Vision - Mexican Riviera Reviewed by Marc

The Ship - Vision
Nicely refurbished in many area's, smaller than I am used to but nicely laid out in general. Beautiful dining room, theatre is very nice and quite large, Centrum, pursers desk, excursions desk all very open and accessible. It reminds me of a nice hotel lobby. The pool is good sized and with 4 Jacuzzi's it even seemed larger than the Radiance Class. Great library, card room (used quite a bit too), internet lounge was never busy and worked as fast as any ship I have sailed. The beds were being changed out to the new Freedom comfort mattresses before, during and after our sailing. I am sorry that ours was being converted as we LEFT the ship! There are definitely some real problem areas with this ship. I found 2 public areas - the center of the Windjammer buffet and nearly all of the outside promenade deck that wreaked of sewage smell and old musty mopped floors. In general my wife and I both found the maintenance on the ship, particularly the public restrooms were very poorly maintained and sometimes even filthy. This was surprising to me as I have never experienced this any Royal ship. We noticed the vibration of the vision is quite noticeable nearly anywhere on the ship. I'm not sure why.

The Cabin
I actually find it ironic that Sue and I had such a different perspective on this one. I also had a midship interior cabin. I have never had a suite before, as she typically does, I usually have a standard balcony or outside cabin. I thought this inside was ridiculously small and uncomfortable. The shower was 30" round. It was like trying to put on a pair of socks inside a telephone booth. The cabin to me was extremely claustrophobic. The TV is a 13" from 1970, the closets have decent space. We had 2 lights that flickered continuously. When I mentioned it to our stateroom attendant she said "oh it's not that bad, it's kind of like having a disco in your cabin"! laughed, it was a good line, but it was never fixed.

The Food
In the main dining room it was excellent, just like all the other RCI experiences we have had. They have an very nice menu, great variety, excellent meats, seafood and the best soups I've ever had. The service was pretty slow though. Normally 2 hours each night. My biggest problem with the Vision though is the lack of dining options. It's the Dining room or Windjammer. That's it. No alternatives and poor selection and quality in the Windjammer. The food there was average to poor. All items were precooked - burgers, waffles, eggs, omelets etc. There was no 'made to order' service at all. This made for cold, stale and unappealing buffet food.

The Entertainment
Excellent with a great variety. Drifters, Carl Banks, a magician, 2 comedians and a good 'singers and dancers' group from the ship.

The Ports - Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta
For first time cruisers, these ports will work OK, for experienced cruisers they will be disappointed. PV was quite nice and tropical, relaxed and beautiful. Cabo has a rich and classy Marina with Yachts from So. Cal, Ruth Chris, high end shops etc. But 1 block away it seems to become nearly 3rd world. I have to say with many of my clients flocking from Hawaii or the Caribbean to Cabo, I am at a loss. I don't get it at all. The water is gorgeous blue, but don't turn around cause the rest, in my opinion, ain't much to look at.

Embark/Disembark
This was the slowest and latest check in process I have yet to experience. I think it is very important to note that I usually do not check in until 2-3 on most cruises. This one had us arrive on an early flight at 730am. After a cab ride to San Pedro. We sat on a rusty metal bench outside the terminal from 830 until 10am when they invited us into the check in lounge. We waited there until 11am, checked in and waited until 1230pm in a waiting lounge before they allowed us to embark. Cabins were not ready until almost 2pm! Disembarking took 1 hour. The problem in San Pedro is that there is usually only 1 ship docked at a time and they seemed very skimpy on labor. There were 4 customs agents for the ship of over 2,000.

Midnight Sun Explorer Cruise Reviewed by Sandra

We were fortunate to be able to experience the Midnight Sun Explorer Cruise on the Holland America Prinsendam July 10 through July 31. This was one of the best cruises we have ever sailed on. The Prinsendam is an elegant ship that only holds 793 guests. The ship was great and the Midnight Sun itinerary was fabulous and even the weather cooperated to make it perfect.

Our cruise was round trip Amsterdam, Holland. It was a 21 day cruise and took us North through the fjords of Norway. We had 7 ports of call in Norway and several days of scenic cruising with narration, including the Polar icecap. We experienced 3 ports in Iceland and one in the Shetland Islands and our final port was Edinburgh, Scotland. Truly a wonderful itinerary.

Embarkation: We were on the ship very quickly even though H.A. apologized for delay as they were having difficulties with the cameras they use to take the passengers photo before they embark the ship.

Cabin: Thrilled was the word for how we felt about our cabin. We were expecting a port hole and had a nice big window, a refrigerator, a tub, and a walk-in closet. We felt that we were in heaven.
The bedding on Holland America is very luxurious and so comfortable. Robes in all cabins. These came in handy the day we "swam the Arctic Circle".
We had a very efficient cabin steward, actually we almost never saw him.
The ship is going to be in dry dock soon for a 26 day refit. They said the cabins are to be redone, especially the bathrooms.

Internet: We took our lap top and found an unsecured signal in several of the cities. We also paid to use the internet in some ports. We did not use internet on the ship. There were places we were that they could not get a signal and it not inexpensive.

Ship in General: The Prinsendam was built to as the luxury cruise ship called the Royal Viking Sun, later it was the Seabourn Sun. It is a luxurious ship and very comfortable. Public spaces have a more roomy feeling than on most ships. Everyone on board seems to love the ship and the Future Cruise person was constantly busy. Many people were booked for two more consecutive cruises following the 21 days we were on. I overheard the Future Cruise person talking to a client telling her that her travel agent would get the credit for the future cruise. The client said she did not want the agent to have the credit. The client was told that she would have to sign a form stating that this was her choice and that she had been given the option to give credit to her agent. I had to restrain myself to keep from putting in my two cents worth. I was glad that the opportunity was given, even if the client did not take it. This ship still has the 'free' Java Bar. Lovely specialty coffees and cookies all day and evening.
There were no problems with the elevators during the entire cruise. With many older passengers this was essential. This ship seemed to have public restrooms in all the right places. Very roomy and spotless at all times and with cloth hand towels.

Dining: he food was excellent from the dining room to the Lido to the chocolates that they put out at 9 pm. Everyone needs late night chocolates! We have never seen so many choices on a cruise menu. 9 entree choices every night (not including the always available chicken or steak). We went to the dining room the first night. Our dinner mates were quite demanding of the staff. We tried it two more nights and both nights the other couple was more than 20 minutes late for dinner. This put a real strain on the staff. They performed well, even under these circumstances but were treated like servants by our table mates. Since we love eating in the Lido, we chose to eat there the rest of the cruise rather than change tables or eat with our rude, inconsiderate new acquaintances.
There was a third couple at the table and they made the same decision after 4 nights. We knew the Lido Manager from a previous cruise and he treated us like royalty, so that made the Lido even more enjoyable. Many of the workers in the Lido remembered our name after only one day. The buffets there were excellent and the evening meal was wonderful. We did not eat in the Pinnacle and noticed some evenings there were not many people dining there. One night they did offer a special 'Sommelier's Dinner' at $75 per person and that night sold out. It included wine with each of 6 or 7 courses.

Casino: They had the cutest small craps table. At first they seemed to be giving away money but that changed later in the cruise. We did enjoy the friendly staff in the casino. Daytimes and several evenings their tables had only a $3 minimum. One night the casino was totally non-smoking.

Shore Excursions: Sometimes we toured on our own and sometimes we took the ship's excursions. We were very pleased with the shore excursions that we purchased from H.A. Also, the shore excursion staff was very helpful and seemed to be open longer hours than on some ships. The port lecturer (not shopping--no recommended stores on this cruise) was extremely helpful. She gave a talk on each port and it was well attended.
She gave lots of info that would help you if you decided to do the port on your own. She is also the one that narrated the scenic cruising. Even though she was a part of the Shore Excursion Staff, she also was there to assist the independent traveler.

Entertainment: They did a good job in providing a wide variety of evening etertainment. In Edinburgh, we had a folkloric show. The singers and dancers for the Prinsendam were probably better than on most ships. That is usually not our favorite kind of show but we went to two of them this cruise. They showed very good current movies in the theatre and seemed to have good movies on TV also. There were two lecturers on for the entire cruise and they were very popular. We enjoyed their lectures on the areas we were traveling to, the people of the regions and the wildlife.
Catholic, Protestant and Jewish services were held on the ship.

Passengers: The passengers were mostly retirees. There were a few young people on board and the kids program was operating and they seemed to be having a wonderful time together. The few young couples that were on board also seemed to be enjoying themselves. There were many more Europeans on board than we usually see on Holland America. We wondered it they had a last minute sale in the Netherlands to fill the ship. I know I did not see any reduction in price here in the States. Of course, it was such a different itinerary, and was round-trip Amsterdam so that would attract local people.

Itinerary: Fabulous itinerary. The ports in Norway and Iceland were so clean, the air was crisp and we had the best weather we could ask for. Bad weather could really make or break this cruise. The scenic cruising of the fjords with so many glaciers was a bonus we did not expect.

Pools and Hot Tubs: They were used even though we were on a very northern itinerary. In fact they had a "Swim the Arctic Circle" event and we have our certificate to prove that we were in the water at that time.

Self-Service Laundry: Thank goodness for this. I always wondered why people washed clothes on their first day of a cruise. Now I know, they have been traveling for 3 weeks before they get on the ship. We made good use of the self-service facilities. They have 2 laundries on the ship. The washers and dryers are free.............yes, free. And get this, they also furnish the detergent. Also 2 ironing boards and irons in each laundry room.

Disembarkation: Disembarkation was very smooth. Numbers were being called by 8 am and people were smoothly moving off the ship. We got a taxi when we left the ship. We find it is usually cheaper than the ship's shuttle. This time due to construction we had to take a long way around to the airport. Our driver tried to get to us with a much higher price than he had told us. We eventually agreed on a price and it was still less than the price of the shuttle times 2.

Impression: We LOVED this ship and this itinerary was very special. The ports were wonderful. We would do it again in a minute. Good job HOLLAND AMERICA.

Caribbean Cruise Reviewed by Laurie

We had an inside cabin that seemed small and beautiful. There seemed to be plenty of storage space. Loved the TV. Plenty of lights. Comfortable beds, with plenty of space to slide luggage underneath. Bathroom is small. In closet safe. The absence of sunlight was not immediately noticeable. But this is why you should sell up. We boarded in NY, and the weather was chilly and overcast. We started sailing, but we did not know where we were going. I assumed we would stay close to NY, and I packed accordingly. I woke up that first morning and dressed warmly, only to go out on deck and be greeted with sun and warm breezes. We were sailing south and were around the Virginia beach area! I had no clue in my cabin that it was even sunny, never mind warm! When you are in an inside cabin, the only way to know the temp, or to feel the warm breezes is to get dressed, do your hair, grab the elevator and go out on deck. We never met our cabin steward.

The ship itself is big, however, I found it very easy to navigate. I usually need 3-4 days before I can know where I am on a ship. I did not have that problem this time. The decor is beautiful and pleasing. Spaces are clean and bright. I found the food in the Windjammer was just OK, although I did enjoy all of my meals in dining room without any complaints. I did not have any service issues from the staff. I did observe several people being rude to staff. At one of the bars another person was red faced with anger because the ship was out of pina colada mix. Or another was berating the staff for a 1 hour wait at Johnny Rockets. This happened on more than one occasion. The staff I observed were trying their best to explain that demand for everything was at unusually high levels because there was no cost to consume these items weather drink mixes, internet access, or milk shakes. Management onboard explained to the group that met for "common ground" that these shortages would not be an issue with a regular sailing because these items have a price and people have 7 days to try the various offerings. This makes sense to me, and I will not hesitate to send my clients.

The flow rider is a great innovation. Me and my sister both tried this twice. I was one of the ones suffering from "Wardrobe Malfunctions", as my bottoms really wanted to go where my body did not. First hand, I can tell you that once you let go of the boogie board to pull up you bottoms, you will be forcefully thrown into the rear wall. The rear wall is a heavily padded abrupt stopping point. I did not realize it until a day later, but I have a very large angry bruise on one of my hips from my second attempt on the flow rider. My sister also has a bruise on her knee. It was a lot of fun, and I would of tried it again and again if I had more time. Your clients will have a better time if they have a secure bathing suit. There is such a large audience watching this attraction they will feel better if they are prepared, and you will look better having prepared them!

The children's areas are expansive and have something for everyone. Even the very youngest babies can take advantage of aqua tots and aqua babies. These are scheduled play groups with parents and children under 3, designed by Fisher Price. The scheduled times are located in the Compass on a routine sailing. Staff said it is usually well attended, and that parents got to know each other during these meetings. The arcade is quite large, and always had people in it. Fuel looks like a great place for teens to hang out. The place was always thumping with music that I did not recognize which should mean that the teens will love it. I took home the information sheets on the other kids programs and showed them to my daughters who will sail for the first time in December. They want to do every activity listed, with each one sounding better than the last. The staff also mentioned that they do "field trips" with some of the kids. An example would be dinner at Johnny Rockets. Parents must give permission for and sign up for this type of activity in advance of the activity, but during the cruise. Another item worth noting is that parents are instructed to go to their muster stations in the event of an emergency. They are told not to go to get their kids at the program, that their kids will be escorted by staff to the muster stations. If parents go to the program areas, they will find them empty.

The H2O zone is simply wonderful. All parents will be happy with this space. The only difficulty I can see it that it is possible that those in diapers will still be excluded. The H2O zone is an area ankle deep with water. There are whimsical and colorful statues of people, animals, and random shapes that squirt water, dump buckets, and randomly spray. There are even water cannons that can be used by kids/adults to wet their targets. The area is large and fun to explore. It is appropriate for kids and adults. Around the outside are several whirlpools. I envision parents sitting in the pools while supervising their kids in the H2O zone. All of this water wonderland drains into vents at the sides of the attraction. There are also several smaller pools of different depths right there. What I could not know is if the water is "shared" or "re-circulated" into the other pools, or if it is just contained to the H2O area. There are signs at the entrance to the pools at the H2O zone that clearly say no children who are not potty trained. Because it is such a large area with several entrances it was hard to figure out if the no diaper rule will be enforced in the H20 zone as well. I was not able to ask any person that would know the answer onboard. If any other agents have insight into this, I would love to hear it. The space is so inviting and just begs to be explored. I don't know how parents could possible keep the smallest cruisers away.

Once Upon a Time was the best and most imaginative show I have seen at sea. Well done and not to be missed. The Ice show and ABBAcadabra were also very good. The dedicated Karaoke space was a big hit and well attended. During regular sailings they will have Idol Karaoke, complete with judges. Should be a great time. I had fun watching. The parade was neat, especially the moving bridge that was descending as entertainers were twirling and hanging from the thing. Entertainment was everywhere, it was impossible to see and do everything, although I certainly tried. I only slept a total of 7 hours the whole trip.

I asked at the front desk about the Wine Program, where you can purchase wine packages on the first day of sailing and consume bottles at will during the trip. I have several clients that wanted details about the wines and pricing in advance of the sailing. Initially I was told to look in cruisingpower. I explained that I did, and could not find details. The staff then attempted to locate it themselves on cruisingpower, and seeing it was not there, proceeded to make several phone calls to get the information. The ships brochures had not been delivered yet. The staff then arranged an email, and printed the brochure for me from the email. They truly bent over backwards and tried very hard to get me the information. I was thrilled. We were also able to meet Bonnie Newman, and spoke with the person who designed the new dining tool that was launched while we were onboard.

Finally, it was fabulous to finally sail upon a Royal Caribbean ship, and the "largest cruise ship on the earth", as my 4 year old told others.

Monarch Christmas Cruise Reviewed by Lucy

Cabin - We had 2 cabins on the deck 5, the Showtime deck and while they were small (140sf), they were large enough for 2 per cabin. Our bed was made into a double and stayed made up that way for the rest of the week. Our daughters? beds were made up as single couches during the day and beds at night. Our bed was quite comfortable and really felt larger than a double. Our beds also didn?t tend to slide apart since they were made up as a double. The beds on are Carnival were just pushed together and made up as singles. There were lots of plastic hangers in the closet with separate hanging spaces for dresses, shirts and slacks. The vanity had two sets of small drawers for a total of 6 drawers and it also had two mirrored cabinets above it which had storage space in them. However, if you put much on the vanity, you?d block these cabinets. There was no safe in the room. The bathroom had a built-in shampoo dispenser with nice-smelling coconut shampoo in it. It also came with little soaps. The bathroom was pretty small and the shower had that annoying curtain that sticks to you every time you move, but, overall, it wasn?t too bad.
The TV in the cabin was a 13-inch (maybe 15-inch) and mounted up on the wall opposite the vanity. It had a pretty good selection of cable/satellite channels, including the ever-popular channels which replay ship events. Also, the movies shown at the movie theater also showed all day on the TV. And, several of the movies were shown all day in Spanish. Finally, most of the cabins I saw were decorated in blue or peach pastels and were very easy on the eyes.
Nice touches: plenty of hangers, lots of drawer/cabinet storage, comfortable beds and pretty décor. Misses: no robes, small bathroom, no safe, no blow dryer and we couldn?t ever seem to get our room as cool as we liked it, whereas our daughters next to us froze. Luckily, we?d brought a small fan, so we were always pretty comfortable.
Once again, the view from our room was through a large but rather dirty window. It was nice to have the window, but the view was definitely not improved by the dirt and water streaks. Finally, all the cabins on this ship occupy the front of the ship, with public areas to the back of the ship. This means no matter where you are, you?re probably on the same deck as a public area. That never caused us any problems and we were on the same deck as the shops, casino and one of the lounges. We walked down 2 decks to the restaurant and 1 deck to the purser?s desk, main lobby etc. We did always take the elevators to the pool decks ? 9, 10 and 11 - but it was still very easy to get around.
Clothing-We had brought nice clothes for the two formal nights, and mostly pants for the other nights. I found formal nights were dressier than on Carnival, but still not that dressy. Most men wore jackets and ties and a few even wore tuxes, but my husband wore a jacket and polo shirt on one Formal night and really didn?t look out of place. I brought less clothes on this cruise than on the last and was still fine. Other than formal nights, I couldn?t really tell when there were semi-formal, theme nights, etc. ? if they were, there weren?t enough people dressing that way for me to figure it out. I typically wore nice pants and blouses for dinner. During the day, I was in shorts and sandals and usually wore a visor to keep from getting sun-burned. . We really enjoyed the 75-85 degree weather. since it was pretty cold when we left Texas (20s-40s).
Passengers ? Although this was a Christmas cruise and they said the ship was full, it never seemed crowded and I didn?t feel packed in like we did on Carnival. We didn?t notice huge crowds of kids or really any particular age group. It just seemed like a good mix. Also, since this ship visits so many ports, you don?t have 3 days to spend with your fellow passengers so we didn?t get as much interaction with each other as we had on other cruises.
Children/Teen Programs ? We had our two teenager girls and, unfortunately, the 16-year-old was sick with the flu for most of the cruise. The 14-year-old participated some in the teen program, but other than having their own teen disco, she didn?t feel like the program was as good as the one on Carnival. She found a group to hang out with and they spent time together in the evenings. Having both girls in the cabin next to us (rather than down the hall and around the corner, like last cruise) made it much easier to keep up with them. We just made sure we gave the 14-year-old curfews and things went much more smoothly than the last cruise where we never knew where she was. I also brought 3 walkie-talkies, which we rarely used. Maybe if we?d had more at-sea days.
Service - We enjoyed our waiter, busboy and room steward. Most of room stewards were Jamaican but the food servers were more mixed nationalities ? Romanian, Jamaican, Indian ? the whole range. We tipped our steward and the waiters the recommended amount which really added up for 4 of us. We also tipped the Head Waiter and the Wine Steward $15 each because we saw quite a lot of them throughout the cruise. The Head Waiter was a strange fellow with some kind of German accent who reminded us of Hannibal Lecter in his prissiness. But, he was at our table almost every night with something silly to say and helped cut food and serve, so we felt he deserved some kind of tip. Also, on Christmas Day, I gave our waiter, assistant waiter and room steward $5 and $10 phone cards. They were really happy to get them and planned to use them in San Juan to call home.
Food - There were two dinning rooms: the Flower Drum Song (4th deck) and the Brigadoon (3rd deck), with main or late seating. We were assigned main seating in the Brigadoon at a table for 8 in the very front of the dining room by the window. Both dining rooms were pretty much the same. I never saw much congestion waiting to get into either dining room except for the late seatings. But then again, I?ve learned to show up at the dining room about 5 minutes after it opens and you never have to wait. Also, I still hold with my theory have a theory either cabins category or early booking means you get window seats in the dining room ? I just haven?t figured out which it is.
The food was better than the Norwegian or Carnival food. Also, the waiters were still very generous if you wanted additional appetizers, entrees or desserts. I had a few times that I didn?t like an item ? they immediately got me a different one. Also, I enjoyed the Shrimp Scampi and Lobster so much, they brought extra servings. The people who sat with us at our table came in 15-30 minutes late every night. So, we usually had to wait a little for them to catch up to our entrees, but it wasn?t too bad.
We ate in the dining room for all evening meals ? the food was that good. We also ate there for a few lunch meals, but they were open seating most of the time and although the food was still good, it wasn?t as good as the evening meals. We ate all our breakfasts and some lunches in the Windjammer Cafe which was pretty mediocre, but sunny and airy. Something funny about Royal is that they don?t have food available all the time ? no 24-hour pizzeria, like Carnival and if you wanted a snack after 10pm, sometimes, no food areas were open. We could always have used room service, but we never tried it. Finally, there were rarely lines for meals in the Windjammer.
As for purchasing drinks, we brought a bottle of rum and some 2-liter bottles of Coke and made some drinks for the room. We also bought a few drinks at the shows and mostly bought some bottles of wine at dinner. We brought a nice bottle of wine from home for one meal and they opened it for a $10 corkage fee. That was a little hard to take, but I got really irritated when I won a bottle of champagne at an art auction and they told me I?d still have to pay the $10 corkage fee since they didn?t sell that particular brand on their wine list.
Activities/Shows ? We went to 2 of the evening shows ? 5 days in port tends to wear you out in the evening. The shows we saw were quite enjoyable. One featured a comedian I?d seen on HBO and he was very funny. The other show was a set of acts, including a ventriloquist, and it was also very funny. Sightlines were fine in the showroom and you didn?t have to get there 30-45 minutes early. We were there 15-20 minutes before and still got pretty good seats.
I love to gamble, so I spent a lot of time in the casino. They had about 15 blackjack tables, all at a $5 minimum, a couple of Caribbean Stud tables, a Roulette tables and a Craps table. There were about 250 slot machines. The casino was never very crowded. They had some fun contests ? blackjack tournaments, slot tournaments, etc. and I played those a few times. I didn?t do much on the slot machines, but I had some good luck at Blackjack and Caribbean Stud ? however, note that the bonus payoffs for high hands in Caribbean Stud are much lower than in normal casinos.
I went to Art Auctions on three different days and bought a few pieces. I ended up getting a small island print just by volunteering a price of $50 for it ? I decided later on that I didn?t like it that much, but it was too late by that time. So, moral, don?t bid on items unless you REALLY like them. We also purchased two more Salvador Dali prints from Dante?s Inferno at very reasonable prices. But, the prices on different Dali prints varied greatly, so we really had to be choosy based on price. One auction day, they gave me so much champagne that I came to dinner afterwards quite tipsy. I learned to watch my intake after that. We also went to the Art Auction on the last day of the cruise when the prices of everything are about as low as they?re going to go. This last-day auction was different in that they had all the paintings that hadn?t been purchased previously and told us to just go pick out what we liked, bring it to the front and they would auction each piece of art at rock-bottom prices ? rock-bottom being their term ? I found that their version of rock-bottom and mine were quite different. We ended up purchasing our 2nd Dali print at this auction for $300. So, all in all, we really like our two Dali prints but could have done without the $50 print.
Ports and Shore Excursions ? We did 3 shore excursions in 5 ports through Royal. I?m getting to where I?m just not very fond of packaged shore excursions. I always end up feeling like I?m in a herd of cattle being shuttled from place to place. Also, paying for 4 shore excursions at a time can add up to some serious money. We ended up doing two of them with all of us and one with just my husband and I. They were OK but I didn?t really ?love? any of them.
One other note, Royal does allow you to ?check out? beach towels before you exit the ship. Then, you turn them in when you return. And, I use the term ?beach towel? loosely ? they were more like large bath towels. They weren?t big enough to lay on and after the first day, we always took 2 per person. Carnival and Norwegian both provided really nice beach towels, so of course, this was the first cruise where I didn?t bring my own large beach towels. Drat.
St. Thomas ? We arrived in St. Thomas on Christmas Day and since my daughter was ill, we really didn?t want to do a shore excursion. So, we got off the ship around 9am and walked to some of the shops nearby. We then walked a few blocks to the entrance for the sky-tram to the top of the hill/mountain that overlooks the port. It cost $12/person to take a round-trip ride and it was wonderful. It was a crystal-clear day and we could see all over the island. They also had a snack-bar and a few shops up there, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the view. We then went back down and had lunch on the ship. Then, my non-sick daughter and I decided to go to Megan?s Bay. The taxi ride cost $6 each, each way, and then it cost $3 each to get in. So, the total cost was $15/person. However, the beach was unbelievably crowded and we each had one tiny Royal Caribbean beach towel which we tried to lay on amongst the multitude. The water was OK, but nothing special and we were rather disappointed with Megan?s Bay.
St. Maarten ? St. Maarten was the only port that required a tender and I?ve heard that they?ve now finished the pier there, so it no longer needs tender service. Again, we didn?t do a shore excursion here. We got on the tender around 9:30am and faced a large line. However, we broke in line and pretended ignorance and got on the tender within 15 minutes. Yes, I felt guilty, but not guilty enough to wait an hour. We could have avoided the long line had we come later ? like around 10:30 or 11:00. Once on shore, we shopped a little and were constantly asked if we wanted a taxi. We said, ?No, no, no, no? and kept shopping. The shopping was very good at St. Maarten. Then, we walked further down the beach and found some chairs with an umbrella in front of a Chinese restaurant called Captain?s or something. A guy came out immediately and said that we could rent four chairs for $10 and the umbrella for $5. We agreed and asked where we could change. He showed us to a small bathroom in the restaurant and we changed there ? I?d recommend you just wear your bathing suit under your clothes and then you don?t have to worry about changing. Anyway, the water was a beautiful blue and we played at the beach for about 2 hours and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We then tendered back to the ship, ate lunch and spent the rest of the day on the ship.
Antigua ?We did a 1/2 day tour of Antigua - Historical Antigua, I think - and it was OK, nothing special. I'd have probably enjoyed going to a beach more. We did learn many interesting facts about Antigua ? they have 32,000 people that live on Antigua and were hit very hard by the hurricane in ?95. Of their total population, about 200 men are in jail and live in very primitive conditions. Crime is low because everyone knows everyone else. Our tour went to Nelson?s Dockyard which I didn?t find very interesting but they had a very cheap liquor shop on the site where I bought a small bottle of Cavalier rum for about $2. It?s great rum ? try it. In the afternoon, we shopped in town, an other than the thousands of ?Do you need a taxi?? questions, shopping was pretty good ? not quite as good as St. Maaten, but better than Barbados later. Overall impression of Antigua ? very poor, but the people are nice and probably the beaches are very nice too. Lots of rich people estates there.
St. Lucia ? We did the Land and Sea tour on St. Lucia @$69/person for 4 of us. My main tip about this tour: make sure you're up in the 1st half of that tour group and you'll do Land in the morning and Sea in the afternoon. We were just behind the 1st half and ended up doing Sea and Land - I'll tell you, it's not that exciting having rum punch at 9am. Also, when they say they'll take you to a beach, they mean they'll take you to the middle of a cove and let you jump in the water and swim to the beach. Finally, St. Lucia vendors will swarm you every time you get off the tour bus, trying to sell bamboo and black stone necklaces. We said ?No, thank you.? dozens of time and got really tired of it. We had a pretty nice buffet lunch and then did our Land ride back. It was hilly and bumpy and noisy and pretty miserable. I don't know if I'd recommend this whole tour, but it's a good way to see the whole island - there's just not much of that island that's flat. I didn't like St. Lucia much but many other people loved it. Oh, well, maybe if we'd done Land and Sea instead of Sea and Land. We got back in time to do some shopping at the pier and I found a wonderful silk shirt in a shop for $32. Also, most of the stuff the vendors were selling was available in these shops ? at slightly higher prices. And, while they would take U.S. money, they didn?t want to make change and would often make change in Caribbean coins. Barbados ? In the morning, we took a taxi into town and shopped a little there. I didn?t enjoy the shopping as much there and we only shopped for about an hour. We caught a taxi back to the ship and had lunch. Then, in the afternoon, we did the Best of Barbados shore excursion w/Rum Distillery. I'd rather just have done Best of Barbados and skipped the Rum tour, but my husband really enjoyed it. Our bus driver was great and told us all about Barbados. I really liked Barbados - you can still sense the British influence there. Everyone is very polite. There are also many very nice resorts and living areas in Barbados.
At Sea ? Our last day was an at sea day and we were really ready for it. One of the daughters spent a lot of time by the pool and got burnt. I got in the pool for a while and then did the last art auction that afternoon. All in all, a very relaxing day.
Disembarkation - We got off the ship fairly quickly (by 9:30am) after waiting in a lounge for about an hour. Our flight wasn?t until 2:30 and we could?ve gone to Royal Caribbean Club, dropped off our bags and explored San Juan some before our flight out. But, we would have had to carry all our bags there or take a taxi and we just decided to take the Royal bus straight to the airport instead. We had transfer tickets for the bus but they never asked for them. Anyway, we got to the airport around 10:30 and waited. We already had boarding passes but found that it was a nightmare for people without them (anyone who did Royal?s air but didn?t do a deviation) since they had no seat assignments and all the computers were down. Also, the whole East Coast had been virtually closed down the night before due to snow, so I assume people were sleeping in the airport. Once we got on our flight, we were offered $400/person and overnight at a nice hotel to give up our seats and fly out the next day ? in other words, spend New Year?s Eve in San Juan and fly out on New Year?s day. But, we turned it down, being tired and not being able to stand the thought of getting all our bags off and packing and unpacking again. We returned to Dallas to find snow and ice and knew our vacation was officially over. Overall ? We enjoyed this Christmas cruise more than last one since this one started on Christmas Eve rather than December 19th. We didn?t feel like we missed all of Christmas week. Also, the weather much warmer in South Caribbean than in the Western and weather much colder at home, so it was a nice break to be in warm weather. We enjoyed visiting five ports but probably could have done without either Antigua or St. Lucia and had two at-sea days. I realized from doing these winter cruises that summer cruises, especially in the Southern Caribbean must be boiling hot and miserable. I don?t know if I could take a summer cruise there and I?m from hot, old Texas. Comparisons between Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean - Norwegian was classier than Carnival but comparable to Royal. However, Norwegian seemed stingier about their food than both other lines. Norwegian and Royal have more subdued interior decorating than Carnival. Norwegian seems to be the priciest of all three lines, with Royal next and Carnival coming in with the best prices. However, of the three lines, I liked Royal the best ? they were a good value, they were generous with their food, their food was exceptional and they didn?t seem crowded. However, Carnival is a great value with large, comfortable cabins. We enjoyed the larger ships on Royal and Carnival and probably wouldn?t go back to ships under 78,000 tons. Finally, Carnival seems to have the best kids? programs ? at least, according to our teenager. Finally, Norwegian?s theme cruises are very interesting.
We doing a 5-day cruise from New York to Canada and back in June on the Carnival Victory ? the prices were good enough that we could try out balconies on this cruise and we?ll get to see how crowded a 104,000 ton Carnival ship can feel.
Lucy Johnson!

Bahamas Cruise Reviewed by Gary

We are first time cruisers, aged 50 and 46. The most important thing I learned is not to believe everything I read on the internet. Several reviews of Sovereign of the Seas led me to believe the ship was "old" or "worn out" that there was no midnight buffet or that the food in the dining room is plain, and that the buffet restaurant is terrible. Take my review with a grain of salt, but I disagree strongly with every one of those complaints. We found the Sovereign to be nothing short of outstanding. Getting on and off the ship was handled very well, especially considering about 2500 people had to be accommodated. The "cheap" stateroom I booked (inside) was perfect for the two of us, with a closet, desk, TV, queen bed and a nice small bathroom - very clean and well kept. The ship itself is beautiful - We never saw the slightest hint that it is "old" or "worn out". The atrium is beautiful, with polished brass and wo! od, and all of the carpeting throughout the ship looked new. We never even saw a rust spot. We had been assigned late dining in the Kismet dining room, and when I asked for a change to early dining, RCCL accommodated us. The food was restaurant quality, and the service was impeccable (our waiter, Sahin, was simply the best). I had received advice that the portions were small, and that I should consider requesting two entrees or two appetizers. The advice was wrong, and the portions were just right. On formal night we ate in the Windjammer buffet restaurant , as we didn't want the bother of having to take dressy clothes with us. The food in the buffet was good, but those who complain about the quality of the food in the buffet need to be reminded that it's a "buffet restaurant", and I don't think anyone should expect gourmet food there (has anyone ever had "great" food in a buffet restaurant?). But it was fresh and decent. The entertainment wasn't the greatest, but it ! was OK. There was a comedian who was very funny when he did his "clean" act, but when he did his "adult" act late on the last night, I though he fell flat. Anyway, it was a welcome change from the other fairly innocuous shows. Nassau is not much to see - just a dirty little city with a market where little kids beg for dollars. We went on the sail and snorkel tour, which was fine - a real nice catamaran with a not so nice crew. They didn't seem to care much if you had a good time or not. But the water was nice, with decent fish life, but the coral looked pretty bad. My guess is that the pollution from the bay has had a bad effect, and I'm sure the reef gets too many visitors. Royal Caribbean did a lousy job of organizing the tours - they told us to go into the cinema and sit to wait, and as soon as we sat, they told us all (3 different tours - probably 150 people) to get up and disembark all at once. Total chaos. They do this enough that they should have a much better s! ystem. We absolutely loved Coco Cay, RCCL's island, which was the second day stop. The beaches are spectacular, and the water is crystal clear and blue/green. Our only complaint about Coco is the constant harangue by the beach waiters to buy "CocoLoco's", the tropical drink of choice on the island. Believe me, if you go you will get tired of hearing them yell or sing out "Get your Cocoloco's here", but that minor complaint doesn't overcome the beauty of this island. I think $26 is way too much to rent a mask, snorkel and fins, but since I didn't pay it, I won't complain about it. The process of taking water taxis from the ship to shore and back again went without a hitch - very impressive. The shipboard casino is nice (but for the purpose of full disclosure, the reader should know that I like it because I left with $100 of their money). It was busy just after each dining room let its diners out, but you could usually get a $5 blackjack table when you wanted one. We sa! w at least one midnight buffet (we weren't hungry), and they had a chocolate buffet on the third night that everyone raved about (who can eat chocolate at 12:30PM?). And other nights at about 11:00PM there were hot and cold finger foods. Be forewarned though, the drink prices are steep, and they add 15% to every bill from the bar. A bottle of Bud costs about $3.50, which can really add up over 4 days. And the Coco Locos go for about $6-7. But in spite of the few complaints I have, I recommend this cruise to almost anyone - there were kids, young adults, middle aged people and senior citizens, who all seemed to be having a good time. We're planning next year's cruise on RCCL already. Oh, and one last bit of advice - don't play the bingo - it cost me $40 for the two of us to play, and thank god there were only 5 games. To pay so much to be bored so much - I guess a fool and his money ARE soon parted. Go ahead, take this cruise. You'll be glad you did.