Trip Reviews: CRUISES (Caribbean, Mediterranean & more!)

Trip Reviews: CRUISES (Caribbean, Mediterranean & more!) ... Trip ...
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PHOTOS & REVIEW FROM CARIBBEAN CRUISE (PRINCESS) (by Knottie Lauren80) CRUISE PHOTOS

REVIEW FROM CARIBBEAN CRUISE (CARNIVAL PRIDE) (by Knottie MrsKsTwo) CRUISE REVIEW

Review: RCI's Mariner of the Seas 7-night cruise to W Carribean
From: emily123 Date: 6/2/2004 at 11:37 am

Wow... it was great! The boat is brand spanking new, we were on it's 28th voyage and it is beautiful. Everything gleams and shines and you can tell you're on a new ship. Our room was amazing... we stayed on the 9th floor in a balconey room and it was well worth it. To have the complimentary room service for breakfast on your balconey looking out on to the Cayman Islands is something I will never forget.

The service and food on this ship are exceptional. Everyone is so willing to please and friendly... it's wonderful.I think I gained 80 pds. from all of the eating I did!

The stops we made were: Haiti (RCI's private island off the coast called Labadee). There, they had a barbeque outside for us with a band. Beach chairs, and rafts. DH and I found a shaded hammock to spend an hour nap on... it was romantic and private and lovely. Jamaica- I was a little underwhelmed with Ocho Rios... but we did a RCI excurision where we climbed the Falls and that was something I will never forget! It was cold, but a lot of fun. We beached it at the Cayman Islands... and my favorite day was Mexico. The boat docks in Cozumel, but we took a ferry to Playa Del Carmen and from there took a tour to the Mayan Ruins at Tulum. This was truly awe-inspiring. Then we headed back to Cozumel where I insisted on a genuine Mexican Margarita!

All in all I really can't say enough about this awesome ship. Whenever we were at port the Mariner dwarfs other cruise ships. (It's actually almost as big as the Queen Mary 2). The bars and cafes within the ship each have a different theme and really neat to sit and hang out in. If you have any questions, please feel free to page me!

Back from my honeymoon: Review & Tips on Carnival Destiny
From: sunnyd76 Date: 6/24/2004 at 9:34 am

Hello there, fellow knotties! For our honeymoon we went on Carnival's Destiny! It was a GREAT cruise! It was the best vacation because there was so much to do and there was also time to relax! Also, they feed you 24/7 on the cruise and all the food is really great.

The cruise went out of San Juan, PR and went to the following islands: St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, & Aruba.

We absolutely loved this because we got the best of everything. If you like jewelry, St. Thomas is the place to shop. The streets are lined with jewelry stores. They all sell jewelry at incredibly cheap prices. (A lot of them own their own diamond mines, etc., so they cut out the middle man and can sell to you direct.) So, if you are buying jewelry on the cruise, buy it here. It was the best selection. At each port you will be given a list of recommended stores that Carnival suggests to shop at. We checked out these when we shopped for jewelry because then we knew we weren't getting swindled or anything. We bought 2 rings at Cardow Jewelers. Oh, the price listed is never the real price. All prices are negotiable. (Super shopper Kathy (on the ship) does a talk the first night on shopping and the various ports. You might want to go. She gives great advice on how to get the lowest price.) Anyway, always mention that you are on the cruise. That gives you a discount and then ask if they could do better. That will give you the sales clerks price. Then ask if you could get the manager's price. IT will save you some bucks. There are tons of souvenir shops here and also an open market. After shopping in downtown Charlotte Amalie for 2 hours, the buses take you back to the cruise ship for half an hour so you can drop off your purchases and get changed into bathing suits. Then the bus takes you to the beach by the marriott hotel. It was beautiful. Warm water, nice sand, and well taken care of. Warning, if you want a beach chair at the Marriott it is $10 per chair. We got the chairs and we felt it was worth the money, but if you just want to sit on your towels, then that is no charge! (Oh, Carnival provides you with beach towels for all the excursions. The steward will give you them the night before and give you clean ones every night after that!) We spent 2 hours on the beach and then the bus took us back to the ship.

Over all, we loved this tour because we got to do both the shopping and the beach without having to try to find a taxi or anything. I think it cost about $30 bucks per person for this excursion.

I think it was formal night this night, too! There are two formal nights, so don't forget to pack something to wear! The first formal night they serve lobster tails. One thing we found about the ship is ask for what you want. If you wanted a second or third lobster tail, they will give it to you. Our tablemate got 2 lobster tails.

Dominicia is unlike all the other islands in that it is composed of rainforest. You see tons of vegetation in Dominica. It really is a lot more wild and rustic than the other ports. I mean, that you don't see lots of towns or anything, but more houses in clearing and wildlife all around!

We took the aerial tram through the rainforest. A van picked us up at the dock of the ship, drove us up these really long, winding roads to the top of a mountain. There we got in a cable car with our guide. As we went through the rainforrest he told us about all the different plants, birds, and just about Dominica in general. He was REALLY nice and told us all sorts of cool stuff. You go through the rain forrest at a lower level and then come back at a higher level (over the canapy) so you can see the mountains, etc. You can also opt to go across the suspension bridge. It is over this huge gully. It was really cool. That is something that you don't have to do though. After you get off the tram, you are served rum punch and then they take you back to the dock.

We loved this tour. It was really neat to see so much nature untainted by man! I don't remember how much it cost. I think about 80 bucks a person. Wear long pants. Trust me! It is actually pretty cool up in the tram. Oh, and in Dominica, there is a little marketplace right where you get off the ship. You can buy all types of souveniers.

Barbados: Sea Turtle & Ship Wreck Snorkel Trip This was one of my favorite excursions!

When you get off the ship in Barbados, you have to take a bus into the actual port terminal. It's only a few minute ride, but just wanted to let you know so you can take that into account when planning on how much time to give yourselves to make it to the excursion meeting point. All excursions leave from this terminal. It was the same with Aruba.

Okay, at the terminal, a bus takes you to the boat that you will be snorkeling off of. We had these two crazy, fun, tour guides. After giving you a lesson on snorkeling, they first take you to a cove where you can snorkel with the sea turtles. They put out food for them and the turtles came. We had about 3 or 4 of them. You can swim with them, touch them, take pics of them. It was really cool! The only downside was that in this particular cove on that day there were noseeums in the water. I don't know their real name, but they essentially are like mosquitos in the water. They don't hurt too bad when they bite, but they leave a little bump just like a mosquito. I had some hydrocortizone on the boat and it took away any itching. You might want to pack some just in case.

(Oh, buy an underwater camera and pack it for the trip. They got expensive once on the ship & islands.) The boat provides all the masks, snorkels, fins, life vests, etc. So you don't need to own any before the excursion. If you want them for just on the beach at various ports, then pack them although I am pretty sure about every beach rents them out!)

Next you get back on the boat and it takes you to the other side of the island where you can snorkel at 3 different ship wrecks. It was pretty awesome. There was all kinds of coral and fishes. Definitely a lot of fun.

Finally, they took us to the beach where they served rum punch and we just hung out for a little while....went swimming, etc. Lots of fun!

If you are snorkeling anywhere, you might not want to put suntan lotion on your face. It prevents the mask from getting the vacuum seal it needs in order to keep water out!

We also grabbed a taxi ourselves and took a tour of the island. We had this really nice guy who took us for a tour of the city for 30 bucks. It was definitely worth seeing. Lots of really neat building and plants. You can find them at the terminal. You are in port until about 10pm, so there is time to do tons of things!

Fun Day at Sea #1: There is TONS to do! Just look in the bulletin you will get for the day. It lists all the activities. I really suggest going to the newlyweds game. It was really funny!

Aruba: Horseback Riding on the Beach This was a FABULOUS excursion. A bus picks you up and takes you to the Ranchero Notorious where you meet your guides and if you have never ridden horseback they give you a lesson. Then they saddle everyone up and start the tour. You ride through this little bit of dessert area and make your way to the beach. Your guides lead you up the beach. It is BEAUTIFUL. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. After riding for a bit, they help everyone off the horses, serve some coke and allow you to explore the beach a bit. Then, everyone gets back on the horses and we rode back along the beach to the ranch. Wear long pants. It will prevent chaffing. Also, if you have a camera, the tour guides will take pics of you and your hubby riding. This was $99 per person, but we enjoyed it so much, it was worth the money! Once you are done the tour, the bus will take you back to the ship.

Aruba has tons of stores, restaurants, etc. close to the ship. You are also in town until 10 or 11 at night. A warning, the stores close at 6 so get all your shopping done before then.

If you drink a lot of soda, buy a Fun Beverage card. It is $37 per person. You can get unlimited amounts of soda from any bar all week. Milk, juice, etc. are all free. Nothing bottled is free though. So you might want to pack some bottled water or a thermos. You can fill the thermos at any of the buffets. Then you have something to drink on your excursions. Bottled sodas are about 2.50 on the ship and botteled water was something like 3-4 bucks.

Bring lots of ones so that you have change to tip people with. While on the ship, all the tips are automatically charged to your account, you will need money to tip drivers, excursion guides, etc.

Pack some aloe in case you get burnt. You might want to also pack hydrocortizone in case you get bit by mosquitos. We didn't find any of the islands to be too buggy though!

Definitely go to the embarkation talk! They tell you everything you need to know to quickly get off the ship when it is finally time to leave. That is on your last day at sea.

Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. Everyone on the ship is REALLY willing to accomodate you!

Honeymoon Review: Mediterranean cruise (Celebrity) + Paris & NYC
From: MariahUCF Date: 6/27/2004 at 2:58 pm

Here is a review of my honeymoon is May of 2004 which consisted of 3 days in Paris, 12 nights on Celebrity Cruises� Millennium (France, Italy, Greece, and Croatia), and half a day in NYC. There is a description of each destination. You can find pictures of the destinations on my website (link in bio).

Paris
We bought the tickets with frequent flier miles through Delta, but we did most of our flying on Air France, which was great! I�ve never had such great airline food or free wine on a flight. We flew into Paris over night. I can�t remember the name of the hotel where we stayed, but it was extremely small for a 3 star. We loved the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe was ok. We didn�t like the food, because we never got what we thought we were getting, and it was pricey. We were told that we would be ok with not knowing more than 3 words in French, but we did have a hard time in restaurants and shops. The people were surprisingly nice; they always helped us figure out what train to take and tried to give us directions. The waiters and cab drivers weren�t as friendly, but I think they have a different approach to service in France than the US. The worst part was the weather; it was cold, windy, and rainy, and we weren�t dressed appropriately. Overall, Paris was not my favorite destination but it was nice and I�m glad we went.

Barcelona
To get from Paris to Barcelona we took the overnight high speed train. We bought first class tickets which cost about $450 for both of us so we expected it to be nice, but it wasn�t. We didn�t have our own toilet. There were 2 very small bunk beds in our cabin, and we decided to be romantic and share a bed. When we discovered that 2 people didn�t fit in the second bed, it was too late because we didn�t have the special key to get the other bed down. Needless to say, we slept very little that night.
We spent only about 8 hours in Barcelona before boarding the ship. First we saw La Sagria Familia (sp?) and La Catedral, but we didn�t take the time to go in. We were very tired, so we spent a few hours at an outdoor restaurant people watching and drinking sangria, and then walked around the market. At 5pm we boarded the ship. We had an inside stateroom (the cheapest type of room) which was plenty big enough and I'm glad we didn't spend more on the room because we didn't spend much time there.

Villefranche (Nice & Eze, France and Monaco)
At our first port of call, we spent a few hours walking around the old fort and garden in Nice. That was fun because we got away from the touristy section of town. That afternoon we took a tour of Monaco. We saw the outside of the palace, the cathedral, and the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo. It was a really beautiful place with lots of nice hotels and a good view. I would recommend this shore excursion.

Livorno (Pisa), Italy
The next port where we stopped was Livorno, which is nearby Pisa and Florence. We chose a shore excursion to Pisa. I wasn�t impressed overall with Pisa because I had seen pictures of the tower before and it looked the same as the pictures. Plus, we couldn�t go in the tower. We spent most of the time inside the cathedral, which wasn�t great considering we were about to go to the Basillica. Looking back, I think maybe going to Florence would have been a better choice.

Rome, Italy
The next port where we went had a very long name so I won�t try to spell it, but it was about 40 miles from Rome. We did �A Taste of Rome� shore excursion which was about 10 hours long including 3 hours round trip of transportation to and from Rome. I HIGHLY recommend this tour. We paid roughly $80 each,and a taxi to/from the city would cost almost this much. Plus we got to see St. Peter�s Square, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Colluseum, and the Roman Forum all in one day. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting.

Naples, Italy
The next port was Naples. We had an early morning shore excursion to Mt. Vesuvious, the volcano that destroyed Pompei and Herculaneum. The bus ride up there was really scary, because the roads were really windy. This was supposed to be a strenuous hike but it really wasn�t. We had a really good view of Naples, Capri, and Sorrento from there. It was a lot of fun and we bought a lot of cute figurines made of the volcanic ash.
The second part of the tour we went to Pompei. It was really interesting and I was pretty amazing at how well it was preserved for 2000 years. I recommend this shore excursion as well.

Day at Sea
We slept in really late and recovered this day. At night, we did the Newlywed and Not So Newlywed game, and won! It was broadcast aboard the ship for 3 days after that, so everyone on board saw it and recognized us everywhere we went. The bad part is, that when we asked Celebrity for a copy of the tape, they said they couldn�t give it to us without everyone�s permission who was in it. However, they took clips of it and put it on a video which they sold to everyone. So basically, they couldn�t give it to us for free without permission, but they could broadcast it and sell it without our permission?!?

Mykonos, Greece
We did a shore excursion (the only one offered at this port) to Delos Island, which is the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis according to Greek methodology. For this reason, it was very sacred to the Greeks. The shore excursion was ok but very similar to Pompei because Delos is also a preserved archeological site. After the excursion, we walked around Mykonos and just looked around. We came across a giant pelican, which is the island�s mascot. Some of our dinner partners found a beach here, which they said was a long taxi ride away, but very relaxing and not very touristy. If you�re in the mood for relaxing, it may be a good idea to do this rather than buying the excursion.

Athens, Greece
We bought a tour of the Acropolis. The tour wasn�t too expensive but this is one where I thought maybe we could have done a taxi and done the Acropolis on our own. The guide kept going on an on about the history of the place, and it was hot and I don�t like to stand in one place, so I kept wishing I could wander around on my own. Overall, I was slightly disappointed with Athens. It was a place I had always wanted to go but I just wasn�t very impressed.

Santorini, Greece
Santorini is a beautiful Greek island with rocky cliffs all over. Everything of interest is at the top of the cliffs. There are 3 ways to get to the top: walking, cable car, or donkey. My DH and I chose walking, but we were probably the only ones. It looks very difficult to climb (see the pictures on my website, link in bio) but it wasn�t bad. It only took us 30 or 40 minutes. At the top, we walked around, did some shopping, and just took in the view. We didn�t buy an excursion here and I was glad. There wasn�t much to do but look around and I was sick of tours by then. Plus, we got our exercise.

Next we had another day at sea, and we just relaxed and did a ballroom dancing class.

Dubrovnik, Croatia
This place was really beautiful, and surprisingly, one of our favorite ports. We didn�t buy a tour here either, and I was glad because the tour did the same thing we did on our own. We walked around the city walls and inside the city, then to an old fort. On the way to the fort we got lost and found a park. It was great because we only saw a few other people the whole time we were there, so it was a nice was to escape all of the touristy stuff. I think I liked Dubrovnik so much because I had no idea what to expect and had never heard about it before. Plus, it was cheaper than the other places, and very beautiful. This was the only destination where the Euro was not the currency, but the touristy places took dollars.

Venice, Italy
Venice was our last stop on the cruise. I had heard about it being very dirty, but I didn�t notice that at all. I liked St. Mark�s Square a lot. We took a tour which included Murano Island, San Giorgio cathedral, and a gondola ride. The tour was good but I could have skipped out on the cathedral. I heard the Venetian Nights tour was awesome.

The worst part of the cruise was disembarking. We bought an airport transfer from Celebrity. Even though our flight wasn�t until 3:30, we had to disembark at about 8am. We got to the airport several hours early and didn�t go back to the city because it would have been extremely expensive. So we didn�t get to see any more of Venice like I thought we would. They do have an option to stay in a hotel in Venice and they take you to your hotel when you disembark, but I have no idea how much it costs. It�s probably worth looking into.

On a side note, our return flight connected at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. We got on an earlier flight out of Venice so we sat in the Paris airport, Terminal 2E, for about 6 hours. The next day, the terminal caved in and killed 6 people, so we�re lucky we made it back from our honeymoon! In fact, we wanted to stay an extra day in Venice, but there were no available flights coming back that day.

New York City
We got into NYC at about 9pm and immediately went to sleep because of the time difference. We woke up the next morning at 5am, and had a few hours of sightseeing before our 2:30 flight. We immediately took the subway to Times Square, then walked to the Empire state building. The problem was that it didn�t open until 9am, and we were there at 7am, so we couldn�t go inside. We got back on the subway and went to Ground Zero and walked around. It was amazing how devastated everything still looked. Like in Paris, we were surprised at how friendly and helpful everyone was. Next, we walked through Battery Park and got on a Statton Island ferry. We didn�t actually have time to get off of the boat, we just saw the Statue of Libery and Ellis Island from the ferry. By the time we got done with that, we were running low on time and just we back to our hotel to get our bags and go to the airport.

There are tons of pictures of these destinations on our website, wedding.caseyjeffery.com (link in bio as well).

Overall, our honeymoon was WONDERFUL. I�d recommend it to anyone who is looking to see and do a lot on their honeymoon. I would not recommend it to someone who is looking to lie around and relax, because we didn�t do much of that except on our 2 days at sea. I recommend cruises in general to people traveling to foreign countries where they can�t speak the language and don�t want to do much planning, because it�s all taken care of for you.

Just got home! Here is my honeymoon review for Royal Caribbean and Flordia!
From: GregsGirl04 Date: 7/10/2004 at 2:39 pm

Well for our honeymoon Greg planned a wonderful 2 week trip. The first part of the trip was a 7 night cruise on Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas. The second week of the trip was 5 days at a resort in Flordia on the beach!

Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas - Nassau the Bahamas, St. Martin, and St. Thomas. 6/27 - 7/04

We flew on Delta from Cincinnati to Huntsville, AL. and then on to Orlando. During our layover in Huntsville another VERY young couple boarded the plane. We learned they had also just gotten married and they were cruising on the Carnival Fantasy out of the same pier as RCCL. They couldn't have been any older than 19 or 20 and I would guess this was their first big vacation. It was cool, the stewardess made an announcement that we were on our honeymoon! From the airport each cruise line has buses that transfer you over to the pier. It was pretty quick and painless.

For those of you that have never been on a cruise, the first time you see your cruise ship you think "That is not going to float!" That's exactly what I thought when we rounded the corner in Port Canveral, Fl. and approached this monster of a ship. Our ship was docked next to 2 other ships - Carnival Fantasy and The Disney Wonder. All I can say is RC - Mariner of the Seas makes those other 2 ships look little row boats. Greg even looked over at me and said "Damn...I'm glad we're not on those ships." I would imagine the Disney would be fun if you have kids.

When our bus pulled up to the pier we just kinda sat and waited, within about 5 minutes a guy came on board and told us where to go and what papers to have out. We got off the bus, got our luggage and headed towards the boat. You will first go through a security check point and then you go up to check in. It went really fast, they are very organized. We received our "Sea Pass" card. This is your life line. Everything you do for the next week revolves around this card. DO NOT LOSE IT!

Once on board we went straight to our stateroom. We were on deck 9, room 9240 it was a Superior Oceanview room with a balcony. It was small but efficent. The perfect amount of space. GET A BALCONY!! GET A BALCONY!!! Greg sat on that damn thing for hours!

After dropping off our carry on bags we headed up to deck 11 to the Windjammer. OH.....MY....GOD.... I have never seen so much damn food! It was awesome. I am a big fan of buffets b/c I like different combo's of food, so I was able to eat nachos, mashed potatoes and a salad and no body looked at me funny.

After that there is a safety drill where you have to put on your life jackets and know where to go just in case....it sucked but you have to do it. It didn't take too long, about 1/2 an hour.

Here are some things I noticed about the ship overall.
1.) It is immaculant. I mean spotless. CLEAN CLEAN! There is not a single detail that does not go un-noticed.
2.) It is decorated like a 5 star luxury hotel. Fabulous art work, carefully picked flowers and plants, beautiful hardwood accents, even the shower fixtures in our bathroom were chrome!
3.) Even though every square inch of this place is spotless...you never see a cleaning person. Which is awesome. That's what you want. You want it clean, but you don't want to see them cleaning.
5.) The food.....OMG A+ Go to Chops Grille. It was the BEST steak I have ever had in my life.
6.) The pools were WAY TOO SMALL. There were 2 different pool areas. One was called the "Pavilion" this was for adults only. It had 1 VERY small pool and 2 HUGE hot tubs. I have never seen hot tubs this big in my life. One hot tub held more people than the pool. There was never enough seating. The second pool area was just the regular pool area where all of the kids and teenagers and stuff were. There were 2 small pools and I think like....4 small hot tubs. I didn't go anywhere near this pool area. To say it was always packed is an under statement. Not only was it always packed, but it was SO FREAKING LOUD! Overall I was disappointed with the pool situation. On days when you're "at sea" EVERYONE is just at the pool. One of the days Greg and I had to wait about....20 minutes until we were able to grab a couple of lawn chairs.
7.) I know that the impression is that there are tons of kids and teenagers on Carnival. Well that may be true, but I have NEVER seen so many kids and teenagers on a ship in my life as there were on our ship. They were everywhere! Babies, toddlers, school agers, and TEENAGERS. The teenagers were like flies! And, I guess that parents think that just because they are on a ship, they can't get off, so they will let them just fend for themselves. It would be 2 AM, you could go down to the pool deck and there would be 100 teenagers in one hot tub! They were so loud, they would run and scream up and down the hallways where the staterooms are. It reminded me of a dorm room freshman yr. of college. I was furious at how many kids we had to deal with.
8.) If you choose to eat in the dining room instead of windjammer or one of the other restaurants, then you are given a seating time and table. We only ate in the dining room once. Once was enough. The food was terrible. We really loved meeting the people at our table (also newlyweds) but that's all we enjoyed. The whole experience was bizarre. This is a VERY formal dining area, crystal, fine china, etc. And, right in the middle of when we're eating...out of NO WHERE, the wait staff crank up the over head sound system and start doing the Macarena. We were like...."What the hell are they doing?" It was SO ANNOYING. And of course they wanted everyone to do it, but we were trying to eat! That kind of stuff is ok for like the midnight buffet and the pool....but not the formal dining room!
9.) Go get a massage at the spa. It was expensive...but awesome.
10.) This next statement may come as a shock but.....I got so bored. You're thinking "What? Bored? You're on a cruise that has pools, a spa, miniture golf, rock climbing wall, etc and you got bored?" Well it's true. I was ready to pull my hair out after awhile. Well, I already explained the pool situation to you. The rock climbing and putt-putt, yeah it was fun but you have 1,000 teenagers to compete with. The spa....well yeah I would love to get a massage every hour, but at $140 - 240 a pop....you can probably only afford to get 1 or 2. So....on days that you're at sea....it can get a little boring.
11.) The shows at night were SPECTACULAR!!!! I have been to New York, LA, and every major city in between. I have seen shows all over, and I can say that the shows they put on a night are unbelievable! Most of the nights it was comedians, and they were HYSTERICAL!!!!! The crusie director was named Becky "Hello Love" Thompson. Imagine in your head the perkiest, happiest, bubbly blonde you know.....now give her a British accent. That is Becky. She was a riot!

Our first port was Nassau the Bahamas. I can think of a few words to sum it up. Dirty. Hot. A little scary. Now, I am sure there are VERY nice areas of the Bahamas, like where the Atlantis is. However, we were not exposed to that part. We docked on the bad side of town. The natives there are overwhelming. The area is very poor and any money they do make comes from the goods or the drugs they sell you. We did go on a horse and buggy tour of the city which was interesting. Our tour guide told us the Nassau is good for 2 things: Booze & Babies. Overall, we did not enjoy this port. You couldn't walk anywhere without the natives practically attacking you, begging you to buy something...mainly drugs.

St. Thomas - GORGEOUS!!! My kind of island. It was clean, the water is gorgeous, the people are friendly, lots of yuppy shops, etc. We did 2 excursions at this port. 1.) The Sky Ride to Paradise Point. This basically takes you to the highest point on the island. The view is breathtaking. 2.) The Kon Tiki Party boat. What a blast. You board a party boat and it sails you to a private beach. You can swim, snorkle, whatever. On the way back, the party on the boat gets started with steel drum bands, 151 proof rum, a congo line and a the limbo! It was lots of fun!

St. Martin/Marteen - My first impression of the island was how crowded it is. It is only 37 miles wide. It is so over run by people, cars and houses. The natives on the island are enough to make you crazy. They follow you everywhere, practically attack you begging you to buy a braclet, or a shirt, or whatever. We toured the island extensively. The history of the island is really interesting. The island is SO dirty. I mean the little alley ways are....very scary...

All in alll, our cruising experience with Royal Caribbean was a great one. I had a few minor complaints (listed above), but the good made up for the bad. I would definitely cruise RCCL again!

Now onto Flordia!
We knew we wouldn't be ready to go home yet, so we booked a room at the Radiasson Resort Oceanfront on North Hutchinson Island. This area sits in between Cocoa Beach and West Palm Beach.

We had a great time. Very relaxing. There's not a lot to do in the area, but that's what we wanted. We wanted a quiet area, on the beach to just chill. We rented a convertible and drove all over! We went to Cocoa Beach, Cape Canveral to the Kennedy Space Station, Palm Beach, Jensen Beach and anywhere in between!

Our hotel was very nice. The food was....ehh..less than impressive, but we didn't eat there much. The staff was nice, and our room was really big!

We are home now...back to reality. Well...we're not totally back to reality yet. We're still trying to locate the Room Service button on our phone at home! LOL

Western Caribbean Cruise review - Princess Cruises
From: Truly04 Date: 7/28/2004 at 2:57 pm

I went on this cruise last September 21-28 (got engaged on the first night). I wanted to share my review.

This was my first cruise experience. We arrived at the Ft. Lauderdale airport on time and met the Princess reps at the baggage claim where they gave us our baggage tags. They were very friendly and once we got our bags we went out to board the bus. It was a very quick bus ride to the ship�10 minutes max. I was in awe of how huge the ship was. Check-in was kinda slow. It wasn�t too bad, but we were so excited to get onboard. They took our bags from there and we wish we would have known to bring my suit in my carry on b/c we would have chilled in the pool. Our bags were brought to our room about 2 hours later. We enjoyed exploring the ship and sipping on pina coladas after hitting the buffet. The ship is awesome (Grand Princess).

One thing we didn�t like�sitting with strangers at dinner. Our table had no dynamic and it was uncomfortable trying to make conversation. So after the first night we never went back to our scheduled dinner. We went to the buffet most nights and one night we went to the Italian restaurant. There was a cover charge for this restaurant (I think $20), but it was WELL worth it. The food was heavenly and the service was excellent. We ate sooooo much food. The buffet was good, no great. I was a tad disappointed with the food overall as I�ve heard that food on cruises is excellent. It wasn�t bad, but I did get sick of it and I didn�t feel like there were a ton of healthy choices. I would have like to see more grilled chicken and fish dishes.

The first stop on the cruise was Princess Cays (their own island in the Bahamas). This place was awesome. White sand beaches and clear blue water. You could go parasailing and snorkeling. There were hammocks and plenty of lounge chairs. I didn�t like the lounge chairs all that much I thought they were a tad uncomfortable and kinda cheap (they were plastic). There were tons of people walking around making sure you had a drink in your hand. We really had a great day relaxing in the sun and swimming in the ocean. On our way back to the boat we met a couple on their honeymoon playing ping pong and we ended up hanging out with them a lot during the rest of the trip.

The next day we were at sea. One thing we didn�t like about at sea days were the lack of lounge chairs in good spots as well as lack of beach towels. It was REALLY hard to get extras. We had a hard time feeling like we were alone. Also the gym on the boat was pretty small and EXTREMELY crowded each morning. We pretty much stuck to the front of the ship where the spa pool was. We liked that b/c they weren�t any kids and people didn�t seem to know about this pool. We got massages which were great, but they were pushing other products and services which I wasn�t too happy with. There were always tons of activities if you wanted to get involved and the staff was sooooo friendly. You really felt like each person on the staff was there to help and make your trip enjoyable. There were always waiters around when you needed a drink, but I didn�t feel hassled.

The next stop was Grand Cayman. It was a very pretty island. We didn�t plan any excursions before hand and I wish we would have. We walked around had lunch at the Hard Rock and went on a Submarine boat which was pretty cool. We didn�t see too much of the island, but we did see seven mile beach and it was gorgeous. The island is very expensive and very americanized as far as I can tell. It was also extremely hot. We took a launch back to the boat fairly early b/c we were getting cranky and wanted to go for a swim.

We loved playing ping pong on deck and we also really liked the basketball court. One night we checked out the disco with the couple we met and we were one of about 3 groups in the whole place. It was fun to say we went but it wasn�t a MUST DO. We had a cabin with a balcony and that was the saving grace. We loved it. That�s where we ate breakfast each morning. We could just sit and watch the ocean go by. It was also one of the few places you could be totally alone. Our room was small as was the bathroom, but that just the way it is on a cruise and honestly we didn�t need more space.

Cozumel was the next stop. We booked a snorkel booze cruise excursion that was an absolute blast! We went with the couple we met on the boat and it ended up being our favorite part of the cruise. They played fun music and the crew was upbeat and out to make you have a good time. The snorkeling was great and the water was nice and calm. They take you to their private beach where we relaxed in rafts on the ocean. We had so much fun dancing around the boat drinking on the way back to the dock and were sad to go.

Costa Maya was our last and final stop. I wasn�t impressed. There was nothing there but a ton of shops with people harassing you to buy their junk. It actually made me feel sorry for them. There were some excursions to the Mayan ruins, but we didn�t partake. We ended up just laying on the beach.

Overall it was a great trip. We had excellent weather and we met lots of great people. I�d say it was an older crowd, which to me was fine. There were other young couples, but the older people made a fuss over us b/c we had just got engaged and that was very nice. Be aware that they automatically tack on gratuity for each passenger each day and then your encouraged to tip on top of that. We tipped our room steward who did an excellent job and was very helpful. We spent more than we had budgeted for excursions, alcohol, gifts, and gratuity. It adds up�cruises are NOT all inclusive.

Review of the CARNIVAL DESTINY (8/1-8/8)
From: gammagrl Date: 9/1/2004 at 12:20 pm

Our honeymoon was on Carnival Destiny from August 1st to the 8th. It was a fantastic itinerary and we had a great time. We especially liked that there were two ports where we stayed late. Below are some of the excursions we did, and other thoughts and hints for those of you who are going on Destiny for your HM. If you have questions email me at ucfloor4rm@yahoo.com.
Hope this helps!

1. Arriving: It was great that the ship doesn�t leave until 10PM from San Juan. It gave us plenty of time to fly down and get on board. Our flight was delayed so we didn�t get to the ship until around 6PM. We missed the port talk but they play it on the TV non-stop so it wasn�t a big deal.

2. St. Thomas: We did the Best of St. Thomas Tour. It was okay and left plenty of time for shopping that afternoon. They take you around in an open bus (think tram car) to a few different scenic overlooks and a botanical garden. I kind of regret not getting to the beautiful beaches but the pictures we were able to get some fantastic pictures. You leave St. Thomas at 5PM and it was also one of the two formal nights. The ship is a quick (and cheap) taxi ride from downtown/shopping areas.

3. Dominica: This was one of our favorite stops. Dominica is still primarily untouched rainforest. We did the Middleham Falls Hike. It�s a fairly strenuous hike through the rainforest to a beautiful waterfall. You�re able to go swimming (and after hiking the cold water felt great!) at the waterfall. It was completely worth the money if you love nature and enjoy hiking. Be sure to pack comfortable shoes that can get wet!

4. Barbados: We did the Rhino Riders where you take these two person boats out snorkeling. If you�re really into snorkeling this probably isn�t the excursion for you. My DH had never been snorkeling and really liked the idea of getting to drive the boats so we did this. I�ve been snorkeling in the Keys and Western Caribbean and I wasn�t that impressed with the place they took us to. However, the boats were a lot of fun and there were some interesting fish.

5. Fun Day at Sea #1: There was so much to do on the fun day at sea. I definitely recommend checking out the Newlywed Game! They also have a waterslide, tons of games like BINGO or trivia games, a golf simulator and internet caf�. Also, a lot of people criticize that Carnival cruises are overrun with children. I didn�t see a lot on this one even though it was during a time when school�s out. I think a lot of it had to do with the cruise leaving from San Juan which is typically more expensive to fly into than Miami or Tampa. In fact, the only time I saw a lot of children is at the pool and there weren�t even that many. We also went to the Aruba port talk which was extremely helpful.

6. Aruba: This was our favorite port. We took the 4x4 jeep excursion. It�s four people to a jeep and one of you drives. You go all over the island and it�s a great way to see a lot in a short amount of time. The scenery is gorgeous and it was a lot of fun. The last place you stop is at the beach for a swim before heading back to the ship. After we got back to the ship we grabbed lunch and headed to the beach. The ship docks downtown (walking distance to Carlos N Charlies) and taxis will take you anywhere else and are relatively cheap. The beaches are beautiful and we had a great time watching the sunset. One thing to know, the shops downtown close at 6PM in Aruba so don�t leave your souvenir shopping too late. There are plenty of taxis that will take you from the ship to the beach or anywhere else you want to go. They aren�t expensive � I think we paid about $5 to get to the beach.

7. Fun Day at Sea #2: It felt like there was even more to do on the second day at sea (if that�s even possible). They had a lot of games and some good sales in the duty free shop. I went on the Galley tour where you got to visit the kitchens and see a towel folding demonstration. They also had a Battle of the Sexes game that was a lot of fun. Definitely go to the embarkation talk. We found out a lot of helpful information.

8. San Juan: When we arrived in San Juan we signed up for the Museum and Airport Getaway excursion. This meant we were able to leave the ship early (no waiting around for your deck to be called) with the people who had early flights. The tour took us to a fort, Old San Juan and a museum. It ends at a hotel where you can leave your bags in a room and take advantage of the pool and other things the hotel has to offer. It was definitely worth the money because we were able to see a lot of San Juan and we weren�t able to check into our hotel until that afternoon. We stayed in San Juan that night so we did more sightseeing after that.

9. Other thoughts:
-I�ve been on several cruises in the past (Disney�s Big Red Boat and Dolphin) but this was my first Carnival Cruise. I�d heard not so great things about them but I was pretty impressed with Destiny. The ship was beautiful and the staff was great.
-The food was delicious and non-stop (24 hours a day). My only criticism was that breakfast needed a little more variety (the buffet was the same every day) but they did have cooked to order omelets. We had the late seating which we liked because the late show was never as crowded and we always had plenty of time to get ready for dinner.
-It never felt that crowded despite the fact that ship was completely full. The only time we had to wait in a really long line was for the Midnight buffet. Deck chairs weren�t even that hard to come by (unless you wanted to be right next to one of the pools.)
-I was really impressed with the huge variety of excursions. There was definitely something for everyone. Also, when we changed our mind about an excursion they let us exchange it for a different one. They even refunded the difference. Everything was very easy to book using the TV in your cabin which also meant no waiting in line at the shore excursions desk.
-There are two formal nights on the cruise but the rest are casual. (Think sundresses. Shorts were permitted on the two nights we were in port late.) You don�t have to eat in the dining room if you don�t want to get dressed up.

Review of Royal Caribbean Voyager Western Caribbean Cruise
From: DaddysGrl Date: 9/11/2004 at 11:56 am

The following is my review of the Royal Caribbean (RC) 7-day cruise to the Western Caribbean on the Voyager of the Seas, Nov. 16-23 2003.

EMBARKATION
Our trip was booked through our travel agent and included: round trip transfers from the Miami airport to the pier, airfare (booked through RC), and Cruise Care insurance protection.

When we landed in Miami, a man holding a Royal Caribbean sign greeted us just outside the gate. He instructed us to proceed to baggage claim. We got our bags and then proceeded to wait in a LONG line. We had no idea what the line was for. There were a couple of people holding Royal Caribbean signs, and they told us to attach the luggage tags that came with our travel documents to our bags. DH and I thought RC could have done a much better job of letting us know what was going on and/or apologizing for the long wait (for example, announcing that we were waiting in line for buses to take us to ship or giving us an ETA for when we�d be on the bus to the pier). There was no communication from RC as we stood in line clueless and bored out of our minds.

The bus ride from the airport to the piers was about 15-20 minutes. As soon as we got to the pier we could see the Voyager and it was huge! We really started to get excited then �

The check-in procedure for the ship was very organized. We went to a priority check-in room that was for Crown & Anchor members (RC�s frequent cruiser program) and suite guests only, and we checked in here without waiting in line (we were booked in a suite). We used our passports for our I.D. and everything moved very quickly.

When you check in you and your DH will each receive a SeaPass. The SeaPass is a plastic card that serves as your room key and your on-board credit card, which you must use to charge on-board expenses (all charges are billed to the credit card you supply at check-in). You cannot use cash to buy anything on the ship, not even a $6.00 paperback book at the gift shop. You must charge everything to your SeaPass. Exception: you can use cash to purchase chips at the Casino.

As soon as we dropped off our carry-on bags in our cabin, we ran to grab some lunch before the Muster safety drill (it was about 3:00 pm and the Windjammer was closing at 3:30). The food was great.

The Muster drill was at 4:00 pm (the Captain makes several announcements about the drill). This is a mandatory safety drill where all passengers and crew wear their lifejackets and proceed to their assigned Muster station. It was all over in about 30 minutes.

OUR CABIN
We were in a Superior Ocean View Suite, (Room Class C, cabin #9324). The room had two twin beds (converted into queen-size), a private balcony, sitting area with sofas, coffee table, and armchairs, mini fridge, private bathroom with bathtub, hair-dryer, a safe, closed-circuit TV and telephone. The room dimensions were 277 sq. ft., balcony 69 sq. ft.

There was a dispenser in the shower for a shampoo-conditioner product (one product, not two). There were also bars of soap but no other hotel toiletries like lotion, shower cap, etc. were in the room.

We LOVED our private balcony! I highly, HIGHLY recommend getting a balcony cabin! We spent a lot of time on ours just watching the ocean (very romantic at night) reading, or napping; and DH loved smoking the Cuban cigars we picked up in Jamaica out there. It was much larger than I expected. We had two deck chairs, a chaise lounge deck chair, and an end table on ours plus there was still room for us to move around. Please note that not all of the balconies are private, we saw other rooms on our deck and on other decks where you would be right next to your next door neighbor while you were on your balcony.

The one thing DH and I debated bringing but decided not to at the last minute, which we REALLY regretted, was an iron. RC does not provide irons in the cabins, nor can you borrow one like you can at most hotels. You can use your own iron if you bring one on board. Otherwise, you have to use the ship�s on-board dry cleaning service. It killed us to have to send out DH�s dress shirt plus several pairs of khakis for both of us to have them pressed for $3.00 plus per item when we could have just brought our own iron.

I was pleasantly surprised that there was cable TV in our stateroom. There were limited channels, which included CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel/Animal Planet, and two movie channels that each played a different movie each day (same movie plays all day every two hours). Also, there were 24-hour ship information channels about the ship in general, each of the ports, shopping tips, etc. These same channels broadcast some of the entertainment events of the evening before in case you missed them (such as the Not-so Newlywed Game).

We had a stateroom attendant (Dean) who made up our room twice a day, in the morning and in the evening while we were at dinner. At night there are mints on your pillow and the towels are folded and left on the bed in a cute animal shape.

You can order 24-hour room service either over the phone or by using the TV. The food always arrived within 20-30 minutes of ordering (you can also order breakfast room service the night before and specify a delivery time). The room service was free, but a gratuity is expected.

The Voyager of the Seas is the world�s largest cruise ship. On our trip there were 3,100 passengers and 1,200 crew members. It is really beautiful. Before our trip I was told that because the ship is so large, you don�t feel the waves rocking the boat. LADIES, THIS IS NOT TRUE (LOL)! I had mild seasickness headaches (which I�ve gotten before on smaller boats) occasionally/off and on for the first two days due to the boat rocking. DH wasn�t bothered at all, he never gets seasick. There were some tall waves off and on during our cruise, and you can definitely feel the boat rocking, but only when the waves are very large. By Day 3 I guess I got used to it and I felt just fine after that. I didn�t take any medication at all, but I did see lots of people with the motion sickness patches behind their ears.

Highlights of each deck:
Deck 1: Tender stations (where you go to get on and off the ships at some ports)
Deck 2: cabins
Deck 3: cabins, photo gallery, Studio B ice rink, La Scala Theater, Carmen dining room (first floor of the formal dining room)
Deck 4: Aquarium Bar, The Vault nightclub, Schooner Bar, Casino Royale, La Boh�me dining room (second floor of the formal dining room)
Deck 5: The Royal Promenade, Connoisseur Club, Cleopatra�s Needle, The Magic Flute dining room (third floor of the formal dining room)
Deck 6: cabins, Business Center
Deck 7: cabins, Library (first floor)
Deck 8: cabins, Library (second floor)
Deck 9: cabins
Deck 10: cabins
Deck 11: Island Grill/Windjammer restaurants, Portofino restaurant, Main pool, Pool bar, solarium/adult pool, Fitness center
Deck 12: Kids area (Adventure Beach), Arcade, Johnny Rockets restaurant, kids pool, Sky Bar, Spa
Deck 13/Sports Deck: In-line skating track, rock climbing wall, sports court, and mini-golf course
Deck 14: Cloud Nine cocktail lounge, Card games/board games room, High Notes jazz bar, Crow�s Nest observatory, 19th Hole golf bar
Deck 15: Skylight Chapel

The Library had books you could check out and internet access (web access for a fee).

The Royale Promenade on Deck 5 is really a sight to see! It is a cobblestone multi-level area lined with duty-free shops and a pub. There is also a snack cafe that is open all day and night except between 4am-6 am. They have soft-serve ice cream, coffee, tea, sandwiches, pizza (which DH said was delicious), and at least 4 different desserts each day. There was a big parade on the Promenade late one night that we were too tired to go to, but we saw it later on TV and it looked really cool. We were sorry we had missed seeing it in person.

On the second day at sea, we attended a wine tasting (approx $10 per person). We were able to taste 10 wines and fruit and cheese and the instructor gave us a wine tasting 101 type of speech. We found a new favorite wine (Piesporter) which if you like sweet wine you will just love. We had a bottle of it at dinner almost each night after that ($21.00 plus 15% gratuity).

We played bingo twice and won $55.00 once. DH had terrible luck in the Casino, though � never won once.

How do you know what is going on each day, you ask? Each evening the Compass is delivered to your cabin. The Compass is a newsletter that lists dining hours for all restaurants, times and places for all activities, the evening entertainment, etc. It is your guide for the day from A-Z.

Entertainment
The on-board entertainment was very good--much better than I expected. We went to most of the evening shows, which included a tribute to top Broadway musicals, DreamScape (sort of like an attempt at Cirque du Soleil), two very funny comedians, and the ice skating show (a must see).

Extras: expect to pay extra for the following:
-alcoholic beverages
-soda pop at lunch or dinner (iced tea, hot, tea, coffee, water, and lemonade (the lemonade is delicious but is available only in Windjammer) are free)
-milk shakes and soda pop at Johnny Rockets
-gratuities to waiters and the stateroom attendant, (we pre-paid ours the night before we departed, charging them to our SeaPass)

DINING
When we booked the cruise, we told the travel agent that we wanted to be seated at later seating at a table for 8 people. So we did end up at a table of 8, but out of the seven nights, the table was full for just one night. With so many restaurant choices and 24-hour room service, not everyone ate in the formal dining room every night. On two nights, DH and I were at the table for 8 all by ourselves. On the other 4 nights, there was just one other couple at our table. However, I think it depends on the individuals at your table. At the table next to us, it was either full or had 5 or 6 of the 8 people every night. I did see some tables for 2, so if you and your DH are concerned about being able to be alone at dinner, then request dinner seating at a table for 2 when you book the cruise. We were glad that we had the late dinner seating, since we didn�t have to rush to get ready for dinner after being active all day or after getting back to the ship at 4:30 pm after being on an island all day.

Main/Formal dining room. The formal dining room serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and has a dress code (no swimsuits or bare feet). You can wear shorts for lunch and breakfast. There were two formal nights (some women wore ball gowns, others wore cocktail dresses or dressy pants outfits), two casual nights, and four smart casual nights (see the RC website for recommended attire for each category). There are two dinner seatings, early (6:00 pm) and late (8:30 pm). The Dining room has three levels, it�s just huge. On the second formal night was the midnight buffet. There was so much food and it was beautifully displayed. We had eaten so much at dinner that we didn�t stay for the food, we just took pictures of the beautiful displays and went back to our cabin. At lunch and dinner, there was always a vegetarian menu selection and a low-fat menu selection (including a low fat dessert). There were always multiple appetizers, a hot and a chilled soup, one or two salad choices, two fresh breads, three or four entrees, and three or four desserts to choose from. You can order as much as you want�and best of all, there are no prices on the menu (LOL). Wine/alcoholic beverages, and soda pop are extra. Juices are available at breakfast.

Dress code for dinner in the dining rooms:
-Sunday: Casual
-Monday: Formal
-Tuesday: Smart Casual
-Wednesday: Casual
-Thursday: Formal
-Friday: Smart Casual
-Saturday: Casual

Windjammer/Island Grill. A buffet dining option serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were some good choices here, but we only ate there for lunch and breakfast, never dinner. The made to order omelettes at breakfast were a very popular choice. Free all you can drink iced tea, water, and lemonade. Juices are available at breakfast.

Johnny Rockets. The popular American diner chain serving burgers, fries, chili, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, shakes, malts, sodas, etc. You pay extra for shakes ($3.25) and soda pop ($1.75).

Portofino. Fine Italian dining at $20.00 per person. The food was delicious; it was nice to eat at a table for two for one night. We both had appetizers, salads, pasta, a lobster tail entr�e, and fabulous desserts like tiramisu and white chocolate mousse. It was all very delicious and well worth the $20.00 per person for the meal that we had (as always, soda pop and alcoholic beverages are not included).

Promenade Caf�: open all day and night except between 4am-6 am. They have soft-serve ice cream, coffee, tea, sandwiches, pizza (which DH said was delicious), and at least 4 different desserts each day.

We were able to go to all of the restaurants with no problem. Only Portofino requires reservations and we did have to eat there at 6:30 pm when we normally like to eat a bit later than that. But, on the day we called them that was the only open reservation time slot they had. So if you want to eat there, I�d suggest making a reservation as soon as you get to your cabin. Room service was fast and easy (and delicious). The only time that you can�t get room service is on the day of departure.

For our excursions, we booked through RC for two of the four islands (the stops were Ocho Rios Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Labadee). Our stop at Grand Cayman was cancelled due to unsafe waves (the only negative point about the cruise itself); and the excursion $$ was credited to our on-board account. We didn�t book any excursions on Labadee since none of them interested us.

The main reason why we booked the excursions through RC is we knew that they�d make sure that we got back to the ship on-time after the excursion. We bought them on-line through the RC website about three weeks prior to our cruise.

We got the on-board VIP Shopping book from the Port and Shopping Guide (Allan Donoghue). The cost is $25.00, and it is well worth it because there are lots coupons and free offers inside for the RC-affiliated shops in all of the ports. For example, it included a coupon for $50 off any designer watch, a free sapphire, a free tote bag, etc. If you are planning on doing any shopping at the ports, the book is worth the money.

At every port, there are a zillion taxis waiting to take you anywhere you want to go. Part of the Port and Shopping guide�s job is to answer any questions you have about the ports. You could ask him or her what the cab fares are to and from the ship for the various places you want to go on your own so you won�t get jipped by the local drivers (who can smell a tourist a mile away).

Prior to our trip we established goals for each port: shopping in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel; snorkeling/swimming with the sting rays in Grand Cayman (it�s known as one of the best places for diving and snorkeling), and seeing the Mayan Ruins in Cozumel.

LABADEE
We didn�t like this island at all. There is a beach and a crafts market with very aggressive vendors, but not much else to see or do. We ate the BBQ lunch provided by RC and quickly got back to the ship. It�s not that it�s a scary place, just commercialized and not our style.

OCHO RIOS
Both DH and I had vacationed in Ocho Rios before and we didn't want to go on any tours there, we just wanted to wander around on our own. So that day we just walked to the three or four duty-free malls that were near the port. It was a bit annoying that three different shops there gave us three different prices for the same Movado watch that DH had his eye on. So our big lesson from that experience was, NEGOTIATE prices at the duty free shops! Check out the shop nearest the port called Tropicana for deals on brands like David Yurman jewelry and Panerai watches.

GRAND CAYMAN
We were SO sad that we missed this port. The Captain explained that the waves were too rough for the ship to dock and that our safety was his #1 goal. So we had an extra day at sea. All of the passengers were really bummed, but what can you do? On Cozumel, we met passengers from the RC Rhapsody (a much smaller ship) and found out that their ship was able to dock at Grand Cayman without any problems. I guess there are some disadvantages to being on a ship as large as the Voyager.

COZUMEL
We loved it here, we both wished we could have had more time here. We went on an excursion to the Mayan ruins at Tulum (beautiful and so interesting from a historical perspective; we took a ferry from Cozumel to Play Del Carmen) and got back in time to do about an hour of shopping but we could have used at least two more hours. Knotties: there is some good duty-free shopping in Cozumel (LOL!) DH got his coveted Movado watch for a great price (below the cheapest price we were quoted in Jamaica). There are a couple of famous bars here (Senor Frog and Carlos N Charlie�s) which unfortunately we did not have time to go to. I would go back here and to Playa Del Carmen in a heartbeat. The beaches at Playa were beautiful!

DISEMBARKATION
The cruise line gets a grade of �F� here! Two nights before departure, you receive a survey asking about your flight arrangements. We wrote on the form when our flight was leaving, and the next day we received color coded luggage tags. Passengers are disembarked according to their color group, which is supposed to be called in priority of when your flight is leaving. You leave your packed luggage (except your carry-ons) outside your stateroom on Saturday evening.

We woke up before 5 am so we could be packed and ready to leave the ship on time.

The service at breakfast in the formal dining room the last morning was terrible, slower than I had ever seen it. And I have no clue why because the dining room was nearly empty. It took about 30 minutes for our food to arrive. A couple of people didn�t get to eat at all, because they had to leave after waiting almost 30 minutes so they wouldn�t miss their plane. So I suggest that you get to breakfast in the dining room very early and allow more time to be served and to eat than you think you will need; or else to go the buffet breakfast at Windjammer where you serve yourself.

After breakfast, we waited for our luggage group color to be called. We started to get very nervous, as we knew what time our flight was leaving and it seemed that at the rate the colors were being called, we would be late getting to the airport. Our color was finally called but by the time we got through customs and arrived at the airport it was 35 minutes prior to our flight departure time. Because we had to check luggage, we were told that it was too late for us to get on our flight. We were livid, since the cruise line had assigned us a departure time (color) and we could not leave the ship prior to the time our color was called.

The American Airlines official was not helpful at all, and told us there were no direct flights back to O�Hare until 7 hours later (5:00 pm). So my fabulous DH had the brilliant idea to call the cruise line (since our air travel was booked through RC) and explain the situation. They were very apologetic (whatever, they should have been since it was their fault that we left the ship so late) and booked us on another direct flight (at no cost) that left in about an hour and a half. The only negative was that there were no available seats next to each other, but DH got the seat directly in front of mine.

The lesson I learned from this experience: -do NOT give the ship your real flight time, give them an earlier flight time just to be safe. I made the mistake of trusting them, but never again! -I can only assume that we were mistakenly given the wrong color tag for our flight time. In the future, I will call the Guest Relations desk prior to departure and re-confirm the time that our luggage tag color will be departing the ship. -if it seems like it�s getting late in the morning and your color has not been called, go to a crew member and insist that you need to leave the ship NOW despite which luggage tag color you were assigned. If we had done this, we would not have missed our flight. One problem with this would have been that we would have had to leave the ship without our checked luggage (there would be no way for the crew to pick our luggage out from the color group to get it to the airport with us and get it on our flight). So a whole other nightmare would have ensued (i.e., who would get our luggage to the airport?)

So in the end we were very glad that we booked our airfare through Royal Caribbean because missing our flight was covered under the Cruise Care insurance. If we had booked the flight on our own and missed it due to the negligence of the cruise line, the airline might have charged us to put us on a different flight. The airline was definitely not sympathetic nor were they very eager to help us out of a bad situation.

Would we cruise again? In a heartbeat! We had a great time, the accommodations, the ship overall, the service and the food were all incredible. And I would even cruise on RC again, but I would be all over them about our departure time to ensure no hiccups next time.

Back from RCCL-Navigator cruise 9/11-18
From: CHUCKIESBRIDE2B Date: 9/22/2004 at 11:59 am

It was awesome. We left from miami and that was an experience-do major esearch before staying in a hotel-I wouldnt reccommend the clarion. The ship was so big and beautiful. I was so worried at first because while we were getting on the past cruisers were getting off and I was concerned of cleanliness but it was gorgeous on the ship. We were disappointed not to get our balcony but in the end got use to our tiny stateroom cabin and were happy to spend the extra money on other things. Our first stop was in the bahamas. Basically the only thing worth doing is Atlantis. We paid 29 per person to tour a hotel nad while it was worth it its something only to do once. It was a beautiful hotel but basically the only nice thing in the area. We were not comfortable on the island and got back on the ship early. Our next port San Juan was cancelled because of the Hurricanes but we enjoyed another day at sea. The next stop and my favorit was St. Thomas it was so beautiful and picturesque. I was so refreshed to learn tha tthe locals were americans and spoke it too-no accents!!! With it being the first time out of the states it just got tough trying figure out everyones accents on he ship then at the different ports. St thomas IS jewelry, mountains and alcohol! I have never seen so many jewelry stores and the people are so patient and not pushy! While walking to meet for a tour it poured down raining and we were called into a liquor store type place and the manager got my tipsy sampling all the liquors. We got some great deals and I fell in love with creme rum. I cant wait to go back and but some pieces of jewelry they have the most unique beautiful settings ever. We finished the day with the skyride which goes hundreds of feet up to the mtns where you can take pictures. Id love to go back and stay at the Marriot right on the water-it was so beautuful. The marriott was the only recognizable hotel and it loooked very nice. I will finish up with Labadee and the rest of my experience on the navigator shortly.

A few pics from our Cruise on Ms Zuiderdam
From: MrsPedersen Date: 11/8/2004 at 4:35 pm

We had a wonderful time and I am so glad we went on a cruise. We were able to see so many places and not have to worry about food, transport, etc. I wish I were still in the Caribbean!

Honeymoon Cruise on Princess Cruises - Review (REPOSTED)
From: Irvinegal Date: 11/9/2004 at 10:03 pm

Hi,
We just got back from our 15 day round-trip cruise from San Pedro to Hawaii. It was aboard the Island Princess (Princess Cruises). We had a mini-suite with balcony and it was wonderful! We loved the cruise. We left from San Pedro, cruised 5 days to the islands, stopped a day on each island (2 on the big island), and cruised back. We had lots of sea days, but hey, we were on our honeymoon! I highly recommend springing for the mini-suite with balcony. It's SO worth it. Service was excellent. We got really spoiled. Food was wonderful. There were 3 pools. Weather was PERFECT. Seas were unbelievably calm! (I've heard it can get rough, but our seas were flat!) Dined on lobster, crab, caviar, champagne, filet mignon, you name it. Lived the high life. If you don't like so many sea days, then choose an itinerary someplace else. Just make sure your ship is newer (ours was really new), and get a good cabin

Well first and foremost I would love to give the crew and staff at Celebrity a round of applause, they made my honeymoon the best trip imaginable. We have not one single complaint. In fact we have already booked our one year anniversary trip to Alaska.

1_ Barcelona & France - Two gorgeous places. I didn't care too much for Barcelona in hindsight, but it was lovely. France was also really pretty we docked in Nice and it was like being in a time capsule. We had lovely panini's and went to Monaco. It was very difficult to pick which tour because there was SO much(always) to choose from. The tours also went to Monte Carlo, and Cannes. Absolutely wonderful.

2_ Florence, Italy - WOW. We had to dock in Livorno then drive into Florence. We had an amazing tour guide and he showed us all the good stuff. We saw the David Replica, the famous churches, where Michelango painted etc. We had lunch overlooking Florence, the view was breathtaking. We then went on to Pisa which had nothing more than the leaning tower. Out tour escort was awesome, telling jokes about Livornians and Pisans. A little joke if you ever go Livornians have a saying (our tour escort was born in livorno) "You would rather have a corpse in you house than a Pisan at your doorstep." Or something like that. They also make fun of the fact that even trees lean on the Pisan side of town.

3_ Rome, Italy - Well what can you say ey? ROME. It was an amazing day, by far the longest MOST exhausting. We fist had to drive for what seemed like FOREVER to actually get to Rome, we docked in civitavechia(sp?). We get to Rome and had the most AMAZING Swedish tour guide. She had been living in Rome for 15 years. This woman was a walking ROme encyclopaedia. We first met in Rome, went to the Trivi fountain, Roman Forum (which really just looked like debris to me) and the colliseum. I must say that I HIGHLY think you should book a tour in Rome, it is most certainly not a place to do it on your own. I believe we had lunch at this time, we were STARVING. It wasn't extremel hot but it was hot in Rome. My husband decided to wear shorts(this is of importance really). So our next stop was Vatican City, this is wear his shorts cost him. We went to the vatican and he got yanked off the line to get paper pants cause you can't go in with leg showing for the men. Just dress conservatively and you should be fine. Our day is Rome was amazing.

4_ Napoli, Italy - WOHOOOOOOO the Amalfi coast baby. Well all the lovely things you have ever heard is true. We took a bus ride along the Amalfi coast. The bus ride was a reall doozy. The roads along the amalfi coast weren't made for heave traffic. There are some parts of the road that you can't even fit 2 cars. If you sitting on the side that had ta clear view you were likely to throw up. Two ladies had to switch seats because they got woozy. There were parts of the ride where we thought we were going to go right off the cliff because there was another bus going in the opposite direction. The road is also very curvy. All in all we had a great time, celebrity really picked professionals who know what they were doing. After we had lunch we headed to Pompeii, this was so fun because it was the stuff you read about in grade school, it was so weird to be there. It is actually bigger than we had thought. Napkles was amazing. Next stop, after a much needed day at sea Mykonos.

5_ Mykonos, Greece - TADA! Our favorite. We were so blowm away blown away by the beauty of this island. We rented scooters and drove all over the island that day. No tour necessary, it isn't that big. I have never felt so free in my life. We got to the beach and there was a beach party, we danced with the locals and had a ball of a time. We ate calamari(my fav) and bathed in the Meditteranean. Awesome.

6_ Athens, Greece - Bleh, needless to say this was an enormous dud to us. THERE IS NOTHING IN ATHENS BESIDES THE ACROPOLIS AND PLAKA. And plaka ain't that great. The vendors sniff tourist and get in blood hound mode. Don't get me wrong we wouldn't have skipped it because it IS Athens after all but it definitely didn't live up to our expectations. Even the tours were bleh. We had a tour at this port.

7_ Santorini, Greece - Another favorite, partially because of the donkey. Lemme tell you this is the single most memorable part of the trip. We decided to be go getters (my husband morso than me, i was waiting for the train) and take a donkey up to town. Santorin is litterally on top of a hill. The three ways of getting up were donkey, cable car( which had a line from ny to cali) or to walk(in other words death) So we chose the donkey. It was about 7 euro. We get to the "donkey parking lot" and my husband pays and they get him a donkey. These donkeys were insane, it is like they are freaking programmed. SO I pay for my donkey and after some SEVERE persistence with the donkey man I get on and my donkey starts heading up the hill. About half way up the hill he PARKS. Yes parks, I am stuck with this parked donkey and no one in sight, I tried talking to it to no avail. then a donkey man comes and gets me up the hill. THe bunch of us tourists could not stop laughing. There were times when the donkey would charge off for no reason and thenstop for no reason, they had amind of their own. We had an awesome time. My husband was waiting at the top to laugh at me. We again went to the beach and had calamari. Next day at sea, next stop Dubrovnik.

8_ Dubrovnik, Croatia - Very quaint town. Kinda reminded me of Nice France. Dubrovnik had alot of military history, which made my husband very happy. We had a local explain the village and take us around the town. We walked the wall that surrounds the town and also had a bus ride along the country side.

9_ Venice, Italy - We saved the best for last. Remarkably we only booked this cruise cause t ended in Venice. I have always said since I was little that I had to go to Venice on my Honeymoon(you know the most romantic city ever thing). It was so nice. No tour booked cause you can walk yourself. We had pizza, and bought Murano glass ( a must if you go to Venice). San Marco square was very nice and jam packed with tourists, but holey moley there were more pigeons there than in ALL of central park. We OF course got our gondola ride (Venice actually is a bit stinky when you get down that close to the water) It was great though. I had lived my dream. Our gondolere was a native and told us little stories after he sand to us. Be prepared gondola rides are about 100 euros and UP.

So there you have it ladies and gents my out of this world HM, take a look at my pics and travel with me:-)

1) YOU WILL NOT GET BORED on a cruise ship, if I have heard this once I have heard it a THOUSAND TIMES. There ships are hotels on water. We had wine tasting, scrabble matches., couples massage, cmoputer classes etc. Fear not, besides after those tours you won't want to do anything but sit by the pool. you also have lots of sitcoms to watch.

2) you don't need money just your cruise card. You need it to shop and get on and off the boat to tender.

4) Bring your appetite. The food was insane, it was like thanksgiving EVERYDAY. It was good too.

6) Find out about visas, I will not even get into my visa catastrophe. It all worked out fine though.

8) Most places take credit cards, don't freak out about cash. You are better off letting the bank figure out the conversions anyway.

9) My personal advice is to not waste money on a fancy room. Trust me you will not be in in often enough to make it worth it. Most tours start at 7:30 am. If you have the second seating for dinner like we did, you will LITERALLY only be sleeping in your room.

10) have some conservative clothes. I saw people get screamed at for wearing tank tops in a church, she had to buy something to wear to complete her tour. There are ALOT of churches in some of these ports.

HM Review - RCCL Navigator to Western Carib (7 nights)
From: rebecca0604068 Date: 11/23/2004 at 7:05 am

Our hm was a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Western Caribbean. We were on a 7-night cruise on the Navigator, one of RCCL's newest ships, and the largest in the fleet. The ship was absolutely beautiful. It reminds me a little of the inside of the casinos but nicer - lots of art and a promenade that is like an upscale mall. There are 14 decks.

Our cabin was fine - we had an inside cabin with no window, and we didn't really miss a window too much. DH loved it because it was totally dark when you turned off the lights. I like waking to natural light, but it was really not a big deal and we saved a lot of money getting an inside cabin. Like everyone says, you're not in there much anyway.

The food was fantastic. Our travel agent talked us into signing up for the late seating (8:45 most nights) and it was too late for us, as DH is usually in bed at that time at home. The main seating (6:00) would have been better. We ate in the formal dining room three times and each time the food was out of this world. You can order as much as you like, and if you want to try two or three things, you can, no problem. I'm amazed I didn't gain any weight (I actually lost 3 pounds), but I think it's because we were so active! We mostly ate at the Windjammer, which was a buffet restaurant, and the food there was very good - tons of choices. Fruit juice, ice water, lemonade, iced tea, coffee and milk are all free. If you want, you pay extra for sodas, bottled water and alcoholic drinks. We did without (except I had three alcoholic drinks during the cruise).

The cruise staff were amazing. They truly pamper you. One of my favorite memories was laying in the sun and having a bar staff walk by behind me. I put up my arm, asked for a drink, and voila, a strawberry daquiri appeared 3 minutes later in a cool take-home glass. Now *that's* being on vacation! LOL

The cruise director staff was so much fun. There were some great shows - singers, dancers, comics, jugglers, you name it. The quality of the shows was very high. There�s a huge theater (the Metropolis) where they hold most of the shows, along with the ice skating rink (Studio B) which is sometimes used also as a theater. DO NOT MISS The Quest, an adult scavenger hunt. It was one of the highlights of our cruise. It was hilarious. Let�s just put it this way - at the end of the night, DH was in his underwear and I had no bra on. Ooh, la la! LOL

There were tons of activities to do, but we were pretty lazy. We did some Caribbean line dancing by the pool, but we missed the rock climbing and ice skating (you have to bring long pants for ice skating, and I didn�t have any). I under packed, actually and ended up running out of clothes. They have very expensive laundry service on board the ship.

I highly recommend Royal - it was a terrific experience. I want to take the kids on a cruise now!

Our ports of call were Labadee (Royal�s own property on Haiti), Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico.

Labadee had nice beaches, and you�re greeted by a Calypso band when you arrive on the island (you come by tender from the big boat). We rented a wave runner, and the hour on the water was truly a highlight of our trip. My DH is fearless, and we were hitting 5 ft swells at 50mph! I was sore for two days but it was totally worth it. I never screamed so much in my life! LOL The rental was $99 for the hour for the two of us to share a wave runner. There was also a craft marketplace that gave us our first taste of desperately poor natives trying to sell crap to fat rich Americans, something we also saw in Jamaica.

Jamaica was a little disappointing. It rained on and off all day which was a bummer. The great parts were a tour of the �Ruins at Dunn�s River Falls� where we had delightful Jamaican guides who told us all about the tropical gardens we toured. We then went to the Falls themselves, and climbed up them. It was a pretty exhilarating experience for me. Not so much for DH - too much work for being on vacation. LOL The city of Ocho Rios is just sad, sad, sad. I�ve heard great things about Jamaica, but none of them are about Ocho Rios, for sure. There is a touristy marketplace called Island Village, but you still get the feeling you�re in the midst of all this poverty and disease. It was slippery there, and DH and I both fell (at separate times) on stairs there and bruised our butts (and our egos). I must have had 100 offers to braid my hair, and DH was offered weed too. I might give Jamaica another try, but not from a cruise ship, and not Ocho Rios.

Grand Cayman, on the other hand, was absolutely gorgeous. There�s a pic in my bio. They have worked very hard to clean up after the hurricanes. We were told there was 5 billion dollars of damage that the tourists don�t see, because the effort has been in the downtown, so they could open up for tourists. Our ship was the first RCCL ship into port since before the hurricanes. We snorkeled on Cheeseburger Reef and it was fantastic! They fed the fish which swarmed around us. I even got nipped a couple of times on my fingers (like kitten bites). It was so much fun! DH bought me a beautiful Caribbean Topaz ring - GC is a great place to buy jewelry.

Finally, Cozumel. We didn�t have a lot of time to spend in Cozumel itself, because our excursion took us out of town to Chankanab Park. The excursion did not live up to expectations - we were to �swim and snorkel with dolphins in a natural reef area.� We did get to actually have contact with dolphins, which was an unforgettable experience, but we didn�t get to snorkel at any reefs, and as Cozumel has some of the best snorkeling in the world, we were pretty disappointed. The dolphins are contained in sort of a man-made area, that wasn�t terribly clean. At $136 per person, we were expecting more. We did get to see two huge iguanas - one green and one orange. Very cool! People who like to get very drunk seemed to enjoy Cozumel the most.

Overall, I�d recommend against booking excursions in advance. We had our best experiences (wave running and snorkeling in GC) when we booked on a whim. Next time we do a cruise, we will be going Southern Caribbean instead. DH however, wants to do a long weekend at a resort next time. His attention span is painfully short, and he actually got bored with the ship after a few days. (crazy man!).

Excursions...
Wave running on Labadee: A+
Ruins at the Falls, and Dunn's River Falls: B
Snorkeling on Cheeseburger Reef: A
Swim and snorkel with the dolphins: C

Seabourn cruise- honeymoon review!
From: iristony Date: 12/9/2004 at 9:17 am

We had the most amazing honeymoon! We have traveled a lot and stayed at many of the top hotels (Four Season�s, Ritz Carlton�s, etc�)- but nothing compared to our 7 nights on Seabourn!

If you are seeking the ultimate luxury experience and want to get treated like a VIP your entire honeymoon- you must check out the Yachts of Seabourn. It is an ultra-luxury cruise line- the ships have only 100 suites (all oceanview)- so there are no more than 200 passengers. The cruises are ALL inclusive- all drinks included (French champagne, Grey Goose Vodka, frozen cocktails, wonderful wine with meals, etc�), tips and taxes included also.

We went on the Grenadine Island (Caribbean)/Orinoco River (Venezuela) cruise- leaving from Barbados on November 7. We choose this trip solely for the experience of cruising on a luxury line (we do not like huge megaliners with thousands of people- we wanted a more intimate experience). What is great about the ships is that they are smaller and get into more remote islands. We just loved the Grenadine Islands!

Upon checking into our suite- there was a beautiful cake reading happy honeymoon and a bottle of fine French champagne awaiting us. We also had a bar set-up in our room if we desired anything else- soda�s, mixers and beer in fridge (complimentary) along with a few bottle of liquor (you fax over a form before you sail with the line with your preferences) and wine. Around 2 minutes after sitting in our room, our stewardess Eva arrived with canap�s and caviar, and a basket of amazing bath products for us to choose from (if you cannot decide- they let you take all).

The meals on this ship are simply amazing! There is no assigned times or tables for dinner- like there is on other ships. Most nights we sat alone at a table for 2- a few nights we were invited to dine with larger groups. Upon entering the dining room- or any facility on the ship- we were greeted by our names (Mr. and Mrs. D?????). It is amazing how the staff all know your name- it makes you feel so special and important. The staff remembers your preferences- if you LOVE something, they can make special arrangements to get you whatever you want. You can have anything sent to your room whenever. We called one afternoon for snacks to be delivered to our room- caviar, homemade guacamole, etc� and the next afternoon as we were walking to our room- we were asked if we wanted the same treats as yesterday. If you loved the escargot the first night at dinner, they will specially prepare it for you as a standing order for the rest of your trip if desired.

Our favorite meal was our in-suite dining experience. They send a private waiter to your room and wait on you course by course- you can order from that evenings menu- or plan a special menu with the chef. Our waiter arrived around 8 and set up our table (we were in our bathrobes!!!). The table in the living room area raises to a dining table. He laid out linens, set it just like in the dining room. He brought us our pre-first course and champagne and told us he would be back in 20 minutes with our next course. After serving main course, he asked us how long until he should come back with dessert. After dropping off dessert- he says fair well for the night and he can pick dishes up in morning. This was an amazing experience. We also ate breakfast in our suite most mornings.

There are too many amazing things to list about Seabourn- so I will tell you about 2 other favorites. The line includes a complimentary excursion on every cruise. Ours was a day on a private beach in Mayreau. They set up tables with linens, and had a big BBQ style party with lobster and so much more. The waiters even walk out into the water and serve you champagne and caviar. CRAZY! Also , another day, they opened up the back of the ship (which is a marina) and had a big party on the water with banana boats, waterskiing, and so much more- right in the middle of the most beautiful reef in the Grenadines. Also, I wanted to comment on the amazing TUMI cases our documents arrived in.

We loved not having to sign for things- like every drink we consumed. We stayed in Barbados for 3 nights at the end and missed the ship so much! We loved Barbados, but hated having to sign for everything and pay for things. We also missed the royal treatment we encountered on Seabourn.

I can go on for hours on so many more highlights of our trip- so please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

FYI- we booked Danielle Hoffman- I solely dealt with her through e-mail- she is amazing for booking any type of cruise- dhoff800@hotmail.com.

Please page me on Philadelphia board or e-mail me with questions- ifolkman@hotmail.com.

Also, check out this review of our ship if you are interested in learning more about Seabourn- http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?Shi pID=89

In our suite, we had a walk in closet (with all different types of wood hangers, shelves, safe, drawers and hooks). Our bathroom was huge- and we had the standard type suite- all marble, double sinks, full bath tub/shower, a mirrored storage closet and lots of shelves for all our beauty needs.

The suite was large- there was a queen/king sized bed, a vanity with lights and mirrors for getting ready at with drawers on each side, a TC/VCR (there is a video library on ship), a Bose stereo, full bar set up with different types of glasses- and then- a sofa/loveseat, 2 chairs, and a coffee table that raises into a dinner table.

I also forgot to comment on the bath menu- they have six different types of Molton Brown baths you can order- and they will either come draw your bath (along with champagne and rose petals)- or bring the bubble baths to you to do yourself. One was called Sensual, and another called Detox (great after night of partying).

Each night our maid had a surprise for us upon our return, one night was strawberries, whipped cream and two snifters of brandy- another night rose petals on the bed, etc...

As I mentioned prior- the service was just amazing. Whenever we were laying on the deck, as soon as we would begin to get hot- a waiter would arrive with a frozen towel, sorbet or ice water. Every time I finished a drink they arrived with a new one.

Caribbean Cruise on Princess Cruises
From: north.girl , 12/9/2004 at 6:40 pm

My husband and I were married September 25 and got back from our honeymoon November 12. We went on a Caribbean cruise followed by 3 days in Miami.

-- Location you went to and the hotel(s) name:
Princess Cruise, the ship was the Caribbean Princess. We stopped in San Juan, St. Thomas & St. Martin. We stayed at the Marriot in Hollywood, Florida when we got back.

-- How long was the flight/ drive to get there?
The flight from Edmonton to Fort Lauderdale was 7 hours.

-- What was your room like? Amenities?
We got upgraded in Florida to a suite because it was our honeymoon. The room was spectacular with a full balcony, ocean view, huge bathroom with giant tub, separate livingroom and king size bed. We were also upgraded on the cruise to an outside balcony suite. Cruise ship rooms are quite small, but it was comfortable and the balcony made a huge difference.

-- How was the service at the resort?
The service on the cruise was fantastic. We were treated very well.

-- What sort of activities did you do in the area? What was your favorite?
Being from the prairies in Canada, we don't have any beaches so I love lying out in the sun. DH is more active so he would go to the gym while I was lounging then we'd play tennis or do something fun together. On our shore excursions we went on a catamaran trip at St. Thomas to the island of St. John and went scuba diving at St. Martin. I liked scuba diving the most.

-- Did you spend most of your time at the resort, or did you get out & explore. Any fun stories?
We had a really strict schedule with being on a cruise, which is something I didn't like. My husband and I are quite adventurous so we found this a bit frustrating. However, we booked our own excursions so we had more control over what we did on land (plus we saved A LOT of money that way). We were lucky enough to have a dolphin swim with us on our dive trip. Because we booked the trip ourselves, it was just the two of us with this dolphin. It was the most amazing day.

-- Did you have any favorite restaurants in the area?
We ate at a cafe on Lincoln Avenue in Miami but I can't remember the name of it!

-- Would you recommend this location/resort to other Knotties? What else should they know?
I would recommend a cruise as a honeymoon because you are absolutely pampered. I have discussed this with many brides and it seems to be the consensus that if you take a honeymoon that has things taken care of for you, you'll be able to relax and really enjoy each other.

-- Did you use a travel agent or book on your own?
We used a travel agent (Cruise Holidays in Edmonton, Alberta). They were terrific and gave us a free bottle of wine, a ship credit and a few other gifts :)

This honeymoon was a terrific way to start our lives together, it allowed us to take a deep breath and enjoy one another.

Cruise Review-Royal Caribbean-Western Caribbean
From: lauren27 Date: 12/19/2004 at 4:36 pm

Just returned from a 7 night cruise with Royal Caribbean on Splendour of the Seas. We went to Key West; Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico. We had a wonderful time! This wasn't a honeymoon, just a vacation, but I thought I would post my review here for anyone interested.

The ship-I think this was one of Royal Caribbean's smaller ships, and it's about 8 years old. The room-to save some money we got an inside room, it was the largest inside room that they offered, but it was still quite compact. We really didn't spend too much time in the room, so it was ok, but I think next time we will get a balcony room, or at least oceanview. Balcony rooms were across the hall from us, and they looked so much nicer and roomier. The room had everything we needed, but it's decor could use some updating. Meals--we ate so much! They had a dining room (no specialty restaurants), buffet restaurant, and various places where you could get snacks throughout the day. The service and food in the dining room (The King and I) for dinner was great. They changed the menu daily which was nice. My fiance really enjoyed ordering more than one appetizer and meal so he could try different things. We mostly went to the buffet (Windjammer) for breakfast and it was pretty good. They had a large variety, I particularly liked the made-to-order omelets. I wasn't very impressed with their lunch buffets, but we were only on the ship for lunch the 2 days we were at sea, so it wasn't so bad. Drinks-there are bars everywhere. The drink prices were similar to what we would find in DC, so it wasn't cheap, but not ridiculous either. We didn't drink too much, but they had drinks of the day that were pretty good, and I really enjoyed the strawberry daquiris and margaritas! There are plenty of things to do on the ship to keep you occupied. There were two pools and jacuzzis. They had lots of games by the pool, a rockclimbing wall, putt putt course (I love miniature golf and play often, but the course really wasn't much to speak of), ping pong, shuffleboard, casino (lost too much money!), bingo (also lost!), and shows in the theatre. They had a dance club open at night, and we went there 2 nights, but it was never very hoppin'. We went to two of the shows and they were pretty good-one had snippets from different broadway shows, and the other one we went to was a comedian/impressionist.

Now on to the what I think is the most important thing--the ports. We started off in Tampa. Boarding the ship didn't take as long as I thought it would. I would say that we were on the ship within an hour.

Our next destination was Key West. I was very disappointed because we were originally supposed to go to Grand Cayman, but because of the hurricane rebuilding they were limiting the number of ships that could dock there. Grand Cayman was one of the main reasons we chose this cruise. (We booked last January!) Well, I shouldn't complain, because we were still on a cruise! I had been to Key West before, but my fiance had not. We docked there so it only took about 15-20 minutes to get off the ship. It was quite chilly (low 60's) for the Keys. Most people who planned to do watersports didn't end up doing them. Luckily we had just planned to tour the island and do some shopping. We took a trolley tour which was nice because it took you to all the different parts of the island and you could get on and off as you please. Key West is a very fun place with bars everywhere, definitely a party scene. We went to the different shopping areas, saw Hemingway's house, the Southernmost point of the US, had lunch and some drinks. Their beaches aren't much to speak of, but if it had been warmer, it would have been nice to just hang out at one.

Our next stop was Costa Maya. Our ship docked here also, so it was pretty easy getting off and back on the ship. This is a relatively new port of the cruise ships, and is really only being developed now. There were a few shops and restaurants in the port, along with some nice pools. We took an excursion through the ship to Mayan ruins of Chaccoben for the morning that we were there. It was beautiful, and it was nice to see the sight, but I don't think it was worth the $65 per person that we paid. I think we would have preferred just to get transportation there and walk around ourselves without a tourguide or tour group. Friends we met on the ship went to the Tulum ruins near Cozumel which are right on the water, and those seemed much more breathtaking. We will go there next time! In the afternoon in Costa Maya we took a taxi to the neighboring fishing village which had a nice beach, some shops and pretty good snorkeling. You had to take a 10 minute boat ride to the reef which cost $15 per person. It was nice and there were lots of fish (but nothing I hadn't seen before, but I have snorkeled in lots of places in the caribbean). The water was pretty rough that day so we were tired out by the time our hour was up. I think it was definitely worth the time and money.

The next stop was Belize. The ships have to anchor about 30 minutes from shore there because it's too shallow to dock. The tender ride was the biggest pain. We got to the tendering area at 8 am thinking we would have plenty of time to make to our 10 am excursion that we had booked outside of the ship excursions. We finally got on a tender at about 9:30, and barely made it to our tour! We booked a snorkeling excursion through Coral Breeze which I found on the internet. The trip was for snorkeling at a coral reef, snorkeling and swimming with sharks and stingrays in shark/ray alley, and lunch at a small island called Caye Caulker. The snorkeling was very disappointing, especially after all the good things I had heard about snorkeling and diving in Belize. They took us to Coral Gardens and we had to snorkel in a "trail" following in a line behind the guide and other snorkelers. I had never followed a guide before, just kind of snorkeled about on my own on these sorts of trips before. Most all of the coral were dead, and we didn't see hardly any fish--mostly I just saw bubbles from the person in front of me kicking their flippers, even though I tried to keep a large space between us. They even had us snorkel where it was only about 3 feet deep, which I didn't think was very safe with there being fire coral around. Our next stop was shark/ray alley, which I thought made the trip worth it, even though the snorkeling wasn't great. We stopped in an area that was about 3-5 feet deep (no coral around) and the crew put out bait to attract the rays and nurse sharks. There were tons of rays and I saw two sharks. If you were standing they would swim between your legs! I snorkeled for part of the time and they would come right up to you and let you pet them. It was a great experience. I took about 20 pictures with my underwater camera! This stop really made the trip. We then went to Caye Caulker and had lunch. I got a chicken sandwich, and it was ok. It was nice to relax for a little while on the island before heading back to Belize City. When we got back to the port we just did some last minute shopping and headed back to the ship. I would really like to return to Belize someday to visit the jungle and find better snorkeling spots.

Cozumel-this was our last stop and the best day of our trip. We had from 7 am to 11 pm on the island, so it was nice not to be rushed. We just decided to spend the day exploring on our own. We took a $12 taxi ride to Playa Sanfrancisco which was recommended in my guidebook for snorkeling from the beach. The beach was beautiful, we actually ended up on the adjacent beach called Paradise Beach. I highly recommend it. We liked it so much we just stayed there all day. There was a bar/restaurant there, free (comfortable!) lounge chairs and umbrellas. We got there at about 9 and had the place basically to ourselves for the next two hours. Then other people started rolling in after 11, but it still wasn't too crowded (and there were tons of ships in port that day). There was one section of the beach that had a trampoline and floating climbing wall for the kids, but we stayed on the other side of the beach which was much quieter. We had a great mexican lunch and margaritas at the restaurant there. They also had a pool and clean bathrooms at this beach. But the best part was the snorkeling! You just go right from the beach and they have a snorkeling area roped off. The only bad part was that I got stung by a jellyfish (I only saw a few small ones), but it wasn't bad enough to keep me out of the water! My fiance saw a lobster and eel, but I wasn't lucky enough to see them too. Later on when we were snorkeling together, we saw a starfish, what I think was a flounder or something similar, which when he saw us buried himself in the sand for camoflouge. We snorkeled to the edge of the roped off area and found a huge piece of brain coral and there were tons of colorful fish swimming around it. It was the best thing I had ever seen. There had to have been at least 10 different kinds of fish there. I saw a few I had never seen, including an interesting medium sized brown and white spotted fish that I'm trying to figure out what it's called. Now I will stop going on and on about snorkeling! We stayed at the beach until about 5 and went back to the port area for shopping and dinner. Cozumel was our favorite port, and we plan to take a trip back there one day.

Our last day at sea we just relaxed and played some bingo and spent too much money in the casino. Unfortunately it was too cold and windy to sit by the outdoor pool.

Getting off the ship went alot more smoothly than I expected. We were through customs and had our luggage within about 45 minutes or less.

We have decided that we will definitely cruise again, but probably upgrade to a nicer room, and also to a newer and/or bigger ship. We'll stick to Royal Caribbean or try out Celebrity.

Topic: RP - Cruise Review
From: JerseyGirl05 Date: 12/29/2004 at 12:07 pm

Let me start off by saying this was not a HM, but a family vacation over the Christmas holidays! We had a blast and I would recommend Carnival to anyone - even for a HM - the new ships (Valor, Miracle, Liberty) look amazing!

Getting to Miami:
After a long day of work, 3 of us headed to the airport for a 7 pm flight. After everyone boarded the plane and the doors were shut, we were told that the Atlanta airport had temporarily shut down due to the high capacity of traffic. They requested that everyone stay on the plane in Richmond while we waited. The hour wait only turned out to be 45 minutes, so it wasn�t that bad. We had an hour layover, so with the delay in Richmond we were going to cut it close, but we made it with no problem. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 12:30 am and were anxious to get to our hotel down in Miami, the Miami Airport Embassy Suites (my grandparents were traveling with us and flew into Miami, so the Embassy Suites provided a complimentary shuttle and I wanted everything for them to go as smoothly as possible since they are both 86 years old). After several recommendations, we chose to take the Tri-County shared ride vs. taxi and since it was almost 1 am, I didn�t think we would have much of a problem. Well, what started off to be 4 passengers (1 was already in the van when we got in) turned out to be 11 passengers going to totally different areas in Miami. I guess after midnight, they just stick anyone who is heading south into the same van. So after heading down I-95 and getting off at several exits to drop people off at their respective homes, we headed down to South Beach for another couple drop offs. Unfortunately, South Beach on a Friday night is not the place you should be driving down the road looking for a hotel since the place in packed. After a 2 hour ride, the 3 of us were the final drop off and were able to check into our hotel. Thank goodness my grandparents had a much better experience with the complimentary shuttle provided by the hotel. On Saturday we woke up and all had made to order complimentary breakfast that every Embassy Suites guest is entitled too. This seemed to be a very popular hotel with the cruiser so expect to see many families, etc. We arranged for a shuttle to pick us up at 11 am and take us to the port. We got the hotel through hotwire for a price of $61/room, but I know you can get a room/transfer combination from the hotel for a slighter higher price. At 11 a.m. our shuttle arrived and we packed up our bags and headed to the port of Miami. We were now a party of 5 people (me, my fianc�, my brother, and my grandparents).

When we arrived to the terminal, they had not let people go through the security lines yet, so the line started to form. My brother, fianc� and I got in line, while my grandparents sat down and waited. Approx. around noon, they opened up the lines and I went to go get my grandparents to go through security. Security was painless and we had no problems. I noticed that the far line had NO ONE in it yet, so I hurried over there and was with a Carnival rep in less than 5 minutes. We headed upstairs to get our sail and sign cards, took our family picture (embarkation photo that everyone takes) and entered the walkway to the ship! All in all it took about an hour from when we got there, but that was mainly due to the fact that the lines didn�t open up until about noon. My advice is to get there early and wait for the lines to open or get there later in the day after the big rush of people.

Once on board we went straight to our rooms because I did not read the memo that stated "please go to the Lido deck to enjoy lunch prior to heading to your rooms because they could not possibly be cleaned yet" (since we got on so EARLY). But in the end, both of our rooms were cleaned. We had rooms 1394 and 1390 (Rivera ocean view rooms). After finding our rooms, we finally headed upstairs to get lunch and saw that we had SOO many options to choose from (Hong Kong Eatery, Coney Island Grill, Pizza, Deli, regular buffet, and don�t forget the 24 hour ice cream machines). My grandparents retired to their room, while we went off to explore. We took the spa tour and saw all the wonderful treatments. We entered into the free spa treatment raffle (we didn�t win, but got 30% spa treatment certificates that were put to good use later in the week). After the tour, we all decided that we wanted to �go green� � this being the sea weed wrap with full body massage that they feature. (Simply 90 to 120 minutes of pure bliss). Around 3:30 the other 2 people in our party got on the ship and were assigned the room of 1390 (inside room right across the hall from ours). All 7 of us were assigned the main 6:15 seating in the London dining room. At 4 pm prompt we were sent to our muster drill locations for the mandatory drill. At this time, we saw the Valor depart for a 1 day cruise to nowhere before heading out on its maiden voyage. After putting our life jackets away we ran up to the Lido deck for our sail away drink and party! We were able to make it up there before the ship started sailing, which was nice! J We headed to the London dining room for our seating and found that we were seated at 203. Earlier that afternoon we had discussed the possibility of changing to the late seating, but did not know if we would be able to due to the fact that the ship was at full capacity. I was happy and delighted to see Ricardo was the Maitre D for the London dining room as we had him for our 2 prior sailings on the Paradise. Although he didn�t make any promises, he said he would do what he could. The next morning, we found a note in each of our cabins that we had been changed to the 8:30 late seating in the London dining room. In the end we ended up requesting to be moved back to the 6:15 seating due to service problems, which I will explain later. Ricardo was very accommodating and a wonderful Maitre D. I have nothing but RAVE reviews about him and he will definitely be missed when we sail the Pride in May. There was only one 10:30 pm show that evening and 4 of us were able to say up and see it. Then, we were introduced to our cruise director Mark Price who is absolutely hilarious. The comedian following him was also quite funny, and I was looking forward to his adult only performance the next evening.

My fianc� and I decided to start off this cruise on the right start and headed to the gym. Even though it was quite crowded we were able to get the machines we wanted and had a pretty decent work out. We had been on two previous cruises on the Paradise and the Triumph gym had much more equipment and cross trainers due to the larger space. Around 10 am after we had had a good workout and breakfast, we decided to try and find 5 � 6 lounge chairs together for a fun filled day in the sun. We were able to find some in the back of the ship, but made a mental note to wake up early to save chairs the next morning. (Yes a no-no I know, but a common practice with everyone. You would be amazed how many seats are saved at 7 am - YES - 7 am in the morning). This was the 1st of mainly days on being lazy in the sun! We had probably 1 too many drink specials by 4 pm, but that is what a Caribbean cruise is all about! While sunning, we met a few people from Detroit who told us about their horror dining experience the night before. (They were at table 102 in the London dining room, had the late seating at 8:30 and did not get out of the dining room until after 11 pm due to slow service � ouch!). We were hoping this would not be the case since we had just requested to be moved to the late seating and had been assigned table 107 or so we thought! Ha! Well tonight was formal night and the captain�s party, so we got dressed in our evening gowns and suits. The captain�s party was held along the entire Promenade deck � this was unlike the captain�s party on the Paradise where it was held in the main lounge. One thing about the captain�s party � go because you get FREE drinks and free drinks are good drinks. There is a wide variety of drinks that they serve � champagne, white and red wine, lime daiquiris, whisky sours, manhattans, etc. In addition, they also serve appetizers (ranging from mini chicken nuggets to Swedish meatballs). Well, on to dinner. As it turns out we were assigned table 102 not table 107, so ironically enough we had the exact table that our friend from the pool was complaining about. We gave our 2 servers the benefit of the doubt, but they were really as bad as they said they were. Not just bad, but AWFUL. The assistant waiter was seen 1 time the entire dinner. She did not even fill out water glasses, etc. The waiter only had 2 other tables, but we were the last for everything. We made it out of there sooner than 11 pm, but had to run to get to the late show at 10:30! This was the 1st of the Las Vegas style shows. I could not find the rest of my party so I decided to skip the show, but my grandparents and mom thoroughly enjoyed it. (On a side note, my 86 year old grandparents who choose not to sit out all day in the sun with us had a good day at sea, they wandered around the ship, walked to the track a few times, and stopped in to see all the activities that were going on � they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and glad they decided to come along.) This evening was our 1st adult R rated show from the comedian who was showcased in the welcome abroad show the night before. He did an encore of the segment he did in previous show that was hilarious (just think of Godzilla and early Japanese cinema with subtitles and a combination of Austin Powers at the end, truly hilarious). (During the 10:30 show it was announced that we had to stop in Freeport to make an emergency drop off � a lady had had a stroke, but � of the guests did not hear about this since they were in the show). This evening, we were told to push our clocks ahead 1 hour so we would be on local time with all the ports!

When we woke up, we thought we would head to the gym once again, but ended up getting side tracked and decided to be lazy and just go find some lounge chairs. We got some overlooking both the stage and main pool. Survivor was featured in the main pool this day and it was fun to see what activities they had to do. It was also nice to hear the calypso music. They even played some Christmas carols! J We decided to make these seats our home for all the days at seat since it was in the center of all the entertainment. Another day of drinking drink specials and beer that we had brought on board. We were able to start seeing Puerto Rico around 3:30ish and actually pulled into port at approx. 4 pm, instead of the 5 pm that was listed. We went to our rooms to get cleaned up and we headed down to the 0 deck. When we were walking down the pier into Old San Juan, Bacardi had set up a station and were handing out free rum and cokes. I am not a big mixed/well drink person, so I gave mine to my fianc�, but all I can say is that they were STRONG. We chose not to do an excursion in San Juan since we were only there for the evening and just wandered the streets along with several other cruise passengers. We walked through Old San Juan, went into the Sheraton casino, saw the Christopher Columbus statue and started heading back to the ship. We ended up walking into a local rum distillery shop which was handing out free samples of their rum with pina coladas and other drinks! They were fantastic! We made a point of bringing my mom and grandparents back there when we meet up with them. I apologize that I can�t remember the name, but it is on the main street almost a block away from a market where you can get a horse drawn carriage. My brother and fianc� wandered back to the ship, while I explored some more with the others. We ended up making it a quick visit and got back on the ship and went to the dining room for dinner. The dining rooms provided an open seating dinner so you were able to enjoy the sights of San Juan when you wanted. We ended up still sitting at our table, 102, but had a different waiter. Unfortunately the service was still incredibly slow, so my mother and I made a trip to visit Ricardo the maitre D once more. He was very apologetic about the service and was very happy to fill our request to move back to the earlier seating. Unfortunately, our original table had already been assigned to someone else, but he promised the service would be excellent. He was right and we were very happy with our table 215 and our waiters (Erikson and Edmond) the remainder of the cruise. They really made the trip enjoyable and we looked forward to going to dinner the rest of the week! Since we were in port until midnight, all the stores and casinos were closed. They did have a deck party with a Mexican theme that evening. I guess to try and persuade people to get back on the ship and spend money there! J Our original plan was to go to Senor Frogs in San Juan, but the place was packed and had a line out of the bar, so we opted out and decided to spend the evening on the ship. This evening for entertainment they had a juggler and comedian; both were very good and funny.

Now this is my favorite port and island in the Caribbean. I traveled there for a week when I was younger with my family and it is always a pleasure to return. Since we were traveling with my grandparents, we decided to arrange a private tour with Godfrey (thanks to all the cruise critic recommendations). I can not say enough good things about Godfrey�s! We were set up with Tony, Godfrey�s brother, who mainly handles the private tours. For 7 of us, we had a 14 passenger air conditioned van. At first I was kind of bummed that we didn�t have the open air vehicle, but the air conditioned was great and I couldn�t have been more pleased. Tony was the best tour guide we have ever had before with any excursion (independent or through the cruise line). He was very informative and took us wherever we wanted to go. My mother made a request to stop by and see the Marriott since that is where we stayed back in the late 1990�s. She also asked if there was still the dairy on the Northern side of the island and to our delight it was still there. He was happy to do that and did even more. We drove by the Ritz (now that is an amazing hotel) and pointed out the Wynhdam, Sapphire beach, etc. We had decided we wanted to go to Coki Beach for an hour and a half, then head to Magen�s Bay for an hour and a half, and then head downtown for shopping. On the way to Coki Beach, we did a partial island tour as well. Coki Beach was beautiful and we got there before the rush of people. The water was crystal clean and my mom went snorkeling and saw tons of tropical fish! This is the place to go snorkeling. The water was room temperature and very relaxing. I could have stayed here ALL day! On the way the Magen�s bay, we stopped at the dairy I referred to earlier � it is called Utterly Delight and should not be missed! The best milkshakes period! We all enjoyed a mid-snack before relaxing on yet another beach. Unfortunately we did not realize that Magen�s charged $3/person in addition to $5/car to leave, but all in all it was a wonderful afternoon. It was a bit more crowded, but still the beach is huge. The water was not as clear, but that could be due to the tons of people who were in the water, etc. I personally preferred Coki Beach, but I am sure it was just as crowded in the afternoon as Magen�s. Both beaches are beautiful and should not be missed. From Magen�s we headed to Drakes point for an amazing picture perfect view. We finished our afternoon by shopping downtown for approx. 2 hours. We enjoyed some drinks and looked at liquor prices. (We had been told that St. Maarten was the place to purchase alcohol, which was true for some, but my brother found some really cheap prices in Puerto Rico and wished he bought some things there). Since stores in Charlotte Amalie close down at 5 pm, around 4ish can be a little hectic. Tony said for us to meet him by the post office and he came and got us and we were headed back to the ship! It was an amazing day and just sitting here writing about it makes me wish I was back in St. Thomas. I have nothing but RAVE reviews about Godfrey�s and anyone considering using them should not second guess or look elsewhere! The private tour was $40/person and we were gone from 9 am � 4:30 pm (over 7 � hours) - you can do their pre-arranged tour which is similar for $20/person! It will be the best tour you will take on the island. On our last cruise we went to St. John, which shouldn�t be missed as well, but if you want a island/beach/shopping tour on St. Thomas � go with Godfreys!!! After getting back on the ship, we got ready for dinner and heading to the London dining room once again! This evening�s show was a magic show that was quite entertaining and the same duo premiered their adult show at midnight!

Well this cruise, we pretty much decided to do the islands on our own or book independent tours since there were 7 of us. In St. Maarten after looking at all the excursions Carnival offered we decided to just get a taxi to Orient Beach (St. Maarten is � Dutch and � French and Orient Beach is on the French side). Orient Beach is a topless/nude beach and if you are offended by different cultures and/or have children you may want to go elsewhere. We took a cab there and they ride was $5/each. The more people you have in a cab, the cheaper it is. We were able to rent chairs and umbrellas for a reasonable rate. If you are adventuresome you can walk down the beach and sit in front of a restaurant/bar and get a chair/umbrella and drink for cheaper, but we plopped down right where the taxi dropped us off not knowing any better (and besides we were traveling with my grandparents). You will see many more topless women than full nudity. In addition, I would also say those who are topless and nude are in the minority of people who are on the beach. My fianc� and I took a walk down the beach and when you got on the outskirts of the crowds you found many more people who were nude, etc. We choose to go here simply because where else can you go to a nude beach (yes I know South Beach is topless or there is even a topless deck on the boat, but still�) We were up for an adventure. We ended up spending approx. � day there and even got to witness a hermit crab race. The locals have these hermit crabs (they are HUGE) which they put in this little maze and you can beat on which one you think will get out of it 1st. Very funny to see people cheering on hermit crabs! Around 2ish, we headed back to the ship to get something to eat and shower. Since we had heard St. Maarten was the place to shop for alcohol, my brother and I set out to go shopping. We wanted to take the water taxi into Phillipsburg, but since we were pressed for time, we had to do ALL our shopping at the pier. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me, since I got a deal that NO ONE could beat. I was on a mission � I had to get 2 bottles (ended up getting 3) of Johnnie Walker Blue and 1 bottle of 18 year Glenfidich. On the ship the JW Blue was $120 and in St. Maarten it was $99.99, so I grabbed 2 bottles and the 18 year Glenfidich. Well I was expected to pay over $250 for all of this, but when the lady handed me the receipt it said $25 + change. I looked at the receipt and it had my name on it, so I signed it and left. My brother and I needed to walk briskly back to the ship to get on in time, so I didn�t think anything of what just happened, but then it hit me � the lady had forgotten to type in the 0 � so needless to say I got over $250 worth of alcohol for a mere $25. We ended up getting another bottle on the ship for the $99.99. I know Carnival does not advertise this, but they will match any price that you find in port. Just make sure you write it down or have proof if they ask. They were able to give me that price even though I did not have a receipt to show I purchased 2 others at that price. I had a receipt that I paid $10/bottle, but I don�t think they wouldn�t have honored that one! Leaving St. Maarten was very sad because it was our last port. We were on the Lido deck watching the boat pull away to realize that there was a water taxi following the ship. The boat slowed down because I guess they realized that we left a few passengers! Oops, but the water taxi was able to deliver them to the ship and they boarded successfully after a few unsuccessful times. All in all St. Maarten is a place I would like to visit in the future. The locals are very friendly and I know my brother got a tank top for his girlfriend that said �St. Maarten the friendly island.� I guess they don�t get that slogan for nothing. This evening was another formal evening, so we got dressed and went around and took some photos as a family. As I mentioned before our waiters were wonderful and truly made our dinners an enjoyable experience! Every night they did a song or dance! I know Royal Caribbean does not do this, and it is nice to see that waiters do have personalities and can have fun! Because it was a formal evening, they did a Las Vegas style show � I attended this one and it had music from all the different decades. It was quite enjoyable for all ages.

Sea days are my favorite since you can relax and don�t really have to do a thing if you don�t want to, but I have to say sea days before going to ports are a bit more fun because they are at the beginning of the vacation instead of at the end.

Well I had made an appointment in the spa for 10 am, so I got up at 8 am and went to the gym. I needed to feel like I did something in order to justify the pampering. I used my 30% certificate that I had received earlier in the week to treat myself to a sea weed wrap and � body massage. It was 90 min of true bliss. The � body massage turned out to be a full body massage, but for � the time, very nice and unexpected. I had never treated myself to a spa treatment on a cruise ship before so I didn�t know what to expect. I had heard that they try to sell their products at the end of the treatment and I can honestly say I did not experience any of this. My massage therapists was very helpful with everything since I was new to this and made the treatment so enjoyable I wanted to go back the next day and get something else. The Spa on the ship was very well equipped and I had a relaxing spa treatment. Yes, people probably gasped at the prices (I know I did at first), but if you are flexible, they offer some great specials later in the week to make treatments more affordable. My future mother-in-law had given both my fianc� and myself some on board credit, so I thought I would splurge! Well worth it. I plan on doing a couples massage for our honeymoon cruise on the Pride in May. After the massage, I spent the day relaxing out by the pool in the seats we reserved earlier in the morning. This afternoon they offered a galley tour where you could see where they prepared all the food. On all the cruises I had been on, I had never been on the tour, so it was quite interesting. Tonight was the big gala buffet at midnight, so all the chefs were preparing for that. Tonight�s production was the guest talent show. I would imagine all Carnival cruises do this and it is a way for some selected guests to be showcased. Unlike previous cruises, I did not hear too much about this until the day of, but the talent turned out to be amazing. We mainly had singers and one gentleman played the piano. All 5 acts (all 8 participants) turned out to be excellent. My fianc� was disappointed that he missed the show, but was able to watch it over and over again on the television in our room thanks to the Carnival logbook! J (They play back all talks, shows, and pretty much anything that is not syndicated � good to know in case you miss something)

I woke up to realize that our wonderful week was almost over! I always hate waking up and knowing you only have 1 day left to enjoy all the fruity drinks and the sun. Since we had an ocean view stateroom, I was able to see outside that it was raining � oh no! The one good thing about being on a ship and not at a land location is that the captain can go around an inclement weather and make sure it is always sunny. Within 30 min it was a beautiful day with very few clouds and lots of sunshine! We had gone out early to get our chairs to find out everyone who had saved chairs earlier in the morning had all their things soaking wet! Oops! After breakfast we spent a wonderful day soaking up the sun. In the afternoon they did a synchronized swimming thing that was quite cute and an ice sculpture. Since it was Christmas Eve, it turned out to be a reindeer which was appropriate. At 4 pm � there was a special Christmas production put on by Camp Carnival in addition to the Carnival dancers and singers. Although we did not have any younger children in Camp Carnival, it was nice to involve the kids in this production. Being on the ship, it didn�t feel much like Christmas, so it was nice to hear some holiday tunes! Even Santa Claus made an appearance! This evening, dinner was as usual, but the dining rooms were a bit more decorated that the days before and they had Christmas carols playing in the background. This evening�s entertainment was a singer who sang Motown music. Not necessarily my decade of choice, but he was excellent. He had people dancing in the isles and people were shouting out requests. A great entertainer to end the week long cruise!

Our original flight was departing Ft. Lauderdale at 12 pm, and we were a little afraid that we would not be able to make this flight time (mainly from people�s comments on cruisecritic). After speaking to the purser�s desk, they recommended doing the self-debarkation in order to guarantee getting off the ship at a certain time. They said since we had a lot of foreigners on the ship, the debarkation process would probably take longer than normal. We were lucky enough to be able to send some of our bigger bags home with other family members who had later flights and were under their baggage limitations, so we only had to carry off our alcohol, a book bag, and carry-on suitcase. I would have not enjoyed having to carry all 3 of our suitcases through customs and the debarkation process. Self-debark is set for the time period of 7:30 � 8:30 am, and they clear each deck at separate times. We were probably one of the later ones cleared and started the debarkation process around 8:25ish. It took approx. 15 min to get through customs and to be on a shuttle bus headed to Ft. Lauderdale. We only had to wait a few minutes for the bus to fill up. After a 30 min drive to the airport, we were at the airport by 9:45 am and had plenty time to check our bags and make our flight, but instead of catching the noon flight, we held off and made arrangements to take the non-stop flight to Richmond at 2 pm instead of having to fly through Orlando. But if we had to make our noon flight, it could have been done very easily. A side note about the Ft. Lauderdale airport � unlike last year when we went and experienced horrendous lines through security, there seemed to have changed their procedures for security and from 10 am � 2 pm there was never a wait to go through security. I can only speak of Terminal 2, so maybe people were flying other airlines other than Delta, but it was certainly an improvement. Since we had other family members go through the regular debarkation process, I can say that the ship was cleared around 9:30 � 10ish. Their color was one of the last ones called, but they had no problem catching a shuttle bus/taxi to get to the airport. My brother who went through the regular debarkation process and took the Carnival transfer to Ft. Lauderdale made it there by 11:30 am. Regarding customs, we had no problem with our alcohol purchases. We actually carried 7 bottles through customs and we were not questioned. I am unsure what the break-off point is, but I know since we traveled to St. Thomas our allotment per person went up to 5 liters per person.

I am very thankful that we were able to get on a direct flight from Ft. Lauderdale back home to Richmond. I heard of some nightmares of travel on Dec. 24th and 25th due to weather conditions, etc. and was happy to get home safe and sound. Although we did spend some extra time in the airport in Ft. Lauderdale the non-stop flight was well worth the wait. We were able to spend Christmas dinner with my fianc�s parents, which was a nice way to end the evening.

As the week went on you can see that we did less and less, but overall it was an enjoyable experience. I would recommend Carnival to anyone as I have cruised with them 3 times and had no complaints whatsoever. I will go more in depth about specific things in my next section.

We had 3 staterooms all together � 2 outside and 1 inside. Overall the outside cabins were slightly bigger and they had a couch. The rooms were decorated in the Carnival d�cor like you see on the website. I know some of the newer ships (Conquest, Valor, Miracle, etc.) have some additional amenities, unlike the older ships. I believe they are beginning to update these older ships with each dry dock they have. The comforters were beginning to show some wear, but overall everything was clean and in working order. Maybe one day we will try a balcony room, but right now for the price an outside is fine for us and fits our needs! We were on the Rivera deck and did not feel much rocking the entire cruise. I know we have traveled during the holiday season before and this cruise by far was the best when it came to rocking and the ship moving. Even though we wear the patches, I think we may not have needed them this week! About the cabin size, we fit 3 people more than comfortable in an outside cabin, but definitely would have been cramped in my mom�s inside cabin. The bathrooms are a nice size � there is enough room to stand in the shower comfortably and no the shower head is not over the toilet or anything. If size is an issue, I would recommend opting for an outside room over an inside room.

All of us in our party found the food to be wonderful. The service with the exception 2 nights like I explained before could use some help was wonderful. We really enjoyed having Erikson and Edmond as our waiters. They knew exactly what we wanted and needed by the end of the 1st evening. I was impressed. The 1st formal night, they have lobster and make sure to order more than 1 � they are great. I do have to admit my 1st one was just alright, but the 2nd one was great! I am glad I went ahead and ordered a 2nd one or I would have been disappointed. The highlights of the week were the pumpkin soup, the chicken filets (more like chicken quesadillas), mushroom soup, sweat and sour shrimp, lobster, filet; the list could go on and on. The breakfasts both on the Lido deck and in the main dining room were very nice. I know the made to order omelets were great and it was one thing I was looking forward to before we left. I also enjoyed how they had fresh melon on a daily basis. Lunch consisted on sandwiches, pizza, Asian cuisine, food from the country they featured on a daily basis, or hamburgers/hot dogs from the Coney Island grill. The one complaint I had about the Triumph is I was expecting a sushi station. I had been on the Paradise 2 times and they had set one up every evening, so you could have sushi on a daily basis if you wanted. I had read on the Carnival website that sushi would be available for lunch on a daily basis, but it was only served 1 time and it wasn�t that good since there wasn�t much of a variety. VERY DISAPPOINTING!! The menu offer for room service is very limited (sandwiches, vegetable plate, snack items, etc.), but my fianc� and brother managed to order room service on a daily basis (sometimes it was 2 or 3 times per day). I think they must have eaten over 10 BLT�s each over the course of the week. I know they offer an additional menu for breakfast that includes pastries and breads and fruit juices. Unfortunately you are unable to order from a full breakfast menu, but you can get a quick bite before you head off the ship to an excursion, etc.

This cruise we decided to be adventuresome and try to bring some alcohol onto the ship at embarkation. We packed 2 - 12 packs of beer in addition to 5 bottles of champagne; the champagne mainly being for special occasion dinners. Although it is stated that you will be charged a $10 corkage fee, neither server charged our table. Prior to sailing we had also purchased drink coupons as we have done this for all the cruises. It doesn�t necessarily save much money, but it is nice to pre-pay for some things so the bill at the end of the week is not that outrageous. The drink coupons say they are good for drinks up to $4.95, but we were able to use them on several occasions for the drink special of the day that were $6.25. One time the difference was charged to our sail and sign card, but on several other occasions they said not to worry about it. In all the general areas including the pool, the bar service was excellent. There was no need to get up and go the part because a bar service attendant was close by. The bar service in the main dining room was even sub-par this year. Our waitress even began to remember our personal preferences by the end of the week. My favorite drink became a �kiss on the lips.� Even though it isn�t loaded with alcohol, it makes a tasty treat or relaxing tropical drink!

Mark Price is the cruise director for the Carnival Triumph. He is very entertaining and we enjoyed cruising with him. Mark was a true showman; he was quite the comedian at times and sometimes even did a song and dance. The only other cruise director that I have to compare him to is Shawn Bussey who was the cruise director on the Paradise. I know a lot of people dislike Shawn, but I liked her quite a bit (I guess I am biased because I am women, but still�) It seems that I heard more from Shawn throughout the day vs. Mark. I know Mark was out and about the cruise ship because he always made a reference to whom he saw and meet each day during the evening show. I do remember one Social Hosts name � Marcus and he was quite funny and had lots of things to do out on the Lido deck, but I can not remember some of the females names. I know the one from South Africa was very very good, but once again I found Tina from the Paradise to be more active. All in all, the cruise director and social hosts made the cruise so enjoyable that I would recommend sailing with the Carnival Triumph again and again!

The Carnival Triumph is a beautiful and it provides tons of activities for all ages. With every cruise, you will always have some people who are disappointed with the service, food, room, etc., but overall this cruise line always seems to impress me as well as all my other traveling companions. Both the Eastern and Western itineraries are great and I look forward to sailing with Carnival once again in May for our honeymoon cruise. This time we will be sailing the Mexican Rivera on the Carnival Pride.

I just got back on 1/8/05 from a Western Caribbean Cruise on board the Norwegian Sun. What a great trip. I was a little worried about this cruise line, since most people think it is bad and a cheap way to go, but we couldn't be happier with our trip! Getting on the ship we waited in a line for no more than 10 minutes, but after that there were no lines on the ship or upon disembarkation. Contrary to other posters there wasn't too many kids or too many elderly people on board. I know other people post tips, so here are a few from me (for any cruiseline): A sweater is a MUST! I didn't take warm evening wear and was regretting not having a sweater for both indoors and out on deck. Walkie talkies are nice to have. Even though our ship only had 2,100 on it sometimes you get separated and it's hard to hook up again. If you port at Roatan, Honduras book an excursion! We did NOT and the town is very poor and a little shady, so I bet the beaches are the best in the world (otherwise why would the ship stop there). If you go to Belieze do the Rainforest ATV tour. Be ware - you will get muddy, but it was a BLAST and is great for any skill level. This group is also small (12). Glad we booked this one through the ship as we were 1/2 hour late and they waited for us. Always wait until the last cruising day to buy anything from the shops on board or your pictures taken at the ports. The discounts are usually the best this day.

****Cruise REVIEW: Carnival Conquest/West. Caribbean*****(Long!)
From: Tarsier Date: 1/24/2005 at 9:47 pm

Hey ladies :) my DH and I just took a seven day cruise on the Conquest this past week to the ports of Montego Bay, Jamaica; Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico- since I always find the reviews on here helpful for vacations and not just HMs I thought that I'd post our experience. We have never cruised before but thought that it'd be a great trip to take- we'd never gone to any of the ports of call or to New Orleans which is where the ship is stationed. We spent one night in NOLA before we left- we stayed at the Lafayette Hotel which was nice- not the best, but perfect for just one night, plus it was right across the street from a fabulous restaurant called Herbsaint that we went to for dinner- sooo good and really interesting dishes- we had escargots for an appetizer, DH had rabbit for dinner (he's more adventurous than me, but it was very good) and I had some great monkfish- all delicious!

We were really impressed with the ship itself- it's *enormous* and beautiful, very clean. It was built in 2002 so it's still fairly new. Our room was bigger than we expected, we did get the ocean view suite which I highly suggest. Our embarkation was pretty painless and our bags were delivered about half an hour after we got to our room. The pool areas were nice and big- we never had to fight for a chair. Lots of different lounge areas as well that had music etc. throughout the day. The staff was wonderful throughout and overall we were impressed by the food- the buffet had more of the typical fare but our dining room had more things to offer (there were five courses offered each night!)- good steaks, fish, lobster one night- really good starter courses like pumpkin soup, smoked salmon and I had a really great pasta one night with shrimp and scallops. DH had some New Zealand lamb chops (which he loves) and said they were really good. Of course, if you didn't want to eat what was on the menu the staff was willingly to find you whatever it was that you wanted. We also had dinner one night in their supper club which costs $25 per person but it was definitely worth it- the service was amazing, we had five courses and the presentation of the food was gorgeous- in a typical restaurant it would have easily cost $200 for the dinner.

As for the ports of call, we didn't enjoy Montego Bay all that much, it's an area that has a lot of poverty and the people that we encountered while in the city were friendly to a point, but really just wanted money from you- they would ask to take you places and show you around and then ask you for a tip, which we tried to be polite about but we ended up not staying long. It's a beautiful place and I think that in Negril or Ocho Rios, where more of the beach towns and resorts are it would be a different experience, unfortunately we weren't able to see that.

Grand Cayman was gorgeous, the water was crystal clear and the town is quaint- they still have a lot of damage from the hurricanes however. The beaches were very pretty and we went snorkeling- there are all types of fish, sea turtles etc. and it's so clear we were able to see even the smallest of jelly fish (DH got stung- but they're so small he didn't really feel it!). This day at port we only had from about 8am until 3pm on the island which was disappointing but other ships hadn't been able to even come in because the weather had been so stormy, so we were lucky.

Cozumel was our favorite out of the three ports we went to- we had great weather- the warmest out of the three days on land, and it was stunningly beautiful- very lush, quiet and the water was even better than in the Caymans. We spent the day at the beach on the whitest sand I've seen, just relaxing and snorkeling. There is also a national park there called Chakanaab that's worthwhile as well. The people were really friendly and the city was very clean- we had some great margaritas at the beach and some beers (really nice waiters come to serve you), they also had umbrellas, tables and lounge chairs for use on the beach (for free).

All in all, we had a great trip- two nights the ship was REALLY rocky, the seas were really rough and it was much colder in NOLA than we expected, but nothing could have been done about it. Next time, we would like to go to another part of the Caribbean and have a cruise that has more ports and less time at sea- we had two days at sea in the beginning and about two and a half on the way back- the ship had many activities etc. going on but after awhile it got old. We are also definitely planning to go back to Cozumel for a week or so to see more of it and lay on that amazing beach again!

I know that there are always conflicting results on Carnival as a cruiseline so I wanted to let others know that we enjoyed it. We'd like to try Royal Caribbean next so that we can compare, Carnival does a good job however. Hope that helps anyone out who's looking into cruises- feel free to ask any questions :)

Review: RC Adventure of the Seas
FROM: jlw2505 Date: 2/16/2005 at 11:11 am

Here is a brief review of my honeymoon cruise. It was wonderful. I will update my bio with pics soon.

All I can say is the honeymoon was everything we thought it would be. We had an amazing time. We took a RC Cruise on �Adventure of the Seas�. We left out of San Juan, PR. This was the only place that had bad weather � no sun but also no rain. The ship is amazing. I would strongly suggest getting a balcony room as it really makes a huge difference. We splurged and got a balcony jr suite � the room was huge with a sitting area and a nice size bathroom, with a bathtub and a huge closet. The ship is great. There are 3 pools and a 6 hottubs. One pool area is just for adults. We went rock climbing and played mini golf on the ship plus took in an ice skating show.

We did not do much in regard to bars or shows as we tended to enjoy the hottubs each night after dinner. They had a honeymooners reception on Monday night and we met another couple that got married the same day as us. We spent time with them the rest of the cruise.

We somehow managed to get a table for 2 for dinner and loved having that time alone. The food was great. I loved most of the desserts and my DH ate a ton all week. Our wait staff was top notch. Windjammers (for breakfast and lunch) was also really good. We did not go to Portifinos as we called to late to make reservations. I heard it was exceptional but make reservations as soon as you get on the ship.

Aruba: very windy and hot but beautiful. We went horseback riding and had a great time. We did a little shopping that afternoon. That night we took a sunset cruise � not romantic but great drinks and we saw a wonderful sunset.

Curacao: We did a city tour here that was just OK. We loved the hato caves. We went to a beach on our own that afternoon and did some snorkeling which was great. The beach was not soft sand � more rocky but still really nice. The water was so clear.

St. Maartin: By far, our favorite port of call. In the morning we did the America�s Cup yacht race and got to sail on �Stars and Stripes�. Highlight of our trip!!!!! In the afternoon we took a water taxi to the public beach and rented a jet ski. Overall, it was a great day.

St. Thomas: Not our favorite of the islands. The outer part, by the water is really nice but the inner part of the island is not great. Shopping is great here although we didn�t really do much shopping at all on this trip. We took a taxi tour in the morning. DO not do this unless you have no time constraints. We were told it would be 1 � but it took 2 � hours and we had to rush back for our afternoon excursion. We went sailing and snorkeling. Small group on this excursion which we loved. We saw some great coral but not a ton of fish.

We loved our Royal Caribbean Cruise Honeymoon!!
From: DebbieMay2004, 3/16/2005 at 11:28 pm

We loved our Royal Caribbean cruise!! We went for 7 days on Explorer of the Seas to the Western Caribbean with ports of call in Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. Our honeymoon was our first cruise. We were a bit apprehensive about all the reasons most people hesitate about a cruise. But we were thrilled with the experience.

First of all, I highly recommend a cruise for a honeymoon. We received royal treatment, enjoying first customer class service. The food was great! The entertainment was excellent! The ship is very impressive!

I think we got a really good deal... about $2,156 for 2 for a balcony cabin for the cruise, which includes everything but gratuities, shore excursions, and alcoholic drinks. We booked late...actually in January, after our wedding date, and in the height of cruising season. We got married Dec 30, and planned for a honeymoon Jan 2, which is a very expensive time. We hesitated several times and ended up booking Jan 30 with a good rate for a balcony cabin. We booked with a travel agent... an added bonus since we got a complimentary bottle of wine and chocalate covered strawberries from her!! Beaufort Travel Professionals - Yvonne- (800) 521-4501.

My tips for first-time cruisers... don't book shore excursions sponsored by the cruise line... they're more expensive, and often not as intimate. Sneak alcohol in your luggage... they don't seem to check. Get a balcony! You'll enjoy sunrises, sunsets, moonrises, room service, and making love on the balcony! Book with a travel agent... why not give a small business owner your business instead of the big capitalist? Enjoy and take advantage of the many, many onboard activities!!

We really enjoyed the many activities onboard. I really had low expectations, fearing lounge-singer style entertainment and B-grade variety shows. Royal Caribbean was incredible!!!!! There is an ice show which was very progressive... done to the music of The Doors, as well as many other great entertainment shows! The food was excellent... seconds on lobster...? go ahead! Free champagne at the Honeymooners party... of course! There were nine bars!!!

Best shore excursion in Belize.... cave tubing, fishing village in Costa Maya, snorkeling in Cozumel, Sting Rays in Grand Cayman...

Loved it!!! Hope my post helps you decide on your honeymoon!
Debbie
December 30, 2004

Just returned from the 5/22 sailing of the Miracle, and I wanted to report back that we had a great time! Carnival's reputation gets smeared a lot on these boards - and since it was my first time on this cruise line, I wanted to share something positive about it. We had awesome service, everything went very smoothly, and our excursions were all decent, if not terrific. In particular - the Mexican cooking workshop in Cozumel was a GREAT time - we had a blast. Page me on the DC board if you have any questions.... Best wishes.

Pics and Review of *Celebrity Mediterranean cruise & Rome*
From: BostonChickie, 6/8/2005 at 12:00 pm

Just thought I would share a review and pics (in bio) for those of you who are planning a trip to these places! We had an amazing time on the Celebrity Galaxy cruising the Med. for 11 nights and then staying in Rome for 3 nights post cruise. If you have any questions, ask away.

First of all...if you are planning a cruise...why are you posting here? Go check out the msg boards on www.cruisecritic.com. Those boards were SOOOO helpful for us to plan our cruise. If I can be of help to anyone, just ask away.

Cruise overview: This was our honeymoon cruise, and it was hands down one of the best trips we could have booked. I feel like we saw 5 vacations worth in just one trip. For DH and I, this was our 2nd Celebrity cruise and it did not disappoint. The food and service was incredible, and the ports of call on this 11 night tour of the Easten Med. were even MORE incredible.

Istanbul and Ephesus: I highly recommend booking a private guide. We toured with Nejat Incedogan (nincedogan@yahoo.com) for all 3 days in Turkey and he was great. People had raved about him on here, and now I know why. His knowledge of the sites and his sense of humor make the tour very enjoyable. Nejat took us to all the main sites. We also decided to do the Turkish dinner in Istanbul through him at a place called the Orient House. It was FABULOUS. The food was great (get the fresh fish) and the entertainment was excellent (even if it was a tad cheesy at times, it was super memorable). The belly dancers were a blast too. I know others who booked private guides as well (don't know the names) and were really happy with it too. It is nicer to see the sites without a huge group. If you can only have a guide for one stop in Turkey, DEFINATELY have a guide for Ephesus. It helps bring the ruins to life. Regardless, when booking private tours.. book way in advance. The good people go early.

Greek isles: We toured these three ports on our own. Mykanos and Rhodes you can just walk around and fill up your day that way. In Rhodes, I recommend "getting lost"....meaning go down windy roads that are away from the main streets. It is just neat to walk around the residential areas within the old city walls. For Santorini, once up the funicular (yes, do this instead of the donkeys), take a short walk to the bus station. For 2 euros each, you will have a nice quick ride to Oia (pronounced ee-ahh). It is a MUST to see this town. It is where all the quaint postcards off the cliff side homes are taken. I had read posts on cruisecritic about Oia prior to our trip, and now I know why people told us to go there. I had tears in my eyes when I looked at that view for the first time. After a few hours in Oia, we took the bus back to the main town, Fira. We walked around and had a nice lunch overlooking the ocean. (When in the greek isles, DO miss lunch on the ship at least once...or twice. Have the fresh feta-filled greek salad, eat the cherry tomatos, drink the wine, and feast on the fresh calamari. Oh, and buy oregano-flavored Lay potato chips. Trust me, they are not to me missed because they don't sell them here.)

Athens: We booked the site-seeing trip (4 hr one) through the cruise. I was disappointed with this tour. Having not been there before, I thought it would be good to do the tour and see the main sites. It just felt crowded and rushed. The only time we stepped off the bus, besides at the Acropolis, was to see the old Olympic stadium. Besides that, everything was talked about from within the bus and you could only see it if either you were sitting on that side of the bus, or for a split second as the bus drove by it. In addition, they wasted our time with a half hour stop at some lame trinket shop. It was not even a shop with any speciality (i.e. pottery, cameos, etc..) The people on our tour rebelled and we walked back to the bus! Knowing what I know now, I would have just gotten a taxi from the ship to take us straight to the Acropolis *FIRST thing* in the morning. Then I would have wondered around the Plaka and downtown on my own....taking a cab back to the ship. There is just so much to do in Athens, and you just can't do it all in one trip. We definately plan to go back one day.

Naples: We booked a tour with the ship which was to go to Pompeii and the Amalfi Drive. It was cancelled because Pompeii was closed. They found WWII bombs nearby that needed to be detonated so they closed the roads nearby. So we rebooked on another excursion because there was no time to really research something on your own. We booked the Sorrento/Amalfi Drive trip instead. They had us take a hydrafoil to Sorrento and, we walked around on our own there for close to 2 hours. I had stayed in Sorrento years ago and forgot just how amazing it was to be there. I honestly think you could just spend the entire port day there. What a stunning town! But no, off we went to drove down the Amalfi coast which was breathtaking as well. I must say that the tour was nice and there are no real complaints. I am sure a private tour would be even better, but $$$$ was an issue for us. On the tour, they did take us to a very lovely lunch at a gorgeous hotel on the Amalfi drive which was includes in the tour price. I honestly don't think you have enough time to really see Sorrento, Amalfi, and Pompeii in one day. You will have no quality time to do all three. Pick 2 and enjoy them. People also raved about Ischia. From the port of Naples, you can just take your own trip to that island and do it on your own. The cruise trip to Capri looked a little dissapointing. Had we gone to Capri, we would have just done it on our own. Next time!! But this region will be a land based stay for us. Just too much to see and do.

**When reviewing what to do in your ports, check out the "ports of call" pages on cruisecritic's msg boards. They will give you info about tours and guides etc..)**

Rome: We booked a transfer from the airport to the ship. I am so glad we did this because we were SOOO tired. It was nice to just get on a bus and be taken door to door. Since we were staying 3 nights in Rome after the cruise, there was no cruise transfer to take you to Rome. I have no idea why because there are some serious bucks to be made if they were to offer this! So we took the free shuttle from the ship to the entrance of the port. We then walked from there to the train station. As long as you take the shuttle, the walk from the port entrance to the station is not that bad (honestly). It was a little confusing taking the train to Termini, but oh well. I think there were some language translation issues with the sales office. In Rome, we stayed at the Daphne Inn. (http://www.daphne-rome.com/) I cannot rave about this hotel enough. WOW!! For the price, in comparison to what you would get at other places, this Inn is not to be missed. The rooms are newly decorated and gorgeous, it is located in a nice walking area (near Barbarini and not far from the Trevi Fountain), the included breakfast is great, AND the service is impecible. It was like having a private concierge. Upon check in, Elyssa helped us plan out our site seeing options giving us advice of where and when to go. It was SO helpful. They also gave us great recommendations of where to eat and even booked reservations for us. Trust me, stay at the Daphne. There are enough positive reviews on Trip Advisor to prove me right. Also when in Rome, DEFINATELY go have gellato at San Crispino near the Trevi. It is not to be missed. It is rated by many places as the top gellateria in Rome and I know why! Yum! And book a guide to see the Forum and Colleseum. It brings these ruins to life as well. Otherwise, you don't know the scope and the magnitude of what you are looking at.

And that is my 2 cents. The trip was amazing. I am sad it is over, but the memories I have are priceless. Celebrity was incredible. Delta lost one of our pieced of luggage on the way there. Even though we booked the air on our own, the Concierge and Guest Relations helped locate our suitcase and get it on the ship in Mykanos. They washed the clothes that we had so as to make our stay more comfortable. And they even lent a tuxedo to my husband since he had no clothes for formal night. What service!

Anyone going on a Med. cruise....regardless of the cruise line.. you are in for an amazing time. My advice, book EARLY. These ships are filling up because the cruise business has rebounded since 9/11. This is not a honeymoon for people looking to relax. You will be up early...and maybe even to bed early for there is a lot to see and long days. You will definately enjoy the days at sea, when you rest by the pool. Trust me! But even it it isnt the most relaxing trip, you will come home with many photos, stories, and memories.

Review of Carnival Legend Cruise to Eastern Carribean
From: annie29, 6/16/2005 at 11:56 am

Wow!!! What an experience! I had never been on a cruise before, nor to the Carribeans, but my husband has done both and he absolutely loved it!!! We went on an 8 day cruise to the Eastern Carribean. The first few days are at sea, then, for the next three days you go on three different islands, and then there are two more days at sea. The boat itself was a little too lavishly decorated for my taste but it was definitely not as crowded or noisy as I had heard form other cruisers. The food was amazing, especially at dinner. We were placed at the dinner table with a very friendly couple who were also honeymooners so we had a lot to talk about. We had also met a few other interesting people on the boat and on the islands.

There were lots of activities to do on the boat so were were able to pick and choose only the ones we absolutely loved and go only to them. We went to a piano sing-a-long, art auctions (we bought a few reasonably priced paintings and even won a bunch of reprints!), karioke, couples' massage lesson, lounges and bars, trivia and other games, the pool, of course, and the shows in the evening. The shows were really impressive. The dancing and choreography was very professional and all the shows (including magician, comedian, etc.) were very entertaining. The best were the vegas-type shows because the dancers were very professional and because of all the beautiful backgrounds and costumes (there were 12 dancers and each dancer had a different outfit for every dance...and there were about 30 numbers for each show!). The singers were also very entertaining. The food was fantastic but I found it difficult to keep up with everyone else and often I had to skip a meal just to save room for the next one... :-) The service on the boat was amazing and we gave extra tips to our waiters, cabin steward, deli guy (they have an amazing deli, open from 11AM-11PM - absolutely delicious and fresh!) and the sushi guy (sushi bar is open from 5:30PM-8:30). Those people were extra sweet so we gave them extra but all the other employees were also very curteous and helpful! We never had a problem with anything on the boat except for one day when we had ordered room service and only got half of the stuff we had ordered.

All in all, this particualr cruise was ideal for us as honeymooners because it gave us two and a half days to just relax at sea (and we really needed that relaxation time), three more days for activities on the islands, and two more days to relax from those activities :-) The Excursions: In Puerto Rico, we arrived at San Juan. We went horseback riding in the foot of El Yunque rainforest. This was an incredible experience and my husband's favorite. The horses were really fun to ride and the surrounding were nothing short of spectacular: lots of luch greenery everywhere, lots of palm trees, lots of raw nature. you can't beat that! We had a great time just being on the horses and looking around at the beautiful hills. Towards the end of the excursion the sun was setting and it looked amazing! When we got back to the boat it was already evening and we were exausted. We walked around San Juan (we didn't go too far from the boat). We went to a famous bar called Senior Frogs' but we didn't stay - it was very touristy and basically everyone there was from the boat... so we just walked around, went to an internet cafe to write home, and went back to the boat. The next morning we arrived at St. Thomas and did an excursion which took us all over the island and to Blackbeard's castle. This was my favorite excursion. We started out on an open air bus and made our way up and down the hills with a few stoppings for scenic lookouts. It was beautiful to see the houses on the hills and the beautiful water... We then went to Blackbeard's castle and made our way down with a guide who gave a historic tour of the island. This was very interesting and we went into a few historical houses on the way down the mountain. We ended the tour in Main Street where all the jewelry stores are and walked around. I bought a pair of Carribean Topaz earrings. We then walked to the Jewish Synagogue which was very interesting. It has been on the island for a few hundred years and looked really cool with sand on the floor instead of tiles... We then walked back to the boat and just walked in the area close to the boat and did some shopping of souveniers and liquor. The next day we arrived at Tortola which is a part of the British Virgin Islands. This island is very similar to St. Thomas but was not quite as beautiful. There were, however, a lot more fuit trees and there was a lot more raw nature and less houses and less pollution beause there are less people. We did a scenic tour of the island - again, in an open air bus which took us to different areas with beautiful scenic lookouts. I absolutely loved some of the houses there - people were just living in a house surrounded by lots of fruit trees - mango, avocado, orange, etc. and it looked beautiful. However, there were some areas on the islands that were not as beautiful, like deserted car lots and other undeveloped areas that looked like someone had started building something and then stopped. all in all, it's a beautiful island but not as amazing as St. Thomas. After the tour we went to some souvenier shops but everything was really expensive. The next two days we spent on the boat and just enjoyed everything on it and relaxed.

This cruise was one of my favorite vacations and I highly recommend it! I would do it again in a heartbeat and I'd go on the same ship! The price was great: $850 per person, not including tax. It came out to close to $2,000 for both of us, including tips. Souveniers, art we purchased on the ship, excurions (which were not cheap) and little things we got on the ship like alcoholic drinks, etc. came out to another $1500. So a total of $3,500 which includes beautiful paintings...not too bad...it was great value for our money and it was a perfect combination of relaxation and activities... One more thing: Since school was still in session, there wren't too many kids on the boat and the few the we saw were mostly in the pools. Most of the people on the ship were married couples, either our age or older, around their 50s or 60s. There were a few groups of single people but this was mostly a ship for couples.

We were on a cruise for our honeymoon and...
From: blondee720, 8/2/2005 at 9:13 am

We had a blast!!!!!!!!! We were on the Royal Caribbean- Adventure of the Seas and I was soo impressed. This was my 4th cruise, but definitely one of the best. Aside from all the stops, there were tons of things to do on the ship, including a rock climbing wall and ice skating rink!! This ship is the 2nd biggest ship under the Queen Mary. We went to St. Thomas, Aruba, Curaco, and St. Martin, but our favorite places were definitely St. Thomas and Aruba.

HM review: St. Thomas and RCCL West Caribbean Cruise
From: Ajknightfan Date: 8/26/2005 at 10:49 AM

We took a 2 week honeymoon, which shounded SO glamorous when we planned it....but it was way too long without our friends. I know, bizzare that we would have wanted our friends on our honeymoon....but we are far more social than romantic and most of the trip we kept thinkg of someone who would have loved what we were doing at the moment and wishing they were there.

That being said:
St. Thomas. We stayed at the Marriott Frenchmen's Reef...which most people on the island said was the best resrt there. I was not overly impressed. It was nice, but not as nice as I expected. The thing that annoys me most about St Thomas in general are the roads. They suck and you cannot walk or bike anywhere. Sure, taxis are pretty cheap ($5 from the hotel to town). But if you go to town shopping, and back, and then go out for the evening, and back....you have dropped $20/day in taxis....minimum.

DH and I are not really "lay on the back" kind of people....we went to St. Thomas to dive. LOVE the diving there. But I thought that the island was pretty boring otherwise.

We flew back to San Juan and left for a 7-day RCCL Cruise on Adventure of the Seas. I had never cruised before and I am SO looking forward to doing another one. We had a blast!!! Ports of call were: San Juan, Puerto Rico| Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands | Philipsburg, St. Maarten | Antigua, Antigua & Barbuda | St. Lucia, Caribbean | Bridgetown, Barbados. Some of those islands....IMO...cruises are the only way to see them...and I would not go back. St. Lucia, however, was beautiful and I would go back there in a heartbeat. The food on the ship was fabulous.....we met fun people, the entertainment was great.....highly recommend a cruise, especially with this line.

If you have any specific questions at all you would like to ask, just send me an email at ajknightfan@yahoo.com

I sailed on the Norwegian Dawn on 9/18/2005, and had some issued that I feel are important for people to know, especially if they have sailed before on a more traditional cruiseline.

I have a few issues with my cruise experience during my cruise , and would like to inform you of some things that I was either very pleased with, and in some instances not too happy. I apologize for this being so long.

The staff was very accommodating, and very friendly. I found the service to be entertaining, polite, and up to par. I had no problems whatsoever with the service I received. The room service was always very quick, arriving at our cabin less than a half hour. The dining staff was always willing to go the extra step. I was surprised that our room steward didn't introduce himself as I had seen done on past cruises, but it was an insignificant detail that did not affect my overall cruise experience.

Embarkation and disembarkation was smooth and fast. It is such a pleasure to be able to arrive at the pier, check in, and immediately start the vacation. It is also wonderful to enjoy the last night of the cruise in the nightclub because we didn't pull into port until 10am. The sip left from NYC, and the area is very busy which is why the smooth check in/out process was a breeze.

There was a problem with my room, beyond our control. During the third of fourth day of the cruise, someone in another cabin had stopped up their toilet, which caused a horrible smell from our bathroom. We were given notice on how to avoid these kinds of blockages and what the results of a blockage would be, but apparently this was overlooked by another cruiser. There was nothing that could be done until the blockage was repaired, but it was really gross. Also, the balcony itself was filthy and there were foot and hand prints all over the balcony and chairs. It seemed as though someone had lotion on their hands and feet and smeared it all over the area, but no one had bothered to wipe it off. We ended up doing it ourselves.

The food in the main dining rooms were really limited. My husband and I spent the majority of our cruise in the specialty restaurants, which forced us to spend about $150 more than we planned on spending simply because the menus in the main dining areas were so very limited. The idea of "freestyle" dining really does not allow you the choices you assume you would get. The main restaurants only offer 4 or 5 choices on the menu, and they do not offer traditional standby's for those who don't like to experience exotic foods. My husband is a very picky eater, so we had no choice but to use the specialty restaurants. We couldn't come and go as we please; we had to make reservations at least a full day in advance, and we still didn't get the times we needed in order to participate in activities or enjoy certain shows. On other cruises which offer a more traditional type of dining, I noticed there is a standard menu with items for those who are very particular and less willing to try new types of food. We didn't see these options with the Dawn, which is the main reason we spent so much time in the specialty restaurants. In my opinion, the "freestyle" option limited us more than the traditional early/late choices would have because we never knew when we would be "allowed" to dine. One night we failed to make reservations and ended up dining at the Blue Lagoon at 10pm.

Also, the buffet was odd - there were items on the buffet, such as hot dogs and burgers, which really held up the line during lunch times. I understand that people like to have these options, but you can get these things 24 hours a day in the Blue Lagoon. In the mornings, the line for toast was so long that we rarely were able to have breakfast. Here is how a typical day on line went: We would get on line, and wait for the people in front of us to get their cooked-to-order omelet. After getting our omelets, we had to wait on line for the bacon/sausage. We then had to go to a separate line to get toast. By the time we finished waiting on lines, our food would be cold. I think that the omelet station should be near the toast, so as not to inconvenience those who are eating buffet food. Lastly, people were permitted to roam the buffet without shoes or shirts. I don't know how else to put this, but we were disgusted at seeing overweight men with their bare feet and tops while on the buffet line. We spent very little time at the buffet for the second half of the trip.

Our day at Great Stirrup Cay was canceled due to residual weather damage from one of the hurricanes. I understand that the weather is beyond our control, but the new itinerary left us on the ship for the two days in Nassau with nothing to do. When we first got on the ship, we got our tickets for a tour of the Everglades in Miami (which we enjoyed), a tour of the Atlantis in the Bahamas, and snorkel equipment rental in Great Stirrup Cay. We decided on Monday to cancel the snorkel equipment because we found out about all the other things to do on the island. We also canceled our trip to see the Atlantis because we figured we could save money by using the day at Great Stirrup cay to go to the beach, and we could just shop in Nassau that Friday morning. Well, we never got to go to the beach. NCL didn't have any type of contingency plan for the day in Nassau, and we were not willing to take a local taxi to go to Cable Beach. We left the ship to check out the area, but we were bombarded by a bunch of aggressive local people and we were not sure who to trust. I called the reception desk on the ship asking about transportation being set up, and they said just to take a cab over to the beach. We asked about maybe rescheduling a shore excursion so as not to waste another day on the ship, but the tour desk was closed until the evening. I just didn't think it was very fair that a free beach day was taken away from us last minute and nothing was offered as a replacement.

This is also a common thing I have heard from other people who have taken this cruise in the past on more than one occasion. I am not sure if NCL will be reevaluating the use of their private island in the future. I suggest having a contingency plan in the event of a change of itinerary for future cruises.

Again I understand that weather situations are out of anyone's control, but it would have been nice to have had someone from NCL arranging taxi service with a reputable service company for those of us who were never in the Bahamas before.

Overall, I spent much more money than I anticipated. This was partly because I was willing to spend more being as it was my first time on this ship, but mostly because of the food choices.This experience was slightly below my expectation. I was hoping that the reception desk was going to extend an onboard credit due to the change of itinerary as well as the bathroom situation, but they didn't do anything.

I may take a cruise on NCL in the future, but the issues I have above I feel could have been addressed differently by the cruiseline. Maybe considering my comments can help avoid future issues from arising with other people. I now know what to expect of the staff and food service if I choose to sail with NCL in the future, and hopefully NCL will look into the concerns I have mentioned and change a few things especially since other cruiselines are using NY/NJ as a cruiseport in the near future.

NCL Pride of Aloha review--NOT for honeymooners!! (some other Hawaii stuff too)
From: dkgarber Date: 9/24/2005 at 12:05 AM

I might want to preface my review by saying that FI and I spent 5 days at the Sheraton Maui on Kaanapali beach before boarding the ship. It was HEAVEN--the most incredible hotel!! Our room was private, super quiet, the whole place is romantic and the BED!!! They don't call it the "Sheraton sweet sleeper bed" for nothing!!

If you go to Maui I recommend Kaanapali Beach (best beach I have ever been on), hanging out in Lahaina (Old Lahaina Luau was awesome). Beware on the Road to Hana--it scared the bejesus out of me. I was too terrified to enjoy it!!

Anyway...going from a high end resort to a cruise ship wasn't easy. It ws our first cruise and I am sure alot of our displeasure is due to the fact that we just don't seem to be cruise people. There are people EVERYWHERE! I booked the POA itinerary b/c it went to all the islands and b/c it was a good deal. I'll start w/the GOOD:

1. got to sail by the Napali Coast of Kauai and a live lava flow on the Big Island (saw red hot lava spill into the sea--wow!!). Both are near impossible to see w/out a helicopter or boat trip.

4. contrary to the bad reviews I read over the past few months, the staff is amazinly helpful and sweet.

1. There are people everywhere!!! Don't even think of laying by the pool b/c there aren't near enough chairs. Avoid the buffets during popular eating times as the lines are insane

2. Average age on this ship was 70. I am not kidding--this is an OLDER crowd people. Whoever was younger was trash. We hated the crowd. Thank Goodness it was freestyle eating b/c there wasn't a couple on the ship I would have any interest in eating with every night

3. Be prepared not to sleep. Maybe our stateroom was an oddity, but there was CONSTNANT banging all night long-we must have been under the crew or restaurant prep areas. We literally didn't sleep. We were so tired that when we docked in Maui for our over night, we rented a car and checked back INTO the Sheraton Maui and blew off the ship!

4. If you aren't a smoker, think twice. There was plenty of smoking on board and even outside you couldnt enjoy the ocean air.

5. It isn't as relaxing as you think, as each port you either need to pay for an exursion to see the sites (way overpriced-you can buy direct from the tours for much cheaper), or rent a car. Constantly renting a car and putting plans of action together is very tiring. We would hav preferred to stay in Maui w/our one rental car and drien around. Too many lines to wait in!!

In summary, it was far from relaxing and the most unromantic setting ever. It would be better suited for a crowd of friends.....older friends!!!

We did love the islands though. Maui was our fav, hands down. Oahu is much prettier than people give it credit for especially the north shore. It is insanely beautiful, just don't assume Waikiki is it.

Topic: Trip report--Greek Isles cruise and northern Italy
From: KezCo Date: 11/28/2005 at 12:46 pm

Here's my very long trip report from our recent trip to Italy & the Greek Isles. Sorry it's so long!!! There are some PIB mostly from the cruise.

Venice (October 8-10)
Hotel: Academia B&B (http://www.bbaccademia.com/) A small B&B in Dosudoro. It is part of an old Palazzo right next to the Accademia Bridge and just steps from the Accademia Museum. The location is perfect, very centrally located. Luca, the owner, is very nice and spoke English really well. We stayed there when we were in Venice last year so we knew what to expect. There are only 6 rooms and only 2 of them have bathrooms. It is very affordable 120 euro for a room with a bathroom and view of the Grand Canal. It is nice, but definitely not luxurious.

In Venice the touristy places we went to were: Doge�s Palace, St. Marco�s Basilica & Piazza, Accademia Museum and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. I recommend all of these places. We spent a lot of time just wandering around and soaking it all in, eating great food and drinking wine at outdoor cafes. Our favorite restaurant ever is in Venice�Cantonine Storico on a side canal in Dosudoro.

Cruise (October 10-17)
We went on a week long cruise on the Costa Victoria. It left out of Venice and the stops were Bari, (southern Italy), Katakolon (Greece), Santorini (Greece), Mykonos (Greece), Rhodes (Greece) and Dubrovnik (Croatia). There were people of all nationalities on the ship and all announcements were made in 5 languages: English, Italian, German, French and Spanish. The ship was really nice and pretty typical. It�s older but recently renovated so things are new and clean. The food was the only complaint that we had. We figured that on an Italian cruise we�d be eating amazing Italian food every day but that wasn�t the case. It was just OK, but that was fine because we ended up losing weight on the trip! We didn�t do any of the ship�s excursion, so we explored each of the ports on our own. We went on the cruise with DH�s family to celebrate MIL�s 60th birthday so we didn�t really have any input into which cruise or cruise line we went on. Costa gets many mixed reviews on the travel websites so I was a bit skeptical, but it ended up being an amazing cruise!! The only drawbacks were the food and the very short times in port. We only had 4-5 hours in most of the ports which was just enough to get a feel for the place and see the major sites before having to hop back on the ship.

Ports of call
Bari, Italy�Bari is in the southern part of Italy�s �boot�. It�s not a very touristy town so we really felt like we were able to get a glimpse of a typical Italian lifestyle. We took a cab from the spent a few hours walking around the old town, toured a medieval castle and had lunch at a local place where nobody spoke English. In the afternoon, we went over to the newer part of town and did some shopping.

Katakolon, Greece�Katakolon is a small port city. It�s really cute with a main street full of pretty touristy shops. It�s only about 30 minutes from Mount Olympus so we hired a cab and he drove us up there. There is a huge archaeological site where you can walk through the ruins of the old town (several centuries BC) and the original Olympic stadium and buildings. It was really amazing to see. There is also an Olympic museum there but we didn�t have time to explore that.

Santorini, Greece�This was by far our favorite port. The ship docked at Fira and we took the cable cars up to the city. The city was pretty, but very crowded and touristy. Although it was a beautiful setting, it didn�t feel very authentic. So, we hired a cab to drive us to Oia, a much smaller and less touristy city. It was beautiful there and much quieter. Absolutely amazing.

Mykonos, Greece�We went to Mykonos on the same day as Santorini and we arrived around sunset. It is a very beautiful island. We took lots of pictures and wandered around the town. We had an amazing Greek dinner at the Pelican Restaurant and did some shopping.

Rhodes, Greece�Our boat docked in Rhodes City, an ancient walled city. We explored a little bit there and then took the bus to Lindos. Lindos is more of a resort town and on a hill above the town is an ancient Acropolis. We walked up to the Acropolis and then had lunch at a restaurant on the beach. The food was incredible!!

Dubrovnik, Croatia�We only had 3 hours in Dubrovnik but we managed to pack a lot in! We walked on the walls that surround the city. There are amazing views of the city and the ocean from up there. We then walked around the city and did some shopping.

Post-Cruise
Castelrotto (October 17-20)--After the cruise, the IL�s went home and DH and I went up to the Dolomites in northern Italy. We stayed in a small town in the mountains called Castelrotto which was absolutely amazing. This region was part of Austria until after World War I and there is still a huge Austrian influence. Most of the people speak German as their first language and all of the towns look like little Austrian villages. We did a few amazing hikes, saw the ruins of some castles, took the chair lifts up and enjoyed the views. The food was excellent and the people were so friendly. It was almost their off season so things were starting to close down, but it was perfect because it was really quiet and relaxing, which we needed after our amazing but very busy cruise. The scenery was incredible, rolling green meadows and jagged rocky peaks.

We stayed at the Hotel Zum Turm (www.zumturm.com). The owners were so nice and the hotel was great. After our tiny room on the cruise, the room and bathroom seemed gigantic. We had a nice balcony that overlooked the town and a meadow. The restaurant in the hotel was great and had some of the best struedel I�ve ever had!!

Verona (October 20-21) We were only in Verona for one night. We mostly went there because we had never been and wanted to see the Roman arena there. We stayed at the Hotel Europa, which was a pretty typical budget European hotel. The room was clean and it was centrally located so it was fine for one night. We went to the Roman arena, saw Juliet�s courtyard (which was so pretty even if it is a fake), and explored the main shopping street and the Piazza Erbe. It was fun but a total whirlwind.

Padua (October 21-22) We were also in Padua for only one night. We stayed at the Hotel Al Santo which was located near St. Anthony�s basilica and not too far from the center of the city. The hotel was kind of dirty and most of the furniture in the room was broken. It was kind of sketchy and I wouldn�t have wanted to stay there for more than one night. We did have a fun time exploring the city and we saw St. Anthony�s basilica, the Scrovgeni (sp?) chapel and did a tour of the University of Padua which is the second oldest university in Italy and where Galileo taught for a while.

On 10/22 we took a shuttle from Padua to the Venice airport which was very convenient and it only took about 30 minutes.

Topic: Just back from our first cruies, NCL's Pride of America.....
From: eway09 Date: 11/18/2005 at 12:27 pm

We just went on a Hawaiian cruise. We were on the new ship, Pride of America. The itinerary was great, Hilo, Maui for overnight, Kona and Kauai for overnight. The ship is brand new, just put in service this past summer, July I think. The ship itself is absolutely gorgeous. We had an inside cabin which was tiny. We had our baby with us so adding a crib made it more cramped but we didn't spend much time in it. Our big complaint was the food. Maybe DH and I are spoiled. We did talk to other people on our ship and they too were dissapointed by the food. The buffet was below average. It just wasn't what we were expecting. The quality was well below what I've heard other friends and family memebers say they've had on other cruises. The food choices were very limited. Room service was the same way. Poor selection (I got a sandwich that had one piece of lettuce, no tomato or cheese). Some of the other nicer restaurants were better.

The room service staff and our room steward were fantastic. Can't say enough nice things about them. Our room steward went above and beyond our expectations. We needed a crib sheet changed at 9:30 pm one evening and she gladly did it with a smile. The staff at the reception desk were not as accomodating. We needed a yellow pages and would not let us take it to our room to borrow for 1/2 hour. When we checked in with our baby, the check in people said we didn't need a ship card for our 7 month old daughter. Security let us board the ship with out a ship card for her. Well, we get to Hilo the next day and go to leave the ship. The security staff wouldn't let us off the boat with our daughter because she didn't have a ship card!! We had to go back to the reception desk and clear up the mess. We lost a 1/2 day in Hilo because of their mistake. That set a bad tone that took a few days to wear off. The reception staff couldn't give us a good explanation as to why we didn't get a ship card in the first place.

As far as shore excursions go, we did them on our own and not through the cruise. We rented a car in every port and did the same activities as was offered through the ship. Including car rentals, we spent 1/2 as much as they would have cost through the ship. It wasn't difficult getting around at all. The rental agencies gave us great maps and they were all knowledgable about the best ways for directions and what to see and do.

For the most part we did have a great time and got to see some of the other Hawaiian Islands. They are all very different from eachother and are worth taking the time to see.

My Carnival Cruise Experience - Bad
From: Rubydoo67 Date: 12/13/2005 at 6:39 PM

We didn't go on our honeymoon, but went as sort of a "pre-moon" to see whether we would like it or not. Neither of us had cruised before, but thought we'd give it a try on hearing some great recommendations from others who had been on different cruises.

We were SOOOOOOO disappointed!! Our cruise isn't scheduled to end until Thurs., 12/15 but as you can guess, I'm back home already. We took advantage of their "Fun Guarantee".

I would NOT recommend the cruise we took at all. We took the Fantasy ship from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas.

The ship was entirely too crowded with the elderly, the dirty and the criminal!! I know I probably sound like an elitist snob, but really......we were looking for a relaxing time and to feel somewhat pampered. We didn't get any of this. The food was beyond horrible, the lines were incredibly long for everything!!! The one small pool was filled with unsupervised children, the casino was very small too. There was nothing to do to just relax and enjoy "us" (if that makes sense?). Although most of the crew was nice, the rest looked ticked off and bothered if you talked to them. We felt that they just wanted you to order something so they would get a mandatory gratuity.

After less than 24 hours on the ship, we knew it wasn't for us and made arrangements to leave before we reached the first port. Funny, talking to the cab driver who drove us to the airport, he said it happens quite frequently, everytime the ship comes into port.

Anway, just wanted to give our view of this vacation package. Maybe it's great for some people, but I most definitely do NOT recommend it for a honeymoon or any type of romance get-away.

I'm Back From My Cruise to the Southern Caribbean!!
From: Mrs.Sept18 Date: 12/12/2005 at 11:11 PM

We took a 7-day cruise through Princess Cruise lines and our ship was The Golden Princess. This is the first time I took a cruise and was a little nervous because I get sea sick and car sick. For those who get sea sick, the trick is to keep yourself full. If you keep yourself full, your equalibrium balances out and you won't feel sick. Dramamine or Bonine are also good to take daily even if you feel fine in the morning.

San Juan -- We disembarked from San Juan and didn't have a chance to view the city at all. When we arrived, Princess took our checked baggage and drove it in a separate truck to the ship. The bags were delivered to our stateroom. We stood in a 1.5 hour line to receive our key card to get on the ship (the busy time is apparently between 1-5pm)

St. Thomas -- We took the Seablaster Snorkel Tour and loved it!!! The "captain" warns you that you may get a little wet. He lies!! You get soaked driving to the dive location. He purposely aims for the waves so that the boat is flooded (don't worry, they warn you to wear your swimsuit, and they pass out garbage bags to put anything you want to keep dry inside it). If you sit in the back, you get more wet and those in the back ended up putting on their snorkel gear so they could see from the water hitting them. We saw the typical snorkeling things like fish, coral, etc., but we also saw 3 sting ray's which I thought was pretty cool. After the tour we went shopping, which the entire shopping district that everyone raves about is all jewelry. The shopping across from the dock is more touristy things like t-shirts, postcards, etc.

St. Kitts -- We didn't take a tour, but I wish we had. The island looked beautiful and the history of the island looked interesting to us, but we couldn't afford another tour. Instead we walked around and found some little shops, a neighboring park, and a local who told us of the safe and not-so-safe areas of town.

Grenada -- We took the Mt. Carmel Waterfall tour and I'll warn you -- if you like to stay clean and dont' like to hike, this is not the tour for you! You board a bus that drives you throughout the island to the falls. You then literally hike up the mountain over mud and through puddles, over boulders, across a river, and then to the falls. It quite adventurous. You can then swim in the falls. After they drive to the other side of the island so that you see the entire island and drive you back to the boat. I loved this tour! Grenada is a beautiful island, but very poverty stricken. It was so sad to see the devestation of the island because it is still recovering from Hurricane Ivan and Emily from over a year ago.

Isla Margarita, Venezuela -- Again, we didnt' take a tour, but what we saw the island was beautiful with white sandy beaches. Unlike St. Thomas and Grenada, this island has a huge area devoted to crafts of the locals.

Aruba -- We were suppose to visit the Natural Bridge on our Land Rover tour, but unfortunately the Natural Bridge has collapsed. We weren't as happy about this tour but it ended up working to our advantage because the tour was canceled due to lack of people. We signed up for the only other tour available which is the Semi-Sub tour. I took the dramamine that morning, but this boat was making me sick. We did see the WWII German Freighter that was sunken, which was pretty cool. I wish I had toured the island as well as the sea. The shopping, I thought, was really good too.

1 Day At Sea -- We had horrible weather at sea. The entire trip had waves that were wavelets - 4ft waves. The 1 day at sea had waves that were 15ft. You couldn't walk a straight line on the boat sober, let alone drunk.

Overall Review of Princess -- I thought the cruise directors were great and I would definitely take another cruise.

Email me if you have any questions or want to see photos. I have way too many to post in my bio.

Norwegian Jewel Honeymoon Cruise Review
From: jessilee01 Date: 12/25/2005 at 6:00 PM

We had an incredible time on our cruise. It was our first cruise, and we will definately be going on another! I must warn you that this review hasn't been thought out and that I'm just typing when I think of something, so nothing is in order!

The Jewel is an amazing ship. At first, when I glanced at the website, I thought the colors were a little hideous. I thought they were way too bright. However, once you see this ship in person, you'll be amazed at how wonderful they truly look in person. Embarkation took approximately 2 hours from once we actually got to the Miami airport. It really wasn't bad.

The service on this ship ranged from good to EXCELLENT. The cabin stewards did an excellent job at making up our beds, both day and night. If you decide to stop in the Casino, make sure you speak with Maricris. She's absolutely wonderful and was our favorite employee on the entire cruise. Tell her Jessica and Mike says hello :). We tried as many restaurants as we possibly could. Le Bistro ($10 pp cover charge) was EXCELLENT the first time we went, and so we decided to go there again. The second time we went, my steak came back rare instead of medium well. I thought that was a pretty big error, but I still very much enjoyed the restaurant. Teppanyaki ($10-$12 pp cover charge) was excellent. Tango's (included with cruise) is a Mexican restaurant, and it was very good. Cagney's ($15 pp cover charge) had slow service the night we went, but was EXCELLENT and well worth it :). Chin Chin ($10 pp cover charge) was very good, but I ended up getting two dishes that were incredibly spicy so be careful if you don't enjoy spicy food. The Garden Buffet was always pretty crowded. They had a huge selection of food and it was good. Tsar's Palace and Azura were good, but we only ate there a couple of times. We ate at Blue Lagoon (included with cruise) and enjoyed it. The food was pretty good.

The entertainment was excellent! Do not miss Cirque Bijou! It was fantastic! We also enjoyed the talent search contest that was held the last night of our cruise. There was so much to do on this cruise that I can't see how anyone could get bored. It was fantastic.

HM Review NCL Jewel Eastern Caribbean Cruise 3-12-06
From: toadslove Date: 3/26/2006 at 9:27 AM

NCL Jewel was a true jewel. We enjoyed our eastern caribbean cruise very much. We were first time/honeymoon cruisers who had a balcony room starboard side. The embarkation process was a breeze. We got to the port around 12:30 or 1 and had no wait at all. We were onboard the Jewel within minutes. I was actually surprised at the size of the room and bathroom in balcony room. It was larger than I pictured and the colors were great and not overbearing. The balcony was also larger than I imagined it would be. We were truely surprised. Our cabin steward was great. We had great service from them at had towel animals every night at turn down.

The seas were very rough the first two days of the cruise. We had steady 12 foot seas the first couple of days...even the Cruise Director Mike said the only people walking striaght were the drunk ones! Our first sea day was very windy, but we still took a spot out on deck 13 overlooking the pool where we ran into a wonderful bar service guy named Inyoman Satista (spelled that wrong Im sure). He took such great care of us the WHOLE cruise. He would find us and take care of us wherever we were. He also worked in Tsars Palace and Spinnakers. If you find him, tell him Scotty and Ashley miss him terribly!!!!

San Juan was a bust. I wish we would have stayed on the ship. This was the only downfall of the week. We took the eco-bike tour. NCL's description was that it was a 10 minute bike ride to a beach where you could play, swim, etc. It was a 1/2 mile ride to a beach that was unswimmable (signs posted everywhere) then we hopped back on the bike and rode 2 1/2 more miles through a nature preserve (that was so filthy with abondanond cars and trash) and a slum of San Juan where dogs chased us on the bikes. We became friends with a family who did the old and new city tour and they said that it wasnt as good as the last time they took it. They said the city had gotten dirtier and more run down. If we go on a cruise again that goes to San Juan, we will stay on the boat.

Antigua was nice. We did the Beach Break excrusion and had a good time. The water was clear, the sand was white. There was a beach bar some vendors to buy things from and a great buffet of chicken and ribs and all the trimmings. We had a good time at that beach. We were able to find a couple of chairs under a palm tree for some shade and relaxed and drank rum punch all day long.

St Thomas was our favorite port. We did the Castaway girl Catamaran sail and snorkle excursion to Buck Island. Man what a great time we had. The snorkling was awesome and the crew on the catamaran were great. The rum punch was free the whole way back to the port and we got held up by a storm so we got a little extra time to drink! I would say this was my favorite port/favorite excursion by far. We both loved this place and would love to go back soon. Brooke, Einstein and the crew on the Castaway girl were a blast. This is a must take excursion.

Great Stirrup Cay was very nice as well. The beach is sort of small, but we went all the way to the left when you get off the ship towards the rocks and snorkling area and found an open spot with an umbrella right off the bat. The buffet was great that they served that day. Burgers, Hotdogs, Pizza, BBQ Chicken and all the fixins. Inyoman tracked us down the beach and took care of us that day as well. We found an open hammock during the end of the day and took full advantage of that as well. It was a great beach day. My only gripe would be that people were saving the hammocks all day and not using them. But it didnt ruin my day.

The food on the ship....Incredible. Our favorites were Cagneys, Teppenyaki and Tangos in that order. We did not get reservations the day we boarded the ship, we went down the first full day on the ship in the afternoon and still got a reservation at Teppenyakis and Cagneys. Teppenyaki we had a 730 seating and then at Cagneys we got a 630 seating. The rest of the week we didnt want reservations and the freestyle concept worked for us. We never waited more than 5 minutes. We ate at Mamas without a reservation...no problem...we even got a seat by the window at 630. The food was really good everywhere. My only thing was the first night after we ate at Mamas and ordered the calamari to split between us two and it came out with 4 ringlets on it...we learned that the appetizers were not to share.

The shows were great as well. We went to Band on the Run (the lead male singer was not my favorite) and that was good. I wouldnt see it again, but it was good. Cirque Bijox was amazing as expected. Newlywed Not So Newlywed was funny. Mike the cruise director did a great job thoughout the week.

I heard about getting nickle and dimed throughout the ship...we planned to spend about $2000 extra on the ship account and came in WAAAAY under and that was with drinking and shopping and excurisions. The prices are not the greatest on the drinks, but its vacation...you have to chalk it up to that.

With it being spring break there were over 700 kids on the ship...it really felt like there was only about 50. There were really only 2 college groups that I noticed and they were not bad. I have to say I was worried about cruising during spring break, but we had no problems and would do another cruise during this time of year in a heartbeat.

We had a great time. Would do it again. We met some great friends that we already have plans to visit with. I say the Jewel is a great ship that everyone needs to experience.

Many people on the knot often say cruises arent for honeymooners. I have to say we had many private moments, private dinners, and enoyed our honeymoon to the fullest. With NCLs freestyle cruising, we were not confined to schedules or seatings for dinner. I suggest if you are looking for a cruise, seriously consider NCL...we plan to go back in the future.

Tahiti/FP Princess Cruise HM Review in Bio!
From: arthist24 Date: 5/22/2006 at 1:19 PM

We did a 10 day Princess Cruise originating in Papeete, Tahiti and then spent 2 nights in an over water bungalow at the Le Meridien in Papeete, Tahiti.

Cruise � We had never cruised before and were nervous about being stuck on a boat for 10 days if we didn�t like it. Since the Tahitian Princes is a smaller ship, about 670 ppl, we spent the first day popping Dramamine because you could really feel it move, after the first day though, we were completely adjusted and didn�t mind the movement at all.

The cruise was amazing! The food was great (after we learned to eat every meal in the dining room � avoid the buffet, you�ll eat less and the food is better in the dining room). The onboard activities were fun, we met a ton of other honeymooning couples from all over the world who we became friendly with. For us, the cruise was the ideal way to see French Polynesia. We got to experience a lot of different islands without having to pack and unpack or take inter-island flights. Also, I think overall, it was cheaper for us to go on the cruise than to stay 12 nights at a resort. Given what we managed to spend in just 2 days in our OWB, I was thankful we were on the ship for 10 days with our meals and accommodations already paid for! The only downside of being on a cruise is you�re only in each port for a day, maybe two and that�s never enough time to explore.

Huahine � This is one of the less inhabited islands we visited. We did a sport fishing excursion here (MH�s idea � he�s an avid fisherman), I recommend this only if you have a very strong stomach and never get seasick! The island itself was really lush & beautiful, I wish we had more time to explore. Not many tourists go here since there are only one or two hotels so it wasn�t touristy at all.

Rarotonga, Cook Islands, New Zealand � Not part of FP, but beautiful nonetheless. We went to a cultural center here, which was actually a lot of fun. We learned about traditional dancing, fishing, medicine, cooking. MH got a rash on his hand here which he swears was from the fruit they gave us at lunch�.I think it was from the stray cat he was petting!

Raiatea and Tahaaa � We didn�t see much of Raiatea, instead we took an excursion by boat to Tahaaa, which was probably the most laid-back place I�ve ever been. Our guide says no one really works there. If they need something, they go get a job for a few weeks or months, buy what they want and quit! He said a lot of North American people go there to retire, only to leave 3 months later because they are bored! We went to a vanilla plantation and a pearl farm in Tahaaa, both very interesting.

Bora Bora � Bora Bora and Moorea are definitely the most beautiful, paradise-like islands. Pictures and words cannot adequately describe them. We did a 4 wheel drive tour of the island the first day (which I don�t recommend if you are afraid of heights, crazy Tahitian drivers or really bumpy roads). The next day we did a boat tour which took us to swim/snorkel with sharks, rays and eels. I highly recommend this, the clarity of the water was amazing, as was the variety of colorful fish & coral. The downfall to Bora Bora being so beautiful is that there are parts of it that are extremely touristy.

Moorea � You can see Moorea from Papeete and it is just a short ferry or plane ride away. We went to the Inter-Continental Resort, which looked amazing! We went there to see the lagoon and the dolphins. Another honeymoon couple we met on the ship did a dolphin encounter here (Where you go in the lagoon with the dolphins and their trainer for something like $150 for 30 min) and they thought it was great. You have to make reservations in advance if you want to do this.

Papeete, Tahiti � We did a 4 wheel drive excursion here too, it was great! The driver took us inland to the valley between some of the volcanic peaks. There was a huge waterfall and we got to swim at the bottom of it. I�m glad we got to see the un-populated part of Tahiti, because when we arrived at the airport and took a taxi to the ship, we realized that Papeete is really a city (not like NY, but definitely not like the peaceful paradise we�d imagined) there was even rush hour traffic and highways! Everyone had cell phones and was driving SUVs�I thought we got on the wrong plane and were back in Jersey, lol! Papeete was the only place where it was like this though.

Le Meridien Hotel, Papeete Tahiti � Overwater Bungalow! Two days were not enough here, MH and I plan to go back someday and just spend 2 weeks in an OWB! Unfortunately, there was some stormy weather during our two days here and we were not allowed by the hotel to go into the lagoon under our bungalow to kayak or snorkel because the current was really strong. However, it was amazing just to sit on our porch and watch the waves crash on the reef or the fish swim under us. The sky at night was also incredible, more stars than I�ve ever seen.

Even if you can only afford to do an OWB for a couple nights of your honeymoon, do it! It was totally relaxing and secluded. The big spots for OWBs are Bora Bora and Moorea. Honestly, the water, scenery and even the bungalows themselves are nicer in those places than in Tahiti itself. However, what I really liked about our OWB was that there were only 12 at the whole resort. We boated by some of the resorts on Bora Bora and there were so many bungalows, they were all you could see. After having been on the cruise with hundreds of people around us all day, we just wanted some alone time and some time when we didn�t have to see other people. But, wherever your OWB is, you will love it and it will be amazing!

One of my favorite things about the Le Meridien was the sand bottom pool. MH and I were in the pool constantly. It was huge and you walk into it just like you�d walk into the ocean and it gradually gets deeper. They have free kayaks, snorkeling equipment and water aerobic classes at the resort too.

� We exchanged some of our US money for French Polynesian Francs at the airport and found that almost every place we went took US money. From grocery stores to cab drivers to the people leading the excursions we did (the ones we did that were not prepaid through the cruise ship), everyone took US Dollars. I don�t think there�s any need to exchange all your money for Francs, if anything, maybe get 100 dollars worth of Francs to carry with you just in case.

� We bought Jan Prince�s guidebook to Tahiti and it was really helpful. Read it before you go because once you�re there, who wants to sit around reading a guidebook? Also, this book would be more helpful for those NOT on a cruise... we only had a day or two on each island and we already had booked excursions, so there wasn�t time to do a lot of the stuff she suggests.

� The sun is really strong in Tahiti. If you are pale and burn like me, bring a higher SPF than you�d normally wear. I got burnt on a cloudy day when I decided not to wear sunscreen at all. I also got a tan while wearing 45 SPF!

� If you are an animal lover, be aware that dogs and cats roam freely here. Since most of them don�t �belong� to anyone and no one has a lot of $, it means none of them are neutered and they are more or less wild animals. While many of the animals we saw looked well-fed and cared for, a few of them are skinny and hungry or really matted. It can be pretty upsetting.

� Tahiti and the islands of FP are expensive, esp. when it comes to food. When we ate off the ship, we spent $30 on breakfast (eggs & toast � nothing fancy), $50 for Chinese food (some fried rice and a chicken dish and this was at a local restaurant, not at a hotel) and $180 for a dinner at Le Meridien�s fancy schmancy restaurant (La Carre) that was totally not worth it. If we did it again, I�d bring a box of granola bars or something from home and try to have a snack instead of lunch. We did get some cheaper snacks from the grocery store, there was one within walking distance to the Le Meridien.

� Almost everyone speaks some English, but it always helps to learn a few words or phrases in French or Tahitian (mauruuru pronounced mah-roo-roo means thank you!) Most of the products in the grocery store are labeled in French and I tried to purchase some conditioner and ended up buying some kind of liquid soap, much to the amusement of the French couple who sat at our dinner table on the ship!

� Bring water shoes (we just got cheap ones at Wal-Mart) if you plan to do any snorkeling. We even used them at the beach at our hotel because after the first few meters out into the water, there was a lot of coral & fish. Also, if you are skeeved out by the thought of using rented or borrowed snorkel gear, you might want to bring your own.

� They have direct flights from NY, but since we were using freq. flyer miles, we had a stopover in LA both ways. I thought this would be a pain, but it was actually really nice. It broke up the flights, was a nice transition into and out of the honeymoon and we had so much fun in LA! It was about 8 hrs from LA to Tahiti. On the way out, we had a 12 hour layover and managed to rent a car, go to Rodeo drive, Santa Monica beach, Hollywood, the Peterson Auto Museum (MH�s request!), eat lunch and dinner and got ourselves nice and tired for our midnight flight to Tahiti. We both slept the whole way.

� Finally, I just want to say how friendly everyone is in FP. Tour guides regularly invited us into their own homes, offered us beer (Hinano is the Tahitian beer, yummy!) and fresh fruit and crackers. Tourism is a big part of the economy and the people of French Polynesia are some of the most gracious people I have encountered anywhere.

Probably the whole honeymoon including 2 days/1 night in LA, 2 car rentals & 1 hotel in LA, food, tips, 10 day cruise, 2 nights in the bungalow, spending money and everything was close to $8,000. This includes all the �stuff� we bought there, including a pearl, artwork, etc.

Airfare: $0, used freq. flyer miles, sorry I�m not much help here.
10 Day Princess Cruise (outside cabin with lg window, no balcony): $3,200
Bill of charges we racked up on ship (drinks, gifts, jewelry, art, etc.) $2,500
Cost of OWB for 2 nights at Le Meridien Papeete $900

Review of Hawaii Honeymoon
(Oahu-Turtle Bay Resort, Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. Cruise - NCLA Pride of America)

Ports of Call:
Hilo (big island) (1 day) Maui (2 days) Kona (big island) (1 day) Kaui (2 days)

Shore Excursion reviews:
Hilo: Volcano National Park.
This was hightly recommended to me by my friend but the only part of it i really liked was the thurston lava tube. i thought that was really cool. Plus the cruise ship sailed by the active volcano at night and the view of the red lava going into the black ocean was amazing. we were a lot closer than i thought we'd be.

Maui:
Day 1 = Beach Day at Ka'anapoli. we did this through the ship but i heard from others on the ship you could get to the same beach on the public bus for a few bucks (just might take a little longer).

This beach was really nice - they dropped us off by the Sheraton (which looked really nice if anybody is considering staying there.) not a wide beach (i don't know if any are wide on hawaii) and the tide came in to cover most of it eventually. the water was nice and calm but th en would suddently get to be pretty big waves, knocking people over and everything, then go back to calm. after the first set of huge waves scared me i stayed out except for ankle level. we rented a beach umbrella. there was the whalers market 5-10 min walk away but we didn't get to it.

Day 2 = Road to Hana.
We signed up for this throught the cruise ship - originally i wanted to rent a car and do this ourself -- but then i got caught up with wedding planning and just didn't feel like dealing with it and neither of us really wanted to do the driving ourselves anyways. Now I'm glad we took the tour because my favorite part of the trip was the road "From" hana (past hana) the part that is the dotted line on the map that you're not allowed to take rental cars on (unless they're 4wheel drive i think? not sure on the rental rules) that part i thought was the most beautiful. we didn't really have a relaxing time at any of the places we stopped because we were with a group of 13 and our tour guide (who was very good) rushed us through so we could see a bunch of things. it wasn't what i'd imagined it to be but it was still very beautiful and i'm glad we went with the tour in the end.

Kona = we didn't do any excursion here - just took one of the free shuttles to a nearby market with local crafty things. international market place i think it was called. I heard other people saying the snorkling on kona was amazing though.

Kaui = we did the princeville waterfall hike through the ship. it was expensive but amazing. the hills were pretty steep that we went up and down. there was a great view at the top. there was a part where you 'rock climb' down a 10 foot "cliff" (it wasn't as scary as it sounds and there were harnesses) and a bunch of places where you cross streams. then you get to this beautiful waterfall & pool where we got to go swimming it was awesome. we had a sunny day but they said sometimes it's a lot wetter/ranier. it was at princeville ranch and they also have horseback riding and ziplines there.

when leaving kaui, the boat went past the Na Pali Coast and we got a great view. I wouldn't pay extra to go on a tour there since you can see it so well from the ship.

Food:
I thought the food was very good but I'm not the pickiest and many other reviewers said it wasn't the greatest. We only ate at one of the 'pay extra - specialty' restaurants once Lazy J steakhouse and the filet mignon was DELICIOUS. They offered more pasta dishes in the main dining room than the other two cruises I've been on - some probably say that's bad cuz it's not as expensive but i Love pasta. so i liked having the option (plus I didn't make reservations at the italian rest. in time before they booked up)

Even though i had read about making all your reservations the first day for the whole week i still didn't do it (silly me! got convinced that the main restaurants wouldn't need reservations) but at busy time there was a 30-45 minute wait and they gave people beepers like a chain restaurant which was kind of annoying. and those boards telling you how full each restaurant are are totally wrong (it was annoying to be waiting 30 mins for a restaurant and have the board mock you by saying it was 1/2 empty!)anyways after 1 night of waiting i made reservations for the rest of the week but didn't get the times i wanted every night.

Ship:
everything was very clean - no funny smells like some of the early reviews said. our room steward boycotted cleaning our room for 1 day randomly then started up again - odd but we didn't see him/her that day to ask them to put our room back on the list. american crew - i didn't really notice a big deal about having an american crew but i heard other people had opinions good and bad about it. i guess it depends.

entertainment:
i thought what they had was good but I expected them to have a bit more considering the only time people were really on the ship was in the evenings. there wasn't as much day-time activities as other cruises which makes sense since you're in port so much and there's so much to do on land. they had a juggler/comdedian who was OK but they had him perform twice during the week - how many people can handle 2 nights of juggling in one week? They had a 2 good comedians. And their one big 'song and dance' show was good - i mean some people aren't into that stuff - I usually like it and thought some of it was a bit corny or out of place but i still enjoyed it.

This was not a honeymoon, but I thought it might be helpful to anyone planning an Alaskan cruise.

We just returned from Alaska and had a fabulous time. We went on a cruise on the Sapphire Princess. The cruise started in Vancouver and ended in Whittier, Alaska. We would have liked to do a land tour in Alaska as well, but we just didn�t have enough vacation time.

Vancouver We flew on America West to Vancouver and arrived early in the afternoon. We stayed at the Marriott Pinnacle and liked the hotel in general. We booked three rooms because I was traveling with my husband, parents and sisters. Since I stay at Marriotts frequently they �upgraded� one of the rooms to Concierge level. I decided to be a good daughter and give it to my parents. We were then told that they would get a free continental breakfast, snacks and drinks in the concierge lounge. But what they didn�t tell us was that because it was the weekend, the lounge was closed. Not a big deal because we didn�t pay for concierge level, but why say that they get those benefits when they aren�t available!? I didn�t notice any difference in the room compared to the regular rooms except they got a free bottle of water and it was on a higher floor.

The room itself was larger than what I expected after reading reviews. The bed was really comfortable and the shower had a rain shower head which I love. The concierge was very helpful and the hotel was great about storing our luggage so we could tour around before going to the ship. The hotel was in a great location in the center of town and nice views of the water.

Our first day in Vancouver we just walked around the city. I had been there once before so I was sort of the tour guide for everyone. I was still impressed with how clean and well kept the city is. We had dinner at the Boathouse which was recommended by one of my father�s friends. It was ok, but I think we could have gone somewhere much better.

The next morning was had a great breakfast at a restaurant called Goodfellas about a block from our hotel. The prices were much better than the hotel and I�m pretty sure that the food was much better. The omelette was probably the best I ever had.

We then took the bus to Stanley Park and walked around there for a couple hours. The park is huge and there are lots of sites and great views to see. You could spend a couple days exploring it if you have the time! We then took the ferry over to Granville Island. We enjoyed the shops and the market (only opened on weekends).

Even though the hotel was only about a 10 minute walk from the cruise ship dock, we took two taxis because we had so much luggage. Unfortunately we got ripped off. The first taxi said that he charged extra for luggage, so we had to pay him about $15. Then we went to pay the second taxi and he only charged $5 for the same amount of people and about the same amount of luggage. We were too late to argue because the first taxi was out of there by the time we realized that. Just a reminder that before getting in a taxi to ask what the fare will be to the destination.

Embarkation: We were pleasantly surpised with embarkation. We got there at about 2:30, and there was hardly any line at all. I expected to be in line for an hour, but we got through security and the ticket agents and were on the ship in less than 15 minutes.

Rooms: We had three balcony rooms on the Baja Deck, midship but closer to the back than the front. My room was B610 and my sisters and parents were just down the hall in B614 and B616. I have been on two other cruises-one on a small cljpper ship (Star Clipper, oceanview cabin) and one on Royal Caribbean where we had an inside cabin. We were pleasantly surprised with the size of the room�much bigger than what I have had in the past. The bathroom was pretty standard with a small shower, but it was what I expected. We absolutely loved having the balcony and would recommend it, especially for an Alaskan cruise. It was so nice to walk right out of the room to see the fantastic scenery. Also, our balcony was completely covered and I liked that. The rooms direcly below us I believe were only half covered, and those two floors below were not covered at all. So we could look straight down and see them. I liked that it was covered because it was better when it was raining and it did feel a little more private (even though the people below us could look up and see us, I don�t think people from above would be able to look down and see us unless we were hanging over the balcony.) Actually, I think the balcony spoiled me and if I do go on another cruise I will want to have one wherever we go! All of our rooms were on the port side of the ship. I was worried about this at first because we thought we preferred to be on the starboard side (originally we were booked on the starboard side on another cruise, but we had to switch dates and when I did there were no preferred rooms available). This was a one way northbound cruise and I thought it would be better on the starboard side because we would be on the �land� side of the ship to see better scenery. But personally I think we saw the best scenery from the port side. On the days that we were actually close enough to land to see anything, there was land/islands on both sides of the ship. Also, when entering Glacier Bay and College Fjords the port side saw the glaciers first. The starboard side could see them on the way out after the boat turned around.

I should preface this with the fact that we live right outside of DC and have tons of wonderful restaurants available to us. I think the general population (including my parents and one sister who live in a small city) would think that the food was really good. I�m also a very picky eater.

We took our carry-on bags to our room and headed for the buffet since we had not had lunch. I�m not a big fan of lunch and dinner buffets in general. I do like breakfast buffets because I enjoy getting made to order omelettes. Lots of people seemed to like it, and they did have a really good variety. But I just didn�t think the quality of the food was that great.

For breakfast we always went to the buffet. They served it in the dining room, but the same items were available at the buffet. For some reason on this vacation we were always up early (even on ship days), so we never had a problem with lines. My sister said it was crowded a couple of times if you went around 8 or 9 on a ship day. Again I enjoyed the made to order omelettes. I also really liked the fruit (very fresh), and being able to just get a quick bowl of cereal.

My husband likes buffets since the food is unlimited and he can try lots of different things. So for days that we were on the ship for lunch he would usually go to the buffet and I would get pizza or a burger from the pool bar. The pizza was pretty good. The burgers were good, but nothing special, and I thought the fries were soggy.

We had dinner in the dining room every night but one when we went to a specialty restaurant. We really enjoyed our waiter, Butch. He was so funny! To me the food in the dining room was really hit and miss. Here�s what I liked: strawberry soup (it was an appetizer, but I think it should have been a dessert!), the bread, fruit plates, pheasant, breaded chicken, ice cream, black forest cake. What I didn�t like-filet mignon and grilled chicken (very tough and dry), most of the desserts, the Caesar salad (bad dressing). I can�t comment on the seafood since I�m not a big fan. But my family really enjoyed the snow crab legs and lobster.

On our last night we went to Sterling Steakhouse. I was worried that it would be the same as the filet in the dining room that I wasn�t impressed with. But luckily my steak was great. Not as good as Ruth�s Chris (my favorite), but very yummy. We also got a window seat which was great since we were on our way out from College Fjord and the scenery was still nice.

I was worried that I would get bored being on the ship for three sea days. But even thought we were quite lazy, we were never bored. We really enjoyed the first sea day from Vancouver on our way to Ketchikan. The scenery was beautiful and I spent a couple of hours on the balcony. We were really lazy that day, but were still tired after traveling and it was nice to relax before being in port the next day. We ate, went to the casino, played bingo, did trivia, and watched movies. We also enjoyed just walking around the ship and exploring. We enjoyed drinks at the bar as well. We were also lucky enough to see a couple whales this day!

On the second to last sea day we spent about 5 hours in Glacier Bay. I spent most of this time enjoying the view on the balcony, walked around the ship for other views and played some ping pong. This day we also went to the casino and my husband won $500 on a nickel slot machine! That was a nice little bonus!

On the last day we spent about 3 hours in College Fjord. Again, we spent most of this time on our balcony. We also did lots of walking, played bingo and trivia. We also enjoyed some drinks in the bar.

We never went dancing, even though we had planned to. We were always so tired after dinner that we would just crash. We did go to see the magician/comedian one night. It was just awful and we left after 10 minutes.

Ketchikan-We were in port from about 6:30 am to 2:00 pm. So we really just had time for one excursion. We went bear watching and it was phenomenal. We went through Southeast Aviation. We actually booked through Orca Enterprises, and I think there was a mix up. Southeast apparently didn�t have any info on our reservation! Luckily there was room for two more on the plane, so everything turned out fine. Not sure how the mix up happened. We took a float plane to Anan Creek. The views from the plane were beautiful. I think we were on the plane for 30-40 minutes. There were six people in our group. We landed and spoke with the ranger who gave us tips and told us what to do in case we encountered a bear on our way to the viewing platform. We then made our way for the 20 minute path/platform walk�on our own. That scared me a bit, because I really didn�t want to encounter a bear until we were at the platform and in view of a ranger. But it was fine. Actually a couple minutes before we made it to the platform a mother bear and two cubs crossed the path in front of us. When we made it to the platform, there were bears everywhere! It was a lot of fun watching them catch the salmon. We had to have seen 10-15 bears. All were black bears. Some even walked right by and under the platform. I had hoped to see some browns as well and we didn�t, but I was still overly satisfied with seeing that many black bears. We also saw some cubs later (not sure if they were the same ones we had seen earlier.) Aside from our group there were only about 4 other people there viewing while we were there. They only let 60 people in a day. The ranger said that they usually have about 30 of those people come at one time, so luckily we missed them! There was also a lower platform that you could sign up for the view even closer for 30 minutes at a time. This was great! Apparently the pilot gave us the wrong time that we had to be back at the plane, so they radio�d for us to make our way back, but we still had over two hours on the platform, so that was plenty. This was by far my favorite excursion that we did on the trip.

We got back into town around 12:30- 1 pm. We had to be back on the ship at 1:30, so unfortunately we really didn�t get to explore the town at all.

Juneau- We did two excursions here since we were in port from 8 am to 8 pm or so. The first was whale watching with Orca Enterprises. I was a little worried when one of the bus drivers was very crabby. It basically seemed very unorganized�we got on one bus then the crabby lady told us to get off and get on the other, but the other was full, so we got back on the original bus. Luckily, that�s not how the rest of the trip went. We were on their larger boat, Orca Odyssey with Captain Larry. This was great and exceeded my expectations. First we saw glaciers, then we saw seals, then we saw sea lions, then dolphins and finally there were the whales! We saw lots of humpbacks�at least 10 I would say. One of them even breached (unfortunately I didn�t catch it with my camera!). There was also one who really put on a show flapping his tale over and over�it was great and I was lucky to get some good shots.

We then had lunch at a restaurant called the Flying Fish (I think that�s the name). The food was pretty good and it was right by the port area.

Our second excursion was flightseeing over the glaciers. It was really nice, and we got to see about 4 different glaciers. We booked this one through the ship and it was about a 45 minute plane ride. But looking back, I wish I had done the helicopter with glacier landing. We didn�t because my husband was just over the weight limit and we didn�t want to buy two tickets for him. My sisters did do this excursion and said it was their favorite of the trip.

After this excursion we took the $12 roundtrip bus to Mendenhall glacier. We enjoyed the glacier, visitor center and walking around the various paths. We almost didn�t do this, but I�m very glad that we did.

Skagway- We got off the ship and saw a rainbow! We booked the rail and bus excursion through Chilkoot Charters. We were SO glad we chose this over the ship�s tour. We took the one and a half hour train ride that ended in Fraser. The train was nice, commentary interesting, and the scenery spectacular. We then boarded our minibus. There were only 14 people--two groups on the bus�our group of 6 and another group of 8. This was great compared to the ship�s large tour busses which packed the people on. We got to do a lot more scenic photo stops and were able to get on and off the bus really quickly. For instance at one photo stop, there was a ship bus there when we arrived, we got out to take pictures, got back on the bus and the ship�s bus was still there! Also, this was the only photo stop that I recall stopping at that we basically didn�t have the place to ourselves. We were not on the cruise bus schedule at all. Our tour guide was also great. He was very animated, gave lots of information and happily answered all of our questions. Here�s a list of where we stopped, though I know I�m forgetting some! Carcross Desert, Lake Bennett, Emerald Lake, Bridal Viel Falls, Carribou Crossing (had a barbeque chicken lunch which was just ok, pet sled dogs and husky puppies�so cute!, museum (didn�t like the taxidermy animals, but that�s just me!), went in the shops, and had overpriced ice cream), and another lake on which we went to the shore line. I know that there were more stops, I just can�t remember them all! I would definitely recommend this tour. The scenery in the Yukon is just fantastic. We also had a mostly sunny day which was a nice change. We were back in town at about 2:30.

We just walked around, did some last minute shopping and had drinks at the Red Onion. I thought Skagway was the cutest town of all that we visited.

Glacier Bay-just beautiful. The scenery was fantastic and it was amazing to see so many different glaciers. Marjorie was fantastic and we even saw some calving. I have to say though that while it was beautiful, it didn�t exactly meet what I had built it up to be. I thought that College Fjords was more breathtaking.

College Fjord�gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. The most beautiful place we saw on the trip! We even saw sea otters sitting on icebergs (though only through the binoculars, they look like little black specs in my pictures) We heard calving here, but were not lucky enough to see it.

We ended the cruise in Whittier where we met our �limo� van driver from Limousines of Alaska. It was basically a large van with a limo interior with a trailer on the back for our luggage. It was very comfortable. We had to leave from Anchorage at about 4 pm that day to fly home. We made stops at the Portage Glacier and visitor center. It was beautiful here and the reflection of the mountain and glacier in the lake was a great photo op. We stopped at the conservation center where we saw moose, bears, buffalo, carribou etc. We also stopped at Bird Point for pictures. We stopped at the Aleyska resort and had planned to go up the tram, but it was cloudy so I don�t think it would have been worth it. We walked around their shops and gardens and headed on towards Anchorage. We stopped to check out the salmon in the creek and had a very nice lunch at the Bridge restaurant nearby. We then headed on to the airport for our flight home.

We had a wonderful time and I would really like to go back one day and see more of Alaska!

No complaint other than the flight was full but what can you do about that! Booked using FF miles and had no problems

Booked on Priceline. Free shuttle to/from airport which we had no trouble getting going form and to airport. We pretty much just crashed after getting there late Sunday. Our room was nice, not smoky even though was smoking room. COMFY bed which was key for us tired travelers that night.

Great airline, gave us 2 meals, a pack w/ eye mask, socks, headphone, and earplugs. TVs in every seat, constantly came around with water/beverage cart. I just wish we had been in business or first class- that would have been wonderful!

Flight back was not quite as good, it was overnight and they didn�t come around with the water as much. Also not enough air circulation, temp was too warm, made it hard to sleep.

Fastest cruise check in ever. Much smaller ship than we have ever been on but we liked it. Not a ton to do at night but the first week we were exhausted os it didn�t matter! Rough seas and some rainy days but not the cruise line�s fault and even then once we got used to it was had a great time. Just learned to enjoy the sunny morning and nap when it rained! French Polynesia is GORGEOUS! The people are wonderful beautiful and so friendly. My fav islands were Bora Bora, Moorea, Raiatea, and Tahiti.

The food was really good in the dining room, Buffet was ok but I wouldn�t expect it to be spectacular. The Italian Restaurant was decent but took way too long. The Steakhouse was Fabulous, I wish we had eaten there twice! DH won some money in the casino so we also went to the art Auction and bought two pieces and won a third! It was different and fun to see lots of different styles and see what we liked together. Now we have some nice art that will always remind us of our honeymoon.

We booked two excursions through the ship, one was cancelled before we left. The other- Sport fishing in Huahine was a total bust. Miserable day out rough seas and we caught nothing. Luckily that was Day 2 so we had plenty more days to have good stuff happen!

We booked/did a bunch of excursions on our own: Parasailing, Jet Ski/ATV tour, /Ray& Shark Feeding/Motu Picnic/Jeep Tour, Snorkeling/Pearl & Vanilla Farm Visit. Plus we went to a coupel of beaches. Stopped at the infamous Bloody Mary�s I n Bora Bora- twice! We ate lunch there and hung out at the bar- Fun place to go, you must make reservation if you want to eat dinner there.

We stayed here Thursday night after the cruise. We got off the ship Thursday AM and were able to check into our OWB at 1130am! It was awesome. We had one out over the deeper water and it was huge. The hotel and grounds are stunning DH and I agreed we could easily spend 4-5 days just there. If we went back I would not do the OWB again b/c we have done it but if you are going you should do it for at least 1 night. The pools are amazing especially the sand bottom one. Swim up bar is cute and fun. The food was expensive but I didn�t think compared to eating at hotels in Boston or anywhere else it was that bad, lunch sandwiches about $12-$16 and dinner $22-$30. Fruity drinks were exp- $12 but beer was reasonable about $4-5. There was one restaurant that was $$$$$ but we did not eat there. Some people we knew that were there for 2 nights wlaked to a nearby (15min walk) store and bought snacks, wine, crossiants, etc for their room. If we went again I�d do that too.

We checked out of our room at 11 Friday and just hung out by the pool all day. Late afternoon we got a key to a transition room where we showered/changed and then our cab that they had reserved for us came to bring us to the airport =(

If you are going to French Polynesia I highly recommend Jan Prince�s �Tahiti� I paid about $17 for it and knowing that we could take Le truck (the local transportation) instead of a cab saved us $20 and the book paid for itself! Tons of great info in the book.