bowlcoach

Basic information detailed! Always good things to know. Thanks.

Wow! From the profile it doesn't look like a Holland America ship although it has the painted dark hull. I'm going to guess it's not one of the major cruise lines ships.

This is an easy question for us. 1. Australia/New Zealand on the Norwegian Wind 2. Hawaii on the Celebrity Infinity 3. England/Northern Europe on the Jewel of the Seas Someday...... Greek Islands Japan and Asia One more Panama Canal cruise

We proudly attend every lifeboat drill. 23 so far. We figure that is 30-45 minutes less at a buffet somewhere.

Great pictures. Some of the cruise lines are not allowing Bridge Tours any longer. I have toured several and enjoyed every one of them.

jbond....Your photos are really good. You put a lot more effort into your album. We went to one of the cultural shows for tourists in Santiago one night while we were there. It was very interesting and good food too. We were well taken care of.

Once they added that $50 per head cruise passenger tax a couple of years ago, they should have known it would catch up to them. Such a popular cruise destination too.

jbond.....Yes, we stayed at the Sheraton. Nice place. I'm surprised you knew of people who were mugged there. We thought it was a real nice city. We had a little communication problem, because neither of us speak Spanish, but other than that, we liked Santiago. Thanks for your photo link. We'll take a look.

Don't forget....."Can we water ski behind the boat?".

Our favorite cruise was Australia/New Zealand. My wife and I both enjoyed that cruise the best of our 23 so far. The only down side to that cruise is the air flights to get there and back, but the cruise itself, the 2 countries, etc. was great. This South America cruise was worth taking once.

Here's a quick review of our South American cruise in April, 2009 on NCL's Norwegian Sun. It was an 18 day cruise from Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile to Los Angeles. We spent an extra 3 days in Santiago so we could get a feel for the country. Santiago is a beautiful cosmopolitan city, very clean and worth the extra time there. We sailed from the port city of Valparaiso and spent a long time trying to board the Norwegian Sun. That city is not geared for cruise ships, although several sail into this port. Without stretching this review out, let me just say that South America is fascinating, yet not a draw for us to return. Northern Chile and southern Peru is arid and dry - a desert. The desert comes right out to the ocean (as you can see in our photos). Peru is nice, but similar to Chile. There are many old - really old - artifacts that are very interesting, if you really enjoy antiquities. As we sailed north to Costa Rica, back to places we've been before, we found more enjoyment. We went crocodile hunting in Costa Rica and really enjoyed that country. We always have. Then on to Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta. We steered away from the shopping because we don't like shopping in Mexico and went for the hike to the petroglyphs high in the bluffs above Acapulco. Again, very interesting if you are into archealogical ruins and carvings. And to top this trip off, we were the last cruise ship out of Mexico on April 29th because of the SWINE FLU. We made it to Los Angeles without being quarrantined. It was a good cruise, but not our favorite. Maybe you'll enjoy a few of our photos from that cruise. You'll find them at the following link: http://s904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/b...America%202009/

We have a ritual at the end of each cruise. It used to be releasing balloons off the stern of the ship, but after that became an environmental No-No, we started blowing bubbles (you know the soapy liquid made for kids) off the stern. We travel with another couple and have done that on all 23 cruises since 1980. It signifies to us the end of another wonderful cruise experience.

It was 1993 in Ft. Lauderdale on the REGAL PRINCESS. We had a bomb threat just an hour before we were scheduled to leave. Everone with main seating for dinner (back when that was still the norm for dining) was asked to go to the dining room, while everyone else was asked to go to the lounge in the forward part of the ship. As the ship was searched, which took 4 hours, we were asked to switch places with the other half of passengers. What a nightmare! We were not allowed to go to the restroom until we switched; we were late sailing and missed our first port of call; we could not enjoy our first night onboard until the all-clear was given; etc. BUT, after all that, it was smooth sailing. Hope that doesn't happen again.

Actually dougfw, LOVE BOAT is my favorite to get me in the mood also. After each our our recent cruises I put together a slideshow with music of our trip and I use the Love Boat theme almost every time. That show is one reason we began cruising.

I will post a review of the ship and the destination when we return. We were on the Celebrity Infinity in 2005. It is a sister ship, so we know the physical layout is good. Service should be good also. We'll let you know.

I usually only log in to read about any information I need about cruising, but I happened to read these. They are great! Maybe I should lighten up and read more of the non-cruising threads.

What in the world is PACIFIC COASTAL/NEW ENGLAND? That is on each side of the continent. Anyway, we are sailing Canada/New England on October 3rd, 2009.

Ours was Port-Au-Prince, Haiti in June, 1980 on the M/S Starward. Certainly can't visit that port any longer. Since the late 1980's they have had some political and governmental turmoil. Anyway, I vaguely recall a city tour, which probably wasn't much. That was too long ago for us older travelers.