Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    
    I can't (yet) speak for RCL.  But I can speak for RCCL.  My wife
    and I had the same idea for our honneymoon.  We took a curise
    to Bermuda on RCCL's Nordic Prience.  We where hooked on cruising
    from then on.  My wife used to HATE anything with more watter then
    a bathtub, but after our experiance with RCCL she's all set for
    another cruise.  Both NCL and RCCL are exceilent cruise lines.
    you realy can go wrong with either one.  I'm just biased to RCCL,
    RCCL got us started on cruising and we had an outstanding time.
    
    Good luck 
    
    George C.
    

    WE WENT ON THIS CRUISE IN JULY. TOOK THE STARWARD AND LOVED IT.
    THIS WAS OUR FIRST CRUISE . THE CREW WAS GREAT AND THE SHIP WAS
    WELL MAINTAINED. WENT INTO PORT SEVERAL TIMES WITH THE SONG OF NORWAY.
    I BELIEVE THE S.O.N. IS QUITE A BIT LARGER.
    SAVE LOTS OF MONEY FOR SHOPPING IN ST. MARTEEN AND ST. THOMAS.

Hi Joanne,

My wife and I are doing the Starward on the 27th of May.  If this is the curise
you have picked let be know.  Perhaps we could connect and Start a DECies club
on the ship. 

This will be our first curise and we are very excited. 

Steve

    Hi Steve,
    
    We chose the Song of Norway.  It too departs on May 27 out of San Juan. 
    Where does the Starward sail out of?   We decided to take a cruise for 
    our honeymoon while we still had some money left.
    
    Have a wonderful time!
    
    Joanne

The Starward departs out of San Juan at 10PM on the 27th. So I guess we cant 
get together for a drink.  Unless of course we can link up on San Juan or
one of the other Islands.  I can type in an itinerar Monday (I'm going Sking
tomorrow).

Steve 

    Steve,
    
    We leave at 10:00 p.m. too!  Have you received your tickets yet?  From
    what my travel agent says, we leave early Sunday morning. I guess Royal
    Caribbean doesn't mail the tickets out until a month prior to
    departure.  We're getting married on May 26 - an early morning flight
    is not something we're looking forward to, but at least we can sleep on
    the plane and crash by the pool that afternoon.  I don't have the exact
    itinerary with me either but I know we go to Barbados, Antigua, St.
    Marteen, St Martinique, and St. Thomas.  I'd love to get together for a
    drink.  I'll also send the itinerary to you on Monday.  
    
    Have fun skiing - if you going to Maine I heard Sunday River has free
    skiing this Saturday!
    
    Joanne

Joanne,

The two ships apparently are doing the same tour.  I forgot to bring in the
exact day and time of each Island but I will remember tomorrow.

We didn't make it to Maine for sking but we did make it to Arapahoe Basin in
Colorado.  We live in Colorado Springs.  Snowed all day. Sking was great!

Steve

    Steve,
    
    I forgot to bring in the itinerary also.  I've never skied in Colorado,
    but would love to someday.  
    
    Can anyone give suggestions on the attire for the cruise?  Do I need to
    purchase a formal gown for the Captin's dinner?  What about the other  
    nights, will casual cotten dresses do?  
    
    Also, can you sandwiches be prepared that morning if you're planning
    on spending the whole day on an island and would prefer not to come
    back to the ship for lunch?
    
    Joanne

Joanne

Well here is the travel guides Itinerary for the Starward:

DAY	PORT		ARRIVE	 DEPART
Sun.	San Juan	 ----    10:00 PM
Mon.	At Sea		 ----	  ----
Tues.	Barbados	 9:00 AM  6:00 PM
Wed.	Martinique	 9:00 AM  5:00 PM
Thur.	St. Maarten	 8:00 AM  6:00 PM
Fri.	Antigua		 8:00 AM  5:00 PM
Sat.	St. Thomas	 8:00 AM  6:00 PM
Sun	San Juan	 8:00 AM  ----

Steve

Well,  my wife and I are only 16 days away from our cruise on the Starward.  I 
have seen in other notes that if you sign up for land tours on the ship you
will find it more expensive than finding a tour or activity on shore yourself.

Could I get some input and advise from all you experienced folks out there on 
the following Islands:

	San Juan  -- can't do much here.  Our air arrival time in San Juan
		      is 6:30 P.M. and the ship sails at 10 PM.
	Barbados
	Martinique	
	St. Maarten	 
	Antigua		 
	St. Thomas	


Thanks  

Steve Who_is_getting_very_excited

    As a first cut, there will be a million taxis dockside at every port.
    Find someone who can speak English, figure out what you'd like to do,
    (the cruise director's talks will help here) and ask how much. Chances
    are very good they will offer more for less than anything available
    from the organized things. One caution. If you want to go somewhere,
    be dropped off, e.g., snorkling, make arrangements to have them pick
    you up and don't pay until you get back to the ship.
    

    In St. Maarten, for $8.00 per person they will take you on a tour,
    drop you off at the beach, and pick you up again and bring you to
    the ship.  We have done this twice. 
    
    Have fun.
    
    Doreen

   >> In St. Maarten, for $8.00 per person THEY will take you on a tour,
   >>drop you off at the beach, and pick you up again and bring you to
   >> the ship.  We have done this twice. 
  

	Could you tell be who "They" are?

	Thanks

	Steve

    They are cabs waiting outside.  As soon as you set foot on the main
    path you will be bombarded by cabbies who will do this.  $8.00 seemed
    to be the standard price.   Actually, they are vans who hold 8
    passengers.  So if you are a group you can usually negotiate a price.
    They are very prompt with their pick-up also.
    
    Doreen

Well the cruise is over and we had a great though exausting time.  By the time
we hit St Thomas I was dragging.  I think that 5 islands are too many.  I would
have liked more at sea time.  

I have to say that the Starward and her crew were outstanding.  The food was
outstanding the friendliness of the crew was outstanding and the ship was in
excellent condition.  

Sunday in the San Juan airport we sat with people who were aboard the Song of
Norway and the Festival.  The Song of Norway folks have been on a number of
different cruises with other lines and they say that those lines owned by
Norwegians are the best.  I have no complaints.  The Festival folks said it
was one non-stop party and they got little sleep.

We hope to do it again as soon as possible but we will do fewer islands.

Just a few comments on the Islands and the tours.

Barbados -- Nice island the people were very friendly and willing to give you
information.  It was very hot there and we cooked ourselves at Paridise Beach.
The locals on the beach will try to sell you a peice of Aloe Vera which according
to another local was riped off from someones yard.

Martinique -- we looked around a little but weren't impressed.  We did the 
Dive-In snorkle tour here and it was great.  I took some underwater photos
and I hope they turn out.

St Maarten -- Great time shopping.  We liked it better than St. Thomas.

Antigua -- Dirty little twon.  People are real friendly.  We took the Jolly
Roger tour it was a waste of money.

St. Thomas -- Bought all our booze here.  Shops weren't willing to dicker.
We did the Coral World tour and it was good.  They have a building that you
walk down in and you are under water.  There a observation windows all around
and the sea life dis spectacular.  I would rather snorkle though.

Steve

    I just saw an RCCL brochure for 1991, and saw an itinerary that has me
    thinking...but I need some help from some SONG OF NORWAY veterans out
    there.
    
    It looks like RCCL is offering a 14 day tran-canal cruise from San Juan
    to LA, with stops in Curacau, Costa Rica, Acapulco along with 1 or 2
    other micor ports...6 days of ports, 8 days at sea.  Cost (assuming
    "standard" and/or recession discounts of ~15% looks like ~2100 per
    adult, with my 2 kids at $795 each.  Net then is a 2 week transcanal
    cruise for ~5800.  Questions-
    
    	1. ANY comments on Song of Norway, particularly for adults with
    		Kids along are welcome
    
    	2. Cabin sizes, ie if we want 4 in a cabin we can choose a
    	    "standard" outside or "larger" inside, but there are no larger
    	    outsides that have 2 upper berths for the two young ones.
    
    Has anyone ever gone in a suite, or junior suite class and added a cot
    for a 4th?  As much as I'd like a porthole/window, I have real concern
    that 2 weeks with 4 kids in the "standard" might dampen even my
    enthusiasm for vacationing on the high seas.  Opinions/comments?????
    
    Steve
    
    PS...I think this is a 4/7/91 departure

    I hate to repeat the old cliche but other than sleeping (when
    presumably it doesn't matter what the stateroom is like), how
    much time do you plan to spend in your cabin?
    

Hi,

We had 3 adults (well, 24 yrs old) in a standard inside cabin on
this ship a couple years ago.  We had no problem with room.  We
were able to keep our suitcases and all our souvenirs in the room
with us.  Checking bags would be an option if you needed more space.
The room got a little messy each morning after showering and
getting dressed, but the stewards did a great job at cleaning
up after us.  I don't think you'll have a problem.


Sharon