JohnG

The seasons in South America are the reverse of ours. January is the height of summer down there, which is why that is when the cruiselines go there, late fall to early spring. The cruise lines then reposition those ships to Alaska and Europe. Rio de Janeiro for Carnival in February is popular for cruising.

Uniworld also caters to the American market, unlike some of the other river cruise lines. Another you might look into is Avalon Waterways, which is a subsidiary of Globus/Cosmo. It has some of the newest of the river vessels.

On Norwegian (NCL) they xray the checked bags and will find bags with liquor. They don't deliver the bag to the stateroom but summon the guest to the library to open the bag. They confiscate it and give the "offender" a receipt, and on the debarkation morning it will be available for return to the guest. Sorry. (I know from personnal experience!!)

You don't have to have car seats in Cozumel. You can use them if you wish for the youngest ones.

Information on Calica http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/Calica.htm

We have been in withdrawal. The last one was in October and after the cold and busy winter, my wife, Karen, is ready for some warm weather, and I'm looking forward to some time off. Looking forward to this one. We are celebrating her birthday on this one. Thanks for your good wishes.

I've cruised alone several times. My wife doesn't have enough vacation time to go with me as much as I am able to go, so I have cruised about once a year without her on a seminar or conference at sea. I cruise about 5 or 6 times a year.

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Taxis are about $20 per taxi from the airport to the pier. If it is a van, it can handle 4, or two taxis is only $40.

You don't have to make reservations at the main restaurants. You are right, they are busier from 6-8pm, but they are open from 5:30 to midnight. La Trattoria, with no cover charge, gets great reviews, and I've enjoyed Cagney's Steakhouse and Le Bistro. I've eaten in LeBistro on 3 different NCL ships and enjoyed it. They try to do fine dining with a "flair".

All I can suggest is wait to see the full RCCL 2008 schedule, once it is issued later this spring.

Penny, It doesn't matter what day you want to eat in the specialty restaurant, as long as you make the reservation for it the first day. Reservations get filled up quickly for anything between 5:45 and 9:30pm for the whole cruise. Spirit's specialty restaurants inclue Lat Trattoria (no surcharge), Le Bistro ($15pp), Shogun ($12.50pp), Teppanyaki Room (a la carter pricing), Cagney's Steakhouse ($20pp), all you can eat sushi in Shogun ($10pp). There is no charge, of course in the two main dining rooms, the buffet, or Blue Lagoon.

They aren't pulling out of Galveston. The cruiselines put all the ships in the Caribbean or South America over the winter. In April they start moving ships to Alaska for the May-Sep season, then they come back. In April, they also send some to Europe for the Apr-Oct season. Of the five ships that have been sailing from Houston/Galveston, NCL Dream and and Grand Princess head to Europe. RCCL announced months ago that they were redeploying Rhapsody of the Seas to Asia, as several other lines have done recently. That leaves Carnival Conquest doing 7 nights and Ecstasy doing shorter cruises in the summer. The Voyager has never been sailing from Galveston, and starts in December with two holiday cruises, and continues through at least the spring, replacing Rhapsody. Most lines' 2008 full schedule isn't published yet. The same thing happens to New Orleans. At the end of April Granduer of the Seas leaves to spend the summer alternating Bermuda and Caribbean sailing from Baltimore, and the NCL Sun goes to Alaska, leaving only Carnival Fantasy there for the summer (hurricane) season. The Norwegian Spirit will redeply from New York to New Orleans in December at least through March.

Norwegian Dawn wasn't sold out yet, and had plenty of vacancies. Rosie comes along and says I'll buy out the ship. NCL says, of course, you've got a deal. Unfortunately for those already booked. But as others have said, it happens on every cruiseline. The money talks. Norwegian Spirit was built and entered service as Superstar Leo for the Star Lines, the parent of NCL, targeting the Asian market. Two years ago they decided to move it to NCL which is rapidly expanding. It was not built expressly for Freestyle, like the Dawn and her newer sisters, but is a very nice ship. I've been on three NCL ships so far and had a wonderful time each time. I really like Freestyle dining, and the general style of Freestyle. I like not having to vacate my room by breakfast on the last day and being able to wait in the room till they call us to leave. Dining in any restaurant between 5:30pm and midnight. As long as I make reservations for the specialty restaurants the day I board, I get the reservations I want. We actually prefer to eat in the main dining room most nights. The people that have problems don't make reservations the first day or are part of a large party. I don't know of any other cruiseline that tries to seat 15 or 20 people together, like NCL does. The service isn't great when they do. Have you ever tried serving a group that big and getting 20 different orders all served promptly and at teh same time? As long as you go aboard NCL aware that it is Freestyle, and different from the traditional style of other lines, you'll do fine. I have plenty of customers who specifically ask for NCL and enjoy it.