JohnG

With al the ships sailing every day with thousands of passengers, it is safer than flying, in my opinion. Tragic event, but apparently human error was involved in causing it.

We stayed the Hotel Royal Ramblas, right on the Ramblas. Also have put a number of satisfied customers in the Silken Ramblas, one block off the Ramblas in the Gothic Quarter.

Thank you all! Karen is psyched about this one. She hasn't cruised since May . This is our national conference and there will be 752 Cruises Inc and Cruise One agents and family aboard, and the other cruise lines will have reps aboard and sponsor events, cocktail parties, etc. Even an NCL White Night. And being a Diamond, I shouldn't have to buy us many drinks! We had an opportunity to tour Oasis last October before they announced the conference would be aboard Allure this year. Also this will be my first stop in Falmouth.

Thanks for the review! Beware of the "free" insurance. Compare the coverage it gave you with what Travel Guard, and the cruise line insurance programs cover and you'll see you likely got bare minimum coverage, and some important conditions were not covered.

What I mean is that because they are more expensive, those lines don't have many children sailing on them.

Also Norwegian Majesty is now Louis Majesty.

The issue is price. There are lines with no or almost no children (because most of these don't have children's programs either). Silverseas Sea Dream Regent Crystal Oceania Azamara River Cruises for example. I loved Azamara!

Carnival Tropicale Oceanbreeze Celebrity Galaxy Celebrity Mercury

Never for dinner. I always carry some long pants and shoes in my carry-on in case the luggage is late getting to the room. But since we at late, it has never been a problem yet.

A TA can often get a better deal than you booking directly with the cruise line because the cruise lines rotate special promotions to the larger agencies. The cruise line agent can't offer these deals. And many of the people you talk to at the cruise line reservations have never been on a cruise, let alone the ship you are interested in. Before I became a TA, I would research prices online and then call the TA I found who specialized in cruises and booked it with her. She'd send me a bottle of wine or something, which the cruise line reservation agent would never do. I remembered that, and always send my customers a gift while they are onboard.

65 so far, but we've started doing some all-inclusive land lately, as I need to do research on land. CCL 15 NCL 8 RCCL Diamond Princess 7 HAL 5 Celebrity Elite Oceania 1 Azamara 1 Uniworld 1 Other 4

They, of course, are trying to promote the wines they sell onboard, and protect that by charging the corkage fee. The fees are similar to those state that let you bring a bottle to a restaurant. Some years back I checked 2 cases of wine with my luggage onboard a Celebrity ship. While we drank bubbly in the stateroom, I took bottles to dinner, prepared to pay the fee. The first night I tipped the sommolier and he didn't charge any corkage the entire time. The only time we were charge was the night he was off. On Princess, they used to charge the corkage only if it was a wine they also carried onboard. Don't know how they do it now. While we usually bring a bottle of 2 aboard at embarkation when allowed, we don't ship any quantities anymore for fear of breakage and airline baggage charges.

Not normally, but if they give us personal service, or solve a problem, I do. For instance, my daughter is lactose intolerant and every night on the Summit several years ago he came to table every night to find out what from the next day's menu would work for her. He got tipped, definitely. Often we don't even see him.

When I was in the Navy for 20 years I spent plenty of time at sea. Typically working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, with months of work-ups and then 6 months deployed. I had always thought I'd like to be at sea if I didn't have to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. And that is why we began cruising 20 years ago, and this is 65 cruises later. So I'd not like to have to work on a cruise ship.

Kevin Sheehan, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise lines worked as a deck hand, as an cruise director's staff member, and as a waiter on the Norwegian Epic. He was recognized by a waitress! It was aboard their newest ship, which has 21 dining venues, 14 without surcharges. We had our national conference aboard the Epic last October, and I was impressed. That ship has been very popular this year and I've had lots of bookings on it. In fact, NCL has changed and improved so much that I have had more NCL booking this year than Carnival, and that is surprising.

Not all insurance cost increases with age. With Travel Guard it is priced by the cost of the cruise it is insuring. And the policy my company uses waives pre-existing conditions as long as you buy it by final payment, while most other companies require you to buy it at or within a week or 10 days of deposit. I always use it, and the best use I've had is when the airlines lose or delay my bags. The insurance company tracks it down and rides herd on the airline to get it to me. They also reimburse for expenses I incur if the luggage is delayed. I've had customers get hospitalized 3 days before a cruise and under 100% cruise line penalty.....they were reimbursed by insurance. I had another one hospitalized in France and her husband had to stay in a hotel while she was there. She was eventually medically evacuated. All was covered by the travel insurance.

Add our 64 and that is 84 total so far for Cruise Crazies.

We always use, and I recommend that my client use credit cards. The banks will back you up if you find a discrepancy or fraud, or want to dispute a charge. Once you pay in cash or traveler's checks you don't have any recourse is there is an issue, or you are not satisfied with the service or product. The international service fee on credit cards is minimial....usually less than a dollar per transaction. It is 1% or less. I just checked the actual fees on our May NCL Spirit cruise to verify that.

Our first RCCL ship was the Majesty. She is older now, but still popular. We sailed twice on Norwegian Sky, a month apart. Great value for money. We enjoyed breakfast at the outdoor deck behind the Garden Cafe. The Italian Restaurant serves fresh pizza during the afternoon. Great 2 for 1 martini nights at one of the bars. Check the schedule. We ate in the French Bistro both times. Had no trouble gettng reservations. We enjoyed the ship. They have done significant improvements in their private island at Great Stirrup Cay. It was the very first cruise line "private island".

We do it on our own or use options other than the cruise line excursions. Not necessarily private tours, but with companies that have smaller groups and often less expensive than the cruise line excursions. In 64 cruises we have only done maybe 2 or 3 cruise line excursions.

That's not true. Dinner is later in Europe, more like 7 or 8pm depending on the line. After dinner there is typically a musician for dancing, and if they are in port there may be local performance. The ship goes through locks all the time, and you are not confined to your cabin. You can be on deck if you like when going through locks. When going under bridges they can lower awnings and even the ship' bridge structure to ensure the pass under. It is fun to watch.

The room seems so much bigger with that big glass wall and door to the balcony. Karen spends time out there sunning sometimes, and I enjoy reading out there in the shade. We love breakfast out there, especially on Celebrity in concierge class with full breakfast menu and linen table set.

Since we sail about 4 times a year, I book them up to a year in advance so Karen can get vacation time at work locked in.

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