. <br /><br />While in Vancouver we stayed at the Blue Horizon Hotel on Robson Street. Someone from the cruise boards recommended this to us. This turned out to be a wise choice. It is not far from Canada Place and there is a lot of activity in the area. The hotel is very nice, however it does have very narrow hallways. We would stay there again without hesitation. <br /><br />It was finally time to board the Dawn Princess. We left the hotel for Canada Place at 11:00 a.m. It was a short ride from the hotel. When we got there they were not ready to board anyone because the Dawn Princess had arrived in port late due to mechanical problems. They were still getting the other passengers off of the ship. We finally were allowed to start the boarding process about 12:45 p.m. and we were in our room by 1:10 p.m. We had booked an inside room D179. This is on the 8th deck in the aft section of the ship. It is directly over the Vista Lounge and showroom. For those wondering no you could not hear the noise in the showroom from our cabin. <br /><br />We had been on the Dawn Princess twice before and we had been on the Sun Princess, her sister ship, once before so we were very familiar with the layout of the ship. This was nice because we did not have to stumble around lost and do our little tour of the ship. <br /><br />When we got to the cabin we started to unload our carryon luggage. As we finished this our first big piece of luggage arrived so we unpacked it and just as we finished our next piece of luggage arrived. This worked out real well because we never had luggage in our way to unpack. It was almost as if they were watching and waiting to give us the luggage at the right time, yes I do know they were not doing that and it was just pure luck. <br /><br />When we boarded our sign and sail card said we would have the late seating in the Venetian dining room. We prefer early seating but seeing we had been on a wait list for traditional seating we decided to stick with late seating. I know many people like late seating but it does not work well for us. Due to medical reasons we try to stick to specific dining times and late seating caused us some problems with that. We were seated at a table for six however we were the only ones that showed up. The next couple nights were the same. A table next to us was for eight people but only four showed up at that table so we asked to be moved to that table and were told we could do so. We also did ask the people at that table if it was all right if we joined them and they said it was. The people at that table were a family from St. Croix Virgin Islands. We enjoyed their company and did exchange address and phone information to stay in touch. Our waiters for this week were Miguel and Ricardo from Mexico. They did and excellent job and were very friendly and liked to joke around with us. This is something we enjoy. Our headwaiter was Catalan. <br /><br /><br />The first day out of Vancouver is a sea day. The weather was in the upper 60?s and the seas were fairly calm. We of course got use to the ship again and searched out our favorite lounges and of course my wife searched out bingo and the casino. I spent much of my time meeting new people and the crew. I did find the waiter from the last time we were on the Dawn Princess. It took him a minute to remember us but it did finally click in with him. It was good to see him again. <br />As long as I am talking about the sea day and checking out the ship I will now try to answer a few questions about the ship that people have. <br /><br />1. Is the ship in good shape? Yes absolutely it is in good shape. The crew is cleaning and working on the ship all the time. <br />2. Can you find worn spots on the ship? Yes if you want to spend your time looking for it you can find some chairs and carpet that needs to be replaced but overall everything was in good shape and working order. <br />3. Are the pools, even though they are outdoors, open on an Alaskan cruise? Yes the pools are open 24 hours a day just like in the Caribbean. Of course they shut a pool down now and than for cleaning. Yes there were people using the pools even in Alaska. <br />4. How is the food onboard? This is a personal preference I enjoyed the food, however you must keep in mind that I have a special diet and have them change the way they make things for me. All the people we did eat with for the two weeks onboard told me they enjoyed the food. The only complaint I heard was that the food in the buffet was not hot enough for one person. <br />5. How was the crew? The crew did a great job. The DJ in the disco lacked some personality but other than that I had nothing but a positive experience dealing with the crew. <br />6. How was the entertainment? This again is personal preference, however I will say they need a new trumpet and trombone player. I will also say they had one magician who was not very good and an impersonator who was terrible. All the other comedians and entertainers did a great job and I would go see them again. They did change magicians and comedians in Skagway. <br />7. Do they have a laundry to use while onboard? Yes they do. You can have them do your laundry for a charge or there is a laundry for your use on every passenger deck. The washer, dryer and irons do not have a charge for their use. You can buy detergent but I am not sure of the price because my wife took care of that. <br />8. Is there a lively nightlife on Princess in Alaska? There will be a nightlife but due to the fact that most people who cruise Alaska are there to see Alaska and can tend to be a little older the nightlife will end earlier than in the Caribbean. <br />9. What are some of the better lounges on the Dawn Princess? The Wheelhouse lounge will have music and easy dancing in the evenings. Jammers will have the disco music and the karaoke as well as the younger crowd. <br />10. Do they have alternative dining onboard the Dawn Princess? Yes they do have the steakhouse, which sets up in the Horizon Court in the evenings, and there is a charge for this. They also have the pizza parlor available. The Horizon Court buffet is open 24 hours a day. <br />11. Were there long lines for the Personal Choice dining room? I did notice lines on a couple nights starting around 5:30 p.m. but I never paid a lot of attention to the Personal Choice dining room. <br />12. Do they have a soda card? Yes they do. The charge was &#036;22.50 for the 7 night cruise. You are given a thermal cup to keep and they will put a sticker on your sail and sign card. You only need to show the sticker to get more soda you do NOT need the cup. <br />13. Does the soda card work in all the lounges and at dinner? Yes the card works in every lounge and in the dining rooms. The soda card does NOT work for room service. <br />14. Did they have outdoor activities while in Alaska on sea days? Yes they did have basketball, table tennis and a few other outdoor activities outside onboard during sea days. <br /><br />The second day we hit Ketchikan. The skies were clear and the temperature got into the mid 70?s. We spent the day getting our gifts that we would be buying and bringing home to the kids and grandkids. We than just took it easy onboard the ship and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The one thing we did notice, and this would be in all the ports, is that many of the shops from the Caribbean are buying up storefronts and setting up shop in Alaska. Now this may be nice for the hard-core shopper but for me it took away from the experience of a small Alaskan town. I personally do not want to see a store sign that says Caribbean Jewelry or Caribbean t-shirts when I am in Alaska. I also do not care to see a Diamonds International on every block. This is just my opinion. <br />Our next stop was Juneau. The skies are still clear and the temps are still in the 70?s. There is a slight breeze but it just keeps you comfortable. In Juneau we had already booked a tour with Orca Enterprises and Capt. Larry. Orca Enterprises has also bought out its former competitor and has expanded. Our whale watch was at 12:30 p.m. Due to the breeze there was a little chop on the ocean but very little. Capt. Larry took us out to where he had seen a pod of Orca on his earlier tour. The Orca?s were gone but there were 7 or 8 humpbacks feeding in the area as well as a large group of sea lions. Capt. Larry had to shut down the boat because the humpbacks just kept moving in close around us. We did get some great pictures as well as video. A mother and her calf came within 20 feet of our boat. They were so close that when they dove there was no way we could get a complete picture of the tale. The tale filled up the camera lens. We did have the Dawn Princess ship naturalist onboard with us while with Capt. Larry. After our tour it was time to head back to the ship and get ready for dinner and to head to the next port. <br /><br />Our next stop was in Skagway. The weather is still warm and very clear. We were the only ship in town this day and it was nice to be able to walk around without the large crowds from an overload of cruise ships. Skagway happens to be one of my favorite stops on an Alaskan cruise. In the past I have always taken different tours that took up most of the day and only spent a short time within the town. This time we decided to just check out the town itself, especially seeing there was only our ship in port. Skagway is also being taken over by the Caribbean stores. They are trying to keep the same historic look of buildings, even the newer buildings that are being built, however you are seeing the Caribbean store influence. We did talk to one local shop owner who told us the population of Skagway is going down because the out of town business people are buying up the property and chasing out the locals. Another thing I noticed that was different from our last trip is that they now use replicas of the old tour buses instead of the old original tour buses. I love older things and a replica does not cut it for me. Skagway does have a very nice museum and still pushes the gold rush heritage that built the city. <br /><br />Our next day was spent in Glacier Bay. This day started out with fog in the early morning but the fog burnt off by 9:30 a.m. or so. The fjords were like glass. There was very little ice in the fjord on this day and the glaciers were not really doing any calving while we were here. Without cloud cover Marjorie Glacier is not quite as blue looking as we like to see, however the Glacier is still extremely impressive. The various shapes of the face of the glacier are awe-inspiring. The ship spent quite a bit of time in the bay and with no wind and such calm water you could hear every sound. You could hear the birds flying around the bay as well as the cracking from the ice. You could hear the water wash up on the little ice that was in the bay as it floated around and moved to the motion of the ship. You could clearly hear the cracking of large pieces of the glacier farther inland. It was an amazing day and with the weather so warm everyone was able to stay outside and enjoy the beauty of Glacier Bay. <br /><br />Our next area to visit was College Fjord. We again have some fog in the early morning but it burns off quickly. The fog in the morning adds to some very interesting views of the area near the fjord. We have another warm day and again the seas are very calm. College Fjord is very interesting in history and in the number and types of glaciers that are available. Even though it is impressive it does not come close to the beauty of Glacier Bay, at least in my opinion. More major universities than any other glacier fields study College Fjord. The glaciers down one side of the fjord are named after male colleges and the glaciers down the other side of the fjord are named after female colleges. The one main interesting point about College Fjord is you can see the three main types of glaciers in Alaska. It has the hanging glacier, the tidewater glacier and the receding glaciers all in one area. The glaciers are much smaller than many other glaciers but are still quite impressive. <br /><br />We stay in College Fjord for quite a while and when we leave it is hard to tell we are moving at all. The reason for the extremely slow exit is because we truly are only a few hours away from Whittier, the final stop on the first section of our back-to-back cruise. The ship will hardly move for the rest of the trip so that the shops and casino can stay open for a while. We finally do dock about 1:00 a.m. in the morning of May 17, 2004. <br /><br />Now we are in Whittier where the majority of the passenger will leave the ship and either go home or head for land tours. This trip we have met many people who are doing back-to-back just like us. It is the most I have ever seen staying on for the return cruise. For those who may do a back-to-back with Princess sometime I will now tell you what the procedure was for us. <br /><br />1. Anytime during the first cruise you turn your tickets for the next cruise into the purser?s desk. <br />2. A couple nights before the first cruise is over you will receive a letter in your room explaining the procedure for the change over. <br />3. The final night of the first cruise you will receive your new sign and sail card for the next cruise. This card will only be good starting after 10:00 a.m. the next day. There will also be a paper claiming you are a passenger in transit to show if the ships personnel about ask you whether you should be getting off the ship. <br />4. The final morning of the first cruise there will be a copy of your bill for the first cruise you can close it out or have it continue for the next cruise. <br />5. If you are staying in the same room you can sleep in or do as you wish. If you are moving to another room leave as much as possible on hangers and just pack the loose articles. Talk with the room steward and they will move your things to the next room. They will coordinate it with your next room steward. You can book a tour for this day if you wish or come and go on the ship as you wish. <br /><br />Keep in mind to check when the dining rooms will be open seeing they are not normal dining times on this change over day. <br /><br />The weather was a light rain while we were in Whittier. If you do not book a tour in Whittier there is absolutely nothing to do. There is not even shopping there just a couple caf??s and tour offices. We had also booked our own tour out of Whittier for this day. We booked with Phillips 26 Glacier Tour. This was a 4 hour tour that was onboard a high-speed catamaran. This tour would take us back into College Fjord as well as to quite a few other very beautiful and active glaciers. This catamaran would cruise along at 55mph on the way to the glaciers and due to how high it sat above water could get in much closer to the glaciers than the cruise ships could. You could hear the ice bouncing off the pontoons as you went into the glacial areas. I truly cannot remember all the names of all the glaciers we saw. We got some fantastic pictures of some of the glaciers as well as some extremely large icebergs and on this day with the rain and clouds the glaciers and the icebergs were extremely blue, which made this tour well worth taking. We also had to do a little rescue of a U.S. Forestry Service boat shortly before our tour ended. They were having some engine trouble. <br /><br />If you do go to Whittier and have the time I would highly recommend the 26-glacier tour with Phillips. The crew onboard did an excellent job. There were a total of 10 crewmembers onboard to take care of things. You are also provided a small meal. They have a fully equipped bar, snack bar and gift shop onboard. The ride is very smooth and the seating is very comfortable. There is deck space for standing outside but some is limited to after you slow down. This is due to safety reasons because the boat is so fast. This tour leaves only about a quarter mile away from where the ship docks. <br /><br />Now we are onboard and headed southbound. First up is the College Fjord. The weather is again sunshine and very warm. Now we had just taken two trips into College Fjord so I will admit we slept in this time. When we did get up we decided it was time to do some laundry. The rest of the day was spent meeting some of the new passengers and spending time with a few that were doing the back-to-back like us. We would be given early seating this time and at the same table we had for the first cruise. This time we had Cesar and Alexandro from Mexico for our waiters. We again had Catalan for our headwaiter. This worked out well because we did not have to explain our diet again. We also had people at our table all week long on this sailing. We did see several humpbacks on our way out of College Fjord on this day. <br /><br />Glacier Bay was our next place to go. The weather is still very warm with clear skies. Today Marjorie Glacier is very active with calving. They call the loud cracking when calving the White Thunder and today it was really loud. We caught on video and on the 35mm camera some exceptional shots of the calving. We saw walls of ice around 200 feet tall break off and crash into the water on several occasions. We have one series of shots from the 35mm camera where you can see the birds trying to fly out of the way of the splash from the wall falling. We also saw quite a few sea lions lying on icebergs floating around in the fjord. After dinner on this night I was walking around the deck for exercise. As I was headed aft I saw a pod of Orca along side the ship. There were 6 Orca together. Fortunately I had my digital camera with me. It is hard to take a picture of a moving target with a digital camera but I had to give it a try. I was very fortunate in the fact that I caught one of the Orca in mid air as it leaped from the water. I surprised myself with how well it turned out. I had taken it back to the room and piped it onto the television to see how it looked. For me it was pure luck and a once in a lifetime picture. <br /><br />It is another hot and sunny day when we arrive in Skagway. There are a few special items we saw on the way up that we decide to go and purchase while in port this time. We also decide to walk a little farther out of the main town just to see what is there and enjoy the beautiful weather. There are three ships in port on this day so the main part of town is a little more crowded. I never get tired of walking off into the countryside. I am not much of a city person even in a town as small as Skagway. <br /><br />We arrive back in Juneau today. It is very warm but a little windy. Yes we do take another whale watch with Orca Enterprises and Capt. Larry. The ships naturalist is with us again. There are only 16 of us onboard for this tour. There is a little more chop in the water due to the wind today. This trip we have to head a little farther out but than we see the blow from the humpbacks. There are 7 or 8 humpbacks feeding as well as a large group of sea lions. As soon as we see a couple whales dive another one or two pop up on a different side of the boat. The video camera and the 35mm are going pretty steady. With the waves it is a little harder to focus on the pictures. With quite a few pictures taken it is time to just sit and use your eyes and just take in the beauty of these amazing animals. To see how graceful an animal of that size can move through the water tends to just have you stop and stare. To see a mother whale guiding and protecting her calf and move in unison through the water makes you forget about all the other little things that can tend to bother you. To hear the loud blow than see a 45-foot whale roll out of the water makes you realize how small you really are. It has been a great whale watch and a great day. Once we get back to town we do a little more looking around to see if we can find some different types of shops to look through. <br /><br /><br />It is time for Ketchikan and our final stop. We have done many tours in Ketchikan from kayaking to totem parks, however in all our trips we have never seen the lumberjack show. That is right we head to the lumberjack show. If you live in Northern Minnesota you know about lumberjacks. We also live only a short ride from Hayward Wisconsin where they hold big lumberjack competitions. In other words this is not new to us but the show is fun to watch. This show cost &#036;29 whether you buy it from the ship or at the show and the show is only a couple blocks from the ship. The lumberjacks do a real good show and they do have some fun with the audience. It is not a show I would go to time and time again but it is well worth seeing once. The gift shop at the show also has a few different and interesting items to buy compared to some of the other shops in town. <br />At this point the trip is really all over except getting the boot off the ship. We have the last sea day but that is spent packing and saying goodbye to our new friends. This trip we did not do a lot of tours but for this trip I needed more rest and relaxation than I needed to go on tours. We did get off the ship in Vancouver and stayed one night before flying home. We stayed at a Ramada in the 3400 block of Kingsway. A person from the web boards met up with us and took us down to see the Dawn Princess leave port and than we went to dinner. It is always nice to meet people from the various cruise boards and we truly appreciate that they take the time out of their day to spend a little time with us. <br /><br />Final comments. <br /><br />It may not seem like it from my review and from the few things we did; however this was the best cruise we have ever taken. I say for the following reasons. <br />1. We got some well-needed relaxation.<br />2. We got to go on one of our favorite ships.<br />3. We cruised in our favorite place to cruise.<br />4. We met some fantastic people and some great new friends as well as a few old friends.<br />5. We saw so much wildlife all the way from birds to bears, both black and brown bears, and saw many whales both from the ship and on tours.<br />6. We saw many more glaciers than we have ever seen, due to the extra tours, and we saw much larger chunks of the glaciers breaking off. <br /><br />The Dawn Princess is still in great shape and the crew did an exceptional job. Every time I go to Alaska I am more and more amazed. I truly cannot find the words needed to describe the beauty of Alaska and even though I have some great pictures of Alaska they do not do the area justice. <br /><br />If you are a person who must have shopping, beaches or the bar scene an Alaskan cruise is NOT for you. If you are a person who wants to see some of the most beautiful countryside you will ever see or a person who can appreciate the beauty of nature and would enjoy seeing the beauty of a blue glacier, Alaska is a must cruise. Alaska is not a cruise where the ship is main reason for the cruise. Every ship will fall short of the beauty of Alaska and the wonders it holds. Alaska is NEVER the same twice. With the changing of the glaciers and the fact that you never know when or where you will see wildlife of many different types, Alaska will always keep you in awe. <br /><br />The people that know me the best know that I can be a nice guy or I can be the meanest SOB on the face of the earth, however these same people will tell you that the beauty of Alaska always puts a small on my face. They will also tell you that when in Alaska the beauty and wonder of Alaska always puts me at peace and makes me forget about any problem I may have. <br /><br />Put the fact that Alaska is far north and that there is snow on many of the mountains year round. Cruise Alaska at least once and you will probably find that you will have some memories that will stick with you the rest of your life. You may not love cruising Alaska as much as I do but I believe you will not regret cruising Alaska at least once. <br /><br />If you wish to contact me about anything in the review feel free to email me at peb@cruise-addicts.c',1171839626,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',199,'PEB',1,69,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(194,113,'7/26/04','This was a great cruise, made better by the fact that I was able to experience Alaska again - this time with good friends&#33;','This was my 10th cruise overall and my 5th Princess cruise.    <br /><br />I had been to Alaska once before back in May of 1999 on the Sea Princess (a sister ship to the Dawn.) This time I did the Anchorage to Vancouver route.   <br /><br />I spent two days in Anchorage pre-cruise, arriving in the afternoon of 7/24. I had booked the Hotel Captain Cook on line seperately from the cruise and I received one of the prime rooms on the 18th floor of Tower 2 with both a mountain view and inlet view. The sunsets viewed from my room were amazing.   <br /><br />On the 25th, I took the Alaska RR from Anchorage to Talkeetna. I ended up doing a jet boat excursion on the Talkeetna, Chilitna and Little and Big Susitna rivers. This also included a slow paced nature hike on one of the river islands which was very informative.   <br /><br />On Monday the 26th, I took the bus transfer from Anchorage to Whittier. I am a hearty Wisconsite, so when it was drizzling and 60 in Anchorage, I thought nothing of it.......and I packed my jacket..............a big mistake&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;   <br /><br />On the way from Anchorage to Seward the weather got progressively worse....by the time I arrived in Whittier it was pouring rain, 50 degrees and gale force winds. Getting on board the ship with the uncovered gangway was an adventure in itself. Once onboard, it felt like I was home again as the Dawn was laid out almost identically to the Sea.   <br /><br />I met up with my friends who were arriving at all different times. The lifeboat drill was scheduled for 8:00pm - between early and late seatings. The weather had not improved one bit, in fact it might have gotten a little worse. After the drill, the Captain came on the speaker and said that because of sea and wind conditions, out 9:00pm departure from Whittier was going to be delayed until he felt we could safely depart the dock. If we were unable to depart before 3:30am, we would skip College Fjord and head straight to Glacier Bay. There were the beginings of some rumblings, but for the most part, my fellow passengers were pretty understanding.   <br /><br />College Fjord - I missed it&#33; The ship left the dock between 12:30 and 1:00am.....thus we did go to College Fjord, but I slept through it&#33; According to my friends, I did not miss much. It was very foggy and not very good picture taking weather. The last time I was in College Fjord the weather was perfect, so I didn&#39;t mind too much sleeping through it.   <br /><br />Glacier Bay - the weather was partly to mostly cloudy with occasional sprinkles; the closer we got to the glaciers, the colder it became. We did see some minor calving at Margerie Glacier. The Captain did turn the ship twice so all could see the glacier more than once. We then sailed out of Glacier Bay and headed on to Juneau.   <br /><br />Skagway - weather was a little better - cloudy and a little drizzly early in the day in Skagway. Did the Yukon Expedition and White Pass Railroad excursion. Took a bus up the highway into the Yukon - went up to Carcross, came back to Fraser and boarded the White Pass Train and went back down to Skagway. This trip took about 8 hours. I recommend everyone do it at least once. The scenery up in NW British Columbia and the Yukon is absolutely spectacular - ranging from the desolate Tormented Valley to the Mountains and emerlad lakes of the Yukon. The train ride down to Skagway is awesome. It was the second time I have done the Yukon and White Pass Railroad. 26.3 miles from the summit down to Skagway......a drop in elevation of a little more than 2000 feet.  <br /><br /><br />Juneau - our group privately booked a whale watch tour with Captain Larry and Orca Enterprises. We left the offices by the dock at 9:00 and headed to Auke Bay to embark the Awesome Orca. On our way out, we say eagles and harbor seals. While we were watching the harbor seals, Captain Larry was looking for whales, so when we left we headed towards where he had spotted some signs of whales. What happened for the next 2 1/2 hours was one of the absolute highlights of my life. We came across a temporary pod of 9 humpback whales who were bubble feeding. We watched them for the rest of our allotted time - 2 1/2 hours&#33; One time they surfaced about 30 feet from the side of our boat. Another time they surfaced abotu 20 feet from the other Orca Enterprises boat....we heard the yelling and shouting.....we all got some great pics that day. Even Captain Larry said that he does this every day and that day was an absolutely incredible one, even for him. I highly recommend Orca Enterprises and Captain Larry. The cruise ship excursion boats came and went within 15 minutes; we stayed the whole time....that is the difference&#33; The cruise ship excursions had a set timetable; we had a time limit but could spend the time the way WE wanted to. Next time I go back to Juneau I will book with Orca Enterprises again.   <br />Ketchikan - Absolutely gorgeous weather&#33;&#33; Sunny and low 70&#39;s with a fresh breeze - and not a drop of rain in sight&#33; Did no ship excursion here, but ended up doing a local tour around Ketchikan, watching the King salmon spawn and down to Saxman Totem Park. Then back to the ship to relax in the hot tubs before they got crowded.   <br /><br />Inside Passage cruising - another gorgeous day and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous....saw many small villages on the small islands of the Inside Passage - even saw some orcas.   <br /><br />Vancouver - sailed under the Lion&#39;s Gate Bridge about 6:30 - just prior to that there was a large pod of orcas playing along side the ship. What a way to end the cruise.   <br /><br />Some random notes on the Dawn Princess:   <br /><br />We did traditional late seating and our service was impeccable. We had a table of 11 and the waiter and asst. waiter were up to the challenge of us&#33; We love to have fun and they joined right in. The Food was very good - some dishes were better than others, but the always available fettucine alfredo was as good as ever.   <br /><br />There were a lot of families with kids on this cruise........and for the most part they were well behaved and the parents kept them under control. There were a few that decided that hallways were for running no matter how crowded they were. And there were some that hogged attention in one of the shops - couldn&#39;t make up their mind on anything and held up the check out lines more than once. And there were some that decided the adult only pool was for them.........early in the cruise it was not a problem, but as the weather got better, there were some complaints about hte kids in there...and of course mommy and daddy wouldn&#39;t say anything, so the staff had to become involved. The instances were few and far between, but I do remember why I like to cruise during the school year when schools are in session. I like kids, I really do, I just prefer to not be around so many (estimated that there were almost 350 kids on our cruise.) Family cruising is great - but all have to learn to coexist and respect the areas on the ship that are for adults only to escape to.   <br /><br />This was a great cruise, made better by the fact that I was able to experience Alaska again - this time with good friends&#33;',1171839660,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',333,'Sailinglisa',1,46,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(195,113,'2/28/05','It was wonderful to have such a large and diverse group to travel with and we had a fabulous time.','Embarkation was fairly painless. There was a health questionnaire this year and we were somewhat surprised to find out that we had to complete Bahamas immigration forms. Thank goodness we had pens, but it was a pain to try to complete them with no writing surface and I think they should have been mailed out ahead of time as they were last year. Once boarded, we headed for our category BD balcony cabin. It was fine for the two of us and while I found the closed in balcony a bit of a disappointment as I liked the open air balconies on the Grand Princess, it was fine. As we walked around the decks, I kept an eye open for the condition of the ship itself and was pleasantly surprised to find her in excellent condition. Everything was immaculate and well cared for and I never noticed any bad smells mentioned by previous cruisers. As in any large organization, some of the staff take their duties seriously and some are slackers, so it wasn?t surprising that towards the end of the cruise we overheard someone complain about the washroom near the casino not being cleaned properly for days. If nobody reported it, who in charge would know? That being said, I must question the timing of the varnishing of the railings along the edge of the Windjammers bar on the first sea day as a lot of people, heedless of the small signs, leaned on the fresh varnish and got it on their clothing.   <br /><br /><br />It was sunny and very hot and humid when we reached Curacao. Our &#036;29 Princess ?Island Highlights? excursion didn?t leave until afternoon, so my husband, mother and teenaged daughter and I grabbed a cab and headed into town to look around and do some shopping. The heat and humidity were overpowering and I?m afraid we started to fade after an hour or two, so the only things we purchased were Tylenol and Advil. We headed back to the ship to catch our bus and were somewhat disappointed in what we got to see of the Island. The only benefit to using the Princess trip was that the guide spoke English. We did enjoy the taste of Curacao liqueur, but we never go to see how it was actually made which would have added more interesting information than just a stop in the gift shop and tasting room. The ?handicraft market? was a sad joke with only the usual touristy souvenirs made in Taiwan available. We might have been further ahead to book a private tour if we could have found one with an English guide. The rest of the group bartered at the pier for a taxi tour and found one for &#036;10 each, but the guide didn?t speak any English at all and they don?t speak Spanish, so needless to say, there was no running commentary on the sights.   <br /><br />I had booked the Princess Isla Margarita &#036;20 shopping trip and were very disappointed with it and cannot recommend it to others. We waited in the hot sun for 45 minutes to board the bus for the 45-minute drive to Porlamar and while the guide spoke quite passable English, the sound system on the bus was so bad that we really couldn?t hear much. I did learn how to get back to the port (?Por favour, El Guamache, rapido&#33;?) in case we missed the bus, but the first stop was at a pearl and souvenir shop on Santiago Marino Street in a derelict area off the main shopping boulevard. Quite frankly, we were dying to get back on the bus rather than miss it&#33; Little girls were hawking grubby terry dishtowels for &#036;3 US and three men harassed everyone to buy sunglasses for outrageous prices. The pearls in the store were no bargain and our guide went in bare-necked and emerged with a lovely necklace on, in spite of the fact that she didn?t seem to pay for anything. Obviously, she and the storeowner had a deal of some kind. We spent almost 2 hours there walking around in the heat until we could re-board the bus to head to the Sambil shopping mall in the rich part of town. The economic disparity between the two areas was shocking. The shopping mall was a typical North American mall with a lot of the same stores as you?d find back home, but the prices were higher. Only those who purchased coffee and cigars found deals. I found a small terracotta jug and a bowl at one store on the main street and a terracotta lizard at one of the stalls around the port when we returned, but that was all we purchased that day. If I ever went back, I?d stay in the port area and go to the beach near the ship. Eight of the others hired a van for a trip to the mangroves for &#036;15 each plus &#036;5 each for the boat ride, then returned to the port and headed for the beach. The vendors in the port area are not pushy and there were no vendors on the beach itself.   <br />One of our group had arranged three private excursions for us on the islands we visited during the following days. In Barbados, my husband, sister-in-law and her friend did the Princess Brewery &amp; Distillery tour and had a nice afternoon. My mother took the Island Highlights bus tour and said she really enjoyed it. The other 10 of us took the ?Best of Barbados? tour from Glory Tours for &#036;85 US each. We had to walk outside the gates of the port to find the van, but we met up with our driver Ricky with no problem. It was hot, sunny and very humid and we had a ball&#33; We first toured Harrison?s Caves, then did a bit of a scenic tour to see the surfing waves at Bathsheba Beach and stopped for lunch at the Sand Dunes restaurant for a lunch of chicken or fish plus trimmings. Every time we re-boarded the van, we all took different seats, sort of like musical chairs, so each person had a chance to enjoy the bit of air conditioning which the van had. Off to the wildlife preserve, while we only saw one green monkey, we enjoyed the animals roaming freely and especially the rum punch served afterwards. Ricky brought us back to the coast and we all cooled off jumping into the water off of the glass-bottomed boat to swim with leatherback turtles and clouds of fish on the coral reef.  <br /><br />On Dominica, my daughter, sister-in-law and friend took the Princess &#036;69 Dominica River tubing excursion and had a really fun time. Once again, the rest of us had arranged for two air-conditioned buses to take the 14 of us on an island tour for &#036;30 US (plus &#036;2 admission to the Emerald Pool). Unfortunately, we had one bus with air conditioning and one without, so the older and younger folks were divided by air conditioning needs. We toured the rain forest, driving on the left side of the worst roads imaginable at rapid speed, causing great hoots of laughter on the twists and turns as we slid along the seats. While some hiked up the steep hill to Trafalgar Falls, some of us just waited at the gift shop area. The Emerald Pool was nice to see and four of us ventured down to swim in the cool, refreshing water. If the legend about looking 10 years younger is true, you couldn?t prove it by me&#33; Unfortunately, the walk down to the bottom of the ravine is tricky and the walk back up is torture to tired legs, then you?re stuck in a wet bathing suit for the remainder of the trip, but the water was lovely. We piled back on the buses and headed for Mr. Nice?s Fruit stand. The machete bearing Mr. Nice has an open-air fruit stand along the side of the narrow highway outside Roseau, in the middle of barely tamed jungle. Here he serves up fresh bananas, coconuts, sugar cane, cinnamon, etc. and demonstrates how to squeeze the juice out of sugar cane so everyone can have a taste. You can leave him a small donation for his efforts if you enjoyed yourself (and we did&#33;). We then headed for the highest viewpoint in Roseau and took lots of photos of the spectacular view of Roseau and the Dawn Princess in port. These private tour operators take their obligations seriously and, once again, we were back to the ship about 3 hours prior to pulling out of port. Dominica was a beautiful place with the friendliest people we met on the trip, and I?d love to go back again.   <br /><br />Our day in St. Thomas was beautiful and sunny with just a bit of a breeze. Once again, we had arranged for an all day trip with Godfrey tours for &#036;20 US in an open large safari SUV and while we thought we would be alone and get to pick our own itinerary, this was not to be. Instead we were joined by another group from another ship which somewhat restricted us. However, we had a two hour tour which included a brief stop at the Mountain Top gift shop and overlook, a brief stop for photos at a road-side viewing point and then a three hour shopping trip in downtown. Eventually we halted at Coki beach where 5 of us climbed off and let the rest return to the ship. The water at Coki was just beautiful; cool, clear and not crowded that day at all. We were approached by a lady carrying an armload of colourful sarongs and, after having a bit of a fashion show right there on the sand, our group purchased several. To make the day even better, a very funny man brought us drinks, so our afternoon was bliss. The bus returned for us and took four of us back to port and one woman back to the jewellery store to pick up her purchase. We strolled through the shops around the port area and purchased a few items, then re-boarded the ship.   <br /><br />The next day was our last sea day and, while we had rough water, that didn?t seem to stop anyone from having a good time. The water in the pools slid back and forth so much that it became like a washing machine for human beings and they finally had to lower the level a bit. My daughter and one of the women took part in the pool games which were loads of fun to watch, especially when you included the sloshing pool, wet t-shirt exchanges, rapid banana consumption and men with empty bottles held in their swim trunks while others tried to pour ice water into the bottle. To make the afternoon even more special, the magician had himself wrapped in 65 lbs of chains then jumped into the pool. It took him 2 minutes to come back to the surface, but it was quite an impressive trick. It was also the second formal night and included the Captain?s Circle cocktail party (which none of us attended, unfortunately). After dinner, the fun of Island Night began out on deck. The place was packed and, in spite of the world?s worst band playing their hearts out, the water exploding out of the pool every time the ship shifted and a cool wind, the conga lines weaved through the crowd, everyone danced and sang along and had a wonderful time. I have never seen so many people at the pool for any event on a cruise&#33;  <br /><br />Our final day was spent on Princess Cays. It was supposed to be overcast but instead was mostly sunny and perfect beach weather yet again. Our group of 17 ventured ashore and found lounge chairs with a bit of shade for our senior citizens. We ate a large lunch of ribs, hotdogs, burgers, salad and fresh fruit and spent the afternoon talking about a future cruise. As all luggage had to be packed up and out into the hallway by 10 p.m., most of us headed back onboard early to do the packing and get ready for dinner. While it took a bit of ?friendly persuasion? (otherwise known as praying that the zippers would hold), we managed to successfully fit everything into the suitcases and haul them out to the corridor. Everyone attended our final dinner in casual clothes as all of our finery was being collected by the luggage porters. After dinner, when we went back to the cabin to grab our cameras for the disco, the hallway was devoid of any luggage, so the 10 p.m. deadline wasn?t quite accurate, and earlier is better.   <br /><br />After a good night?s sleep, we all ate our last breakfast in the Horizon Court, then headed back to the cabin to collect our carry-ons. We all gathered on deck 7 and waited to be called. Some of our group had early morning flights so were gone rather quickly, others of us were staying in Fort Lauderdale for a few days so were called later. In any case, we were off of the ship and out into the terminal parking lot by 9:45, to await the hotel shuttle.  <br /><br />Again this year, we stayed at the Hampton Inn Plantation due to its proximity to the Broward Mall. We had excellent rooms for a reasonable price. As usual, we ate the complimentary breakfast at the hotel and ate our noon and evening meals at the mall.  <br /><br />Fort Lauderdale airport on a weekend is bedlam under normal circumstances, and the Saturday we Florida left was no exception. It is obvious to travellers that most North American airports were constructed long before the new airport security measures came into effect. In Lauderdale, there is neither the space nor the proper accommodation for long line-ups of passengers waiting to go through security and luggage screening. We are very fortunate in our city to have a new airport, and the difference in the flow of passengers through it contrasted with Fort Lauderdale Airport is stunning to the observer. To add to the noise, confusion and hordes of passengers, this time we added a new wrinkle ? Jetsgo, a Canadian discount airline had gone bankrupt and ceased all operations without notice the day before. This of course caused a panic with passengers holding tickets who showed up at the airport to find the Jetsgo counter closed with no indication of where to get help. We saw one young lady on the phone crying, asking for money to be sent to her so she could pay for a hotel and await a flight from another carrier. Those who booked through travel agents had help finding other flights, but those who direct booked or booked on-line were pretty much out of luck for several days. Those who booked using a credit card may get their money back as the credit card companies have pledged to reimburse them for services not rendered. If however the passenger used cash to buy the ticket, they are out of luck as far as a refund goes. I guess this is one more reason to use a travel agent rather than booking yourself.   <br /><br />Money-wise, we did very well and spent less on board than we had budgeted for. We saved quite a bit of money using private tour operators rather than Princess tours and saw more of the ports than the Princess tour would have allowed. My idea of buying a shipboard credit for each special occasion over the past year proved its worth as it took several days to move us from the credit side to the debit side of the ship?s account. Our travel agent liked my idea so much that she has passed it on to other budget-conscious cruisers. We could have saved money on Princess photos, but the downside of hooking up with such a large group is that there are always different folks in the shots, depending upon the day and the port. They are a nice reminder to have and we?ll put them in the photo album, of course.  <br /><br />It was wonderful to have such a large and diverse group to travel with and we had a fabulous time. We are now in the process of planning next year?s cruise to the Mexican Riviera via San Francisco and we?re going to try to stay together and travel en mass on a yearly basis. We will definitely stay in touch via e-mail.',1171839705,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',746,'Kerry',1,114,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(196,114,'1/29/05','The Diamond Princess is the most beautiful cruise ship we have ever been on. The attention to detail and the ?fit and finish? is breathtaking&#33;','Diamond Princess <br />January 29 ? February 5, 2005 <br />Ports of Call:   Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas <br />Cruise Experiences:  This was our 17th cruise with Princess (168 days total) and our 44th cruise overall. <br /> <br /><br /><br />This was our first time aboard the magnificent Diamond Princess. Our last Princess sailing was in April of 2004 aboard the Sun Princess. The Diamond Princess is a mega ship checking in at 115,875 gross tons and a passenger capacity of about 2800. She was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki, Japan and was just under a year old when we sailed.   <br /><br />Embarking/Disembarking: <br />Check in was great for us as Captain?s Club Elite Members (16+ cruises). We were also pleased to see that the rest of our group (36 folks in all) passed through the check in process quite quickly as well. We had traveled by chartered bus from Las Vegas and arrived at the San Pedro World Cruise Center at 1:15PM. Total time from the bus until we were aboard the ship was about 15 minutes.   <br /><br />Disembarking was a whole different story. It took us 45 minutes in line to clear immigration&#33;&#33; The worst mess we have ever seen to disembark a cruise ship. We had expected to have our bus depart at about 10:30; however, the last of our group did not get to the bus until 11:45 and our departure was at noon. Moral: Don?t book an early flight if you are disembarking in San Pedro on a large ship. I did not deduct any points from my overall rating because the delays were not caused by Princess, but by Homeland Security and I cannot fault them for doing their job to protect us.   <br /><br />Stateroom: <br />We had ocean view stateroom #E408 on the Emerald Deck. The room was almost identical the rooms we had aboard the Grand and Golden Princesses. Quite large as cruise ship staterooms go. I really enjoyed the little detailing that was evident in the room. Some of the extra touches included crown molding, a wood trimmed archway between the closet, bathroom area and the bedroom area. I would rate the stateroom as excellent to outstanding. We used the queen bed configuration and there was ample room on both sides of the bed to navigate. Stateroom did include a refrigerator which in our case was stocked at no charge because of Captain?s Club Status. Bathroom was typical of cruise ships except the floor was beautifully tiled rather than the typical institutional look. Shower was small but worked very well. I experienced no change in water temp. Supplied amenities were excellent (Lotus Spa soap, shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, nail file, Q-tips and cotton balls, etc.) I really don?t know if these were upgraded in any way because of our CC status.   <br /><br />Restaurants and Food: <br />There are four dining rooms aboard the Diamond each capable of handling several hundred passengers. The main dining room for traditional dining (early and late seatings) is the International Dining Room located on Deck #6 aft. The ?Anytime Dining? took place in the Vivaldi and Sterling Dining Rooms on the Plaza Deck #5 Midship and in the Santa Fe and Pacific Moon Dining Rooms on Fiesta Deck #6 Midship. All of these Dining Rooms featured the same daily menu plus a second ?themed? menu which does not change nightly. The Vivaldi (where our group dined) was themed Italian. The Sterling was a steak house. The Santa Fe was themed Southwestern/Mexican while the Pacific Moon was Asian themed.   <br /><br />Breakfast and lunch were served in the International Dining Room (open seating) and in the Horizon Court Buffet (Deck #14 Midship). The quality and variety of the food was excellent throughout the cruise. We ate all of our dinners in the Vivaldi with the exception of our final night when we visited the Sterling Steak House. Most of our breakfasts and lunches were in the Horizon Court. Selections were all great; however there is no ?cooked to order? egg station. I am no fond of the large oval plastic plates used in place of a tray and smaller dishes. Missed the china used on Celebrity. The coffee all over this ship was outstanding&#33;   <br /><br />Entertainment: <br />There were the usual mix of musical revues and guest entertainers spread throughout the ship in various lounges and of course in the theater. They also had the usual audience participation show (newly wed game, weakest link, etc.). Their show times and locations were quite a challenge to figure out and mad it a job to plan your evening?s entertainment. I felt the Diamond Princess Singers and Dancers did an outstanding job. This troupe was somewhat larger (in number) than we have seen on other ships.   <br /><br />Cruise Director Bill Hygate did a creditable job, but I would not rate him as exceptional. Terry Belanger and the Diamond Princess Orchestra were very, very good.    <br /><br />For an after-show drink and dancing, I would recommend the Wheelhouse Bar. A great, comfortable lounge with fantastic furnishings. The dance floor is exceptional and the music by the Arc Trio and Thelma?s Trio was great.   <br /><br />Club Fusion is not to be missed. Unlike any lounge I have ever seen with 29 large flat screen TV?s and very unique seating selections. The Fusion Band ?Derringer? is very good, but someone needs to tell them there are other settings on their amps besides high&#33; Their music approaches the threshold of pain&#33;   <br /><br />The Grand Casino was the best I have seen on a cruise ship&#33; And, since I live in Las Vegas I?ve seen a lot of casinos&#33; There was actually room to walk around in this casino. They did not cram in all that they could as they do in most shipboard casinos.   <br /><br />Other:  The pool areas were great, especially the indoor pool. The exercise room in the Lotus Spas was the best I?ve seen. The ship featured a ?true? internet caf? again the best I?ve seen aboard ship. It even had a Coffee Bar, so you could have your Mocha brought to you computer station.   <br /><br />The gift shops were well stocked and stayed open most nights past 10 PM. The p[photographers were around the ship but never intrusive. Announcements over the ships intercom were kept at a minimum.   <br /><br />Ports of Call: <br />Since this was our 14th trip to these ports of call, the only shore excursion we took was a Glass Bottom Boat Ride (booked on the pier at Cabo - &#036;12 each). It has been several years since we last did this and we are very glad we did so this time. It is the season for the Gray Whale migration and I got some great video of the whales&#33; At the other ports we simply wandered around on our own and discovered some new spots we had not seen on previous visits.   <br /><br />Overall: <br />The Diamond Princess is the most beautiful cruise ship we have ever been on. The attention to detail and the ?fit and finish? is breathtaking&#33; While on board we booked a Panama Canal 15-day cruise aboard the Coral Princess from Ft. Lauderdale to San Francisco for May 2006. I would rate this ship a 9.7 on a scale of 1 ? 10.',1171839744,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',920,'The Skipper',1,96,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(197,114,'2/19/05','This small-ship fan was won over by the 18-deck, 115K GRT Diamond Princess.','Itinerary: Los Angeles - Puerto Vallarta - Mazatlan - Cabo San Lucas - Los Angeles <br />February 19 - 26, 2005 <br /><br /><br /><br />Our cruise on Diamond Princess marked a number of ?firsts? for us. Although we have been cruising for 15 years, this was our first time on Princess, our first visit to the Mexican Riviera, and our first cabin with a private balcony. So, we were looking forward to our holiday with great anticipation.  <br /><br />Overall, we rate our Mexican Riviera cruise on Diamond Princess among the best of any cruises we?ve taken. A lot of thought went into the Excellent ratings noted above as no cruise is perfect, yet this one excelled in all of the major categories -- service, entertainment, dining, comfort, activities, shore excursions, and the ship itself. To be fair, it is possible that that the fact that we had Traditional Dining influenced this score to a great degree. Still, we came to relax and visit new places, and in those respects our cruise was highly successful in exceeding our expectations.   <br /><br />GETTING THERE. Every leg of our trip went very smoothly. We booked air, pre-cruise hotel, and transfers independently, which I highly recommend for the flexibility and pricing. We flew AmericaWest non-stop from Boston to LAX, and our return flight nine days later included a one-hour layover in Phoenix. Thanks to several recommendations, we booked ExecuCar for our transfers to and from LAX. ExecuCar was most professional, and I liked the convenience of booking online and providing credit card information in advance. We stayed two nights at the glorious Queen Mary Hotel (which could have a review of its own) and took a metered taxi on Sunday morning for the short trip to the cruise terminal in San Pedro.  <br /><br />CHECK-IN AND EMBARKATION. This was about the smoothest we have had. We entered the cruise terminal at 12:55 and were onboard by 1:15. We had completed our embarkation paperwork online several weeks before leaving, so we were directed to an Express Check-In line, but I don?t know if that helped. Once onboard, I do not recall if we were escorted to our cabin, but I do know that we were escorted into the central elevators, which was a good thing as the size of the ship was somewhat overwhelming to me at first. One of our four bags was already waiting for us outside our cabin door when we arrived, and the other three were delivered by 1:45.  <br /><br />CABIN. We selected cabin C531, a category BA on Caribe Deck 10, amidships. The cabin had everything a family of three would need, and I appreciated the separate dressing and sleeping areas.   <br /><br />Upon entering the cabin, the dressing area was on the immediate right. The closet was large, running almost the entire width of the cabin, and came equipped with approximately 40 clothes hangers. Against the wall was a full-length mirror concealing another closet, which contained six shelves (some of which were taken up by lifevests) and a programmable safe. Also in this area was the entry to the small, yet functional, bathroom, which had sufficient storage with three small shelves and a small space on the counter top.   <br /><br />In the main cabin area, a double bed was positioned under a mirrored headboard, flanked by two nightstands, each with a small shelf and two drawers. The bedside lamps had dimmer switches -- very nice touch. The desk/vanity provided additional storage via three drawers, and also featured another large mirror and wall-mounted hair dryer. A desk chair and armchair were adjacent. In the corner opposite the vanity was a wedge-shaped floor-to-ceiling cabinet housing a refrigerator, shelf, and on top, a TV. An upper berth was kept out of sight inside a ceiling panel over the bed, yet we did not use this as our 11-year-old preferred to sleep on the floor in his Sponge Bob Square Pants sleeping bag.   <br /><br />The balcony -- our first -- accommodated a small plastic dining table, three chairs, and two padded lounging chairs. As we were on Caribe Deck, our balcony was partially covered by the balconies of the Baja Deck cabins above. If we leaned over our railing, we could see the balconies of the Dolphin Deck mini-suites below. I wasn?t bothered by this at all, and found that neighbors pretty much left everyone alone. I used the balcony quite a bit, most often for writing, enjoying a cup of tea, or letting my hair dry naturally outdoors. I?ve heard that once you have a balcony, it?s hard to ?go back to? a non-balcony cabin. We will find out this summer if this theory applies to us, as we have a standard outside cabin booked on another ship.  <br /><br />PUBLIC AREAS. Diamond Princess is a large ship (115,000 gross registered tons), yet it very rarely felt crowded. Passenger flow was smooth on nearly every deck (with the exception of Deck 7, on which the galley cut off access to the International Dining Room, aft). Even in the photo gallery, I did not have to contend with mobs of passengers.  The atrium appeared much taller than its three levels, perhaps due to the decorative elevators, curved staircases, and spacious sitting area on the ground level. The only time it felt crowded was during the Champagne Waterfall on the second formal night.   <br /><br />My favorite hangouts were Skywalkers Disco and the Wheelhouse Bar. Skywalkers Disco was located way atop ship on Deck 18. While disco by night, this is a peaceful room by day, offering panoramic views of the ocean. The Wheelhouse Bar is a gorgeous paneled room with wingback chairs, leather sofas, and a nautical motif. We often came to this room in the evenings. The band was good, and we enjoyed watching people do the waltz and other dances I hope to master someday.  <br /><br />The gym was a decent size and offered a number of equipment. I did my weight circuit on the machines and free weights, and also used the elliptical machines. Treadmills were always available when I went, although a sign-up sheet was posted for the busier times.   <br /><br />I?ve often said that my favorite ship feature is an outdoor promenade, and Diamond Princess did not disappoint. Finding a lounger on this deck was easy, and I enjoyed bundling up and sitting here on the cooler sea days. I also used this deck for my daily ?walk-a-mile.? Two times around equals one-half mile (not knowing this, I did three laps my first time, and wondered why it seemed so long). One peculiarity of the promenade is that in order to complete a circuit, one must ascend a staircase to the deck above at the bow, walk the arc about the bow, and then descend to Promenade Deck by identical staircase on the port side. It just adds another dimension to the morning walk.  <br /><br />DINING. Shipboard dining is fairly important to us, and we value good service and the variety, presentation, and quality of the food. Diamond Princess excelled in all of these areas.  <br /><br />International Dining Room. <br />We requested, and received, traditional early seating, which started at 6:15 each evening in the International Dining Room. The one-level room was nicely decorated with paintings of various major world cities adorning the tan-colored walls. The food was superb. Generally, I ordered a fruit appetizer, consomm?, fish or steak, and either a cheese platter or the sugar-free suggestion for dessert. Highlights included zander (a new variety of fish for me), mahi mahi, beef Wellington, prime rib, and escargot. We were also able to order from the Anytime Dining restaurants on a rotating basis, and my husband gave high marks to the sushi appetizer and duck entr?e from the Pacific Moon menu. We also enjoyed several breakfasts and lunches in the International Dining Room, which were offered every day, including sea days. <br /><br />Horizon Court. <br />We visited Horizon Court on Lido Deck several times during the cruise, which was easy to do as it never closed. The buffet offered a wide variety of selections. Among the items I tried during breakfast hours were grits and mueseli, both of which were excellent. The lunch menu changed every day, and I enjoyed the Asian soups that were regularly offered. There wasn?t a buffet line, so to speak, but groups of stations in a small area. I had read that this arrangement was confusing, yet I found it convenient to head over to the station I wanted rather to stand in a long line when all I wanted was one item.   <br /><br />SERVICE. Service on Diamond Princess was near impeccable. This started with the quick embarkation and extended nearly flawlessly throughout the cruise. Although tipping is now done via automatic deductions from passenger accounts, I found no evidence that service levels are minimal or sub-par as a result.   <br /><br />Our cabin steward, May, was a real gem. She quickly learned our schedule our schedule was lightning fast with servicing the cabin wile we were out. One evening, as I returned alone to the cabin, May was outside and asked for my key card so that she could open the cabin door for me. These little things may seem trivial, yet are nice touches that show one?s pride in his or her work.   <br /><br />Our assistant waitress, Zelda, exemplified the main reason we enjoy an assigned tale in the dining room. After the first evening, she knew I enjoyed a cup of Earl Grey after the main course at dinner, and dessert would begin with Zelda stopping by with a pot of hot water and teabag and asking, ?Would you care for your Earl Grey now, Mrs. Lisa63??  <br /><br />Our waiter was also very attentive. One of our tablemates, a sweet 9-year-old, loved eating sliced tomatoes, and our waiter made sure to bring him a plate every evening. One night, when the young man asked politely for green olives in addition, the waiter at first stated that the kitchen had only black olives, but he then realized that the bars might have green olives on hand. Within minutes, he returned with a bowl filled with green olives, a ritual that continued nightly thereafter.   <br /><br />The only lapse in service was around the swimming pools, where those on duty seemed to ignore the unruly and unaccompanied children who were disobeying the posted rules and making it a dangerous environment for themselves and others. Unfortunately, the crew told us there was nothing they could do to stop the behavior permanently. I understand it?s a tough call for the crew -- they don?t want to offend the ?parents? -- yet because of these antics, my son could not use the pool when these hooligan children were around as I deemed it unsafe. (I wouldn?t dream of bringing him to the adult pool.) We, however, did not let this mar our vacation. We simply found something else to do, and returned to the pools in the early morning hours, before these kids were turned loose by their ?parents.?  <br /><br />DAYTIME ACTIVITIES / SEA DAYS.   With three sea days, one of our objectives was to do nothing. And we spent a lot of time doing just that. My husband and son and I used the pools as much as we could. My men also played basketball and miniature golf while I read/wrote/napped in a lounge chair one deck above the covered pool. (This is a great place to sit -- always a choice of chairs available.)  <br /><br />Princess offered many daytime activities, ranging from the sedate (wine historian lectures) to the zany (pool games). We did try out a few organized activities on an impromptu basis, however.  <br /><br />I joined a ship tour at 2:30 on embarkation day -- informative for me as I had not been on this class of vessel previously. Although it included a stop outside the spa, there was no pressure to go inside and book treatments or entice us to book. It was exactly as advertised -- an orientation tour of the ship.  <br /><br />Afternoon tea was held daily in one of the Anytime Dining Rooms (Pacific Moon), yet I went just once. Rather than an open seating, waiters gave each group its own table, making it hard for singles to meet new people. The scones were very good (cream and jam on the side), as was the variety of the sandwiches.   <br /><br />I also enjoyed a ?Meet the Captain? session held in Club Fusion on our last sea day. It began with a prepared Q&amp;A by cruise director Billy Hygate, in which we learned how Captain Yeomans was inspired to work at sea, and how he eventually ended up with P&amp;O as a crew member in the 1970s. One of the passengers had the gall to ask what a captain earns, and he quickly responded, ?Not as much as you might think, and not as much as my wife thinks.?  <br /><br />EVENING ACTIVITIES AND ENTERTAINMENT. Evening entertainment was excellent, in our opinion. The two main production shows -- ?Piano Man? and ?Undercover? were highly entertaining, and each had an encore performance during the week for those who had missed it or (like us) wanted to see it again. There were also a variety of alternative activities run every evening.  <br /><br />?Piano Man? featured the music of Billy Joel (not enough), Neil Sedaka (very well done), Liberace (beautiful -- black/white costumes represented piano keys in one number), Barry Manilow (very good), and Elton John (excellent mix). I wish they had somehow incorporated the entire song ?Piano Man,? otherwise, it was an excellent show.  <br /><br />?Undercover? had an espionage theme. Highlights included a colorful depiction of ?Green Hornet? which was done in neon-colored costumes against a black backdrop, ?Clue,? in which singers played the roles of Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Miss White, and Mrs. Peacock as each recounted their versions of the crime, and a very long and comical sequence on ?Austin Powers.? Yet the true star was the set designer. I have never seen such elaborate sets change so frequently during a performance. Platforms emerged from the stage floor, Maxwell Smart appeared to walk through doorways of light before descending in the phone booth, and black and white panels formed a perfect backdrop for ?Spy versus Spy.?   <br /><br />Comedian/juggler Dan Bennett was entertaining and I enjoyed the banter that preceded his juggling routines. I wasn?t as impressed with the performer in the American Songbook as he constantly hyped his accomplishments, although several of the medleys (particularly the one of Harold Arlen-composed songs) were good.   <br /><br />Unlike the last ship we were on, there were plenty of choices in entertainment if one did not wish to see the main show. We spent time listening to various styles of music in the variety of lounges onboard. We danced to hits of the 1960s, jazz, as well as ballads. There was also an excellent comedian in the Explorer?s Lounge one evening.  <br /><br />We also enjoyed ?Princess Idol,? the Princess version of the popular U.S. television show in which passengers volunteered to be contestants. Some passengers were comically dreadful, while others showcased amazing talent. A gentleman from Tennessee won the grand prize with his fabulous performance of ?That?s Life.? As the players change every week, I encourage passengers to see this show if they can. It was held in Club Fusion throughout the cruise, with the finals held on the last evening.  <br /><br />The Captain?s Welcome Aboard party was held in the atrium. This was quite nice and a welcomed alternative to the parties held in crowded show lounges. While we did not get to pose for photos with the captain, the roominess and brightness of the space more than compensated. Captain Tony Yeomans addressed the gathering from one of the tiers overlooking the atrium.   <br /><br />RENEWAL OF VOWS CEREMONY. To celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, I surprised my husband with a renewal of our marriage vows. (I let him in on the secret once we boarded.) It was a most wonderful experience. The wedding coordinator contacted me the first full day of the cruise (a sea day), gave us the date and time, and then asked a number of questions in order to personalize our ceremony. Our ceremony was held in the chapel on the second formal night and the Captain presided. Princess provided a lovely orchid bouquet and boutonniere, and the chapel was beautifully decorated with candles and more flowers. Everyone was wonderful and treated us like royalty. They even blocked off the hallway outside the chapel so that there could be no passersby. One of our friends served as official witness. A copy of our vows, along with the official certificate signed by the Captain and our witness, were delivered to our cabin later that evening. We also received a bottle of Moet &amp; Chandon with two glasses that, thankfully, made the trip home unscathed. We also received a cake from the Captain in the dining room that evening, and a framed 8x10 photo of our choosing.  <br /><br />ITINERARY AND SHORE EXCURSIONS. As this was our first visit to western Mexico, we opted for a Princess tour in each of our three ports. Each was organized and run very well, providing seamless transfers from ship to tour. We were also highly impressed by the handicrafts -- in all our cruises, this is probably the most number of items we?ve purchased, although we spent very little money.  <br /><br />Additionally, one of the highlights of this itinerary was viewing the marine life off the Baja coast. One day, while I was doing my morning walk, I spotted a group of dolphins -- at least a dozen -- making their graceful dives through the ocean. My husband told me he saw a whale, and I heard similar stories of varied marine life from other passengers.  <br /><br />- Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco - <br />As a first-time visitor, we opted for the City and Coastal Drive tour. From our bus, we saw the location where ?Night of the Iguana? was filmed, and much of the Malecon, a picturesque promenade by the ocean dotted with many statues. We stopped to take photographs of the most important statue -- a seahorse with a child on its back, which is the symbol of the village. We also stopped at la Iglesia de nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, a beautiful cathedral, and we then drove a bit outside town to refreshment stop adjacent to a crafts market, where we bought three small colorful ceramic figurines. While at times the tour felt like a pitch for some of the hotels, I think that this is a good tour for a first-time visitor who wants to learn about the brief history and the culture of PV. Next time we visit, I would like to see more of the town -- perhaps a more comprehensive excursion, or simply a walk along the Malecon to get a closer look at the interesting statues.    - Mazatlan, Sinaloa - <br />This turned out to be a major highlight for us. The approach to Mazatlan was beautiful and serene. It was early in the morning, and the sun was just starting to rise. As we passed a small village at the foot of a mountain, I heard roosters waking up the town. We docked a ways down, in an industrial area, and a free open-air bus was provided to take us to the shopping bazaar set up on the other side of the large parking lot.   <br /><br />We met our bus and our guide Carmen and driver Jose at about 8:15 am for our Colonial Villages tour. Our first stop was a brick-making yard. We watched as a man made the mixture, folded it into a grid-like wooden mold, and as another man stacked the bricks that had dried. According to Carmen, drying takes about a day, and the bricks may be used in about a week. From there, we made the long drive to the village of Malpica, where we saw artisans create floor tiles (&#036;2 each -- we bought five) and where we stopped by a bakery for wonderful treats made in their brick ovens. Then, it was on to Concordia, where we saw cedar furniture being made in a large hut. Adjacent was an artisans? market, where we spent another &#036;10 on carved wood figurines -- both were incredibly detailed. Further into Concordia, we had a drink at a restaurant (which had a nice courtyard and colorful interior) and walked about the town square. Then it was back on the bus for the scenic 50-minute drive back to Mazatlan.  <br /><br />Once in Mazatlan, we were treated to a performance by the Papantla Flyers, a group of five men who learned this ritual as children. There is numerology involved, as each of four men makes 13 revolution from a rope suspended from a pole (total of 52 represents the number of weeks in the year), and some other combination adds up to 365. The fifth man kept a beat with a drum and flute. Watching these men spiral downward from a 75-foot pole was breathtaking.  <br /><br />- Cabo San Lucas, Baja Peninsula Sur -  <br />As our time in this port was very limited, it was an early day for us. We awoke by 5:30 AM in order to make a 6:50 tour that combined a beach visit with a boat trip to the impressive Los Arcos rock formations. The tour was excellent. After tendering to shore with our tour group, we boarded a large catamaran -- Cabo Rey -- and had a 45-minute cruise around Los Arcos. During this tour there were a few seals in sight, some frolicking in the water, others basking in the sun. After returning to the mainland, we were driven to the Hotel Hacienda Beach Club, where we stayed from approximately 9:00 to 11:00. Our son spent nearly all that time playing in the sea. Even in that short span -- and with 35 SPF sunscreen -- we got a lot of sun that day.  <br /><br />DISEMBARKATION. Disembarkation from Diamond Princess seemed very organized, yet the process slowed once we left the ship. We waited in the nearly empty Princess Theatre for our group to be called. Passengers were assigned debarkation colors based upon flight times, whether they had Princess transfers to LAX, and then by deck. The first group of passengers was called by 8:30. We were in the third group and were called at 9:10. While this was seamless, we had no inkling that we were in for a 45-minute wait outside the ship to pass through Immigration. Having a passport did not expedite the process. Thankfully, our driver from ExecuCar waited for us, we left the pier at 10:00, and arrived at LAX at 10:30. We were through security and waiting at our gate by 11:00, ample time for our 12:45 flight. Still, I will no longer gripe about the Immigration procedure that occurs aboard ship. At least in that case, one is not standing on concrete with all one?s carry-on bags. Still, this was not a major issue, and I mention it only so that future cruisers out of San Pedro on any cruise line will be prepared.  <br /><br />FINAL THOUGHTS. This small-ship fan was won over by the 18-deck, 115K GRT Diamond Princess. We would definitely return to this ship, or consider one of her sisters or near-sisters, for a future cruise. We also liked the people and culture of western Mexico and would love to return to all three ports someday. It would also be great to explore further on the coast by cruising south to Acapulco or up to the Sea of Cortez. Our first Princess cruise will not be our last.',1171839818,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',151,'Lisa63',1,63,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(198,114,'3/26/05','Can&#39;t wait till our next cruise&#33;','Took the family on a much anticipated cruise last week and it really was everything we expected and more. My twin 10 year old boys stayed with Nana in an inside cabin accross the hall from our balcony cabin on Aloha deck. Embarkation was a breeze, arriving in San Pedro around 11:00 and getting to our staterooms by 1:15 or so, and our luggage was there already. WE loved our balcony cabin and will only sail with one in the future... once you have one I don&#39;t think you could go to a closed box. There was however plenty of space for everyone to stow their stuff... the bathrooms are small as you&#39;ve heard, however they are quite adequite. We loved the huge ship, even though it is enormous it&#39;s very comfortable. Princess has a style and elegance to her ships that is very nice. Our cabin stewardess, Viktoria, was delightful and catered to all of our needs, we tipped her extra. <br /><br /><br />We had the first seating in traditional dining room, and our wait staff, Jose and Richard, made each meal a wonderful experience. If we couldn&#39;t make up our minds on a dessert or entre he would bring it all... Alka Selzer time. WE enjoyed having the same staff at meals as they knew to bring the decaf during dessert, and all the little touches that make the dining expeirience so much nicer. I think anytime dining would miss that. Our only regret was that we missed extra pool time and any sunsets by being in the dining room at that time each day. One day we passed up early dinner, (just let them know), and we ate in the Pacific Moon at 8:30 pm by just walking up. I still ordered from the regular menu though, couldn&#39;t pass up the rack of lamb... We took on board our own wine and I tipped our staff the second night and never got charged the &#036;10 corkage fee all week. <br /><br />My kids didn&#39;t do much in the Pirateer&#39;s program, I set it up so they could sign themselves in and out but they enjoyed having the independance very much. Ports were great, we did the Puerto Vallarta Beach Break and it was very nice. They take you to a new resort just opened and it is quite nice. Watch out for the timeshare pitches in Mazatlan... they are all over you when you get off the tram from the dock. We bit on one and it worked out after all, we got free transportation through town, a stop on our return trip to shop, and our driver drove around so we could take pictures on our way back, tipped him &#036;10. <br /><br />WE snorkeled in Cabo and it was too cold for my kids to stay in very long, about 68 degrees... the water gets cold after November, when it is 80...all in all we loved everything, we deposited for our next cruise already. Piano Man show is great, as is the comedian juggler, don&#39;t need to see UnderCover... I got many great tips on these forums, I want to say thanx... The best was the card lanyards and the carpet color difference between port and starboard on the ship. It&#39;s so easy to get turned around on this big ship. Can&#39;t wait till our next cruise&#33;',1171839861,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1904,'Qcruiser',1,49,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(199,114,'4/23/05','I have to rank it as the least favorite of all my Princess cruises. I have decided that I like the size of the Island/Coral Princess best - they are better laid out and easier to get around than the Diamond.','Here is my review of the Diamond Princess Mexican Riveria cruise 4/23 - 4/30/05. <br /><br />This was my 12th cruise and my 6th with Princess which earned my Platinum status. I have also cruised on Celebrity, RCCL, Carnival and Premier. I am 43 and am pretty laid back and easy to please (most of the time&#33;) <br /><br />Embarkation - Princess still does it better than anyone else. Carnival, Celebrity and RCCL need to take lessons from Princess on organization and speed. Arrived at the port about 11:30 and was on the ship by 12:15. Princess does call Platinum and Elite passengers to board first, then followed by those in wheelchairs or those who need assistance, then they start general boarding by numbers (you are handed a plastic card with a number on it before you even get to the check in area.) <br /><br />The Ship - while I agree the Diamond is a beautiful ship, I do feel she was a little too big for my taste. The layout was easy to follow (I never got lost). I loved the fact that there were five pools and two of them (the Terrace and Lotus pools) were adult only. I didn&#39;t like the layout of the Lotus pool - it is set in the middle of the Lotus Spa and there is limited access to it. Plus, the tile flooring in that area gets very hot under the sun. I much preferred the layout of that pool on the Island Princess where it was covered and there was a lot of room around the pool and it was not in the middle of the spa. There are five dining rooms on board: Sterlings, Vivaldi, Pacific Moon, Santa Fe and the International. The first four are the anytime dining rooms. The International is tucked away and can only be accessed by the aft elevators and stairwell. There is very little room for diners to wait before the doors are opened. Sabatini&#39;s is located on the Promenade deck between the photo gallery and the internet cafe. Two places I loved on this ship were Club Fusion (where the Vista Lounge used to be) and the Wake View Bar - this bar can only be accessed via a stairway located next to the dance floor in Club Fusion. It is a small area that is great to sit and talk. Too bad it is so isolated from the rest of the ship. <br /><br /><br /><br />The Cabin - I was in Aloha 740 the last inside cabin aft. I loved the location of the cabin, but I would not book it again. This cabin was very noisy - not just creaking which I expected, but there was the sound of water running through pipes and rattling pipe noises off and on throughout the night. I eventually did break down and buy some ear plugs which did help me sleep. Because the cabin was aft, I did feel a lot of rocking and motion - which to be honest, I really like. Plenty of storage space and the typical tiny shower and bathroom. <br /><br />Food - I thought the food was very good. There were a couple of dishes that were outstanding (the always available fettucine alfredo, the chilled soups, and some of the appetizers) and the rest were just ok. I know there are variables from ship to ship within a cruise line because of the head chef&#39;s personal preferences, but comparing the food on this cruise to my last two Princess cruises (Dawn and Island) I felt it had gone down a notch. The buffet is just that - the buffet. Good buffet food but the layout is very confusing to me - even after 6 Princess cruises - especially on the Diamond because they had people entering from both ends of the buffet line&#33; And when the two lines meet, it is pure chaos. <br /><br />Service - this is where I have some concerns where Princess is headed. Maybe it was just this cruise at this particular time, but I have never heard so many passengers bluntly told &quot;NO&quot; for simple requests. Could it be it was the last cruise of the season to the Mexican Riveria and the crew were a little burned out? I do know many crew were scheduled to end their contracts in the next two weeks. For example, one person asked their room steward for an extra blanket, because she was cold at night and the bedspread was too heavy for her to use as the extra blanket and she was told &quot;No - we have no extra, turn the thermostat up.&quot; I had requested before boarding through my TA and requested again once on board to have the foam overlay placed on my bed - I was told, sorry we have none (which I know is a lie as others stated they had one on their beds.&quot; Someone at dinner asked for a particular salad dressing (not an unusual one) and was bluntly told &quot;we don&#39;t have that tonight.&quot; I have noticed some cutbacks in little things (for example bar snacks automatically being brought to you when the bar waiter comes to take your order.) I was told by one of the officers in the food and beverage department that all one had to do was ask for the bar snacks and you would be brought some. Every single time during the week when I asked for them, I was bluntly told &quot;No, we don&#39;t have any&quot; or I was told &quot;I will see if we have some&quot; and the waiter never came back with any even after a second and third request. I did bring this to the attention of the officer I had previously spoken to and told him exactly where and when this happened, and it still wasn&#39;t resolved. I finally gave up. Also, bar service at every venue except Outriggers was extremely slow - it sometimes took up to 15 minutes during a slow period to get a bar waiter to take an order and then another 10 minutes to get the drink. And this was not during peak times. In the onboard boutiques there were long lines to check out - I know that in the boutiques they were training new crew, so I did cut them some slack, but it was still frustrating. I have never had this problem on Princess before. <br /><br />The true stars of the crew as far as I was concerned were my dining room wait staff and my room steward - absolutely spot on and always accomodating (except for the foam mattress overlay, but......) <br /><br />It may sound like I didn&#39;t have a good time, I did&#33; I got to relax and rejuvenate and made some wonderful friends, but I have to rank it as the least favorite of all my Princess cruises. I have decided that I like the size of the Island/Coral Princess best - they are better laid out and easier to get around than the Diamond. I didn&#39;t get that special feeling on the Diamond like I have on my other cruises. I would recommend the Diamond to those who like bigger and newer ships - me, I&#39;ll take the mid sized ships&#33; <br /><br />Any questions, please ask&#33;',1171839909,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',333,'sailinglisa',1,144,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(200,116,'4/15/02','All in all, a nice week on a nice ship.','We booked this cruise in November 2001 for the kids? spring break. Princess wouldn?t take the booking for a quad room, as they were trying to limit the number of children and teens on the sailing. They were happy to book the same kids as long as we booked two adjacent cabins. We did and got a good price. We flew Southwest for the first time from Norfolk to Ft. Lauderdale, less than &#036;100 each way. Called the Holiday Inn Express, Convention Center, shuttle and were delivered about 1115pm the night before sailing. <br /><br />Saturday we had breakfast at the hotel, walked 1 ? blocks to the bridge overlooking Port Everglades and could see Golden Princess, Celebrity Century, A HAL ship, and an RCCL ship. Walked back to the Publix which was on 17th, a block from the hotel and purchased 12 packs of soda for the kids to carry aboard. We took the 12:30pm shuttle to the pier (a 5-minute ride) and were through check in by 1:10pm. They x-rayed everything, and took a photo which is used to check faces and ship ID cards. They were confiscating for safekeeping all hard liquor. We were on Caribe deck 725 and 729, two adjacent inside rooms, but not connected. Refrigerator with filled ice bucket, ample space, end tables, dressing table with drawers, mirrors give the room a feeling of spaciousness. There is a closet with 7 feet of hanger space, a cabinet with 8 shelves and a save, and the entrance to the bathroom. No trouble storing all luggage under the bed, and the case of wine under the dressing table, with several bottles of champagne in the fridge. This was the largest three inside cabins we have had on Princess. Muster in cool lounge where they instructed everyone on how to put on lifejackets. <br /><br />We had opted to try Personal Choice dining. We have normally been traditional late seating on all previous cruises, with or without kids. We had read that 7-8pm was the busiest time so we sent down at 8:30pm and were told there was a 15-20 minute wait in both PC dining rooms. We got to a table at 9:05. The show was a comedian who toned down the late show due to the large number of children in the front rows. The Princess pools are fresh water and open 24 hours, so we did a late night dip before turning in. Many of the hot tubs are closed and emptied, however, at night. <br /><br />The first at sea day was Easter Sunday. There were Protestant and Catholic services at 9, and huge chocolate eggs decorated in the atrium. I attempted to make a dinner reservation for PC dining but was advised at 10am that only one PC dining room was taking reservations and had only 5:45-6:15pm available. With that, I went to the dining room captain in the traditional dining room and request late seating. He said if we had not heard from him by dinner, just show up at 8:30 and he?s find a place. From that point on, everytime he saw us all week he was able to call us by name. 16 years with Princess, starting as Asst Waiter. We checked out the four pool choices: Terrace Pool, aft, which is adults only, the spa pool which is a lap pool with artificial current, the Calypso Pool with the retractable roof, and the Neptune Pool. Family preferred the more secluded Calypso Pool, but seldom could find an empty chair due to inconsiderate passengers marking their spot with towels and disappearing literally for hours. This was the first formal night. Ordered rose corsages for my wife and daughter for &#036;8 each, delivered to room. The 11 year old was thrilled&#33; Captain?s Welcome Aboard reception, formal photos. The dining room seated the four of us and two others at a table for 10, and by the next night had us at a table for 6 with a good wait staff, Jun from the Philippines and Flavio from Acapulco. They were great. The show that night was Lights, Camera, Action, a Vegas style show. Afterwards we tried out Skywalkers, the disco suspended high above the stern, accessed by escalator from deck 17. Lots of current top 40 hits, a conga line, we had it all. <br /><br />The second day at sea day we had made a lunch reservation in the Desert Rose, the southwestern theme restaurant with an &#036;8 cover charge. We had ample salsa, chips, guacamole, fajitas, empanadas, quesadilla?s, and the first drink free (great Margarita?s). Much of the day as spent at the pools, but I spent time exploring the library (not only books, but computers with games, and other programs), shops, the exercise gym where I rode stationary cycles and they had many other machines, walking track. Tried out the pizza, which is available by the slice on Lido Deck only 11am - 6pm. Also great burgers, hot dogs, brats, etc.all just off the Neptune Pool area. The evening show was Shake, Rattle and Roll, an anthology of music/songs from that era with singers and dancers. <br /><br />We took our own wine each evening to the dining room. The first three nights, we were not charged the &#036;10 corkage fee. We had heard that it was sort of up to the waiter to write it up. They wrote it up the 4th and 5th nights, because they said it was apparent that the ship did not carry these wines, and the dining room captain would notice. I told them we would be bringing champagne the 6th night and they said to wrap in it something and they wouldn?t charge us. We did and they didn?t. Nor the last night. So we paid &#036;20 corkage and had 7 bottles of wine of our favorites that I had purchased at discount wine shops and had shipped as luggage. Total expense for 7 bottle: about &#036;91, which would have cost about &#036;26 each, or more on board for a total of &#036;182. We saved 50%. While we did attend wine tasting (&#036;5 each refundable if you purchased dinner wine), the ship?s wine list is poor. Sure they have a few &#036;60-110 wines, but most are &#036;10 wines that cost &#036;28 each onboard. <br /><br />The third day was St. Maarten. We berthed at the new pier, across from Disney Magic, with her crumpled, fire marred funnel and smokestacks. We took a taxi from the pier to Orient Beach on the French side for &#036;6 per person, found a beach vendor, Pedro?s, where we got four chairs and 4 drinks for &#036;20, and he tossed in a free umbrella later. Despite SPF 50, I got quite sunburned while swimming, sunning, snorkeling (got three nice conch shells). They have parasailing, jet skis, etc. Also visited the clothing optional end of the beach, although the kids remained in the more public side in the chairs. The joke back on the ship is always: Gee, I didn?t recognize you with your clothes on.? Back by taxi to town to the Guavaberry Emporium, the local liqueur, and a little shopping. Ended the day by being at Every T?ing Cool until last call, which comes early since the ships are leaving. Two beers, a rum punch, and a soda for &#036;8.25. Taxi back to ship was &#036;3 per person. There was a nice sail away party with two bands, and that evening was Island Night. Starting about 1015pm the aft Terrace Pool was covered over with a bandstand, There was dancing, limbo contests, a Mr. Golden Princess contest, in which at the asst. cruise director?s urging I joined. A great night under the stars. This venue, right below the Skywalker?s lounge, is superb for this kind of evening. <br /><br />The next day was St. Thomas. We were berthed at the West India Co. dock at Havensight, and walked to the pierside shopping mall to make our liquor purchases, and some other souvenirs. There is also a drug store for those who might want something not available onboard. We went back aboard with all our purchases, had lunch in the Horizon Court on Lido. The rear section of Horizon is very quiet glass all around, and my favorite place up there. After a king crab dinner was the crew talent show, with the ?If I were not upon the sea? skit. Alistair was the cruise director. He and his assistant did a good job during the week. <br /><br /><br />Thursday was an at sea day. We ate in the dining room where they had and outstanding Cioppino seafood soup, and glasses of Italian wine for &#036;3. That night was the second formal night, and the Captain?s Circle member reception. I was surprised at how relatively few were present, and with 3 or 4 exceptions, most were, like us, on about their 3rd or 4th Princess Cruise. After lobster and Beef Wellington dinner there was a champagne waterfall put on by the matre?de, with photos? available for those who chose to get up and help pour, as my wife and daughter each did. <br />Friday was the visit to Princess Cay, by tender. It was beautiful, and I liked it much better that HAL?s Half Moon Cay. The snorkeling was great, with coral fans and lots of fish. The sand was a bit rocky, the picnic lunch was a typical picnic lunch. Some local crafts, bars, music, etc. were available. But the scene must have been cut out and pasted from the Corona? &#39;change your whole latitude&#39; commercials where they skip their pages across the water. The green water, white sand, sun,?it was the best&#33; But it was Friday, and time to begin filling out forms, luggage tags, and packing. They wanted bags all but one bag in the hall when you leave for dinner, with the other to be out when you turn in. Prime rib and turkey dinners highlighted American Landfall night. Wish they would spread it out more instead of having multiple stellar entr?e?s on the same night. <br /><br />Saturday we returned to Ft. Lauderdale. Breakfast was 6:30 - 8:30 in the dining room and 5:30-9am in Horizon Court. They called the first tags away about 8:10, and we were called about 9:30, with about 30% still waiting. We had chosen to wait in the Vista Lounge after vacating our room after breakfast. Hardly anyone there. They prefer to clog the stairwells and passageways for an hour and a half in the belief that somehow that will speed their departure. Customs and immigration was painless and the bags were waiting. We hustled them to an Alamo bus and rented a van so we could store the luggage and go to the beach strip. You can?t check luggage at the airport anyway until 4 hours before you flight. We drove by the Elbow Room I had visited on my own college spring break many moons ago. We parked in a lot for 75 cents and hour and walked to Sloppy Joe?s, of the Key West Sloppy Joe?s venue, and enjoyed lunch overlooking the beach, then off to turn in the car and to the airport for a return home on time. <br /><br />A few general comments. Food is available 24 hours a day in the Horizon Court. It typically parallels what is being served in the dining room. However, sitting on a buffet line, it is usually overcooked and drying out. There was lots of steamed and pealed shrimp available on several days. There are 3 identical dining rooms. Two for Personal Choice and one for traditional dining. We did not use the cover charged Sabattini?s Trattoria. Maybe if it had been a steak house. But not for Italian. The dining room food was medium, at best. It was not up to our prior two Princess cruises, and was more on a par with RCCL: good, but not exceptional. It was better on Carnival Sensation last spring. Lots of fish. Steak, Caesar salad, fettuccini alfredo are always available. Desserts did include banana flamb? and cherries jubilee. Coffee was okay to me, and I drink it black. I know lots of people complain about cruise coffee. Maybe 20 years of black Navy coffee helped me adapt to any kind of coffee. They were not pushing alcohol. It was available, period. Soft drink stickers for your ship card were &#036;17.50 for unlimited soft drinks by the glass. Same with photos. The only candids were upon arriving, leaving the ship in port (but only till 1030), and a few on Princess Cays. 8x10?s are &#036;21.95, and 5x7?s are &#036;7.95. I found not so many quiet little corners. The ship is huge. There were over 2900 people aboard but it didn?t seem like it. There were laundromats on every deck: new equipment, &#036;1 wash, 50 cents dry. Soap and bleach &#036;1 each, 4 irons and boards in each. It cost &#036;3.75 to have my tux shirt laundered and pressed. Motion of the ocean was greater on this ship than I would have expected. Is it top heavy? Even in mild seas it rocks and rolls. <br /><br />My teenager had plenty to do with virtual arcades, miniature golf, internet caf?, and lots of teens to hang out with. <br /><br />All in all, a nice week on a nice ship. But it is nicer with just me and my wife, than supervising the 11 and 14 year old, who thinks he is 20 and dad of course knows nothing, and times to check in are optional. We?ll cruise as a family this summer, but looking forward to anniversary cruises with my wife. More romantic. <br /><br />Oh, must have been a good week, as I did put down the &#036;100 per person fully refundable till Nov 2004 deposit on a future Princess Cruise. How can you lose on a deal like that? The Love Boat...strains of music',1171839971,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',131,'JohnG',1,82,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(201,116,'4/17/04','It was a great trip, and we will definately cruise Princess again&#33;','We cruised on the Golden for our 15th anniversary. We had done the Grand for our 10th and loved it , after having done two previous cruises on Carnival.  <br /><br />Overall our cruise experince was a 9/10. <br /><br />Princess does embarkation well, once you actually get to the port, but in this case we had done Princess air and transfers, and that was the weak point in our trip. We had to be out of the hotel room at 11am, and meet in the lobby at noon for ship buses. The buses didn&#39;t however arrive till 2;30, so that was serveral hours of what could have been &quot;ship time&quot; wasted waiting in the hotel lobby.  <br /><br />Next time we will not do Princess air/transfers. We could have just taken a taxi to the port, but it was an extra 30 dollars( so the hotel staff told us) and we had already paid for the transfers , so we wasted time.  <br /><br />The ship is beautiful, much like the Grand, and we did not notice any wear asnd tear that some cruisers note, of course we didn&#39;t particulary look for any.  <br /><br />The pool areas are fabulous, clean, nice lounge chairs with cushion padding, and freshwater pools&#33;  <br /><br />The buffet( Horizon Court) was very good, with many choices , so anyone who couldn&#39;t find something they liked is just too finicky&#33; The french toast in the morning was excellant.  <br /><br />We chose PC dining, even though we had booked a year in advance and most likely could have had traditional. We made the right choice&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; We absolutely loved PC , we enjoy the freedom of going to dinner when WE are ready, not when dinner is ready for us&#33; We sat at large shared tables each night except one night( I was feeling a bit queasy and didn&#39;t want to socailize) when we sat at a table for two. We never waited more than 5 or 10 minutes, but we do choose to eat rather early( 6:30 to 7) so perhaps the cruisers who complain about waiting are dining at 7 to 8 which is the &quot; busy time&quot;. Our servers were polite and efficent, which is all we ask of them, we are not interested in &quot; bonding &quot; with the staff.  <br /><br /><br />The food was very good, only a few&quot; duds&quot; on the menu, and even then that is more of a personal taste issue.For instance we loved the menu salads , but the ceasar salad which is &quot; always available &quot; was too soggy with dressing for us, and a bit bland. The onion soup is excellant,as was the cheesecake&#33;The lobster was excellant and our waiter brought us a platter heaped high with extra tails for us to have seconds and thirds, which we all did as the tails were small, but very tender and tasty&#33;&#33; <br />Our cabin was a balcony on the Lido deck(cat Ba) it was lovely( nice having a fridge in there) and we liked being so close to the pools and buffet, but the location on a high deck, right near the front of the ship did make it rather sickning, as we had rough seas the firt two days out. <br /><br />We have done the Eastern route before, and being &quot; beach folks&quot; we knew what we were going to do. We went to Orient beach on St Marten and had a wonderful afternoon there, we only regret wasting the morning wandering around the crowded little port town, we aren&#39;t big shoppers but di get a great deal on some booze. <br /><br />On St Thomas we screwed up , we went to Magens Bay beach which was way too crowded and had no snorkling, next time we will go to Coki beach or St Johns island.  <br /><br />Princess Cays was great, we snorkled, ate, drank, and basically just had a relaxing day, which is why we cruise.  We will certainly cruise Princess again, we loved it, all the staff, even the ones you pass in the hallway are pleasant, they actually smile and say hello for no other reason then the fact they are pleasant&#33;  <br /><br />The shows we saw were fun, Hubby loved the deck party( I was ill that night)    <br /><br />The only blight on the whole experience was the lounge chair hogs that were out in full force. Hubby actually would have to carry chairs to get us two together, and this was on the upper and aft decks, forget the main pool areas, unless you are travelling with a large group of loud obnoxious family or friends who will save ten or more chairs ALL DAY for the two or three persons that would drop by and use them for an hour or two&#33;It was very frustating. There seemed to be at least four or five groups off ten to fifteen cruisers who would basically &quot; bully&quot; their way into the best areas around the pools, often leaving a little granny to guard the chairs, or perhaps two little kids or so&#33; <br /><br />Oh well enough whining, it was a great trip, and we will definately cruise Princess again&#33;',1171840008,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',531,'Dreamer',1,109,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(202,117,'4/25/04','Everything was just as expected as I had all the great advice from the message boards beforehand&#33; What a great trip and we can&#39;t wait until the next one&#33; Thank You Princess&#33;&#33;&#33;','Having been on only one cruise, you could say we were easily impressed.We arrived the morning of the cruise on a red-eye flight from NY.By the time we got to Ft. Lauderdale , it was already 11:00.There was a Princess rep. right there at the baggage claim area and she proceeded to explain what to do and where to go to meet the transfer to the ship.All went very smooth&#33;As we got close to the pier,we could see the back of the ship and instantly we were in awe&#33; We unloaded from the bus and got right in line to embarkation.It moved rather quickly and we were checked in in about 20 minutes. <br /><br />As soon as we boarded, we went straight to our cabin with our carry-0n bags that contained our bathing suits and a change of clothes.It was very warm and we thought we would go for a swim and explore the ship and grab some lunch.Our cabin was on Lido deck so we didn&#39;t have to go far to the grill for a burger and fries.It was pretty good&#33;I must say that the pizza served on the same deck by the grill was very tasty too and we had this for lunch the rest of the week&#33;We had excursions planned and didn&#39;t want to have to worry about running back and changing to go to dining room for lunch.We would save that for dinner later.Went to the Promenade Bar at the back of the ship and got a bar-hopping card(never filled the thing) and played a few games of ping-pong. <br /><br />About 4:00 went back to cabin to find our luggage had arrived safely.Put things away and went back out for the sail-away at 5:00.What a great send-off&#33;Very impressive to see all the cruise ships leaving one after another&#33;Decided to eat at Horizon court,then check out the casino.The food at Horizon Court was very good and plenty of things to choose from&#33;We ate here every night except both formal nights which we ate in the DaVinci dining room.After a long day of traveling,called it a night early( mid-night)Day 2: Arrived at Princess Cay at 7:00 am.What a beautiful place&#33; Went to explorers lounge where we got our tender tickets and only waited about 10 minutes for our nombers to be called.Tendering went very smooth and we were on the Island in about 1/2 hour. <br /><br /><br />Found a couple of lounge chairs under a nice palm tree and just relaxed for awhile.We also rented a clear-hulled kayak for 1/2 hour and had a blast looking at all the fish underneath.About 11:30 they started serving the bar-b-que lunch which was very good.We just relaxed all day on the beach and had a few beers until it was time to board the ship again.Went back and lounged by the pool until about 6:00 and then went to our cabin to clean up for dinner.After dinner we took in a show in the theater,which was very cute and entertaining&#33;Went to the casino for awhile,then a walk around the deck and back for a drink on our balcony before bed.It was so relaxing to sit on that balcony at night and just listen to the waves.Day 3:first sea day so we had breakfast delivered to our cabin and took our time going out to the pool.We had breakfast brought to our room every morning and ate it right in bed or on the balcony.We thought we might have trouble getting a couple of chairs but there were plenty to choose from. <br />They had pool games and they were great fun to watch.Spent the day having drink-of-the-day specials and relaxing.First formal night was tonight and we had our picture done and got seated right away in the dining room with 4 other couples.It was nice to meet people and found that one of the couples only lived about 20 minutes away back home&#33;What a small world.Took in another show,a comedian, then off to the casino. <br /><br />Day 4:Arrived at Grand Cayman at 7:00 am and got right up and out ready to tender as we had an excursion planned with a private co. called Nativeway,run by a local Caymanian by the name of Eldon Banks and his wife Sharon.They were right there at the dock waiting and got us all together quickly and headed out to the marina.They had small groups on their boats,about 10-15 people on each one so it was more 1-on-1.We noticed the ship tour boats had about 50 people crammed on theirs.Looked like a bunch of cattle herded together and didn&#39;t look like much fun.I am glad I researched all this before we left.After the sting-ray city swim and snorkle they took us out to the North Barrier Reef to snorkle and the guide coaxed a moray eel out of a cave and played with the thing&#33;Very impressive&#33; Got back to the marina and headed back to town for some lunch and shopping.What a beautiful place&#33; Went back to the ship about 4:30 and lounged by the pool before getting ready for dinner. <br /><br />We had chosen PC dining so it didn&#39;t matter when or where we went or at what time. It made it that much more relaxing.Another show after dinner and a nice walk before a nite-cap on our balcony.Day:5 Docked at Costa Maya at 10:00.We watched it dock from our balcony and saw dolphins playing in the side ballasts that they used to dock the ship.We were a little intimidated seeing federales driving around the ship with machine guns but this must be all routine for everyone and good for safety I guess.Iguess we were not impressed that much with this port,really not alot to do at this port so we shopped a little and swam in the pool in the center of town.Went back to the ship a little early and enjoyed having the pool to ourselves for awhile. <br /><br />Day 6: Arrived in Cozumel at 7:00 am and got right out to the dock as we had booked the royal dolphin swim in Chaankanaab Park.This was so great and will do it again in the future&#33;Was well worth the money,did all kinds of neat tricks with the dolphins and had 1/2 hour of free swim afterwards with them.The beach at the park is beautiful and we enjoyed authentic nachos and margarhitas at a little place on the beach while a mariachi band strolled around serenading all of us&#33;Then took a taxi back to the Pier and had another magarhita at Panchos Backyard,What a great Place, great drinks&#33;Then went to Fat Tuesdays for a few more margarhitas and Dh had to help guide me back to the ship.What a good tome&#33;Tonight is second formal night so rested up and got dressed and met a few other couples we had met for dinner,again in the DaVinci room. <br /><br /><br />They had great food and I was very impressed with the friendly service&#33;Day 7: Sea day again, needed it to rest up from the last three days&#33;Island fun night is tonight.We reserved a table for 2 tonight and had a most romantic dinner and then headed out to the back of the ship where it was transformed into a big party deck.They gave us streamers to throw and it was just alot of fun&#33;To-night seemed to be our lucky night in the casino and we won back all the money we had spent all week in there&#33;Then just strolled around on the decks and enjoyed our last night on board before going back to cabin to get luggage ready for tomorrow. <br /><br />After showering and going to Horizon Court for breakfast,they called our color fairly quickly and we were off the ship in about 15 minutes with everything going very smooth.Found our luggage right away( I had put very colorful zipperpull toys from the kids happy meals from McDonalds so it was easy to pick out those furbys hanging on the handles&#33;)Got right on our transfer to Miami and flew out by noon.<br /><br />Everything was just as expected as I had all the great advice from the message boards beforehand&#33; What a great trip and we can&#39;t wait until the next one&#33; Thank You Princess&#33;&#33;&#33;',1171840088,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1363,'Jaxson',1,96,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(203,118,'10/27/03','This was absolutely one of the best cruises I have been on, between the friends I went with and the friendliness of the onboard staff (even Evil Colin of trivia fame).','Island Princess Review 10/27/03 - 11/06/03 <br /><br />Embarkation:<br />I must say Princess has the best embarkation process of any cruise line I have been on&#33; From the moment I got off the bus til the time I was in my cabin, it was not more than 10 minutes - and I arrived at 1:15 pm. <br /><br />Stateroom:<br />I had Aloha 221 - forward on the starboard side on Aloha deck. This was a cat BC balcony cabin. I loved the location of the cabin (just past the forward elevators). It is right below the Horizon Court but I NEVER heard anything from above at anytime while I was in the cabin. Robert was my room steward and he came and introduced himself to me within 15 minutes of getting to my cabin. My two special requests were handled expediently. The cabin had the queen bed, two nightstands, a desk/vanity with a chair and a small table, mini fridge and tv all in the bedroom part of the cabin. The closet had ample wood hangers and slacks hangers that you could actually take off the pole and rehang. There was a shelving unit with a door on it that had six or seven shelves in it - on shelf held the safe (you use a 4 digit pin number on these safes). Plenty of storage space for two or more people. The bed did seperate when sleeping, so I put a life preserver between one of the nightstands and the bed and that worked like a charm in keeping the beds pushed together. Now, onto the one thing that Princess did wrong in their standard inside, outside and balcony cabins on the Coral class ships: the bathroom. The sink/vanity area and toilet were ok - plenty of storage on the vanity. It is the shower that is the big problem. The shower measures 2.2 feet by 2.25 feet - literally it is that small. The shower head is high up on the wall, but it is NOT a hand held shower head. The average sized person cannot take a decent shower in that small of a space&#33; Shame on Princess for this&#33; <br /><br />Food:<br />I had traditional dining - late seating in the Provence dining room (deck 6). Was seated with friends at table 148 where Marco, Henry and Pom were our head waiter, waiter and assistant waiter. These guys were excellent&#33; The food (remember food is very subjective) ranged from good to very good with a couple of dishes and desserts I found to be excellent (amongst them were ricotta filled pasta squares served in a butter sauce and the always available fettucine alfredo.) I will note that traditional early seating was filled up after the first night - there appeared to be plenty of seating available for traditional late seating. I also ate lunch at the Bayou Cafe: the food was excellent, the service was fair. I had the carptebaggers filet and that was the best beef entree I had the entire cruise, and the chocolate pecan cake was the best dessert. I did not go to Sabatini&#39;s at all. The Horizon Court buffet was good - not great but good with a good selection of dishes for both breakfast and lunch. There is an omelette/eggs made to order station set up for breakfast. The layout of the Horizon Court is confusing and the traffic pattern results in chaos until passengers figure out how it works. I wish Princess would have trays that you could carry - it is hard carrying your plate, utensils, beverages, etc. <br /><br />Lounges:<br />The Wheelhouse Lounge was larger on this ship than on the Grand or Sun class ships - I didn&#39;t go in here at all unless trivia was being held in there. Explorers Lounge was nice venue; I went there when trivia was being held there and occasionally in the evening after supper for a drink or to just see what was going on there. Explorer&#39;s doubles as the disco later in the evening. My favorite lounge on the ship was Crooners - the martini bar on deck 7 in the atrium. The staff there were fantastic and fun loving and after the first day, they knew our names and our preferred drinks. A big thank you to Maria and Mark the bartenders, Andre and Nadtaya and the other waiters who just made the time spent there special. Entertainment: I did not go to one single show on this cruise, so I can&#39;t comment on that. The poolside music was ok - but not spectacular. <br /><br />Pools:<br />There are 4 pools on the Island Princess. The Lido pool is the main outdoor pool. The Lotus pool is under the retractable roof and this pool doubles as the swim against the current pool - the current machine can be turned on and off by pressing a button to the right of the grate just below the water line. Both these pools are over 6 feet deep. The Lotus pool has the steps going down into the pool, the Lido pool has the ladders going down into the water. The Pelican pool far aft on Aloha deck is NOT the childrens pool. It is a small pool about 5 feet deep. The only way to get to this pool is either from the deck above at the back of the ship or you have to go through the Fun Zone and Wired on Aloha deck. There is also a spalsh pool on Sun Deck - about 8 inches deep. There are three hot tubs around the Lido pool and two around the Lotus pool - they were hot and they weren&#39;t hogged by kids (there were only 17 passengers under the age of 18 on this particular cruise.) <br /><br /><br />Ports of Call:<br />First stop was Ocho Rios - I stayed on board as the Voyager of the Seas got the prime docking space near the shopping center - we were at an industrial pier about a mile away. The Panama canal is just an awesome sight to behold&#33; The whole process of lining up to get into the lock, the mules pulling the ship, the lock gates closing and opening is all fascinating&#33; It takes approximately 8 minutes to raise or lower the ship in each lock. After docking in Gatun Lake, only people on ship sponsored tours are allowed off the ship (this is controlled by the PCA - Panama Canal Authority.) You are tendered to shore where you will meet up with your shore excursion. A group of friends and I did the train excursion in the deluxe vintage dome car - the extra money to get on that car is worth it&#33; The views from the upper deck are wonderful. It takes about an hour to go from Cristobal to Balboa on the Pacific side on the train. The bus tour for the most part on this end of the country was a bust - the only interesting thing was going to the Miraflores locks and watching ships going through there. We happened to be there at the time the people who were on the Ocean to Ocean tour arrived on the Pacifc Queen and we were able to watch them descend from sight as they were going back down to sea level. Then it was back on the train to return to Cristobal. We were then bussed to the ship which was docked at Colon at pier 6. There is a nice shopping area right at the dock and there is a cultural show that is put on there as well. Limon, Costa Rica I did the Jungle River Pontoon Boat ride - had a nice bus ride to a resort where we boarded the boats to go to the river. Saw lots of birds and even saw a three toed sloth hanging in a tree and a huge iguana sunning itself. Back to the resort for shopping and some rest before returning to the ship. There is a small shopping area here at the port - internet access and shops. But do not proceed beyond the gates at the pier there - it is very dangerous once outside the pier area. We were warned repeatedly not to venture past there. Grand Cayman was a busy port - besides us, the Norwegian Dream, the Veendam, The Sensation and the Imagination were all in port that day. Tendering on and off the ship was ok, but there are only two tender terminals with two berths at each terminal. There was a lot of gridlock waiting to get a berth at the tender piers. I did not do an excursion here, just got off and did a little shopping. Cozumel was next - we were berthed at Puerto Maya. Again, I just got off and shopped a little and headed back to the ship to enjoy the peace and quiet. <br />Debarkation:<br />I just want everyone to know that the scream that was heard in Fort Lauderdale at 8:01 am on November 6 was me getting the first look at the final sign and sail card bill. The weather on debarkation day fit our mood - it poured all morning with occasional thunder and lightning. Debarkation was handled well, we were cleared by immigration and customs and started debarking about 8:30. <br /><br />This was absolutely one of the best cruises I have been on, between the friends I went with and the friendliness of the onboard staff (even Evil Colin of trivia fame). I never met a staff member who did not smile or say good morning, etc. Never had a request turned down and everyone I dealt with appeared to be enjoying themselves. A special hi to Mike and Betty, Steve and Colleen, Naomi, Charles, Jane, Rita, Camilla, Lucille from Leicester, England, Paul and Marjorie, Lily and all the other wonderful passengers I met onboard playing trivia and pictionary or just lounging by the pool or at Crooners&#33;',1171840133,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',333,'sailinglisa',1,73,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(204,118,'6/26/04','The trip was great and I would recommend it to everyone.','We went on a twelve-day cruise-tour to Alaska on the Island Princess. This is the fourth cruise that my wife Cindy and I have gone on since 1999, and by far, the best. This is our first Princess cruise after cruising once with Royal Caribbean and twice with Carnival. We both felt that Princess was the best of all of them. Here is my review: <br /><br />Travel: Princess booked all of our flights, and I?m not sure that I will do that again. We left from Philadelphia with no problems. We flew to Toronto and had an hour to get to our connecting flight. This was not enough time. We had to get our luggage and go through Canadian Customs. Then we had to recheck our luggage again and catch a bus to another terminal. Then we had to find the gate for our next flight. As we were walking (more like running) to the gate, our names were announced over the public address saying we should report to the gate. We got there in time to get on the plane, but it wasn?t easy. Air Canada was great, and I would fly with them again, but when we landed in Vancouver, our luggage wasn?t on our plane. The hour between flights wasn?t enough time to get our bags on-board our plane. The airline told us that the luggage would be on the next flight out (1hour later) and since we had to get on the Princess bus, our luggage would be delivered to the ship before it sailed. Needless to say, we were somewhat worried, but as it turned out, our luggage was in our cabin before many other people on the ship. Going home, we had the exact same problem. We flew from Fairbanks to Seattle and had only one hour to get to our connecting flight. Since we didn?t have to go thru customs, our luggage had to be delivered right to our connecting flight by the airlines (Alaska Air). Our bags never made it, and when we got to Philadelphia, they were not there. USAir delivered them that night so that was only a minor hassle. <br /><br />Embarkation &amp; Debarkation: We filled out all of the paperwork on-line before the cruise, but due to poor staffing at the docks, still had to do some more. Even with this, the embarkation process was the best that we have encountered. We had to go thru US customs after the Princess part was completed, and that was a pain but it could have been worse. Debarkation went very smoothly. It wasn?t very different from all of our other cruises, except that we still had our land tour of Alaska to do. <br /><br />Room: We had a balcony cabin on the Baja deck (cat BC). The room was slightly smaller than other rooms we previously had, but still didn?t seem cramped. There was enough closet and shelf space for both of us. Plenty of hangers. A small refridge was able to handle a bottle of Champagne and a bottle of water with no problem. The steward was very helpful and attentive. The only problem was that the shower was tiny. This is a common complaint on the Island Princess. <br /><br />Food: The food in the main dining room was good, but I can?t say it was great. There were lots of exotic dishes that I could have done without. I do like to experiment with different foods, but many of these went overboard (pardon the pun). There is always something on the menu that I could find. The buffet was good. The breakfasts became a little monotonous, but it was tasty. The lunches were very good. We never ate dinner up there. The pizza was excellent, but was not available after 6PM. No midnight buffets on the Island Princess. We didn?t try room service. The wait staff was one of the best that we have had as yet. The Maitre?D was very accommodating when we requested a table change because friends who booked late were not at our table. Everyone was very friendly. <br /><br />Itinerary: In Ketchikan, we decided not to take an excursion. Instead, we took a walking tour of the town. It is filled with Totem Poles and stores. We walked up to the Deer Mountain Fish Hatchery and the Totem Heritage Center. Both tours were only fair. The town is built on a hill (like all of the towns along the Inner Passage) and you have to take your time. There are lots of photo ops along the way. We got down to Creek Street that is actually a boardwalk. The street was originally a red light district, and one of the tours goes into one of the former brothels. We didn?t take this tour, so I can?t tell you what it is like. The rest of the street was just shopping. One couple we were with took a floatplane tour over a glacier, and they loved it. Another couple took a tour of the rain forest. They loved it also. We all saw lots of bald eagles. Ketchikan can be very rainy, but all we had was a short drizzle. Most of the day was overcast and in the 60?s <br /><br />Next was Juneau. We went up the cable car to the top of Mt. Robert?s. Great view, but lots of mosquitoes. Later, we went on a combination tour that included a whale watch cruise, and a trip to Mendenhall Glacier. The whale watch was one of the highlights of the cruise. We saw lots of whales (both Orcas and Humpbacks). The humpbacks performed a maneuver that people rarely witness. They did a bubble net feeding twice. The naturalist on the boat we were on was very excited. All together, we saw about 15 whales on the tour. Mendenhall was the first glacier that we saw on the trip. It is quite impressive when it first comes into view. It almost looks fake. You can?t take your eyes off of it. Juneau also has some good shopping. The weather there was like Ketchikan, 60?s and overcast. <br /><br />The last stop was Skagway. This is a gold rush town. We took a bus into the Yukon Territory to a tiny town called Carcross (almost ran over a mother moose and her baby along the way). The bus stopped a few times for photos. The town is tiny and boring. We came back to Skagway via the White Pass Railroad. This is another of the highlights on the cruise. The views from the rails were spectacular. You can really get an idea what it was like for the gold miners after seeing the terrain that they have to go thru. Skagway also has lots of shopping (just like any cruise destination). No change in the weather here. <br /><br />We next sailed thru Glacier Bay. This has one spectacular glacier after another. There was some calving (ice breaking off the glacier face). This makes an incredible cracking sound that may be heard for miles. The colors of the glaciers are beautiful. The bay is full of small (and not so small) icebergs that break off the glaciers. In addition, we saw quite a few sea otters (many with their pups) and whales (from a distance). The weather in this area was quite different. The sky was partly cloudy, but the temperature was in the low 50?s. The temp went up quickly when we left the bay. <br /><br /><br />The next day we were in College Fjord. This was very similar to Glacier bay, but still spectacular. The weather was similar, also. <br />The next day we disembarked in Whittier and took a bus to Anchorage. Along the way, we stopped at the Alaskan Indian Heritage Center. It was interesting, but we didn?t have enough time there. We just walked around Anchorage and hit some stores because we had to get up early the next morning. <br /><br />Next, we took the Alaskan Railroad to the Princess McKinley Lodge. The rail trip was great. There are lots of sights to see along the way (there is a tour guide with you). The breakfast also was good. Unfortunately, Mount McKinley was not totally visible during our stay there. We did a rafting excursion there that was great. The guide was knowledgeable about the area, and we learned much. The lodge was beautiful with great views. <br /><br />Next, we took the train to the Princess Denali Lodge. We had a very good lunch on the train. The lodge there was very nice with great views also. We went to the home of a former Iditerod champion as an excursion. His talk was interesting and informative. <br /><br />The final rail trip was to Fairbanks. The bus trip to the rail depot took us on a 3-hour tour of the Denali National Forest. This was also very informative, but we wished we saw more of the animals. The train ride to Fairbanks was not nearly as spectacular as the previous trips, but dinner was great. In Fairbanks, we did a riverboat tour, and a goldmine tour. The riverboat was somewhat boring at this point in the trip, but the goldmine was very amusing. We didn?t really go into town as we were both pretty much shopped out. The next day, we flew home and crashed. <br /><br />If we had it to do over again, we would have done the land tour first and the cruise second. It would have been much more relaxing that way. The biggest problem that we encountered was that as we went further north, the days became increasing long. We knew that would happen, but, nonetheless, it was disconcerting. Going to bed at midnight and it looked like 6 o?clock outside was not too easy. Considering everything, the trip was great and I would recommend it to everyone.',1171840168,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1210,'rogue',1,71,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(205,118,'3/7/06','Overall it was another great cruise, guess there?s no such thing as a bad one. The weather could have been better, a lot better, but we still had a great time, met some really nice people and just enjoyed ourselves.','The Island Princess - Los Angeles-Hawaii-Los Angeles  <br /><br /><br />This was our third time to Hawaii, but our first time making a round trip. It was nice to be able to drive to the port and leave the car. No hassle with airports and airlines. <br /><br />We arrived at the dock around 11:30 and checked in with no problem. We were escorted to the Platinum Lounge and waited for about 30 minutes before we were taken onboard in a priority line. Smooth as silk. We learned later that boarding was a real hassle for passengers later in the day. <br /><br />Our cabin was ready for us and so we dumped our carry on and went to the Horizon Court for lunch, all before 12:30. Driving to the port is definitely the way to go.  <br /><br />The ship. <br />The Island is a beautiful ship. We had sailed on her sister ship, Coral Princess, last year and so we were very familiar with the layout. We had a cat AB, mini-suite. They are nice, big rooms with a large balcony with a full size table and two armchairs.  We always take second seating traditional dining and we had a table for eight.   The main pool, the Lido Pool, is well protected from the elements and the Lotus Pool is fully enclosed. It was really popular on this cruise because of the cool weather. <br /><br />The Island has several lounges and bars. The Wheelhouse Bar is very plush with its leather covered, overstuffed chairs. It also has a small dance floor. The Crooner?s Bar was very elegant, but usually a bit on the smoky side. It served 52 different martinis, so it couldn?t be that bad. The Explorer Lounge was a nightclub style lounge and definitely very smoky. We preferred the Atrium Bar area. It had nice seating, good service and we got to listen to the piano player every evening. It was also a great place to people watch.  There were two theaters, the Princess Theater, very well laid out, and the Universe Show Lounge, a more intimate setting, but difficult to see if you weren?t on the front row.   <br /><br />The Food. <br />Overall the food was very good. We never had an evening where we didn?t find something that we enjoyed. I was surprised at the end of the cruise to realize I only had beef one time. There was a wide variety of dishes, lots of fish and one night they had rabbit, on of my favorites. Service was excellent. Both the waiter and assistant were from the Philippines and they really hustled. We kept them busy with wine service and they were always there. Our head waiter was very visible and came to the table every night for a chat with us. On St Patrick?s Night there was no corned beef and cabbage on the menu, but it was available in the Horizon Court. Our assistant waiter disappeared for a few minutes and returned with plates full of corned beef. <br /><br />The Horizon Court food was quite good. It was standard cruise ship buffet food. There was a norovirus scare while we were on board and that cramped the serving in the buffet a little. You couldn?t help yourself, staff served you and it was a bit congested until everyone worked it out. It was an eye opener to see how many people still didn?t use the disinfectant that was available and actually refused it when offered by the staff.   <br /><br />Entertainment. <br />We thought that the majority of the entertainment was the best that we had seen in several cruises. There were a couple of really good, clean comedians, a hypnotist that was hilarious and several dance shows that were very entertaining. We really enjoyed the pianist in the Atrium. We sat and listened to him every night before dinner. He won a lot of points when one formal night, with Moneypenny in a red dress, as we walked down the staircase to the bar, he stopped playing whatever he was playing, and switched to ?Lady in Red?. Nice touch. The pool trio was not one of the best that we have experienced, but they had a tough job, the weather wasn?t conducive to outdoor fun.   <br /><br />Dress code. <br />The average age on the cruise was just over 65&#33;&#33;&#33; Looking at the passengers, I?m surprised it was that low. I?m in my 70?s and I felt very young and chipper when I looked around. What surprised me was the dress. I?ve never seen so many jeans and sneakers in the dining room for dinner. It was quite surprising to see these older folks in jeans and sneakers going into the dining room using walkers and sticks. There were also a lot of people who wore sweats to dinner.   <br /><br />Sea Days. <br />We had a lot of sea days and not a lot of good weather to enjoy them. We kept busy going to lectures, martini/margarita/cocktail demos and tastings. I went to the maitre d?s wine tasting. Six excellent wines and really well done. We can fold napkins, carve fruit, make towel animals, etc with the best of them. We also relaxed a lot and did a lot of reading.   <br /><br />Kauai. <br />We didn?t dock in Kauai. The cross currents were too strong and so the captain sailed around the island. We saw more whales and dolphins than we have ever seen before. It was quite a spectacle. We sat on our balcony, drinking champagne and martinis, enjoying the snacks from the Horizon Court. What started out as a disappointing day ended up being a lot of fun.  <br /><br />Maui. <br />We had booked a trip up to the Haleakala Crater. The weather was overcast when we started out, but as we climbed up to the crater, it got really misty and drizzled a lot. It was a long, and I mean long, drive up the mountain and by the time we got there it was raining pretty hard and we could only see about 50 feet. It was also very cold, down in the 40?s. It was a huge let down. We went on to the Maui Ocean Center and had lunch and then toured the Center. We were both disappointed. We had expected something really good, but it was in fact very ordinary. We felt very let down with the whole day.  <br /><br />Oahu. <br />It was raining again, but we had a few hours before our trip, so we went ashore and walked around the Aloha Tower Marketplace. It was a great time. MP bought a really beautiful red gown and several other things. We enjoyed walking around and between the showers we walked around the shopping district close by.  Around noon time we started our tour. It was to the Polynesian Cultural Center. By the time we got there, it was pouring down. The day looked like a disaster. The coach driver got everyone ponchos to wear. They were fantastic. We walked around in the rain, saw several shows and went to the luau. We had a great time and if we ever go back to Oahu and the weather is good, we?ll certainly go back to the Cultural Center. We had a great guide, a Maori called Darrell. He was fun, entertaining and really knowledgeable. If you haven?t been, definitely give it a try. It is really classy and entertaining. We spent about seven hours there and the time just flew by.  <br /><br />Kona. <br />We had another tour booked, the Painted Church and the Sacred Place. It was another very successful trip. The church is very small, but really beautiful. MP?s only problem was that she couldn?t find any candles to light.  The Sacred Place is very beautiful. Even in the dull, drizzly weather you get that feeling of serenity. It is well cared for by the National Parks and we had fun doing the self guided tour.  After the trip we had lunch at Quinn?s, great fish and chips. The fresh fish was ono, delicious.  <br /><br />Hilo. <br />We expected it to be raining in Hilo, and we weren?t disappointed. We were a little concerned because we had booked a trip to the Kilauea Caldera and we didn?t want a repeat of our Maui day. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the cruise. The caldera was awesome and the light rain made it even more impressive by creating the steam. It was like the twilight zone. We went through the Thurston Tunnel and overall thoroughly enjoyed our day. Hilo is what I think of when someone talks about Hawaii. It is so lush and beautiful, and once out of the city it is unspoiled. Then you get to the Volcanoes National Park and you think that you could be on the moon. The Big Island is really beautiful.  <br /><br />Sailing Home. <br />The sail home was a repeat of the sail out. Lots of lazy days at sea. We had dinner one night in Sabatini?s, the Italian specialty restaurant. We were disappointed with the food and the service. We wouldn?t do it again. Compared to the specialty restaurants on RCI, Chops and Portofinos, it has a lot of catching up to do. We docked in Ensenada to comply with the Jones Act, but we opted to stay on board, enjoying the view from the balcony, along with a few cocktails and snacks. Disembarkation was a breeze. We were off the ship, through Customs and on our way home by 9:30. When we got home, we found a bunch of snow, there was almost 7 ? inches in front of the garage.  <br /><br />Overall it was another great cruise, guess there?s no such thing as a bad one. The weather could have been better, a lot better, but we still had a great time, met some really nice people and just enjoyed ourselves.  <br /><br />You can see our photo album at <a href=\"http://community.webshots.com/user/jbond105/3\" target=\"_blank\">http://community.webshots.com/user/jbond105/3</a>',1171840203,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',590,'jbond',1,113,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(214,34,'1/14/07','I am so hooked on cruising&#33;<br /><br />Itinerary: Western Caribbean<br />Entertainment: Excellent<br />Service: Excellent<br />Cabin: Excellent<br />Food: Excellent<br />Overall: Excellent','Review: It has been 15 years since I last cruised, and no I wasn&#39;t a baby when I took my first cruise. I was hooked on cruising with my first cruise on Carnival&#39;s Holiday, but alas, you know how it is rent, bills, eating, living, etc, how can one afford another cruise when there is barely enough at the end of the month to pay the bills.<br /><br />Fast forward 15 years and a bit of luck, to me it was but to thers it wouldn&#39;t be. My mom decided to pay for us all (brother, sis in law, and niece) to go for a holiday together. It turns out my brother wanted to control and decide where were going to stay, what airline, how long, and so on--turns out all he wants or cares about is his daughter having a good time and didn&#39;t care about anyone else&#39;s vacation experience...I wasn&#39;t going for that. I proposed my mom and I go for a cruise and then let my (idiot) brother go do what he wants--it worked&#33;<br /><br />I was all to glad to get to Miami because travelling from Western Canada to Florida by plane (on Air Canada) takes a lot out on a person. At least Toronto Pearson airport took a lot out on us--we just got to the gate on time for last boarding--too bad they didn&#39;t close terminal 2 before we flew, it would have made it easier getting to the next flight. The hotel is Miami was not much better--right in the flight path of the airport. I didn&#39;t sleep much because of the airplanes coming and going very late and very early.<br /><br />The next day was embarkation day and it was so quick, I was amazed at how fast the process took. We got to the port around noon and we were on board the ship before 1:30pm&#33; I loved the cabin I choose--Verandah (deck 8) cose to the glass elevators. We did not need to go on deck to watch us leave port, we stayed on the balcony just like the majority of others who had balcony cabins&#33;<br /><br /><br />I can go on and on and on about how much fun I had and how awesome the cruise director staff (Jorge, Josh, Dale, TJ, and Ian), and all other staff were, but that would take too long. I will say that the activities were truly worth the wait. The food was amazing, even though the table we had in the restaurant wasn&#39;t in the best spot and we found dining in the Mediterranian restaurant more relaxing. I was hoping to have lots of time to sit on a deck chair and tan, but alas, I managed to find around two hours in seven days....Too many activities and other stuff to do.<br /><br />The ports of call were amazing and the shopping and sights we saw were memorable. I managed to spend more than I expected, but I didn&#39;t seem to care. I was slightly disappointed, ok, really disappointed, at the Stingray City &amp; Island Tour because we spent 75% of the time getting to and at Stingray City and left us just over an hour for Turtle Farm (30 minutes for a rather large site to visit plus the gift shop&#33;) and Hell (a huge wopping 20 minutes). I would definitely take a cab to Boatswain&#39;s Beach (Turtle Farm) and do a leisurely tour and take time to shop before rushing to line up for last tenders back to ship (last tender left at 330 and it was 315 when we got back).<br /><br />I am already looking at what cruise to book next, and my mom is in agreement. We are going to go again on Carnival, but this time on the Triumph (New Orleans) or Conquest (Galveston). I am even thinking of the newest ship--Carnival Freedom out of Miami. I just have to pick a date when--Sept, Oct, or Nov of this year to decide when&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;<br /><br />I am so hooked on cruising&#33;',1171842063,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]carnival.gif',2922,'MisguidedAngel',1,247,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(206,122,'10/2/04','Summary - LOVED THE SHIP, THE FOOD, and PORTS.','This cruise was 10 nights long and it was absolutely WONDERFUL&#33; We live in the San Francisco Bay Area and this ship sailed from Pier 35 in San Francisco. This is the very first cruise that we didn&#39;t have to fly to our destination. Yeah&#33; <br /><br />We were on board the Sapphire Princess around 11:20 a.m. The first thing we did was check out our Mini-Suite D730 on the Dolphin Deck aft. The suite was nice and roomy. We had originally booked a regular balcony, then our FANASTIC TA told us about a &quot;Flash Sale&quot; regarding the mini-suite so we upgraded. We couldn&#39;t pass up the price&#33; Later when prices began to rise, and while monitoring the web for availabiltity I was dumbfounded to see internet pricing for INSIDE ROOMS more expensive than our mini-suite. In reality though, next time I would save the money and stick with a balcony. The balconies were on the higher decks. Our mini-suite&#39;s deck was completely open. The first morning after the evening of sail I walked out on our deck around 7:00 am to check out the views and the weather. I heard a very LOUD &quot;Good Morning&quot; from one of our neighbors on a higher deck. There is no way you could walk around au nautral. Ha,ha&#33; <br /><br />The ship itself is absolutely gorgeous, and HUGE. This was our 17th cruise, so I have been on a lot of nice ships, but this one just blew all the others away. <br /><br />Food: 5 stars <br /><br />The eats were outstanding, especially the BREADS, pasta&#39;s and hot soups. Be sure to try the Warm Rice Pudding, with a Creme Bulee Topping in he Santa Fe Resturant. It is heavenly. Although we wanted Traditional Seating (like almost everyone else on this ship) we ended up with Personal Choice Dining. There are 4 resturants to chose from. We like to eat early so the first 2 days we just walked right up and got in right away. The 3rd day I called to make a reservation at one of the resturants and the conceige service told me all 4 resturants were RESERVED until 10:00 p.m. that night&#33; After that fiasco, I called &amp; booked the reservations for the rest of the cruise all at one time. They do hold 10-20% of the tables vacant for WALK-IN&#39;S for the 5:30 time frame, but after that you will need to sit and wait. <br /><br />Service: 5 stars for the Cabin Steward ---- 4 stars for the Waiters &amp; Assistant Waiters <br /><br />Ports: 5 stars for all. Catalina Island, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, San Diego <br /><br />Catalina Island: It was our third time there so we walked to the Casino, and down the seaside front where there are lots of cutesy shops. Catalina is a very charming town, and not to be missed. <br /><br />Puerto Vallarta: It was a very HOT, OVERCAST, and Muggy. We took the ship&#39;s off the Beaten Track Tour. I had taken this last October with my Mom and our driver at that time took us up into the hills to see where the RICH &amp; FABULOUSLY WEALTHY LIVE, then we went shopping where the locals go. That trip was much better. This time our driver did nothing special. Just took us down the waterfront, Casa Kimberly where Richard Burton and Liz Taylor lived, and shopping where the tourists hang out. I was disappointed. Having said that P.V. is a beautiful place. <br /><br /><br />Mazatlan: This was the highlight of our trip. I had booked an independant tour via internet with Frank of Mazatlan Tours/Ole Tours. I had advertised on the cruise msg boards for others to join us, and were fortunate enough to have 5 other people hook up with us on this journey. Frank met us at the cruise terminal. He took us all around the island, and showed us &quot;The Real Mexico&quot; with all its points of interest. He has a dynamite personality, and made the tour not only fascinating, but LOTS OF FUN AS WELL. He charged us &#036;40 p/p and it included a great lunch at a Mexican Cafe. Everyone had a terrific time, and we were all sorry to say goodbye to our new amigo Frank. For those interested I highly recommend him. <br />Cabo San Lucas: It was boiling hot, humid, and totally sunny. My husband was getting overheated so we just walked around down the main drag. Cabo is a lovely city, we have been to this port twice before so we just bummed it. <br /><br />San Diego/La Jolla: We did the ship&#39;s excursion called Diego &amp; La Jolla Highlights Tour. This tour is fantastic, we drove around for about 4 hours with a few stops in between. The scenery is breathtaking. San Diego and La Jolla have excellent weather year round, and our day there was a perfect one. If you want a good time, kick up your heels in old town. <br /><br />Disembarkation: The best we have ever experienced. Princess has instituted a winner in creating &quot;Express Checkout.&quot; We left our bags in our room and walked off the ship with them at 7:30 a.m. Hailed a cab, got on Cal-Train and walked through our front door at 10:15 a.m. <br /><br />Summary - LOVED THE SHIP, THE FOOD, and PORTS.',1171840256,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1443,'paljoeysmom',1,199,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(207,122,'9/26/05','We would sail on Princess again if we got a good deal - but we prefer the more upbeat - 24 hour fun - atmopshere Carnival offers.','The Sapphire Princess is a beautiful ship - but she is a little hard to navigate around. We were on a 5-day repositioning cruise so by the time I figured out my way around it was time to leave lol.  <br /><br /><br />The cabin was much smaller than on Carnival - as was the bathroom. The balcony was twice the size so it made up for the small cabin. Lots of closet space as well.  <br /><br />The food was good - not outstanding - but good. I did have two desserts one night - raspberry creme brulee - yum&#33; The buffet area was deceiving - it looked very small but somehow it worked well - the line moved quickly. The buffet selections were hit or miss - some really tasty others rather bland. The fruit selection and salad offerings were very fresh and always topped up. We did have one great lunch in the dining room - the London Broil - really fantastic&#33;  <br /><br />The one thing missing was any sort of fruit juices in the beverage area - just tea, cofee and iced tea. Juices were available at the breakfast buffet and milk was there for the asking but nothing just to grab on the fly.  <br /><br />The entertainment was pretty much as expected - the shows were well done - but the comedian was outstanding. We saw the same guy in the theatre one night and the showlounge two nights later. My sides still hurt he was that funny.  <br /><br />I am not young by any means lol - but I felt like the kid in the crowd. Not sure how to describe it - but the pace was rather &quot;leisurely&quot;. Not a lot happening during the day. Maybe I am just used to the faster pace of Carnival&#33;   <br /><br />The fridge was also a plus for keeping our water supply and dh&#39;s cola chilled. It was also nice to grab some goodies from the buffet to eat later on the balcony. An empty fridge - not the minibar stocked fridge like the ones on Carnival.  <br /><br />The cabin steward always kept things very neat and tidy - but no towel animals :o) We saw him on the first afternoon then the last evening - he was all but invisible any other time - so that would mean he did his job very well.  <br /><br />The dining room staff was very gracious and efficient - but again I am used to the fun atmosphere on Carnival - there were no dances around the dining room or singing maitre&#39;d. I ordered milk after dinner one night and got it in what looked like a tall shot glass - that was kind of funny.  <br /><br />Living just a ferry ride away from Victoria - we just wandered around on foot - it was a nice walk from where the ship docked. We toured Alcatraz in San Fransisco, which we really enjoyed - very enlightening to say the least then we went on to Sausilito. Got some great shots of the Golden Gate Bridge - as the weather was very co-operative. In Santa Barbara we took a land-shark vehicle that toured the town and then went into the water for a tour of the port area. That was something we had never been on before so we had a good time - and the guide was really funny.  <br /><br />We were transported from the dock at San Pedro to Las Vegas by bus - the lav wasn&#39;t working and the driver was a little confused but we made it ok. We donated large sums of money to the casinos but we had a good time doing it. The Excalibur was just &quot;ok&quot; but the room was quite large and very quiet.  <br /><br />We have booked on the Conquest for the spring and are happy to be going on Carnival again. We would sail on Princess again if we got a good deal - but we prefer the more upbeat - 24 hour fun - atmopshere Carnival offers.  <br /><br />ttfn Jennifer',1171840302,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',573,'hazelson',1,97,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(208,123,'1/2/02','This was a great cruise, and I would not hesitate to do this itinerary on this ship again.','This is a review of the Sea Princess Mexican Riveria cruise 1/12/02. I took this cruise along with my friends Heather and April along with April&#39;s mom CC. <br /><br />We decided to go in a day early and meet up at LAX. I flew American in with no problems, except that I had a bad cold and ended up with plugged ears for the rest of the day. We stayed at the Holiday Inn San Pedro - a nice place to stay but I don&#39;t know if I would stay there again or not. It is located on one of the main drags in San Pedro and it was not a quiet place to be (especially if you had a room facing the street like I did - really heard the traffic at night after my ears cleared.) We took a taxi to Long Beach that afternoon to visit the Queen Mary - what a lovely ship she was. <br /><br />The next morning we decided to take 2 taxis to the pier from the hotel (&#036;5.00 per cab to the pier). Heather and I arrived at the pier at 11:05, we waited for about 10 minutes for April and CC. After they arrived we had our documents checked by Princess personnel outside the terminal to make sure we had everything filled out properly - and then we (with the exception of Heather) were given stickers so we could get in line. After a few minutes they let the line into the main terminal to get our bags scanned and go into line to check in. I must say Express check in went very fast - I was impressed. Even Heather who had to go into the non US Citizens line got through relatively quickly (they had only one person manning this station.) We boarded the ship and found our staterooms; Heather and I were in Dolphin 726 (an inside) and April and CC were in Dolphin 714 (an outside). D726 was a standard inside - your first impression is that it is small (and it is) but there is so much storage space that we did not use it all. We then checked out April and CC&#39;s stateroom - they had a little more room than we did, but their bathroom was smaller - we could not believe it but not once did the shower curtain stick to my butt&#33; lol We then went off in search of food and to explore the ship - this was my second time on the ship and found it to be in excellent shape except for one or two minor things - some cracked tiles in one of the entrances to the Horizon Court and some molding that appeared to be loosening. <br /><br />We chose personal choice dinig and for the most part it was good - we enjoyed not being locked into a time to eat, but we all missed having the same wait staff and tablemates every night. <br /><br />The food was very good, especially the ice creams and the beef, seafood and pasta dishes. A couple of minor complaints here - the prime rib now comes with some kind of sauce over it; personally they can get rid of that sauce or offer it after your plate is at the table. The other complaint is that they have altered the Love Boat Dream dessert - a couple of years ago there was a chocolate crust on the bottom of the dessert, now it is just chocolate mouse with a piece of chocolate on top. I was a little disappointed as this had been my favorite dessert before - now it is the chocolate ice cream. We did eat in the Sterling Steak house one night (the night we left Puerto Vallarta - Italian dinner was on in the dining room.) The blooming onion and the steak were absolutely wonderful - cooked to order and very tender. We each had pizza at least once and it was very good - much better than the pizza on the Grand, imho. The Horizon Court buffet had good food - I especially loved breakfast up there - always some type of eggs and pre-made omlettes along with fruit, meat, cereal, pastries, hot cereal, eggs and omlettes made to order, french toast or pancakes - I&#39;m sure I&#39;m missing something there. At lunch were hot and cold meats, fruits, salads, pastas, potatos and some kind of carved meat - prime rib, ham, turkey, etc. <br /><br />After two sea days to start the cruise, our first port of call was Puerto Vallarta - we hired a taxi (Alfredo) for a three hour tour for the four of us for &#036;50 total. We went through Marina Vallarta, down to where some of the locals live (we asked to see that area -actually saw some women washing clothes in the river; it reminded me of how fortunate we are here in the USA), Gringo gulch and where Richard Burton and Liz Taylor lived with the bridge connecting their houses and out to Mismaloya beach and the set of &quot;Night of the Iguana&quot;. We then went downtown where we did a little shopping and I decided to go back to the ship while the others did some more shopping. I had my hair cut that afternoon at the beauty salon and I must say, thank you Mark for the wonderful haircut&#33; Maybe I&#39;ll post the pic of the new me in the future. <br /><br /><br />Next day was Mazatlan - nothing really excited me about this port so I stayed on board with a handful of others and started working on my tan. Heather did a city tour with a some people she had met in the casino; and April and CC did the Sierra Madre tour. <br />Next it was on to Cabo San Lucas. The other girls did the coastal drive tour while I went on the whale watching tour. This was absolutely one of the best shore excursions I have been on. We saw six diffferent humpack whales, sea lions, flying fish and we sailed into a pod of dolphins - they were swimming next to use and jumping out of the water right next to the boat - it was absolutely amazing. <br /><br />After another day at sea, it was back to LA. Debarkation was a nightmare as some people seem to think that rules are for everyone else except them. We did not start debarking until after 9:30 - I did make my flight; and after some weather delays and a bomb threat at Mitchell Iternational airport in Milwaukee (my final destination), I did make it home in one piece. <br /><br />This was a great cruise, and I would not hesitate to do this itinerary on this ship again. A big thank you to Captain Andy Proctor who runs a great ship and always welcomed us back on board with &quot;This is Captain Andy from the bridge and welcome home&#33;&quot; It truly did feel like a home away from home. Also, a big thank you to Donato, our room steward who took care of everything and kept our cabin spotless.',1171840336,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',333,'sailinglisa',1,75,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(209,123,'12/3/05','The Sea Princess is a beautiful ship and serves those mainly in the UK.','I&#39;ve been told by many that those from the UK have an easier time embarking in Barbados and thus a double embarkation. During our two week cruise some got off and some on at Fort Lauderdale and some at Barbados. This did not allow for a smooth sailing where everyone is on the same page from day one. The ships officers were from the UK as well as most of the staff except for the stewards and waiters. The entertainment was also fitted for the UK humor, and took some getting used too.   The itinerary is what drew us to the ship, so we learned to deal with the inconsistencies that you would not have to deal with like two muster drills etc. Most of the shows in the first few days started out for those of you who were here last week and then for you new people. As I said the flow from beginning to end was not there, but my husband and I quickly tried to overlook those things that could have been somewhat bothersome and focused on each other.  <br /><br /><br />Princess Cays: was a beautiful island and the service on shore was well done. the BBQ lunch was plentiful and the weather was sunny and warm. There was no hassle to buy anything so we found the day very relaxing. We rented a cabana for &#036;15 and life vests for &#036;7pp (we brought or own snorkel gear) but found that we did not even use the cabana to warrant spending the extra money.  <br /><br />Tortola: we planned ahead of time to go with Speedy&#39;s ferry to Virgin Gorda to the Baths. I found on their web site the &quot;Fun and Sun Day Tour&quot; for &#036;35 and we are so glad that we took advantage of this offer. Everyone else paid &#036;30 just to get to the Baths and with the &#036;5pp we paid we were taken to a nice restaurant and given a meal worth &#036;15pp,including beverage. We were the only ones on our ship that found this deal so I encourage everyone to look into this deal. It rained hard for about 15 minutes as we waiting for the ferry to take us back to Tortola but otherwise the day was sunny and beautiful, another relaxing day. The Baths are definetly worth seeing.  <br /><br />St. Kitts: was to be our next port but it was too windy to dock so the captain after several tries decided for the safety of the ship that he would abort trying and we had another sea day. It was fine, I decided to take pictures of the ship.  <br /><br />St. Maarten: We docked on the Dutch side of the island so we decided to go shopping and found some good deals. We walked around and again I took pictures.  There was a water taxi for &#036;5 to take you back and forth RT to the shopping district.  <br /><br />St. Lucia: My favorite island. Everything is lush and green. I did my homework and found a man named Bernard Montoute called the &quot;Taximan&quot;. We hired him to take us around the island to see the Pitons, Volcano, Waterfall, and small fishing villages. We had the best time with this gentle man. He went out of his way to make sure we enjoyed the day. He had cold drinks for us all day, he stopped at a banana plantation and asked a kid to cut us fresh bananas right off the tree (yum) and he stopped later at a bakery to give us some hot fresh bread. We asked him to stop for lunch and he took us to a very nice place where the food was reasonable and the view was spectacular. For anyone who is planning to go to St. Lucia please send Bernard Montoute an email at stluciataximan@hotmail.com His rate was 1/3 the going rate of the ship.  <br /><br />Barbados: This was a rather flat and scruffy looking island compared to some of the others. We were in port until 11pm because of the double embarkation but the ship was not in a good neighborhood to be wondering around alone. We took a private tour arranged through shoretrips.com I did not enjoy the beginning of this tour because there were too many people put into the van to be comfortable. There were two tours in one van so when Andre&#39;and I split off to go snorkeling with the sea turtles the day began for me. We had the glass bottom boat all to ourselves so we had the guides full attention. He fed the turtles and 4 of them came to feed. It was amazing&#33;&#33; to say the least.  <br /><br />St. Vincent: I negotiated for 4 of us to take a van taxi to a couple of villages as we did not want to go too far because of time restraint. I was able to take lots of pictures of people doing what they do on a daily basis. It was Sunday so there were more people on the street then usual. St. Vincent is not a common stop for the cruiselines so take a tour if you can when you go. The island is mountainous and green.  <br /><br />Trinidad: I did not trust this island after reading about the recent bombings so I opted to take a ships tour. Big mistake, it was terrible. We took a tour of the city which was so crowded that we were caught up in traffic most of the time. The Cultural Show was held in a hot poorly lite building instead of outside as many of us thought it would be and the people in the show were amateurs to say the least. Only a few of the dancers were enthusiastic. They only had one guy playing the steel pan drum to music and he could not keep a beat. We could have done better taking a tour on our own but I was concerned about our safety.  <br /><br />Bonaire: We took a tour of Bonaire on a safari truck sitting in the open air in comfortable seats. I was able to get many pictures but the ships photo gallery mixed up my order and I lost atleast half of them. I have a call in to see if they still have them on their computer. The slave huts by the salt ponds were the most memorable to me. To hear how terrible those people were treated was just heartbreaking. We enjoyed Bonaire as our guide was Dutch and my husband was able to talk with him.  <br /><br />Curacao: Was another shopping day with all of the colorful buildings it made for quite a backdrop for my pictures. Unfortunately my camera card blanked out when I went to have it downloaded at the ships photo gallery so I got some but not all of my pictures. I got some nice pictures of the Adventure of the Sea so if anyone wants them I will send them to you, via email.  <br /><br />All in all the food and service was great in the dining room but so so in the Horizon. Once again I believe they were trying to cater to those from the UK because I have not seen beans with eggs in the morning.  <br /><br />There were no big productions as other ships have for entertainment and one can only hear so many playing the piano.  <br /><br />We did enjoy and take advantage of the MUTS Movies Under The Stars as often as we could. During the day there were earphones provided so as not to disturb the other guests but at night it was just like an outdoor movie theater. We saw current movies as &quot;Cinderella Man&quot; &quot;Mr. and Mrs Smith&quot; &quot;Spiderman 2&quot; etc. They even had popcorn.  <br /><br />We enjoyed the pools not closing so we could go and sit in the hottub at 10pm under the stars. We found it strange to see the Moom straight up above our heads down by Trinidad instead of on an angle.  <br /><br />We enjoyed the Pizzeria and ate there several times. It was not not like eating fast food at all but rather like eating in a nice Italian restaurant. The pizza was just small enough to fit on a dinner plate. They also had soup, salad, pasta and dessert.  <br /><br />The casino was small and not intrusive to those who did not want to play. The deck plans did not force you to walk through to get somewhere else. It had enough of everything for those who did want to play and I lucked out one evening on the nickel machine by putting in &#036;6 and coming away with &#036;92.45  <br /><br />One thing we missed is people dancing. We were used to dancing before we went to dinner but people were into having a drink and listening instead of dancing.  <br /><br />Island night was fun. They had a Mr. Sea Princess contest were a little firecracker of a man in his nineties won. The oldest man on the ship named &quot;Fred&quot; turned 103yrs. while on board. I asked if I could take his picture and he agreed but when I tried to show him that it turned out nice he said &quot;honey my eyes don&#39;t work so good anymore but everything else does&quot; ha ha  Instead of playing musical chairs we played musical men where the woman had to go and grab a guy instead of a chair. It was quite funny as the women ran full force at a guy in order to not be eliminated. At one point two of us had hold of one guy and the woman that had hold of more of him was declared winner (me) It was all in good fun.  <br /><br />We enjoyed our land vacation in Fort Lauderdale and were quite surprised at how much they got cleaned up after the hurricane. Many of the trees had been topped and roofs were still missing shingles or tiles but all in all we had 3 beautiful days. We took the water taxi that I would recommend to everyone as they give you the same tour as the sightseeing boats at half the cost. It only cost &#036;7 for the entire day and you can get on and off as many times as you want. We enjoyed the Jungle Queen night tour, seeing the lights and getting a meal on their island. The show was pretty good as well. Well worth the price.  <br /><br />We came away with the impression that we would sail with Princess again so we signed up for their future cruise Option at a bargain price of &#036;100pp This option is good for any cruise within the next 4 years or your money back.  <br /><br />I tried to cover as much as I could think of and I hope this helps in your future cruise decisions.  <br /><br />Smooth Sailing  <br /><br />Mary',1171840383,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1740,'schatje',1,57,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(210,124,'12/16/06','Unfortunately, these few things aren?t enough to make us want to cruise with Princess again, and we will definitely be recommending the other, superior cruise lines we have sailed with to our friends and family.','Hi everyone, new to the site and I&#39;m kind of embarassed that my first post here has such a negative connotation, but my husband and I really want our story told&#33; Cruise Lines are such a big business, and we want people to be aware of what our experience was like with Princess Cruises before they make an investment like we did. We were married in September and postponed the honeymoon (we were on the Star Princess December 16th -23rd), and had high hopes for a relaxing week, good food, and friendly service. Instead it turned out to be mediocre at best, and incredibly disappointing in other aspects. I&#39;m just going to be lazy and copy and paste the letter we are sending to the cruise line. Sorry for the long read&#33;   <br /><br /><br />The first major disappointment was before we even embarked. We stood waiting in a humid, airless room in Ft. Lauderdale packed in among hundreds of other people for over an hour, waiting to check in. There were attendants at the little check in booths, but the lines didn?t seem to be moving. When we finally got on the ship, what we encountered set the tone for the rest of the cruise, though we were unaware of it at the time. On the Lido deck during the sail-away party, we were immediately struck with an odor of raw sewage. We noticed other people on the deck commenting on it, but we didn?t say anything to any crew members, hoping that it was just a temporary thing, or maybe a Ft. Lauderdale thing. It wasn?t. The terrible odor persisted for the entire cruise, and each day it was so overwhelming that we couldn?t even enjoy the balcony on our stateroom that we paid extra for. Often, we could even smell it inside the ship?s lounges when doors to the outside of the deck were opened. When we would tender back from shore excursions, we could smell the Star Princess hundreds of yards away from it. It only intensified over the course of the cruise. Smelling over two-thousand other people?s waste products on a daily basis was definitely a damper on the beauty of the Caribbean. When we addressed the smell with a deck crew member, he replied to me in very poor English something about it being ?normal?.   <br /><br />During the sailing party we were also literally bombarded with crew members bearing forced smiles and drinks. When we declined one, two seconds later a new person took their place. This set the tone of ?sell, sell, sell&#33;? for the rest of the cruise. Crew members always seemed to always be trying to sell us something. Coffee cards, Coke plan, photos, art auction, art auction, art auction, drinks. We even made the mistake of asking one of the young ladies at the photo desk about some pictures that were taken of us during our snorkeling excursion in Cozumel, and without even taking a breath (or answering our question&#33;) she turned it into a sales pitch for the Princess souvenir DVD. When we kept trying to get our question across, she merrily went along with her sales pitch about how we should watch the DVD and what a great purchase it was. We ended up simply having to walk away.   <br /><br />The smell of cigar and cigarette smoke in the designated non-smoking areas was a great disappointment as well. We were also unable to enjoy our balcony most of the time because of a cigar smoker in one of the cabins adjacent to ours (added to the sewage smell, this was nauseating). On our first morning of the cruise, which was a day at sea, we awoke to wet, soggy cigarette butts and other assorted litter on our balcony. Apparently the admonition to ?not throw cigarettes and trash over the side? of the ship is simply that; a suggestion, but not something to be enforced. Had it not rained that first night, would we have had burning cigarette butts on our balcony?  <br /><br />Our dining room experience was perhaps the biggest disappointment of all. We chose Princess because our AAA travel agent advised that the food was superior and the ?Personal Choice Dining? would be great for us since we wanted some privacy on our honeymoon. The food was decent only two nights in the dining rooms, and the other nights some of the dishes were downright tasteless, certainly not the ?highest quality cuisine? that Princess advertises. I have honestly had better seafood in Lean Cuisine frozen dinners. The soups were bland and gritty, the desserts seemed to be straight out of a mass-produced pre-frozen pacakage, and the salad dressings seemed to be watered down. Food was only occasionally warmer than room temperature by the time it reached us. As I mentioned before, one of the reasons we chose Princess for our honeymoon was because we were told that we could sit together, alone. However, each night when we arrived at the dining room, the first thing out of the hostesses? mouths was always ?Is it okay to share a table??, and when we replied that we would rather sit alone, we were treated like it was an inconvenience, and we were rudely handed an Applebee?s-style pager and told to wait. The rudeness from the hostesses was only the beginning of the negative interactions in the dining rooms. The waiters were universally surly, unprofessional, and impolite, with many of them speaking almost unrecognizable English. (The two exceptions to this were Cesar and Mongkhol ? both wonderful, friendly gentlemen and great crewmembers.) On our second-to-last night on the cruise, our waiter, without even greeting us, literally banged down our water glasses so hard on the table that some water sloshed out of the glasses. We immediately got up and left for the other dining room. Daily, we found ourselves looking forward to the buffet because we knew we didn?t have to interact with any crew members (except the sour-faced attendants that cleared off tables in the Horizon court area; are interpersonal communication skills even a requirement for these positions? Crew members here rarely even made eye contact, and the ones that did never smiled).  <br /><br />In addition to the unbearable smell of human waste that was ever-present on the outer decks, it was also impossible to even find a place to sit and enjoy the sunshine. My husband and I fantasized about spending hours in the Caribbean sun on our days at sea, catching up on reading and relaxing. Rather, trying to find a place to sit on deck was consistently a nightmare, and as un-relaxing as it could have been. Another admonition (in addition to the cigarette butt one) that everyone was given was to not ?save seats? on deck, but it was never enforced. There was even one occasion where a man was saving TEN seats on deck for people in his party, and there were crew members helping him arrange them around him&#33; At that time, there were at least that many other people roaming the deck looking for seats. When I asked the man when his party was arriving, he said it would be thirty minutes from then. I originally intended to take two of the seats from him, but by that point we had been roaming the deck for twenty minutes and I was so angry that I left him to it.   <br /><br />Other issues include: The crew at the purser?s desk were generally ill-mannered and unfriendly, and we even witnessed one elderly lady being quite literally yelled at by a male crew member at the purser?s desk. I have no idea what the issue was about, but it was incredibly unprofessional and left a very bad impression. The high prices of drinks and water on the ship were a big problem (don?t you think people would be more likely to purchase things in greater quantities if the prices were lower? ?Everyone make sure to drink plenty of water in the 80-degree Caribbean heat on your shore excursions, but here, we?re going to charge you &#036;3 a bottle for it before you disembark&#33;?). It was also almost impossible to reach room service or cabin stewards by phone.   <br /><br />There were a few positive things that we encountered on the cruise; the shows were outstanding, and Sabatini?s and Tequila?s had very good food (we don?t, however, include these in our assessment of the cruise dining experience, because we had to pay extra for these&#33;). Our cabin steward, Rodel, kept our room immaculate the entire trip, and we were never without fresh towels or a made-up bed. And as I mentioned before, Cesar and Mongkhol in the Anytime Dining rooms were the only truly nice people we encountered in there for the entire seven days. Unfortunately, these few things aren?t enough to make us want to cruise with Princess again, and we will definitely be recommending the other, superior cruise lines we have sailed with to our friends and family.',1171840450,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1,'Waterlass',1,49,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(211,125,'4/19/04','We feel that The Sun Princess was an excellent cruise experience and we give it a 9.8 on a scale of 10.','Eastern Caribbean (10 Nights) from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida<br />Sailing Date: April 19, 2004<br />Ship: Sun Princess<br />Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />This was our 16th cruise with Princess. Our 41st cruise overall. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />This was our second time aboard the Sun Princess. Our first sailing was on October 19, 1996. The Sun Princess is a large ship at 77,000 tons, but no huge when compared to today&#39;s mega-ships. Although it had been almost seven years since we were last sailing the ship is overall in very good shape. Here are our impressions: Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Embarking/Disembarking<br />Check in was the best we have EVER experienced. We arrived via Taxi from our hotel (The Sheraton Yankee Clipper) at 12:30PM. There were plenty of porters on hand to handle luggage Walked right through Security and had no one at either the Platinum Desk or the Caribe Desk, so we could have used either one. We used the Platinum Desk; found that we are now Elite Members of the Captain?s Club, more about that later. Waited for one couple ahead of us at the Boarding Photo spot, had our pic snapped and walked right on board. Total time, less than 10 minutes. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Disembarking seemed to move much better than past experiences. Because of any early flight out of Ft. Lauderdale, we were in Red Group #2, which was called while we were still enjoying breakfast in the Regency Dining Room. When we finished eating we returned to our stateroom for a few minutes, picked up our hand luggage and proceeded ashore. When we arrived in the baggage area, our bags were the only ones remaining the Red area. That coupled with the fact that they are red and had straps around them with our names as part of the design of the strap made finding our stuff kind of easy. Customs lines were sort of long both for passport check and exiting with baggage, but we were in our cab to the airport by 9:30 AM with no rush at all. We had plenty of time to make our 11:20 AM flight on Southwest. Ft. Lauderdale airport was less hectic since we arrived back mid-week rather than during the weekend rush. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Stateroom<br />We had an ocean view stateroom #304 on deck 9 (Caribe Deck). The room was clean and well kept. The stateroom stewardess did a fine job. It almost seemed as if she had ESP and knew when we came and went. We never ran out of towels and always had ample ice &amp; water. The staterooms are nice size (about 160 sq ft) and have more than enough storage space for clothes for 10 days. All of our suitcases fitted under the bed for storage. We actually had a couple unused drawers&#33; Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br /><br />Food <br />The Regency Restaurant is the main dining room for traditional dining. We were seated at Table #166 which IMHO was in a perfect location for conversation and no through traffic passing by.. There is also the Horizon Court &amp; The Grill. We ate all evening meals, in the Regency. The quality and variety of food was excellent. The beef dishes were all superb. The lobster was excellent. Overall, the food was the some of best we can recall on recent cruises. Desserts and breads to me, were great. We ate most breakfasts &amp; lunches in either the Horizon Court or Grill. Breakfast was very good, especially the omelet bar. Lunch was generally quite nice with prepared to order hot sandwiches, as well as a fine selection of other buffet items, the hot dogs &amp; burgers from the Grill were also very good. My only negative comment is that the multiple serving lines which Princess uses on most of their ships seem to cause congestions. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br />Shows <br />There were the usual mix of musical revues and guest entertainers. We enjoy musical production shows and the three presented during the trip were excellent. The guest entertainers were all quite good.. They also had the usual audience participation shows (newlywed game, karaoke, etc). The main show lounge had good sight lines and the seats were comfortable. Seats tended to fill up early. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Entertainment <br />The Cruise Director, Janet Evans, and her staff worked really hard and were very friendly &amp; pleasant. The party band was very good. Their music was very good, and they could play anything from country to rock to Caribbean. The casino was not as big as on some ships, but it never appeared too crowded. As Las Vegas residents this area had little appeal for us. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Other <br />The pool areas were great. I enjoy the fresh water in Princess pools. The exercise room was more than adequate for the amount of use it got. Even though there were only a handful of stations for internet access, they did not seem to be overused especially late at night.. This probably had something to do with the .50 per minute charge&#33; The gift shops were well stocked and stayed open generally past 10 pm. The photographers were around the ship but never intrusive. Announcements over the ships intercom were kept at a minimum. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />We enjoyed Brunch with the Captain on the last day at sea. This was a very special event for Elite Members of the Captain?s Club. There were 44 of us on this sailing. Each couple received an autographed picture take with the Captain at the conclusion of this event and were escorted on a personal tour of the Kitchen by the Chief Chef Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Ports of Call<br />Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Since we have visited most of these ports of call we tool excursions on Barbados and Antigua. We did Harrison?s Cave on Barbados and The Best of Antigua including Nelson?s Dockyard on Antigua. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Captain?s Club<br />Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />The Elite Member perks for those who have cruised at least 15 times with Princess are the best in the industry. Along with all the ?normal? perks they include robes and slippers, a free stocked refrigerator in your stateroom (stocked free only once), free laundry and dry cleaning, free shoe shines, priority tender boarding, special event that are truly special&#33; They were outstanding enough that we will have to consider Princess any time we consider future cruises. Ports of Call: Princess Cay, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Barbados, and Antigua. <br /><br />Overall<br />We feel that The Sun Princess was an excellent cruise experience and we give it a 9.8 on a scale of 10.',1171840489,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',920,'The Skipper',1,48,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(212,125,'12/12/04','In summary, another great anniversary cruise, this time on Princess again.','This was our 19th cruise and our 6th on Princess, sailing to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had first cruised Sun Princess in 1997. Flying into Ft Lauderdale we arrived at 11:20am, picked up our luggage and affixed the Princess luggage tags, and took a taxi to the Terminal 4 for &#036;15 including tip. They were passing out Bahamas immigration forms and health questionnaires to people in line. The line moved quickly and the Platinum Check-in desk would be more effective if people had filled out their forms online or ahead of time instead of at the counter. We were through security and onboard before 1pm.    <br /><br />We were assigned cabin C623, a BD balcony cabin on Caribe deck, starboard side, near the aft elevator. The Sun class takes a standard oceanview cabin and carves a balcony out of it, reducing the remaining space in the cabin. I still think Princess has some of the smallest cabins of any major cruise line. The closet was about half of what we normally expect, and drawer space was at a premium. You could not open he cabin door and the closet, or the closet and the bathroom door at the same time. The twin beds made up as a queen are hard and the two mattresses separate. The balcony is adequate with two light plastic chairs and a round table. The refrigerator holds two bottles of champagne and an ice bucket. We brought 5 bottle of champagne aboard in our carry-on?s with no problems. There is also an occasional chair, a dressing table with side drawers and a stool.   <br /><br />We checked the dining room arrangements at 2nd seating traditional dining and found that we had been seated at a table for 4 in the Regency Dining Room when we had requested table for 2 eight months ago. We were told to return at 3pm to see the Maitre? De after lunch in the Horizon Court buffet. We waited 1 hr and 15 minutes to see him, and they assigned us a reserved table for 2 in the anytime dining Marquis Dining Room. In conversation with him days later we found that while he usually has seating problems worked out within the first two days, it took him 5 days to resolve all the issues this cruise. He was most gracious, and we ultimately loved the table we were assigned and the staff. Boat Drill was held in the Vista Lounge for our area, and there was no on deck drill. After enjoying the Wheelhouse Bar for cocktails and predinner dancing to a 4 member group called Legends, we went to dinner at 8:15pm. As it is anytime dining in the Marquis Dining Room, there was a line at the door, but after a few moments we just walked past them to our reserved table. We were assigned table 36, a real table for two in a great location. Some tables for 2 are just longer tables with glass dividers placed on the table between pairs of guests, but ours was a real table for two. Our waiter, Antonio, from Mexico City, was also the wine steward, and Samphan from Thailand was our assistant waiter, who always made sure we had seconds or a second entr?e if desired. Antonio is in training to become a head waiter, and also participates in wine tasting events and wine displays. I appreciated his professionalism. Prime Rib and fish were our entrees for the first night. My wife loves fish and was very pleased that over the week she was able to enjoy tilapia, king clip, turbot, swordfish, zander, seafood turnover, lobster thermador, and lobster tails, just to name a few. And we remembered that Caesar salad and shrimp cocktail are available on request any night. After more dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar, we turned in after our first busy day.    <br /><br />The alternative dining was is Sterling Steakhouse. It has a NY style steakhouse menu but the atmosphere is very lacking for &#036;15 per person cover charge. The steakhouse simply ropes off a section of the Horizon Court, puts table cloths and candles on the table and dims the lights. The other half of Horizon Court buffet is still open for business. There is no comparison to a Sabatini&#39;s, or Pinnacle Grill, etc. We chose not to eat there for the lack of atmosphere and the fine dining and service available at our table for two.    <br /><br />A word on evening entertainment. There are three production shows in 10 days, an introductory show, a Paris-style Review, and a Broadway Review which was superb. There was also a singer and a comedian, movies in the Princess Theatre and on TV, events like a hoe down and an Island night and buffet on the Riviera Deck, dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar and in the Disco?which did do slow dancing for an hour most nights at 9:30pm   <br /><br />On Day 2 we arrived in Nassau for a short visit, since Princess ships have not been going to Princess Cay since the August hurricanes. Unfortunately we have only been able to visit Princess Cay once in all the past Princess Cays, usually due to weather and tendering problems. The Nassau stay was only scheduled from 7:30am to noon. After a 9:30 breakfast of eggs to order in the Horizon Court buffet, we headed ashore. Having been there often we just walked a bit, but did find a Senor Frog?s, about a block past the straw market overlooking the waterfront/harbor. Unfortunately, while the ship opened at 11, the bar and restaurant doesn?t open until 11:30, when we had to be back on the ship. After a pizza in Verdi?s Italian Trattoria onboard the ship, we had the rest of the day like an at sea day to relax and enjoy the sun. There was a wine tasting of 5 wines for &#036;7.50 per person and if you purchased any bottle of wine on the wine list at the end of the tasting, you received a &#036;5 credit. They were also advertising another event later in the cruise for &#036;25 per person which would taste Opus One and other ultra premium wines.   <br /><br /><br />Day Three was a sea day and the first of two formal nights. There are no semi-formal nights any longer. On a 10 day cruise we had 8 resort casual nights and 2 formal nights. This was the day I began to appreciate the Captain?s Circle Platinum benefit of free internet service. They charges show each time you use the system in the internet caf?, but they are credited back before the last day for Platinum and Elite members. I ultimately use over &#036;133 of internet time at no charge. We enjoyed eggs benedict in the dining room for breakfast and found that we could get them on request there every day. Lunch in the Horizon Court was a Mexican buffet. They had set up a table to take flower orders in the atrium, and I was able to order a white rose wrist corsage for my wife. Lines for formal portraits were short, with little or no waiting. There was a Captain?s reception in progress on three levels of the atrium, but no receiving line, and a few drink servers and food servers circulating. Dinner was lobster thermidor, one of my favorites, and prime rib. Again we enjoyed the Wheelhouse Bar for dancing. The Legends group splits the evening with another 3 person group whom we also enjoyed. Frankly, we had more opportunity to dance to 50?s to 90?s music than on any ship in years. We loved it.   <br />Day Four we arrived in St Thomas a bit later than planned due to headwinds, and didn?t arrive until 7:45am and were docked in Crown Bay, a new pier with no shops three miles from downtown, in the opposite direction from the West Indian Company Dock at Havensight. There were 6 ships in port and we and the Zyndaam were banished Crown Bay. We had scheduled a private excursion and wanted to get an early start, so we had continental breakfast in the cabin. There is no full breakfast available from room service. The passengers have to go through an immigration check and the lines were enormous by 8am. If you have an early excursion you must be in line early. They did let passengers off as soon as they individually had been cleared, however. We took a taxi to Red Hook for &#036;8 each where we were met by Capt Sharon Allen of the Winifred at 9:40. Those interested can see her site at <a href=\"http://www.sailwinifred.com/\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.sailwinifred.com/</a> We had a 5 hour day sail on a sailboat with only 6 guests, including lunch, champagne for our anniversary?as the excursion was my wife?s anniversary present to me?, snorkeling with a guide off Caneel Bay where I say large turtles close enough o touch, coral, large barracuda, a moray spotted eel, and many sting rays, open bar, and a generally great day. The weather was beautiful. We took a taxi back to Crown Bay but had him stop about two blocks from the pier where I could purchase Virgin Islands Cruzan Rum in a grocery store. Back onboard after a nap, dinner was Continental, with pate?, escargot, onion soup, pepper steak, raspberry cr?me Brule and a great wine. There was a country hoe down on the Riviera Deck after dinner, then dancing available there. A great day.   <br /><br />Day Five was St Maarten/Martin, where we had a nice long port visit from 6am ? 6pm. After breakfast in the Horizon Court and a bloody Mary special (&#036;3) we noticed it was showering. We waited a few minutes for it to let up and then walked down the pier to the car rental where we rented a new Toyota with a/c for &#036;45 plus tax. We drove to Cupacoy Beach, beyond the airport and Simpson Bay, nearly to the French side to a beach we have enjoyed in the past. Clothing is optional but there were people there dressed normally also. Snorkeling was quite good, with many fish and squid visible. Chairs and umbrellas are available for &#036;5 each, the there is a refreshment stand. The umbrella came in handy when a slight shower passed. For lunch we drove into Marigot, and stopped at a grocery store on the north side of town, where we purchased a bottle of Bordeaux for &#036;3.30, a baguette for 92 cents, and cheeses for about &#036;5.50 and drove to around the island past Grand Case, Orient Beach, and stopped at Dawn Beach for a picnic. We drove back to Phillipsburg, parked a few blocks off the shopping area, and walked in to do our shopping. Front Street has been turned into a pedestrian walk and all traffic now uses Back Street. In addition, they have developed a boardwalk that is very pleasant. We shopped at Diamonds International where we found a ruby and diamond bracelet for my wife for her anniversary, and stopped at Gulamars for our liquor purchases. We?ve shopped there before and can?t find anyone in the Caribbean who beats their prices. After returning the car and being shuttled to the pier, we enjoyed dinner , including jambalaya.    <br /><br />Day Six, our anniversary, was a visit to St Kitts. We arrived in Basseterre at 7am, but we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the dining room. We walked the streets and Independence Park, but the weather was very hot and humid and there was little to see except the shops, the churches, the museum, etc. We did find a nice place, Jimmy?s, on the second floor balcony overlooking the waterfront, museum, and Circus?a mini replica of Trafalgar, were Caribe and rum punch refreshed us. Having been to the beaches here on a previous cruise we omitted that this time, and returned to the ship. We were pleased to find our door had been decorated with Happy Anniversary balloons. My wife dressed in a dress we had purchased in Martinique for our anniversary dinner, and champagne and dancing. They had an island buffet set up on the Riviera deck at 10:30pm but ran out of the meat entr?e by 11pm. The rest was fruit and desserts. Tropical leis were distributed and Legends played dance music.   <br /><br />Day Seven we arrived in Barbados at 7am. Also in port were our sister ship Dawn Princess, the Royal Clipper which we sailed on from here in 2001, and the Sunbird. After continental breakfast on our balcony we went to the terminal to shop. We have been to Barbados several times, and this time opted for a ship?s excursion on the notorious Jolly Roger cruise, and it was notorious. The ship used to berth in the shipping harbor but due to security it is now at a nearby yacht harbor and we taxied there. Once underway, there was unlimited rum punch and soft drinks, and you could purchase three bar drinks for &#036;5. Souvenir cups and pirate bandanas were also for sale. We sailed along the west and south coast for a bit over an hour and then anchored off a beach just to the east of The Boatyard, and west of the new Hilton. They tendered those who wished in to the beach for an hour, while others stayed aboard to swing on a rope into the water, walk the plank, or just enjoy the free rum punch. By the time we returned from the beach, the party was in full swing, including a mooning and one topless rope swinger&#33; On the way back there was a conga line, dancing and a generally great time. On return to the ship there were having a sangria special with strawberries at the pool bar, and then I needed a nap&#33;&#33; Dinner was lamb, surf &amp; turf (shrimp) or giant prawns. After some internet, checking on photos, dancing, and a late night pizza at Verdi?s, we were forced to regretfully call it a day.   <br /><br /><br />Day Eight we arrived in St. John?s, Antigua, at 9am on Sunday. Many shops were closed. Alongside us was P&amp;O Oceana, another sister-ship to Sun with a shipload of British passengers. I noticed the balcony furniture was more elaborate than on Sun. We shopped a bit, then returned for a lunch of Valencia Paella. We then hired a taxi for four hours for &#036;50 to take us to Long Bay for snorkeling and sunning and a narrated tour of the island on the way. Long Bay was perfect for snorkeling on the reef in relatively shallow water where there were whole schools of fish. It has a nice bar and restaurant steps away, with restrooms. Lounge chairs were &#036;5. A short shower produced a beautiful double rainbow and we had a great time. Rum punch was &#036;3.75, beer &#036;3, and French fries &#036;2. We returned to the ship about 5:20pm and it sailed at 6pm in the sunset. After cocktails and dancing we enjoyed shrimp cocktails and rack of lamb, jumbo prawns, and bruschetta specially prepared for us by a headwaiter who had offered the night before. Very tired, we turned in by 11:30, viewing only a short portion of the Buddy Bane music/comedy show.    <br />Day Nine was a sea day and the second formal night, and Captain?s Circle reception, and champagne waterfall. I ordered another, this time, red rose corsage. We had breakfast in the dining room again, eggs benedict of course, and lox and bagels. On the internet I found that while we were sunning, at home it was 18 degrees F, the coldest Dec 20 since 1942 and two inches of snow. THAT is why we were in the Caribbean&#33; After a day of sunning, reading and relaxing, we dressed for formal portraits, the reception and dinner at 8pm of lobster tails and beef Wellington. We enjoyed the excellent Curtain Up show at 10:15 and then went to the atrium to watch the Maitre De put glass number 654 on the stack and begin pouring champagne over it. My wife had her photo taken with him while pouring. There were streamers and dancing and a wonderful evening.    <br /><br />Day Ten, our last day at sea, we enjoyed breakfast in the Horizon Court and watched the Queen Mary 2 pass 4000 yards off our port bow. It was a cool 71 and windy, with a little motion as we passed through the Bahamas behind a storm that was now 1,000 miles away. Italian lunch in Horizon included cioppino, fried calamari, and steamed shrimp. The inevitable surveys, baggage tags for debarkation, and debarkation instructions awaited us in the cabin. They requested one bag out before dinner and the other after dinner to spread the workload for the crew. Those with flights scheduled before 11:30am on arrival could obtain red tags to be the first off. We had a noon flight and with a Wednesday arrival, they estimated we would be off by 9:30.    <br /><br />On Wednesday, Dec 22, we arrived back in Port Everglades before 7am. Breakfast in the dining room was available 6:30-8:30, and in the Horizon Court form 6-9am. No room service is available. Captain?s Circle Platinum and Elite members have the Vista lounge reserved for them after 7am to await debarkation, and coffee, tea, and pastry was available. At 8:15, on schedule, they started calling debarkation with the red tags. At 9am they called our color, Caribe Deck aft, which was about 2/3 of the way through the list. We were in the terminal by 9:15, and in a taxi by 9:45, and checking in at the airport curbside by 10am. Lines were short at security and we were at the gate by 10:15am.    <br /><br />In summary, another great anniversary cruise, this time on Princess again. A final comment. We did notice that the average age on a 10 day cruise is definitely older, with a number of couples celebrating 50 or more year anniversaries. There were very few children. And formal night was more universally observed in dress than on a number of our past cruises, much to our delight.',1171840526,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',131,'JohnG',1,96,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(213,126,'8/16/06','Overall I can see why this particular ship is so well rated.','Hi guys; Time to report on the ship itself. <br /><br /><br />Lets begin with the physical appearance. First of all if you are looking for glitz and glamor then this is not the ship for you. The interior reminds you of an older, stately hotel. It is very clean and subdued in its decor. Even the casino seemed a bit sedate. If you like Vegasesque features you won&#39;t like this ship. Bear in mind it is the smallest ship in the Princess line along with its sistership the Pacific Princess. We learned during the &quot;Meet The Captain&quot; cocktail party that Princess is actually building a new SMALL ship with similar dimensions, i.e. 30K tons and a length of about 600 ft. which seems to buck the trend for all new ships being goliaths. What do you find with small vs. mega-liners? This is what we noticed; First of all you see the same people more often and this means you have more opportunities to meet and greet. It leads to a friendlier atmosphere I think. Secondly word on a smaller ship travels fast. As you recall from TR part one a woman suffered a cardiac arrest and died. It seemed in no time that everyone knew about it and everything else for that matter. Third you do feel the motion more, esp. if the seas are rough. <br /><br />For calm seas its no problem but if the waves and wind kick up you do notice it more, esp. if you are at either end of the ship. Amidships was much better so I would advise those going on smaller ships to be in the middle as much as possible. I wondered how the Paul Gaughin did in this weather. We saw her as we passed Raiatea the first time. She was docked but couldn&#39;t get out due to the choppy seas and the narrow inlet. She is only 18K tons and about 100 ft. less than the TP. Fourth its much easier to get the &quot;lay of the land&quot; as it were.   <br /><br />Next what about the service? In a word SUPER&#33; If you read TR part 1 then you saw how wonderful that officer was in aiding us, esp. my wife in getting a more suitable room. Everyone working on that ship never once failed to be less than polite, accomodating and friendly. We felt welcomed and well considered. A few days into the cruise we took a galley tour and met the head chef. I was astounded when he asked my wife if she felt better. How he knew she had been ill I don&#39;t know but the fact that he did and asked was very impressive to us. Our cabin attendants were always polite, smiling and most importantly had our room spic and span. And our waiters were amazing&#33; They were always on top of everything and worked tirelessly to be sure our needs were met. <br /><br />You know it seems that if you are friendly with them they more than return the favor to you. I really can&#39;t say enough about the overall excellence of the crew as a whole. Well done&#33;  <br /><br />How about the shows? We actually missed about half of them but from what we saw we thought they were well done and professional. They acted well, danced well and performed capably overall. However as this is a small ship the stage was pretty small too. Personaly I prefer a bigger stage for that big productuion feel. The best performance came while in Raieatea when a local group of performers came on to show us native dances. They ranged from age 4 to about 18 and this was pretty neat to see.   <br /><br />OK what about the food. We were very pleased for the most part. I would avoid the scrambled eggs from the Panorama cafe but aside from that the breakfast selections were quite varied and really very good. I would go up there around opening time for coffee and pastries and bring that to our room. We would relax on the balcony, eat that then have our full breakfast in the main dining room. The selections were well made but I think their menu could be expanded. The coffee ( I am fussy about my coffee. I brought my own plus a French press to make it with) was suprisingly very good in the Panaroma cafe but pretty weak in the main dining room. I was very impressed with the buffet luncheons. It seemed there were 2-3 different salad selections every day w/o any repeating themselves. The Chinese cabbage/duck salad was especially good. They also have a great variety of main selections including things that you don&#39;t usually see such as Indian egg curry which actually even isn&#39;t on the menus of most Indian restaurants. Once day they had coconut shrimp which was fantstic and everyday they had a meat carving server dishing out whole roasted pig, scrumptious veal roasts, fresh turkey, roast beef and one day a whole tuna. Cold cuts and Pannini were always there.   <br /><br />We had dinner in the main dining room every night and what can I say except all was very well. There were always appetizers, salads, soups and entress selections followed by dessert of course. Again it seemed that there was very little repetition esp. for a 10 day cruise. As an aside my wife requested Indian food on our first night and did get it it every night thereafter. It was pretty good really and on day 8 I think the head chef and all his assistants paraded around the dinig room to receive a well deserved round of applause. Then we saw there were several Indian assistant cooks. No wonder the Indian food was so good. I must add that on Italian night we were able to try the home-made lemoncello. Momma mia&#33; I bought a bottle today.   <br /><br />Overall I can see why this particular ship is so well rated on cruise critic. Actually as the FP destination is anything but glitz and glamor ala the Caribbean or Mexico this ships offerings fit percectly to this destination. If there are any questions I haven&#39;t addressed please ask. <br /><br />Cheers, <br /><br />Larry',1171840567,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]princess.gif',1468,'jacketwatch',1,228,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(215,54,'1/20/07','Entertainment: Very Good<br />Service: Good<br />Cabin: Fair<br />Food: Good<br />Overall: Good','Review: Celebrity Summit - Panama Canal Cruise<br />Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles<br />January 20 - February 3, 2007<br /><br />We arrived at the pier in Fort Lauderdale shortly after 12:30 pm. After depositing our luggage with the porters, we proceeded inside the terminal and quickly moved through security and arrived at the check in desk with in five minutes. After another quick three minutes, we were off to have our Sea Pass photo taken and then we were welcomed aboard&#33; Total time approximately 22 minutes from the time we got to the pier to champagne in hand. They do an excellent job&#33;<br />The physical condition of the Summit was good. We noticed very few rips and tears in fabrics. We did not notice major signs of deterioration, although at the time we boarded, it was not as &quot;clean&quot; as we would have liked.<br /><br />All over the ship, dust had accumulated; on seldom-used counters, on ledges of framed displays and art figurines, there were beverage rings on tables in the cocktail lounges, corners all around the ship were needing attention. <br /><br />The awareness to detail is not happening upon this vessel, the staff was always giving the appearance of cleaning, but in reality; it appears to be somewhat an illusion.<br />One afternoon I sat in the Coffee Cova, and watched several staff members clean only when they saw or heard footsteps approaching. The laziness of employees cannot be helped I guess. This by all means is not meant to indicate that ALL employees were not performing their duties in a professional and conscientious manner, but from what we noticed there were quite a few that were guilty of not providing a full day for a full wage.<br /><br />We sailed in Stateroom 9160, which you may know, has that great oversized balcony. Our Cabin Steward from Honduras, Jose came by to say hello and to see if we required any addition services, he has been with celebrity for twelve years. He was being assisted on this sailing by Larry. Once again, we noticed dust and dirt/grime on shelves in both the main compartment of the stateroom and the bath area there was debris that remained on the verandah for several days after the cruise started. The situation improved only after I had a discussion with Ms. Janine Woodruff, the Summit Front Office Manager. <br /><br />The first night our stateroom was prepared properly and according to guidelines set forth by Celebrity was the evening that the Assistant Housekeeping Manager, Ms, Snelana &quot;Yanna&quot; Knitl took the time to oversee the evening set up, which came at the end of Day 8. The level of Jose and Larry&#39;s performance up to this point were barely adequate. After Ms. Knitl began monitoring, it greatly improved.<br /><br />The first two days of this cruise were sea days, it was nice to sit and enjoy with no hustle and bustle. The sea was rather rough the first two days; in fact the guest relations, told us this was the first time in many weeks they dispensed so many anti nausea medicine. They also provided us with a trick, if you feel the motion; &quot;Reduce the liquids you intake&#33;&quot; <br /><br />The Food Buffet on the Summit was in our opinion scarcely acceptable; somehow, they turned simple scrambled eggs into a disaster; the watery egg dishes lacked flavor and were very unappetizing, the omelet stations throughout the ship consistently served over cooked and burnt product. We had heard from other passengers that the waffles were not as &quot;crisp&quot; as most would have preferred, although we do not know this for a fact as we did not try them.<br /><br />Breakfast over all disappointed us. Lunch was slightly better, as it did offer variety.<br />At the beverage stations, the beverage dispensers were often empty or not brixed to proper specifications. The coffee on occasion was acid and clearly old; it appeared that it may be held longer than the brewing recommendations; we later learned the brand we had come to expect had recently been changed. In addition, we also learned it is possible the coffee machines themselves are not being calibrated on a ongoing regular basis.<br /><br />We opted for late seating in the Cosmopolitan Restaurant, food was delicious and ample, and the wide verities of entr?e items were more than adequate. Our wait staff consisted of a wonderful team of Faruk who is from Turkey, who has been with Celebrity for six years and his very able assistant Deni from Indonesia were very eager to please.<br /><br />We give Two Big Thumbs up for this team&#33; The live stringed music in the dining room that we enjoy so much on previous cruises on Celebrity is no longer available except for formal nights; and then for only a few moments this was disappointing as it really was the virtual icing on the dining experience with Celebrity.Murath the Assistant Ma?tre&#39;D was a disappointment, only in the fact he was not more personable. It was a rare for him to stop by our table for anything more than a quick &quot;Bon Appetit&quot;.<br />We originally scheduled specialty dining for the evening of the 26th. Once on board, the Normandie Staff notified us that the room had a large reservation of 85 persons for that particular evening and asked if we would like to change to another evening as the dining room &quot;may be very noisy&quot;.<br />We opted to change to the 28th.<br /><br />The Normandie Restaurant lived up to its hype; the food and atmosphere were outstanding&#33; The service was impeccable&#33; The entire staff was able to keep us entertained with a balance of humor, charm, and professional decorum. The chef who is from Brazil is Ms. Conceicao Ferreira, is outstanding her version of Chateaubriand was superb&#33; One person from our party ordered his well done and it was just as juicy , fork tender as the ones that were served medium and medium rare. This experience is a MUST if you sail on the Summit.<br /><br /><br />Panama Canal Transit<br /><br />The Marvel that is the Panama Canal was outstanding&#33; To witness, as it made its way through the docks was all we had hoped. The transit started before sunrise and we were able to enjoy an audio presentation that was piped throughout the ship as we proceeded thru the canal. We thought this was a very nice touch. <br />If you are on a voyage through the Canal and your ship has a bar or a room at the top of the ship facing the bow try to get there EARLY, as it fills up quickly.<br />There is a lot of humidity so it is best if you can be in an inside position with air conditioning, for the transit. For this event, the Summit opens the helicopter pad area, which is located behind the Celebrity Theater on deck 5.<br /><br />Summation<br /><br />This cruise on the Summit as a whole fell well short of our expectations. Towards the end of the cruise. Towards the end of the cruise, we did notice that there was an increase in cleaning activity and it seems the management team on board took advantage of my observations. The dust that was present through ought the first 10 days of our cruise was beginning to vanish. The stateroom was finally at the level that it should have been at day one. The biggest disappointment, for us was that we had to experience this inconvenience, and the fact that we did not get the full advantage of a 14 days of sailing in the standard we have come to expect from Celebrity.<br /><br />In all probability, we will sail on the Summit again; however, it will be with trepidation.<br /><br />The rating system is a simple one, based on a scale of 1-5 stars<br />1 Star = Unacceptable ? 5 Stars = Perfection<br /><br />Condition and Cleanliness of Ship = 2.25 Stars<br />Food Quality Overall = 4.00 Stars <br />Food Serving Staff = 4.50 Stars<br />Stateroom- Cleanliness = 2.25 Stars <br />Staff = 3.00 Stars<br />Other On-Board Staff = 3.0 Stars<br />Final rating = 3.33 Stars<br /><br />As with any review, it is subjective to the experiences of its author. These were our observations.<br /><br />Respectfully submitted by:<br />Joey and David',1171842153,0,'Panama Canal/Central America','[-review]Summitobbh.jpg',2066,'JoeyandDavid',1,183,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(216,22,'10/1/06','Entertainment: Very Good<br />Service: Very Good<br />Cabin: Good<br />Food: Very Good<br />Overall: Very Good','Being we drove to Galveston we got to enjoy seeing a few things that we wouldn&#39;t have if we had flown. The embarkation was very easy. Since this is a large ship that carries a lot of people the lines were very long. Since we are somewhat seasoned cruisers and my dear wife used to be a travel agent we knew to get to the pier early and most of the line was behind us. Unfortunately a woman had gotten married and passed out so medical help was required and that delayed us getting on the ship. We took our 7 year old daughter for her first cruise and she loved it. Her first impression was the size of the vessel. She was impressed to say the least. We got to our stateroom and our stewart had it clean and tidy waiting on us. We dropped off our bags and starting the grand tour. It is the largest ship we have ever sailed on and truly a work of art. The ship was a little big for my taste I must say. This was the first cruise we have ever had an inside cabin and probably the last time we will have an inside cabin. It was very small and not enough room to turn around if we all were in there together. It was however on the Lido deck and that was a great location. It was quiet and close to the pool area. All of the staff was very friendly and did a great job; especially Camp Carnival. <br /><br /><br />Our daughter had the time of her life and that made it the best cruise ever for us. Only downfall to that is....we have blown our chance for a cruise for two from now on. The food on the Conquest was par for the course and I ate plenty of it. On our way back to Galveston we had a guy to &quot;fall off&quot; of the ship. The ship went into a search and rescue mission then into a search and recovery mission along with the U.S. Coastguard and other vessels in the area. They never found him. This delayed us several hours getting back into Galveston and that was no fun to experience but it happens. Overall this was a great cruise and as always Carnival did a great job.',1171842203,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]carnival.gif',2723,'AgentJoey',1,206,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),(217,40,'5/1/03','This was our second time on this ship.','It is a small ship which makes it more intimate than the larger vessels. It doesn&#39;t have a grand atrium but that is where the downfalls end. This was one of our favorite cruises and woudl recommend it to anyone not needing a huge ship or the atrium. It is now Carnival&#39;s oldest ship in the fleet but was always clean. We sailed on her out of New Orleans and she has since went into a dry dock overhaul and moved to Mobile Alabama. Embarkation has always been easy in New Orleans and our room was very clean and comfortable. The food was very good on this sailing. The best I have ever had on a ship. I have been on this ship twice so I am in no hurry to sail her again since there are so many more to explore but I would suggest her to anyone who hasn&#39;t experienced a smaller ship that has excellent service.',1171842241,0,'Select a Destination','[-review]carnival.gif',2723,'AgentJoey',1,112,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,NULL),