Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    Thanks for entering that report! I'm REAL close to booking passage for
    a Holiday cruise this coming December (either 12/16 or 12/27) on the
    new RCCL Legend of the Seas. Shorter than your trip (10 or 11 days) but
    similar itineraries. I really did (and to a lesseer extent, still do)
    wonder what X-MAS at sea/in the tropics will be like.
    
    Any other families (we're 2 adults, 2 kids [by then, 11 and 14 yrs])
    considering a holiday cruise? Perhaps Cruises of Distinction will do
    even better than they usually do (yes, they DO discount holiday
    cruises). Catalog prices are in the $2.5-3.5k per adult, $1k per
    3rd/4th, and I believe/hope to do 20%-30% better on the adult fares,
    bringing the net to the $5-6k range for the four of us.
    
    SteveS

    Hi Steve,

    I have a brochere on RCCL's Legend of the Seas and it sounds 
    spectacular.  My husband and I really like RCCL.  Because our
    cruise was such a long one, it attracted older people so we
    only saw a few families on the Island Princess.  
    They had some special Christmas activities just for the children
    and they seemed to be having a good time.  I'm sure a ship as large 
    as Legend of the Seas will offer a lot of activites for both children 
    and adults.  Christmas on a ship is definitely different than our
    Christmas's in Maine!  It was a strange feeling to be having your
    picture taken on Christmas eve standing in between a palm tree and
    a Christmas tree.  We loved it and would do it again in a minute!
    
    We usually ignore the catalog prices of any cruise because we've
    never paid anywhere near what is listed and you're right there is 
    always discounts and special offers to be had if you have a good 
    travel/cruise agent (or you do your homework).  I hope you and your
    family have a wonderful time.

    Patty     
    

    We actually took our first cruise over New Years Eve. Maybe the
    difference between New Years and Christmas is more significant, it
    was the line, or it was the crowd, but we sure didn't find it full
    of peace and restfullness. At the time we took that cruise, sigh, we
    were still pretty young and pretty much up for a party ourselves
    but finding the hallways covered with torn down decorations and
    thrown up champange didn't help make the New Year come in. It was
    the Carnival New Orleans (which I don't think is in service anymore
    and if it is, its doing 3 and 4 dayers between Florida and the
    Bahamas). The rambunckous crowd were kids probably all under 21, and
    I'll have to admit even though we've now cruised >= 25 cruises, we've
    never tried Carnival since then. Not denigrated Carnival; just trying
    to say that at least the fun boats may not be so fun through the
    holidays.

<    but finding the hallways covered with torn down decorations and
<    thrown up champange didn't help make the New Year come in. It was
<    the Carnival New Orleans (which I don't think is in service anymore
<    and if it is, its doing 3 and 4 dayers between Florida and the
<    Bahamas). The rambunckous crowd were kids probably all under 21, and


   I have a friend who took a 7 day Carnival Cruise from LA to ports in Mexico
and back in early July a couple years ago.  He had the same experience and has
vowed to NEVER sail Carnival again.  It was a boatload of kids just out of 
school for the summer, many without supervision of any kind running the halls
and not holding their liquor, literally.

   I'm scheduled for a trip on Carnival's Tropicale in about 6 weeks and do
not anticipate a similar experience as the kids are still in school. We'll see.

Al

    We're leaving the end of Feb. for a 10 day cruise through the Canal
    going the other direction on the Holland America Maarsdam.  I'm really
    looking forward to it, especially after reading your note!
    
    Sue

    re: 512.3

    I would "never" take a Carnival cruise.   There really is a difference
    in cruise lines...

    re: 512.5

    I want to try a Holland America cruise soon.  I have heard from people
    with similar tastes, that it is a great cruise line.  I hope you enjoy
    it and the Panama Canal!  Have you seen the video Holland America put
    out on the Panama Canal?  Please post a trip report when you return.
    I would enjoy your thoughts on both the Canal and Holland America.

    Patty

    I'm sure you guys will love HAL. They really are a great line and
    deserve all the "best in the west stuff" that Conde Nast keeps heaping
    on them. Much to late to warn you now and perhaps it just won't bother
    you but on a transcanal, coming west to east, you cross 5 time-zones.
    If you are a disco type as we were when we did this, by the 5th evening,
    we got one hour of sleep. I'm sure you can all keep up but my
    recommendation if the itinerary were possible, is to sail it the other
    way so you can sleep in an hour later every day.

    Wow, we never even thought of that problem!  We just thought that we'd
    be happier ending our trip in the States, and not having to deal with
    the longer trip home.  Oh well, we're very good at sleeping at all
    times of the day, so we should do okay.

I wish I was an Internet surfer before I booked my trip with Carnival.  This
is my first internet experience, and my first cruise experience.  My wife
and I are scheduled to cruise the Eastern Caribean fro 2/18 - 2/25 on the
CELEBRATION!  I hope there's nothing in a name!  I would like to hear from
people who have had positive experiences.  We be jammin man! Steve
[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

��<<< Note 512.10 by NETRIX::"birdie::maloney       [email protected]" "Steve Maloney" >>>
��                              -< Carnival Cruise >-

��I wish I was an Internet surfer before I booked my trip with Carnival.  This
��is my first internet experience, and my first cruise experience.  My wife
��and I are scheduled to cruise the Eastern Caribean fro 2/18 - 2/25 on the
��CELEBRATION!  I hope there's nothing in a name!  I would like to hear from
��people who have had positive experiences.  We be jammin man! Steve
��[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

    I wouldn't worry about what other folks say.  I think
    cruising is one of the most subjective experiences there is.
    You may love the Celebration, while the next noter may hate
    it.

    I really like Princess, but I've heard lots of folks say the
    food isn't very good.

    You couldn't pay me to go back on Royal Carribbean, but there
    are lots of folks in this conference who like it.

    There is a guy on the internet (in rec.travel.cruises) who is
    constantly recommending Celebrity Zenith/Horizon.  He says
    he's been on 17 cruises, and it's the best.  I went on the
    Zenith, and didn't like it as much as Princess.

    There is currently a discussion on rec.travel.cruises about
    the Soverign of the Seas adding a stop at a second private
    island.  Half of the people hate the private island, and
    half think adding a second one is great.

RE Carnival - I, my S.O., his parents, and his sister and brother-in-law
and their 2-1/2 year old son went on a 4-night/3-day cruise to the Bahamas
on the Carnival Fantasy over this past Christmas (in fact, it left on
Christmas Day).  We had a very nice time.  I don't know whether the ship
was full (we did get upgraded to outside cabins, which was great), but it
never felt REALLY crowded.  I was surprised at that, actually.

The ship seemed in good shape (it's 4-5 years old, I guess), the food was
decent, the service was good.  We had no real complaints.  Actually, I had
two complaints that I noted on their comment card: (1) the public areas were
too cold! (too much air conditioning), and (2) beause it was Christmas, they
played "It's a Wonderful Life" CONTINUOUSLY on one of the two TV channels on
which they show movies.  Now, I like that movie, but 24 hours a day for 3-4
days??? At least if they'd printed a schedule, we could've caught it at the
beginning at least once.

I had some qualms about taking a Carnival cruise, but it turned out to be a
nice trip.  Now, a New Year's cruise may be a different story... :-)

-- Nina