AndiD

I Love it!!

Bon Voyage, John & Jackie! Enjoy the ship and enjoy Aruba!

Super Review! We take our Panama Canal trip in March; I think we are doing the same type of excursion you did in Costa Rica - looks fabulous! We are going on Celebrity - east to west coast. Great pictures - love your sense of humor. Thanks much!

We have found that RCI does a good job of keeping up their older ships - very clean and spiffy. We sailed on the Enchantment many moons ago... but she was (and probably would still be) one of my favorites.

Hi Carol, My husband and I were worried about that as well - I think everyone is a little leary about that until they take their first cruise. For our first cruise we brought the Dramamine and the wristbands - but realized we didn't need any of it. If you know you get a little upset with motion I think the patch would work well for you. The ships have good stabilizers now that really cut down on the rockin' and rollin' . And yes, I agree with the midship - lower level until you see how it goes. Try it - you'll like it....no make that try it - you'll LOVE it!

Congrats from this corner as well, Larry! We sailed the Sapphire to the Mexican Riviera - you are right, she is a wonderful ship! And Alaska is still our favorite destination - especially Denali! Enjoy!

Our stops of Curacao and Aruba were both great. We saw the HAL ship in Curacao - they docked even closer to the town then we did - right next to the pontoon bridge and ferry. The town reminded me of small towns in Europe - lots of brick alleyways with shops that wind through the area. Both stops are very walkable right from the ship. We didn't venture too much into the town of Oranjestaad in Aruba because we spent a lot of time at one of the beautiful beaches but the shopping district was right there - very accessible from the ship and looked really nice. We did stop and have a Balashi beer...or two.... we like to sample local brews. In Curacao - when the ship is about to depart, go to the back of the ship - you will see the pontoon bridge swing open for your exit - and chances are they will have opened while some people are still on the bridge! That's what happened as we were waiting to cross and one of the locals says it happens all the time to visitors! They really are in no danger but they panic . I would go back to either place in a heartbeat! Enjoy!

I am speechless - and truly sorry for your experience! I am glad that you were able to enjoy the journey the second time around in the way that travel was meant to be enjoyed!

Nice review, Rose. I think the Island is such a nice ship - I do hope you got to enjoy it in between the hassles! We have never had a problem like that and hope we never do...most annoying and a waste of valuable time! We became Platinum after this last cruise so will enjoy the internet minutes on our 2013 cruise!

That's especially surprising on Holland America who seems to retain more of the old traditions of cruising. Interesting........

I'll volunteer to "test it out"........... all for the good of the cause, of course!

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Great review, guys! Sounds like I need to get on this ship! Thank you.

Bon Voyage on that beautiful ship - can't wait to hear about your cruise as we are considering a Disney cruise ourselves: a late 50s couple with hopefully a toddler grandson (we might even let the toddler parents come!.)

Bon Voyage Rose and Howie! Have a fabulous birthday cruise and enjoy my favorite ship. Will welcome lots of suggestions for our Panama trip in March.

The one thing I have a hard time with is shoes! It seems like I take so many pairs of shoes: sandals, walking shoes, flip-flops, water shoes, dress shoes and then possibly two pairs of sandals and dress shoes depending on my color schemes. I really need to "get it together"!!

Welcome, Petra! I certainly do hope to meet you someday in some exotic and tropical place. In the meantime I know I will enjoy reading your blog!

We took our first cruise on Celebrity in September 2010 to Bermuda. We were on the Celebrity Summit and extremely pleased with the overall package: ship and crew, itinerary, price, food... What most impressed us was the way they handled the glitch in schedule: our ship was coming in from a Canada/New England cruise that had encountered problems with a hurricane in the vicinity. They had been forced to go further out to sea and were going to be late getting into port after experiencing very rough seas. They attempted to contact all of us to tell us to arrive a little later but of course many people were already en route. We arrived at the port in New Jersey about 1:00 and were taken into a large "warehouse". We were made aware of the situation at check-in and told they expected to start boarding about 6:00 p.m. They had lots of chairs set up and big buffet tables that they kept stocking with food, both cold and hot, and beverages. They had other tables of just snacks - bags of chips and cans of pop. Also they set up tables for all the services that they would have been offering around the ship on embarkation such as the wine packages, the soda wristbands, dinner reservations, spa service reservations... so passengers could take care of all that and not feel rushed to do so once we were on board. They made our wait as pleasant as possible and sure enough, at 6:00 they started busing us over to the embarkation point. Transport was very orderly - by numbers we had been given - and we were gazing at the Statue of Libery from our cabin balcony with a glass of champagne in our hands by 6:30 p.m.

Welcome! Our very first cruise was to Alaska on Holland. That was quite a few years ago, but I do remember many multi-generational families on board. Having cruised 11 more times and once more to Alaska since then (but not again on Holland) I characterize Holland as being a little quieter/more sedate, but very organized and well done; they are major players in Alaska. Since you are going during the summer vacation time there will be more activities for the children on board. And in Alaska, it is all about the destinations - more so than the ship. It will be very different from your Disney cruise, but should be just as memorable!

Thanks everyone! I've never submitted a review before but this trip was so neat I want EVERYBODY to go!

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My husband and I would love an adults only cruise as well - on Princess or Celebrity! We try to cruise during times you wouldn't think there would be many children because of school, but it never ceases to amaze me how many there are still.