saltydog

Hi all. I have been away from this site for a couple of years. No special reason. Just busy with other stuff. I have done a couple of cruises since I last posted. Hawaii from Los Angeles on Golden Princess and Fort Lauderdale to Carib on Crown Princess. Everything still fine in my life and my bride and I are planning another Princess venture in May 2013. 16 nights from Fort Lauderdale to Northern Europe ending in Copenhagen on Emerald Princess. Glad to be back on the site.

In 1995 aboard RCCL's, now gone, 'Song Of Norway' we had a memorable experience. A bunch of us old salts were sailing with a large group from the Navy Memorial Assn and were treated to a visit by a U.S. Navy frigate. We stopped in the Mediterranean and the frigate pulled alongside and commenced some incredible maneuvers and the crew manned the rails in dress whites and stood at attention as their ship loudspeaker played the National Anthem. There was not a dry eye on our ship. We had about 250 retired or veteran sailors aboard. Many of them were World War II vets. It was quite a moving experience. I don't believe the cruise lines would do anything like that anymore. Cheers Tim

1. HAL's Rotterdam 2. RCCL's Song of Norway (now Dream Princess of Greek Caspi Cruise line) 3. Crown Cruise's Crown Dynasty (now Braemar of Fred Olsen Line of Europe) 4. MSC's Lirica All of the rest kind of fall into the same spot. But as someone said any ship I have been on is fun. Cheers Tim

270 + 11 = 281

Hi Crazies, We are back. A most amazing trip. Probably the most amazing we have ever been on. I am going to do a review of the trip when I catch my breath. Just wanted to say hey and will be back to you all soon. Hope all of the members are well and had a pleasant 4th of July. Cheers Tim

Thanks guys, Once again you have proven we have the best cruise site on the net. I will do my best to keep a good log on the trip. The only problems I see that may occur in Ecuador before we get to the Galapagos are, in no particular order, earthquakes.... landslides...... volcanic eruptions..... military coups..... Other that that it should be fine down there Lord willin and the creeks don't rise I will be back on the air around the 6th of July. Cheers Tim and Sally

Chuck, We did an aft cabin on the Galaxy some years ago. It was fine. We were up on deck 10 so got away from the screw noise. I am not much of a sun person so I enjoyed the quiet of the aft deck for lounging. Many folks don't like aft cabins since they tend to be noisier and if you run into bad weather you will feel the motion of the ocean alot more. Sea movement doesn't bother me since I love it when it is rough but most people don't like it. Don't have any pics handy but I know I have some and will try to dig them up. Hope your cruise is all you want it to be. Cheers Tim

Congrats back atcha. Have a great cruise. Tim

Big handshakes to you for your birthday gift. Have not sailed Radiance but do like RCCL quite a lot. Have a great time. Fair winds and following seas to you both. Tim and Sally

All Right, Docs have come in for our Galapagos adventure. 3 nights in Quito Ecuador and 4 nights on the M/V Santa Cruz in the Galapagos. Hope we see lots of turtles and iguanas and other crawly things. Now I need to brush up on my Spanish. Cheers Tim and Sally

Good cheer to the both of you. Can't think of a better way to celebrate your anniversary. Tim and Sally

Besides the USS Independence when Uncle was paying for my cruises the first civilian cruise was in 1984 aboard the "Big Red Boat" Premier Cruise Lines Oceanic from Port Canaveral to Nassau for a 4 nighter. A classic old ship. I miss it. Cheers Tim

Sorry your friends had bad food. When you pay for a cruise you look forward to chowing down. I really like them all. I guess our favorite is MSC and Celebrity for food. We have never traveled on Carnival so can't offer any insight for that line. But I really do enjoy eating so I probably am not very objective about cruise food. Cheers Tim

Joey, I was saying that to Sally just the other day

Very interesting exercise. Here is our list: Canada,Mexico,Costa Rica,Panama,Belize,Bermuda,St. Martin, Aruba,Curacao,Dominica,St. Kitts,Guadoloupe,Martinique,Jamaica, USVI,BVI,Bahamas,Barbados,St. Barts,Cuba, Morocco,Spain,Portugal,Germany,France,Monaco,Italy,Greece, Turkey. Next month I will add Ecuador. Cheers Tim and Sally

Congrats on your upcoming Alaska cruise. You will really enjoy it especially since you are the 'adventure' type. We did the cruise on RCCL's Vision of the seas' 2 years ago. We first did a three night land tour of Denali national park and then boarded the ship for the inside passage trip to Vancouver. We were there in late August and the temps stayed around 50 or 55 most of the time. Try the fresh salmon at a cookout. Wonderful stuff. If you get the time you might try the 'White Pass and Yukon train ride that goes from up into Canada and back. Very neat ride on a small train up some incredible mountains. Have a great time planning your trip. Cheers Tim

Here are the sites. I am a parttime travel agent so I was notified by fax about this trip. http://www.isram.com/latournew/index.htm [url=http://www.mvsantacruz.com/]http://www.mvsantacruz.com/ Cheers Tim

Thanks all, I booked it through LATOURS which specializes in eco and adventure tours. We are leaving June 26th and return on July 5th. The tour company uses a private company that runs the ships. They are designed just for this type of trip. They are about 218 ft long and hold 90 passengers. Not your typical cruise ship. I will get the websites and post them for anyone interested. Thanks Tim

Hi all. Well Sally and I have booked what looks like an interesting trip. We are flying to Quito Ecuador for a 3 night tour and then flying on to the Galapagos Islands. We will then board the 90 passenger M/V Santa Cruz for a 4 day tour of the islands and the neat animals. They are very concerned about messing with the environment so we have to wear booties when we go ashore and they will ferry us ashore on zodiacs. Looking forward to this one big time. Has anyone on the board done the Galapagos. Would love to get your input. Thanks Tim

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I dislike and try to avoid the constant photo ops. I especially don't like the business of snapping everyones pic at the formal night dinners. Also not crazy about the pics that they take when you get off in every port. I know, I sound like a grumpy old man but you asked. P.S. Not real fond of the art auctions with all of that 'rare and exceptional art'.

Forward, aft, above or below. Doesn't matter to me. My only preference would be to have an ocean view or balcony. Don't care for inside cabins. Like to see where I am. We have been in aft cabins and never were bothered by prop noise. Just love being at sea. Cheers Tim

Nothing firm yet. We will be celebrating 30 years of wedded bliss this year and are considering either QM2 Atlantic transit or one of NCL's Hawaii cruises. Not sure but maybe. Cheers Tim

No Joey, No refreshments. They did ask us to sign a sheet as to whether we felt sick or had been sick recently. How many people are going to say yes to that questionaire right before getting on the ship. I am sure if you said you were sick they would not let you aboard. Duh. We simply stood there and talked to the other folks and watched the workers building the new cruise terminal. Again, glad it was 60+ degrees that day. Tim