Hawaii Cruise Reviewed by John

Flight plans: best to make ur own if it is best NCL got a great rate and if ur ok with backtracking 1200 mi and a 3hr layover in Denver and a 7hr flight from there to Honolulu no problem. Actually the flight was ok and the GKids ages 9 and 11 were pretty good and handled it well cuz Grandma prepared with crayons and colour books in a carryon bag.

Embarkation Honolulu: This was a breeze, not sure if because of our afternoon arrival, no waiting, very short lines, very efficient, everything taken care of right there, stateroom card and picture, then just walk onboard. The staff inthe atrium were very helpful in directing us to our stateroom. total time from airport to stateroom less than 45 min.

The Ship:Layout is fairly simple but can be confusing to some as it seems that clubs and such seem scattered all over the place. GKids had ship figured out within the first day. Found their way from stateroom to pools right off. GParents took a little longer. pools and hottubs are deck 11 along with Aloha buffet 2 pools one a deep pool about 8ft deep theother a semi wading pool about 4ft deep at its deepest 4 hot tubs 1 at each corner of the pools, also a pool and hot tub aft on deck 12, sports decks and kids clubs and spa above that. Main dining rooms Skyline and Liberty are 1 deck each one above the other on decks 5 & 6 aft. Pay restaurants are also on 5 & 6, If u want more info NCL's website has a good layout of the ship.
Staterooms: Insides small with few amenities, shower cap, shoe rag and small bottle of hand lotion, soap and shampoo in dispensers. 1, 2 door closet, desk with mirror and 2 drawers and a good size hair dryer mounted to wall beside mirror, demi bar with 2drawers and refridge above 2 shelves and 2 drawers below. Standard toilet and shower. Beds were adequate if not somewhat cotlike suitcases stored underneath quite well. Did like the full length mirror on the wall outside the bath. Did get a peek at a side balcony stateroom and it did not look much larger than our inside tho not sure. rooms adequate but not Carnival good.

Freestyle Dining: Ain't nothing free about it. Found it most inconvient to have to make reservations for everything. they have monitors that supposedly show the status of all the restaurants but don't believe them u cannot just walk in even tho they show no waiting times and even with a res. u may have to wait. Main dining rooms groups of 5 + must make reservations and they are for when they have an opening not at ur convenience. The three nites we did dine in the mains our reservs were most inconvient 1st nite showed up 7:30 with a reserv cuz we did not know u needed one and had a 45min wait, 2nd time got one for 8pm got confirmed for 8:30 showed up at 8:10 and were told we were late, kuckily they had not given our table away, both reserv times caused us to miss all the shows and our 3rd altho early 6pm came just when we were cruising by the magnificent Na Pali coast line on Kuaui. Did get to get up from our anniversary dinner and go outside and take some pics then
come back in to lukewarm food, not restaurants fault tho, due to mechanical problems causing us to leave Kuaui port late. Thank God for the Aloha buffet, most meals eaten here, breakfast was eaten on what is known as the Aloha lanai outdoors aft. Itinary is so port heavy lunch was ashore most of the time. Food in both dining rooms and Aloha buffet was good but not anything to write home about. Unfortunate result of freestyle dining is that u don't get to know the waitestaff.

Specialty Restaurants:don't know what they were like could'nt get a reservation as we did'nt get to ship until around 4pm Sat. and they were already all booked up for the whole cruise so book early, but that was ok cuz did'nt really want to pay extra. same for the Little Italy free restaurant, but it was frustrating to go by and see empty tables and still not be able to be seated. by the way window tables in the main dining rooms were for 2, larger groups 5+ in the middle of the room. also note they do not take reservs for less than 5 u just show up and hope they can seat u. Also note the Key West bar and grill on deck 12 and the Cadillac Diner on 6 are 2 of the best eats on the ship, KW serves burgers, hot dogs and sausage doges and a special like BBQ ribs or sandwich from 2pm to 6pm. Cadillac Diner serves typical 50s diner fare and is open from 5am to 3am burgers and fries, fish and chips, meatloaf and mashed taters and such for free and shakes and maltsand sundaes and
such for a fee about $3.If u like the fare at the specialty rests. I heard they were quite good but remember to make resrevations as soon as u get on the ship.

Itinary: Outstanding. Overnites on both Maui and Kuaui. Rented a van in Hilo on the big Island, in Maui, and Honolulu on departure day as our flt home was'nt leaving til 10:15pm.
Bought 2 ship shoretours Molikini snorkel and Golf outing on Kuaui. On Maui a trip to Lahina is a must where we found that most of the tours offered by NCL are available there for about half the price or less. We saw the Molikini snorkel for about $30/person instead of the $99/person the ship charges, the Atlantis Sub for $29 vs the $99 on the ship, of course u have to get there, but there are busses.All the car rental agencies have transport at the piers at each port.

Onboard Entertainment: Did'nt get to see much due to overnites and reservation problems. Did see the Magician and he was good so assume the other shows were also.
Pools and hot tubs were crowded but not overly so, were able to swim and soak pretty much whenever we wanted to. Also got crewman to open hot tub early in morn to soothe my sore back. One of the reasons we chose the Pride of America was because they have a bungee tramp for the kids disappointed it was only open for an hour each day. It also seemed that alot of stuff closed down somewhat early outside bars and such.
Kids Club: paid $80 for 2 kids packs, they had a pop bracelet,ballcap,tee, colour book & crayons, and backpack, signed GKids up for age appropiatekids club activities. They went once. Spent most of the time on board in the pool or video game room. Speaking of the pop card $52 for 7 day cruise, brought on own Pepsi, ship uses only Coke products.
All the ports had a Wal-mart with free transport to and from the pier which was nice, as GDaughter needed shoes for dining rooms and did'nt bring any, still trying to figure what actually constitutes RESORT CASUAL, obviously not shorts, tees, sandals.
Actually needed to refill a prescription on Maui and in the process found out that the W-M
there had a great selection of made in Hawaii clothes, 100% Kona coffee, and cheezy trinkets galore plus some real finds at great W-M prices and of course being retired W-M associates we have permanent discount cards. Whoopee!

Crew: Its supposed to to be all American, but our room steward said she was originally from the Phillipines but uses a Guam addy. She was very attentive to our every need and our ice bucket was always full. The rest of the service was nothing more than what was expected. A big drawback to freestyle dining is different waiters all the time so who do u tip extra, sorry to say no one on the wait staff. Room steward did get a little extra tho.

Disembarkation: Just as easy as embarkation with plentyof time for breakfast. Left the ship around 9am to pick up our car for the day, found our bags no problem. By the way don't get sucked into the EASY FLY, read all the fine print and u will find it costs $20/person extrano one mentions that before hand so, buyer beware, some thot it was worth it to have bags taken care of all the way to the plane and tickets in hand when u leave the ship. I did'nt.

All in all the cruise was unremarkable except for the Islands, Paradise found. For us Carnival cruisers it was all the little things we found annoying, small rooms, stuff not being wiped down everyday windows not being washed. Oh yeah the whole cruise the passageways had a pervasive scent of sewage in the air. A room steward told me it had been like that for about 2 months.

So at this time if I was asked if I would recommend NCLA's Pride of America: NO!
Would I rec. her ininary: Definately YES!
?s welcome
Fair winds and following seas. John

Panama Canal Cruise Reviewed by Lyn

Panama cruise

This was our second cruise with Oceania.

We arrived at the ship around 2 pm and were quickly checked in. We were allowed to board even though we were Deck 4, and proceeded to the pool deck for a snack and to wait for our cabin to be ready.

Checking in our cabin we found a notice saying 2 of the ports had been changed due to the Passenger Services Act and Homeland Security. Seems that Homeland security decided to enforce this act that has been around from the 1800's.

The two ports were Cozumel, now changed to Grand Cayman, and San Andres, now changed to Cartegena, Columbia. A lot of unhappy people ...many had taken the cruise to see the Ruins in Mexico.

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship. Next morning we met the group of Cruise Critic/Yahoo passengers we had been corresponding with over the preceding months. Good to finally see the faces of those I.D.'s we chat with.

First port was Grand Cayman and the only downside it was Sunday and not many of shops were open but we managed to find hubby his Rum Cakes. Many took shore excursions to Hell, Stingray City and the beach.

The next day & a half were pretty rough sailing as we hit some high winds and waves off the beam. A lot of passengers were feeling the effects of the seas.

The staff were great and very helpful even though some of them were still getting their sea legs as well. We had great meals in the GDR & Polo and only one downside was in Toscana. They must have been having an off night as the service was slow, the food was luke warm. Hubby had to have his meal returned to the kitchen along with a few others at our table. The next day we wrote a letter of complaint and things were noted and taken care of. We were offered another reservation in Toscana which was much better food and service. We found the internet fast, contrary to other posts. The prices, well, it has been beaten to death so I won't go there.

The band and the quartet did not arrive until Grand Cayman as they had connection problems getting from Poland so the entertainment had to be re-arranged. We did go to a few of the shows and they were quite enjoyable. The exception were the ship's singers ...sorry but the two girls they had onboard were not the best singers. They sounded like Alvin and the chipmunks.

The Canal transit was very good & we anchored in the lake for lunch and again after the last locks for dinner and to take on fuel. It is quite an amazing site.

The chair hogs were in attendance as usual and the pool staff seemed reluctant to remove things from the lounges.

We took advantage of the new lounge area on the pool deck with it nice double loungers. In the library we found several books to our liking and took advantage of the sea days to read by the pool.

Afternoon tea ...well what can I say? If you have not had afternoon on Oceania you have missed a good thing!

At some of the ports we just wandered off on our own. I had arranged a private tour in Cabo with some other passengers and we had a good day seeing the sites and had lunch in San Jose Del Cabo. Our driver was very knowledgeable about the area and took us to some different places than the ship's tours.

All in all we had a great trip and already booked another cruise for next year.

Lyn

Baltic Cruise Reviewed by Larry

Lets begin with a review of the ship, then the ports. First of all we chose to cab it from the airport in Copenhagen to pier one, where the Star was. Princess charges 40.00 pp or $120.00 for the three of us. The cab was about $55.00 so do the math. Easy choice. The embarkation process was pretty easy really. We got to the ship by around 1300 and were in our cabin by 1325 at the latest. Our luggage arrived in a timely manner as well.
I must say my previous experience with Princess was on the gorgeous sapphire Princess and the Tahatian. Both, especially the latter usually get higher marks. The Star is a very nice ship but it is a notch below the Sapphire and Tahatian to be sure, both in terms of service and food. Not to say its bad. Its not! but the other two are better.
The ship overall is very clean and well appointed. I give high marks for hygiene. Hand sanitizers are everywhere along with employees to dispense B4 you go into any restaurant. In many cases there are employees in the buffet area to actually dispense the food for you. Bravo! The lounges and public areas are neat and clean. We in particular liked the Skywalker lounge on the 17th deck aft. There was a great view of the wake and at night, being in the land of the midnight sun you could almost see day ending and night beginning. Also it was never crowded when we were there so you had that view pratically all to yourself.
The service was very good though I must say the Tahitian was better. I had one encounter with an unbelievably rude person from the casino staff and reported her. Princess assured me the matter would be addressed and I believe them They take this sort of issue very seriously. Our cabin attendant Jirasak from Thailand was a sheer delight. He always smiled and our cabin was spotless. Overall the service was very good, not great.
The food was very good too. I must say yet again I was spoiled by the Tahatian last yr. but that does not demean the Star in any way. Also I must give top praise to the Star for meeting our groups special requests. There were 5 in our group and three of them requested Indian food every night. The chef far exceeded our expectations. The food was expertly prepared and plentiful. In addition the Maitre de Franco made sure to facilitate this request. However unlike the Sapphire there were no anytime dining restaurants. You could go to the Horizon for buffet. We did use Sabatinis once and for those of you who are familiar with it its a treat to be sure, easily worth the $20.00 pp surcharge.
The shows overall were very good as well. There was some fellow, Mac Frampton who played piano so well I could not believe it. Also they timed the shows very well. That is after the show finished other shows were scheduled to begin in the lounges so it was pretty easy to go from one to another.
We were invited to the Capt. Circle party and found out Princess is building a new ship, the Ruby and its a sister ship of the new Emerald. In addition they purchased another ship form the defunct Renaissance line ala the Tahatian and are in process of refitting her for service.
Disembarkation was breeze but for a good reason. we were the second group off the boat at 0530 (right on time as promised). We had an 0825 flight and I was a bit concerened about getting a cab that early but there was one right there at the pier and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
Our first stop was Stockholm. except for St. Petersburg we did the town on our own so to speak. Prior to leaving we determined what we wanted to see in each port. In Stockholm it was the Vasa museum, Gamla Stan and the famous ice bar. well two out of three ain't bad, at least according to Meat Loaf. :D That is the ice bar, which is a bar set at around 30F and has glasses made of what else, ice did not open till 1550. Too late for us. we did go see the Vasa which is a ship bulit to be the pride of the Swedish navy that sunk minutes into maiden voyage in the harbor and stayed there until it was lifted up in the 1960's. Overall in was under water for 333 yrs! It capsized due to a poor design. It was top heavy with too little ballast in the keel, sort of like Dolly Parton. LOL! It took about 2 yrs. to actually raise her and though she is now on display it is not yet finished. They paln to repaint her to the original colors once research is completed to discover the paint scheme. The Vasa is truely a wonder to see not for its sea worthiness but for its splendour and for the amazing engineering it took to lift her off the sea bottom and the still in process restoration.
From the Vasa we strolled to a water ferry nearby and went to Gamla Stan, the old town. This is what I luv about Europe, i.e. old towns with winding cobblestone roads full of shops, side walk cafes and people. We meandered about and found an Indian fabric store. The sales lady was Indian and my wife and our Indian friends had a delightful time chatting with her. we also bought some souvenirs, had the best apple strudel in my life with good, rich European style coffee to accompany it then decided it was time to return to the ship. Cabs were easy to get, they all take CC's and in Stockholm English is readily spoken.
The next day we were in Helsinki. Unfortunately out time was limited due to the weather. It was quite chilly and rained all day. We did manage to see the church carved from granite, did some shopping at Stockmanns, the largest dept. store in Europe (prices are very high but its just that way everywhere in Europe) and did some limited shopping at the market in Town Square. We did get some fruit but the weather got the best of us so we headed back. Dollars are not accepted in the market so if you want to shop there you will have to exchange for Euros.
The next day was the highlight stop, St Petersburg, Russia. Oh my God! What a place. we decided to book the grand tour. two full days, with Princess. Day one began early, at 0715. Well there was a Russian band on the pier and they began playing, of all things New York, New York. Kinda weird but thats what makes traveling so interesting. Later that day we were in a park. There was a band there too and when they saw us getting off the bus you won't believe what they played. It was "Anchors away" the US navy song. Go figure.
St. Petersburg is simply amazing. we saw in those two days spledour beyond belief. Our stops included Peterhoff palace, the Yusupov Palace, St. Isaacs Cathedral, the Church of the spilled blood which was built around the spot where Czar Alexander was murdered, the unbelievable hermitage art museum, a canal ride and the Peter and Paul cathedral when Russian royality including the murdered last czar Nicholas II and his family, also murdered are interred. Its a very moving place to say the least. One thing you see it Russia and throughout the Baltic are nesting dolls. You know, those wooden carved dolls, usually of a girl in her native costume that has several others, about 6 in all just like it inside but smaller of course. Well in St. Petes there were nesting dolls of Derek Jeter, Donovan McNabb and Rex Grossman just to name a few. Need I say more. For the two days we had a superb tour guide, Anna who was a virtual encyclopedia of Russian and St. Petes history. Amazing amt. of knowledge to be sure. Lunch was included each day. Day one was at the Academy. a Russian place and day two was at the Radisson. The food was good but in both cases we felt the service was rushed. Also people there seem sort of serious, if not grim. Not too many smiles but the sights are to be seen to be believed.
The next day we went to Tallinn. Its was a Sunday and we were in port from 0700 to 1300 so we had to be back by 1230. My criticism here is that this arrival is too early, esp. for a Sunday. It was a bit rainy too but not cold. If you get off here be aware that just beyond the gated area are cabs. They are not allowed in any further so you are set up to take the shittle into town. The shuttle is $5.00 one way. That $25.00 for 5. Cabbing it back was $10.00 for 5. again, do the math. We found some local shops selling sweaters and linen goods and found them to be reasonalbly priced. Tallinn is a neat old town with lots of shops and restaurants. its just a shame the time in port was inappropriate to seeing it all. 0900-1500 would be much better
The next day we visited Gdansk. What a city! Amzingly beautiful, clean and green. we met a great cab driver, Stanley who greeted us as soon as we got off the ship. For $200.00 we had him for the whole day. he not only took us places but also got out with us for and escorted tour. We saw the resort town of Sopot, which is gorgeous and has the longest pier in Europe which seem to extend way out into the sea. Along the way are vendors, food stands and street performers. We stopped at a rather famous church. the Oliva and saw the show. That is at 1100 every day the huge organ comes to life and the ornately carved angels all around it become animated to the music. Amazing show. We had lunch and strolled in the old town, saw Lech Walesas home and offices and saw the Solidarity monuments which are truely moving. Gdansk was a surprise and a delight. It is very beautiful and by contrast to Russia the people seem to enjoy life more.
Our last stop was Oslo. This too is a beautuful city bit the ship gets in at 0700 and we have to be onboard by 1330. I don't think there is enough time to see this great city. There is a hop-on, hop-off bus right at the pier as well as a souvenir shop so its conviently laid out and you can exchange money there. We did see the famous Viking museum with three ships discovered and dated to circa 800AD. We did want to see the famous Vigeland sclupture park but found out too late that its about a mile walk form the bust stop in the park to the actual sculptures so we ran out of time for this. All in all Oslo is really neat but I think you need timings of say 0900-1800 to better see.
Any questions please ask. Thank for reading. Larry

Bermuda Cruise Reviewed by Dick

This was the 13th cruise for my wife Irene and myself. I am 60 yrs old and as usual my wife won't let me tell you how old she is. We celebrate our 40 anniversary in Oct of 2001. We left on Sunday Aug 13, 2000 from Boston.. Being a surperstitious person about the number 13 I left with mixed emotions. This was our second cruise to Bermuda, both from Boston on the Norwegian Majesty. Our first cruise to Bermuda was in August of 97 and the ship was then called the Royal Majesty. The ship obviously changed hands and the ship was stretched by adding a middle portion.

Due to hurricane Alberto, we left Boston with rough seas. The Captain had to slow the ship down so that we arrived in Bermuda at about 1:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 a.m. For those of you that book tours with the ship, the Helmet dive tours were full by the time the first seating for dinner had completed their meal. They had several tours scheduled. I did not count them but I would say there were about 6 helmet dive tours. This was a tour that we did the first time we went to Bermuda. The nice thing about this tour is if you wear glasses like we do, you are able to wear your glasses with the helmet. The next popular tour is the kayaking tour. This was the next to fill up. Due to the late arrival on the first day we did not get to go kayaking as we had planned. This was a disappointment to my wife. We took a cab tour of the island(they are right off the ship and not hard to find), a carriage tour of the island, sail boat snorkeling tour and went deep sea fishing with my brother-in-law. The Royal Majesty is docked at St. George's for the duration of the Bermuda stay. It does not move mid week as some cruise lines do. For those that are young and in shape there is a nice beach near by that is within walking distance called St. Catherine's. Being old and gray we took a cab(OOPS my wife just said, "who says I'm gray??"). There is also a bus that goes there from the ship and back for $2. It goes by about every 15 minutes. If you go snorkeling by the rocks on the left at the beach and go around to the Achilles beach it is very nice snorkeling. Actually we saw more fish there than we did on any snorkeling tour we took during the two times in Bermuda. The weather was nice except for a brief shower every day.

When you arrive in Bermuda the pastel colored houses with the white roofs is quite a site. Most homes have a reservoir beneath their homes. When it rains the the water is collected on the roof tops down tho the reservoir. The roofs have a white limestone paint that purifies the the rain water for them. Some homes have wells but most of the drinking water is obtained in this fashion.

What started off as a weekend shopping getaway for my wife and her two sisters ended up as being a cruise to Bermuda with the three couples. My wife and I enjoyed this cruise. There were minor glitches(for example I got to try the medical facility on the ship as the waiter dropped a full ice cream sundae with glass on my forehead the last night,I figured if that's all that happened on the 13th cruise that would not be bad.) I would not consider the service throughout the ship as excellent but it certainly was above average. I don't think the food was excellent but I was more than satisfied. If I can walk away full, then I have no complaints. This was the last week that the ship was doing the normal service. The following week they were starting the Freestyle Cruising. One thing my wife did not like was that around the pool there were tables with straight chairs. If you wanted a lounge chair, you had to go one deck up. Since I have two shades, burn and blister, this was not a problem for me. I am usually on one of the side decks in the shade. The entertainment was excellent. But what I consider excellent, someone else may think is lousy. We were not a big fan of the cruise director. On Sunday the theater presentation was a singer Joni Butler who sang Barbara Streisand type numbers. Monday the presentation was "The Jean Ann Ryan Company" with a Broadway type show. Tuesday was Jeff Moche with a humorous type show. Wednesday was Joni Butler again with Broadway favorites accompanied by Tom Fitt on the piano. Thursday was Murray Coleman a super banjo player. Friday was the Jean Ann Ryan Company in Gotta Dance. Saturday they brought back Jeff Moche, Joni Butler, Morey Coleman and a finale with many of the crew members. There was also a comedian Frankie Pace that was excellent.

There were a lot of children and teenagers on board. If this is a problem for you then this would not be a good time of the year for you to go to Bermuda. There was a room for internet access. You could be charged by the amount of time you used it or you could spend something like $28 dollars for the week. Many teenagers must of had access for the week because you could never get near the room during the day time.

Having been to Bermuda twice on a cruise staying at St. George's, I think if I were to go again I would take a cruise out of New York that spends a few days at Hamilton and a few days at St. George's. I would not want to take one that spends time at the dock yard. I think that is too far away from everything.

Panama Canal Cruise Reviewed by Dick

I wanted to go on the Sleazy cruise but the dates did not work out for me hence my wife (Irene) and I went on the Panama Canal cruise with four other couples. Two of the other couples come from our hometown, Barbara and Ray as well as Dot & Lionel. The third couple is Ginny & Matt from New Jersey. We met Ginny & Matt on our '96 cruise to Alaska. The fourth couple is Jane & John from the Chicago area. We met them on our Hawaii cruise in 2001.

We spent a couple of nights before the cruise at the Comfort Inn Airport & Cruise Port South in Hollywood Fl. They had a free shuttle to the Inn from the airport and a free shuttle to the Cruise Port. There was an outdoor pool and the price was very reasonable. We were a group of ten and the shuttle was available for use. Hence if we wanted to go to a restaurant that was a mile or two away we would hop onto the free shuttle and they would take us there and pick us up after the meal. Obviously we tipped the driver each time. A good economical restaurant nearby was the Ale House. It is kind of a sports bar, which came in handy since the Red Sox, and Yankees were in the midst of the ALCS. There was a shopping mall next to the hotel. Irene & Barbara are always ready to shop. One day they went shopping for a couple of bottles of water and came back with attire for formal night during the cruise. There was a free hot breakfast of eggs (scrambled or omelets made to order), hash browns, hot and cold cereals, fruit, muffins, Danish pastries, juices etc. All in all I was very satisfied and would use the Comfort Inn Airport & Cruise Port South again. When we registered at the hotel we booked the shuttle to the port. We booked the first shuttle that left at 10:30 a.m. They put the luggage in a u-haul type vehicle and the passengers rode in a bus to the ship.

Embarkation went smoothly. We had all filled out the forms on the Internet before hand and RCCL had all the info when we got there. Four of us are Platinum members and went to the preferred check-in line. Those that were not Platinum or Diamond members entered the ship literally just a few minutes after us. So at least in this case everyone seemed to have an easy check-in. When we got on the ship they said that the rooms were not ready and we could go to the Lido deck and then check into our rooms after that. When we were done eating the rooms were ready.

We really enjoyed this cruise. We have been on 22 cruises and I would rate this as one of our top five cruises. Everything seemed to work out smoothly. We had great waiters and assistants as well as cabin attendants. I liked the itinerary in the sense that basically we would have a day at sea after each port. The only exception was Huatulco and Acapulco that were one day after the other.

The first port was Oranjestad, Aruba. We have been there multiple times and it was raining when we landed. By the afternoon it was nice and sunny. We basically spent some time in Oranjestad shopping and in the casino. Jane & John went on a tour so I have some pictures of the tour that they took.

After Aruba and a day at sea we approached the Panama Canal in the morning when it was still dark. Many people gathered at the top of the ship (decks 9 and 10) to see the canal. Many people went to breakfast on the lido deck and grabbed the tables in the front of the ship and never left them. So it was not easy to find a place to eat breakfast on the lido deck. I found from advice I learned from reading the review of someone else that I saw a lot more by going to the back of the ship. I went down to deck four in the back and there was no more than eight people there, if that. I had a clear view of all the happenings and had no trouble taking pictures. By the time we went through the third lock there may have been 15 to 20 people back there. I have previously made a partial transit of the canal but I really enjoyed going all the way through the canal.

We took the Panama City tour at night. We saw parts of the city where the electrical wiring was all on the outside of the buildings and we saw some parts of the city that looked like any modern day city would look like. All in all this was not a particularly interesting tour. I could easily of stayed on the ship and passed. But as usual, if I have never been there I want to see what it looks like.

We did not want to take any long tours hence we grabbed a taxi on the pier and took a short 2 to 3 hour tour of Costa Rica. We saw the La Paz falls from a distance, crocodiles and a few scenic areas.

In Huatulco, Mexico we took a cab at the pier for $5 and went to the beach at La Entrega. There were umbrellas, tables and chairs for free. There was food and drink available for purchase. There was a decent snorkeling area near the rocks on the left of the beach. Since we have our own snorkel equipment we went snorkeling for free. There was rental equipment available if you wanted to rent gear. We had the cab driver come back and pick us up at a specified time and he was there right on time.

In Acapulco we wanted to see the cliff divers so we took a tour that enabled us to see them. Before the tour my wife and Barbara shopped at flea markets and other places in Acapulco.

In Cabo San Lucas we took a tour that took us out to Lovers Beach to see the sea lions and the rock formations as well as do some snorkeling. You could take tours from the pier for about $10 that would include everything except the snorkeling. We took one of those fiesta catamarans and everyone had a good time in addition to snorkeling.

We thought the overall entertainment was very good. But, what we like may not be to the liking of someone else. Then nightly entertainment in the show room was as follows: Kelly McDonald, comedian; The Happenings (See You in September); Production shows (Film To Footlights, Rhythm Nation, Jump Jive and Swing, Mexican Folklorico Festival); Lenny Welch, singer; Judy Kolba, singer - comedian; Martin Lewis; The Fluorescents; Charles Brunner, pianist; Colleen Austin, singer; Wilde & Haines, comedy and Los Pampas Gauchos. I didn't see all the shows because the Red Sox were in the midst of the ALCS and World Series. Hence I watched the Red Sox a few nights instead of going to the show. During the fourth game of the World Series I ate in the Lido deck for the buffet and skipped the show. It was a long time in coming but it was worth watching the Red Sox finally winning a World Series. The games were available in the cabin on ESPN and in the Schooner Lounge.

I have seen a few of these acts before and they were just as good the second time around. Judy Kolba is very entertaining. Charles Brunner is also the bandleader for the Legends of the Seas orchestra. He was a big hit with the crowd. He was so well liked he performed two time in the atrium while we were at sea. He performed to a packed house each time.

The ship docked in San Diego about 3:00 a.m. Disembarkation started about 7:45 am. Once the ship was devoid of passengers it had to move to Ensenada to pick up passengers for a Hawaii cruise. Platinum and Diamond members were let off the ship early.

We have all been to San Diego before and have seen the San Diego Zoo and Sea World etc. So we took a day and went to Tijuana for what else, Irene, Barbara and Dot could go shopping and barter with the local merchants. As far as moving around in San Diego there is a trolley that you can take for $5 for the day. You can get on and off as many times as you wish. You can take any line that you want. It enables you to go anywhere in the city. We spent some time at the Seaport, Old Town, Gaslamp etc. We stayed at Travelodge, which was very inexpensive. They also had free shuttle from the port to the hotel and from the hotel to the airport. They are in the process of renovating. There is a pretty good restaraunt (Anthony's) down by the pier where the ships pull in. It is not far from the hotel. The hotel was near the airport and there were planes constantly passing overhead and a train in the back of the hotel. The planes stopped at night when it was time to go to bed. I have no complaints because the price was very reasonable, hotel was clean and we were in the renovated part of the hotel. However, next time I would consider the Holiday Inn which is right across the street from the pier.