Cruise 2007

Jean O'Boyle wrote:

> ANSWERED INLINE:
> "Tom K" <tkanitra@> wrote in message
> news:SuX6f.18182$fn.4127@fe08.lga...
>
>
>>So you don't want her to explore other lines? Other ships?
>
>
> Tom, of course I do..but she was basing her decision strictly because she
> saw a post saying, "Stay away from Carnival!"
> Hardly a good reason for staying away from a cruise line that she previously
> had a *ball* on!
>
>
>>Wow... and you said I was too young to stick with things that I was
>>comfortable with.
>
>
> And you are!! This is to be Kathy's second cruise...big difference..look
> how many you have taken and your needle is stuck on a Celebrity-Princess
> record! Maybe with CDs being popular now, many of the readers here have
> forgotten about record players with needles! ;-)
> At your age, you should still be adventurous and inquisitive to give other
> ships and lines a try! Live dangerously.! ;-) You only go around once..It's
> like eating the same thing from a menu everyday because it is your
> favorite...Dullsville! I intend to try as many lines as I can before I go
> down fighting! Makes life much more fun! ;-)
>
>
>>If you can switch from Carnival to NCL to Celebrity to Princess to HAL to
>>MSC, then WHY can't Kathy?
>
>
> Didn't say she couldn't; I only pointed out not to make a decision just
> because of one post that she read..
>
>
>
>>Or do you feel that Kathy's cruise experiences should be limited to only
>>Carnival?
>>Are you really looking out for Kathy's interests? Or are you just trying
>>to put as many people on Carnival as you can?
>
>
> Thomas, Thomas, Thomas!! WHEN are you going to *let go* and get over with
> your one unpleasant cruise on Carnival?...Is it fair for you to judge ALL of
> Carnival because of the 5 day cruise you took, years ago, on one of her
> ships? Hey, I could bring up the terrible, smelly, smoky and dirty cabin,
> linens and dining room furniture on the Zenith in 2003. They had to change
> out the linens completely and wash down the cabin walls TWICE, to get rid of
> the odor. The frayed and soiled bedspreads had blood stains and a nail
> polish spill; the carpeting was also very soiled, but have you ever see me
> jump on someone and discourage them because they are booking a Celebrity
> cruise? Of course not...it would be ridiculous to judge all of Celebrity
> because of one ship or cruise... In fact, I am taking the Celebrity
> Infinity next February...I hold no grudges...
> Heck, no two ships are alike; in fact, no two voyages on the very same ship
> are alike! And by the way, if anyone has never read of this experience
> before...we STILL had a great time on the Zenith!
>
> WHY would I be trying to put as many people on Carnival as I can? I don't
> work for them; but we have taken ten cruises on Carnival and speak from our
> experiences....Kathy asked for suggestions and since she enjoyed her cruise
> on the Victory so much, evidently she prefers with that type of
> atmosphere...why discourage her?..I'd just advise her to try a different
> ship on Carnival or even on any other line if she wishes, just to *taste the
> difference*!
>
> --Jean

Whoa, Jean. I sure hate to see all that stuff about the Zenith. We loved
that ship, and our waiter was the BEST. We did a Panama canal transit on this
ship, and she had just come out of dry dock with a makeover. Everything was
wonderful except that the work was still going on at the hot tub. We had a
great canal cruise, on a fantastic ship. I think that was in 1997.

Ermalee <---sorry the Zenith ever got into the condition Jean found her

"Kath G" <Kaths47@> wrote in message
news:8383-435BFD97-737@storefull-3218.bay....
> Hi,
> I am planning a Cruise for me and my bf to go on in feb of 2007 and i
> had gone on carnival victory and i had a ball (was my first cruise) but
> i saw in a post that someone said stay away from carnival ..Yes i will
> say there were a lot of kids on the cruise i went on but there are
> people of all ages... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated..
> Thank Kathy

Well Kathy you have been dissed by the best............This group is all
about themselves, as you can see.

"Jean O'Boyle" <j.oboyle@removefudged.> wrote in message
news:9Q_6f.7363$Zv5.2262@newssvr25.news.prodigy.ne t...
> >
> Erm, we need to get Tom on a cruise with us and hypnotize him into
> forgetting about his cruise on the Destiny!
> Between the two of us and a few martinis, it might just be accomplished!
> ;-D
> Tom, sign up for the MSC Opera with us! That's a new cruise line for you..
> And with all the baseball players on board, it will be great fun! Bring
> Charles, Ben and Claudine with you!


Could always use a few martinis, but alas I've run out of vacation time for
next year.

Already have a 2 week Baltics cruise booked, have the Viking cruise booked,
have the SGC booked, and about 12 guys at work want me to plan us a golf
cruise to Bermuda next spring.

Out of that list, something most likely will have to drop. The MSC sounds
the most interesting though. From a ship perspective I'd probably be more
interested in that ship than the Grand Princess sister ship for the SGC,
since I didn't really care for the GrandP.

--Tom

"Ermalee McCauley" <greatgrandma@.> wrote in message >>
>
> Whoa, Jean. I sure hate to see all that stuff about the Zenith. We loved
> that ship, and our waiter was the BEST. We did a Panama canal transit on
> this ship, and she had just come out of dry dock with a makeover.
> Everything was
> wonderful except that the work was still going on at the hot tub. We had
> a great canal cruise, on a fantastic ship. I think that was in 1997.
>
> Ermalee <---sorry the Zenith ever got into the condition Jean found her

Erm, it's the honest truth..that is the way we found our cabin in August of
2003..The rest of the ship was fine except for the badly soiled upholstery
on the dining room chair backs..I especially liked her size and as I said,
we had a great time on her!...For all I know, we just drew the worst
cabin...but you know that it had to be bad if they washed the walls down and
after inspection by the ship's people; it still smelled and they had to do
it a second time! You were lucky since she had just come out of dry dock and
was a newer ship when you took her!

--Jean

Ermalee McCauley wrote:
> Jean O'Boyle wrote:
>
>> ANSWERED INLINE:
>> "Tom K" <tkanitra@> wrote in message
>> news:SuX6f.18182$fn.4127@fe08.lga...
>>
>>
>>> So you don't want her to explore other lines? Other ships?
>>
>>
>>
>> Tom, of course I do..but she was basing her decision strictly because
>> she saw a post saying, "Stay away from Carnival!"
>> Hardly a good reason for staying away from a cruise line that she
>> previously had a *ball* on!
>>
>>
>>> Wow... and you said I was too young to stick with things that I was
>>> comfortable with.
>>
>>
>>
>> And you are!! This is to be Kathy's second cruise...big
>> difference..look how many you have taken and your needle is stuck on a
>> Celebrity-Princess record! Maybe with CDs being popular now, many of
>> the readers here have forgotten about record players with needles! ;-)
>> At your age, you should still be adventurous and inquisitive to give
>> other ships and lines a try! Live dangerously.! ;-) You only go
>> around once..It's like eating the same thing from a menu everyday
>> because it is your favorite...Dullsville! I intend to try as many
>> lines as I can before I go down fighting! Makes life much more fun! ;-)
>>
>>
>>> If you can switch from Carnival to NCL to Celebrity to Princess to
>>> HAL to MSC, then WHY can't Kathy?
>>
>>
>>
>> Didn't say she couldn't; I only pointed out not to make a decision
>> just because of one post that she read..
>>
>>
>>
>>> Or do you feel that Kathy's cruise experiences should be limited to
>>> only Carnival?
>>> Are you really looking out for Kathy's interests? Or are you just
>>> trying to put as many people on Carnival as you can?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thomas, Thomas, Thomas!! WHEN are you going to *let go* and get over
>> with your one unpleasant cruise on Carnival?...Is it fair for you to
>> judge ALL of Carnival because of the 5 day cruise you took, years ago,
>> on one of her ships? Hey, I could bring up the terrible, smelly,
>> smoky and dirty cabin, linens and dining room furniture on the Zenith
>> in 2003. They had to change out the linens completely and wash down
>> the cabin walls TWICE, to get rid of the odor. The frayed and soiled
>> bedspreads had blood stains and a nail polish spill; the carpeting was
>> also very soiled, but have you ever see me jump on someone and
>> discourage them because they are booking a Celebrity cruise? Of
>> course not...it would be ridiculous to judge all of Celebrity because
>> of one ship or cruise... In fact, I am taking the Celebrity Infinity
>> next February...I hold no grudges...
>> Heck, no two ships are alike; in fact, no two voyages on the very same
>> ship are alike! And by the way, if anyone has never read of this
>> experience before...we STILL had a great time on the Zenith!
>>
>> WHY would I be trying to put as many people on Carnival as I can? I
>> don't work for them; but we have taken ten cruises on Carnival and
>> speak from our experiences....Kathy asked for suggestions and since
>> she enjoyed her cruise on the Victory so much, evidently she prefers
>> with that type of atmosphere...why discourage her?..I'd just advise
>> her to try a different ship on Carnival or even on any other line if
>> she wishes, just to *taste the difference*!
>>
>> --Jean
>
>
> Whoa, Jean. I sure hate to see all that stuff about the Zenith. We
> loved that ship, and our waiter was the BEST. We did a Panama canal
> transit on this ship, and she had just come out of dry dock with a
> makeover. Everything was
> wonderful except that the work was still going on at the hot tub. We
> had a great canal cruise, on a fantastic ship. I think that was in 1997.
>
> Ermalee <---sorry the Zenith ever got into the condition Jean found her

Ermalee, We were with Jean on the Zenith, SGC2003, and our cabin was
just fine. I think it was just bad luck, that Jean and Ed had such a
dirty/smelly cabin.

sue

Jean O'Boyle wrote:

> , That has to have changed or else Carnival would not be having the very
> good food that they are serving now..There is such a difference from the
> days that we took the Elation, Jubilee, Destiny, (2) Inspiration,
> Celebration, Sensation and Paradise cruises in 1997-2001..We took the Pride
> and Conquest (2002, 2004) since and what a difference for the better...
> Unbelievable!

So, the question is, is all the good food being served only on the new
builds or are the improvements in food fleet-wide? If I were to cruise
on Paradise or Jubilee now, would the food be like what you experienced
4 + years ago or would it be more like what you've experienced more
recently on the newer ships? I think this is an important point to
make, especially for the OP's sake. His/her (can't remember) first
Carnival experience was on conquest, which, from all accounts I've
read, falls into the new and improved Carnival category. Is the OP that
up to date with Carnival's offerings that they'll understant that
Carnival is, essentially, not offering the same product fleet-wide?

I've only been on one Carnival cruise, Paradise several years ago, and
I was not at all impressed with the food. But, with all the buzz on rtc
about the "new" Carnival, I'm giving them another go...this time on
Miracle. Looking forward to the cruise, keeping a very open mind, but
am also keeping my expectations well in check.

Lee

If you want to go on Carnival I would go ahead. I cruised on HAL and
even though there were less kids, they were a pain. It all depends on
the parental supervision. So I don't really think it matters.

Kath G wrote:

> i saw in a post that someone said stay away from carnival ..Yes i will
> say there were a lot of kids on the cruise i went on but there are
> people of all ages...

Welcome to the newsgroup, Kathy. Here, you will find people with
different opinions. Keep reading the newsgroup, you will learn a lot.

Carnival is fun and I enjoy cruising with them, but it is nice to try
different cruise lines. Why not, you will be trying them all,
eventually. <g>

When cruising on Norwegian and Princess, you can dine anytime you want
to. I enjoy cruising with them for that reason. Some people enjoy it,
while other people prefer traditional dining.

People of all ages will enjoy any cruise line, but some cruise lines are
better suited for different age groups. Younger folks gravitate towards
RCI and Carnival, the older folks choose HAL, Princess and Celebrity.
Norwegian is drifting around somewhere in the middle.

You mentioned children on cruise ships. From my experience, there were
more children on Royal Caribbean. If you want to avoid children, choose
late seating at dinner.

Becca

PattyC wrote:

> I am leaving for a Princess cruise later this week. One of my
> friends is COMMITTED to Princess, so I thought I'd give it a try. If
> I had more money, I'd cruise twice a year. ..

Patty, I enjoy Carnival and Princess. When you get home, please let us
know how you liked it.

Becca

LeeNY wrote:

> I've only been on one Carnival cruise, Paradise several years ago,
> and I was not at all impressed with the food. But, with all the buzz
> on rtc about the "new" Carnival, I'm giving them another go...this
> time on Miracle. Looking forward to the cruise, keeping a very open
> mind, but am also keeping my expectations well in check.

You are keeping an open mind, so you have the right attitude. I did not
care for Celebrity but I am trying them again in February. Like you, I
will keep an open mind. I focus on the positives but sometimes the
negatives try to wiggle in. Who knows, Celebrity may turn out to be my
favorite cruise line.

Carnival has the same menu in the dining room on all of their ships,
AFAIK. The difference in the old ships/new ships, is the buffet. The
buffet on new ships give you a variety of options, so chances are you
will find something you like. The older ships simply do not have enough
space for all of these buffets.

The new ships have an Asian buffet, there is a Nation-Of-The-Day buffet,
where the food will Greek one day, Italian the next, etc. There is a
Rotisserie and they have a New York style deli, I really enjoy the food
here, they are open from 11:00-11:00. They have an American buffet and
there is Fish & Chips. There are salad bars and dessert bars. Their
grill has hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries. Carnival's pizza is
available 24 hours a day, I like their pizza better than the pizza on
Princess. Frozen yogurt and soft serve ice cream is available 24 hours
a day.

Carnival's specialty restaurant, Nick and Nora's, is the best I have
tried on any cruise line. If you get the opportunity, you should give
them a try.

One thing I did not like about the Miracle is the decor in the dining
room. On top of that, the maitre 'd kept making announcements at the
end of every meal. It was annoying. Other than that, I had a wonderful
time on the Miracle.

Lee, I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Becca