Hawaii Cruise on Summit

Reviews submitted by member:

On May 11, I left for Honolulu from Milwaukee via St. Louis on American Airlines - I ended up on a TWA plane which did not have the extra legroom in coach like American has. I arrived in Honolulu about 4:00pm (9:00pm at home) to find it was raining...this was to be a theme for most of my time in the islands. Took a taxi to my hotel in Waikiki where I met up with some friends. We walked down the street to a small local restraunt where we had a light supper - and our little group ran into some more friends....we did a little shopping then headed back to the hotel to crash for the night.

Sunday was spent driving around Oahu - we went up past Diamond Head up the coast to the North shore where we stopped at Sunset Beach and the Bonzai pipeline - the waves were not to spectacular that day, and it was starting to drizzle a little. We then drove down through the center of the island back to Honolulu and Waikiki. That night we went to the Hale Koa (a couple of friends were staying there) for their Sunday night buffet (which just happened to be on Mother's Day). After dinner we walked over to the Hilton Hawaiian Village where we surprised a couple of people - they had been planning this cruise for over 9 months and we had all said there was no way we could make it, but we decided about 6 months out to book the cruise and try to surprise them...and we sure did! As we were walking back to our respective hotels that night we got caught in a downpour....not a quick tropical shower, but this rain lasted all that night and til about noon on Monday.

Monday was the day we boarded the Summit - we got to the pier around 11:00AM - we had to wait in line til about 11:30 to be let into the building to begin checking in.....i can truly say my friends, April and her mom CeeCee, Doug, John, Pat and Don were within the first 30 people in line - we went through the check in process and were on board by 11:45am. April, CeeCee and I went to check out our cabin - we had a cat 1A (9154) on Sky Deck - it was the last cabin on the starboard side before the aft cabins. We were pleasantly surprised with the cabin - 191 sq feet - it had a king size bed and a double bed that pulled out from the sofa bed. There was ample closet space; two of the closets you were able to hang your clothes and store some stuff on the bottom of the closet. The third closet had shelfs and drawers in it - 6 pull out drawers, and three shelves - one of the shelves held the safe - you could operate the safe either by putting in a code or using a card with a magnetic stripe. Three bathrobes and three beach towels were in the cabin when we arrived along with two flower arrangements sent to us by some friends.

I guess now would be a good time to talk about food and dining options on the Summit. There were 15 in our little group within the larger group - two had chosen early seating, the rest of us chose late seating. Those of us on late seating (except for one couple) were at a table for 12 on the first floor of the Cosmpolitan dining room. Our waiter, Ronald and his assistant Christian, had to be the best servers I have had on seven cruises. Nothing was a problem for them - all special requests were met with a smile, and we never had to ask for anything a second time. One of my tablemates had requested mashed potatos on the first night we all sat at the table - they brought out two plates of them that night - we just kept getting more and more mashed potatos every night.

First night of this cruise, we did not sail til midnight, so it was open seating for both early and late seatings...as some people were still arriving at the ship during supper.

I found the food in the dining room for supper on the Summit to be better than the food we had on the Millennium in February 2001 - everything was done to perfection. Beef, fish, veal and chicken were all very good and the desserts (especially the chocolate ones and the ice creams) were to die for! AS for breakfast inthe dining room - all I can say is stick with the eggs and danish - the pancakes and french toast left something to be desired. I only ate one lunch in the dining room and it was ok - nothing really special. For breakfast I found the food in the Waterfall Cafe to be much better - a great selection of fruits, meats, potatoes, salads, desserts, breads. Also in the Waterfall, in the morning there was an omelet station, which at lunch turned into a pasta station. There was also an area that at lunch had a themed buffet each day - Italian, German, American, etc. There was also ice cream and frozen yogurt available during lunch and the afternoon. The Waterfall grill was open for burgers and hot dogs and fries. This turned over to pizza after 3:00pm and was open til 7:00pm. You could also get pizza from the room service menu from 3:00 to 7:00pm and again from 10:00pm to 1:00am. There was also room service available 24 hours a day and also a special breakfast menu from room service besides the continental breakfast menu that you could put on your door at night. Oh, and how could I forget about the Normandie restraunt? A group of 4 of us dined there one night - I had alway been one to question why people would pay for eating at an alternative restraunt - I know the answer now - it was fabulous! The chateaubriand I had literally melted in my mouth and the chocolate souffle was exquisite. The service was perfect. I would dine there again in a heartbeat.

I must also say that the crew on the Summit was much friendlier than the crew on the Millennium in 2001 - everyone I ran into smiled and said "Hello", or "Good morning - How are you today?" Nothing was a problem except at the purser's desk...and they were usually very pleasant too, but some passengers did run into some problems with them.

As for the ports, our first stop was Kauai; and let me tell you Kauai is beautiful - it is probably more beautiful if it would stop raining once in a while! A couple of friends and I rented a minivan and drove up the the east coast of the island all the way up to Ke'e beach, where between raindrops, we saw the Bali Hi Mountain of South Pacific fame and the start of the NaPali cliffs. We also stopped in Hanalei and had lunch at Bubba Burgers...man they were good! We also stopped in Princeville to do some shopping; the sun actually did come out for about half an hour - the clerk at the store said it was the first time in 2 weeks that the sun had come out - we had been hearing on the news about the unusually heavy rains in the islands, but there was a lot of flood warnings that were issued while we were in the islands. One thing though, the waterfalls on the island were spectacular! We also stopped at Kilauea lighthouse and Opaekaa Falls.

Next we headed to Lahaina, Maui...we were there for two full days. This was the one stop where we actually had sunshine! The first day some of our group rented a convertible and did the road to Hana; one friend and I rented a minivan and drove up to Kapalua and down back through Lahaina down to Maalea and up to Wailuku - stopping up at the Iao needle and the Tropical plantation. We then drove back up through Lahaina up to Kaanapali and to Whaler's Village where we had lunch and did some shopping. That night, some of my friends stayed on board the ship and dined at the Normandie restraunt, while the rest of us went to the Old Lahaina Luau - the food was fair, the drinks were ok, the show was pretty good, but the best attraction that night was the sunset! The next day in Maui - we were all off the ship well before 6:00am - we had booked independent snorkeling and diving tours - the snorkelers went out to Molokini and snorkeled there - on the way out we saw sea turtles and on the way back we were entertained by a dolphin that decided to play with the catamaran.

Next stop was Kailua-Kona on the west coast of the big Island of Hawaii. Some of us did a ship's tour that day - went to a painted church, to a Kona coffee mill, and to Puuhonua o Honaunau National Park - it was a place of refuge where those who had angered the Gods or had broken some taboo came to to find absolution. By the way - it rained again that day.

Our last day in Hawaii was spent in Hilo...where we had expected it to rain as it is the second wettest city in the USA, behind Ketchikan, Alaska. It rained off and on all day, but those who had booked helicopter tours were able to do them. I had chosen to do Volcanoes National Park - we did the Crater rim drive. This place is not to be missed. You can actually tell where the different flows of lava are and you can see how nature begins reclaiming the land. We also went to the Thurston Lava Tube and we stopped at the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut factory.

As we sailed away from Hilo that night, we started our 5 straight sea days.....that was the roughest night of the cruise, the ship was moving at 23.5 knots and it was very rough that night.

The first two days at sea were wonderful - sunny and warm enough to sit out in the sun and relax. The next two were cloudy and very cool. Our last sea day started out that way, but by 2:00pm we had spotted the coast of the US and the sun came back out - down near the pool out of the wind it was more than warm enough to get some more sun. That afternoon and evening we sailed in to and up the Straights of San Juan de Fuca - that evening we had a great view of Mt. Baker before we turned north to heads toward Vancouver. This are of the Pacific northwest is absolutely beautiful.

After 11 days on the ship we arrived in Vancouver friday am, May 24th. I was off the ship by 9:40am - to the airport by 10:45, and checked in for my return flight on Northwest (I really don't like flying Northwest) by 11:00am. I arrived home after 9:00pm that night and found out I was still on Hawaii time.....and still very laid back from my cruise and my trip to the islands.

There were a couple of negatives on this cruise and it related to some misinformation that Celebrity printed in the Summit Daily. The most important one happened on our second day in Maui. Some of our group had to be down in Kihei by 6:15am and the rest of us had to be in Maalea by 7:15am. Celebrity was running a tender all night long - according to what was printed in the daily the night before, the tenders were to leave the ship for the shore on the half hour (ie: 4:30 and 5:30am) and leave the shore for the ship on the hour (5:00am and 6:00am) - well when we got down to the tender embarkation area, they told us that that was wrong...well, let's just say after showing them what was printed in the daily and trip up to the pursers' desk (which really was wasted as the girl got the "deer in the headlights" look when we approached her) they called the tender back to pick us and the others who had gathered to catch the 5:30 tender - we got on shorejust before 6:00 am - and we found out that those of our group who had shown up for the 4:30am tender had to go through the same thing. Not everyone single one of us who showed up on the half hours could be wrong - a case of one hand not knowing what the other was telling the passengers. There was also an incident in one of the tender ports where some crew members who were returning from personal time on shore literally pushed passengers out of the way to get off the tender first - it was totally uncalled for and someone could have been injured. I know that the passengers had requested a meeting with the staff Captain to address these issues - I don't know what the result of that meeting was. Also, and this is just a personal thing, I think the itinerary needs a sea day in the middle of all those island days, just to let everyone rest and recharge - we were exhausted by the time we got to our first sea day.

This was absolutely one of the best vacations I have ever had!

Bermuda Zenith

Reviews submitted by user:

My husband and I wanted to cruise somewhere other than the Caribbean or Mexico.

We didn't want to fly too long to get to the port so we x'd out Alaska and Hawaii. We chose Bermuda! What a great choice it was. We really had a blast. The Celebrity Zenith is not a new ship and not my favorite in the Celebrity line up... however the service was excellent and the embarking and disembarking went the smoothest of all our cruises.The food was great and we loved our Waiter and wine attendant.Rooms were o.k. not anything special.

Bermuda is a beautiful 21 mile island 700 miles off the US coast. The 2 days at Sea and the 5 on the Island was perfect time to see and do it all.We never expected it to be so beautiful and fun to see. The ship sailed out of New York which added to the fun and excitment of seeing the Manhatten Skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

We reccomend the bus pass instead of the expensive cabs. The mopeds look like alot of fun however we saw and spoke to so many vacationers that got into accidents, They are very dangerous to an amatuer...especially not being used to driving on the other side of the road! These bikes ruined many a vacation so we say forget it...take the A/C on the bus and you can go anywhere.

We loved Tobacco Beach for the snorkeling as the Beach itself is small and usually crowded. When you dock in Hamilton you can walk to the square and catch the Blue Bus ( can't use the pass on this one)For $5.00 you can get up to Tobacco Beach, Fort Catherine and 2 other nice Beaches. All the beaches have food, drink and snorkle equipment for sale. For beaching and swimming Horseshoe Bay is the best. Elbow Beach has a wonderful Hotel / Resort and the Beach is nice but not as scenic.Take the tour at Fort Catherine, it's worth it.

We enjoyed the caverns, hiking and having "Swizzles" at the Swizzle Inn. The island has many things to do and great place to shop and wine and dine.

We went back to the ship each day around 5:00 p.m. to relax before our 8:30 p.m. dinner seating. We always choose to sit with a group. Our table of 8 was a highlight of the trip. We all got along so well...and had so much fun together. Bermuda is a great place and we highly recomend this cruise line!

11 Night Eastern Caribbean on Galaxy

Reviews submitted by user:

Using directions from the Maryland Port Authority website, we easily arrived at the terminal after a 4 hour drive from southeastern Virginia. After paying $55 parking, we were guided to a place to unload luggage, and then directed to a parking area. With carryon luggage we boarded an air-conditioned bus and were driven to the passenger terminal. After a few minutes in line we completed the paper work and sat, boarding number in hand, until our number was called, about one hour in all. Very smoothly handled.

We had booked an inside quad with two upper bunks for our 12 and 14 year olds. The cabin was adequate, with two closets, a large shower, dressing table, two bedside tables with drawers, two chairs, TV. The TV could be used to review accounts, order from the limited room service menu, and watch CNN, TNT, in house movies both free and pay, Discovery Channel, music channels, and even gamble. Since we had brought our own wine (two cases checked with luggage), the room steward(ess) provided both a wine ice bucket and a regular ice bucket and ice water, and two champagne glasses, refilled twice a day. Behind the dressing table mirror was a huge cabinet and the safe. The area served as a fine wine cabinet! The bathroom contained a conditioner/shampoo dispenser and a hand lotion dispenser, as well as a fine selection of toiletries, including cotton balls, q-tips, etc.

The ship sailed at 6pm and made a night transit of the Chesapeake Bay. The schedule of dress was: 5 Casual Nights (Days 1,4,6,8,11), 3 Formal Nights (Days 2,5,10), and 3 Informal Nights (Days 3,7,9).

Day 1 Departure. Day 2 At Sea. Day 3 Visit Charleston, SC 8am-4pm, Days 4 and 5 At Sea, Day 6 (Sat) Visit St. Thomas 8am-6pm, Day 7 (Sun) Visit St. Maarten 8am-5pm, Day 8 (Mon) Visit San Juan 8am-4pm, Days 9 At Sea, Day 10 (Wed) Visit Nassau 8am-1pm, Day 11 At Sea, and Return to Baltimore 10am on Day 12. Breakfast was available till 9:30am and snacks at 10:30. We debarked about 12:30 and were through the terminal and onto the bus and into our car by 1:35pm. It helped having US Immigration inspectors board in Nassau and conduct that check on the afternoon of day 9 at sea, avoiding an early lineup on departure day.

Departure Day. After sail away, we were scheduled for late seating and a table for four. Galaxy has a single dining room and the buffet is not open for dinner. Someone was seated at our table in error, and it took 15 minutes for them to seat us at the empty table next to them, where they were supposed to be. Corrected for the rest of the trip. I brought my own wine bottle to dinner. The wine steward charged the new $12 corkage, and later that night said if I was planning to bring wine each night, he would no longer charge corkage if I would remember him on gratuity night. Deal! The first night show was mediocre, mostly introducing staff and self-promoting. Midnight buffet (11:30pm actually) alternated between a buffet and ?gourmet bites? of hot and cold snacks served by roving waiters in public areas of the ship, including the lounges and casino.

Day Two, at sea, quite rainy off the coast of the Carolinas. I checked to see if I could get two corsages for our first formal night and was advised that while they had flowers, no florist was aboard for this trip, but I could get single long stemmed roses for $5 each, delivered to the room. Wine tasting event in the afternoon $8 each. Each day for lunch on the Resort Deck near the Oasis Pool there is a grill that daily served variations for lunch: Paella, shish kebob, taco/burrito, Asian, ribs & chicken BBQ, etc. My favorite lunch spot. Welcome aboard party before formal dinner. LONG lines for formal portraits. As much as an hour in line. The show was Broadway Express, and quite good. People tended to stay in formal dress all evening. There are many quiet, uncrowded areas on the ship to sit and read, or just relax.

Day Three, Charleston. Rain cleared up. We visited the Marketplace for souvenirs, just 1 ˝ blocks from the pier, where many people took carriage ride tours?$55 for a family of 4. There are many restaurants in the area. We boarded a trolley bus for $1 each and had the same tour, stopping in Battery Park to view and take photos of Fort Sumter. It also passed the Charleston Museum and Visitor Center. We then went to Hyman?s Seafood/Aaron?s Deli, on Meeting Street, a local institution, where a bottle of wine was only $11 and the seafood and deli sandwiches were great. Charming, management visited every table. Watched the sail-away from the Stratosphere lounge, wrap-aroung windows. Quiet and relaxing during the day, dancing to combo in evening and disco after 11pm. Great place. That evening was our first visit to the casino, which has nickel slots as well as the others, Minimum credit is $20, for which they gave us $10 cash and 10 in nickels. The show was a comedian, and we skipped it.

Day Four, At Sea. Found that Eggs Benedict were available every day in the dining room for breakfast! A wonderful, warm relaxing day at sea. The pool chairs are all cushioned and the daily newspaper points out that unattended belongings left over 30 minutes will be removed by attendants for safekeeping. No problem finding chairs. The gym opens at 6am, is not crowded and has the usual assortment of exercise machines, weights, etc. Internet Café charges are 95 cents a minute, no minimum, and we ran up WAY too much on the Internet.

Day Five, At Sea. Warm and sunny. Watched Lord of the Rings in the theatre. 50?s/60?s night in the lounges?.interesting since it was the second formal night. Odd.

Day Six, St. Thomas. Took taxi from pier ($7 each) to Coki Beach to snorkel. No admission fee, free restrooms/shower. Vendors have chairs, drinks, etc. Plenty of fish, particularly because people feed them. There is a reef between the beach and the Coral World attraction to the right. Taxi back to ship, quick shower and off to the shops at Havensight adjacent to the pier. Best liquor price was at A.H Cohen?s across the street. Movie onboard was Moulon Rouge. My 14-year-old son was suffering from a sore throat and after dinner we took him to the medical center onboard, where the doctor examined him, tested for strep to rule it out, and dispensed penicillin tablets. Cost $67 for office visit, $32 for step test, and $11 for pills. Provided forms for us to file with our insurance company. Cost is very comparable to costs at home. It worked, too. Tex/Mex late night buffet and dancing around the pool.

Day Seven, Sunday, St. Maarten. We decided that taking taxis was running a lot, and decided to rent a car on the pier from Budget. Had a Toyota Corolla, air-conditioned for $43 including tax for the day. Having been to the island several times but only having visited Philipsburg and Orient Beach, we decided to drive to Grand Case on the French side, and found an empty public beach where we saw some of the biggest starfish I have ever seen. Scenery very French. Would have enjoyed eating there. Drove to Marigot, the French main city. Unfortunately it was Sunday, and most shops were closed at 1:45pm, but restaurants were open. We did drive up and then climb up to Fort St. Louis, the historic fort overlooking the city and harbor. Wonderful views and photos. Drove back to Philipsburg parked and shopped. Ended the day at EveryT?ings Cool enjoying food and beverages overlooking the beach. After sail away and casual dinner, we spent the night in lounges dancing. Three different music choices: Simon Chill duo with mix, danceable. Starlight Duo, country and pop. Legends 5 member band, reggae, pop. (poolside and Savoy Lounge).

Day Eight, Monday, San Juan. Immigration checks from 7-8:30am for all. We debarked and walked to the nearest corner to the Parada sign where the free trolley stops. About 11 boarded one for the ride to El Morro. $3 admission. Walked back to Old San Juan in a light shower. Shopped along the way. Ended up at Hard Rock Café for lunch. Service is slow. The RCL Crown and Anchor club down the street went out of business and is for sale. On the way back to the ship stopped at the Chamber of Commerce center near pier 1 (two blocks to the left of our pier) where there is an open rum bar courtesy of Bacardi. Several frozen thingees fortified us for the trip to our pier. Tonight?s theme was Island Night, and the late night as a tropical food, fruit, and sherbet night around the pool. The show was an outstanding performance of Cirque de Galaxy with acrobats, dancers, and the adagio duo.

Day Nine, At Sea. Second day with formal and informal afternoon tea, and wine tasting. Received email my new grandson had been born this morning! A hot, sunny, relaxing day enroute the Bahamas. I loved to sit on the open teak deck astern behind the garden pool on Resort Deck. There were tables, chairs, umbrellas, and overlooking wake. Food and drink close by. Wonderful location, my favorite. Skipped the show, dancing after dinner.

Day Ten, Nassau. A short day. Passengers cleared ashore at 8am, and due back by 12:45pm. Taxi to Paradise Island public beach access for $4 pp and $1 toll. Sandy beach, crystal clear water, few fish. Vendors provide jet skis, parasail, beverages and chairs. After 90 minutes in the hottest sun of the week, we walked to the Atlantis resort for a self-tour. We used the restrooms, viewed the shops, casino, and public areas including the aquarium where we saw sharks, stingrays, and lot of fish, all for free. Worth the trip. Taxi back to Strawmarket, which is still in temporary tent location, then walked back to ship. Last formal night. Show after dinner was Concert in B with singers, dancers and the adagio duo. Le Grand Buffet in the Dining Room with photos from 1145-1215am, and buffet open 1215-1:30am.

Day 11, At Sea. Another relaxing day with no real agenda. Reality sets in: We debark tomorrow. Packing, bags out by 11pm.

Day 12, Arrive 10am. Off ship at 12:30 (those who drove and were on lower decks were last to leave). In the car in 60 minutes. Very smooth. The 4 hour drive home took 6.5 hours due to Friday rush hour traffic.

Overall comments: The ship is spotless. There are hardly any announcements. They were not really hustling alcohol. Padded lounges in pool areas, ample towels, including special large ones for days ashore. They take but were not pushing photos. The movie selection in the theatre included: Moulon Rouge, Lord of the Rings, Princess Diaries, Ali, K-Pax, Jurassic Park 3, The Score, Swordfish, and Osmosis Jones. First rate. There is no buffet at dinner. The only alternative dining is room service or casual dining by reservation in the garden area by the Oasis Pool. Same menu, suggested $2 pp tip. The buffet has no breakfast variety?.same every day. There is an omelet/eggs to order station, and they have eggbeaters. Some type of breakfast is available somewhere 7-11:30 every day. Lunch buffet is 11:30 ? 2pm, including pasta stations, with pizza and burgers available later. Lunch buffet was mostly uninteresting. Dining rooms seatings are 6 and 8:30pm. Entrees included plenty of fish and pasta, steaks, roast beef and prime rib, filet mignon, lobster, lamb steaks and roast, chicken and duck. Mini-pizzas are available through room service. Great! The smoking convention is: smokers on the port side of public areas, starboard is smoke free. Very few exceptions were observed. There were very active programs for young children (under 10), a Youth program (Ensigns) for 10-12, and a Teen Program for 13-17?.which few appeared to use. Agenda was provided to each room daily. The Youth and Teen programs participants are free to come and go as desired. Vibration. On lower decks, and aft, including the dining room have VERY noticeable vibration any time the ship is underway, not just entering/leaving port. Every time they speed up or turn. At breakfast the last day entering Baltimore, while we were sitting in the Dining Room, the vibration was so bad every glass and piece of silver rattled.

This was our 13th cruise, the first over 7 days. We loved the 11 days. I don?t want constant action and enjoy sea days. I enjoy having the option to go to shows or casinos or not. I enjoy having dancing opportunities. I don?t like to be hustled for drinks and photos. We weren?t. Even in the buffet the waiters take your tray and carry it to find you a seat. Service is superb. We loved it. I would definitely cruise Celebrity again.

Wonder at Bahamas

Wow - what can say about the Disney experience! It was truly amazing and now has my family hooked on cruising. We sailed on the 4 day Wonder to Nassau, Castaway Cay and a day at sea.

Let's start with embarkation - how slick it was, was amazing. We arrived at the Port at 10:30 a.m. and were allowed into the terminal at 11:00. We went straight to the Non US citizen line and had no wait at all, in the mean time my 4 kids settled into large, comfy chairs and watched Disney movies.

About 12:30 they allowed to board the ship and each family's name was called out as they entered the ship and were cheered on by the crew (made my kids day!). We had the buffett lunch and then proceeded to our staterooms.

Now I was not sure what to expect - after all it is a ship and they cram so many people into it - but we were amazed at the room. We had connecting Cat 9 rooms, so we had 2 shower rooms and 2 bathrooms! 2 king sized bed, 2 single beds and 2 beds that came out of the ceiling (do not know the proper name for them!) We had a huge port hole in each room also.

Meals - they were fantastic! On the Disney cruise ships you keep your servers for the entire duration of the cruise and they follow you to each restaurant for dinner. This is great and my kids loved our servers - they played games with them, knew them by name even when we saw them at other areas of the ship. They had there drinks waiting for us when we sat down to eat and by the end of the cruise knew our likes and dislikes and would bring us extra plates of what we liked.

The shows were excellent and the kids even liked going to the movie theater every night to watch the newly released movies they were showing.

Disembarkation was also a breeze - except for clearing customs! Way too early in the morning for my liking! But I guess it has to be done! We were allowed off the ship at 8:00 a.m. and all of our luggage was color coded to our stateroom so we just went to the Purple areas and found out stateroom group and there sat all of our luggage!

This was the most amazing, enjoyable, relaxing (yet tiring) vacation! We just loved cruising and the kids can't wait to sail on the Disney Magic next!

Western Caribbean on Conquest

Review submitted by user:

We had a wonderful time - as usual, but, again, we are very easy to please. Unless the ship sank (or caught fire - timely or what?) it would be wonderful!

The Conquest is a beauty - sister ship to the Glory. A little hard to find the dining room - but my day 7 we pretty much had it figured out. We were on Upper deck so took the stairs (3up for buffet - 2 down for dining room)all the time so weight gain was not an issue!

The food was great most nights - one night was off - not sure what happened but everyone at our table had complaints that night - even us which is very odd. Otherwise the food both on the dining room and on the Lido deck was very tasty (two creme brulees - naughty me!) Our wait staff - Igor and Marcin were very attentive and extremely personable. On the last night the dining room staff all sang a special rendition of "Leaving on a Funship" instead of "Jet Plane". It made sappy me teary eyed! We had great dinner companions every night - a Mom and Daughter from Houston, and on two nights a Mom and 2 daughters from Detroit. Some very pleasant conversations. DH dropped hints to the waiter at the next table that he was a "secret shopper" for Carnival. Our wait staff played along with it and we had this poor guy looking over his shoulder a lot. The last night we told him what he really did for a living and he seemed pretty releived - we would have given everyone glowing reports though - and we ended up tipping him as well! Zeid - we enjoyed meeting you!!!!

The cabin was the usual - not much changes - except the bedding. Carnival has duvets now instead of blankets and they were so cozy. Our only problem was were were right above the teen disco and in really didn't shut down one in the morning - a lot of booming base and a dj with a very monotonous voice. we called and asked for it to be turned down for "port" mornings because we had to be up early - and they complied fairly quickly. We got the standard letter of apology from the pursers desk but no discount coupon lol.

We only saw our room steward in passing - Sharaf by name. But he kept the ice cooler full and the room was always made up so he did his job well.

I guess I am getting used to this cruise thing because the shows didn't seem as interesting - except for the comedians - they were really good. And Carnival does do a lot of pushing you to buy stuff - but we just ignore it.

Wasn't fussy on Jamaica - everyone seemed to have their hand out for tips - and they mentioned it - A LOT!!!

Loved Grand Caymen - what a beautiful spot. We did the Stingrays, Hell and Turtlefarm - best shore excursion ever - except for the sunburn! I will have to post a photo of that! I've never been in such a clean place - apparatnley there is a $500 fine for littering and it is strongly enforced.

I was really surprised at how well Cozumel has recovered - and they really do appreciate our coming back. We just spend the day wandering around town and shopping - you really have to watch for the bargains - it's amazing how the prices change.

The only complaint I would have about the port days is the time - if you book a shore excursion you don't really have much time to shop - and I love to shop!!!

Getting on a off the ship was a breeze. Being Canadian - we had our own very short line to board. Our luggage was easy to find at debarkation and we got a great porter who took us out to the shuttle. We had to wait around for about ten minutes to get on but he wouldn't leave - so we gave him ten dollars for his time. He was a really funny guy.

And I can't say enough about the people we met in Texas - friendly is an understatement. One fellow in Galveston invited me in for tea when I asked if it was ok to take a photo of his heritage home. I love the buildings in Galveston - can't wait to go back for another visit.

One mistake we did make - the night pre-cruise we booked a hotel in Greenspoint - near the Houston airport - that was scary!!!!!! will do a little more research next time.

We still have nothing but good things to say about our cruising experience with Carnival - and can't wait to be "leaving on a funship" some day soon. -Jennifer