JohnG

We booked this cruise in November 2001 for the kids’ spring break. Princess wouldn’t take the booking for a quad room, as they were trying to limit the number of children and teens on the sailing. They were happy to book the same kids as long as we booked two adjacent cabins. We did and got a good price. We flew Southwest for the first time from Norfolk to Ft. Lauderdale, less than $100 each way. Called the Holiday Inn Express, Convention Center, shuttle and were delivered about 1115pm the night before sailing. Saturday we had breakfast at the hotel, walked 1 ½ blocks to the bridge overlooking Port Everglades and could see Golden Princess, Celebrity Century, A HAL ship, and an RCCL ship. Walked back to the Publix which was on 17th, a block from the hotel and purchased 12 packs of soda for the kids to carry aboard. We took the 12:30pm shuttle to the pier (a 5-minute ride) and were through check in by 1:10pm. They x-rayed everything, and took a photo which is used to check faces and ship ID cards. They were confiscating for safekeeping all hard liquor. We were on Caribe deck 725 and 729, two adjacent inside rooms, but not connected. Refrigerator with filled ice bucket, ample space, end tables, dressing table with drawers, mirrors give the room a feeling of spaciousness. There is a closet with 7 feet of hanger space, a cabinet with 8 shelves and a save, and the entrance to the bathroom. No trouble storing all luggage under the bed, and the case of wine under the dressing table, with several bottles of champagne in the fridge. This was the largest three inside cabins we have had on Princess. Muster in cool lounge where they instructed everyone on how to put on lifejackets. We had opted to try Personal Choice dining. We have normally been traditional late seating on all previous cruises, with or without kids. We had read that 7-8pm was the busiest time so we sent down at 8:30pm and were told there was a 15-20 minute wait in both PC dining rooms. We got to a table at 9:05. The show was a comedian who toned down the late show due to the large number of children in the front rows. The Princess pools are fresh water and open 24 hours, so we did a late night dip before turning in. Many of the hot tubs are closed and emptied, however, at night. The first at sea day was Easter Sunday. There were Protestant and Catholic services at 9, and huge chocolate eggs decorated in the atrium. I attempted to make a dinner reservation for PC dining but was advised at 10am that only one PC dining room was taking reservations and had only 5:45-6:15pm available. With that, I went to the dining room captain in the traditional dining room and request late seating. He said if we had not heard from him by dinner, just show up at 8:30 and he’s find a place. From that point on, everytime he saw us all week he was able to call us by name. 16 years with Princess, starting as Asst Waiter. We checked out the four pool choices: Terrace Pool, aft, which is adults only, the spa pool which is a lap pool with artificial current, the Calypso Pool with the retractable roof, and the Neptune Pool. Family preferred the more secluded Calypso Pool, but seldom could find an empty chair due to inconsiderate passengers marking their spot with towels and disappearing literally for hours. This was the first formal night. Ordered rose corsages for my wife and daughter for $8 each, delivered to room. The 11 year old was thrilled! Captain’s Welcome Aboard reception, formal photos. The dining room seated the four of us and two others at a table for 10, and by the next night had us at a table for 6 with a good wait staff, Jun from the Philippines and Flavio from Acapulco. They were great. The show that night was Lights, Camera, Action, a Vegas style show. Afterwards we tried out Skywalkers, the disco suspended high above the stern, accessed by escalator from deck 17. Lots of current top 40 hits, a conga line, we had it all. The second day at sea day we had made a lunch reservation in the Desert Rose, the southwestern theme restaurant with an $8 cover charge. We had ample salsa, chips, guacamole, fajitas, empanadas, quesadilla’s, and the first drink free (great Margarita’s). Much of the day as spent at the pools, but I spent time exploring the library (not only books, but computers with games, and other programs), shops, the exercise gym where I rode stationary cycles and they had many other machines, walking track. Tried out the pizza, which is available by the slice on Lido Deck only 11am –6pm. Also great burgers, hot dogs, brats, etc….all just off the Neptune Pool area. The evening show was Shake, Rattle and Roll, an anthology of music/songs from that era with singers and dancers. We took our own wine each evening to the dining room. The first three nights, we were not charged the $10 corkage fee. We had heard that it was sort of up to the waiter to write it up. They wrote it up the 4th and 5th nights, because they said it was apparent that the ship did not carry these wines, and the dining room captain would notice. I told them we would be bringing champagne the 6th night and they said to wrap in it something and they wouldn’t charge us. We did and they didn’t. Nor the last night. So we paid $20 corkage and had 7 bottles of wine of our favorites that I had purchased at discount wine shops and had shipped as luggage. Total expense for 7 bottle: about $91, which would have cost about $26 each, or more on board for a total of $182. We saved 50%. While we did attend wine tasting ($5 each refundable if you purchased dinner wine), the ship’s wine list is poor. Sure they have a few $60-110 wines, but most are $10 wines that cost $28 each onboard. The third day was St. Maarten. We berthed at the new pier, across from Disney Magic, with her crumpled, fire marred funnel and smokestacks. We took a taxi from the pier to Orient Beach on the French side for $6 per person, found a beach vendor, Pedro’s, where we got four chairs and 4 drinks for $20, and he tossed in a free umbrella later. Despite SPF 50, I got quite sunburned while swimming, sunning, snorkeling (got three nice conch shells). They have parasailing, jet skis, etc. Also visited the clothing optional end of the beach, although the kids remained in the more public side in the chairs. The joke back on the ship is always: “Gee, I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.†Back by taxi to town to the Guavaberry Emporium, the local liqueur, and a little shopping. Ended the day by being at Every T’ing Cool until last call, which comes early since the ships are leaving. Two beers, a rum punch, and a soda for $8.25. Taxi back to ship was $3 per person. There was a nice sail away party with two bands, and that evening was Island Night. Starting about 1015pm the aft Terrace Pool was covered over with a bandstand, There was dancing, limbo contests, a Mr. Golden Princess contest, in which at the asst. cruise director’s urging I joined. A great night under the stars. This venue, right below the Skywalker’s lounge, is superb for this kind of evening. The next day was St. Thomas. We were berthed at the West India Co. dock at Havensight, and walked to the pierside shopping mall to make our liquor purchases, and some other souvenirs. There is also a drug store for those who might want something not available onboard. We went back aboard with all our purchases, had lunch in the Horizon Court on Lido. The rear section of Horizon is very quiet glass all around, and my favorite place up there. After a king crab dinner was the crew talent show, with the “If I were not upon the sea†skit. Alistair was the cruise director. He and his assistant did a good job during the week. Thursday was an at sea day. We ate in the dining room where they had and outstanding Cioppino seafood soup, and glasses of Italian wine for $3. That night was the second formal night, and the Captain’s Circle member reception. I was surprised at how relatively few were present, and with 3 or 4 exceptions, most were, like us, on about their 3rd or 4th Princess Cruise. After lobster and Beef Wellington dinner there was a champagne waterfall put on by the matre’de, with photos’ available for those who chose to get up and help pour, as my wife and daughter each did. Friday was the visit to Princess Cay, by tender. It was beautiful, and I liked it much better that HAL’s Half Moon Cay. The snorkeling was great, with coral fans and lots of fish. The sand was a bit rocky, the picnic lunch was a typical picnic lunch. Some local crafts, bars, music, etc. were available. But the scene must have been cut out and pasted from the Corona’ “change your whole latitude†commercials where they skip their pages across the water. The green water, white sand, sun,…it was the best! But it was Friday, and time to begin filling out forms, luggage tags, and packing. They wanted bags all but one bag in the hall when you leave for dinner, with the other to be out when you turn in. Prime rib and turkey dinners highlighted American Landfall night. Wish they would spread it out more instead of having multiple stellar entrée’s on the same night. Saturday we returned to Ft. Lauderdale. Breakfast was 6:30 – 8:30 in the dining room and 5:30-9am in Horizon Court. They called the first tags away about 8:10, and we were called about 9:30, with about 30% still waiting. We had chosen to wait in the Vista Lounge after vacating our room after breakfast. Hardly anyone there. They prefer to clog the stairwells and passageways for an hour and a half in the belief that somehow that will speed their departure. Customs and immigration was painless and the bags were waiting. We hustled them to an Alamo bus and rented a van so we could store the luggage and go to the beach strip. You can’t check luggage at the airport anyway until 4 hours before you flight. We drove by the Elbow Room I had visited on my own college spring break many moons ago. We parked in a lot for 75 cents and hour and walked to Sloppy Joe’s, of the Key West Sloppy Joe’s venue, and enjoyed lunch overlooking the beach, then off to turn in the car and to the airport for a return home on time. A few general comments. Food is available 24 hours a day in the Horizon Court. It typically parallels what is being served in the dining room. However, sitting on a buffet line, it is usually overcooked and drying out. There was lots of steamed and pealed shrimp available on several days. There are 3 identical dining rooms. Two for Personal Choice and one for traditional dining. We did not use the cover charged Sabattini’s Trattoria. Maybe if it had been a steak house. But not for Italian. The dining room food was medium, at best. It was not up to our prior two Princess cruises, and was more on a par with RCCL: good, but not exceptional. It was better on Carnival Sensation last spring. Lots of fish. Steak, Caesar salad, fettuccini alfredo are always available. Desserts did include banana flambé and cherries jubilee. Coffee was okay to me, and I drink it black. I know lots of people complain about cruise coffee. Maybe 20 years of black Navy coffee helped me adapt to any kind of coffee. They were not pushing alcohol. It was available, period. Soft drink stickers for your ship card were $17.50 for unlimited soft drinks by the glass. Same with photos. The only candids were upon arriving, leaving the ship in port (but only till 1030), and a few on Princess Cays. 8x10’s are $21.95, and 5x7’s are $7.95. I found not so many quiet little corners. The ship is huge. There were over 2900 people aboard but it didn’t seem like it. There were laundromats on every deck: new equipment, $1 wash, 50 cents dry. Soap and bleach $1 each, 4 irons and boards in each. It cost $3.75 to have my tux shirt laundered and pressed. Motion of the ocean was greater on this ship than I would have expected. Is it top heavy? Even in mild seas it rocks and rolls. My teenager had plenty to do with virtual arcades, miniature golf, internet café, and lots of teens to hang out with. All in all, a nice week on a nice ship. But it is nicer with just me and my wife, than supervising the 11 and 14 year old, who thinks he is 20 and dad of course knows nothing, and times to check in are optional. We’ll cruise as a family this summer, but looking forward to anniversary cruises with my wife. More romantic. Oh, must have been a good week, as I did put down the $100 per person fully refundable till Nov 2004 deposit on a future Princess Cruise. How can you lose on a deal like that? The Love Boat……….strains of music

Using directions from the Maryland Port Authority website, we easily arrived at the terminal after a 4 hour drive from southeastern Virginia. After paying $55 parking, we were guided to a place to unload luggage, and then directed to a parking area. With carryon luggage we boarded an air-conditioned bus and were driven to the passenger terminal. After a few minutes in line we completed the paper work and sat, boarding number in hand, until our number was called, about one hour in all. Very smoothly handled. We had booked an inside quad with two upper bunks for our 12 and 14 year olds. The cabin was adequate, with two closets, a large shower, dressing table, two bedside tables with drawers, two chairs, TV. The TV could be used to review accounts, order from the limited room service menu, and watch CNN, TNT, in house movies both free and pay, Discovery Channel, music channels, and even gamble. Since we had brought our own wine (two cases checked with luggage), the room steward(ess) provided both a wine ice bucket and a regular ice bucket and ice water, and two champagne glasses, refilled twice a day. Behind the dressing table mirror was a huge cabinet and the safe. The area served as a fine wine cabinet! The bathroom contained a conditioner/shampoo dispenser and a hand lotion dispenser, as well as a fine selection of toiletries, including cotton balls, q-tips, etc. The ship sailed at 6pm and made a night transit of the Chesapeake Bay. The schedule of dress was: 5 Casual Nights (Days 1,4,6,8,11), 3 Formal Nights (Days 2,5,10), and 3 Informal Nights (Days 3,7,9). Day 1 Departure. Day 2 At Sea. Day 3 Visit Charleston, SC 8am-4pm, Days 4 and 5 At Sea, Day 6 (Sat) Visit St. Thomas 8am-6pm, Day 7 (Sun) Visit St. Maarten 8am-5pm, Day 8 (Mon) Visit San Juan 8am-4pm, Days 9 At Sea, Day 10 (Wed) Visit Nassau 8am-1pm, Day 11 At Sea, and Return to Baltimore 10am on Day 12. Breakfast was available till 9:30am and snacks at 10:30. We debarked about 12:30 and were through the terminal and onto the bus and into our car by 1:35pm. It helped having US Immigration inspectors board in Nassau and conduct that check on the afternoon of day 9 at sea, avoiding an early lineup on departure day. Departure Day. After sail away, we were scheduled for late seating and a table for four. Galaxy has a single dining room and the buffet is not open for dinner. Someone was seated at our table in error, and it took 15 minutes for them to seat us at the empty table next to them, where they were supposed to be. Corrected for the rest of the trip. I brought my own wine bottle to dinner. The wine steward charged the new $12 corkage, and later that night said if I was planning to bring wine each night, he would no longer charge corkage if I would remember him on gratuity night. Deal! The first night show was mediocre, mostly introducing staff and self-promoting. Midnight buffet (11:30pm actually) alternated between a buffet and “gourmet bites†of hot and cold snacks served by roving waiters in public areas of the ship, including the lounges and casino. Day Two, at sea, quite rainy off the coast of the Carolinas. I checked to see if I could get two corsages for our first formal night and was advised that while they had flowers, no florist was aboard for this trip, but I could get single long stemmed roses for $5 each, delivered to the room. Wine tasting event in the afternoon $8 each. Each day for lunch on the Resort Deck near the Oasis Pool there is a grill that daily served variations for lunch: Paella, shish kebob, taco/burrito, Asian, ribs & chicken BBQ, etc. My favorite lunch spot. Welcome aboard party before formal dinner. LONG lines for formal portraits. As much as an hour in line. The show was Broadway Express, and quite good. People tended to stay in formal dress all evening. There are many quiet, uncrowded areas on the ship to sit and read, or just relax. Day Three, Charleston. Rain cleared up. We visited the Marketplace for souvenirs, just 1 ½ blocks from the pier, where many people took carriage ride tours…$55 for a family of 4. There are many restaurants in the area. We boarded a trolley bus for $1 each and had the same tour, stopping in Battery Park to view and take photos of Fort Sumter. It also passed the Charleston Museum and Visitor Center. We then went to Hyman’s Seafood/Aaron’s Deli, on Meeting Street, a local institution, where a bottle of wine was only $11 and the seafood and deli sandwiches were great. Charming, management visited every table. Watched the sail-away from the Stratosphere lounge, wrap-aroung windows. Quiet and relaxing during the day, dancing to combo in evening and disco after 11pm. Great place. That evening was our first visit to the casino, which has nickel slots as well as the others, Minimum credit is $20, for which they gave us $10 cash and 10 in nickels. The show was a comedian, and we skipped it. Day Four, At Sea. Found that Eggs Benedict were available every day in the dining room for breakfast! A wonderful, warm relaxing day at sea. The pool chairs are all cushioned and the daily newspaper points out that unattended belongings left over 30 minutes will be removed by attendants for safekeeping. No problem finding chairs. The gym opens at 6am, is not crowded and has the usual assortment of exercise machines, weights, etc. Internet Café charges are 95 cents a minute, no minimum, and we ran up WAY too much on the Internet. Day Five, At Sea. Warm and sunny. Watched Lord of the Rings in the theatre. 50’s/60’s night in the lounges….interesting since it was the second formal night. Odd. Day Six, St. Thomas. Took taxi from pier ($7 each) to Coki Beach to snorkel. No admission fee, free restrooms/shower. Vendors have chairs, drinks, etc. Plenty of fish, particularly because people feed them. There is a reef between the beach and the Coral World attraction to the right. Taxi back to ship, quick shower and off to the shops at Havensight adjacent to the pier. Best liquor price was at A.H Cohen’s across the street. Movie onboard was Moulon Rouge. My 14-year-old son was suffering from a sore throat and after dinner we took him to the medical center onboard, where the doctor examined him, tested for strep to rule it out, and dispensed penicillin tablets. Cost $67 for office visit, $32 for step test, and $11 for pills. Provided forms for us to file with our insurance company. Cost is very comparable to costs at home. It worked, too. Tex/Mex late night buffet and dancing around the pool. Day Seven, Sunday, St. Maarten. We decided that taking taxis was running a lot, and decided to rent a car on the pier from Budget. Had a Toyota Corolla, air-conditioned for $43 including tax for the day. Having been to the island several times but only having visited Philipsburg and Orient Beach, we decided to drive to Grand Case on the French side, and found an empty public beach where we saw some of the biggest starfish I have ever seen. Scenery very French. Would have enjoyed eating there. Drove to Marigot, the French main city. Unfortunately it was Sunday, and most shops were closed at 1:45pm, but restaurants were open. We did drive up and then climb up to Fort St. Louis, the historic fort overlooking the city and harbor. Wonderful views and photos. Drove back to Philipsburg parked and shopped. Ended the day at EveryT’ings Cool enjoying food and beverages overlooking the beach. After sail away and casual dinner, we spent the night in lounges dancing. Three different music choices: Simon Chill duo with mix, danceable. Starlight Duo, country and pop. Legends 5 member band, reggae, pop. (poolside and Savoy Lounge). Day Eight, Monday, San Juan. Immigration checks from 7-8:30am for all. We debarked and walked to the nearest corner to the Parada sign where the free trolley stops. About 11 boarded one for the ride to El Morro. $3 admission. Walked back to Old San Juan in a light shower. Shopped along the way. Ended up at Hard Rock Café for lunch. Service is slow. The RCL Crown and Anchor club down the street went out of business and is for sale. On the way back to the ship stopped at the Chamber of Commerce center near pier 1 (two blocks to the left of our pier) where there is an open rum bar courtesy of Bacardi. Several frozen thingees fortified us for the trip to our pier. Tonight’s theme was Island Night, and the late night as a tropical food, fruit, and sherbet night around the pool. The show was an outstanding performance of Cirque de Galaxy with acrobats, dancers, and the adagio duo. Day Nine, At Sea. Second day with formal and informal afternoon tea, and wine tasting. Received email my new grandson had been born this morning! A hot, sunny, relaxing day enroute the Bahamas. I loved to sit on the open teak deck astern behind the garden pool on Resort Deck. There were tables, chairs, umbrellas, and overlooking wake. Food and drink close by. Wonderful location, my favorite. Skipped the show, dancing after dinner. Day Ten, Nassau. A short day. Passengers cleared ashore at 8am, and due back by 12:45pm. Taxi to Paradise Island public beach access for $4 pp and $1 toll. Sandy beach, crystal clear water, few fish. Vendors provide jet skis, parasail, beverages and chairs. After 90 minutes in the hottest sun of the week, we walked to the Atlantis resort for a self-tour. We used the restrooms, viewed the shops, casino, and public areas including the aquarium where we saw sharks, stingrays, and lot of fish, all for free. Worth the trip. Taxi back to Strawmarket, which is still in temporary tent location, then walked back to ship. Last formal night. Show after dinner was Concert in B with singers, dancers and the adagio duo. Le Grand Buffet in the Dining Room with photos from 1145-1215am, and buffet open 1215-1:30am. Day 11, At Sea. Another relaxing day with no real agenda. Reality sets in: We debark tomorrow. Packing, bags out by 11pm. Day 12, Arrive 10am. Off ship at 12:30 (those who drove and were on lower decks were last to leave). In the car in 60 minutes. Very smooth. The 4 hour drive home took 6.5 hours due to Friday rush hour traffic. Overall comments: The ship is spotless. There are hardly any announcements. They were not really hustling alcohol. Padded lounges in pool areas, ample towels, including special large ones for days ashore. They take but were not pushing photos. The movie selection in the theatre included: Moulon Rouge, Lord of the Rings, Princess Diaries, Ali, K-Pax, Jurassic Park 3, The Score, Swordfish, and Osmosis Jones. First rate. There is no buffet at dinner. The only alternative dining is room service or casual dining by reservation in the garden area by the Oasis Pool. Same menu, suggested $2 pp tip. The buffet has no breakfast variety….same every day. There is an omelet/eggs to order station, and they have eggbeaters. Some type of breakfast is available somewhere 7-11:30 every day. Lunch buffet is 11:30 – 2pm, including pasta stations, with pizza and burgers available later. Lunch buffet was mostly uninteresting. Dining rooms seatings are 6 and 8:30pm. Entrees included plenty of fish and pasta, steaks, roast beef and prime rib, filet mignon, lobster, lamb steaks and roast, chicken and duck. Mini-pizzas are available through room service. Great! The smoking convention is: smokers on the port side of public areas, starboard is smoke free. Very few exceptions were observed. There were very active programs for young children (under 10), a Youth program (Ensigns) for 10-12, and a Teen Program for 13-17….which few appeared to use. Agenda was provided to each room daily. The Youth and Teen programs participants are free to come and go as desired. Vibration. On lower decks, and aft, including the dining room have VERY noticeable vibration any time the ship is underway, not just entering/leaving port. Every time they speed up or turn. At breakfast the last day entering Baltimore, while we were sitting in the Dining Room, the vibration was so bad every glass and piece of silver rattled. This was our 13th cruise, the first over 7 days. We loved the 11 days. I don’t want constant action and enjoy sea days. I enjoy having the option to go to shows or casinos or not. I enjoy having dancing opportunities. I don’t like to be hustled for drinks and photos. We weren’t. Even in the buffet the waiters take your tray and carry it to find you a seat. Service is superb. We loved it. I would definitely cruise Celebrity again.

I left for this cruise with some trepidation after reading mostly unhappy review written in November for this new itinerary. In addition, after 17 cruises, this was to be our first Freestyle dining, and we have always enjoyed late traditional dining. The cruise leaves from New Orleans and stops in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Cancun…. all great snorkeling/diving locations, and two of which I had never been to before. We left on Friday, Dec 12, for a two night pre-cruise stay in New Orleans, staying at the Riverside Hilton. There were about 200,000 extra visitors in town for the weekend, including a minor league baseball meeting. We took a limo from the airport for $35 to the hotel. We walked to dinner at Mulate’s, a classic Cajun/Zydaco place across the street from the Juliet Street Terminal. The weather was cold and showers, but it doesn’t hold down the revelers on Bourbon Street. We lunched on Saturday on Acme Oyster House, enjoying oysters on the half shell and the Peacemaker Po’Boy, half oysters and half shrimp. We had seen it on the Food Channel. We also ate at Olivier’s and had oysters at Felix’s on Bourbon Street. We even won a bit on the slots at Harrah’s Casino! On Sunday, after church at St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square, we packed and checked out at noon. The taxi ride, three blocks with luggage, was $7 per person!! Taxis are expensive in the Big Easy. There was no delay in checking in and we were aboard in 15 minutes! Due to all the news about cruise ship Norwalk virus, they had all passengers sanitize their hands before boarding there and in each port, as well as at the entrance to all dining rooms and buffets. We had a large ocean view cabin, 7246, on Deck 7. In addition to the queen bed, it had a single sofa bed, coffee table and chair and TV, separated by a curtain from the queen area, where the dressing table was located. Plenty of closet space in two closets but drawer space was not plentiful. I was pleased to find that even at noon, the cabin was ready and contained a bottle of wine from the TA and the champagne I had arranged through a pre-booked NCL anniversary package. Our luggage, however took about 4 hours to get to the room. There is no “Lido†deck. The only buffet is in an area called the Sports Bar overlooking the stern. It is really much more than a bar. It does have sports TV but it contains a buffet line…. two short ones really…. plus the beverage area. It serves three meals a day, and at breakfast there is a French toast/pancake station. While not large, we never had to wait for a table. The turnover is adequate. There are two regular restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Four Seasons is a pleasant large dining room the width of the ship on deck 9 but allows pedestrian traffic to flow through the room. Distracting, and while we ate there the first night and had exceptional service at a table for two, we didn’t return except for the night of the Chocolate Buffet. The other is The Terrace, a multi-level sunny dining room overlooking the stern pool on deck 9. We ate 5 dinners and several breakfasts there. This is also the restaurant designed as the optional formal dining room on optional formal nights. A third restaurant, open normally only for dinner, is an Italian-style Trattoria on deck 10 overlooking the stern, specializing most nights in Italian food, pasta, Osso Bucco, and so on. We chose not eat there. There is also a French-style restaurant called Le Bistro on deck 9 with a $12 pp cover charge and extra charges for the top menu items, like surf and turf. The food if fine and well presented, but the service is slow and not on a par with specialty restaurants we have eaten in on other lines. In addition, we were seated by the curtain separating the room form a bar and passageway, causing unwanted noise in the intimate setting of the bistro. Even with a reservation we had to wait about 15 minutes for dinner with the restaurant only 2/3 full. Another dining location is on the pool deck on deck 10. At breakfast there is a small continental breakfast buffet line in what serves as a cafeteria-style pizzeria in the afternoon. There is also an omelet and hot food line set up by the pool. At lunch and dinner every day there is a BBQ style meal, often with ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, etc. A great idea and alternative, but it was cool weather this trip, and a bit windy. There is not much for late night appetites other than some finger sandwiches in the casino from 1120-1230 nightly, and room service, which has a VERY limited menu. We ate at various times from 7-9pm nightly and only one night had to wait about 10 minutes for a table for two, and that was the first formal night in the only restaurant reserved for formal dining. Except for LeBistro, the restaurants do not take reservations for dinner except for 5:30pm and after 9pm. The menus change daily in The Terrace and Four Seasons and Sports Bar, but the don’t change in Trattoria or LeBistro. A sampling of dinner menus included Prime Rib the first night, Lobster and Beef Wellington on the second night (first formal night), rack of lamb, sea bass, veal marsalla (Italian night in all restaurants), steak Diane at Captains farewell dinner, leg of lamb. In summary, the food was excellent, as was the service in all food venues except LeBistro. People remembered us, and while we varied out times, we felt similarly to when we dined in traditional dining rooms. The wait staff, with or 2 exceptions, work extremely well together. NCL also offered a buy 5 wines and get one free offer. The wine list is nice and is reasonably priced (many nice wines $20-28). We took advantage of the offer. I had also purchase an Anniversary/Honeymoon package in advance which included a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on arrival, canapés one night in our cabin, the cover charge for two in LeBistro with a bottle of house Merlot, and a reception one night with champagne and cake with our celebrating couples where they took a photo which was provided at no charge to us. An excellent value. The souvenir glasses for specialty drinks were in glass glasses, not plastic cups. Nice, but harder to bring home. The productions shows by the Jean Ann Ryan Company were good, but the adagio pair were superb…. especially on the nights when the ship was rocking and rolling. They also offered comedy and variety shows, and a Mardi Gras night in the showroom. There were two regular musical duos who played contemporary and dance tunes in Lucky’s Bar on Deck 9 and in the Observatory lounge on deck 12 overlooking the bow. We especially enjoyed a couple, the Two Tones, in Observatory Lounge and spent some time there every night before or after dinner dancing. There is also a piano bar musician playing evening in an open bar area, and a DJ playing in Dazzles nightclub. While we had read in their literature that one night would be an optional formal night, we found out to my wife’s consternation when we got aboard that there would be two. We enjoy formal dress. I found that the dress of passengers on these optional formal nights was better, and tuxes more widespread, than on my last cruise on Carnival Victory! Freestyle! And there were no lines for portraits, one of the things I most dislike. Prices were reasonable: $19.95 for the first portrait and $14.95 for a second pose if purchased at the same time/checkout. The internet café also offers wireless cards for your laptop for rent, as well as normal internet service/computers. The charge is 75 cents a minute, with some packages at $55 and $100 equating to 50 cents and 40 cents a minute, respectively. I didn’t use much internet! The wine tasting is $10 per person, with mediocre wines. I passed on this one as too expensive. Bingo cost my wife $39 each time she played. Quite high. Slots were unproductive for us. The casino had various tournaments but was not crowded. The Ports The sea days were Monday and Saturday. We have been coming to the Caribbean the second week in December for 23 years and never had bad or cold weather…till this week. It started with cold and rain in New Orleans. Monday at sea was mostly too cool to sunbath or use the pool. Cozumel Tuesday we arrived in Cozumel to 86 degree sunny weather. The ship berthed downtown across from Carlos and Charlie’s/Senor Frog’s at Punta Langouste, much better location than the new international piers. If you didn’t need to go to a beach, you would not even need a taxi the whole time in Cozumel. Everything is within walking distance. We taxied for $15 to Mr. Sancho’s beach, just beyond Playa Sol beach where we had been last April. Sancho’s has everything Playa Sol has but no admission charge and no crowds. We loved it. Even the snorkeling was better near some sunken boats and debris about 50 yards out from the center of the beach. Taxi back to the ship to drop off our gear and then into town to shop for my wife’s ruby ring for her anniversary present, then to Carlos and Charlie’s to await the ring’s sizing. A nice excuse. We added to our collection of shooter glasses. Looked a bit like spring break in December, in fact. Liquor and cigarettes in the duty free shop at the end of the pier were cheaper than aboard ship, where the selection was VERY limited. They do hold all liquor purchased on or off the ship in bond until the last night. I did pack a few miniatures and two splits of champagne which came through intact. Roatan Wednesday we arrived in Roatan with cloudy sky. We had to tender in, but after another ship left at midday, the Dream was berthed at a pier. An island 37 miles long and 2-4 miles wide, it is about 35 miles off the coast of Honduras and known for its diving/snorkeling. Taxi to the west end is about $26, so we chose to sign up for an excursion for $32 pp about 3 hours before it was to leave. As we left the ship the heaven opened and we were literally deluged. Onto school buses and over the mountains to Tabayana Beach. The BBQ there went on, but little else. It showered lightly on and off all day, and the lifeguards said don’t bother with a mask and snorkel, as the water was rough and murky from the storm. A beautiful beach but a disappointment. That night there was a note in our room that we had been credited 25% of the cost of the excursion. NCL was on the ball. It was very rough and windy the night we left, and the promenade deck was closed. Belize Thursday was to be Belize, the other snorkel port I had looked forward to. I had signed up for a catamaran snorkel adventure scheduled to leave early in the morning. Up at 6:30 we found no land in sight. At 7:50am, the time we were to depart, the Captain came on the PA system and said that due to the rough weather and the need for tendering, they had decided to bypass Belize. They refunded the excursion fare. They had worked on an alternative and said we would arrive in Costa Maya for a 1-8:30pm visit. It was still cool and cloudy. The Golden Princess and NCL Sun were berthed there, too. This is a site developed just for the cruise lines. It contains a small shopping mall, several nice bars and restaurants, a pool, a performance area, and is a jumping off point for tours to various sites in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Still cool and cloudy, I didn’t want to pay a taxi to go anywhere, but noticed a beach immediately adjacent to the pier that had a swimming area shielded from the surf. A private area, we rented a chair and enjoyed the beach. I snorkeled and it was terrific. Many fan coral, many fish, including some large ones. I didn’t notice the lack of sun. The had some bars and a restaurant, and bathrooms available, too. We wound up back at the mall in a bar similar to a Carlos and Charlie’s with alcohol related activities on stage and a lot of fun. Not a bad day after all, but not Belize. Cancun Friday was Cancun, arriving about 8:30am. Weather was sunny and about 72 degrees. The ship anchors just off Isla Mujares. They are not permitted to use their own tenders, and must use Mexican tenders. They shuttled for two hours, with passengers using tender tickets to get aboard, until opening the runs. We went down at 10:30 to get a ticket and were aboard in 10 minutes. It is a 30 minute tender ride to Playa Tortuga. They offered a free shuttle bus to Playa Flamingo in the hotel zone, where Planet Hollywood and Pat O’Brien’s are located. We have spent two weeks total in Cancun and know the area well. We shopped at Flamingo, and then took a city bus for 50 cents each to Senor Frog’s for chips and afternoon refreshments. Another bus back to Playa Tortuga, where there is a nice beach with chair rentals, a Fat Tuesday’s on the beach, and a small bar/souvenir area. After a brief time on the beach we caught the last tender back. This was the second optional formal night and Captain’s Farewell Dinner. After the production show the Captain and representatives of the crew, including the “Star Performer†voted by the passengers, went up on stage to say farewell and thanks. The last sea day, Saturday, was 70 degrees and sunny. Baggage didn’t have to be out in the halls until a 1am deadline, leaving plenty of time for the last evening activities and the packing. From the Observation Lounge we could see the ship approaching the Mississippi. On Sunday, the ship arrived about 6:30am. Breakfast was available until 9am. Passengers can stay in their cabin until their debarkation color tag is called. Our color was called about 10:15. There was no line-up or document inspection by immigration for U.S. citizens. Very leisurely freestyle departure. Taxis to the airport are readily available at the terminal for $28 for two people. They also had bus transfers available, $10 pp payable at the door. We arrived at the airport about 11:30 for a 1:30 flight and were pleased to see an Acme Oyster House there where we could purchase po’boys again for lunch. In summary, we loved it. Freestyle offered us everything traditional dining offered plus the freedom to arrive in the dining room when we wanted to. The embarkation and debarkation were a joy. Food was terrific. And two of the four port days were lots of fun. We’ll definitely cruise NCL freestyle again. I was most impressed with an attitude of customer service throughout. Well done NCL. P.S. The staff we spoke with admitted that at Thanksgiving they had about 300 kids aboard and it made for longer lines. Over Christmas they were expecting 500 children. They do have youth programs for 2-5, 6-12, and teens, but the extra bodies do slow things down and can make for some lines. On normal weeks they seem to have worked all the bugs out on this new itinerary.

Arrived in FLL late due to rainstorms, with the plane routed via Bimini! Taxi to Port Everglades $11 with tip. Arrived at pier about 1:40pm, along with most of the passengers at the same time, apparently. Lines moved along, but formed outside, wrapped inside, into security, then into long ropes queue at check-in, short stop for sign and sail card, past boarding photo (numbered for ease of locating later) and aboard in 1 hr 20 min. There are plenty of Carnival staff to work the crowds, but the terminal is not set up well for handling large crowds. The new ship in port does not have the best setup. Day 1: We were berthed in cabin 5299, an 8C centerline stern cabin on Upper Deck. 3 closets, 2 large drawers under the extra bed. Short on drawer space in vanity. Hair dryer in drawer. Safe, and stocked refrig (soda was only $1.50 a can, same as at bars). Room steward nowhere to be seen, and no name card. Robes and beach/towels provided. The TV has some U.S. TV from TN and NY, free and pay movies, cruise cams, travelogues, and a sign and sail account summary. Quick lunch (12-2:30 daily) in Unicorn Café on Lido deck, where service is divided into 8 stations to avoid lines, including poolside grill open daily till 6pm(hot dogs, burgers, chicken breasts, steak sandwiches), Chinese, Taste of Nations (countries change daily – Italy, India, Caribbean, Japan, America, France, Mexico, Greece), Deli (reuben, turkey, roast beef, pastrami) open 11-11, Pizza (open 24 hours), Rotisserie (three or four selections changes daily), Salad and Fruit bar, dessert station. After lifeboat drill went to Lido deck for sail away, which was about 30 minutes late due late boarding. We were interviewed by the Travelogue video crew and for much of the cruise people greeted us with “we saw you on the videoâ€Â, which plays on the TV. We made our Golden Fleece reservations for later in the week on day 5, 8pm, and got a great table for two by the windows. For our 8:15pm dinners in Truffles Dining Room, we were assigned a table for 2 on the balcony level, deck 3. The dining room has a terrific layout with all service stations on the sides, not among the tables. It cut down on noise. Our table overlooked the main floor from the balcony, as did most of the table for 2, and there a lots. Our team was Jelena from Croatia and Roberto from the Philippines. We brought our own wine all week, and corkage was $10, but was only charged 5 of 8 nights. We also brought extra champagne for sipping on the balcony. Dinner was rack of lamb and tilapia. We skipped the welcome show and enjoyed Satchmo’s Lounge with the Music Society, a 4 person Philippino band playing 60’s – 90’s hits for dancing, and the Johnny Favourite band in the Firebird Lounge playing slow dancing music and jazz. Day 2 At sea: Enjoyed room service breakfast, prompt delivery. Checked our arrival photo, the shops, enjoyed the sun on the aft Lido deck by the pool. This was were the hot tub was supposed to be reserved for adults, according to the Cruise Capers and to the signs posted there, but was filled for days with age 7 and under children, many without adult supervision all cruise. Attended a reception in Satchmo’s Lounge at 2pm, the first Carnival has hosted, for over 40 people from a cruise board. They served iced tea, lemonade and Champagne, thanks to Sandy Schindler of Carnival. Participated in a “state†gift exchange and met folks we spoke with for the remainder of the cruise. This was the first formal night, with the Captain’s Welcome Reception in the lounges forward and in the Follies Lounge. Dinner included lobster, prime rib, and a Japanese plate with a petite filet mignon, cherries jubilee, and singing waiters. The after dinner show was “Jazz Hotâ€Â. Day 3 At Sea: Eggs Benedict in the dining room, and a lazy day on our balcony except to view ice sculpture. Dinner included 3 great soups, escargot, salmon, roast sirloin. Went to Satchmo’s again instead of attending the first of three comedy shows. They did have Big Band dancing before the show, but we were the only ones dancing! Also had late night dancing in Firebird Lounge, which was mostly empty but intimate at night…….loud/overdone when the lights were on. My wife enjoyed the piano work of the Mike Mallon, an accomplished pianist for 22 years and 3 original CD’s in the lounges at various times all week. Day 4 St. Maartin: Arrived 7am, and berthed stern first so we had a view of Phillipsburg from the balcony when we woke up. Did our first breakfast in the Unicorn café, where eggs to order, including omelets, were available daily. Taxi from pier to Philipsburg was $3 per person. Taxi to La Galleon beach on the French side, east of Orient Beach, which we had found on the internet was $18 for up to 3 persons, each way. Arranged for taxi to return to pick us up. This was a nice uncrowded beach. Fair snorkeling, great windsurfing and sail boarding. No hustle by vendors. Chair rental was $5. There was a restaurant and bar, and restrooms available. Tops optional. Back to Philipsburg to shop (Marigot is closed on Sunday even when ships are in). Liquor is $3-4 per bottle cheaper than on the ship, and cigarettes are $4-5 cheaper per carton. So…..we bought my wife a ruby ring there for our anniversary. Ended the afternoon at Everyt’ing Cool, and had my first Big Black Banana there. Great! Taxi back for $3 per person at 3:30pm. Long line boarding caused sailing 15 min late ( a trend here: long lines boarding and late sailings). They still had lunch open aboard, too. Dancing waiters again at dinner (Macarena), filet of sole, Beef Wellington. The show was a tribute to Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra by Christopher Allen Graves, and received the only standing ovation I can ever recall on a cruise. He was great, started as a player in shows, then producing, now starring. He alternates between the Spirit and the Legend. He got the audience involved in the show. Finished the night in Satchmo’s again, and in late night dining in the Unicorn Café, where the jambalaya was great. Day 5 Barbados: Had champagne and room service breakfast on the balcony, as we were not due in Barbados till noon. It was a long run at 21 knots for 20 hrs to get there. As a result, scheduled in port till 10pm. Unfortunately, because we were the last to arrive, we were berthed on the breakwater. The Sea Princess, the Costa Mariner, and SeaDream were already berthed closer to the terminal. After lunch we walked into town, about a 20 minute walk. We located the bus terminal across from St. Mary’s church, and for 75 cents per person, each way, we rode about 20 minutes to Folkestone Park, the national underwater park and beach just beyond Holetown. Entrance is free, and there are restrooms, showers, souvenirs and refreshments, picnic tables, a children’s playground, and chair rentals ($5). At high tide the sandy beach is limited, but there are plenty of sunny areas. Snorkeling is best over the reef about 100 yards offshore to the right of the beach in front of the rocks to the right. Nice coral and schools of multicolored fish….hundreds in a school. Water was very clear. Took the bus back to town and shopped at Harrison’s, downtown, then took a taxi for $5 to The BoatYard, a beachfront bar and grill with water sports, trampoline, rock climb, and a great bar/music with inexpensive drinks ($2 beer and $3 rum punch). Taxi to ship $6 at 7pm. Most shops in the cruise terminal closed at 7pm, but a few were open till 8. After a dinner of turbot and beef tenderloin, they had music on deck at 9:45, a buffet at 11:30pm and games at 11:45……island night. Day 6 Martinique: Arrived 7am. 8am cleared to go ashore. We left at 9am, took a taxi for $8 per taxi to the town, where the ferry landing was located, off the city park. For $6 each, round trip, we took a 20-minute ferry ride from Fort du France, to Pointe du Bout. Two hotels make their beaches available to the public, and we chose the Meridian. The famed black sand beaches were not here, as they had soft white, probably imported, sand. Chair rental was $5 each. Some topless. Snorkeling was excellent around the rocks and a nearby rocky point of land. Saw many fish and a few schools of larger ones, and even a sea snake on the bottom. The resort town there had many little shops and restaurants. After returning on the 12:15 ferry, we went into Fort du France to locate a CD of French popular music for our daughter’s French teacher. We asked a woman on the street where we could have a glass of wine, and she walked three blocks to lead us there. Despite frequent forewarnings, on this our second visit to Martinique, everyone we met was polite. Not as much English spoken here, but pidgeon French will do. We stopped at a waterfront place near the newer pier in town, and had great French wine for $1.50 a glass. Taxi back to port for $8 per taxi. The Destiny had come in while we were ashore. After the early sail away at 2pm, we relaxed until the Past Cruiser receptions at 6:45. We told the Cruise Director, Mike Mullane, that it was our anniversary when he greeted us at the door. They put the invitations into a bucked and had a child pull out one. We were selected and went on stage. The captain came out, and congratulated us, gave us a bottle of Pierr-Jouett Champagne ($99 on the wine list aboard), and asked how many cruises. We said 16 and that my wife had been on 8 Carnival and I on 7, and we reeled off the names when he asked: Tropicale, Jubilee, Fantasy, Inspiration, Sensation, Destiny, Triumph and Legend. As a result, for the rest of the cruise we were greeted by strangers with “Happy Anniversaryâ€Â. Then we went to dinner at the Golden Fleece, the premium restaurant with $25pp cover charge and jackets required for men. The musical duo, Just Duo, is outstanding. The Captain was having dinner with his officers at the adjacent table and cheered us with a “Salute†as we sipped our champagne. A 6 course meal, including appetizer, starters, soups, Caesar salad prepared tableside, 18oz Porterhouse steak and 12 oz Maine Lobster tail, an anniversary whipped cream cake, and dessert including triple crème Brule and a cheese and fruit tray, accompanied by a good Wolf Blass Australian Cabernet that was only $22. A great time dining, dancing, and photos. Finished the evening dancing in Satchmo’s. Day 7 At Sea: A casual day. Breakfast in the Unicorn Café, and sun on the balcony. Late lunch in Unicorn Café…Mexican today. They held a 4pm Christmas show with children performing and photos with Santa and his elves. The Banger Sisters with Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon was the TV movie of the day. This was the second formal night. We had not posed for formal shots till not, but there are multiple locations all over the ship and the lines were shorter than on any cruise we have been on. Another struggle in the dining room with lobster, snow crab, Chateaubriand and baked Alaska. Skipped the third comedian show of the week. Finished at Satchmo’s again. Tonight was the only Grand Buffet, available for photos in Truffles from 11:30pm to 12:15, and open at 12:15am. Day 8 At Sea: Truffles Restaurant for Eggs Benedict, and sunning on the balcony again. Had a nearly 2 hour meet with another website and her husband and toured their Cat 11 suite with extended balcony. Then at 1:45 the group of cruisers from the bulletin board had arranged a group luncheon in Truffles. Before dinner we began to pack and struggled through prime rib at dinner. The show was a double grammy nominated singer who did Streisand/Deon/Warwick style songs. Visited Satchmo’s one last time. I did not use the internet café in the library at all, for a change. Cost is $3.95 one-time set up charge, a needless charge in my opinion, and 75 cents a minute plus 50 cents per page for printing. Packages of minutes can be purchased: 30min for 55 cents a minute or 60 minutes for 40 cents a minute. Day 9 Ft Lauderdale: Ship was not cleared till almost 9:30am, but there was no push to get us to vacate cabins. And there seemed to be no lines at stairs or overcrowded lounges, for a change. Leisurely breakfast in Unicorn, vacated cabin and waited till our tag color was called. No problems debarking or locating luggage, and we got a taxi within 5 minutes of arriving at the curb. Couldn’t do curb checkin at airport due to a close connection, but it was not problem despite a marginally acceptable 62†bag. The radar went down and we sat in plane at the gate for 2 hours, missing our connection in Charlotte, and arriving home two hours late and without any checked luggage. However all was delivered by 9:30am the next day. Overall: Décor: 4 stars. The Legend theme is carried effectively throughout the ship, elevators, lounges, art, etc. It is NOT over the top as some Europeans termed it. There is no “neon†as is noticeable on Destiny and other Carnival ships. The sight lines in the Follies Lounge, especially the balcony, are terrific. Cabin décor was very different than that on the older ships. Service: 4 stars. The room stewardess never introduced herself, but was very efficient and accommodating, provided extra ice and put our champagne in the fridge. Our dining room staff was excellent, and bar staff spoke to us often. One night when the waiter was ill, the assistant filled in admirably. They brought things we used every night without having to ask again a second time. The Cruise Director was very personable and one of the best we have had. His wife is aboard as an entertainer, and looks like a red haired Liza Minelli. Food: 5 stars. Dining room was absolutely superb at any meal. The tremendous selection at lunch in the Unicorn, with extended hours for the grill, deli and great pizza, made lunch an adventure every day. And any cruise with eggs benedict available every day in the dining room is great. And bagels with lox and crème cheese from room service. I shop and cook at home, and this was superb. The best in 16 cruises, bar none. A great anniversary cruise. Can’t wait for the next one in 111 days.

Page 1Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Tues, Jan 20 Page 2

That'll be us, soon.

Martinique, Isle de Sainte, and probably St. Lucia, too.

For our two pre-teen and teen we have had them in an adjacent, not adjoining cabin, and also had two adjoining cabins once. We have done 4 in a cabin but not 5. My preference is adjoining cabins. They have a door you can open and make it a two room suite, or close for privacy.

For our two pre-teen and teen we have had them in an adjacent, not adjoining cabin, and also had two adjoining cabins once. We have done 4 in a cabin but not 5. My preference is adjoining cabins. They have a door you can open and make it a two room suite, or close for privacy.

For our two pre-teen and teen we have had them in an adjacent, not adjoining cabin, and also had two adjoining cabins once. We have done 4 in a cabin but not 5. My preference is adjoining cabins. They have a door you can open and make it a two room suite, or close for privacy.

And that week is in the middle of the 6 week long, or so, spring break period, so there should be plenty of kids. My, now 16 and 13 year old, kids don't like to use the organized kids programs. They can meet plenty of kids and hang out. Going the first day to the organizing meeting is good advice just to meet their peers.

And that week is in the middle of the 6 week long, or so, spring break period, so there should be plenty of kids. My, now 16 and 13 year old, kids don't like to use the organized kids programs. They can meet plenty of kids and hang out. Going the first day to the organizing meeting is good advice just to meet their peers.

And that week is in the middle of the 6 week long, or so, spring break period, so there should be plenty of kids. My, now 16 and 13 year old, kids don't like to use the organized kids programs. They can meet plenty of kids and hang out. Going the first day to the organizing meeting is good advice just to meet their peers.

Dec 14-21, 2003 I left for this cruise with some trepidation after reading mostly unhappy review written in November for this new itinerary. In addition, after 17 cruises, this was to be our first Freestyle dining, and we have always enjoyed late traditional dining. The cruise leaves from New Orleans and stops in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Cancun…. all great snorkeling/diving locations, and two of which I had never been to before. We left on Friday, Dec 12, for a two night pre-cruise stay in New Orleans, staying at the Riverside Hilton. There were about 200,000 extra visitors in town for the weekend, including a minor league baseball meeting. We took a limo from the airport for $35 to the hotel. We walked to dinner at Mulate’s, a classic Cajun/Zydaco place across the street from the Juliet Street Terminal. The weather was cold and showers, but it doesn’t hold down the revelers on Bourbon Street. We lunched on Saturday on Acme Oyster House, enjoying oysters on the half shell and the Peacemaker Po’Boy, half oysters and half shrimp. We had seen it on the Food Channel. We also ate at Olivier’s and had oysters at Felix’s on Bourbon Street. We even won a bit on the slots at Harrah’s Casino! On Sunday, after church at St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square, we packed and checked out at noon. The taxi ride, three blocks with luggage, was $7 per person!! Taxis are expensive in the Big Easy. There was no delay in checking in and we were aboard in 15 minutes! Due to all the news about cruise ship Norwalk virus, they had all passengers sanitize their hands before boarding there and in each port, as well as at the entrance to all dining rooms and buffets. We had a large ocean view cabin, 7246, on Deck 7. In addition to the queen bed, it had a single sofa bed, coffee table and chair and TV, separated by a curtain from the queen area, where the dressing table was located. Plenty of closet space in two closets but drawer space was not plentiful. I was pleased to find that even at noon, the cabin was ready and contained a bottle of wine from the TA and the champagne I had arranged through a pre-booked NCL anniversary package. Our luggage, however took about 4 hours to get to the room. There is no “Lido†deck. The only buffet is in an area called the Sports Bar overlooking the stern. It is really much more than a bar. It does have sports TV but it contains a buffet line…. two short ones really…. plus the beverage area. It serves three meals a day, and at breakfast there is a French toast/pancake station. While not large, we never had to wait for a table. The turnover is adequate. There are two regular restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Four Seasons is a pleasant large dining room the width of the ship on deck 9 but allows pedestrian traffic to flow through the room. Distracting, and while we ate there the first night and had exceptional service at a table for two, we didn’t return except for the night of the Chocolate Buffet. The other is The Terrace, a multi-level sunny dining room overlooking the stern pool on deck 9. We ate 5 dinners and several breakfasts there. This is also the restaurant designed as the optional formal dining room on optional formal nights. A third restaurant, open normally only for dinner, is an Italian-style Trattoria on deck 10 overlooking the stern, specializing most nights in Italian food, pasta, Osso Bucco, and so on. We chose not eat there. There is also a French-style restaurant called Le Bistro on deck 9 with a $12 pp cover charge and extra charges for the top menu items, like surf and turf. The food if fine and well presented, but the service is slow and not on a par with specialty restaurants we have eaten in on other lines. In addition, we were seated by the curtain separating the room form a bar and passageway, causing unwanted noise in the intimate setting of the bistro. Even with a reservation we had to wait about 15 minutes for dinner with the restaurant only 2/3 full. Another dining location is on the pool deck on deck 10. At breakfast there is a small continental breakfast buffet line in what serves as a cafeteria-style pizzeria in the afternoon. There is also an omelet and hot food line set up by the pool. At lunch and dinner every day there is a BBQ style meal, often with ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, etc. A great idea and alternative, but it was cool weather this trip, and a bit windy. There is not much for late night appetites other than some finger sandwiches in the casino from 1120-1230 nightly, and room service, which has a VERY limited menu. We ate at various times from 7-9pm nightly and only one night had to wait about 10 minutes for a table for two, and that was the first formal night in the only restaurant reserved for formal dining. Except for LeBistro, the restaurants do not take reservations for dinner except for 5:30pm and after 9pm. The menus change daily in The Terrace and Four Seasons and Sports Bar, but the don’t change in Trattoria or LeBistro. A sampling of dinner menus included Prime Rib the first night, Lobster and Beef Wellington on the second night (first formal night), rack of lamb, sea bass, veal marsalla (Italian night in all restaurants), steak Diane at Captains farewell dinner, leg of lamb. In summary, the food was excellent, as was the service in all food venues except LeBistro. People remembered us, and while we varied out times, we felt similarly to when we dined in traditional dining rooms. The wait staff, with or 2 exceptions, work extremely well together. NCL also offered a buy 5 wines and get one free offer. The wine list is nice and is reasonably priced (many nice wines $20-28). We took advantage of the offer. I had also purchase an Anniversary/Honeymoon package in advance which included a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on arrival, canapés one night in our cabin, the cover charge for two in LeBistro with a bottle of house Merlot, and a reception one night with champagne and cake with our celebrating couples where they took a photo which was provided at no charge to us. An excellent value. The souvenir glasses for specialty drinks were in glass glasses, not plastic cups. Nice, but harder to bring home. The productions shows by the Jean Ann Ryan Company were good, but the adagio pair were superb…. especially on the nights when the ship was rocking and rolling. They also offered comedy and variety shows, and a Mardi Gras night in the showroom. There were two regular musical duos who played contemporary and dance tunes in Lucky’s Bar on Deck 9 and in the Observatory lounge on deck 12 overlooking the bow. We especially enjoyed a couple, the Two Tones, in Observatory Lounge and spent some time there every night before or after dinner dancing. There is also a piano bar musician playing evening in an open bar area, and a DJ playing in Dazzles nightclub. While we had read in their literature that one night would be an optional formal night, we found out to my wife’s consternation when we got aboard that there would be two. We enjoy formal dress. I found that the dress of passengers on these optional formal nights was better, and tuxes more widespread, than on my last cruise on Carnival Victory! Freestyle! And there were no lines for portraits, one of the things I most dislike. Prices were reasonable: $19.95 for the first portrait and $14.95 for a second pose if purchased at the same time/checkout. The internet café also offers wireless cards for your laptop for rent, as well as normal internet service/computers. The charge is 75 cents a minute, with some packages at $55 and $100 equating to 50 cents and 40 cents a minute, respectively. I didn’t use much internet! The wine tasting is $10 per person, with mediocre wines. I passed on this one as too expensive. Bingo cost my wife $39 each time she played. Quite high. Slots were unproductive for us. The casino had various tournaments but was not crowded. The Ports The sea days were Monday and Saturday. We have been coming to the Caribbean the second week in December for 23 years and never had bad or cold weather…till this week. It started with cold and rain in New Orleans. Monday at sea was mostly too cool to sunbath or use the pool. Cozumel Tuesday we arrived in Cozumel to 86 degree sunny weather. The ship berthed downtown across from Carlos and Charlie’s/Senor Frog’s at Punta Langouste, much better location than the new international piers. If you didn’t need to go to a beach, you would not even need a taxi the whole time in Cozumel. Everything is within walking distance. We taxied for $15 to Mr. Sancho’s beach, just beyond Playa Sol beach where we had been last April. Sancho’s has everything Playa Sol has but no admission charge and no crowds. We loved it. Even the snorkeling was better near some sunken boats and debris about 50 yards out from the center of the beach. Taxi back to the ship to drop off our gear and then into town to shop for my wife’s ruby ring for her anniversary present, then to Carlos and Charlie’s to await the ring’s sizing. A nice excuse. We added to our collection of shooter glasses. Looked a bit like spring break in December, in fact. Liquor and cigarettes in the duty free shop at the end of the pier were cheaper than aboard ship, where the selection was VERY limited. They do hold all liquor purchased on or off the ship in bond until the last night. I did pack a few miniatures and two splits of champagne which came through intact. Roatan Wednesday we arrived in Roatan with cloudy sky. We had to tender in, but after another ship left at midday, the Dream was berthed at a pier. An island 37 miles long and 2-4 miles wide, it is about 35 miles off the coast of Honduras and known for its diving/snorkeling. Taxi to the west end is about $26, so we chose to sign up for an excursion for $32 pp about 3 hours before it was to leave. As we left the ship the heaven opened and we were literally deluged. Onto school buses and over the mountains to Tabayana Beach. The BBQ there went on, but little else. It showered lightly on and off all day, and the lifeguards said don’t bother with a mask and snorkel, as the water was rough and murky from the storm. A beautiful beach but a disappointment. That night there was a note in our room that we had been credited 25% of the cost of the excursion. NCL was on the ball. It was very rough and windy the night we left, and the promenade deck was closed. Belize Thursday was to be Belize, the other snorkel port I had looked forward to. I had signed up for a catamaran snorkel adventure scheduled to leave early in the morning. Up at 6:30 we found no land in sight. At 7:50am, the time we were to depart, the Captain came on the PA system and said that due to the rough weather and the need for tendering, they had decided to bypass Belize. They refunded the excursion fare. They had worked on an alternative and said we would arrive in Costa Maya for a 1-8:30pm visit. It was still cool and cloudy. The Golden Princess and NCL Sun were berthed there, too. This is a site developed just for the cruise lines. It contains a small shopping mall, several nice bars and restaurants, a pool, a performance area, and is a jumping off point for tours to various sites in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Still cool and cloudy, I didn’t want to pay a taxi to go anywhere, but noticed a beach immediately adjacent to the pier that had a swimming area shielded from the surf. A private area, we rented a chair and enjoyed the beach. I snorkeled and it was terrific. Many fan coral, many fish, including some large ones. I didn’t notice the lack of sun. The had some bars and a restaurant, and bathrooms available, too. We wound up back at the mall in a bar similar to a Carlos and Charlie’s with alcohol related activities on stage and a lot of fun. Not a bad day after all, but not Belize. Cancun Friday was Cancun, arriving about 8:30am. Weather was sunny and about 72 degrees. The ship anchors just off Isla Mujares. They are not permitted to use their own tenders, and must use Mexican tenders. They shuttled for two hours, with passengers using tender tickets to get aboard, until opening the runs. We went down at 10:30 to get a ticket and were aboard in 10 minutes. It is a 30 minute tender ride to Playa Tortuga. They offered a free shuttle bus to Playa Flamingo in the hotel zone, where Planet Hollywood and Pat O’Brien’s are located. We have spent two weeks total in Cancun and know the area well. We shopped at Flamingo, and then took a city bus for 50 cents each to Senor Frog’s for chips and afternoon refreshments. Another bus back to Playa Tortuga, where there is a nice beach with chair rentals, a Fat Tuesday’s on the beach, and a small bar/souvenir area. After a brief time on the beach we caught the last tender back. This was the second optional formal night and Captain’s Farewell Dinner. After the production show the Captain and representatives of the crew, including the “Star Performer†voted by the passengers, went up on stage to say farewell and thanks. The last sea day, Saturday, was 70 degrees and sunny. Baggage didn’t have to be out in the halls until a 1am deadline, leaving plenty of time for the last evening activities and the packing. From the Observation Lounge we could see the ship approaching the Mississippi. On Sunday, the ship arrived about 6:30am. Breakfast was available until 9am. Passengers can stay in their cabin until their debarkation color tag is called. Our color was called about 10:15. There was no line-up or document inspection by immigration for U.S. citizens. Very leisurely freestyle departure. Taxis to the airport are readily available at the terminal for $28 for two people. They also had bus transfers available, $10 pp payable at the door. We arrived at the airport about 11:30 for a 1:30 flight and were pleased to see an Acme Oyster House there where we could purchase po’boys again for lunch. In summary, we loved it. Freestyle offered us everything traditional dining offered plus the freedom to arrive in the dining room when we wanted to. The embarkation and debarkation were a joy. Food was terrific. And two of the four port days were lots of fun. We’ll definitely cruise NCL freestyle again. I was most impressed with an attitude of customer service throughout. Well done NCL. P.S. The staff we spoke with admitted that at Thanksgiving they had about 300 kids aboard and it made for longer lines. Over Christmas they were expecting 500 children. They do have youth programs for 2-5, 6-12, and teens, but the extra bodies do slow things down and can make for some lines. On normal weeks they seem to have worked all the bugs out on this new itinerary.

Dec 14-21, 2003 I left for this cruise with some trepidation after reading mostly unhappy review written in November for this new itinerary. In addition, after 17 cruises, this was to be our first Freestyle dining, and we have always enjoyed late traditional dining. The cruise leaves from New Orleans and stops in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Cancun…. all great snorkeling/diving locations, and two of which I had never been to before. We left on Friday, Dec 12, for a two night pre-cruise stay in New Orleans, staying at the Riverside Hilton. There were about 200,000 extra visitors in town for the weekend, including a minor league baseball meeting. We took a limo from the airport for $35 to the hotel. We walked to dinner at Mulate’s, a classic Cajun/Zydaco place across the street from the Juliet Street Terminal. The weather was cold and showers, but it doesn’t hold down the revelers on Bourbon Street. We lunched on Saturday on Acme Oyster House, enjoying oysters on the half shell and the Peacemaker Po’Boy, half oysters and half shrimp. We had seen it on the Food Channel. We also ate at Olivier’s and had oysters at Felix’s on Bourbon Street. We even won a bit on the slots at Harrah’s Casino! On Sunday, after church at St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square, we packed and checked out at noon. The taxi ride, three blocks with luggage, was $7 per person!! Taxis are expensive in the Big Easy. There was no delay in checking in and we were aboard in 15 minutes! Due to all the news about cruise ship Norwalk virus, they had all passengers sanitize their hands before boarding there and in each port, as well as at the entrance to all dining rooms and buffets. We had a large ocean view cabin, 7246, on Deck 7. In addition to the queen bed, it had a single sofa bed, coffee table and chair and TV, separated by a curtain from the queen area, where the dressing table was located. Plenty of closet space in two closets but drawer space was not plentiful. I was pleased to find that even at noon, the cabin was ready and contained a bottle of wine from the TA and the champagne I had arranged through a pre-booked NCL anniversary package. Our luggage, however took about 4 hours to get to the room. There is no “Lido†deck. The only buffet is in an area called the Sports Bar overlooking the stern. It is really much more than a bar. It does have sports TV but it contains a buffet line…. two short ones really…. plus the beverage area. It serves three meals a day, and at breakfast there is a French toast/pancake station. While not large, we never had to wait for a table. The turnover is adequate. There are two regular restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Four Seasons is a pleasant large dining room the width of the ship on deck 9 but allows pedestrian traffic to flow through the room. Distracting, and while we ate there the first night and had exceptional service at a table for two, we didn’t return except for the night of the Chocolate Buffet. The other is The Terrace, a multi-level sunny dining room overlooking the stern pool on deck 9. We ate 5 dinners and several breakfasts there. This is also the restaurant designed as the optional formal dining room on optional formal nights. A third restaurant, open normally only for dinner, is an Italian-style Trattoria on deck 10 overlooking the stern, specializing most nights in Italian food, pasta, Osso Bucco, and so on. We chose not eat there. There is also a French-style restaurant called Le Bistro on deck 9 with a $12 pp cover charge and extra charges for the top menu items, like surf and turf. The food if fine and well presented, but the service is slow and not on a par with specialty restaurants we have eaten in on other lines. In addition, we were seated by the curtain separating the room form a bar and passageway, causing unwanted noise in the intimate setting of the bistro. Even with a reservation we had to wait about 15 minutes for dinner with the restaurant only 2/3 full. Another dining location is on the pool deck on deck 10. At breakfast there is a small continental breakfast buffet line in what serves as a cafeteria-style pizzeria in the afternoon. There is also an omelet and hot food line set up by the pool. At lunch and dinner every day there is a BBQ style meal, often with ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, etc. A great idea and alternative, but it was cool weather this trip, and a bit windy. There is not much for late night appetites other than some finger sandwiches in the casino from 1120-1230 nightly, and room service, which has a VERY limited menu. We ate at various times from 7-9pm nightly and only one night had to wait about 10 minutes for a table for two, and that was the first formal night in the only restaurant reserved for formal dining. Except for LeBistro, the restaurants do not take reservations for dinner except for 5:30pm and after 9pm. The menus change daily in The Terrace and Four Seasons and Sports Bar, but the don’t change in Trattoria or LeBistro. A sampling of dinner menus included Prime Rib the first night, Lobster and Beef Wellington on the second night (first formal night), rack of lamb, sea bass, veal marsalla (Italian night in all restaurants), steak Diane at Captains farewell dinner, leg of lamb. In summary, the food was excellent, as was the service in all food venues except LeBistro. People remembered us, and while we varied out times, we felt similarly to when we dined in traditional dining rooms. The wait staff, with or 2 exceptions, work extremely well together. NCL also offered a buy 5 wines and get one free offer. The wine list is nice and is reasonably priced (many nice wines $20-28). We took advantage of the offer. I had also purchase an Anniversary/Honeymoon package in advance which included a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on arrival, canapés one night in our cabin, the cover charge for two in LeBistro with a bottle of house Merlot, and a reception one night with champagne and cake with our celebrating couples where they took a photo which was provided at no charge to us. An excellent value. The souvenir glasses for specialty drinks were in glass glasses, not plastic cups. Nice, but harder to bring home. The productions shows by the Jean Ann Ryan Company were good, but the adagio pair were superb…. especially on the nights when the ship was rocking and rolling. They also offered comedy and variety shows, and a Mardi Gras night in the showroom. There were two regular musical duos who played contemporary and dance tunes in Lucky’s Bar on Deck 9 and in the Observatory lounge on deck 12 overlooking the bow. We especially enjoyed a couple, the Two Tones, in Observatory Lounge and spent some time there every night before or after dinner dancing. There is also a piano bar musician playing evening in an open bar area, and a DJ playing in Dazzles nightclub. While we had read in their literature that one night would be an optional formal night, we found out to my wife’s consternation when we got aboard that there would be two. We enjoy formal dress. I found that the dress of passengers on these optional formal nights was better, and tuxes more widespread, than on my last cruise on Carnival Victory! Freestyle! And there were no lines for portraits, one of the things I most dislike. Prices were reasonable: $19.95 for the first portrait and $14.95 for a second pose if purchased at the same time/checkout. The internet café also offers wireless cards for your laptop for rent, as well as normal internet service/computers. The charge is 75 cents a minute, with some packages at $55 and $100 equating to 50 cents and 40 cents a minute, respectively. I didn’t use much internet! The wine tasting is $10 per person, with mediocre wines. I passed on this one as too expensive. Bingo cost my wife $39 each time she played. Quite high. Slots were unproductive for us. The casino had various tournaments but was not crowded. The Ports The sea days were Monday and Saturday. We have been coming to the Caribbean the second week in December for 23 years and never had bad or cold weather…till this week. It started with cold and rain in New Orleans. Monday at sea was mostly too cool to sunbath or use the pool. Cozumel Tuesday we arrived in Cozumel to 86 degree sunny weather. The ship berthed downtown across from Carlos and Charlie’s/Senor Frog’s at Punta Langouste, much better location than the new international piers. If you didn’t need to go to a beach, you would not even need a taxi the whole time in Cozumel. Everything is within walking distance. We taxied for $15 to Mr. Sancho’s beach, just beyond Playa Sol beach where we had been last April. Sancho’s has everything Playa Sol has but no admission charge and no crowds. We loved it. Even the snorkeling was better near some sunken boats and debris about 50 yards out from the center of the beach. Taxi back to the ship to drop off our gear and then into town to shop for my wife’s ruby ring for her anniversary present, then to Carlos and Charlie’s to await the ring’s sizing. A nice excuse. We added to our collection of shooter glasses. Looked a bit like spring break in December, in fact. Liquor and cigarettes in the duty free shop at the end of the pier were cheaper than aboard ship, where the selection was VERY limited. They do hold all liquor purchased on or off the ship in bond until the last night. I did pack a few miniatures and two splits of champagne which came through intact. Roatan Wednesday we arrived in Roatan with cloudy sky. We had to tender in, but after another ship left at midday, the Dream was berthed at a pier. An island 37 miles long and 2-4 miles wide, it is about 35 miles off the coast of Honduras and known for its diving/snorkeling. Taxi to the west end is about $26, so we chose to sign up for an excursion for $32 pp about 3 hours before it was to leave. As we left the ship the heaven opened and we were literally deluged. Onto school buses and over the mountains to Tabayana Beach. The BBQ there went on, but little else. It showered lightly on and off all day, and the lifeguards said don’t bother with a mask and snorkel, as the water was rough and murky from the storm. A beautiful beach but a disappointment. That night there was a note in our room that we had been credited 25% of the cost of the excursion. NCL was on the ball. It was very rough and windy the night we left, and the promenade deck was closed. Belize Thursday was to be Belize, the other snorkel port I had looked forward to. I had signed up for a catamaran snorkel adventure scheduled to leave early in the morning. Up at 6:30 we found no land in sight. At 7:50am, the time we were to depart, the Captain came on the PA system and said that due to the rough weather and the need for tendering, they had decided to bypass Belize. They refunded the excursion fare. They had worked on an alternative and said we would arrive in Costa Maya for a 1-8:30pm visit. It was still cool and cloudy. The Golden Princess and NCL Sun were berthed there, too. This is a site developed just for the cruise lines. It contains a small shopping mall, several nice bars and restaurants, a pool, a performance area, and is a jumping off point for tours to various sites in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Still cool and cloudy, I didn’t want to pay a taxi to go anywhere, but noticed a beach immediately adjacent to the pier that had a swimming area shielded from the surf. A private area, we rented a chair and enjoyed the beach. I snorkeled and it was terrific. Many fan coral, many fish, including some large ones. I didn’t notice the lack of sun. The had some bars and a restaurant, and bathrooms available, too. We wound up back at the mall in a bar similar to a Carlos and Charlie’s with alcohol related activities on stage and a lot of fun. Not a bad day after all, but not Belize. Cancun Friday was Cancun, arriving about 8:30am. Weather was sunny and about 72 degrees. The ship anchors just off Isla Mujares. They are not permitted to use their own tenders, and must use Mexican tenders. They shuttled for two hours, with passengers using tender tickets to get aboard, until opening the runs. We went down at 10:30 to get a ticket and were aboard in 10 minutes. It is a 30 minute tender ride to Playa Tortuga. They offered a free shuttle bus to Playa Flamingo in the hotel zone, where Planet Hollywood and Pat O’Brien’s are located. We have spent two weeks total in Cancun and know the area well. We shopped at Flamingo, and then took a city bus for 50 cents each to Senor Frog’s for chips and afternoon refreshments. Another bus back to Playa Tortuga, where there is a nice beach with chair rentals, a Fat Tuesday’s on the beach, and a small bar/souvenir area. After a brief time on the beach we caught the last tender back. This was the second optional formal night and Captain’s Farewell Dinner. After the production show the Captain and representatives of the crew, including the “Star Performer†voted by the passengers, went up on stage to say farewell and thanks. The last sea day, Saturday, was 70 degrees and sunny. Baggage didn’t have to be out in the halls until a 1am deadline, leaving plenty of time for the last evening activities and the packing. From the Observation Lounge we could see the ship approaching the Mississippi. On Sunday, the ship arrived about 6:30am. Breakfast was available until 9am. Passengers can stay in their cabin until their debarkation color tag is called. Our color was called about 10:15. There was no line-up or document inspection by immigration for U.S. citizens. Very leisurely freestyle departure. Taxis to the airport are readily available at the terminal for $28 for two people. They also had bus transfers available, $10 pp payable at the door. We arrived at the airport about 11:30 for a 1:30 flight and were pleased to see an Acme Oyster House there where we could purchase po’boys again for lunch. In summary, we loved it. Freestyle offered us everything traditional dining offered plus the freedom to arrive in the dining room when we wanted to. The embarkation and debarkation were a joy. Food was terrific. And two of the four port days were lots of fun. We’ll definitely cruise NCL freestyle again. I was most impressed with an attitude of customer service throughout. Well done NCL. P.S. The staff we spoke with admitted that at Thanksgiving they had about 300 kids aboard and it made for longer lines. Over Christmas they were expecting 500 children. They do have youth programs for 2-5, 6-12, and teens, but the extra bodies do slow things down and can make for some lines. On normal weeks they seem to have worked all the bugs out on this new itinerary.

Dec 14-21, 2003 I left for this cruise with some trepidation after reading mostly unhappy review written in November for this new itinerary. In addition, after 17 cruises, this was to be our first Freestyle dining, and we have always enjoyed late traditional dining. The cruise leaves from New Orleans and stops in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Cancun…. all great snorkeling/diving locations, and two of which I had never been to before. We left on Friday, Dec 12, for a two night pre-cruise stay in New Orleans, staying at the Riverside Hilton. There were about 200,000 extra visitors in town for the weekend, including a minor league baseball meeting. We took a limo from the airport for $35 to the hotel. We walked to dinner at Mulate’s, a classic Cajun/Zydaco place across the street from the Juliet Street Terminal. The weather was cold and showers, but it doesn’t hold down the revelers on Bourbon Street. We lunched on Saturday on Acme Oyster House, enjoying oysters on the half shell and the Peacemaker Po’Boy, half oysters and half shrimp. We had seen it on the Food Channel. We also ate at Olivier’s and had oysters at Felix’s on Bourbon Street. We even won a bit on the slots at Harrah’s Casino! On Sunday, after church at St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square, we packed and checked out at noon. The taxi ride, three blocks with luggage, was $7 per person!! Taxis are expensive in the Big Easy. There was no delay in checking in and we were aboard in 15 minutes! Due to all the news about cruise ship Norwalk virus, they had all passengers sanitize their hands before boarding there and in each port, as well as at the entrance to all dining rooms and buffets. We had a large ocean view cabin, 7246, on Deck 7. In addition to the queen bed, it had a single sofa bed, coffee table and chair and TV, separated by a curtain from the queen area, where the dressing table was located. Plenty of closet space in two closets but drawer space was not plentiful. I was pleased to find that even at noon, the cabin was ready and contained a bottle of wine from the TA and the champagne I had arranged through a pre-booked NCL anniversary package. Our luggage, however took about 4 hours to get to the room. There is no “Lido†deck. The only buffet is in an area called the Sports Bar overlooking the stern. It is really much more than a bar. It does have sports TV but it contains a buffet line…. two short ones really…. plus the beverage area. It serves three meals a day, and at breakfast there is a French toast/pancake station. While not large, we never had to wait for a table. The turnover is adequate. There are two regular restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Four Seasons is a pleasant large dining room the width of the ship on deck 9 but allows pedestrian traffic to flow through the room. Distracting, and while we ate there the first night and had exceptional service at a table for two, we didn’t return except for the night of the Chocolate Buffet. The other is The Terrace, a multi-level sunny dining room overlooking the stern pool on deck 9. We ate 5 dinners and several breakfasts there. This is also the restaurant designed as the optional formal dining room on optional formal nights. A third restaurant, open normally only for dinner, is an Italian-style Trattoria on deck 10 overlooking the stern, specializing most nights in Italian food, pasta, Osso Bucco, and so on. We chose not eat there. There is also a French-style restaurant called Le Bistro on deck 9 with a $12 pp cover charge and extra charges for the top menu items, like surf and turf. The food if fine and well presented, but the service is slow and not on a par with specialty restaurants we have eaten in on other lines. In addition, we were seated by the curtain separating the room form a bar and passageway, causing unwanted noise in the intimate setting of the bistro. Even with a reservation we had to wait about 15 minutes for dinner with the restaurant only 2/3 full. Another dining location is on the pool deck on deck 10. At breakfast there is a small continental breakfast buffet line in what serves as a cafeteria-style pizzeria in the afternoon. There is also an omelet and hot food line set up by the pool. At lunch and dinner every day there is a BBQ style meal, often with ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, etc. A great idea and alternative, but it was cool weather this trip, and a bit windy. There is not much for late night appetites other than some finger sandwiches in the casino from 1120-1230 nightly, and room service, which has a VERY limited menu. We ate at various times from 7-9pm nightly and only one night had to wait about 10 minutes for a table for two, and that was the first formal night in the only restaurant reserved for formal dining. Except for LeBistro, the restaurants do not take reservations for dinner except for 5:30pm and after 9pm. The menus change daily in The Terrace and Four Seasons and Sports Bar, but the don’t change in Trattoria or LeBistro. A sampling of dinner menus included Prime Rib the first night, Lobster and Beef Wellington on the second night (first formal night), rack of lamb, sea bass, veal marsalla (Italian night in all restaurants), steak Diane at Captains farewell dinner, leg of lamb. In summary, the food was excellent, as was the service in all food venues except LeBistro. People remembered us, and while we varied out times, we felt similarly to when we dined in traditional dining rooms. The wait staff, with or 2 exceptions, work extremely well together. NCL also offered a buy 5 wines and get one free offer. The wine list is nice and is reasonably priced (many nice wines $20-28). We took advantage of the offer. I had also purchase an Anniversary/Honeymoon package in advance which included a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on arrival, canapés one night in our cabin, the cover charge for two in LeBistro with a bottle of house Merlot, and a reception one night with champagne and cake with our celebrating couples where they took a photo which was provided at no charge to us. An excellent value. The souvenir glasses for specialty drinks were in glass glasses, not plastic cups. Nice, but harder to bring home. The productions shows by the Jean Ann Ryan Company were good, but the adagio pair were superb…. especially on the nights when the ship was rocking and rolling. They also offered comedy and variety shows, and a Mardi Gras night in the showroom. There were two regular musical duos who played contemporary and dance tunes in Lucky’s Bar on Deck 9 and in the Observatory lounge on deck 12 overlooking the bow. We especially enjoyed a couple, the Two Tones, in Observatory Lounge and spent some time there every night before or after dinner dancing. There is also a piano bar musician playing evening in an open bar area, and a DJ playing in Dazzles nightclub. While we had read in their literature that one night would be an optional formal night, we found out to my wife’s consternation when we got aboard that there would be two. We enjoy formal dress. I found that the dress of passengers on these optional formal nights was better, and tuxes more widespread, than on my last cruise on Carnival Victory! Freestyle! And there were no lines for portraits, one of the things I most dislike. Prices were reasonable: $19.95 for the first portrait and $14.95 for a second pose if purchased at the same time/checkout. The internet café also offers wireless cards for your laptop for rent, as well as normal internet service/computers. The charge is 75 cents a minute, with some packages at $55 and $100 equating to 50 cents and 40 cents a minute, respectively. I didn’t use much internet! The wine tasting is $10 per person, with mediocre wines. I passed on this one as too expensive. Bingo cost my wife $39 each time she played. Quite high. Slots were unproductive for us. The casino had various tournaments but was not crowded. The Ports The sea days were Monday and Saturday. We have been coming to the Caribbean the second week in December for 23 years and never had bad or cold weather…till this week. It started with cold and rain in New Orleans. Monday at sea was mostly too cool to sunbath or use the pool. Cozumel Tuesday we arrived in Cozumel to 86 degree sunny weather. The ship berthed downtown across from Carlos and Charlie’s/Senor Frog’s at Punta Langouste, much better location than the new international piers. If you didn’t need to go to a beach, you would not even need a taxi the whole time in Cozumel. Everything is within walking distance. We taxied for $15 to Mr. Sancho’s beach, just beyond Playa Sol beach where we had been last April. Sancho’s has everything Playa Sol has but no admission charge and no crowds. We loved it. Even the snorkeling was better near some sunken boats and debris about 50 yards out from the center of the beach. Taxi back to the ship to drop off our gear and then into town to shop for my wife’s ruby ring for her anniversary present, then to Carlos and Charlie’s to await the ring’s sizing. A nice excuse. We added to our collection of shooter glasses. Looked a bit like spring break in December, in fact. Liquor and cigarettes in the duty free shop at the end of the pier were cheaper than aboard ship, where the selection was VERY limited. They do hold all liquor purchased on or off the ship in bond until the last night. I did pack a few miniatures and two splits of champagne which came through intact. Roatan Wednesday we arrived in Roatan with cloudy sky. We had to tender in, but after another ship left at midday, the Dream was berthed at a pier. An island 37 miles long and 2-4 miles wide, it is about 35 miles off the coast of Honduras and known for its diving/snorkeling. Taxi to the west end is about $26, so we chose to sign up for an excursion for $32 pp about 3 hours before it was to leave. As we left the ship the heaven opened and we were literally deluged. Onto school buses and over the mountains to Tabayana Beach. The BBQ there went on, but little else. It showered lightly on and off all day, and the lifeguards said don’t bother with a mask and snorkel, as the water was rough and murky from the storm. A beautiful beach but a disappointment. That night there was a note in our room that we had been credited 25% of the cost of the excursion. NCL was on the ball. It was very rough and windy the night we left, and the promenade deck was closed. Belize Thursday was to be Belize, the other snorkel port I had looked forward to. I had signed up for a catamaran snorkel adventure scheduled to leave early in the morning. Up at 6:30 we found no land in sight. At 7:50am, the time we were to depart, the Captain came on the PA system and said that due to the rough weather and the need for tendering, they had decided to bypass Belize. They refunded the excursion fare. They had worked on an alternative and said we would arrive in Costa Maya for a 1-8:30pm visit. It was still cool and cloudy. The Golden Princess and NCL Sun were berthed there, too. This is a site developed just for the cruise lines. It contains a small shopping mall, several nice bars and restaurants, a pool, a performance area, and is a jumping off point for tours to various sites in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Still cool and cloudy, I didn’t want to pay a taxi to go anywhere, but noticed a beach immediately adjacent to the pier that had a swimming area shielded from the surf. A private area, we rented a chair and enjoyed the beach. I snorkeled and it was terrific. Many fan coral, many fish, including some large ones. I didn’t notice the lack of sun. The had some bars and a restaurant, and bathrooms available, too. We wound up back at the mall in a bar similar to a Carlos and Charlie’s with alcohol related activities on stage and a lot of fun. Not a bad day after all, but not Belize. Cancun Friday was Cancun, arriving about 8:30am. Weather was sunny and about 72 degrees. The ship anchors just off Isla Mujares. They are not permitted to use their own tenders, and must use Mexican tenders. They shuttled for two hours, with passengers using tender tickets to get aboard, until opening the runs. We went down at 10:30 to get a ticket and were aboard in 10 minutes. It is a 30 minute tender ride to Playa Tortuga. They offered a free shuttle bus to Playa Flamingo in the hotel zone, where Planet Hollywood and Pat O’Brien’s are located. We have spent two weeks total in Cancun and know the area well. We shopped at Flamingo, and then took a city bus for 50 cents each to Senor Frog’s for chips and afternoon refreshments. Another bus back to Playa Tortuga, where there is a nice beach with chair rentals, a Fat Tuesday’s on the beach, and a small bar/souvenir area. After a brief time on the beach we caught the last tender back. This was the second optional formal night and Captain’s Farewell Dinner. After the production show the Captain and representatives of the crew, including the “Star Performer†voted by the passengers, went up on stage to say farewell and thanks. The last sea day, Saturday, was 70 degrees and sunny. Baggage didn’t have to be out in the halls until a 1am deadline, leaving plenty of time for the last evening activities and the packing. From the Observation Lounge we could see the ship approaching the Mississippi. On Sunday, the ship arrived about 6:30am. Breakfast was available until 9am. Passengers can stay in their cabin until their debarkation color tag is called. Our color was called about 10:15. There was no line-up or document inspection by immigration for U.S. citizens. Very leisurely freestyle departure. Taxis to the airport are readily available at the terminal for $28 for two people. They also had bus transfers available, $10 pp payable at the door. We arrived at the airport about 11:30 for a 1:30 flight and were pleased to see an Acme Oyster House there where we could purchase po’boys again for lunch. In summary, we loved it. Freestyle offered us everything traditional dining offered plus the freedom to arrive in the dining room when we wanted to. The embarkation and debarkation were a joy. Food was terrific. And two of the four port days were lots of fun. We’ll definitely cruise NCL freestyle again. I was most impressed with an attitude of customer service throughout. Well done NCL. P.S. The staff we spoke with admitted that at Thanksgiving they had about 300 kids aboard and it made for longer lines. Over Christmas they were expecting 500 children. They do have youth programs for 2-5, 6-12, and teens, but the extra bodies do slow things down and can make for some lines. On normal weeks they seem to have worked all the bugs out on this new itinerary.

We have always preferred traditional late seating. However, last week during our first NCL freestyle cruise we enjoyed being able to eat at 7:30, or 8, or 8:30 or 9 or whenever we felt like it. Always a table for two, and seldom any waiting.

We have always preferred traditional late seating. However, last week during our first NCL freestyle cruise we enjoyed being able to eat at 7:30, or 8, or 8:30 or 9 or whenever we felt like it. Always a table for two, and seldom any waiting.

We have always preferred traditional late seating. However, last week during our first NCL freestyle cruise we enjoyed being able to eat at 7:30, or 8, or 8:30 or 9 or whenever we felt like it. Always a table for two, and seldom any waiting.

Check out any of the online cruise agencies and use their search engines, e.g. VacationsToGo, Cruise411, etc. For Example: http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=9034

Check out any of the online cruise agencies and use their search engines, e.g. VacationsToGo, Cruise411, etc. For Example: http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=9034

Not counting those on gray Navy ships during my 20 years in the Navy, 16 cruises since 1992. Six of those in the last 18 months, and 3 more in the next 13 months already booked. My wife was on two before we were married.

Yonkers........Surinam

A night light is useful. However, we just leave the bathroom light on and close the door. You can see enough light to find it :D I agree with Dan. I've had more insides, by choice, than outsides or balconies in 17 cruises. That's why we can afford 17 cruises.

We were staying a ferry ride across from Tortola, on Peter Island, several years back. We enjoyed Tortola, shopping in the craft market, visiting Pusser's Rum shop and store where we had their famous "Painkillers". Tortola, and the BVI in general, have great snorkling and diving. This is the area where "The Deep" was filmed.