JohnG

also we need to take into consideration that although most of the hotels in FLL offer free shuttle from airport... returning from the cruise how will we get to FLL airport... buy transfers from Celebrity? will they offer transfers to FLL?? Celebrity has transfers to both FLL and MIA airports.

I lived in Athens for 3 years. The Eastern Med is on roughly the same latitude as Washington DC, and the climate is similar. Winter tends to be later. I remember roses blooming till the end of Dec. Jan-Feb are the coldest months. Oct/Nov will be typical fall days.

Thank you everyone. My youngest, my 18 year old daughter, graduated with honors from high school Wednesday and we leave Sunday for Venice and the cruise. She is excited. She has cruised about 8 times and love it, and is really looking forward to Europe: Venice, Dubrovnik, Santorini, Athens, Naples, Rome, Florence, Villefrance, and Barcelona. She will be off to college and pre-med at High Point Univ in August, so this is likely her last time to travel with us for quite a while. 4 years college and 5 year medical school! Wow, I'll still be working for a long time yet And my wife and I really need the vacation. I'll write one of my long reviews when I return.

Roija!!! We love the reds.

My son and his family stayed at a Clarion http://www.clarionhotel.com/ires/en-US/htm...nfo?hotel=FL927 and were very satisfied. They have web specials sometimes. Shuttle from the airport and to the pier. Their group booking contact is ClarionSales@Baywoodhotels.com Before my older daughter went on a cruise from Miami she wanted to stay in South Beach and she booked in the Courtyard by Marriott there and was very pleased. The hotels in South Beach or downtown, near Bayside Marketplace, tend to run more money.

Pretty, I lived in Greece for 3 years, 1972-75. During that time I had the opportunity to fly to Madrid, spend a little time, then take the train to Jerez and Rota, where we have a Navy base. I spent 4 weeks there, right after Feria season, and enjoyed Seville and Jerez de la Frontera, with the horsemen and port wine. Still remember visiting a Domecq bodega there. I have visited Barcelona twice, most recently two years ago, and will spend an extra day there at the end of this summer's Venice to Barcelona cruise.

Hola Debbie!!!, yo vivo en Madrid (España), y tengo 33 años. Mi marido tiene 41. Escribes muy bien español!!! Yo aprendí inglés en el colegio también, y ahora doy clases para sequir aprendiendo. Mi profesor de inglés es de Philadelphia!!! Vas a hacer el crucero de "Mediterráneo y Mar Negro" del 2 de agosto? My Latin and English is good enough to see: You live in Madrid, and are 33 years old and your husband is 41. You think Debbie writes Spanish well. You picked up English in college and follow-on classes. Your English professor is from Philadelphia. How am I doing?

I agree, the rear is better on the small ships to minimize motion. Also the lower the deck the better, to avoid motion. Hold your hand up in front of your face with the thumb pointing toward you. Now move your fingers left and right. You will see that the wrist doesn't roll much, but the higher up the fingers you go, the more movement. Same with the ship. However 6018 is closer to the elevator thatn 6078.

If you were using a CC issued by a bank not in the US, it could make a difference. But, not knowing the conversion rate RCI uses and what rate the bank uses, makes it difficult to compare. I suspect, for a US passenger, the RCI rate would be better than getting involved with the dollar/Euro conversion from a overseas bank. My overseas customers are charged a percentage conversion charge by their bank who issued their credit card.

May 19, 2008 Carnival Tests Out Flexible Dining on Legend Cruise travelers on either side of the dining debate will soon have more fodder for discussion: Carnival Cruise Lines will begin a flexible dining trial on Carnival Legend, beginning with the June 29 sailing. Legend passengers will be able to choose traditional main seating, traditional late seating or flexible dining as their dining preferences. If flexible dining is chosen, cruise travelers can dine in the main dining room any time they wish between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. If traditional dining is chosen, passengers will be assigned a table and tablemates. Carnival cruisers must indicate their preference prior to departure, and that choice will be in effect for the entire cruise. Carnival has not yet announced an end date for the trial nor revealed any plans to introduce flexible dining on other ships. This is the first time Carnival has ever tested out a truly flexible dining system. Under its current Total Choice Dining program, passengers can choose one of four possible seating times for dinner in the main dining room or opt to eat in an alternative venue, such as the Lido Buffet or Supper Club. But they're still assigned tablemates. Carnival is one of the last holdouts for the traditional dining system. Royal Caribbean began flexible dining trials last fall and plans to implement a similar program to Carnival's later this year. NCL, Holland America and Princess already offer some variation of flexible dining.

As I noticed when Princess went to Personal Choice, the availability of traditional seating is cut at least in half, and especially for early dining, it fills up fast and results in a waitlist. That will happen on RCCL ships that devote half the seats to As You Wish dining. Unless you book well in advance, if you want traditional dining, you may well wind up on a wait list.

The cabins are identical. The only difference is the 2A's are forward on decks 6 and 7 and the 1A's are midships on deck 8 to a bit aft of midships on deck 7.

Karen and I are red wine drinkers. The only white wine she drinks is the kind with bubbles in it!!

US Scareways commuter planes come into one area of Charlotte and they are not very speedy in moving baggage to the regular terminal. We sailed from FLL without luggage, only carryon's until it showed up in St Thomas on the 3rd day of the cruise. My wife was not happy not having her own formal wear. They lent me a tux, and her trousers and shoes and I bought her a beaded top she loves. This was Princess.

Only 4 RCCL ships will have anytime dining for a while. And there is still traditional dining on all the RCCL ships. It is not going to be ONLY anytime dining.

I use them to price the flights, see which airline is best and then go to the airline website to buy the ticket, saving the service charge.

Judson, My father was a high school teacher for 47 years and was my senior English teacher! The closest I came was doing training and develepment in banking, and then I was a faculty administrator for 9 years with a university running a IT certification program. Great to have you with us. John

Judson, What category are you asking about? The price is the base charge, plus $259 port charges (this is the same per person price you see on the RCCL website). To this, regardless of category cabin, you add $62.92 for govt fees and $104 ($8 per person per day effective May 1, 2008) in fuel surcharge to get the final per person price, based on double occupancy. All RCCL brochures show the deposit required for any cruise 10 days or longer is $450 per person/$900 per cabin. Give me a call with your questions. John

If you haven't heard about our CruiseCrazies Group Cruise in 2009, please check out the Roll Call Forum with the string on this wonderful cruise. Lots of space yet, and lots of time to save up to pay it off. http://www.cruisecrazies.com/forums/index....showtopic=18154 We have 6 cabins booked so far and growing! Join us when Connie Goes Crazy!

One left that I could find: 9201

I think 9201 is the only aft Concierge Class still available. The CruiseCrazies have most of them!

For us it has been the French ports: Tahiti, Martinique, Isle de Saintes, and even the French ports of Villefrance/Nice/Cannes/Marseilles. It is something about the French ports that we particularly like....food, boutiques for women's clothes, candy shops, bread, wine, etc. etc.

Joey and David - Late Seating - Cabin 8170 MaryLou & Jim - Early seating - Cabin 8172 Steve & Lynda - Late Seating - Cabin 6098 Rose & Howie - Late Seating - Cabin 7206 JohnG & Karen -Late Seating - Cabin 6114

Yes, but 14 days to vote may be too long for those wanting stern facing cabins. Constellation only has 12 of them, Category CC, and two are held for those needing wheelchair accessible features including roll-in showers.

Cruiselines don't inpose penalties for cancellation until the deadline for final payment , generally around 75 days prior to the sailing date. Actual dates vary a bit by cruiseline. If you cancel after that date, and prior to 30 days before sailing, the penalty is the amount of your original deposit. (The amount the c/l retains before refunding the balance of you payments.) From 29 days to 8 days prior: The penalty is 50% of the total price. 7 Days or less before sailing: No refund Cruises Inc is permitted to impose a $35 per person admin fee for cancellation up until 1 week prior to the cruise. This is one of the reasons to consider travel insurance protection when you book the cruise. If you have to cancel after the final payment deadline, for a covered reason, the insurance reimburses you for the amount of the penalty which was retained by the cruise line, and for any Cruises Inc penalty, if imposed. Covered reasons include sickness, injury or death of you, an immediate family member (even if not traveling with you), traveling companion, or business partner, jury duty, traffic accident enroute to departure, or home made inhabitable by natural disaster. There is also Cancel for Any Reason insurance available, at an additional cost.