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abridalmaven
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Posted: Fri Jun 23rd, 2006 04:34 am | 1st Post |
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Keep in mind this is my own opinion and I am sure there are others
who disagree but this is how I felt about our cruise. I must say it
was one of the best I have ever been on and my husband and I had fun.
But I also say we do not recall ever having a bad time on any
vacation as long as we are with or make friends. We feel any trip is
what you make of it.
Wow what can I say about this ship except awesome! When we got into
port and got to the terminal we were met by members of the pink boa
society and had fun even before we got on the ship. Capt. Kangaroo
(a CC member on our roll call) gave us all trinkets to start our
party. As a group we were on an elevator and when it opened up with
all of the pink boas inside, I think we scared the heck out of an old
lady who was going to enter. We went up to the pool deck to check out
the hot tubs and then on to the buffet.
At the sailaway there was not boats to escort us out, but we did have
a spectacular rainbow as we were leaving. And there were so many cars
stopped on the road and even those slowing down to watch us leave we
thought there was going to be an accident.
I have been on a Voyager class before and this is similar but so much
more. There is so much space, so big and yet intimate. When we
checked our rooms after a very nice lunch in the expanded Windjammer,
we noticed the new bedding right away, if you sit on it you could
feel the difference. We had a Promenade cabin, which I love because
we have the extra window seat. More space to fill up! And where did
the day go, before we knew it, it was time for dinner, where we met
our long time pals Jim & Jan who we sail with on a regular basis,
and our newly discovered pals Fawn and Rick who we had met a few
years ago on the Legend of the seas in Hawaii. Our waiter was a
keeper and lots of fun. I have to say he was the best we have ever
had on any ship, and loads of fun to be with. For formal night I had
made boutonnières for all of our men at the table and he saw them and
remarked how nice. I had an extra and gave it to him, and as he
pinned it on he was beaming. He also wore it the next formal night,
what a delight he was.
I will not break each day down because they are a blur. But we did
have a great time. We tried the flow rider, I did it on the last day
because I needed to work up courage, and now I am mad at myself for
not going sooner, oh well an excuse for another cruise on this
magnificent ship
The Meet and Mingle was so wonderful, the captain greeted us and
signed the poem that the pinks made up for this cruise. It was
presented in a frame for the ship and we all had copies. This is a
moment I will cherish. I know much has been made of a lack of events
for our voyage, but this was quite memorable for me. I was thrilled
to meet the rest of the Pinks who are loads of fun and hope to run
into them on a cruise in the future.
Formal night was also very well done and for a change we had no
problem with lines when it came to have our pictures taken and this
is a first for us. I have to say at no time did I ever feel crowded
or overwhelmed by people, which is something I did fell on smaller
ships. And as for eating in the dining room, I have to say the level
we were on is magnificent, soothing colors, quite elegant. And more
people were in formalwear on formal night than any other cruise I
have been on, which was quite pleasant and on both nights.
And as for the food, I was amazed that every meal was outstanding,
the steaks were tender and juicy, the fish cooked and seasoned to
perfection. We did eat one night in Chops and the food and service
was wonderful, but they had problem with the grill and it was a bit
slow. This made us miss the Quest, which we were so looking forward
to, but what can you do. We were having such a great time; it did not
seem to matter. Besides we felt Quest was held a bit too early in the
week.
The shows are the best I have ever seen on s ship, there was only one
comedian we saw on the last night that I felt was not great, he was
alright, but not great. All the other shows were high quality
including the ice show. The costumes and sets in all the shows were
Broadway quality. And the performers were also high caliber. And as
usual the parades we spectacular.
On our first stop we did the Tulum Mayan ruins which was a long hot
day which started late because of red tape things, due to the fact
that this was the very first time in port for this ship, so we were
off to a late start. But I was expecting the lifeboat tenders;
instead they used local ferry type boats, which held a larger number
of people. We tendered to cozumel and then had to take a ferry across
the bay to the mainland when we go there we had a long walk to the
buses they said due to hurricane damage. Some of the older in the
tours had a hard time keeping up with the guide. The bus ride was
long and while informative we were in information overload, I wanted
a nap. When we got there we had a choice to walk to the ruins (they
no longer let the tour buses close, due to erosion) or take a tram
with a small fee. (see pics) It was a tractor pulling it, but hey it
was hot and we had enough walking to do in the ruins. The tour was
interesting bit it was so hot, thank goodness for that insulated bag
they gave us with the water and moistened towel. After the tour was
over we were gave a sugar-laden box lunch on the bus. Mini roll,
minute amount of tuna, cookie, peanuts, and sugarery drink box and
muffin and sugared fruit cocktail with no spoon. Thank goodness I had
the foresight to bring a protein bar. The ride back we slept, and
when we got to the ferry we had drinks to cool us off. The tendering
was a little slow getting back on to the ship. This I think in part
due to the fact that the locals were doing the tendering and they had
to get it down pat and also because this was the first time for
everything on this ship and they crew had to adjust the screening
process letting people back on the ship. But the next stop it had
improved tremendously.
Since we had a complete full day in the first port we did not get
off in the Cayman Islands early. We started to do some shops and saw
the beautiful parrots when the skies opened up. So we stayed in the
shops until we could walk around. While we were shopping I had on my
Inaugural t-shirt made for our group. So we ran into one couple that
was on the Princess and they told us they were going to do our trip
but was talked out of it by friends. They asked us all about the ship
and said they were sorry they had not done our cruise. They already
love RCI and found Princess to be lacking and nightlife dead. After
the shows they had no games like Quest and so on.
Our next port was Montego Bay and we were greeted so warmly it was
nice to be appreciated. We did the Dunne's River falls tour through
the ship and were glad we booked it with them because all of the tour
buses got back late. We had a blast at the falls and it was so
cooling in that water. The bus ride was quite long but our guide was
quite informative and friendly so she made the ride pleasant and on
the way back she was quiet so we could sleep. We had a stop at
Margaritaville for a buffet lunch, quite difference from the Mayan
tour. But I must say the ride was very long, I would hesitate doing
it again from that port. Jamaica was much more pleasant than I was
led to believe and the island beautiful.
Labadee was a pleasantly quiet day. We found a secluded spot with
plenty of lounge chairs. We had a nice lunch swam and took pictures
and just relaxed before we went to the shops on our way back to the
ship. They had musicians playing and on our way back were given water
and the lemony wash cloths again, quite refreshing. In this port they
have there own ferry system in place.
The sea days back were needed and we did more exploring and new
things to do on the ship. We had a wine tasting in Vintages that as
quite nice. And after mellowing out I had enough courage to try the
flow rider. But this time my husband was quite a pro at that and many
nights I had to drag him off to get ready for dinner. Needless to say
he had a ball. And add to it all the surfing songs from that era, and
he was in heaven: he is a diehard beach boys fan.
We had a great time on this ship and will one day do it or the other
Freedom class ships. Our friends booked a cruise while onboard for
the Mediterranean in Sept of 2007. When we got home we also booked
but I am not sure if I can wait that long for another cruise. I can
say considering it was the first run I could say I did not experience
any of the flaws I expected. The crew was ultra nice and pleasant and
helpful and made this a wonderful experience. This is cruise I will always remember as one of the best.
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Adios
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Posted: Fri Jun 23rd, 2006 03:37 pm | 2nd Post |
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| Nice review Barb. I am looking at this ship for late 07 or early 08 to the eastern Caribbean. I love sailing from Miami too.
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hstrybuf
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Posted: Fri Jun 23rd, 2006 04:59 pm | 3rd Post |
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| Thanks for the review Barb! Glad you finally braved the Flowrider! :D
____________________
Deb
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
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abridalmaven
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Posted: Sat Jun 24th, 2006 04:07 am | 4th Post |
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| Deb how about you? Do you think you will try? if I can, so can you!:dude:
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hstrybuf
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Posted: Sat Jun 24th, 2006 06:10 am | 5th Post |
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| I'm game to try just about anything once. Okay, maybe not the rollercoasters you enjoy so much! :D
____________________
Deb
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
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gurlwithbaggage
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Posted: Sun Jun 25th, 2006 02:28 am | 6th Post |
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Nice review Barb! I was wondering if one would geta crowded feeling on such a large ship. And I would try the flowrider in a heartbeat!! Got any pics of you on that??
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Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans~~John Lennon
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abridalmaven
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Posted: Sun Jun 25th, 2006 06:32 am | 7th Post |
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| Here is it Attachment: me.JPG (Downloaded 22 times)
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gurlwithbaggage
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Posted: Sun Jun 25th, 2006 03:28 pm | 8th Post |
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That's great!! How long does wach person get to stay on?
And I love your new avatar!
____________________
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans~~John Lennon
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abridalmaven
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Posted: Sun Jun 25th, 2006 11:27 pm | 9th Post |
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| You stay on until you wipe out ( which in my case was pretty quick:rofl:
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Current time is 10:45 pm | |
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