| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 19.1 | October 23, 1988 sailing! | PENUTS::SCHECOWICZ | | Tue Sep 13 1988 08:58 | 3 |
| The Boston Sunday Globe (9/11) had a great article on the Seaward.
I am also cruising the Seaward on October 23rd, maybe I'll see you
on board!
|
| 19.2 | Anxiously waiting... | CNTROL::MORIN | Don Morin | Tue Nov 01 1988 23:04 | 3 |
| My wife and I have booked a cruise on the Seaward for next May.
We anxiously await your comments on the cruise.
|
| 19.3 | M/S SEAWARD ADVENTURE | PENUTS::SCHECOWICZ | | Wed Nov 02 1988 08:22 | 51 |
| Well we're back from our trip aboard NCL's newest ship the M/S
SEAWARD. My first look at the ship was from our Eastern flight
from Boston. The planes route took us right over Miami harbor.
Once we got to the Port of Miami we could see how beautiful the ship
was. Also in the harbor at that time was Carnivale's Jubilee, the
Galileo, and RCCL's Song of America.
Our first suprise was that a couple who was booked with us was upgraded
to a cabin right next door to ours. As it turned out we were all
upgraded 7 categories!
Our first stop was NCL's Private Island in the Bahamas. (Great
Stirrup Cay). We snorkeled, and got involved in a volleyball
tournament. (Our team lost, and our knee's took a beating).
The next day we were at sea all day. This is where some people
in our group could feel the sea. It wasn't bad at all (I guess
I have my sea legs), they just could notice the ship moving.
Jamaica was our next stop, and after going into Ochos Rios for a
few minutes, we had enough and couldn't wait to get back to the
ship and feel safe again. It's BAD. The people were waiting in
droves outside the terminal to get at the passengers on the ships.
Thank god there was a chain link fence keeping them out.
Dunn's River Falls was nice, only I brought my pocketbook and couldn't
climb the falls. (The guide told me to leave it on the beach and
it would be safe, but I wouldn't leave my shoes on the beach let
alone my pocketbook.)
Next stop was Grand Caymen. This is a place we cannot wait to go
back. We took the Beach Club tour from the ship and it took us
to 7 mile beach. We rented floats, jet-skied and rode on this thing
called the banana boat! (a float that held 5 people and was towed
by a speed boat).
The next port was Cozumel. We did most of our shopping here. We
didn't buy anything in Jamaica, (we stopped at one "hut" in Jamaica
and my husband was getting jabbed in the side with a stick from
some lady.) Cozumel was alot of fun. After all our shopping was
done we went to Carlos n' Charlies for a few (too many) drinks.
They had a volleyball court in the bar so of course we had to play
another game!
The next day we rested! All day we were at sea heading back to
Miami. The shows were great, and the food was pretty good.
We heard the ship is going to change it route next year to Alaska
and Bermuda.
All in all we had a great time and it was worth every dime.
Jayne and Jon Etheridge
|
| 19.4 | Wheelchair accessibility? | PTEVAX::PICHE | | Fri Feb 17 1989 11:53 | 27 |
| I will cruising on the Seaward next week (Feb 26 - Mar 4). I would
like to know about the wheelchair accessibilty of the ship and of
the island excursions. I have booked one of the four handicapped rooms
that are available on the Seaward so apparently the ship was built
with the mobility impaired in mind. Some specific questions I have
are as follows:
Are all (most) areas of the ship (i.e., dining rooms, exercise room,
casino, decks) accessible to wheelchair by having ramps available?
Is the Men's room in the lobbies large enough for a wheelchair to
fit. More specific; is the door wider than 30 inches and is there
a handicapped stall inside?
Does the ship dock at all the islands so that I can wheel down a
gang plank to get to shore? Or, in some instances, will it require
going down stairs and being lowered into a boat to get to shore?
How accessible are the islands themselves? What about the tours?
Would I be better off hiring a taxi?
Please expand on the above question as much as you want. I am looking
for as much information from you cruisers as you can supply.
Thankyou
Guy
|
| 19.5 | RCCL # 1 | CNTROL::MORIN | Don Morin --- Hudson, Mass. | Wed May 31 1989 14:08 | 35 |
|
My wife and I just got back from our cruise aboard NCL's M/S Seaward,
May 14-21. It's their newest ship. We have been on one other cruise
together, RCCL's Song of America about a year and a half ago, when it
still sailed the eastern Caribbean, (San Juan, St. Thomas, etc.).
My wife also sailed on Carnival when she was single. We were both
quite disappointed with the Seaward. We couldn't believe how many
other people were upset with the food, service, cleanliness, lack of
punctuality, etc. on this ship as well. When we sailed RCCL they
were painting the ship, polishing the brass, swabbing the decks, etc.
every day. The Seaward is not even a year old yet, and it is already
rusting in several places on the exterior. I saw but one brass
railing get polished on our last day at sea, the rest were tarnished.
The windows were filthy; we couldn't see well out of the dining
room windows. The food was far superior on RCCL, both in quality
and selection. And our waiter was not very good, (he brought me
the wrong meal on 3 nights!)
Also, every single event held on the ship was late, some
as much as an hour. The ship was late into every port, and
all of our shore excursions were cut short. We were only allowed
to spend about 35 minutes at Tulum to see the Mayan ruins, instead
of the anticipated hour and a half, because we disembarked an hour
and a half late.
Perhaps we are unfairly comparing RCCL to NCL, because some people
did mention that the Norway was much better than the Seaward in
all the areas that I've mentioned. We both agree that our next
cruise will not be with NCL unless it is on the Norway. My wife even
preferred Carnival to this cruise.
P.S. I don't want to dampen your hopes for your Norway cruise.
As I stated above, a few passengers said everything about the
Norway was far superior to the Seaward. It's a shame because
the Seaward is such a beautiful ship.
|
| 19.6 | We thought the Seaward was great! | SHALOT::CREAMER | Hi, y'all! | Wed Jun 14 1989 16:47 | 38 |
|
My wife and I just returned from a week aboard the Seaward
(June 4-11). It was our first cruise on any of the NCL ships
and we had a GREAT time!! We thought that the ship, the crew,
the staff, etc. were all super...
Re: -1 -- From your report of your experience on board
the Seaward, it's hard for me to believe that we
were on the same ship. During the week, I saw
the stairway rails polished at least three times.
However, since they were polished early in the
morning, they had begun to tarnish again by 12 or
1 in the afternoon. All of the passengers with
whom I spoke seemed to be delighted with both the
ship and the crew. The tours that we took were
about what we expected - certainly not much different
from those that we have encountered on Cunard and
Carnival. I don't know what happened that week,
but the only major complaint that I heard during
our week concerned the conduct of some of the other
passengers (we had quite a few high school students
beginning their celebration of the summer).
The cruise was a 'Comedy Cruise'. The guest comedians were
Phyllis Diller, Jerry Van Dyke, Norm Crosby, Richard Geni(?),
and one_other_person_whos_name_escapes_me. The NBA guest was
Ben Coleman of the Philadelphia 76er's and the NFL resident
star was ??? of the Houston Oilers (one of the linebackers.
I missed his talk and I'm not much of an Oiler fan, so the
name didn't register.)
We had a terrific time, and will definitely consider NCL for
our next cruise.
Jack
|
| 19.7 | Sounds like a different ship | CNTROL::MORIN | Don Morin --- Hudson, Mass. | Wed Jun 21 1989 13:42 | 21 |
| re: -1
Yes, it certainly does sound as though you were on a different ship.
Our cruise director, Bruce Chaiffkin (sp?) told us that they review
the questionnaires the Tuesday that they are at sea after every
cruise. Perhaps with all the bad news they received from the numerous
unhappy people on our cruise, they decided to take some action.
I am curious, were you into port each day at the scheduled times? Or
were your shore excursions cut short due to the ship's late arrival?
How about the food. How did it compare to Cunard or Carnival?
I agree that the entertainment was good, although we didn't
have any big names like you did. Also, how punctual was the cruise
staff? Were events held on time? One of our biggest complaints
was the lateness of everything. I hope we just caught them on a
bad week. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. Has anyone else been
on the Seaward?
Don
|
| 19.8 | The Good, the Bad, and the Sun-burned | SHALOT::CREAMER | Hi, y'all! | Fri Jun 23 1989 11:39 | 49 |
|
Don -
In response to your questions:
� ...were you into port each day at the scheduled times?
We were about 45 minutes or so late getting into Cozumel. Otherwise,
we were always on time.
� ...were your shore excursions cut short due to the ship's late arrival?
None of the excursions that I know of were cut short. Since the ship
doesn't sail from Cozumel 'til 11 pm or so, I suspect that the decision
to cut a tour short was made by the tour operator, not by the ship's
personnel.
� ...about the food. How did it compare to Cunard or Carnival?
Certainly comparable to Cunard, far better than Carnival.
� Were events held on time?
Yes. I don't know of any that were late. One interesting thing was
the number of people that thought that shows were starting late because
they didn't begin after people were admitted to the lounge. That is,
after the stage was reset, the doors would open for the show about 45
minutes prior to show. There were a lot of passengers who would
stand in line waiting to get into the lounge, then enter, find a
seat, then begin wondering why the show had not begun... even tho' it
was still 30 minutes or so before the scheduled start time listed in
the ship's news.
One reason that we selected NCL was their reputation for running a
good cruise. Everyone with whom we talked prior to the cruise had
nothing but compliments for NCL. From the way it sounds, Don, you
must have had the opportunity to experience the worst of times and
I'm sorry that you didn't have the pleasant experience that we had.
I guess it just goes to show ya that even on the same ship, there
are good cruises and bad cruises.
Jack
|
| 19.9 | C'est la vie. | CNTROL::MORIN | Don Morin --- Hudson, Mass. | Sat Jun 24 1989 09:07 | 19 |
| re: -.1
Yes, it was the tour guide's decision to cut the tour short, but
only because the the tours are run on a set schedule. They had other
tours to give later in the afternoon. The ship was supposed to have us
at the tour guide bus at a certain time for the tour to begin, but
we got there about an hour late, (on Playa del Carmen.) Sounds
like the people who took tours in Mexico got the same deal on your
cruise also.
I'm surprised to hear that everything started on time on your cruise,
because they were so horrendous on ours. For one sports talk the
cruise staff interviewer showed up 20 minutes late, and for one bingo
session they didn't even get the bingo equipment to the lounge until
15 minutes late. They had to rush through it to clear the place
for one of the evening shows.
But like you said, I guess they have good and bad weeks. We just
got unlucky.
|
| 19.10 | Trip report | POCUS::LONDON | | Wed Jan 02 1991 17:28 | 33 |
| My girlfriend and I have just returned from our trip on the Seaward.
We had a great time. Ports of call were: Ochio Rios, Grand Cayman,
Pleasure Island, and Cozumel (Playa De Carmen). In Ochio Rios we
climbed the Waterfalls. That was an experience. In all other ports we
snorkeled. However, we did not go with the Dive-in program. There was
a Singlesworld tour group on board which was offering the same dives
for a lot less. In some cases they were even better.
A must in Cozumel is a place called Carlos and Charlies. It's a
bar..., restaurant..., dancing..., and on the whole, a nutty place to
be. Anything goes type of place and packed to the hilt. It's a shame
we had to leave by 11:30, because everyone was having such a great
time.
On our cruise we met Rene Gonzalez, who plays for the Baltimore
Orioles. The staff was super. Very friendly and always ready to help
you. The shows and food were about average. Although I think the food
and service on the Skyward was much better. Could be because it was a
much smaller ship, but the Seaward is a beauty. Our room was very
comfortable, TV and all.
The only problem we really had was our Cabin Steward was always very
eager to make up our room. Come 8:00 a.m., he would be knocking on our
door to find out how much longer we would be so he could make up our
room. This got a little annoying because after closing Boomers Disco
the last thing we wanted was to be ready to go at 8:00 a.m.
But all in all we had a fantastic time.
We're ready for this year's cruise already.
Doreen
|
| 19.11 | in Acupulco also | PARVAX::SCHUSTAK | | Mon Jan 07 1991 12:40 | 11 |
| Carlos 'n Charlies IS wild. On our first trip there (on the Skyward)
we stayed 'til about 2:00 in the AM, with a loud & rowdy crowd. There
was a group of 6 of us, and another 100 or so from the Skyward there.
After doing my share of consuming 6oz Corona's and tequila, and buying
rounds for tables around us for 3 hours, and some food, the tab came to
the equivelant of $18. If you like loud rock n roll and and loud &
friendly crowds, this is the place.
PS we had to go back in the am to get a lost jacket (which we found),
and you really don't want to see the place in the light of day before
the clean it up
|
| 19.12 | Cruising Seaward during April | AKOCOA::SPOLSINO | Mike Spolsino AKO1-3/M4 | Thu Mar 14 1991 15:39 | 14 |
| Has anyone cruised on the Seaward or other NCL ship during the April
school break. We have a discount voucher for NCL lines (got it for
buying a CD at a desparate bank) that must be used before June 1992. We
were thinking of booking on the Seaward for the April 92 break. We'll
be taking two teenagers 16 and 18 with us and were wondering what we
might expect the passenger age groups to be at that time. Everyone has
a better cruise when there are other passengers in your age group. I'm
sure our 18 year old will enjoy singles events if the other singles
are somewhere under 30.
We have been on the Norway and Carnival's Holiday and Jubilee, all
during the summer cruise season and have these ships for point of
reference regarding food,entertainment ports of call etc.
Thanks
|
| 19.13 | Questions about Seaward | ENOVAX::MCGRORY | | Mon Mar 18 1991 07:57 | 24 |
| Anyone ever curise the Seaward in NOV? We are booked on the Seaward for
Thanksgiving week 1991. I was wondering what to expect for weather and
other passengers. I will be going with my husband, son of 14 and Mother
of 65. Hoping that since it is a "family" kind of holiday that there
will be young folks for my son and "Young" senior citizens for my Mom
to socialize with.
I have only been on the Norway. What reality shocks am I in for,
things that are different between the two (Norway and Seaward) due to
size and age of ship, different itenerary or any other area?
Just how CRAMPED are the rooms for 4? Has anyone ever been in one on
the Seaward?
Any helpful hints regarding our port of calls Cuzemol, Playa del
Carmen, Ocho Rio, and Grand Caymen?
Well, now that we have decided to "DO IT", the excitement has set in.
Well, I better get back to work so I can pay for this trip.
S E A W A R D B O U N D ! ! ! ! !
Amy
|
| 19.14 | Info needed on SEAWARD | MVCAD3::CERRONE | | Wed Mar 20 1991 12:34 | 10 |
|
Any info on the Promenade Deck? Is it noisy? For instance, do you
get joggers running by your room at 6 a.m., waking you up?
Also, can anyone give me an idea of what kind of shore excursions are
offered for the different ports of call on the Western Carribean
cruise...what was the quality and expense like (for excursions)?
Thanks,
Judy
|
| 19.15 | Onboard the Seaward NOV Too! | GRANPA::KSHIELDS | | Thu Mar 21 1991 09:35 | 35 |
| Amy - My family and I will be sailing the Seaward on Thankgiving too
along with some friends of ours. As a matter of fact the other
friend is a DEC employee too. She also reads VAX notes so I'll bet you
will hear from her also. I printed out a copy of your note and took
it home with me - I must say my 13 year old daughter was real excited
to know that at least there would be someone else her age on board.
Last Easter we sailed on the Norway and she made lots of great friends
that she still continues to correspond with. I had trouble convincing
both my daughter and son (11) that the Seaward would be just as great
as the Norway. My husband is a cruise-only agent so we get lots of
info and if you want give me a call on DTN 336-4759 and we can chat.
I can tell you that my friend sailed on the Seaward about two weeks
ago and absolutely loved it. She also was a "Die hard" Norway fan
but actually came back prefering the Seaward. She found the cabins
much smaller on the Seaward than the Norway but that is to be expcted
since the newer ships tend to smaller accomodations. What she found
was that since the Seward was smaller everyone seemed friendlier and
more eager to please. I don't know how long ago you sailed on the
Norway but there was a youth counselor named "Peggy" who was my
daughter's favorite and she has transfered to the Seward and told
my friend she prefers it! Thats a good sign!! We have booked
another friend who leaves on the Seward this Saturday so I will
get her opinion also and let you know. Give me a call!
Rep to Cerrone - I have copies of the shore excursions offerings
with all the prices. The Seaward offers some great tours in
Playa De Carmen (Tulum ruins) and Xel-Al (which my friend raved
over), Jamaica - Dunns River Falls, and pretty much the standard
"island tours" and "rum punch party boat" tours in Grand Cayman.
They also offer golf tour in each port if your a fan. Give me
a call and I can mail you out a copy of the "Tours AShore" package.
I can also send you a copy of the "Cruise Highlights" which details
all the activities, entertainment, etc. on board the "SEAWARD".
|
| 19.16 | Where's the ocean? | RANIER::OVERTON | Kick It! | Thu Mar 21 1991 12:34 | 63 |
| re: 14
I was on the Seaward last July to the Western Caribbean. Our
cabin was on the Promenade Deck (Sports Deck), but you wouldn't have
known it. We had an outside cabin and it was shocking to wake up, open
the curtains, and see people running by. It was so quiet, you didn't
even know they were there.
I must say that it's a beautiful ship and it was great for my first
cruise. But, based on comments from my companions, I guess it doesn't
compare to the "fun ships" for entertainment and food.
IMO the entertainment was okay. They had a variety of shows, but you
had to get there early for a seat. They definitely needed something
for the children and teens, because they just ran and ran through the
ship and the casino. I was dissappointed that they did not have a
movie theatre. The TVs in the cabin showed the same movies over and
over, usually late at night or at dinner time.
Watch the food. For the most part it was good. I enjoyed trying new
dishes like Russian eggs. But, my first night I ordered the Cornish
Hen and it wasn't done. And because they don't have microwaves, I had
to wait while they continued cooking the bird in the oven. By that
time everyone at the table was done eating.
Continuing on food. I had a problem with the mealtimes. While they
said that all your meals are included, that assumes that you will make
it to the dining rooms at the specified times. Breakfast ended at
9:00. Now I had a problem with this, since we were up until 3:00 the
night before. When you don't finish dinner until 10:30 (we had late
seating), you don't go right to bed! Usually, there was quite a line
at 9:00, all the late risers running to catch a meal, before they
locked the doors. Note, this was not the fancy dining room, but the
buffet. The late seating in the dining room ended at 8:00. By the end
of the cruise, the ship was out of fruit, orange juice, and other
things I can't remember. It was dissappointing.
Last on the food - the midnight buffet. There is lots of promotion
about the midnight buffet and it's worth it. The only problems were
with how it was managed. We were told that people with cameras would
be allowed in early to take pictures only. This seemed reasonable, but
wasn't. The crowd was totally out of control. People would take
pictures and were told to go to the end of the line for dinner. Well,
that meant that eventually the line was mixed up, both eaters and
photographers. The eaters would not allow the photographers to go
ahead of them to take pictures, oh it was nasty! And of course there
was no one from the cruiseline around to straighten things out. So, at
midnight, they opened the doors to a stampede -- people clawing at the
creations and people rushing to take pictures before it was destroyed.
A bad view of humanity.
On the bright side, the excursions were fun and a change of pace. I
also enjoyed the jewelry sales. Of all the ports, I liked Grand Cayman
and Cozomel the best. Grand Caymen because it was so clean. It was
refreshing to be able to walk along the streets without being pressured
to buy something as in Jamaica. Cozomel was the best place to shop. I
just couldn't carry it all. Imagine, onyx chess sets for less than
$20! I saw a beautiful onyx fireplace mantel for under $3000. Ah, but
how to get it home.
I could go on and on about the pluses and minuses of the cruise, but
send mail if you want to know more. This year I'm off to the Eastern
Caribbean on the Festivale.
|
| 19.17 | Trip report | ALLVAX::ABBERTON | | Mon Dec 21 1992 16:35 | 82 |
| Hi,
I just got back from my first cruise and it was on the Seaward. Had a
great time. I'm more relaxed, tanner and fatter than when I left!
I was originally booked on the Norway, but that huge snowstorm that we
got on the 11-12th changed those plans. With Logan closed till Saturday
(and our boat sailing at 4:00 on Saturday out of Miami) we had a change
in plans. The Seaward had openings and it sailed on Sunday, so we were
switched over to the MS Seaward. We had a great time. Our tablemates
were extremely compatible and we frequently travelled in a pack (and
made up our own Olympics team for Saturday)
Our busboy was great (wilder than the waiter) and he arranged a tour
for us at Ocho Rios which was much less per person than the ship tour
and we got to stop where we wanted and spend the amount of time that we
wanted. Tulum(Mayan Ruins) and Xel-Ha(snorkling in fresh/sea water) were
wonderful (Cozumel stop).
Another vote for Carlos -n- Charlies! Sangria Shooters
Even though some of the following notes are old, I thought I'd respond
anyway...
>>>Are all (most) areas of the ship (i.e., dining rooms, exercise room,
>>>casino, decks) accessible to wheelchair by having ramps available?
Hmmm...I'm not sure...the dining rooms and lounges there would be no
problem. I'm not sure about the exercise room and the deck, there were
some places where there were little lips (presumably to keep out water
from the outside) in the doors. There may have some designated doorways
that were accessible however.
>>>Does the ship dock at all the islands so that I can wheel down a
>>>gang plank to get to shore? Or, in some instances, will it require
>>>going down stairs and being lowered into a boat to get to shore?
There are tenders at Pleasure Island and Grand Cayman. Ocho Rios and
Cozumel were were docked at the pier.
I did notice several people in wheelchairs on the cruise. I didn't
really go on many tours, so I'm not much help there.
>>I am curious, were you into port each day at the scheduled times?
We were into port at all the scheduled times. I don't remember anything
starting late (shows, events,tours ), in fact I was impressed by the
logistics of handling some many people. Maybe they have gotten better
over time.
>The only problem we really had was our Cabin Steward was always very
>eager to make up our room. Come 8:00 a.m., he would be knocking on our
>door to find out how much longer we would be so he could make up our room.
We didn't experiance any problems of this sort with our Steward, one of
the people at our table said that their steward was a little obnoxious
on the last day.
>>>What was the quality and expense like (for excursions)?
They ranged from $20 - $265 per person. (the real expensive ones were
for helicopter, plane or diver sub excursions). In Ocho Rios we got
our tour guide (van for 10 of us, it ended up being $15 per person,
much cheaper than any ship tour). In Cozumel we took the
excursion to Tulum and Xel-ha ($50 pp) We couldn't have done this on
our own, because they were only letting people off in Playa del Carma
(Mexico mainland) that were on tours. The ship then went onto Cozumel
(we caught a tender over as the last leg of the tour).
We participated in the Dive-in program $50 for equipment for the week
and marine tours at Pleasure Island, Grand Caymen and Cozumel. If you
have your own equipment you can just join in the marine tours or go
on your own. Beware though, part of our equipment was the floater vests
and you could join in the marine tours only if you were wearing a vest,
so if you don't own beforehand you would end up having to rent one.
Had a great time, did a lot of shopping in Cozumel (my passion is
Mexican wool rugs/hangings)
Highly recommeded!
Deb
|
| 19.18 | Updated information, anyone? | MCIS3::WHIPPLE | | Thu Jun 10 1993 20:23 | 39 |
| CAUTION - New noter here!
I've been a "read only" NOTES participant for a few years now, but just
recently added this conference. Please forgive any protocol errors!
No one has given any news about the Seaward for several months, so some
of my questions were answered when the ship was new - but I wondered if
much has changed. My husband and I just booked her for the Western
Caribbean cruise, departing November 14.
How big (or small) is this ship? How many passengers, typical ages and
type, etc?
One early report (Don Morin's?) was pretty negative, most of the others
were positive. What can we expect now?
When we booked the cruise earlier this week, we were offered 2 levels
of upgrade for the originally quoted price, to a Category 6 on the
Promenade Deck. After reading some of the notes about this ship and
others, it sounded like we'd be able to look out at the lovely view of
joggers - and vice versa, so I called back today to try to get
something that only looked out on water. We're now on the Main Deck.
Did I just make a big mistake? (First room was # 6214, this one is #
4029. Anyone know what we can expect?)
I also gather from reading these notes that since we're booking 5
months in advance, our chances of having our cabin upgraded several
categories are pretty good. If offered, what do I take and what do I
reject?
We've cruised once before - the COE cruise on the Royal Viking Star in
late February 1989. How does the Seaward compare to the RV Star in
terms of amenities, size, etc? (Since that was a Digital-only cruise,
I know we can't compare types of passengers and probably entertainment,
but if anyone knows, please fill me in!)
Any information or insight would be appreciated.....thanks!
Marian
|