JohnG

I've been on Navy ships that rolled 45 degrees. 15 degrees is not extreme if things are "battened down and prepared for sea", which they definitely are not on a cruise ship. I seem to recall that this was allegedly human error. The people who were injured, I feel sorry for. But anything more than coverage of medical costs is not really warranted. I'm not a fan of this litigous society. Lawsuits because they were late arriving in New York???? Lawyers like these are "ambulance chasers", and they get most of any damages awarded in these suits, not the plaintiffs. IMHO Off my soapbox. And I'm ashamed to admit that we have two Florida lawyers in the family!

Travel Guard still provides a tri-fold description of coverage, and that is what we provide to our customers.

Thank you! Four more coming, for the four we have stacked. I enjoy writing them and trying to answer in the review the types of questions I know people would have asked. I take some notes every day to remind myself of details for writing it when i get back.

Thank you! Four more coming, for the four we have stacked. I enjoy writing them and trying to answer in the review the types of questions I know people would have asked. I take some notes every day to remind myself of details for writing it when i get back.

Incidentally, for those of you who don't want to go to Alaska because it is too cold, in the summer Fairbanks is often in the upper 70's. We did the Inside Passage in mid August and it was in the 70's the whole time, shirtsleeve weather in Juneau and Skagway. Rainy in Ketchikan, but it is the rainiest part of Alaska there. The only time jackets were necessary was near the glaciers. Still cooler than my Caribbean sun-loving wife prefers. :>)

Have you given any thought to sailing on NCL America which does 7 and 10 day roundtrip cruises from Honolulu? If you tack on a couple days pre or post cruise in Honolulu you hava a wonderful opporunity to see the islands. Essentially your hotel moves with you. And you don't have any at sea days on the 7 day cruise to worry about keeping busy on. And yes, you do have to fly to and from Hawaii, but it doesn't take 5 days each way.

The aft most and forward most cabins on any deck are less expensive than the cabins in the middle, and the only real difference is a bit farther to walk from the elevator. The lower the deck, the lower the price. For whatever reason, people like to be on the higher decks. If you are prone to motion sickness, the best place is the lower decks in the middle. That is where the least motion is, and also where the less exoensive inside and oceanview cabins are. Of course the balconies are higher, but even among balcony cabins, the lower the deck, the lower the price. That being said, the points made above about having a few cabins in a low priced category, inside, oceanview or balcony to advertise at a low price and then keep selling them and upgrading earlier buyers, is a practice used by all lines. Nothing wrong with that. Everybody is getting at least what they paid for, and possibly better. But the lower price of the slightly less desireable cabin keeps drawing people in.

http://www.nycruiseinfo.com/ [url=http://www.nycruiseterminal.com/embarNYC.html]http://www.nycruiseterminal.com/embarNYC.html

Jamaica and Nassau. Don't care much for Montego Bay or Ocho Rios, and have been to Nassau way too often. Didn't even get off the last time I was there.

Incredible pictures in Russia!! Did they let you use flash in the museums and churches? Thanks.

It is not just Cunard. Many cruise lines offer a "world cruise" of such length or longer. HAL, Princess next year, Silverseas, and others. They sell out almost as soon as they are opened for booking. If you have the time and money, why not?

I can honestly say I don't have a favorite. It is the one I'm on at the time. All have their positive features. I do like smaller ships. My most memorable was the Royal Clipper. See my photo at the left.

Keith & Rita - 15 Cruisetarp - Mary Lou & Jim - 26 Gregswife - 10 JohnG - 31 _____________________________ Total - 82

Joey, I'm not sure what you are referring to as "orchestrated dining". Golden Fleece is better than the specialty restaurants on Hal, Celebrity, etc, as it has entertainment and dancing as well as a spectacular dinner.

The best I can do is my Dec 2002 review of the Legend posted here, a sister ship of the Spirit. We loved it, and had the best meal ever at sea aboard her in the Golden Fleece, the supper club onboard.

Star Cruises is the parent company of NCL. Star owned Star, and NCL, and Orient Lines (1 ship, Marco Polo). They just sold Orient. For instance, Norwegian Spirit was formerly the Superstar Leo before she was renamed and moved to NCL. The Superstar ships were built for the Far East clientele. The problem you are facing is political. China and Taiwan don't talk. And Star is headquarted in Singapore. It is trying to grow its China business, with ships homeported in Hong Kong. From a June 22, 2007 press release: About Star Cruises Star Cruises, the third largest cruise operator in the world is a global cruise brand with a combined fleet of 21 ships with about 32,300 lower berths in service with an additional 3 ships and some 10,800 lower berths due to be delivered by 2010, cruising to destinations and islands in Asia-Pacific, North and South America, Hawaii, Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Mediterranean, Bermuda and the Antarctica under the Star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America, Orient Lines and Cruise Ferries brands. Star Cruises is represented in more than 25 locations worldwide with offices and representatives in Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The itinerary is: Aug 22 Depart Virginia Beach Aug 22 Papeete, Overnight Aug 23 Papeete, Depart 5pm Aug 24 Huahine Aug 25 At Sea Aug 26 Rarotonga Aug 27 At Sea Aug 28 Raiatea Overnight Depart 6am Aug 29 Bora Bora Overnight Aug 30 Bora Bora Depart 5pm Aug 31 Moorea Depart 5pm Aug 31 Papeete Arr 8pm Overnight Sept 1 Disembark (Flights are at night and ship permits us to stay aboard and even eat until evening transfer to airport.) Overnight Flight, return to Virginia Beach Sept 2 evening.

I was able to download our flight arrangements to Tahiti from the Princess site today (75 days out). My wife says it is time for her to start packing? Gosh, it is warm enough there we don't need to wear much, right? At least that's what I'm trying to tell her. Really looking forward to this one. It is a long flight from the east coast. Looks like about 20 hours with connections going, and about 16 hours coming back. But we have 10 days there to rest up, and Labor Day when we get back to rest. Getting excited about this one.

I had not trouble using IE7 to view it. Nice pages. The ship is sailing out of Norfolk from Apr 28 to July 21 on cruises to Bermuda. Because of the short transit time to Bermuda, the ship is in port for most of four days and three nights, with the first two nights in Hamilton and the last night in St George Island. It has been selling well. My daughter even went on the May 5 sailing because she and her husband never went on a honeymoon, and the children are old enough to stay with grandparents. They had a great time aboard her, especially parttying into the night with two other couples they met.

Military discounts come and go on various sailing dates. Remember, any discount is designed to fill the ship. If it is filling, the discounts disappear. Some cruiselines don't make them available until 2 months or less before sailing, other may open them up far earlier. The ship sailing out of New Orleans is the Carnival Fantasy, which had a major refurbishment, not Ecstasy. The ship sailing from Galveston is Carnival Ecstasy. Ecstasy goes to Cozumel and Progresso. Fantasy goes to Cozumel and Costa Maya. Fantasy is more than $200 per person less than Ecstasy.

The cruiseline booking engines only have space for first and last name...no middle name or initial. As long as the first and last name on your docs match the first and last name on the ID, you are fine.

One of the advantages of over the counter Bonine is that is doesn't make you drowsy like some of the medications mentioned.

As my profile here on the site indicates, I've been on 31 cruises so far, and my signature lists the next 4 that are booked. We have done Caribbean (E, W, and Southern), Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Hawaii, Canada/New England, and Mediterranean. The pending ones are Tahiti, Caribbean (2), and Mediterranean.

It looks like I might have forgotten to but Bahrain on my list. I have been there and it looks like it is not colored red on the map. It is that little dot off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.

Most people take the copy with them ashore, not the original. The purpose is that if you were left behind, you could contact the US consulate and show the copy to help get a passport for your return to the US. That is the Caribbean. In Europe the ship holds your passport so all you have is a copy. If you are checking in to a hotel in Europe you must show your passport, many holding it overnight.